[
  {
  "id": 0,
  "href": "/intro/",
  "title": "Intro","icon": "📔","rgb": "65, 101, 107",
  "section": "Home",
  "description": "What is Vekllei? Vekllei is a story about life and living in an extended Cold War, where utopia and catastrophe seem closer than ever before.",
  "content": "\r15th June, 2023 Hobart, Tasmania This website is dedicated to a fictional country. It takes place in our world, but in a different time shaped by different events. It depicts an extended Cold War in which all the nightmares and dreams of the 20th Century are ongoing.\nCentral to this history are a union of islands spanning the length of the Atlantic, which are called Vekllei. In 1995, nuclear war killed half a million people there. This story is set fifty years later, in the society that has emerged from that war, and explores new ways of living in the 21st Century.\nOn this website, I write about and illustrate what this society might look like. I depict who lives there, the cities and landscapes that surround them, and how they navigate an age in which utopia and catastrophe seem closer than ever before.\nI approach all aspects of their society, from the exciting (jets and spies) to the mundane (finance and healthcare). Underneath it all are a group of characters who live in this world not as protagonists of a story about big ideas, but as people navigating small ones \u0026ndash; the ordinary, terrible and wonderful aspects of life.\nThis project is a letter of love to midcentury visions of optimism, nostalgia and a changing world. Please enjoy this website as it grows with this project.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1,
  "href": "/millmint/bulletin/2020/1/",
  "title": "Issue 1 | May 2020","icon": "🌼","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "The Atlantic Bulletin Archive",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " From the Editor # Welcome to the inaugural issue of The Atlantic, a monthly bulletin for enthusiasts and fans of the Petticoat Project, Vekllei, Tzipora and its constellation of interests and affairs. For the benefit of compatibility, The Atlantic is published in websafe typography to keep this bulletin looking great on any screen.\nIf you would like to contribute to The Atlantic with writing, art or reviews relevant to the spirit of petticoat ideology, please contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com before the 31st of June.\nThank you for supporting Vekllei, and I hope you find value in this bulletin.\nEnjoy — 楽しんで\nI. News \u0026amp; Announcements # To celebrate reaching $50 a month on Patreon, Hobart plans to illustrate, print and ship six full-colour postcards and ship them to Patrons whose total lifetime pledge comes to $20 or more. Contact melonkony@icloud.com for inquiries and eligibility (or through any other available contact). Currently 2 out of 4 are completed, with several others in various states of completion. They will be done by the end of June and printed in July. The Studio MillMint site is undergoing major renovations thanks to the contributions of Ben_R_R#2574, a longtime patron and friend of the project. Changes to the site will be announced as they come in this bulletin, the #lounge and Patreon. The Atlantic bulletin is launched. There will be twelve issues a year. They will feature content of interest to fans of the Petticoat Project. Hobart has his final assessment task due on the 12th of June. Post schedule may suffer leading up to this period. The Patreon has hit $80 a month. That’s an incredibly amount of interest and I’d like to thank all patrons for their financial support — it helps keep the lights on and gives me hope that I can work full-time on the project some day. II. Tzipora-watch # May 5th is Tzipora’s birthday. She spends her birthday with Baron and Ayn; her friends are relegated to the day after.\nIII. Vekllei Fact of the Month # You might be aware of venrouive and senrouive property, which mark ‘essential’ and ‘personal’ business respectively, but there is also a rarely-used third classification called uousinasenrouive. This means, roughly, “property-obligation”. These places require a physical obligation from their owners, usually a debt owed to the history of the place. For example, an apartment above a bakery would usually fall under such a category, since living there would require operation and maintenance of the business also. Uousinasenrouive are very common in Vekllei, and many older residences involve these work obligations.\nIV. The Bulletin # Fission Cloud at Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s 50th Anniversary # 📖 Published 31st May 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nIn an unprecedented event, during Vekllei’s 50th Sea Festival since Independence in 2065, an 8 kiloton fission bomb was sunk to a depth of 150 meters and detonated at midday. It was an incredible sight on a day so clear you could see the gentle curve of the earth where it met the horizon. A flash of light and a spray dome surged outwards into the quiet Atlantic, which was broken apart by plumes that formed a column of water that climbed high into the sky. The lateral plumes, the “mushroom”, reached far across the horizon, forming thick clouds that would begin to rain into the sea. From the coast, fifteen kilometres away, a warm light bathed observers and was followed a moment later by a bang that deeply shook you and those around you. In this instance it seemed that the whole universe was their domain.\nThe plume would rise nearly 1,500 metres into the sky before falling away. It stayed that way for a while. Almost nobody moved for a long time after — people stood on cars and tables. You could only recognise the scale and the feeling of the fission bomb by seeing it in person. It seemed incomprehensible, in the face of such a device, that wars could still be fought at all. What use is a battleship in the face of a cloud like that?\nTzipora and Elise, covering the detonation for Lola 7th School’s student newspaper, found themselves not quite sure what to say. Elise wrote, captioning Tziproa’s photograph, “The Independence bomb filled our sky with our sea for a half-hour on Sunday, and with it rose the thoughts of every person in attendance, who considered the awesome power now shouldered by each of us.”\nThere was indeed some sense that they had contributed to the bomb, and that they had more at their disposal. Few would fly the planes to deliver them, and fewer still had the brains to develop them, but participating in a nuclear century contributed to, in some effect, a nuclear horizon.\nHot Rain in the Arctic Circle # 📖 Published 27th May 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nTzipora had been ejected from the operations room once the guys arrived. She knew what was going down, anyway. No specifics. But you didn’t bring in uniformed soldiers for regular business. National Intelligence liked to work with their own people.\nFive days prior, Baron hailed an EB/NI company car and it pulled up beside him. The electric passenger window slid down. Baron nodded at the passenger.\n“Everything’s in here. There’s more if you need it. I’d appreciate a call, I’m in my office all next week, okay?” He passed over a white postage envelope. “Take care.” The British man opened the letter and read it twice as the car approached the Vekllei World Jetport.\nJULES WYNN IS YOUR 3RD MAN. “JEREMY” APPEARS IN ARCHIVES 2046 — ALMOST CERTAINLY WYNN. NEARLY 20 YEARS. NOTES TO USSR THRU CYPHER CLERK (UNKNOWN). RECALLED TO MOSCOW — GREAT SUSPICION OF HIM FROM CONTROLLER DOWSETT-CLARK (OXFORD). THIS IS GOOD INFO FROM PARIS ASSET. WYNN WILL DIE IN RUSSIA. GET HIM AND ANOTHER RING SURFACES. CIA KNOWS WHERE BUT NOT WHO. DO US BOTH A FAVOUR.\nTzipora went for a walk to clear her head. She had a lot going on in her life — though she was sure it seemed small compared to whatever was going on in the operations room. It began to rain an hour into the walk. She’d left her umbrella with the rest of her things in Baron\u0026rsquo;s office. That was okay. She didn’t mind the shower, anyway — it was mid-summer, and the rain was warm. What a novelty that was, at 60 degrees north. This was weather from the sunny Azores, pulled north by the wind currents over the Atlantic. Within minutes her skirt was heavy and her camisole was showing at the shoulders. She blinked heavy streams of water out of her eyes. She passed the soldiers on their way out as she returned to AB/NI reception. A friendly receptionist had cloaked her in a towel by the time Baron had found her.\n“Did you have a good meeting?” She asked. “Sure,” and characteristically, he considered that a satisfactory answer. He pulled the towel off her head. “You’re completely soaked.” “It doesn’t matter. Are you with those guys? About that other guy?” “Watch it,” he said. “Keep that talk past security. But I’m going to fly out tomorrow. I’ll be back in the evening.” “No cooking for me, then. Where are you going? Or can’t you say?” “England.” “Oh,” Tzipora said, forming a gun with her fingers. “Like James Bond.”\nHer life was a nexus of various global ambitions, it seemed — imagined only through the dreamy lens of a teen-ager too small for the world’s problems.\nThe Last Train Out of Ada # 📖 Published 20th May 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nThey both watched as train 416 pulled away from the platform. And that was that — there would be no school in the morning. That was how it worked in rural Vekllei, a million miles from the automatic trains on endless timetables. Out here, you paced life around the station.\nThere was not much to say about this, between the two of them. Tzipora looked at Cobian and pulled a froggy smile that tried to express that it was nobody’s fault. Sure — it was Tzipora who had misplaced her purse, and it was also true that it was Tzipora who’d stopped by the orchard to steal a peach, but as to how they’d missed the train? It was simply impossible to say.\n“You’re a complete idiot,” Cobian said matter-of-factly, and Tzipora wilted. They watched 416 trundle into the sunset. A picturesque vision of rural utopia — if only they were a part of it.\nWinter Uniforms in Vekllei # 📖 Published 16th May 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nWhen I paint Vekllei, I usually depict the warmer months. Hems are shorter, days are longer, and the destabilisation of the world’s climate has only benefited these arctic people. At the gift end of the Vekllei low pressure system, Scandinavian misery has become Mediterranean pleasure, with warm summers and a mild Autumn and Spring.\nStill, by late October, the the earth is hard with cold and the days are short. The world may be warmer, but Vekllei’s polar latitude is unchanged, and in the depths of winter the sun only rises for an hour a day. These are Vekllei’s “moon months”, and they announce some of the most important spiritual festivals in Upen.\nAlthough school hours are reduced in winter, life carries on and Vekllei fashion becomes traditionally utilitarian. Tzipora has poor circulation and cold hands even in the warm months, and by November she’s traded the skirt and gi for traditional rouisha trousers and a cloak. Rouisha, like a lot of traditional clothing, have origins in agriculture and are characterised by a loose, baggy fit and insulated lining. Cobian is wearing a heavy wool sack-type dress, which is worn like an apron over other clothing. Winter brings forth “petticoat society” literally. Note the leather plate on her shoulder, to which her christmas aiguillette is attached.\nIn this sense, Winter’s revival of traditional clothing and customs further evidences its practice as the most traditional season of the year. Although the warm calendar flourishes with the futurist sympathies of a modernist Vekllei, not even the atomic age has been able to dispense with its hard-worked pragmatism developed in a millennia of bitter cold.\n2031 Apartment Diagram # 📖 Published 15th May 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nBaron had inherited the apartment from his uncle, who passed in the year following his parents. It was in a mixed residential-industrial neighbourhood, adjacent to a canvas factory. Out back was a rivulet, which roared in the long rainstorms of early April.\nEach January, the Colour Bureau of the Architecture Assembly announces the year’s colours, and tradition in mainstream architecture and interior design is to incorporate the announced palettes, which usually contain a hundred or so colours. His uncle’s apartment had been built and furnished in 2031, and so it had a #2031 Colour Profile.\nIn some ways, it was a very conventional apartment in the Vekllei tradition. It had a sauna and bath in the wetroom, a bidet, a sunken living room and a bread oven. In others, it was more peculiar. The apartment was bizarrely allocated across three levels. You alighted the entrance light well into a sunken living space, then climbed back up into the kitchen. The main living room and master bedroom were another step above the kitchen. Adjacent to the main living area was a closet and study, which overlooked the entrance from a half-meter mezzanine.\nIt was in this study that Tzipora set up shop when she arrived in March 2063. Baron had been reluctant to take her even provisionally, not least because it would mean searching for a new apartment in his busy return period after being abroad for ten years. Tzipora, however, had lived in a dormitory for much of her life and had settled in the alcove once she acquired a dresser screen. She refused outright the master bedroom, which sparked a sleepy agoraphobia. By the time Baron had made other accomodations, Tzipora had entrenched herself in the neighbourhood and had developed a severe sentimentality about the apartment and its rivulet, and so that was where he lived for the rest of his life.\nIn this sense, Tzipora had a strange kinship with the apartment. Baron sealed himself off in the master bedroom each night, but she never left the main living space. It was warm in there, especially in the flickering light of the enormous oven and fireplace, and when she moved the screen aside in the morning her little corner became part of the living area.\nShe had a lot of good memories of that apartment.\nFiery Peaks # 📖 Published 7th May 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nAfter three days in Ada, Tzipora set off towards Mt Miya. She made good time, and after three hours had happened upon the shoulders of the bright Volouisnesnkull Glacier. It was about here that she heard a morbid industrial siren, echoing up the valleys from far away.\nAt first she thought it might have come from Ada, since Boya Chemical had a large plant there, but as she lay out her things for lunch she heard the distinct whine of a turbojet. It grew louder, and deeper, until a National Fire VTOL tanker roared across the sky, swirling powdered snow on nearby peaks as it arced across the glacier. It was close enough to catch the sun ablaze in the reflection of its glass nosecone.\nShe later learned that lava streams had opened up not far from where she’d hiked, and had been making their way towards a geothermal power plant nestled in the highlands. In the evening, on her way back, she saw a long line of fire supertankers and pumpers spraying water in beautiful arcs, where it caught hisses from bright streams of melted rock. It was a common enough sight in Vekllei — hoses were the only defence you could reasonably make against the the fracturing earth.\nStill, it was not often you saw jets flying so low. It was funny to her that even the barren glaciers were tamed in this age.\nThe Chemical Feast # 📖 Published 6th May 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nEast of Montre, West of Tjornes, waits a rare sight among Vekllei’s hard igneous slopes — a crown of gentle sedimentary cliffs packed with ruddy sandstone, which melt glacially into the sea chasing blue-sky bergs.\nTzipora was, at the time, making her way on foot from Montre-Lola to Ada, which was a coastal town in the North-East known for its luxurious health spas. Tzipora was not much interested in health, but she was interested in walking, and she made a pilgrimage along the coast every few years to make sense of the world. She was going whichaway and destined for nowhere in particular. Tzipora was very much Baron’s daughter, in the end.\nShe had stopped to see the Red Cliffs forty kilometres out from Tjornes when she saw a cruiser of the constabulary parked unusually by the shore. The constabulary were not local police — they were a national outfit tasked with policing government and “bureau business”. You found them at power plants, outside universities, guarding the prime minister and providing bodies for HO/NI (Home Office at National Intelligence) when they needed doors kicked.\nTzipora was not the sort of girl to be intimidated by a badge, and she wandered innocently to the shore where she found the cruiser empty. She looked across a beach of black sand and saw some sort of operation playing out — there was a gun boat not too far from the shore, and a police hydrofoil beached on the sand. She counted maybe a dozen officers. She wondered if they’d arrest her if she walked down to see what was happening. She climbed onto the hood of the cruiser to get a better look. Perhaps it was immigrants — or smugglers.\nIt only took another moment to spot the smashed crates broken across the rocks before she knew what was going on. She was witnessing the dying days of the countercultural decade, and its chemical fuel was now smashed open before her.\nThe 2070s were a wild time for the so-called “pink years” in Vekllei, and for the first time in Tzipora’s memory she started seeing “pleasure drugs” on the streets. There had always been plenty of sin carrying on in Vekllei, even in her early days — hallucinogenics, alcohol, and synthesised highs were legal and easy. But you didn’t see much of the exotic stuff, which grew in a better climate. Hash, coke, H — it was all underground stuff for personal use. These drugs were listed among many others in the class-A import prohibition orders, which made them hard to find and illegal to import. These were “pleasure drugs” — the Vekllei phrase for overseas narcotics that didn’t have a place in Upen or a preexisting cultural history. Comparatively, they were just ‘for pleasure’.\nH for heroin was a big news item for a long time, and with it you had one the largest moral panics in modern Vekllei cultural memory. Crackdowns came soon after. Tzipora found it difficult to describe the feeling of the time. It was a new generation — one she didn’t belong to, despite her appearance — and she didn’t have much sympathy for hedonists. They might tell her different, but she never thought the pink years were about much more than feeling good all of the time. She wondered if she was growing old and grumpy inside.\nShe wondered how the crates had got there. Had the coast guard sunk another smugger? You heard about the navy firing shots in the news sometimes.\nRuined with seawater and picked over by constables, the chemical feast of Vekllei’s pink years died with the times. Tzipora wouldn’t miss it.\nShe stepped off the hood and set off back towards the road, where a warm inn and hot food awaited her.\nThe Trials of Cobian # 📖 Published 2nd May 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nAccording to her friends, Tzipora’s contemporary afflictions were tragic. Her medical problems; her violent childhood; her sensitivity and melancholy — you could feel sorry for her, because a lot of her problems were not her fault. She invoked sympathy. Tzipora never considered herself particularly tragic. It seemed straightforward, if difficult; she continued to live — and so she lived. Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s sympathy was instead reserved for her first and closest friend: Cobian.\nCobian was not well-liked at school, and it did not take long for Tzipora to find out why. She had a childish edge for a sixteen-year-old, and bitterly hated losing. She was not good at school or sports, was not particularly charming, and came across as desperately lonely. She was a quiet misandrist, which would have been fine if she could play the part of a self-assured social matriarch, but her mother’s despotic conservatism struck out that possibility early on. Such is life.\nAnd because her world was predicated on being liked and living a normal life, her psyche prohibited self-reflection. That was the great difference between Cobian and Tzipora. They may both have been young and neurotic, but Tzipora’s relentless self-interrogation left great space for personal growth. Cobian was instead trapped in a domestic play-fantasy, in which she could live out a mythical high-school life, and shattering that illusion would collapse her whole reason for being.\nTzipora recalled visiting Cobian’s home for the first time. Cobian’s mother asked Tzipora to remove her shoes and socks and wash her feet before going to play inside. By the time Tzipora found Cobian in her room, the girl had already changed and handed over her uniform to be laundered. Tzipora, in her tomboyish indigence, had never encountered such a brutally hygienic regime.\nCobian was a different girl at home. Her anxiety and neurosis washed out a little, and her confidence was propped up by the routines her mother had set out for her since she was a child. There was a friendly, curious girl buried under a decade of loneliness.\nTzipora wondered what Cobian thought about lying in bed at night, and why the girl worried so much about things that didn’t matter. And it was precisely in the smallness of those things and the tremendous anxiety Cobian owed toward them that made Tzipora want to hug her. To be so worked up over something so pathetic was startlingly moving. The idea that the girl had deluded herself into a corner of hopelessness seemed sad — and the fact that no one would reasonably care about such a feeble, meaningless, self-inflicted state of affairs made it tragic.\nThrough Tzipora’s friendship and the world it opened up for her, some of Cobian’s edges were sanded down. Some of it was a late maturity — some of it was Tzipora’s dismantling of the scaffolding the girl’s mother had shoved in there. With that effort, and obvious love, Cobian’s reason for being changed too. One day, in Tzipora’s presence, it didn’t seem so important to be liked by everybody anymore.\nV. The Book Club # A Cashless Tokyo # 📖 Published 28th December 2018\n✿ Note from the Editor This essay was published on the original Vekllei site in February 2019. Since it will not be coming back, it is being reprinted here in a desperate attempt to fill out this issue. Yes, it’s painfully self-concerned and a little painful to read back, but for newcomers to the project you might find some “obvious truths” about Vekllei you have not yet encountered. I did not come to Tokyo to find a reference for the Petticoat Project, because utopia does not exist there for me. In fact, by nearly every Vekllei metric, Tokyo is positively dystopian — a consumer paradise of the crushing, isolating modernity Vekllei is supposed to escape. And yet, marks of this city (and this country) are prevalent through Vekllei as a constructed country and my aesthetic as a writer and an artist. I can’t bring myself to love all of Japanese society, but I do love the country and its people. This intersection between traditional utopian world-building (along the lines of News from Nowhere or even the original Utopia) and the emotional, linear fragments of utopian storytelling which realise the cold encyclopaedia of a utopian world were the focus of my expedition to Japan. The premise of Vekllei society is at odds with so much of Japanese society — yet the emotional, aesthetic culture of the country (what I call the ‘character’ of utopianism) has influenced my media creation tremendously.\nAs a supplementary preface, I would like to note that it would be terrible of me to dismiss Japan as an oriental wonder of salarymen and neo-Zaibatsu. That approach has more in common with Frank Capra’s wartime propaganda piece Know Your Enemy: Japan than it does with real structural criticism. It is all too easy to dismiss the social and economic conditions of the country today as the natural inclination of a Japanese caricature — a homogenous hive-mind of enormously productive and obedient people. This is of course a terrible attack on the proud and long-standing tradition of dissent and progressiveness in the country — which is also home to one of the world’s largest opposition communist parties. It is a country of student mobilisation, protests and intense factionalism between the left and right-wing radicals (Andrews, W., 2016). It is important not to conflate the impersonal structures of a society with the orientalist idea of cultural predisposition.\nA love of Studio Ghibli films and a desire for material and emotional escapism is what drives my utopian world-building. Where co-founder Isao Takahata had a penchant for artful emotional realism and domestic drama, Hayao Miyazaki has found tremendous success in Japan and abroad with his fantastical stories rich with nostalgia and warmth. They have obvious recurring themes — childhood, environmentalism, aircraft, etc., but it is no real secret (at least to media critics and Ghibli superfans) that these overt recurrences are symptomatic of more serious and grounded beliefs. In a fantastic analysis of My Neighbour Totoro, Phillip E. Wegner makes use of Kojin Karatani’s works (another great influence of mine) to illustrate Miyazaki’s uniquely Japanese pre-Meiji cross-generational nostalgia evident in the film.\nWhat Miyazaki presents us with in My Neighbor Totoro is a vision in which the classic \u0026ldquo;what if\u0026rdquo; question of the genre has been proposed: that is, what if the Meiji revolution did not happen? Moreover, since it is the dramatic and rapid modernization of the Meiji period that gives rise to the virulent imperialist nationalism and militarism that ultimately results in the Second World War, Miyazaki also offers in his film us a glimpse of a Japan in which the catastrophe of World War II did not occur (Wegner, P.E., 2010).\nJapan’s spectre of modernity is a recurring character in many of Miyazaki’s films, just as the villain of war revives itself time and time again — from the steel production of Iron Town in Princess Mononoke to the death of the golden age of aviation in The Wind Rises. Karatani’s landmark work, Origins of Japanese Literature, makes clear that basic premises of modern society — from children to history to nature — are not immutable items atomised by scientific fact, but instead products of modern society that have not always existed (Karatani, K., 1993. pp. 12-44, 113-135). Vekllei reflects this concept, at least superficially — children are represented as independent agents desegregated from modern age-based schooling, nature is regarded as a fellow social organ, and work is largely self-satisfying and decommodified. These are things that are important to me and it makes sense enough that Vekllei reflects that.\nSimilarly, even supposedly less political Ghibli films like Kiki’s Delivery Service carry powerful images of the ‘spectre of modernity’. Regarding the climax of the film in which a zeppelin soars hopelessly out of control over a city, A.J. Rocca hauntingly writes:\n[We] find that this is not truly a witch’s story, but a ghost story. The ghost died in a fire on 6 May 1937, foreshadowing the fires of a war that would change the world forever. The ghost is called the Spirit of Freedom in the film, but its true name is LZ 129 Hindenburg, and it’s not the spirit of freedom but the ghost of modernity (Rocca, 2017).\nSo the material manifestation of Japanese society for me— despite all the glory of her bright packaging and dense infrastructure — is an aesthetic and satirical media culture that saturates the Petticoat Project. Vekllei is a \u0026lsquo;poor man’s Utopia\u0026rsquo;, inspired in part by my superficial understanding of a ‘poor man’s Japan\u0026rsquo;. Vekllei, like media representations of postwar Shōwa Japan, has a shadow of pacifism and shame about it (that idea that \u0026lsquo;all politics is sexual pathology’ occurs to me). These are deliberate aesthetic choices that reflect not landscape utopianism but character utopianism — the real colour of a constructed world that acts out the structure of mean ideology and culture-constructs. These ill-defined images of utopian society, and a rejection of landscape world-building, are excellent vehicles for utopian writing. After all, it is sustained engagement with utopia that betrays the totality of it (Wegner, P.E., 1998). What fascinates me particularly about Miyazaki’s unique utopian instincts is his recurring premise is essentially nostalgic and escapist — the aesthetic of a Miyazaki film is almost always midcentury or earlier, illustrating a time before Japan’s ‘modern century’. This is in stark contrast to the saccharine optimism of utopian socialists like Morris, Chernyshevsky, and Bellemy, telling stories of a future yet to come.\nAnd that is to say nothing of the aesthetic qualities of a Japanese city! Tokyo is a wonderful glimpse of a retro-future as imagined by the 1980s — as though the economic crisis of the 1990s has since suspended time. Japan is clean and modern, but also retrofuturistic. The lifeblood of the city is in rebar and concrete as infrastructure. The people on the street are dressed in conservative items that go without the prudish connotations of similar Western fashion. Working men and women are suited traditionally, many with waistcoats. Such is the visual language of modern Japan. Young men sport tech-wear or innovative types of street-wear dominated by colour and comfort. General women’s fashion leans heavily on items popularly discarded in Western markets, at least until recently. Pleat or patterned skirts, blouses, cardigans, hosiery and socks, loafers and brogues, etc. are very common and provide a wonderful anecdotal rebuff to the outrageous images of ‘Harajuku girls’ and Lolita style that epitomise some ideas of Japanese fashion. The famous ‘sailor uniform’ has been largely phased out of junior and senior high schooling, replaced with Western-style blazers and ties. Tokyo is not ‘behind’ the rest of the world; that is not what it means to be retrofuturistic. In my eyes, it has disembarked from Western technological and fashion attitudes some time ago and has since progressed on its own collective cultural intuition, and has subsequently spent the last few decades exporting media, fashion and culture into the West. It’s a great thing to see in person, at the heart of it all.\nDespite my qualms with modern Japanese consumer society, Vekllei is perched on a romanticised and fictitious Japanese aesthetic, and the country is enormously influential on the way I go about world-construction. With one sentence I will denounce the complexity of Japanese honorific language systems and in the other fawn over the mixed agricultural-residential suburbs that make up so much of the land outside of Tokyo’s city limits. Koka parks were inspired by these displays of community food production. The Vekllei Constabulary were created after research and experience with the Japanese Police Box system. Vekllei’s knotted network of trains and streetcars are reminiscent of Tokyo and Hiroshima. For all my public rejection of modern consumer society, and my begrudging participation in it, the Japanese qualities of Vekllei are valuable and are utopian in their own right — and so Tokyo remains one of the most important inspirations of Petticoat Society in the world.\nSo what of that dichotomy? Of deep ideological incongruities with Japanese consumer society, but an embarrassing affection for the mythological post-war aesthetic and Japanese culture? The truth of it is that Vekllei is first and foremost a collection of stories, and stories are the domain of the emotional. Wonderful, vague images of utopia — like washing corn in My Neighbour Totoro or an all-night writing session in Whisper of the Heart. My time in Tokyo introduced me to a wealth of these nostalgic feelings — of curiosity in a cauldron of social atomisation. Life in Tokyo is not without problems, and it is certainly not my perfect idea of utopia, but the intersection of the culture and promise of Japanese society, either in the past as alt-history or in the future as science fiction, has me coming back time and time again to better realise my own projects of utopia.\nWorks cited above:\nAndrews, W., 2016. Dissenting Japan: A History of Japanese Radicalism and Counterculture from 1945 to Fukushima. Oxford University Press. Karatani, K., 1993. Origins of modern Japanese literature. Duke University Press. Rocca, A. (2017). Miyazaki’s Haunted Utopia: The Ghost of Modernity in 'Kiki’s Delivery Service'. [online] PopMatters. Available at: https://www.popmatters.com/miyazakis-haunted-utopia-ghost-modernity-kikis-delivery-service-2495410503.html [Accessed 24 Dec. 2018]. Wegner, P.E., 2010. \u0026quot; An Unfinished Project that was Also a Missed Opportunity\u0026quot;: Utopia and Alternate History in Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro. ImageTexT: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies, 5(2). Wegner, P.E., 1998. Horizons, Figures, and Machines: The Dialectic of Utopia in the Work of Fredric Jameson [with Comments]. Utopian Studies, 9(2), pp.58-77. VI. Gallery # This month’s sketches, presented without context or or standards of quality. Contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com for full-res versions of any images received in this bulletin.\nCat [28.5.2020] # Redhead [24.5.2020] # Spirit [18.5.2020] # Salt Nip [7.5.2020] # Published by MillMint Press. Copyright 2020. To stop receiving these emails send UNSUBSCRIBE to melonkony@icloud.com.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 2,
  "href": "/millmint/patreon/letters/2020/nov/",
  "title": "Nov 2020","icon": "✉️","color": "blue",
  "section": "Letters",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " ✿ This letter was sent out to Patrons in November 2020 Hello my lovelies,\nJust a short update on where I’m at as we pass mid-month. I’ve pushed a couple of things back a day or two to finish a very cool/special post. You’ll see it on the reddit soon — it’ll be a really nice painting, and nothing like I’ve ever done before. Before the weekend.\nI was hesitant to promise a timeframe for the comic draft, and for good reason. I haven’t done anything like this before, so I don’t have a reference for how much work and time these things take. I’ve had three years now to narrow down and figure out what sort of schedule works for posts via reddit, and I’ve got a big of an adjustment period here. I’m hoping to have the draft up for patrons here soon, within a week. In future, I think a chapter a month is perfectly feasible, but there’s a lot to learn — formats, comic stylisation, and even black and white illustration are pretty new to me. So stay tuned for the draft.\nThe stamps are coming along well! I’ve had to redraw the post office post since the original didn’t really work out, and that will be out before the end of the month. Little sketches and hopefully another post or two are also mapped out between here and then.\nFinally, since we’ve hit $100/month on Patreon, that means we can start talking about a fun reward. Previously, I reached out to a print company, tabulated how much it would cost per unit, then simply subtracted your lifetime donation to the project from your order. The Tzipo-stcards cost around $20 to print and ship, so anyone who had donated a total of $20 over their Patreon pledge would get them for “free”. The same system will work here. Any patron is entitled to one — if your total pledges are under the cost of manufacture, you can simply make up the difference. You won\u0026rsquo;t miss out if you don\u0026rsquo;t want to.\nI’m currently looking into little enamel pins, since I love pins, but I’ll have a poll up within the next week to see if you’d prefer any alternatives.\nAs always, sincere thanks for your patronage. It means a lot.\nLove\nMelon\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 3,
  "href": "/millmint/essays/moneylessness/",
  "title": "On Moneylessness","icon": "💸",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/coast.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/coast_hu8dc20bef15ddb24ab92cdebbdcf85c4a_381763_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "blue",
  "section": "Essays",
  "description": "Notes on utopie concrète, a new movement for utopian fiction.",
  "content": " ✿ Note from the Editor This essay was written in December 2021. Click here to see it as a post. The Vekllei Person # What good is more writing about theories and the methodology of country-constructs? More importantly — how is it authentically convincing to the person who has lived their entire lives immersed in their own ways of living? Vekllei does not use money — the purpose of these notes are to demonstrate how such a thing works, immersing Vekllei’s participatory economy in a human lens, and articulate the motivations, biases and assumptions of the average working Vekllei person. This is what a Vekllei working life looks like from the ground up.\nIt is important to recognise Vekllei people do not think like you.1 They are not particularly more altruistic, hard-working, or kind to each other. They are, however, affected by their environment, which has introduced foundational shifts in their basic assumptions about the world. These differences can be illustrated in three features of life, which illustrate the worldview of the typical Vekllei person.2\nMetaphysical assumptions # The Vekllei person understands that there is an afterlife, and that spirits, demons, and a collection of mythological creatures play a part in human life. She does not hold contemporary conceptualisations of landscape \u0026ndash; she does not think of nature except in abstract, transcendental ways. She fears and respects nature, which is afforded sovereignty by Crown Lands under the Landscape Sovereign. She does not believe humans are caretakers of nature. She does not believe in a god, but if she does it created and maintains both the human and natural worlds. She believes the purpose of people is the comfort of people and the good stewardship of human lands. Existential assumptions # The Vekllei person is prepped from a young age to explore their adult personhood. Schooling fosters his interests and technical skills, and prepares him for the casual pace of Vekllei working life. He is motivated to accomplish a social or professional legacy before he dies. He is not particularly anxious about his future. He considers the quality of life in Vekllei to be the best in the world, without having lived anywhere else. Material assumptions # The Vekllei person understands objects in physical and social dimensions of utility. Life is full of small art and beauty for her, accessed frequently and easily through cafes, cinemas, picnics, galleries and travel. The spatiality and physicality of her surrounds are of keen interest to her and open interest in the mechanisms of society. She is comfortable and skeptical about new things. Despite the introduction of robotics into Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s industrial and civilian infrastructure, about 90% of people are employed in some capacity. With an illustration of the average Vekllei person fresh in our minds, let us explore why people continue to work in an age without money.\nWhy do Vekllei people work? # Because they have to, and because there is only so much else to do. In a broad sense, activity is a feature of all people, and work in Vekllei fulfils the desire for activity because it is easy where wanted and rewarding where needed. If work is not easy or rewarding it is mostly dispensed with; Vekllei people are not particularly self-sacrificing.\nWhen work is conceived of in a wage, time and effort are calculated against each other, and removing the wage collapses most reasons for working. In Vekllei no such arrangement exists \u0026ndash; wage labour has not really existed in postwar occupation and free society. We are several generations removed from the age of compensation and into an epoch of rest, which has recalculated waking hours along idling interest and curiosity. Work exists because it is essential to the functioning of society, and because it provides a meaningful method of exploring interests and skill-building. At no point are Vekllei people expected to desire work \u0026ndash; it is something they have to do, and its burden is minimised at great expense.\nThese are sentiments that make sense immersed in their context \u0026ndash; made real by the animistic, satisfied, and curious type of Vekllei person. They are also sentiments made possible only by Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s architected strengths and concessions.\nPersonal luxuries (jewellery, appliances, domestic aid, mechanical dishwashers, specialised food appliances) are rare, but luxuries of free time and entertainment (underfloor heating, cafés, music venues and bars, alcohol, pleasant public gardens and commons) are abundant and easily accessible. Most commodities require personal effort to obtain, but are usually worth the effort (houseplants are found and potted personally, good meat is hunted and prepared, and artisanal furniture is often traded). Vekllei has a thriving barter economy built on favours, goodwill, and lending a hand. These social dimensions of the economy are facts of life for every person \u0026ndash; everyone is aware of the state of things. This is a society where housing, transport, food, small art and beauty are cheap, and convenience is expensive. It does not work equally for everyone \u0026ndash; it was never designed to. The simplicty of moneylessness is actually very complicated, and the Vekllei economy is made up of countless markets bristling with politics, friendships, family, grudges and good-neighbourliness. Outside of bureau monopolies, which meet the basic needs of society, the Vekllei economy is anarchic.\nIn a previous article, these ideas were characterised as the three precepts of the Vekllei economy, articulated as follows.\nAusterity. Petty austerity lurks at the fringes of Vekllei life. Commmon items are frequently in short supply, and require a \u0026ldquo;trial of ownership\u0026rdquo; to acquire. This prevents Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s reliable transition to a consumer society, which would strain bureau production and require more factory work. It also serves a cultural purpose in localising consumption and incentivising work, as a reward mechanism. Apathy. Small businesses in senrouiva3 markets are not provided with reliable methods to expand their business or indeed employ more people than one is capable of knowing. This protects the bureau trade monopolies and bureau-size companies, which are critical aspects of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s consumer manufacturing. Play. Like children, Vekllei people participate in work as a social ritual and act out roles in society. This play is productive and contributes to the economy, a fact that does not delegitimise its status as a social activity. People work because they are built to work. This is not an altruistic idea. It is important to seperate contemporary Western conceptions of wage labour from the reality of Vekllei work, which is largely social and purposeful. Not all work is pleasant, a fact that requires a series of cascading solutions.\nIt is improved. Retail, hospitality and service work in Vekllei are jobs justified only by their dignity. There are only a handful of sales assistants in Vekllei, and their roles are independent and well-respected \u0026ndash; they serve satisfaction, not the company. These usually include working with customers personally to prepare complete outfits, improving their confidence, and studying and practicing fashions. In addition, many people in such work are employed by friends or family, or otherwise work only part time. It is rewarded. Work is rewarded materially in Vekllei, despite misconceptions. In some work, the benefits are small and inconsequential \u0026ndash; good leftovers and access to scarce goods among them. Most commonly, real estate is constructed by the municipal agent and protected for certain types of work, the ownership of which can be wrested away from the employer with extended service. Health care workers are provided for in Vekllei in overt ways \u0026ndash; Vekllei is not, by principle, egalitarian. It is shared. Although large companies retain cleaning automen, most smaller enterprises and senrouive share the burden of cleaning among staff periodically, as at home and school. Schools, similarly, rely mostly on parent volunteers to provide lunches and run extracurricular activities. Since it is common in Vekllei for only one parent to work, much community organising and child-rearing is provided by stay-at-home mums and dads. It is automated. Most factory labour in bureaus is automated by automanufacturies, which require only minimal supervision and are usually integrated into the place of work. Automanufacturies produce the vast majority of shelf goods in the country, including consumer, industrial and agricultural products. The production of automen4 is, mostly, automated in the same process. It is conscripted. Essential labour, particularly in construction, is conscripted through Compulsory Service. The National Construction House is the largest construction outfit in Vekllei, and is responsible for much of rural construction in the country. It is done without. Vekllei life is missing or unreliably demonstrates features of consumer societies overseas, including many personal electronics, autos, and appliances. Most people have only a handful of personal items and a few pairs of shoes, although their housing and accessible entertainment is of much higher quality. It can be difficult to conceptualise working for free without first immersing yourself in a society where comfort is universal, there is little else to do, and there is no upward mobility through idleness. Powerful cultural biases, particularly as they pertain to consumption and community, are potent social pressures. Power itself is abundant in Vekllei and awarded freely to people seeking it. Jobs carry respect, since employment with dignity almost always requires agency, and agency requires independence and problem solving. And where a job is unsatisfying, unenviable, unrewarding, and unfulfilled, it is dispensed with. Not because the Vekllei state is particularly noble \u0026ndash; instead, it cannot do anything but accept it.\nMeaningful work for ordinary people # Although a great many specialisations exist in Vekllei for its millions of people, jobs are treated of constellations of tasks. For three days a week, the skilled tradesmen works in their specialty, but like it is in school, the fourth day is often dedicated to tasks of company maintenance. Such tasks may include cleaning, food preparation, gardening, maintenance and clerical work. No one likes it, but it has to be done. Labour can\u0026rsquo;t be purchased and there are few people willing to clean or repair uncompensated \u0026ndash; so it remains the company\u0026rsquo;s problem. Since most companies in Vekllei are cooperative, and are owned by the people who work in them, it more precisely remains their problem.\nMost people in Vekllei work three or four days a week, depending on their job and place of employ. Some may work more or less. People particularly desperate to avoid regular employment will find it is easy to do so, with the exception of Compulsory Service, which requires four years from every person sometime between the ages of 18 and 35. You are supposed to register employment with the Employment Commission5, but there are many hundreds of exceptions to employment readily available to the social parasite. That is the precise Vekllei phrase, in fact \u0026ndash; \u0026ldquo;social parasitism\u0026rdquo; \u0026ndash; which surfaces in government reports and local gossip alike.\nThe straightforward requirement to be employed, called \u0026ldquo;Contribution,\u0026rdquo;6 suggests tremendous waste and inefficiency \u0026ndash; this is accurate, and is considered a feature of the system. Work is both productive and a social benefit to society, and its actual efficiency is of little concern except in the context of bureau companies,7 which support the basic comforts of society. The senrouive economy, in all its anarchy, best resembles a modern post-industrial service economy. The product is in fact the managing, serving, networking and strategic thinking of the senrouive class of people. The scale and gross productivity of senrouive work in Vekllei is nearly three times that of the bureau-backed industrial/agricultural monopolies that come to mind when imagining typical \u0026ldquo;bureau business.\u0026rdquo;\nWith much of manufacturing automated by automanufacturies, it is easy to overlook less dramatic efficiencies in the industrial workplace, which now requires only half the staff it did a hundred years ago. In general, automation has affected Vekllei slowly and to its benefit, allowing the country to trade potential increases in productivity for less work. Less work was an essential reaction to the famines and indigence of the early postwar years, and has become a cherished feature of postwar Vekllei society.\nCase Study 1 \u0026ndash; Tzipora Desmoisnes # Tzipora is a young woman living alone in Montre, a city-neighbourhood on the North Coast. She is studying at Montre National University, and since she is studying full time she is considered to have fulfilled Contribution. In addition, she works for the student newspaper Montre Student Gazette part-time as an editor, with the aim to increase readership to petition for printing press machines from Montre Heavy Machines S.q.M. She does not enjoy study much but finds publishing to be very rewarding. The creativity and independence of student periodicals makes for interesting work, and she\u0026rsquo;s proud of it; she\u0026rsquo;s proud of having her name in the publisher credits, and having the respect of her student editorial staff, and of receiving recognition from successful journalists for her efforts in correspondence.\nCase Study 2 \u0026ndash; Usef Sismiosn # Usef is a man of middle age in Ou, a borough in the central highlands of Vekllei containing several agricultural communities. Usef was born here, and will likely die here \u0026ndash; his village, Tiamoin, subsists off the agricultural products of its surrounds. Although he didn\u0026rsquo;t take up farming after his father, his job as a local grocer keeps him in close contact with the goings-on of local agriculture. The goings-on of pretty much everything, in fact. He\u0026rsquo;s got a keen ear for good stories, and lives above the shop he owns with his wife and child. If he\u0026rsquo;s honest, there\u0026rsquo;s not much to running a grocery \u0026ndash; inventory is done by the stock computer in Ada, so he spends most days reading and waiting for someone he knows to stop by (and he knows everyone in Tiamoin). He\u0026rsquo;s well known and well liked, and his life is uncomplicated. Because he works the shop, he guarantees the property will be owned by his family for as long as they want it.\nCase Study 3 \u0026ndash; Floret Vosmiesneh # Floret is a woman close to retirement in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Great Coast, who works as a product director at Comec, a plastics company that makes up part of General Plastics S.A., a bureau organisation. She is having problems with her superiors and is thinking about leaving her job, or perhaps going part-time. She is not well-positioned to find a managerial position at another company right now, and worries that she will not have time to find one before the grace period between work elapses, potentially demoting herself. She has worked for Comec for a long time and has nearly two years of long-service leave accrued, so she is considering taking all of it at once. Afterwards she might move in with her son, who has just had his first child, which would carry her through to retirement. Helping raise family waives Contribution, and she could use the break. When it was good, it was very good \u0026ndash; most of her closest friends are staff at Comec, but all things come to an end. Making big adjustments later in life can be intimidating, but they were often for the best.\nThese three examples do not demonstrate that all work is satisfying or produces good outcomes for people in Vekllei, but rather that, in two out of three cases, work has ceased to resemble conventional waged labour. Bureau work continues to be a burden \u0026ndash; hence its ongoing improvement, automation, conscription and abolition. The simplicity of moneylessness is actually its most complicated feature, and has produced a complicated state of affairs only partially engineered by the postwar interim government and its constitution.\nThis loose collection of notes indicates some of the differences in the working disposition of Vekllei people and what their work looks like. Like most summaries of the so-called \u0026ldquo;Vekllei bureau system\u0026rdquo;, this brief collection of facts tends to paint an excessively sentimental picture of working life in Vekllei \u0026ndash; but there are few ways otherwise to describe the utopian premise of the Atlantic commonwealth, and its ongoing reevaluation of the imagined end of history.\nVekllei is a nation of immigrants of many cultures and beliefs, but it is also true that their children are raised in a Vekllei society with overt Vekllei cultural foundations. This trend is documented thoroughly by the Religious Affairs Office of the Commonwealth Culture Secretariat (COLSEC), which wrote \u0026ldquo;animistic features of the indigenous commonwealth emerge consistently in new generations, even where traditionally displaced by prior religious structures, correlating with the emergence of multicultural Upen faiths.\u0026rdquo;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nAs collected by the 2055 Vekllei Census and reported by the Ministry of the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s Statistics Directorate.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nSenrouive, lit. \u0026ldquo;private work.\u0026rdquo;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nAutomen are synthetic biological robots used extensively in industrial applications in Vekllei.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe Vekllei Employment Commission is an office of the Commonwealth Labour Secretariat, which oversees all employment across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s commonwealth of nations.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nTranslated from Consosva, a portmanteau of consivismiosn sovis, or \u0026ldquo;contributory service.\u0026rdquo;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nAlso known as Venrouive, lit. \u0026ldquo;public work.\u0026rdquo;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/moneylessness/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 4,
  "href": "/millmint/patreon/snapshots/polyester/",
  "title": "Polyester","icon": "👚",
  "section": "Snapshots",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " People across the world are very excited by the possibilities and emerging styles in new synthetic materials, including polyester, plastic, and new-nylon. In keeping with her meticulous and mildly neurotic character, Tzipora cannot stand synthetic fibres and refuses wear anything that isn\u0026rsquo;t soft, loose-fitting and hand-washable.\nLike most metrics kept in her head, it\u0026rsquo;s largely arbitrary and fluctuates depending on the visibility of materials and her awareness of it, but does invariably inform her sense of fashion, leaving her conservative and old-fashioned in appearance as her peers take on increasingly colourful (and avant garde) styles made possible by a materials revolution.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 5,
  "href": "/millmint/patreon/snapshots/pyjamas/",
  "title": "Pyjamas","icon": "💌",
  "section": "Snapshots",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " Tzipora hated sleeping by herself. It wasn’t just anxiety from America, either — she’d spent half her life in dorms and didn’t much like the silence of a quiet room. When she first moved in with Baron, she would lie in her improvised bed for hours and listen to the ringing in her ears. She was most paranoid, most neurotic alone with her thoughts, with her memory wandering through everything she’d said and done.\nCobian would come around now and then to stay the night. Maybe once every two weeks. At the time, Cobian’s mother was hoping she’d become a medical researcher like her father. To that end, Tzipora was a pest, and threatened to become a major distraction in Cobian’s final years of high school.\nAmong the finest things Tzipora ever owned was a set of silk pyjamas found second-hand shortly after her arrival in Vekllei. She was never quite sure if it was synthetic silk or not; Ayn had no idea either. It was a skirt and blouse done in an oriental style. She’d never owned anything so nice — it made her feel good, like an actress in a Hollywood film. She had no idea how such an unseasonal, foreign thing ended up in Vekllei.\nCobian said, “those are lovely,” when she saw them. That mattered to Tzipora a great deal. “You look sophisticated,” Baron said. “You are very pretty in that, Tzipora,” Ayn told her.\nThat night, when Tzipora lay in bed listening to the ringing in her ears, she thought about how good she looked in the pyjamas.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 6,
  "href": "/millmint/patreon/snapshots/welts/",
  "title": "The Cane","icon": "🩸",
  "section": "Snapshots",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " The years that were supposed to be Tzipora’s finest were falling apart. She was fourteen, out of money and out of options. Her tuition laboured on, paid in advance, but there was nothing left over for her. Her mother didn’t send money or letters anymore. So Tzipora lived on the free dinners provided by the Sisters of Charity and gifts from people who pitied her, mostly wealthy migrants associated with the church. Her shoes worn smooth slipped in the school halls, and her shirt collar had yellowed.\nShe was angry and short-tempered, and bullied frequently by the other girls. She despised every one of her teachers, and her disrespect padded the margins of the punishment book.\n“… I’ll show you, girl. Stand up.”\nIt was very straightforward. Most teachers used a cane or yardstick across your ass or the palm of your hand, and that was that. Ms Gale, who was from England, carried a tawse to suit her temper. She hated Tzipora, she really did. One time, Tzipora talked back after being punished for truancy, and Ms Gale pulled the girl by the ear up to the teacher\u0026rsquo;s desk in the middle of class. She opened the drawer, whipped out the belt, and forced her over the desktop. The belt cracked and the girl screamed, and the teacher shouted for quiet. It would go on like this for over a minute, and by the time she was done, Tzipora was struggling to walk. A couple girls helped her to the nurse. They weren’t supposed to hit that much — but what could she do? Complain?\nSomeone must have said something, because next time Tzipora had Ms Gale, she didn’t have her belt anymore.\nIn the Catholic schools of the Sacramento area, stocked with fresh young migrants and boarders, physical punishment was common and encouraged. The surrounding boys\u0026rsquo; schools, like St Michael’s Collegiate, saw about sixty percent of its boys caned or strapped. St Mary’s was a girls\u0026rsquo; school, and so it caned girls. More specifically, it caned Tzipora, which left her with nerve damage in her lower back. When she left school for the East Coast, riding freight trains with migrants, she would be reminded of Ms Gale’s strength every time the railcar jolted.\nIt took two months into Tzipora’s second chance at school in Vekllei before she realised no one got hit. She asked Baron, and he told her it had been illegal to cane students for nearly forty years.\n“So how do they keep me from causing a fuss?” Tzipora asked, placing a hand on the seat of her skirt.\n“As if there’s a person alive capable of preventing you causing a fuss,” Baron scoffed.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 7,
  "href": "/millmint/patreon/letters/2020/dec/",
  "title": "Dec 2020","icon": "✉️","color": "blue",
  "section": "Letters",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " ✿ This letter was sent out to Patrons in December 2020 Hello beloved patrons,\nThis is your monthly update for the Petticoat Project.\nThere’s a 🔗new post up on the subreddit and a 🔗new article up on the website — a big one, about Vekllei, although it’s missing a history and culture section. Those are coming soon.\nI won’t be mucking around on the website forever — trust me, I have no intention of abandoning my traditional post format for dry wiki articles — but it makes good infrastructure, and good infrastructure allows for growth and it also helps support new projects, like the comic. The website and its articles will launch over the New Year.\nGuess what else is launching over the new year? The comic. You’ll see it before that, of course, as I’m sketching the remaining pages now. But I hope to have it ready and inked by early January. Does it keep getting delayed? Yes. But that’s the unglamorous thing about infrastructure — it’s just work, and it’s not that visible. Hopefully regular posts fill the ache in the meantime.\n🔗You can see a page I’ve inked here! This was a sort of test of style, and needs a bit of tweaking. Overall, I\u0026rsquo;ve ascertained that I like screen tones.\nI am very excited for Patreon milestone merch (in the form of beautiful little enamel pins), and will release a poll concerning designs in the coming days. I’ll also have a price-point — like last time, your lifetime pledge is deducted from the cost + shipping, and any difference can be made up easily. So no one will miss out who doesn’t want to.\nLast of which, I’d like to wish the observers among us a very Merry Christmas and to everyone else a Happy New Year. Stay tuned for a special issue of The Atlantic Bulletin to celebrate 2021.\nYour support is very important to me and is always deeply humbling.\nMan, I can’t wait for this comic.\nLove\nMelon\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 8,
  "href": "/factbook/",
  "title": "Factbook","icon": "📓","color": "millmint",
  "section": "Home",
  "description": "Factbook is the wiki of Vekllei, and contains information about its society, culture and way of life.",
  "content": " Welcome. May this document serve a useful purpose to you, as you learn more about this remarkable country. Use it as a reference for when you need it. 📓 To start Vekllei 🌎 World Map 🌹 Commonwealth 📋 Recent Updates ⚓️ Wake-class ⚓️ Volcanic-class 🛢️ Virgin Read more... 📖 Recent Stories Tzipora Cobian Baron Ayn Moise Coretti Zhi More Characters → ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/society/","/factbook/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 9,
  "href": "/millmint/essays/hongkong/",
  "title": "Hong Kong","icon": "☂️","color": "blue",
  "section": "Essays",
  "description": "An essay on the 2020 Hong Kong Protests by Hobart Phillips, a utopian illustrator and storyteller.",
  "content": " ✿ Note from the Editor This article was originally published in October 2019. This article was written shortly after my return from Hong Kong, where I got caught up in the pro-democracy protests and is a broad response to Australian coverage of the ongoing events. Hong Kong is a loud, bustling jewel of a city. It is perhaps my favourite city in the world. On sweltering days, what sounds like raindrops smack the pavement as hundreds of air-conditioning units drip liquid into the streets below. In North Point, you might as well be fifty years back in time. Thin double-decker trams ding-ding-ding their way through crowded market streets with smells pungent enough to turn your stomach in the humid air. New tower blocks develop a run-down patina in a matter of years. Everyone is shouting, all of the time.\nEnough people have asked me to share my experience in Hong Kong that I’ve decided to get around to doing it. I was reluctant for a few reasons. The first is that I felt I didn’t have anything particularly profound to say (it recalls white tourists returning home from building a cowshed in Vietnam and describing how seeing poverty really, like, made them grateful). The second was that there are enough Western voices telling us how to feel about police brutality and freedom movements, and I don’t see how my anecdotes would contribute to anything but further anxiety and sorrow for Hong Kong. I am not some kind of saviour, or for that matter a journalist. I did not do anything good for Hong Kong. I don’t see how I’ve earned my right to talk about it. So treat this only as a collection of thoughts, influenced and calcified by my time in a wonderful city.\nDo not go to Hong Kong right now unless you’re willing to get hurt for it. These are not localised outbreaks of violence. In Tsim Sha Tsui, the trendy shopping heart of Hong Kong, I saw a female tourist carried out of a tear smoke plume by her partner. I next saw her laid out several streets away amidst protester paramedics. It can be difficult to tell which places are safe, even when trying to avoid or escape a protest. I had not realised I was across from a besieged police station when I first had a taste of tear smoke. I hadn’t seen the smoke warning flags or police lights.\nThe night after the events of TST, the police used tear smoke in an underground MTR station. It should not take an expert to realise why using chemical weapons in an enclosed, unventilated space is an escalation of police violence. Quite frankly, considering the scale of the protests and the hostility of the HK riot police, it is only chance that someone hasn’t been killed (or at least confirmed to be). Hong Kong is a gorgeous, wonderful city, but the risks are obvious and largely unavoidable.\nI recall running with some strangers to the corner of Haiphong and Nathan Road, where an MTR station was still operating, as three busses of riot police arrived and unloaded onto the pavement beside me. The protests on Nathan Road clearly hadn’t dispersed to their liking. I was there by chance, doing tourist things. They were carrying tear smoke guns and shields. It is very surreal to be surrounded by some of the most valuable commercial real estate in the world, stocked with Tiffany Blue gift boxes and BVLGARI fragrances, only to be racing riot police to the station entrance before the metro shut down. The following night, my hotel in North Point boarded up its doors in preparation of a riot between protesters and pro-Beijing counterprotesters. I hung around for a while, but it seemed the protesters were smart enough to avoid North Point that night. My point is that, after dark, tourist impulses to see sights and enjoy good food will lead you into an escalating civil disturbance that has been ongoing for nearly three months now.\nWhat are we, the world, supposed to do about Hong Kong? Just this week, protesters marched on the U.S. embassy waving American flags. What do they expect the Yanks to do? Appear off-shore with a aircraft carrier as a show of force? Despite the sacrifice of Hong Kongers at home and abroad, the dialogue still seems to be not of Hong Kong and her future, but of China. Even if every demand should be met, the “two systems, one country” promise will expire in a few decades, and what do we plan to do about it then? Dump more opium into China and demand Hong Kong back?\nDespite my unwavering solidarity with Hong Kongers and their struggle, I find myself reeling from the gloating of our media, on social networks and in print, over the grisly iconography of the protests. Crows and carrion, I say. We don’t really intend to do anything about it — China could perpetrate another massacre and we’d only wring our hands about the incivility of it all. Who would we sanction the Chinese mainland from? Ourselves? We’ve spent the entire post-war era comfortably offloading our manufacturing into the cheap, exploited labour markets of East Asia. Are we willing to sacrifice our entire manufacturing base over the blood of Hong Kongers?\nJournalists scribble. Social media lurkers like. Politicians wrestle with the reality that our mother country’s navy is no longer able to stomp about the world anymore. Even America, our World Police, seem to be flexing only their civil service — intensifying bureaus and firing up cabinet meetings. So what are we, the world, supposed to do about Hong Kong?\nI watched thousands of Hong Kongers risk livelihoods and safety, only to return to the infantilising paternalism of Western commentary, with loaded notions of Hong Kong as a ‘Western pocket’ of Asia, flicking between sympathy theatre and condemnation of Beijing. It seems disingenuous and lurid, and although our free press is more decent about the matter than the Chinese state media could ever be (my Twitter in Hong Kong was sponsored exclusively by Chinese newspapers decrying the violence of protestors), it’s nonetheless uncomfortable for me to tout my own righteous, democratic superiority when all my morals and all my democracy leave me useless in the face of Chinese hegemony.\nIt’s left me burnt out and cynical in a way that tear smoke and street fires never could. There is spirit and vigilance in the protests in Hong Kong, but we live in a world of global trade and information overload. Hong Kong is very small place, and the world is very big. Our sympathy does the reality of the situation no good.\nHong Kong is not the tipping point — Hong Kong is the first of an ongoing shift of power in our region. There will be more crises like Hong Kong, and our neutered ability to cohesively respond to them without drawing upon our supposed moral superiority is a weakness. China does not understand Western presence and commentary in Hong Kong as a democratic effort — it sees it as the legacy of imperial ambition and colonial politics. How much of Australian shock and outcry is about reconciling our own powerlessness with our principles? What good is an opinion of the People’s Republic or of the HK police? We recognise the distastefulness and incivility of violence, but that does little to influence the imbalance of power spilling blood in Hong Kong right now.\nAwareness is not enough — we’re only a few taps and two clicks away from live minute-by-minute updates of every tear shed in the ongoing protests. There are thousands of journalists in Hong Kong covering every angle of police brutality. And yet the violence goes on…\nThis is my announcement that I am, in fact, useless — that for all my Australian pretensions of decency and agency, the situation has changed not one bit. I thus volunteer my honourable withdrawal from the Discourse.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/hong-kong/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 10,
  "href": "/millmint/bulletin/2020/2/",
  "title": "Issue 2 | June 2020","icon": "🌼","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "The Atlantic Bulletin Archive",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " From the Editor # Welcome to the second issue of The Atlantic, closing a quiet month for the Petticoat Project that has ushered in several new beginnings. A comic; a new website; new friends — June was a good month. The posts this month departed from the slice-of-life conventions of May, reintroducing maps and infographics to the project. This is a good change! Look forward to more diagrams from Vekllei in future.\nI\u0026rsquo;d also like to thank the contributors to this edition, Hangdog and Chev, for their essays. If you would like to contribute to The Atlantic with writing, art or reviews relevant to the spirit of petticoat ideology, please contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com before the 31st of July.\nThank you for supporting Vekllei, and I hope you find value in this bulletin.\nHobart Phillips Enjoy — 楽しんで\nI. News \u0026amp; Announcements # The postcard set for patrons is (just about) complete and awaiting the printers. I’ll contact patrons with a lifetime pledge of $20 or above for shipping addresses, and any patron who wants to make up the rest of their $20 for a set is welcome to do so. The Studio MillMint site is still under renovation. A lot of progress has been made in June, including a timeline page and the infrastructure required for a wiki and blog, but I’ve got so much going on at the moment that the site’s been relegated to “whenever there is time”. The comic has started in one form or another. It’s uni-related for now. Very soon I hope to be publishing storyboards of the “real deal” for patrons. Hobart\u0026rsquo;s uni break has started. Nice. Thank you always, patrons, for your continued support. It makes me feel loved, and lets me afford things like the postcards. II. Tzipora-watch # June 15th is Cobian’s birthday. It was on this day that Tzipora and Cobian first introduced themselves to each other, after Cobian’s ill-fated sweet sixteenth birthday party. Cobian was so struck with affection towards Tzipora and her friendliness that she was invited to a sleepover the following weekend.\nIII. Vekllei Fact of the Month # You might be aware that puffins are Vekllei’s national bird — but did you know that some people keep them as pets? In coastal fishing towns, puffins make good friends. They’re curious, unafraid birds that keep their “pufflings\u0026quot; safe in burrows underground. Vekllei has the largest population of Atlantic Puffins in the world. They’re also rather tasty!\nIV. WordBook # Fiousmanyiosn — “friendly architecture”. This is a Newda term that describes architecture friendly to its surrounds. “Friendly,” here, means to integrate and socialise with a structure’s surrounds, by employing local materials and styles. It can also be “friendly” in its purpose — to provide a foundational service to a community, something important to cultural fabric. In this sense, Fiousmanyiosn refers to both a materials principle and cultural architecture.\nV. The Bulletin # What is This Project? # 📖 Published 30th June 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nWhat is Vekllei?\nHi, I’m Hobart and I write and draw Vekllei at Studio MillMint.\nThis is a pretty complex project. Not just complex insofar as there’s a lot to read about it, but that it uses concepts and terminology you might not be familiar with if this is your first time around utopian fiction.\nSo Vekllei is a utopia — what does this mean? It’s latin for “no place,” and I use that literally. Vekllei, in a literal sense, cannot exist. Not because I think it could never have existed, or that some part of it is completely unreasonable, or it breaks the laws of physics — but because it exists in a certain place and time that is just isn’t replicable. It’s all built from the ground up.\nVekllei is a very good place to live, but it is not perfect. Utopia does not mean “perfect place”. Utopia is a form of social dreaming, much like worldbuilding, linked to the values and priorities of its author. In utopian studies, “utopia” is usually broken down further:\nEutopia — “good place” Dystopia — “bad place” Note that both form a part of the “utopia” — this is appropriate, since Vekllei is grounded in a social realism that acknowledges the good and bad parts of life. Indeed, they are inseparable — you cannot have the light without the dark. Obviously, in my eyes, Vekllei is very much a eutopia. You can read more about Vekllei (the country) by clicking here.\nThere are three parts to my “social dreaming”:\nLandscape — the world and country of Vekllei. When you think of “utopia,” this is it — shining modernist cities against striking landscapes. Character — not all social dreaming takes place in spaces. Some of it is built around experiences, objects and relationships. Tzipora is a “character utopia” in the sense that she represents a utopian life experience, full of stories good and bad. Author — Vekllei is a representation of the problems of my life, as a form of escapism. A lot of my posts here reflect dissatisfactions and displacements in my own life — consumer society, commodification of childhood, wage labour, postmodernism, etc. I’m very much a part of this utopian dialectic. Let’s run through some of the common queries and misunderstandings about Vekllei\nWho are you? A Tasmanian illustrator.\nYou’re not Japanese? お前はもう死んでいる\nWhy is Vekllei a utopia? It makes me feel better about my life and the world. It’s escapism; it’s a dream.\nIt’s a bit cringe to grandstand your political beliefs, doncha think? Vekllei is a personal utopia. That’s what I’m selling. At least you’re getting good opinions.\nWhere’s the tension if it’s perfect? Vekllei is very cynical and tragic in places. Utopia is just a reflection of the author, good and bad.\nIs there a novel? A story? A comic? I’m working on a comic right now. I’m pretty much working on Vekllei full-time so I’m hoping to announce it soon. I’ve got a lot of different Vekllei projects going.\nWhere is Vekllei? Iceland.\nWhy does Vekllei look Japanese? Vekllei is like a country of Scandinavians speaking French with an Aussie accent in Shōwa era Japan/Maoist China/Taiwan etc. Vekllei looks however I imagine utopia looks.\nHow does that make sense? Why can’t it just be cool?\nIs your alt-history thought out? Vekllei’s history is whatever I need it to be. I’m always trying to be realistic, but it’s all worked backwards from the setting. I’m not really “worldbuilding” in a typical sense. Very little of it is published, most of it is retrieved on request. Just ask if you have questions.\nIs Vekllei communist? No.\nBut Vekllei calls itself “petticoat socialist”. Vekllei is set in a culture of Marxist revivalism in the 50s and 60s. A lot of Vekllei’s lexicon is set in that context. Vekllei is a decentralised democracy that doesn’t use money. It’s a sort of participatory economy.\nWhy the \u0026ldquo;petticoat\u0026rdquo;? Vekllei is a female country. Womanhood is decommodified. It\u0026rsquo;s maternal, social and friendly where socialist rhetoric is masculine, technocratic and progressive.\nWho is Zelda? Zelda is another name for Tzipora. She has two names specifically to confuse you.\nWhat is the “bulletin”? I publish the Atlantic Bulletin once a month via email. It’s got the month’s posts in it as well as facts and tidbits from Vekllei. DM me an email if you want to join.\nVillage Map of Montre-Lola # 📖 Published 29th June 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nThe village of Montre-Lola is home to about 400 people in its entirety, a stone’s throw from the Aisyo borough. Each morning, however, the population swells as 300 children from tiny villages in both Aisyo and Montre take a fast tram to the Montre-Lola Area School No. 2, a district school raising all ages of local youth.\nLike many Vekllei villages, Montre-Lola’s history is complex and has origin stories in both viking-inuit settlement as well as less sentimental government programmes that flourished after the atomic war. By historical accounts, Montre-Lola has been inhabited since at least 1500CE. By contemporaneous records, however, it was established as a village in land reform during the 1960s and revitalised by the building of the area school in 2057. Montre-Lola features many civic objects common to Vekllei villages — a nondenominational place of worship (in this case, a historical Catholic church), a constabulary, a doctor, an auto/tractor pool, a general store, a station platform, and a village hall. A map of the village centre is dominated by the Area School, built in an Edunewda style, which features many new facilities that distinguish it from smaller, 20th-century schools. It’s a good place to grow up; where farmland and earnest modernity collide.\nMontre-Lola is most relevant as the residence of Tzipora Desmoisnes, the world’s oldest person and one of the first people to be diagnosed with Gregori-Heitzfeld Syndrome. She works as a librarian in both the Montre-Lola Area School and the Montre-Lola Library \u0026amp; Archives, spending most of her 12-hour workday in either of these institutions. She commutes via fast trams, which arrive automatically at the two platforms in Montre-Lola every half-hour and continue out into the surrounding farms. This means that, if she sets her watch right, she can step outside her front door and arrive at the school library in under ten minutes. This journey is marked in red on the map above.\nDominated by farmland, Montre-Lola is communal and more traditionally ‘anarchist’ in flavour than Vekllei’s urban boroughs, which are obscured by convenience. As charming as it is suffocating, the community is very close-knit and made up of all sorts — smart educated young men and women sent from Montre to teach, as well as farming families that have resided here for centuries. Life moves slower and people know each other. When the school hosts its cross-country race each year, nearly every person in the village is out to watch it. After all, it takes a village to raise a child.\nThe Vekllei Crown: coins of a moneyless country # 📖 Published 24th June 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nVekllei, legendarily, does not use circulate currency. Goods and services are moved and offered arbitrarily, provided amply in abundance. Anything that is not abundant is manufactured and distributed directly under the control of a bureau, which is a trade organ responsible to the affairs of the country. At no point do coins or paper currency change hands in the day-to-day affairs of the country.\nIn this sense, Vekllei is usually described as “moneyless” — yet it does in fact have a currency. The Vekllei Kroner, or “Crown,” is hundreds of years old, and Vekllei still operates a mint for currency. At any time, a Vekllei person can write to the National Mint and order a set of coins, like the ones pictured above. So what is going on here?\nAlthough the Kroner has not been used since 2022, after the last village in Stochi returned coinage to the Mint, it continues to exist to this day as a gold-backed currency in the International Market, through which Vekllei trades with other countries. The physical coins, produced mostly as a novelty in the tradition of mayaesdiou (medallions, or small metal pieces commonly collected and given in Vekllei), are a physical coinage of the International Market. The coins also operate as a form of bullion, or wealth reserve, since each coin is worth exactly its face value in gold. Since the International Market is completely closed and independent of the domestic economy, its value is controlled directly by the so-called Government Bank. It is one of the few gold-backed currencies in a developed nation today.\nTo further complicate things, there are actually two different Kroner in Vekllei. There is the Vekllei Kroner, which represents the International Market, but there is also a seperate Government/State Kroner, which is not minted and used only as an investment mechanism, backed by government \u0026ldquo;white bonds\u0026rdquo; which are usually measures of labour-hours or refined materials. It is, in a sense, a fiat currency alongside a gold-backed currency.\nThey exist independently because they are used for two seperate purposes. The Vekllei Kroner is used a wealth reserve and bullion, and also represents the collective wealth of the Vekllei people. Each citizen, in theory, is entitled to an equal share of the Government Bank, although it can only be withdrawn as currency in specific circumstances. Vekllei also holds substantial amounts of foreign currency in the Government Bank and Vekllei Kroner, which is used to invest and stabilise holdings and capital in foreign countries. The Government Kroner, on the other hand, is used as an investment mechanism abroad, usually in support of infrastructure. It is also used to acquire foreign currencies through investment in foreign capital.\nDespite having two currencies, neither the \u0026ldquo;Vekllei Crown\u0026rdquo; or the \u0026ldquo;Government Crown\u0026rdquo; are used in the domestic economy in Vekllei, which is autonomous and not subject to a central bank. So it is that Vekllei’s currency is both little more than a novelty and essential to the function of the country in a world still ruled by money.\nIn the coinage depicted above — 8 coins are minted in Vekllei today. They were designed in 2015, in the year of independence. They represent eight core values in the country.\nThe “small crowns,” worth 1VK and 10VK respectively, represent fraternity and liberty, two founding elements of the Vekllei constitution. The 50VK coin is plated in silver and has a small ruby inset. Rubies are used to represent energy, in this case, the vitality of the spirits, which dominate Upen and the Vekllei landscape. The 100, 200, 500 and 1,000VK coins represent different landscapes of the country. As a volcanic island nation, the ocean (100) and landscape (200) coins are fairly straightforward. The humanity coin (500) represents the Vekllei people and ancestry — note how humans are placed alongside other natural forces. The flower coin (1,000VK) represents the flowers of the country, which are important spiritually and have formed part of the Vekllei identity. Vekllei has the most flowers per capita in the world. The final, larger 10,000VK coin represents the previous seven together, as a total sum of Vekllei landscape and identity.\nTo answer Tzipora’s question — a bottle of fizzy drink cost about 2VK in the waning days of coinage in the early 2020s.\nA Map of Vekllei: 100 Boroughs; 100 Hearts # 📖 Published 14th June 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nMap Key\nRed: Magjet trains, 750km/h Yellow: Bullet trains, 300-400km/h Orange: Regional trains, \u0026lt;150km/h Brown: Local trains, including limited express, \u0026lt;100km/h Blue: National highway Dashed: Ferry line Green: tarmacadamed airport The largest division of any portion of Vekllei land is the borough; a region of varying size and population with common culture, food dependency and economic interest. Anything larger than that is simply Vekllei — they are “one city”, after all, and consider themselves a city-state.\nThere have been exactly 100 boroughs since 2015. Each is named after the largest city in its region.\nThe smallest borough is Bakur, in Afouismeh, with a population of 7,500 people. The largest is Vekllei proper, in the Capital Region, of 2.4 millions. This transit map illustrates all 100 boroughs, Vekllei’s five tallest mountains, its permafrost glaciers and Tzipora’s home in Montre-Lola. Her five largest boroughs — namely Vekllei, Lonne, Adouisneh, Montre and Copette, are highlighted.\nEven in this simple transit map we can see several truths about the country, like its population bias on the West Coast and the emptiness of the Lava volcanic region. You might recognise a few names there, like Lola in the West (Tzipora’s home with Baron) and Yana in Vekllei’s Ro Highlands (Ayn’s birthplace).\nTrains are clean, reliable, fast, efficient and safe. They are incorporated under Vekllei Rail, owned by the Transport Group Bureau. Using this map, designed for domestic tourists and foreigners, the adequacy of Vekllei’s rail transport is easy to plan around — you can eat breakfast in a cafe in the seaside town of Mumen, and hike before midday on the glacial slopes of Askayoisn. Since there are no tickets or costs, there are no excuses for not visiting relatives in the country, now that transport is now a trivial inconvenience.\nEach borough is represented in Vekllei’s parliament by an elected representative. These representatives wield extraordinarily disproportionate power — the representative for Callaisn, for example, represents hundreds of times more people than the representative for Tanger, but both have the same vote. This is because boroughs are not just representative of their populations, but also their environments, industry and other social organs otherwise unable to vote. It is important to keep in mind that Upen (and consequently, policy) recognises the landscape itself as the sovereign organ of the country, and so in this sense it has its own interests and projections.\nIn practice, representatives act in an advisory, nonpartisan role in government, voting rarely in an auxiliary role to the professionalised, elected legislature. Vekllei has a strictly constitutional parliament, and the economy largely prohibits interference. In this sense, the parliament is both partially undemocratic in its inefficiency and apolitical in its orientation as a sort of civil service bureau, managing state affairs and reacting to pressures and the long-term aims outlined in the 2015 constitution. In the Vekllei mindset, the “government” is more or less another bureau, no different or particularly more interesting than the Transport Group Bureau. The trains, at least, have a tangible impact on their daily lives.\nHow appropriate, then, that this transit map produced in the summer months of 2076 combines both monuments of society. It also offers a glimpse of a larger, documented country not necessarily revealed in piecemeal story posts.\nA Most Beautiful Woman # 📖 Published 12th June 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nWhen Tzipora first laid eyes on Ayn, hours after her arrival in the country, she thought, “that’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”\nIt wasn’t just her features or figure that captured Tzipora’s attention — it was also her confident, inconspicuous movements and a quiet self-assuredness that seemed obvious in her gentle expression and posture. Tzipora was not quite sure how to describe it. Her beauty was very alive in the way she inhabited a space, as she walked into the hotel lounge to meet them. Maybe it was grace — maybe it was a little girl-crush — she didn’t know.\nAs Baron greeted her and they exchanged cheek kisses, it appeared to Tzipora that Ayn and Baron were old friends, and she was further assured in her respect for him — that Baron could know such beautiful women seemed natural! Baron was capable of anything in Tzipora’s eyes, a figure of ultimate power — it only made sense that he knew this woman!\nOf course, both Ayn and Baron were mortal, and Tzipora got to know them well during the helter-skelter weeks following her arrival in Vekllei. Baron might have rescued her, but it was Ayn who introduced her to Vekllei, as AB/NI called Baron into office for the first time in a decade. It was Ayn who took her clothes shopping and wrestled with Zelda’s obsessive-compulsive fabric requirements. It was Ayn who taught Tzipora her first Vekllei sentence. And in the end, it was Ayn who convinced Baron that he had to take responsibility for Tzipora.\nIt was only years later that Tzipora began to realise that Ayn and Baron were, in a sense, married to each other through their work. They worked closely (he as recent head of operations at AB/NI, she as a research analyst in American economics) and their friendship went back decades. She was his “work wife,” which was the closest Baron could ever get to that particular institution, and so her proximity and love towards Tzipora made her a mother.\nShe was a vision of everything Tzipora wanted for herself — to be capable and respected; beautiful and unassuming; intelligent and productive. And once more, it was Ayn, in the end, who convinced Tzipora that she could these things for herself, regardless of her genetic disability. “Go out there,” is what she said, “and trust in yourself.”\nThe Oa-Class Battlecruiser # 📖 Published 6th June 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nVekllei’s defensive military posture has, in doctrine and arms development, limited its ability to meaningfully project power outside of the Atlantic. As an island nation with a large and multifaceted naval armada, the Oa-Class Battlecruiser is the heart of her armed forces, as the flagship of her fleets.\nWhere U.S. doctrine places carriers offensively in the structure of its ship-groups, the Vekllei Navy is considerably more Soviet in its employ of carriers as primarily defensive air-bases to exercise sovereignty over her far-flung territories and island possessions. Oa-class Battlecruisers are notable as hybrid carrier-battleships, and feature a diagonal jetway with capacity for carrier-type naval jets (almost indistinguishable in the illustration above) and a variety of VTOL aircraft, which are common by the 2050s.\nFirst built in the 2050s by the sprawling National Naval Arsenal (located on Vekllei’s Far East coast, close to the foundries that pour her iron), 12 Oa-Class Battlecruisers are in service in the 2070s. They carry heavy fission reactors built by bureau monopoly General Reactor, supplemented by a gas-turbine generator, as is standard on all Vekllei-built nuclear vessels. Her unusual serpentine funnel is characteristic of Vekllei’s navy, and is a distinguishing feature of their naval design language.\nHer hulking superstructure and massive 15-inch fore guns recall the capital battleships of yesteryear, but she is a thoroughly modern battlecruiser with contemporary armament and electrics for combat and fleet administration. Named after Vekllei’s National flower, these Battlecruisers are the third-largest vessels in the navy and are multifunctional by design, often operated as strategic and operational platforms to support Vekllei’s large defensive armadas that patrol the North Atlantic.\nShe is armed with two triple-barrelled 15-inch shore guns that can be loaded with a variety of shells including nuclear payloads, silos for guided missiles, and specialised guns and missile platforms for anti-ship, submarine and satellite warfare. Her powerful communications array and sensors are positioned 80 meters above the surface for the benefit of radar and subsurface monitoring. She can also support up to 12 standard carrier jets at one time, or 16 individual helijets/VTOL craft.\nVekllei has larger battlecruisers (the so-called super-battlecruisers match her height and are nearly twice her length) and much larger carriers, but the displacement of the vessel was never a priority. Vekllei’s naval architecture prioritises mobility and capability in their capital ships, and so the Oa-class vessels represent many intersecting vertices of Vekllei’s naval doctrine.\nCanal Living # 📖 Published 3rd June 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nAtlantic Salmon was the best in the world, and Vekllei had a lot of it. Ocean-going fishing boats brought their haul to Ro, where they cruised wide postwar canals and unloaded tonnes of shiny, bright salmon into processing plants. If a new factory was built, so too was a canal or a railroad. Nothing was trucked. Fish was traded fresh in markets or turned into emulsifiers and fertiliser.\nThe canals were worked heavily, and few fishing vessels were incorporated. The vast majority of Vekllei’s fishing fleet was owned by the people that worked them, trading with the Sea Office. From a quaisiosn or “canal park” you might see a dozen vessels in an hour. Some were run-down prewar things limping out to the shallow coasts, while others were nuclear-powered salmon trawlers designed for the storms of the Atlantic. On the northern coast, the bigger boats were reinforced as ice-breakers. Fish was one of the few meats in the Vekllei diet that wasn’t grown in an industrial laboratory, a fact reflected in the scale of its infrastructure.\nCanals are good for a city, and are good for the heart. Tzipora would take long walks in the morning along the Wellington Canal to where it met Touismah, then follow it to where it circled back into Lola. She would figure out what she was doing with her life as the boats departed for the day’s catch. She never much liked salmon, but she liked the boats. They were an island country, and their futures and pasts met in the sea — where it churned and swelled in their dreams.\nVI. The Post Office # Aussie Thoughts on Police Violence [NEW] # BY HANGDOG#4510\nIf you lived under a rock, you might be excused for missing the brutal murder of George Floyd. Unfortunately for you, America is the centre of all Earthly affairs, so the odds of the social media wildfire missing you are slim to none. But that’s okay, really, because at least it gives you something interesting to watch on the news, as a police station is torched or a wheelchair-bound hobo has his face blown open with a rubber bullet.\nCan we Australians say we are better than Americans? Absolutely. You’re 27 times more likely to be executed by a police officer in the States than you are here. Roughly 25% of the world’s prison population can be found in the ‘land of the free’, and it seems every single protest has resulted in someone losing an eye or being knocked into tomorrow. But are we perfect? Fuck to the no. Earlier this month, videos surfaced of a police officer sweeping the legs of an Indigenous youth in retaliation for a few measly swears. Almost a third of our prison population are Aboriginal Australian, despite accounting for just over 3% of our general population. That sucks.\nWhat are our possible solutions? Currently the popular rhetoric is radical and reactionary, with #ACAB and #AbolishThePolice signaturing every ‘woke’ Twitter or Instagram post. These reductionist slogans do hold merit; it’s not the individual that is evil, it’s the policing institution as a whole. Money that is spent inflating the budgets of corrupt police departments and outfitting riot squads with military-grade hardware could be better spent on community solutions. We need to elevate communities from the material poverty which leads to crime.\nThe question, then, is culture. Do we in the West have a social consciousness ready for community policing? Can we be sure that a decreased police presence will stop scenes like the Murray Hill Riots in Canada, where a police strike led to 16 hours of widespread looting? Can the West, and especially the Americans, really be trusted to govern themselves? This author thinks no. Excluding utopian socialist ideas that the root of all human evils is capitalism, tangible solutions are necessary.\nIt seems to be that the pragmatic approach is the strongest. Reforming police unions, holding officers accountable for crimes they commit on duty, and increase the standards necessary to wear the uniform and possess the badge. These sensible, attainable solutions would not only have immediate effects, but could have long term effects on American culture at large.\nReform however cannot perfectly address the root of the issue with the police. The police do and always will be the only entity to possess a ‘legitimate’ monopoly on violence. There is no use boring you in an anarchist breakdown of the monopoly on violence and the danger of hierarchies, because some dead revolutionary from the last century has put it better in some dusty tome. Simply put, any hierarchical enforcement of law will always justify the use of violence. The key is examining culture and society, and deciding on meaningful compromise between an ideological ideal and a pragmatic policy. We can negotiate between what is and what ought, but no solution will be perfect. Laws are by their very nature imperfect and malleable, bound not to a higher authority but to a cultural identity. The aim is not utopia, but to possess something that is better than what we have today.\nLive to Ride: Harley-Davidson and the Commodification of Identity [NEW] # BY CHEVALIERMALFET#1904\n“The proof,” they say, “is in the pudding.”\nIf you ask a motorcyclist about Harley Davidson, you’ll get one of two answers. The people who don’t ride them scoff at them - heavy, dirty, clunky, and slow, Nixon-era dinosaurs inferior to both the Japanese standards and their own clones. If you ask a dedicated Harley rider, though, you get a different picture - they love their machines and their experiences riding them, and would never consider abandoning the company for a rival’s product. How has this company inspired such loyalty in spite of its terrible product?\nBefore I reach the point of this essay, fair is fair: Harley Davidson has an excellent customer service program and a wide network of dealers and mechanics. While this has nothing to do with the bikes themselves, it’s still a point in their favor.\nBut the main point is simple. A man who buys a Harley isn’t simply getting a new vehicle - he (and it is almost always he) is buying a new identity. Because of Harley’s tireless marketing, he has a very clear image of the sort of person who owns one. Every bike sold comes with a ticket to a new sense of self, and a new life as a “Harley Guy.”\nWho is the “Harley Guy?” Who does this new rider imagine he’ll become? 60 years ago, the Harley image was bound up with real antisocial behavior. The first wave of bikers were WW2 veterans, shell-shock cases unable to return to civilian life, and their bikes were military surplus. Hunter S. Thomson’s Hell’s Angels describes the titular gang shooting heroin and smashing up gas stations.\nBut as the sixties wore on and the original bikers aged out or died off, Harley shifted its marketing. When its last domestic competitor went out of business, Harley wrapped itself in the flag and called itself the only choice for “Real Americans.” When Japan started selling small-displacement moped scooters, Harley touted its big bikes as the only choice for “Real Men.” When the automobile industry faced tighter safety regulations, Harley lobbied against helmet laws and called their buyers “Real Rebels.”\nCombine it together and a picture emerges: the “Harley Guy” may be out of step with square society, but he’s still a member of it - and its enemies are still his enemies. He might rebel against the rat race and the nanny state - especially when they want him to wear a helmet - but that’s because he’s channeling the purest essence of America, the cowboy spirit of an imaginary past. He salutes the troops and supports the police, and he always stands up for the national anthem. Most of all, he is a member of a group - the Harley brotherhood, a community of like-minded individuals.\nFor most of the 80s, the American government protected Harley-Davidson with crushing tariffs. But those tariffs expired in 1988, and Harley was forced to fight the Japanese on even terms. Fighting bike-to-bike was impossible; the four Japanese OEMs were lean, mean, and honed to razors after 40 years of competition. Instead, Harley tripled-down on the marketing. The dealerships are apparel-shops, where customers can buy logo-branded shirts, bags, shot-glasses, and travel checkers sets. It has never been easier to show your identity - and your membership in the corporate family.\nMost advertisers sell their product by selling the image of the person who owns it, but Harley-Davidson must be the most infamous, and obvious, example.\nVII. Gallery # This month’s sketches, presented without context or or standards of quality. Contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com for full-res versions of any images received in this bulletin.\nRecess [23.6.2020] # Untitled [7.6.2020] # POSTS THIS MONTH: 7 # POSTS LAST MONTH: 8 # Published by MillMint Press. Copyright 2020. To stop receiving these emails send UNSUBSCRIBE to melonkony@icloud.com.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 11,
  "href": "/millmint/bulletin/2020/",
  "title": "The Atlantic Bulletin Archive","icon": "🌼","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " ✿ Note from the Editor\nThe bulletin was an experiment created in May 2020 to supplement content posted to reddit. It featured project updates, news relevant to the project, and contributing essays from friends of the project. It was published monthly via direct email subscription. It has been replaced by the Petticoat Research Bulletin.\nListed below are the issues of The Atlantic distributed in 2020.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 12,
  "href": "/millmint/bulletin/2020/3/",
  "title": "Issue 3 | July 2020","icon": "🌼","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "The Atlantic Bulletin Archive",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " From the Editor # Welcome to the third issue of The Atlantic. This is the month of postcards, and feeling tired. There are fewer posts this month — and aside from Vekllei’s Race for Inefficiency, they’ve all been pretty tepid stuff. There’s good reason for that, and hopefully we’ll be back to regular production next month. And the postcards are currently making their way around the world — how exciting!\nWhere do we go from here? Am I just going to continue grinding out posts for the rest of this year? Well, possibly. But the theme of the last few editions, and of which July is no exception, is the “future” of this project — preparing to finally make Vekllei something “real\u0026quot;. Worldbuilding is fine — but storytelling is a great human talent, and I would like to tell stories in Vekllei. I’m a bit boxed in, at times — distracted by nice things like postcards and university study, as well as regular posts and sketches — but I want to start something big. I want to start a comic.\nExpect news next month.\nIn the meantime, the global pandemic has subsumed all of us into the surreal, and a lot of us lucky enough to be unaffected by Coronavirus are simply floating around, grasping for meaning and purpose in a world that seems as though a cosmic bit flipped somewhere after 2001. I’m sure I’m not the only one who, months into lockdown, is starting to find the abyss staring back at me. I think the way out of it is to draw more.\nThanks for reading, and I\u0026rsquo;d also like to thank the contributor to this edition, Mtirado, for their essay. If you would like to contribute to The Atlantic with writing, art or reviews relevant to the spirit of petticoat ideology, please contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com before the 31st of August.\nThank you for supporting Vekllei, and best wishes.\nHobart Phillips Enjoy — 楽しんで\nI. News \u0026amp; Announcements # Postcards have been sent! Finally — this was a mammoth task. Six illustrations back-to-back doesn’t sound like much, but I’m no good at doing the same thing over and over. Shipping may take up to four weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic, so hopefully everyone will have theirs by August. Let me know if you don’t. I have purchased some nice watercolour brushes for my digital workflow, and so you’ll see some rough edges in my work for a while as I learn how to use them. Absolutely no work has been done on the website. It’s a shame, but it’s a matter of time. It was always going to be a long-term, big-payoff project and when it’s done, it’ll be spectacular. Hopefully August treats it better. 🔗www.millmint.net and 🔗www.vekllei.com now redirect to 🔗www.millmint.studio! Makes it a bit easier to share. II. Tzipora-watch # It was in July that Tzipora first met Ayn’s parents, who would quickly assume a role in Tzipora’s life as her own grandparents. Ayn’s mother, Ana, is Soviet-Born, and her father, Tony, is a Hong-Konger. Despite her international heritage, Ayn is afraid of both the sea and the sky and has never left Vekllei’s shores. Tzipora looks forward to spending part of the summer in Yana with Ayn and her grandparents each year.\nIII. Vekllei Fact of the Month # Vekllei’s heavy diet of lab-grown meat, called ‘factory steak’ or eoui demanufacturie is so widespread in cities that many children in the capital region have never eaten meat from a living creature. Its texture and taste, especially after processing, is identical to beef and comes in different forms to replicate different cuts of meat, including fat and gristle. Most ‘real’ meat in Vekllei cities consists of sweetbreads, offcuts and organs — the stuff left over from authentic rural consumption of the prime cuts. Chicken hearts, for example, are eaten by themselves or on a skewer.\nIV. WordBook # Iyadaisnesn — also called “Insta-skin” is a collagen scaffold that rapidly seals and then regenerates skin over wounds. It is used medicinally in Vekllei, where it is branded as Iyadaisnesn, and is usually aerosolised and applied to shallow scrapes and grazes to seal the wound and prevent infection. Within a few days, it’s good as new! A type of Insta-skin is also used by the military, where it is distributed in wet pouches and acts much faster on much more serious wounds.\nV. The Bulletin # Meet Tzipora \u0026ndash; concept panel for a Vekllei comic # 📖 Published 31st July 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nThere are a lot of things Tzipora does differently to everybody else, and they start to make a lot more sense when you realise Tzipora either does not realise she is unusual, or does not care.\nShe has a lot of endearing characteristics that give great character to her mannerisms and physicality. She has a small overbite that makes her look a little froggy, and ritually pulls on her shirt and wipes her nose in anxious conversation. She is round-headed and cuts her hair herself. She talks in a low, expressive voice. She has been poorly socialised in childhood, and is afraid of casual conversation with people she does not know. She is keenly socially attuned and feels awkwardness painfully.\nShe wears the same clothes two or three days in a row. The outfits themselves are variations of the same thing, and her tastes don’t change. Everything hangs off her — she likes baggy, airy clothing, and upsizes to accomodate. She doesn’t like fashionable or voguish people, whom she regards as decadent and offensive. To Tzipora, taste is timeless and bound to the soul. In her case, this fact has held true — she has dressed the same as childhood, and very little else has changed about her in that time.\nShe is paranoid and conservative, good-natured and austere, with a moral outlook bound by her deepest anxieties and obsessions. She is deeply spiritual and material, fascinated with objects and their history. She has many collections of many things she’s found. She’ll likely die a Catholic, but has a confrontational relationship with God and no longer attends mass, as a declaration of humanism. She does not know if this has pissed Him off, but it’s working out so far. Maybe that’s why He made her a homosexual — to get back at her. He must have a good sense of humour, if that’s the case.\nTzipora may be intense and inward-facing, but she can also be disarmingly charming and self-deprecating. She has a good sense of humour. There are not many girls that can so easily reconcile the contradictions between the peculiar and the healthy, the eccentric and the friendly, and the violent and the domestic. That’s part of her character — an essence of being that radiates decency, good taste and a respect for the spirit of all things.\nSummer House in the Azores # 📖 Published 28th July 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nThe Azores had been a possession of Vekllei since 2002, when they were leased from Portugal indefinitely. The lease was defunct by the time of Vekllei’s independence from U.K. occupation in 2015, and the new state took formal ownership over the small Atlantic islands.\nThe Azores was Vekllei’s resort region, often called simply the “holiday isles”. Brief reprieves from the North Atlantic cold were granted to hundreds of thousands domestic tourists each year in resorts and holiday rentals alike. Tzipora spent the summer of 2079 there. Good memories were made in that summer. She did not much like the beach but she liked the ocean. If she could retire, it would be in the Azore\nBase Camp # 📖 Published 21st July 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nJust a paint-sketch.\nThe puffin scouts set up camp not far from the rest, just outside of Krafla in the Lava region. When they moved south tomorrow, thick native grasses and trees would give way to flower-tundras and bare hills, and by Tuesday they’d be in the heart of Lava — empty and extraterrestrial and volcanic.\nThe Krafla high-energy communications tower was visible from all over the region. It provided uninterrupted radio to most of North Lava, and could relay signals through satellites. In another country, it might have been considered a blight on a pristine view — but in Vekllei, there was no such thing as pristine. It was as much a part of the landscape as the trees.\nThey started the fire first, figuring they’d have more enthusiasm for the tent when they were warm. Warm sunrays played on the field-grasses around them.\nTzipora’s ‘Every Day Carry’ # 📖 Published 20th July 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nLike a lot of girls of poverty, Tzipora was very possessive of her things. No food was ever left on her plate. There was a deep anxiety that whatever wasn’t claimed would be lost. She was also naturally obsessive and material-oriented, keenly aware of the importance of objects measured by metrics in her own silly head. You can discover a lot about a person from their trinkets and toys — let’s discover a bit about Tzipora.\nHer handbag is manufactured by Spaa S.p.A., a design firm in the capital. They’re a luxury item in the international market but readily available in Vekllei, since few other handbag makers operate on the scale of Spaa. Ayn picked it out shortly after Tzipora’s arrival for its colour, after Tzipora told her she did not own any red things.\nTzipora has a sweet tooth. Especially for soda, which she calls “fizzy drink”. On her person at any time, she carries a flavoured beverage from one of several brands capable of meeting her discerning tastes. She supplements them with a water bottle, since not even fizzy drink refreshes as well as water after phys-ed or a hot day. She also stocks her arsenal of snacks with good fruit picked off trees that overhang footpaths, as well as devastating salvos of Vekllei’s finest confectionary, including Fruit Tingles and chocolate pearls. Other girls in her class bemoan her childish metabolism as she drinks soda for lunch while they watch the scales.\nThe nostalgic whimsy of the sweets is tempered by two or three loose cigarettes that float around in her purse at any given time. She’s not a regular smoker, but she’s prone to attacks related to stress, and nothing helps as much as a drag. She carries matches, for not much reason other than that’s what Baron uses, and Tzipora is notoriously sentimental.\nTzipora has a rock collection that sits on her bedroom sill, and her recent additions sit at the bottom of her purse. She’s not a rock elitist; quartz from footpaths catches her attention as easily as igneous treasures like palagonite. Her favourite is obsidian.\nShe carries a small collection of useful books, including a contemporary paperback and a notebook. The paperback is for recess and lunch; the notebook is for language notes and phone numbers. Her Vekllei I.D. papers, which are both a passport and a reference booklet of key information and services, are carried on her at all times. It’s not really necessary in day-to-day life — but who knows when it might be, and Tzipora won’t be the one patting her pockets at the airport gate.\nFinally, there are a few accessories sitting in the bag. Tzipora made a ring for Cobian in metalworking class, but Cobian is on a school trip to France at the moment and Tzipora is waiting for her return. She has a wristwatch given to her by Baron, which she wears sometimes depending on the occasion. Other items are more precautionary — a scarf for the wind, a handkerchief for sneezing, and a spare pair of socks for when she visits Cobian’s house or if she needs to double up in cold weather. As summer turns to autumn, she also carries gloves and a beanie.\nWith everything in its place, her handbag is her anchor in the world outside her small second-floor apartment. The decommodification of society has only intensified the social value of objects, and they remain as important as ever in the life of the ordinary Vekllei person.\nThe Race for Inefficiency: Vekllei’s advocation of austerity, apathy, and playfulness as economic principles # 📖 Published 13th July 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nOverview of the Bureau System # There are many thousands of companies busy with work in Vekllei. The vast majority of these companies are single-person shops (S.p.A., or senrouiva pettetie anaproiouya). Also common are wobbly shops, or co-operative businesses (S.q.A., or senrouiva qualitie anaproiouya). The largest of the non-bureau companies are village factories (S.p.M., or senrouiva persimonaya manufacturie).\nThe bureau-level world is full of company mastheads that emphasise modernity, dynamism and progress. Vekllei’s “private businesses”, however, tend to be local in taste. The vast majority of S.p.A. and S.q.A. businesses bear the family names of their founders — Desmesyo S.p.A., Risyiouisnesn Home Machines S.q.A., etc. Their legal denominations are almost always affixed to the end of their nameplates.\nTheir senrouiva designation marks them as non-bureau businesses. A bureau, as a reminder, is simply the top-level organisation of a trade union that organises business in the country. In practice, it means that a company is responsible to the political organs of the country. Although independent from the government, bureau business is inextricably entwined in government concern and runs parallel to it.\nSenrouvia businesses are also part of the bureau structure, but are in practice not managed directly by them. They are usually united in local concern by so-called petty bureaus; small cooperative organs that safeguard local interest and business. These petty bureaus are often at odds with the bureau organs proper, and so even though they are part of the same structure, they are fundamentally political opposed.\nSo what is sort of business goes on in a bureau proper?\nThere are two common categories of so-called “bureau firms”. You have state industries (S.A., or societie indastrie), which deal with manufacturing and exploitation of resources that require direct management by a public organ. You’ll already be familiar with several — General Reactor, Comen Aeroyards S.A., Farmer’s Syndicate S.A. to name a few.\nYou also have state requisites (A.r., or requoisesiasn amourisocietie), which refer to the vast government-operated organs made up six categories primarily.\nUtilities (A.r.Un.) Transport (A.r.R.) Education (A.r.E.) Local healthcare (A.r.F.) Construction (A.r.Lo.) Automation (A.r.M.) Yes — education is not organised as a government department, but a bureau business. Other state responsibilities are folded directly into government departments — war, intelligence, healthcare, police, fire, and the mint are all managed directly by the government.\nArgument # With the legal division of enterprise laid out, let us examine again the four precepts of the Vekllei economic ideology.\nSelf-management and self-interest through Sundress Municipalism. Classification of property as an independent social organ, like nature. Abolishment of currency and currency-substitutes. Participatory employment. Economic feminisation. These four principles reveal a great deal about the character of the country, and stand largely at face value. There is an interest in chasing the promises of modernity while deconstructing its metaphysical constructions, through the abolishment of exchange-value, property and the overhaul of gender-economics. There are anarchist gestures in each principle, yet it is obvious that the product of these values complexify the conventional anarchist imagination. This is part of a series of contradictions — between free and planned markets, between internationalism and provinciality, between man and woman, between freedom and security.\nAusterity # The bureau system is plagued by inefficiencies, arising from logistic systems premised on warehousing, poor Coasean bargaining between petty bureaus and proper bureaus, a political emphasis on macroeconomic outcomes, a decoupling of aggregate demand and national economic output, cultural intolerance for Pareto inefficiencies, etc.\nLuxury goods often vary in both supply and access, and economies are often severely localised to the point of provincialism, meaning that Vekllei has failed to transition reliably to a modern consumer society. The inhabitants of the Montre borough most often eat seafood because speciality meats, especially authentic red meat, are scarce. The opposite is true in Yana. Clothes are repaired and regifted, appliances are available only from regional outlets usually located in the same city as the factory, and culture and diet are fiercely regional.\nThis is, in part, a result of unflinching national austerity and the sublimation of artificial markets prompted by Vekllei’s gold-based auxiliary currency, which necessitates meeting debt obligations for its strength internationally. There is a belief in Vekllei that the wealth of the country allowed the abolition of the currency — in fact, the opposite is true. The abolition of currency allows a permanent wealth that compensates for the inefficiencies of the bureau system. The bureau firms do not pay their workers — on paper, there are no expenses for anything beyond raw commodity exchange. This is how Vekllei’s largest companies — and, per the bureau system, its government — remain solvent.\nAusterity is a cultural force, too — the scarcity of luxury goods inflates their social value, where comforts and necessities are largely abundant in automation. It creates an unimportant hardship that keeps Vekllei people forward-facing, lean, and ambitious. To acquire Picco S.p.A.’s iconic lounge chairs, you have to travel to their outlet in Horn, hundreds of kilometres from the capital area. There is no motivation for a craftsman to meet demand — there is no petty consumption, either. To own a Picco chair means you have understood its cultural value, utility and craftsmanship, and have made the effort to find and transport one to your home. Inconvenience, and by extension, austerity, is celebrated as a “trial of ownership.” Objects are very important in Vekllei, and craftsmanship is highly valued, and so people like to surround themselves with hand-made, sublime things wrought not just by the labour of the artisan, but their own effort to acquire it.\nPetty austerity instills a national sentiment that tells the ordinary Vekllei person they are hardier than the ordinary American or European, even if the wealth of the ordinary Vekllei person is much greater than that of the ordinary American or European.\nApathy # Despite a vast, loosely organised private market in the senrouiva categorisation, Vekllei does not reward entrepreneurial ambition. Ambitious people are funnelled into positions of power in bureau firms and political office, but the founding of S.p.As and S.q.As is rarely motivated by a desire for influence or power. Indeed, artisanal S.p.As are often incapable of the sort of economies of scale needed for expansion. Vekllei instead relies on a sort of economic apathy, in which aggregate demand and productivity are spurned for immediate interest and pleasure.\nThis ensures that\nluxury products remain creative, personal works per Upen’s insistence on the symbiosis of labour and product the private senrouiva market is not capable of threatening the provincialism of Sundress Municipalism, which might make a commodity universally accessible and threaten to introduce generic consumer society into Vekllei life the private senrouiva market under petty bureau organisation does not threaten the organised de facto monopolies of the bureau companies If Vekllei has replaced the commodity with the object, then it is through economic apathy that they have ensured objects will never again become commodities. Just as the ordinary Vekllei person is apolitical, so too are they apathetic towards change in their purchasing habits, favouring small, inconvenient and personal brands over those exploiting aggregate demand. In a sense, this also contributed to the popular Vekllei term product atheism, in which the metaphysics of products are dismantled and rearranged into social forms.\nIn this sense, the apathy is found on both ends — within the senrouiva business owner, who is provided little upward mobility to satisfy ambition beyond local and regional expansion, and within the consumer, who recognises products only within cultural and social dimensions. Neither is conducive to a functioning, fair market on an interregional scale.\nPlay # Play is the foundational motivation of most work in Vekllei. There are existential motivators, too — a desire to wield power, or professional legacy — but in many professions it is play by which a Vekllei person justifies labour. It is also why work is fiercely protected by petty bureaus and other labour organisations — work is their connection to wider society, and that connection is held sacred in Upen.\nIt is through work as play that Vekllei is able to justify the employment of children. Financial motivations for work have all but disappeared — in its place, the workplace has to convince people to work. There are few state protections for businesses unable to maintain a workforce, either — it is one of the most common reasons for the shuttering of a company. The boss must convince his workers to stay, and so a total inversion of power has occurred.\nIn place of money, there is prestige, and in prestige there is myth. Few people have genuine interest in Fordism. Many more are attracted to the hand-crafted furniture of Picco S.p.A., and becoming recognised as a builder of great things. In a sense, a person “acts out” the role of a craftsman, in the same way a person “acts out” the role of a police officer, or “acts out” life as a pilot.\nIn this system, the childish spirit of recreation, duty and “the adult world” is acted out by millions of Vekllei people each day. Seeds planted by a child play-acting as a farmer continue to grow, and so too does the Vekllei economy feed its population through the intersection of fantasy and labour. At this point it is obvious that play is not fantasy at all, but in fact a motivation for labour as genuine as profit. Where it falls short, in hard, disempowering jobs, it is automated and conscripted through the mandatory service system. As it is often described:\n“The Bureau System is labour-intensive where wanted, alleviated by industrial machinery where preferred, and automated where necessary.”\nIn its wake are states of play, and through play comes a decent framework for living, obvious in the basic satisfaction of the Vekllei people.\nPolice in Vekllei # 📖 Published 8th July 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nThere are two regular police organs in Vekllei.\nFedecenoayan porits (national police, or venopor) Comoisniyan denporitsa (local police, or cosmopor) A young venopor officer stands on the left, in the full street regalia they’re renowned for. Unlike cosmopor they often carry machine guns while on patrol and are stationed outside of government buildings, hospitals, train stations, ports, schools and any company managed directly by a bureau, which is a trade organ of national importance. They are special units of special purpose, and supplement the deficiencies of local policing through their training and tactical deployment.\nThey are police insofar as they protect and respond to their community, including through special tactics situations, but are paramilitary in their wider function as a defence force for critical infrastructure. This is reflected in their history, traced cleanly back past independence and the Atomic War to the royal guards and junta federal police of old society, which continue to be reflected in their uniforms and several other ceremonial artefacts, like swords and knee boots. Venopor is a complex organisation with many different purposes. There are street patrols, pictured here, but there are also intelligence units associated with HO/NI and by extension the military, as well as tactical response teams, bomb squads, search and rescue and most other specialised emergency units outside of the capabilities of any given local police station.\nThis is contrast to the cosmopor, a more conventional police outfit. A cosmopor officer stands on the right, in standard summer uniform. He carries a radio, revolver and rubber baton for the worst of his duties, and is embedded deep into his local community. Cosmopor officers traditionally visit and introduce themselves to each house in their beat, and spend far more of their time mediating, counselling and organising than they do making arrests. The autonomy of most Vekllei communities largely spurns petty legal proceedings, and so the cosmopor are a critical aspect of sundress municipalism, resolving disputes personally and taking custody of a person only when it’s needed. Most crime in Vekllei tends to be emotionally motivated — so it is in this domain that cosmopor navigate.\nThis makes the cosmopor especially powerful figures in a Vekllei village or township, but their duties are closely watched. While the Vekllei village may be autonomous, all officers in Vekllei are responsible to a division of venopor called “officer welfare,” or picosec, which operates autonomously to seek out incompetent or misbehaving police officers, no matter their jurisdiction or status. Where most business in Vekllei has very little in the way of professional behaviour or “work culture”, policing in Vekllei is held to high standards, and they are severely bound by traditions that have become codified as the country has grown. This is a time and place where the children of police often inherit the jobs of their parents, and the constables of a village often have roots that go back centuries. This often makes cosmopor very respected figures, and their successors and recruits are expected to work for that respect.\nIn a country that has done away with money as a measure of success, professional legacy is profoundly important in Vekllei. In this inversion of priority, teachers, doctors, pilots, constables and librarians are celebrated. This is not founded in a general egalitarianism, but in fact the precise opposite — a celebration of success and influence, touching the lives of those around them. The glamour, and paycheque, has largely been stripped away. Only the work remains, and so that work has become more important than ever.\nVI. The Post Office # Why you should love your computer: Independence and control through free software [NEW] # BY MTIRADO#2460\nDo you feel proud when you turn on your computer? Do you feel satisfied with your favourite software\u0026rsquo;s user experience? Nowadays technology, specially I.T., is getting more and more intertwined with our daily lives. Each year we rely more and more on it and at the same time, layers upon layers of abstraction are being placed to simplify its usage and impede our understanding of its inner workings. Social media, web services, software and devices that we use daily offer us an intuitive and simple experience at the cost of giving up any sort of control or fine-tuning. Take a look at computers for example — your average desktop or laptop. For many people, their computer is just another tool; a complicated, scary, cumbersome tool. Plagued with viruses, weird pop-ups, and painful slowness. If you dare to turn on your slow, noisy computer, it\u0026rsquo;s because you had to print some documents or fill out an online form. So you just open MS Office Word, and/or Google Chrome, and forget everything else, because clicking on any other icon will render your computer useless. Even if it\u0026rsquo;s fast and sleek, computers are still a mystery. Then, outside of our comfort zone, there lies the stuff of tech specialists, hackers, and hobbyists. Even if you\u0026rsquo;re a tech enthusiast that keeps up with the latest gadgets and updates, your user experience is still dependent on the decisions of a single organisation or company that does not usually tolerate decentralisation. We do not have enough control over the products we own.\nWere computers always meant to be used like this? Like a black box that\u0026rsquo;s hard to open and understand — hard to make it ours? Mainstream operating systems and software give us the promise of an experience that just works — if we go all in on their ecosystems. Their software and utilities are easy to use and intuitive, but hard to understand and control. If you want to customize how your favorite program renders a different type of file, good luck with that. If you want to do something that\u0026rsquo;s slightly outside the program\u0026rsquo;s intended purpose, no one can help you. Future updates are controlled by a small, concentrated group. You can never know what goes on under the hood if you can\u0026rsquo;t open the hood. You can never know how something works if there\u0026rsquo;s no need to read the manual. These days, privacy concerns are greater than ever, and 🔗smartphones are getting harder and harder to tamper with, using proprietary software and assembly techniques that make repair difficult. We learn to accept and embrace the software that comes bundled with our computer and we shudder when we realise we need to fix a problem ourselves.\nSo what\u0026rsquo;s the alternative?, How are we supposed to strengthen the relationship between the user and the tool when we are told to accept that computers are hard to understand and control, and that abstraction is necessary? This is where free (‘free\u0026rsquo; as in ‘freedom\u0026rsquo;), open source software becomes relevant. Open source software gives the user privacy, flexibility, control, and choice. A wide variety of open source software caters to the nerdiest of power users and the casual users that only needs to browse the web and print some documents alike. It doesn\u0026rsquo;t matter if you don\u0026rsquo;t know how to read the code. You don\u0026rsquo;t have to learn a programming language to be able to regain independence and control of your computer. Free software like Linux has come a long way, and is now more user friendly than ever. You shouldn’t have to choose between ease-of-use and open source software — and with Linux, it’s no longer a trade-off. Installing a new OS, tinkering with your machine, following tutorials to customise the UI, and making a website not only gives you have a deeper understanding of how your computer and technology works, it helps change your perception of computing and your relationship with technology in general. Using software that encourages you to modify and customise gives you control and independence that no proprietary software can.\nI can\u0026rsquo;t promise you that you won’t face problems using open source software, because that\u0026rsquo;s simply not true. Sometimes we can\u0026rsquo;t leave proprietary software altogether. No software is perfect, just as no tool is perfect. But at least free software gives you the opportunity to make a better tool, if you\u0026rsquo;re willing to sharpen it, willing to read through the documentation, willing to work and get your hands dirty with configuration files to solve a problem, and of course, willing to fail. The reward goes beyond having your computer work just as you want it: you end up with a tool, a product that is truly yours — something you can feel proud of, tangible and meaningful.\nDoes that mean that we should struggle every time we use our computer? Absolutely not. But we shouldn\u0026rsquo;t always strive to make technology easy to use, but instead try and make it easy to understand. Because if you\u0026rsquo;re able to make sense of things and truly know what\u0026rsquo;s going on, ease of use will come naturally.\nP.S. If you\u0026rsquo;re thinking about switching to Linux, my personal recommendation is 🔗Linux Mint. I recently installed it on a laptop and automatically detected Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and all network printers. No driver download required. It\u0026rsquo;s ready to use out of the box and highly customisable. And remember, you can keep Linux and your current operating system in the same computer if you want.\nVII. Gallery # This month’s sketches, presented without context or or standards of quality. The postcards will be included in the August edition. Contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com for full-res versions of any images received in this bulletin.\nScrapped postcard [15.7.2020] # Tzipora and Baron [9.7.2020] # Untitled [9.7.2020] # POSTS THIS MONTH: 6 # POSTS LAST MONTH: 7 # Published by MillMint Press. Copyright 2020. To stop receiving these emails send UNSUBSCRIBE to melonkony@icloud.com.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 13,
  "href": "/millmint/patreon/letters/2021/jan/",
  "title": "Jan 2021","icon": "✉️","color": "blue",
  "section": "Letters",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " ✿ This letter was sent out to Patrons in January 2021 Hello beloved patrons,\nThe first chapter of the comic is sketched. You will see it on Monday (about two days from this message). It won\u0026rsquo;t be inked but it\u0026rsquo;ll give you a very good idea of what the final chapter will look like at the end of the month. I look forward to reading your feedback, since it\u0026rsquo;s my first try at this sort of thing (well, minus the dozens of concepts trashed over the previous few months).\nThank you dearly for your patience. It was a source of some trouble for me as I figured out how to put these people and this environment to paper for the first time. It\u0026rsquo;s come out great \u0026ndash; I hope you\u0026rsquo;ll enjoy it. It took a long time but it\u0026rsquo;s finally starting. This will be a monthly thing.\nIn the first chapter you will see trains, planes and automobiles and some great landscapes too.\nIn other news, the archive on millmint.net is finally finished. This is a complete collection of all Vekllei posts I have ever posted to reddit, going way back to 2017. Each post had to be painstakingly copied to the site, and it took days. Over 200 posts and pictures. At least it\u0026rsquo;s done. Let us never speak of it again.\nPencil in Monday on your calendars. How exciting.\nThank you always for your continued support. A mid-month letter will follow soon, as well as a special post.\nMuch love,\nHobart/Melon\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 14,
  "href": "/millmint/",
  "title": "MillMint","icon": "📕","color": "blue",
  "section": "Home",
  "description": "MillMint is the place for everything going on at Studio MillMint. You can read essays, learn more about commissions, or create your own Vekllei character.",
  "content": " MillMint is the place for everything going on at Studio MillMint. You can read essays, learn more about commissions, or create your own Vekllei character. 🏡 Studio MillMint 🪺 About 🧍‍♀️ Dolls 📓 Commissions 📄 Featured Essays 💸 A Social Economy ♀ Women, Vekllei 🫧 A Universal Nostalgia Read more... 🌐 About this Site 📋 Update Log ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/news/","/millmint/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 15,
  "href": "/millmint/patreon/letters/2021/feb/",
  "title": "Feb 2021","icon": "✉️","color": "blue",
  "section": "Letters",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " ✿ This letter was sent out to Patrons in February 2021 Hello beloved Patrons,\nIt’s been a little while. I’ve called this meeting late because I’ve been working late. Let’s run this through quick, and we can all get back to bed.\nYou guys voted! Looks like our next themed ‘week’ (maybe fortnight) is Ocean Week. Great choice, lots of cool concepts coming. Mail Week (fortnight) has been a lot of fun, but it’s almost done. I’ve got one post left in it, maybe two depending on how this painting works out. Then we’re done for the month. Ocean Week starts in March. There’s a new article on the site about the mail in Vekllei: 🔗https://millmint.net/factbook/society/industry/crown/mail/. I’m going to write one of these for each themed week. It might seem silly to write a whole article about the mail considering more important areas desperately need attention, but as we do more of these themed weeks it’ll fill out the site nicely. These articles aren’t just posts copied and pasted into a long doc; they’re all original content, and link to posts from that week. Check it out! What comes next? Well, for the rest of this month I’ll be getting the next chapter of the comic out and I’ll have one or two regular posts too. Thanks for the patience with the comic; I’ve been doing some experimenting and I’ve got a great “first chapter” coming up. Merch? Working on it. Pins are a fantastic idea, but very expensive at this scale (we’re talking about $500 minimum or so, and I don’t really want to run a store right now!). So I’ll have a poll here soon to figure out what you’d like to see — postcard sets are cheap and fun, but why not tee shirts or other bric a brac? The Atlantic Bulletin? I got swamped with work, and it was a real pain to format for email. But it’s not dead. I’m going to relaunch it as a “whenever I can” periodical with better stuff and original content, rather than just a list of posts of each month. I’ll be looking for contributions too, I’ll let you know when I do. That’s about it, nice and quick.\nThank you always for your continued support. I can’t wait to get the comic out.\nKind regards,\nHobart/Melon\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 16,
  "href": "/millmint/bulletin/2020/4/",
  "title": "Issue 4 | August 2020","icon": "🌼","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "The Atlantic Bulletin Archive",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " From the Editor # Welcome to the fourth issue of The Atlantic. Good posts this month. Bit of a smorgasbord, with stories covering all sorts of things. Most importantly, as was mentioned last month: I want to start a comic.\nHow do you go about starting a comic? I don’t think there’s much of a trick to it, as a first-timer — you just have to ’start’. It’s difficult for me, not just because I’m still learning to draw, but also because a comic in the Vekllei format should help the utopian ’social dream’ of the project — that’s what the “author” category of posts means. So a comic would not just have to tell an exciting story with a linear plot and action — it would have to be immersive; a guide to the world; something you could revisit time and time again without needing to follow a linear story. Figuring out how to do that is complicated. I’ll set aside some time in September to start exploring this concept seriously.\nI’d also like to do a short animation/music video for a bit of fun. 80s technopunk vapourwave irony aesthetics are last year — what about a bit of postwar austerity to anticipate the coming global recession? Forget bright-coloured sneakers and Windows 98 interfaces — how about some council housing and cardigans?\nI guess we’ll have to wait and see.\nThanks for reading, and I\u0026rsquo;d also like to thank the contributor to this edition, Bike (Milky), for their wonderful essay on Vekllei ecofeminism. It’s an excellent read — check it out below. If you would like to contribute to The Atlantic with writing, art or reviews relevant to the spirit of petticoat ideology, please contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com before the 30th of September.\nThank you for supporting Vekllei, and best wishes.\nHobart Phillips Enjoy — 楽しんで\nI. News \u0026amp; Announcements # I’ve gone back to work at the news organ I used to work at — I might have a little less time, but I’ll have a little more money, and that’s nice. Hoping to draw more in September, riding off the fun I had in August. The wiki (called Zelda Wiki — good luck buying any domain with the word “Zelda” in it) is coming along well. Rather than writing every article in advance — a leviathan task — I’m preparing a few intro covering the country of Vekllei and the characters of my story. It’s live now — but good luck finding the URL for it. It’ll be done before the end of the year, but it’s not nearly finished yet. The post “Absolute Quiet” really took off on reddit and netted me nearly another 1,000 subscribers on r/vekllei. Awesome! It’s not hard to cross-post work and it pays off, especially as I get better. This piece worked out really well — if only I could paint cities as nicely. That’s a long-term ambition, unfortunately. The website is “functional” in big scare-quotes. It’s just a blog replicating reddit posts for now — that’ll change once the wiki is complete and accessible. The parallax isn’t cropped properly on mobile and there’s a few errors with icons loading in, but it’s better than the broken hub with no content that was there before. As a reminder, 🔗www.millmint.net and 🔗www.vekllei.com now redirect to 🔗www.millmint.studio! II. Tzipora-watch # In August of 2067, Tzipora wrote to the office of the Sun-Cola Beverage Company professing a love of their soda. The letter was so heartfelt and congratulatory that the chief operations officer invited her to tour their bottling plant in Demon, during which she met several of the staff responsible for her favourite flavours. They sent her home with a basketful of Sun-Cola merchandise and a wristwatch shaped like a bottle cap that still works to this day. Tzipora made a habit of writing to her favourite companies, and as a result has visited a lot of places of industry the ordinary person might never think to go.\nIII. Vekllei Fact of the Month # Despite the prevalence of nuclear power in Vekllei, over 60 per cent of the country’s civil power is produced by geothermal and hydroelectric power stations. This is in part a result of Upen’s intuitive emphasis on renewable local resources (not just for sustainability, but for deep integration and dependence with the physical landscape), but also because much of Vekllei’s nuclear power is sold abroad via undersea powerlines in Europe and the United States, to supplement ageing fission plants.\nIV. WordBook # Endoanotetmouisa — translates literally as “Princess belonging to the Earth,” often mistranslated as “Princess of the Earth”. A highly uncomfortable nickname given to Tzipora in a news article written about her, shortly after her first mainstream appearance — a student documentary about building her house in Montre-Lola. Her interviews in the film sparked widespread interest in the girl, both for her medical condition and her extraordinary childhood, and so she spent much of the summer of 2083 in the Azores trying avoid this nickname.\nV. The Bulletin # Absolute Grotesque # 📖 Published 31st August 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nOn the morning of the second day, I watched a fly crawl across the cheek of the middle-aged woman, probably an office worker, lying next to me. It moved up her cheekbone to her temple, stopping now and then to rub its front legs as though performing a ritual. A jagged tear ran down the leg of her dark blue work trousers, but the white calf it revealed was miraculously unscathed. The woman lay still. Probably dead, I assumed. After a while, the fly got on to her eyelid. Suddenly, she reached up and brushed it away, opening the eye. There was still a moist light inside.\nFrom Insects, by Seirai Yūichi\nBy chance, the glass paperweight had survived. When her in-laws’ house had burnt down in Yokohama, the paperweight was among those things that she’d frantically stuffed into an emergency bag, and now it was her only souvenir of life in her girlhood home.\nFrom evening on, in the alley, she could hear the strange cries of the neighbourhood girls. Rumour had it that they could make a thousand yen in a single night. Now and then she would find herself holding the forty-sen paperweight she had bought after ten days of indecision when she was these girls’ age, and as she studied the sweet little dog in relief, she would realise with a shock that there was not a single dog left in the whole burnt-out neighbourhood.\nFrom The Silver Fifty-Sen Pieces, by Kawabata Yasunari\nOn the 14th of August 2111, the Atomic War began in a Chinese submarine in the South Pacific, and ended six hours later. The war marks the single greatest loss of life in human history and would disrupt human life on Earth in previously unimaginable ways — consumer society bottomed out, the world became small, the Earth grew cold, and a new chapter in human history was opened.\nThis political map marks the territories of Earth as they stand five years on, in 2116. There are fewer countries in the world today than in any other point in human history, in part because the catastrophic reduction in human population — some 520-600 millions in the first year — has emptied out countries and rendered others uninhabitable. Many of these territories here are disputed and, in some cases, autonomous — for simplicity, they are presented as they are recognised by the U.N. The map also presents a long-exposure view of the war as it happened, and its remaining fallout currents today. Red dots mark significant nuclear detonations on August 14th. Yellow dots mark surface warfare in some capacity. Red trails mark missile flight, reduced in number here by strict denuclearisation treaties of the decades previous. Yellow trails mark the flight paths of atomic bombers, both supersonic and subsonic. This map does not record failed launches, intercepted missiles or downed aircraft.\nFighting was arranged along political axes — namely Western (U.S., U.K., West Germany \u0026amp; N.A.T.O. members), Warsaw Pact (U.S.S.R., Cuba, Egypt), East Asian (China \u0026amp; Korea), and non-aligned (Vekllei, France, Brazil). The war experience was unique to each country — Vekllei exchanged warheads and bombs with China but not Warsaw countries, the U.S.S.R. exchanged with both Western and East Asian members, and Brazil fought a catastrophic war against both Soviet and American territories. The immediate aftermath saw a quiet Earth, much of it scorched. Temperatures dropped by 10 degrees centigrade for the first six months, and slowly warmed as debris cleared in the following years. Wide-scale firestorms were tempered by rains that followed the war shortly.\nSome 274 millions of the dead are accounted for in China, where in 2116 the cities still lie in rot, swollen with corpses; heavy with miasma; concrete dams bleached and cracked; the wood all burned up; the rivers warped and quiet; dead fish along them; a surfaced water main weeping blood; harsh asbestine whistling; railcars in a ditch; sloughing skin; tremors; smoke with no fires; confused wandering; bleeding from the inside; families-as-sand; sand-as-trinitite.\nExchanges were confused, helter-skelter, and the combatants rattle off like a death snare. The U.S.S.R., the U.S., France, and Vekllei all exchanged death with China.\nIt would take more than mere annihilation to extinguish the P.R.C., but the toll was nauseating. Beijing and Shanghai were simply disappeared; there was nothing where there once was. The fistfuls of rebar and concrete amidst glassy, ossified landscape were heaped into direct administration of the U.N. The following year, 40-120 million more Chinese would succumb to the greatest famine in the history of the world. Of course, in the U.N., there was good argument for the nuclear retaliation — China launched first; why should money and food go to the perpetrator of the vastest disaster in human history? One can’t help but wonder if the life of an Oriental coolie wells fewer tears than his equivalent in Paris. There are not enough flowers in the world to pay tribute to the dead of China, who were simply dispensed with in European memory and subsumed in part by the United Nations. The communist party would continue to control the vast interior, divided into two states by ethnography, where 1949 seemed closer than ever. Necrotic politics are legitimised in the land of the dead. Soon, we saw the consolidation of nation-states into geographic regions with a disregard for ethnography not seen since the colonial years. This was met with violent resistance in some places — in others, locals capitulated to the extraordinary hyperreality of the postwar world.\nThe United Nations was quickly catapulted into the status of a de facto administrative world government in a last-ditch attempt to ‘freeze time’ as it were, in order to provide the superpowers time to recover from the scope of immediate devastation and prevent humanity from entering a long period of decline. This involved the moving of soldiers on a scale unseen since the World Wars, as U.N. international brigades propped up vulnerable, scorched territories in Central/Western Europe and Asia. The immediate peace of the first days after the war was ruthlessly enforced — and strategic opportunism was threatened to meet indiscriminate violence and U.N.-sanctioned nuclear retaliation. There was some belief that the status quo could carry on. So troops of non-combatant countries were supplied, and in some cases press-ganged, into this global mission.\nThe battered United States, acknowledging its ‘century of decline’, found itself consolidating control over its urban, though devastated, coasts. The awkward appellation \u0026ldquo;Dallas America\u0026rdquo; was used as a colloquial shorthand for a disputed territory that insisted on referring to itself as the legitimate United States. The name was only superseded by the ridiculous \u0026ldquo;United Nations Heartlands of the United States,\u0026rdquo; the Aid Region of the U.S. interior that had collapsed in the days after the war. This was buffered by the Mojave and Great Lakes Special Administrative Regions, federal territories that contained war industry and nuclear infrastructure that propped up the precarious coasts. Despite efforts to revive agriculture in the scorched U.N. Heartlands U.S., starvation was met with martial law along the coasts the following year.\nThe U.N. was granted temporary, direct control over several collapsed territories that had either succumbed to nuclear fire or had caved to anarchy in the weeks and months after. In some cases, like the U.N. regions in Hawaii, Jerusalem and the Central Europe International War Government, these behaved as states in themselves, administrated directly by the United Nations Mission for War Recovery. In others, they were merely named as such with the vague promise of future aid. U.N. Cuba and U.N. Taiwan were such examples, in which devastation had been so catastrophic that little remained to govern, and the local population was mostly left to anarchy. In general, there were great inequalities in how the U.N. chose to dedicate resources, largely informed by its largest nation-states and political interests.\nThere are thousands of stories from communities and territories across the world directly impacted by the war — from the atomic bombing of Sydney to the catastrophic reactor meltdowns of Brazil’s south. The war was unprecedented in scale and devastation. This map reveals little of the profoundly human tragedy that was brought about, nor does it invoke the difficult existential artefacts that are still being reckoned with. Perhaps humans are just animals after all — destined to die out the way so many have in this age. Most tragic was not the colossal scale of death, or the collapse and pain that followed, but the upending of domestic society into violence, in which people of consumer society — the middle class — found themselves with not much at all, thrust into a world of chaos and suffering in which all prior epistemologies evaporated. Like the flash of blue light that preceded the roar, it was the stuff in supermarkets and department stores that marked the absolute grotesqueing of life in the new age.\n2,000 members! WOW! # 📖 Published 27th August 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nHello,\nI’m Hobart. I’ve been working on this project for a while now. It doesn’t really have a purpose or an end goal — I just want to draw and write about nice things, and I’m learning a lot on the way. Welcome to everyone new here. I don’t really have anything to sell, I’d just like to thank you for tuning in and checking Vekllei out.\nI’ve drawn Tzipora here as a sort of Sailor Moon knock-off. Good show that. The Japanese intro is very nostalgic, I’d love to do a little animated short in that style.\nI post about twice a week. I do a bit of everything — machines, maps, characters, landscapes, architecture, etc. I’m truly a master of none.\nYou can come join the Discord if you’d like — it’s just a quiet community to share interests and talk: discord.gg/dCE6vSU\nOtherwise, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and you can keep liking my stuff (please). If you have any questions about the project, or just want to introduce yourselves, here’s a good place to do it! Thank you kindly to all commenters, readers and friends of the project, whether you’ve been here for years or for six hours — it’s very special to have so many people interested in work that’s so close to my heart.\nKeep on keeping on,\nHobart\nAbsolute Quiet # 📖 Published 24th August 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nThere were plumes in the sky, sent from bunkers buried deep in the well of the Earth, killing with switches. Vekllei went to war, and so Tzipora went to war with it.\nThe throbbing machinery of another world began turning, and anyone who saw the bomb would hear it. Passing seconds dislocated and caught heartbeats. The plumes were pretty. It was such a shame, those plumes. It was a quiet afternoon in the flower-tundras.\nThere was an absolute quiet among the grasses, and peace in her heart. She had work to do. She was a warden, after all — and she’d done a good job spotting the missile before the sirens caught up. In truth, any devastation seemed incomprehensible. The flower-tundra would last forever. But that was her job, and she had to do it.\nShe left her bucket by the freshwater creek, intending to retrieve it a while later. The drinking water tasted better up here. She turned from the plume and followed the moss path out of the flower-tundra. Her village was before her.\nSo ended the old ways and so started the new.\nRural Newda in Rural Vekllei # 📖 Published 17th August 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nNew gouache brushes, this painting was done on a single layer. turned out pretty good. more paintings to come.\n🔗Newda is Vekllei’s national architectural ideology, applied flexibly in a range of modernist styles developed domestically in her architecture schools. Broadly, Newda buildings emphasise distinction from the surrounding landscape (called Dumousiantopet, or ‘beautiful and seperate’), natural decay, and honesty in material and construction. Vekllei’s great Parliament House is Newda; as are the little rural homes found in the mountains inland in Vekllei.\nTzipora’s house in the village of Montre-Lola (as depicted on the map here) is built in what Vekllei calls “Azores revivalism”, a Newda style heavily influenced by the stripped deco and streamline moderne buildings of a century prior. It is part of a constant conversation Newda holds with its past, as both a deeply modernist, progressive school and one bound up in the wider aesthetic and cultural traditions of Upen, the spiritualism of Vekllei.\nHer house is small, but appears larger due to the layout of the structure. A small sleeping loft sits atop the living, bathing and cooking areas of the home, and opens out into a private rooftop garden. The utilities tower also hides a small staircase leading to the roof, which is also accessible for outdoor recreation. Her home stands amidst the farmland of Montre-Lola, and very near the library and primary school where she works. Her property is marked at its end by a creek that runs into the Dentre River. She has a vegetable garden in her backyard, and shares her paddocks with her neighbours for grazing periodically throughout the year.\nHer house was erected in gratitude by her neighbours out of prefab components, and assisted by a “construction line,” — a temporary rail line in which goods are delivered and cranes are supported, minimising the need for lorries. Houses of this type and period are rarely seen in agricultural settings in other countries, but in Vekllei, where Landscape has been abolished, there might as well be no difference between a building suitable for the cosmopolitan, coastal cities and a dwelling for a farmer-girl.\nThe Thousand-Year-Old Girl # 📖 Published 12th August 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nThe concept of living forever jumps out at people uncomfortable with their own existence. There is a contemplative instinct among educated people that — if they could simply will themselves into a state of self-actualisation — death would only be an obstacle to greatness.\nAs Tzipora found out quickly, the opposite was true — death and temporality were wells of meaning against which all great people, beauty, and human constructions were cast.\nTzipora Desmoisnes is what is known as a Gregori Baby, a catch-all term for a unique genetic condition that has seemingly produced a variety of miracle children appropriate for the frothing futurism of the atomic age — boys and girls who, suspended in the purity and good-naturedness of childhood — live forever.\nThere is no single “Gregori Baby” — each is unique, and Tzipora is the 13th to have been recognised overall. The phrase is a shortening of Gregori-Heitzfeld syndrome, a stand-in for medical information that isn’t there. The first, Gregori Hordiyenko, was born in 2024. He was healthy, and died of unrelated causes in his 20s. Tzipora, at 13th, continues to live to this day and is the oldest person on Earth.\nThere is a disturbing trend among the Gregori children, first heralded as miracles and symptoms of the space age, to deteriorate medically as more are born. The culprit is the malfunctioning of telomeres in their DNA — the source of their longevity — which regularly produce devastating chromosomal disorders, including Trisomy 13 \u0026amp; 18, killing most “ageless children” before their third birthday. Those that survive are often victims of a severe anaphylaxis caused by a hyperactive immune system — rendering many of them permanently sickly. Others find themselves unageing, but continue to grow — reaching as tall as 2.5m before their bodies give out from exhaustion and osteoporosis.\nSo what is Gregori syndrome? What does your average (healthy) Gregori baby look like? Their genetic miracle is linked to the structures of the body that activate at puberty, and so girls vary between 11-16 years of age at onset depending on many factors that affect their development. Boys tend to be a little younger, from 8-14. Between the two, girls tend to be more stable, and all but two of the supercentenarian Gregori children are female.\nAmong girls, they are prepubescent and generally stop ageing on the eve of menarche, or their first period. In Tzipora’s case, her body is estimated to be 13 years and 11 months old. Unlike many Gregori children, Tzipora lives in a wealthy country and has volunteered for extensive research into her genetic makeup, meaning that much of early medical documentation around Gregori-Heitzfeld syndrome was received directly from her case.\nMost obvious is that, at a foundational level, her cells are similar in function to unipotent stem cells, and have been since hormones at the end of thelarche suspended her ageing. This change has occurred somewhere in her DNA — exactly where is unknown — but the end result is that, unlike regular progenitor cells that make up most adult bodies, the building blocks of her body are capable of cell-renewal. Her telomeres, the endcaps of chromosomal DNA in mammals, are undamaged. And so there is an amazing shift in her basic human structure — in which human cell lineage, which usually ends in a mature cell incapable of division, is caught and rearranged. With this considered, it is no wonder that Gregori children suffer from such catastrophic chromosomal instability, and why healthy ageless babies are a rarity. Her body is not exactly a “body of stem cells,” but for their function in a healthy Gregori child, they might as well be.\nSo it is that nothing about Tzipora is changing. She suffers from pains in her legs often — called growing pains, although they are not from growing — and her cells continue to replenish, albeit at a rate 1.25 times that of normal people. She is, in essence, “growing” as any other premenarchal girl would, but she is not getting bigger or becoming older.\nTzipora is blessed with an adult life in Vekllei, where the “Child” does not exist as it does in the West, and her individual freedoms are far-ranging. She may smoke, and drink, and has held many different jobs in her life. She holds two doctorates in English and Vekllei Literature. She is obviously sterile — even if she were to somehow “age out” of prepubescence into pubescence and receive the required hormones, she simply lacks the genetic code to reproduce — but raises many children through her active participation in village life and her roles as Montre-Lola’s municipal and school librarian.\nIn other countries, with coded roles for children, their problems are much greater. Unable to form adult relationships and often incapable of finding work, many work in entertainment or fall into poverty as they outlive their friends and parents. Socially ostracised and forever young, many are victims of superstition and fear. As the pattern of Gregori children indicates an increase in mortality, even as more are born, their appearance is both a miracle and a tragedy — ageing not through mitosis but through weathering the societies in which they live.\nThe 31st Century — Vekllei throughout our Solar System # 📖 Published 9th August 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nWe’ve spent a lot of time in the 21st century — but Tzipora is biologically immortal. Where does she go from here? Well, let’s enjoy a small glimpse at that future together, by winding the clock forward one thousand years.\nBy 3076, our Solar System is a pleasant place to be. Most of the planets we once gazed at from afar are now habitable and lived on. The Great Epoch of Rest has begun.\nThere is no great interstellar empire, no rise and fall of spacefaring supernations — a Vekllei way of life is now lived out in multicultural, prosperous clusters of people across our Solar System. The ordinary person is afforded incredible freedoms previously reserved for science fiction through the accessibility of personal light spacecraft, translated literally as “boats”.\nThis here is the M-7000 APRICOT, manufactured by the Government Aerospace Factories (GAF) of Vekllei. Many companies are contracted by the GAF, including General Reactor, to whom this boat lends most of its flight control systems and all of its power plant. It is a light, personal boat for women built in 2807, making it relatively unique in both its 28th century design language and its gendered marketing. While the personal boat market was growing rapidly by this time, the vast majority of owners and pilots were men. The APRICOT set out to change that, and Tzipora, the world’s oldest living person with a youthful face, was among the first to demonstrate the accessibility and freedoms of space travel for women and girls in the personal boat market. It was her first boat, and despite its orientation for women it was christened with a male name: BARON.\nIt is a comfortable and pleasant craft that can be lived in for extended periods of time. Tzipora has done just that, travelling to stars in search of water-planets with Micronesian archipelagos, where she likes to spend most of her time. Its glass roof across the entire accessible cabin, including bubbled cockpit, gives it breathtaking visibility in the depths of space and the most scenic of planets alike. Like almost all spacecraft, it is unarmed, save for the pacifying “jazz” electric canon, named for its firing sound reminiscent of a double bass strum.\nWhen she tires of being alone, she returns to her hometown of Montre-Lola in Vekllei frequently. Boats are usually parked at off-world stations, preserving the aerospace and quiet of the Solar System. Light speed is exceeded through superluminal travel. So-called black boxes require extraordinarily precise programming, since superluminal travel is in all ways but name time travel, and the universe does not tolerate time travel. Coordinates calculated in the universal pyramid system by a pyramid computer ensure that a vessel arrives when it arrives, so to speak. The alternative is going nowhere at all — there is no in-between.\nSuperluminal systems are affected by gravity, so any person looking to exceed the speed of light and subsequently visit other stars must take the highways beyond our home system’s planetary orbit and launch into so-called free-travel from there. There are only a handful of these highways — the solar system is very, very large, and human construction is very, very small.\nThere was an instinct among many people that human progress would naturally scale exponentially — these were extrapolated from the remarkable progress in the lifetime of Tzipora’s parents and grandparents, who saw canvas aircraft in their childhood advance to the landing of a man on the moon, and again in her own exaggerated lifetime, in which the provinciality of her youth has simultaneously seen an expansion and exploitation of the planets in our native solar system.\nThis curve of progress was not to be, however — and it also explains why we had such trouble meeting aliens in the first place. Part of it was simply that there are very few worlds with water that also formed earthlike landmasses nearby — there are many aliens, and Tzipora has seen many herself, but most of them are fish and fish-adjacent. The second is that, if there is civilised life out there, it has most probably encountered the same engineering truths that humanity did, in our great interstellar project of the last thousand years. Namely that, all accounted for, there is no use for wasteful megastructures when a small one will do. People are having less children — on Mars, Mercury and Neptune, the population is actually shrinking. What good is the so-called “ocean liner of the stars,” with a capacity of millions? There are around 12 billion people across the solar system today. Maybe another 8 billion in the Ala system. Maybe a few millions more who have simply given up society for scattered stars in our neighbourhood.\nIt is likely that if any other civilised races exist, they are simply of our scale, or have destroyed themselves completely in the reckless pursuit of expansion. Humanity is lucky not to count themselves among them.\nThe APRICOT is one of many models produced by Vekllei’s Government Aerospace Factories. It is now possible for the ordinary person to explore distant stars for themselves, granting freedoms unimaginable in a previous age. Such is life in the Great Epoch of Rest.\nVI. The Post Office # Not a Particularly Environmentalist Bunch: Vekllei’s Feminist Natureculture [NEW] # BY MILKY#0144\nAll direct quotes are from Melon’s Reddit posts or saved from his previous website.\nThink about nature. Picture it in your mind. What do you see? Are there any buildings? Do you see your friends, or any people at all? What adjectives might you use to describe it? How do you interact with nature in your mind?\nThere is a divide between human society and what is considered ‘nature’ – landscapes, national parks or forests, beaches, mountain trails, campgrounds\u0026hellip; Nature is often seen as a place you visit and a place you come home from. A temporary escape from societal woes. A vacation spot; perhaps someplace nostalgic. A special area, with boundaries and signs and info centers, that should be protected. It has also been seen as something owed to humans – wilderness to be tamed and dominated, or land to be cleared, excavated, drilled, and paved for capitalist human use.\nTraditional environmental ethics heavily involves romantic, heroic, and nurturing narratives in regard to the relationship among humans, nonhuman animals, and this ‘nature.’ Empathy, care, and connection have been key in ecofeminist discourse on environmentalism and nonhuman animal rights. These values are traditionally feminine, and environmentalism is often seen as feminine as a result. Terms like treehugger exemplify the feminine care given by environmentalists. Another term, ‘soy boy,’ does not necessarily point to environmentalists, but ‘soy’ being a feminine quality implies alternatives to animal products being something only for women.\nParallel to environmentalism being a feminine work, nature is often coded as female. Mother Nature nurtures living beings, feeding plants and animals alike. Western romantic authors wrote comparisons between women and nature and were inspired by both alike. They are something beautiful to look at and something to find inspiration in. They are pure and untouched until man/humans tame and mold them.\n“Vekllei is a fundamentally female country. This is what petticoat society means.” This does not mean that the feminised, pure, idealised nature persists. Take our protagonist Tzipora for example. She is female, yet not an idealised maternal woman that could possibly be confused for a Mother Nature figure. She is an eternal child, neither pure or innocent, nor in need of care and protection. If we consider the following quote, however, we can see how Tzipora’s situation reflects or is reflected in Vekllei’s unique environmentalist situation: “Vekllei is not alienated from its landscape but exists very much within it. Vekllei people do not consider themselves different from nature \u0026ndash; they exist alongside everything else in the landscape. Their environment is not exploited, and so its protection is not necessitated through its abstraction and alienation, of which environmentalism is a symptom (as a reaction to exploitation).” Though Tzipora is very different from the rest of her community, she is not alienated from those around her. She is enmeshed in Vekllei’s culture and society and dutifully participates in school and work. She is inseparable from her environment.\nIn fact, “Vekllei has abolished landscape, deconstructing its vicious abstractionism.” In Vekllei, nature is not seen as ‘other’ or as romantically female, and this binary of human/nature has been removed. Of course, it is impossible to abolish landscape and our artist would not paint and describe such rich landscapes if they no longer existed. Paintings of Vekllei often depict Zelda and co., concrete buildings, and railways contrasted with the country’s rolling hills, grassy plains, and volcanic rock. The combination of humans and both their built and ‘natural’ environs is what makes up the Vekllei landscape, as there is no separation in Vekllei between nature and society. Everything in each painting is the natural landscape of Vekllei.\nSo, what has been abolished is the idea that nature is another place, something separate than the culture of Vekllei. In the 2020 Vekllei Handbook, MelonKony writes: “We are not a particularly environmentalist bunch, since we\u0026rsquo;re not alienated from our land, and we’re certainly not sentimental, but we do understand the relationship our lives have with our surrounds, and the utility and protection of nature is important to us as a lifestyle and a spiritual tenant of Upen.”\nIf the respectful utility and protection of nature is important, wouldn’t such a way of living with nature, being human as part of the natural world, lead to environmentalism? Not necessarily. “Nature is a fellow social organ, like society or family, and so Vekllei is not ‘environmentalist’ in the Western idea of the word but instead makes use of and protects its natural environment for the benefit of both themselves and the land.”\nThink now about what surrounds you. The air, your room, your home, your town, and beyond. When you think about what is important to you about the natural world, imagine what your Ghibli/Tintin landscape would look like. Don’t forget to include the buildings and people in your orbit. There is no real boundary between you and the community you live and work in and the larger “natural world.” It is all part of the natural world. No need to call yourself particularly environmentalist even if you care about the world around you. You are still just as enmeshed with nature as our Vekllei friends are.\nVII. Gallery # Warning: this gallery includes the postcards distributed to patrons. If you’re a patron and have not yet received your postcards, you might want to wait until they’ve arrived.\nThis month’s sketches, presented without context or or standards of quality. Contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com for full-res versions of any images received in this bulletin.\nPostcard 1 — Tzipora in Vekllei National Dress # Postcard 2 — Baron, Ayn, Moise, Cobian and Tzipora # Postcard 3 — Tzipora the School Librarian # Postcard 4 — Cobian Sleeps Over # Postcard 5 — Cobian Catches a Ride Home # Postcard 6 — Spring Cleaning at the Desmoisnes Household # POSTS THIS MONTH: 6 # POSTS LAST MONTH: 6 # Published by MillMint Press. Copyright 2020. To stop receiving these emails send UNSUBSCRIBE to melonkony@icloud.com.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 17,
  "href": "/stories/",
  "title": "Stories","icon": "📗","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Home",
  "description": "Stories is where you can find all of Hobart's illustrations, and the stories they tell.",
  "content": " ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 18,
  "href": "/millmint/bulletin/2020/5/",
  "title": "Issue 5 | September 2020","icon": "🌼","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "The Atlantic Bulletin Archive",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " From the Editor # Welcome to the fifth issue of The Atlantic. I hope you like stories — because this month was all about little snippets of life in Vekllei.\nThere is a correlation between how nice a picture looks and how short the accompanying story is. Recently, as I’ve finished paintings later and later into the early morning, the posts that follow show signs of my fatigue. It’s to my detriment — and with a bit of planning, easily avoided. In October I’ll be looking at making some long-form posts in a painterly style to experiment with the format.\nAppropriate for such a quiet month, no one got their contributions in on time! This makes a nice short bulletin. As a reminder, if you would like to contribute to The Atlantic with writing, art or reviews relevant to the spirit of petticoat ideology, please contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com before the 31st of October.\nThank you for supporting Vekllei, and best wishes.\nHobart Phillips Enjoy — 楽しんで\nI. News \u0026amp; Announcements # Huge advancements on the website, which will likely launch sometime this month. Watch this space! If you’ve missed previous bulletins, they’ll be available in full on the site along with a comprehensive wiki and post archive. The wiki supports live switching between multiple languages — if you’re bilingual (or for that matter, trilingual!) and have some interest in translating a few pages, let me know! Quiet month on the subreddit, but managed to work on a little animation that turned out quite nice! See below. My thesis is due on the 23rd of October — this means that content will pick up for the remainder of the year. I plan to launch the comic in November. That’s all. Quiet month — not a bad thing in the slightest. II. Tzipora-watch # In September of 2073, Tzipora began work at the Lola District Library at the age of 26, a move that would develop within her a love of librarianship that would see her enrol in Montre-Lola University to study literature two years later. Her time at Lola was spent managing loans and navigating visitors through the vast archives beneath by way of a light monorail.\nIII. Vekllei Fact of the Month # Upen designates a hierarchy in the human body as part of ritualistic processions. The heart, depicted as a crown, is considered the most sacred. The brain and hands are next, and the rest of the body is catalogued and ordered ending with the feet. Feet are considered unclean in Vekllei and is part of the reason why shoes are not worn indoors. This hierarchy, called Lohsmi, is a minor cultural force but is important in the physical formation of runes, or Upotenne (spirit-hand-talk).\nIV. WordBook # Spiousn — difficult to translate, spiousn describes the feeling of regaining energy after a long period of exhaustion. It can be applied to a sick person becoming well, or more contemporaneously to a student after the exam period. This word forms a component of the slang spiousnya, which refers to the break from school at the end of the year. In this sense, its meaning translates to “school break” but carries with it a sentiment of peace and recovery.\nV. The Bulletin # Baron, the Father # 📖 Published 30th September 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nPeople are not sure what to make of Baron. They are not sure what to make of his daughter, Tzipora, either. To that end, they are lucky to have found each other.\nHis obscurity is part of a severe disposition, made obvious by his astonishing disinterest in friends and hobbies. When he finishes work, he listens to the radio, prepares supper, and goes to bed. His unrelenting seriousness is mitigated by his general passivity — Baron is a man totally in control, who keeps to himself and does not take issue with what goes on around him. For his seriousness he is not particularly judgemental or opinionated. To call him boring would be a poor characterisation; he simply feels he has done enough and is not looking to complicate the basic equations of his life.\nTzipora (Zelda to him) complicates this equation. She’s similar to him in many ways, with her conservative personal disposition and humble lifestyle. She does not make a very good teen-ager.\n“It’s funny you say that. I was talking to her the other day, and she was talking about how nice it was to have some peace and quiet,” Baron once confided in Ayn. “Of course, she looks very young, so sometimes you have to remind yourself that she’s not a child. She’s not thirteen, she’s nineteen, and very unusual, I think. She’s very smart but she doesn’t let that on much.”\nTzipora did not really have “phases” — Tzipora was Tzipora, eternal. But she was a much more emotionally attuned person, and her highs were higher and her lowers were lower than anything Baron had felt in decades.\nHe was not always so unfeeling. Baron’s Ashkenazim parents were pulled straight from the bubbling diaspora of Eastern Europe. They met in the labour zionist movement, but fell out of love with professional organising and immigrated to a struggling Vekllei to 🔗work in the national hydroelectricity scheme, among thousands of immigrants employed by the Thunderburo.\nHe was born in 2027 and was not very interested in school as a child. He was rebellious and obstinate, and had only vague ambitions of acquiring a trade certificate in motorcycle repair. His sister, Amelie, died of tuberculosis when he was 11. That was about the end of school ambitions for him.\nHe started conscription early and spent his high school years in an army college. By the time he was 18, he was transferred to military police. It was 2045. He had started dating a middle school sweetheart, Ayn, two weeks before the war in Taiwan broke out.\nYoung Baron died in Taiwan, and another figure in his body returned. He was transferred almost immediately to a junior post at the Americas Bureau at National Intelligence (AB/NI), where he would spend the next decade. While he was stationed abroad, his mother died and his father followed. By this time, Baron was a significant asset for Vekllei’s deep autonomous intelligence work — apolitical, unattached, unsentimental and steady on his feet. He was destined to die in Colombia, employed indefinitely and waiting to be used up. In 2063, he met a fellow Spanish-speaking Jew by name of Tzipora.\nIn many ways, his identity is as fractured as Tzipora’s, whose Jewish European ancestry was a novel curiosity and not much more. She considered herself a Latina-American until she was Vekllei, and since then she has not been anything more. That was how it went in Vekllei’s grand secular melting pot. Tzipora was still ta bubeleh to him, but by his mid-thirties Baron had lost most of his mother’s Yiddish. Tzipora is his closest friend and daughter at the same time. She is a wholly energetic and independent agent in his life, and their relationship alternates awkwardly but intuitively between father-daughter and old friends. Ayn wonders if it is not a coincidence that Tzipora looks like Amelie, his sister.\nThe two of them champion the redemption of losers; the adrift, empty people of the world, acting on a chance to salvage a life and family. Tzipora expected to die in America; Baron expected nothing at all. But when Christmas comes around, and Ayn visits for supper, Taiwan and America melt into air; and their apartment houses the only Jewish Christmas tree in the neighbourhood.\nLittle Bouncy Zelda — an animation diary # 📖 Published 27th September 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s been a week since I\u0026rsquo;ve posted. Most of that was spent drawing the same thing over and over.\nA painting? Please. That\u0026rsquo;s a day\u0026rsquo;s work — maybe two. A five second loop of Tzipora jumping in and shuffling over? A week.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s difficult to grasp just how much work animation is until you try it. This runs at 12 frames per second (which dickheads will recognise as the anime frame rate). There are maybe 38 unique frames in this tiny animation. It\u0026rsquo;s a title card for my imaginary studio, MillMint, in case I ever make videos in the future.\nThe sketch was fun. It comes alive — your precious characters become real. Then comes the inking. 38 lines traced and polished. Then comes the colouring. Good lord, the colouring. It isn\u0026rsquo;t just labour-intensive \u0026ndash; it\u0026rsquo;s mind-numbingly boring.\nThis animation has a lot of little imperfections. No, I\u0026rsquo;m not fixing them :)\nRegular post tomorrow to make up for a week of empty suffering. Thanks for looking. Let me know what you think!\nMemory and Death in the Flower Tundra # 📖 Published 19th September 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nIt was their first hike after Maya’s funeral. She had found adult life completely disappointing, and never moved out of home. In her last summer, she developed a desperate fascination with her receding childhood, and eventually took her own life outside of the classroom she’d studied in as a third-grade student.\nHer death deeply disturbed Tzipora, who was keenly aware of how sentimental people died against metrics of their own imagination. She wondered if the government architects who designed schools and universities considered how those spaces gave life to memories. They were filled with lunchtimes and puppy love and old friends and your parents — and those things folded into brick and concrete and linoleum floors. Fifty years earlier, some architect designed a classroom so valuable that Maya took her own life in the memory of it.\nTheir Puffling troop had set off for a camp site two hours away. Tzipora and Zo did not walk with them. They followed the flower tundra north, near where Zo and Maya had played as kids. At the base of an old oak, shrouded in a cool mist, Zo buried a pair of plastic earrings and laced school shoes, neither of which had been worn in a long time. Zo started to cry. Tzipora gave her some time to herself. After a while they drank hot tea with their feet in the creek. The mist had closed them in. There was good reason why people travelled to flower-tundras to meet with the dead. The mirror-pools and tombstone drumlins invoked the spirits.\nAfter the tea, Zo pulled out her map and they set off again for the camp site, leaving the tree behind forever.\nSome kind of gay sketch for my cool subreddit. Cobian and Zelda \u0026ldquo;head-over-heels” # 📖 Published 17th September 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nmake love not lore\nMatchstick Girl # 📖 Published 14th September 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nAnother paint-sketch — a painting done fast. I’m trying to learn to a) paint and b) paint on an industrial scale.\nShe’d missed the fast tram, caught a tiny splinter in her thumb, lost a button and now the match wouldn’t strike. It just wasn’t her day.\nThey were in Callaisn (pronounced ka-lane), a borough of the capital Tzipora regarded as “the worst of them” for its tall buildings and labyrinthian concrete alleys. “Bad people, bad food, bad smells” she said, flashing the tact she was known for. “Let’s go home.”\nCallaisn was an oddity, built largely by the British during the occupation years in the fashion of London. It was nonetheless a thoroughly Vekllei borough, with its parks and tramways and rivulets, but it had a continental skyline marked by tower blocks and skyscrapers. A lot of boring business was done in Callaisn that Tzipora didn’t care about.\nCobian frowned as Tzipora rotated a second match between her thumb and finger. She didn’t like this nasty little habit she’d picked up. “You’ll smell like your dad if you keep this up,” she said.\n“Suits me,” said Tzipora.\nRoad Trip # 📖 Published 11th September 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nThey showed up at the autopool, and someone had just returned a brand new AAAC Voya Voya — incredible. It was like Christ himself had blessed them. It only (barely) seat five, and there were six of them, but it wasn’t a problem. Moise would drive, Tzipora bunked with Cobian in the passenger seat and Alise, Zo and Jerome could cram into the back. It was a squeeze but with the top down and on the coastal highway it couldn’t have mattered less. It was the car of late summer.\nZo had just married Jerome, and they had recently moved in with each other at age 17. Tzipora had no metrics to figure out if that was too young, but Zo was her friend and young newlyweds were lonely people. She was all too ready to volunteer her labour (and that of Cobian and Moise) to drive them down to Koisniya and pick them up a coffee machine she’d ordered six months prior. Tohs S.p.A. was a good company but Tohs himself was a disorganised bastard and he’d rung up to a few times to tell her the order had been delayed. Then she called him back a month later and he said he’d never received the order. So it was that they were on their way now, well after Zo and Jerome had married, to pick up the wedding gift. That was just how things worked in Vekllei.\nZo’s friend Alise sat the coffee machine in her lap on the way back, and as the coastal highway reached Vik it skirted an incredible series of cliffs that they stopped to look at. The wind was out and the Atlantic churned beneath. The sun was hot on their skin. The coffee machine was left on the tiny back seat as they got out to have a look and take a picture.\nClean Faces; Full Hearts: Uniforms in Vekllei [8.9.2020] # 📖 Published 8th September 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nIn Vekllei, uniforms are prevalent across all levels of society. They are perhaps the most obvious example of the opaque contradictions at the heart of Vekllei life, caught between wholly opposing ideas: between tradition and progress; liberty and control; and, most crucially here — between individualism and the burden of society.\nDepicted here are uniforms for education — Tzipora as a puffling of the Puffin Scouts on the left, and the others in mere school uniforms. These uniforms are universal and used across all ages of schooling, from kindergarten to university. Even some teachers wear them — it starts to stretch the conventional imagination about what constitutes a uniform.\nA few observations on this picture:\nFirst, these uniforms are used interchangeably across ages and disciplines. The difference between a red pleat skirt and a navy skirt is trivial; it is merely a difference in the meaning of the clothing, as part of Vekllei semaphore. They are both equally the school-mandated uniform of education, and can be worn interchangeably from one day to the next, in third grade and at university.\nSecond, there are many small uniquenesses in the uniform of each person, which are accentuated by their surrounding uniformity. Tzipora’s school shirt is pleated along the buttons, acquired off the rack of a department store. One pair of trousers might be a slightly different shade to the pair next to it. These discrepancies are not regarded as malfunctions of the uniform system, since the system is not designed to make each student conform to a single appearance — it is about identity and convenience in a country that spent many decades clawing its way out of abject poverty.\nThese principles apply across many workplaces and in government, too — where uniforms are not intended to only signify publicly a place of work but instead form social bonds through clothing, which are intimate factors of ordinary life. In Vekllei, clothes are not an expression of personality, but items to communicate and bond with, regulated not by an authority demanding strict conformity but a desire for identity, physicality, infrastructure and convenience.\nSuch a state of affairs is unimaginable in some countries, especially beyond collectivist or conformist cultures. Individualist intuition suggests that uniforms are actively detrimental to personal expression — but this idea demands a scale of expression far beyond the preference for subtlety and delicateness in Upen. Deviations from uniformity, like earrings, the way hair is worn, wristwatches, makeup and minor irregularities accentuate the value of those things, and make them more important. This aesthetic contrast is at the heart of the wider Upen intuition that you can see in architecture and political priority alike. And, as any Vekllei boy will tell you — seeing a classroom crush out of uniform for the first time is a religious experience, and only afforded by scarcity.\nVekllei is an individualist society, modelled after self-concern and self-love by a salt-of-the-earth and larrikin people of my native Australia. This is not a people compatible with conventional thinking on the regulation of appearance — but, as with many things in Vekllei, both are held true at the same time. They are a free and unrestrained population clothed at work and in school in clothes gifted to them. As an addendum, although many readers find common ancestry with Japan in this project (not unreasonably, either), Vekllei has more in common in some ways with the distant neighbours of my Australian homeland — countries that haven’t been glamorised in the West through culture export. Thailand, Cambodia and Laos are among them — coincidentally, all three are rare examples of countries where university students wear uniforms.\nSomeday, we’ll look at the aesthetics of power and authority-worship, inspired at least in part by the history and culture of these countries, and associate them with cultural forces in Vekllei. If you have any questions, just ask.\nVI. Gallery # This month’s sketches, presented without context or or standards of quality. The postcards will be included in the August edition. Contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com for full-res versions of any images received in this bulletin.\nParent Moment [9.9.2020] # POSTS THIS MONTH: 7 # POSTS LAST MONTH: 6 # Published by MillMint Press. Copyright 2020. To stop receiving these emails send UNSUBSCRIBE to melonkony@icloud.com.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 19,
  "href": "/millmint/patreon/letters/2021/may/",
  "title": "May 2021","icon": "✉️","color": "blue",
  "section": "Letters",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " ✿ This letter was sent out to Patrons in May 2021 Hello beloved patrons,\nIt\u0026rsquo;s been a little while since my last direct communiqué. I laid off these for a bit, since I realised you probably didn\u0026rsquo;t need to have your inbox full of blog posts and delay announcements from me. Time better spent drawing I reckon.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve had a couple things going on in my personal life, so I\u0026rsquo;ve had to put some of my wilder ambitions on hold for a bit. I\u0026rsquo;m hoping I\u0026rsquo;m nearing the end of this rough patch and you\u0026rsquo;ll see some crazy good stuff in future, in addition to regular posts.\nThis message is just me saying I\u0026rsquo;m still around, and I\u0026rsquo;m always thankful. I\u0026rsquo;ve got a couple really good train posts around the corner. Tzipora loves the trains.\nIn the meantime, enjoy this picture I made for you.\nWarm regards,\nMelon/Hobart\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 20,
  "href": "/millmint/bulletin/2020/6/",
  "title": "Issue 6 | October 2020","icon": "🌼","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "The Atlantic Bulletin Archive",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " From the Editor # Welcome to the sixth issue of The Atlantic. Big announcements, short bulletin.\nI’ve started work on Atomic Modern, better known as ’the Vekllei comic.’ I’m about five pages in so far. I have a distinct style of illustration, but that doesn’t always translate well to a panel format, and navigating that fact has been a real challenge. Generally, pages are just taking too long — about half a page a day so far. How on earth do some authors produce 500-page tomes? I’m working on fixing that.\nPatrons will see pages this week! How exciting. I’ll also be in close contact with patrons regarding the upcoming $100/month milestone, and how best to celebrate it.\nAlthough this month was dominated by conversation about the comic, we also saw a mix of posts this month of various types and styles. In future, while balancing regular comic production, I’ll be looking at trimming traditional posts down to about once a week (as in this month) and putting efforts into finishing the website and polishing posts on the subreddit. I want to reign things in a bit — explore different samples of Vekllei life playfully and efficiently, and dispense for a moment the traditional story posts, which will be supplemented by the linear story of the comic.\nFinally, if you would like to contribute to The Atlantic with writing, art or reviews relevant to the spirit of petticoat ideology, please contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com before the 30th of November.\nThank you for supporting Vekllei, and best wishes.\nHobart Phillips Enjoy — 楽しんで\nI. News \u0026amp; Announcements # My honours thesis is done. Hip hip hooray. At some point in future, once it’s marked and returned, it’ll be archived on the site alongside other essays I’ve worked on. The site is not done! I’ll be looking to finish the main articles this month, and contributing regularly to expand the content of the site. I’d rather have fewer, high-quality articles than many stub or low-quality articles. I’ll also be looking for volunteers to help translate the main page and perhaps a key article for newcomers. The Atlantic Bulletin will be archived on the site, so if you’ve missed editions you’ll be able to read them there. The first few pages of the comic will arrive for free on the subreddit sometime this month. II. Tzipora-watch # In October of 2064, Tzipora would begin work as a junior commis chef at a local Spanish restaurant, training under immigrant head chef (and proud Spaniard) Valentino “Val” Martinez. Tzipora could scarcely speak Vekllei and was berated incessantly by Martinez, who saw her has slow-witted and untalented. In time, however, Tzipora would prove her culinary ability and made good use of her talents at home, preparing simple, fresh cooking in a new country that celebrates local food. She would rise to the rank of sous chef, and enjoyed her work there until she left to finish high school the next year.\nIII. Vekllei Fact of the Month # Unusually for a country often regarded as European, Vekllei has little popular conception of the Second World War. Although a member of the Axis powers from 1936 thru 1941, Vekllei’s small navy was entirely sunk within months of the war’s opening by British naval dominance in the North Atlantic, and by 1942 was press-ganged as a staging point for American aircraft. Vekllei students only spend a few weeks learning about WW2 in mandatory history classes, and it rarely appears in popular culture, a cultural artefact attributed to the general distaste for Junta-era history and the minor role the country played in the war.\nIV. WordBook # Sukish — pronounced “sookie,” Sukish describes the sensation of warm sunlight on bare skin. Derived from the Loh glossary, it is gentle and playful despite Loh’s association with moonlight and winter, and is often used poetically in advertisements and ceremonial speech to suggest new beginnings and rebirth. Pictographically, is is depicted as a sun on a crown. Spend too long in the sun, however, and you might suffer Acelouliah, which is the literal word for burning, and is used equally to describe sunburn and burning food.\nV. The Bulletin # Major Announcement: A Vekllei Comic # 📖 Published 27th October 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nHi everyone,\n\u0026ldquo;He not busy being born is busy dying,\u0026rdquo; — that’s off a Bob Dylan bootleg. I’ve just finished my thesis and I’m busy being born again. Sometimes I feel like I’m busy dying. Drawing’s been the way out for a long time now.\nAs of today I’m starting work full-time on a Vekllei comic called Atomic Modern. The front cover looks like a textbook. The name is not that interesting. That’s okay — apparently my honours in media didn’t do anything for my marketing ability, but this project is about celebrating mundanity and restraint. Tzipora’s got a fag in her mouth but it isn’t lit. I feel like that a lot of the time. It’s a self-contained image.\nAtomic Modern is about Tzipora and Vekllei. It’s about her friends and her memories and all the good and bad parts of her life. It’s about what went down in America and how you can justify living. It’ll have beautiful Vekllei landscapes and characters in muted colour. It will also include passages that act as a guide to Vekllei and society — diagrams, infographics and footnotes. It’s also an escape from everything going on right now — there’s good and bad in all stories, but at the end of the day Vekllei is a utopia.\nI will publish pages here for free. 🔗I’ll collate them into chapters available exclusively to my patrons. Maybe some extra stuff too. I’m a good dad to my patrons. I already made a set of postcards and sent them out. Either way, you’ll continue to see stuff here. This is exciting, isn’t it? This is a new chapter for me as an artist. It’s a vulnerable moment for me, because up until now it’s just sort of been “posting on reddit”. I don’t have a publisher, I’m not trained, I’m just some guy. But this is what I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m trying to get busy being born again.\nThere should be regular world posts here still. There’s drawings I like to do that just don’t fit into a comic format. I think during weekdays I’ll work on the comic and on weekends I’ll do a painting. We’ll see how it goes.\nAlso, I’ll have a nice big wiki soon with multiple language support. I’ll let you know when it’s done.\nLet’s start this again, with all that off my chest.\nHi, I’m Hobart. I’m busy getting born again.\nMuch love,\nMelonKony\n🔗Join the Vekllei Patreon.\n🔗Join the Vekllei Discord.\nBe “petticoat”.\nAll That’s Solid Melts into Zelda # 📖 Published 18th October 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nMy nerves are like overused sandpaper—all dull; only the eye-catching, bizarre and grotesque can excite me now.\nTanizaki Junichirō, 1918\nThe wind had died and it seemed that she would follow it. Crazy shadows distorted beneath car headlights. It occurred to her in some way that, as she approached dying, she was living out the ultimate dramatic fantasy of the American misplaced girl, in the same way the townsmen were fulfilling their grotesque constellation of death by murdering women. To them, she was not Zelda, or an agitator, or even a maid from Motel Grande; she was just a girl of girl-form, washed out; beat in; bent before the death-bridge where the creek rolled on below. It was brutal and violent, and also the most tacky thing. It scaled up and down, because it was murdering.\nThe hearts of America are like overused sandpaper — all dull. This is how it played out in 2063, ages into the Great American Decline and well before it was put down like a sick dog by Chinese methods. The worn out bodies of the hedonistic coasts were numb to the spectacle of collapse and found themselves displaced and unfeeling, and so the neurotic motions of vampiric culture barons responded. In 2036, long before the Dallas Secession or Zelda’s birthday, the NBC under the Radio Corporation of America broadcast the first televised execution in the United States of child serial killer Wayne Graham. This enticed similar coverage across all major television networks for subsequent executions, which were viewed by millions of Americans. The format culminated in NBC’s The American Justice Show programme, in which the method and subject of broadcasted executions were made participatory by public poll. It was tremendously successful but was cancelled in 2041, after the botched death of George Kovacs.\nThis is not necrotic; this is neurotic; it is the ultimate sucking up of human desire into the commodity-form, and it was only the beginning. It is not just a poetic coincidence that the cancellation of American Justice saw the legalisation (or at the very least, decriminalisation) of prostitution in all regions but the Deep South over the next decade (which would contribute to the eventual secession). This is pleasure in its raw form, and the murder of prostituted immigrant-labourers and the eroticisation of the death of Wayne Graham’s teen-age victims was one and the same. The necroticisation would arrive later, as modernity tumoured and pleasure outpaced the sovereignty of the federal government.\nHere was Zelda, who was a perfect caricature of the real American in the 21st century — born overseas, poor as shit, and dressed up for dying. And why shouldn’t she die? All the old things were dead. God, kings, outrage, empathy, optimism — it was all thrown in the creek, with the rest of the immigrant-labourers. Why shouldn’t a child and her sensitivity be among them? You could change the channel on television and see pornography and the brutal violence of the Secession adjacent to each other. If you clicked the knob back and forth fast enough, they could become one and the same.\nTzipora was the last to arrive and among the first to be lynched, and maybe they would make postcards out of her dead body. She couldn’t even wonder this in her terror; the thought would only occur to her much later. It seemed like the whole Great American Decline, in all its hungry decomposition and hedonism was leading to this single moment — and all that was once solid melts into Zelda.\nPetrol Heaven: The Rohsm STR-750 # 📖 Published 13th October 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nThe Rohsm STR series is a small racer built for clubs by Rohsm S.p.M., a hundred-year-old company headquartered in the Mediterranean racing culture of Tohs. Its most recent variant, the 750, is available in limited quantities to enthusiast owners and club pools. Like most petrol cars in Vekllei, they are built by hand, so no two 750s drive exactly alike.\nCompared to its neighbouring continents, petrol cars are criminally unsafe in Vekllei, where a preference for speed and lightweight manoeuvrability in European bodies see much of the steel of electric autos traded for light alloys and carbon. They crumple like drink cans in a crash, but prior to their death the driver is having the best driving experience of his life. This reckless pursuit of good driving means locals call them “bastard cars”. Extraordinarily lightweight and tremendously powerful, they cut sharp racing lines and trace corners. Poised and nimble, they make good use of Motorway One, the gentle curved ring road of Vekllei with no speed limit.\nBecause of the inconvenience of finding petrol stations and their relative danger, not many people drive petrol cars in Vekllei. Why would you, when it is usually faster and more convenient to take a fast tram or train, or a battery auto from an autopool? The ones that do drive, however, drive hard.\nPictured is the 25th STR-750, returned home after wins on the circuit in Italy and Spain. Her drivers are pictured above. It also happens to be Tzipora’s favourite car, because it was the first petrol car she ever drove.\nMittens and Metaphysic: Product Atheism and Vekllei object-form # 📖 Published 11th October 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nPictured above: various fashions worn by Vekllei women, showcasing heavy cold-weather dresses, simple styling, strong geometric shapes and colours, loose fits, and modest hemlines.\nPictured below: postmodern neomarxism, which I’ve tricked you into reading with anime.\nPrevious posts on the Vekllei economy, if you’re new:\n🔗Sundress Municipalism and how it works 🔗Macroeconomics and currency in a country with no money Vekllei’s obvious contradictions are commonly referenced, but not always clear. Why are parts of Vekllei epistemology, or the ‘Vekllei way of thinking,’ contradictory? And if these are contradictions, then surely they must fall apart when they’re examined? How is it possible to hold two contradictory ideas at the same time and apply them? Let’s look at Product Atheism, Vekllei’s foundation for necroeconomics.\nAtismoprodarte, lit. “product atheism,” is the process by which Vekllei culture breaks down and rebuilds social preconceptions of objects, including products. Vekllei does not really have commodities in the traditional idea of the word, so it is supplemented here by ‘product,’ which more closely resembles the Vekllei word for commodity-forms: prodart or prodatte. This concept is a part of Upen, which is found throughout Vekllei culture and its constitution, and coexists agnostically with organised religion.\n“Product Atheism” is the term for how Vekllei people think about the objects that make up their lives — clothes, appliances, toys, trinkets and treasures. These things are not quite commodities, because they are not “sold”. Vekllei does not use money, and so it does not produce items of any economic value.\nAn object’s economic form, then, is replaced by social form. Among Marxists, they call these social forms fetishistic, because products are given lives of their own and exist independently of the labour that created them. But this doesn’t work in Vekllei, because\n• Labour-value is social, not economic. Vekllei people are not paid for work and they do not pay money for products. All work is for social reasons; all consumption is for social needs. Any object that is prohibited from the ordinary Vekllei person is merely landscape; it has no form.\n• Labour-value is simultaneously suppressed, in imitation of commodity, and celebrated, in imitation of dereification. Vekllei shops look like any foreign shops, because they participate in the same fantasy ritual of shopping and allow easy access to products. At the same time, Upen emphasises the importance of local consumption and objects made by hand, and so Vekllei appliances are generally hand-made. This creates a social bond between the producer and consumer, and breaks down commodity-form, but it can’t escape the fetishised valuations encouraged by the consumer-fantasy. So it is neither a social or economic product while being both; resulting in a permanent contradiction.\nIn fact, Vekllei ‘Product Atheism’ is more or less a rejection of Marxist commodity fetishism, and instead advocates product-worship. This is because objects in Vekllei are regarded as fantasy, and are eroticised by a fantasy market. This is a symptom of the unspoken truth most foreigners are well aware of — Vekllei does not have an economy; the Vekllei economy is dead; the economy has been reanimated and is zombified. No money changes hands, no product has value, and all products are abstracted and exclusively physical simultaneously.\nThus Product Atheism has two contradictions; first, that the participatory market economy of Vekllei is both alive and dead, making it both undead and unaliave, and second, that products are both abstracted by Product Atheism and then unabstracted through Product Atheism at the same time, leaving them formless and unconstructed — and, per Upen’s definitions, truly personal and intimate.\nAcknowledging this necroeconomic construction destroys it, and so a final truth is revealed. In Vekllei, the exchange of objects is a social formality, like their uniforms and sign-language, and is both entirely superfluous and essential to the functioning of the state. This is not Marxism; this is not even economic; this is Vekllei, and its cultural forms are what determine all constructions of society. Vekllei’s ‘material form’ is actually cultural, and Upen is its culture.\nSince Vekllei economic forms are not truly economic, it makes sense that Product Atheism does not merely apply to the economy. All products, or objects, are part of its frameworks. The example used in this picture, depicting women’s fashion, is a good example of how Upen brings together an abstract object value and a valueless physical object simultaneously. Clothes in Vekllei have a very powerful social function, enhanced by how colour and shape become forms of communication in themselves as part of Vekllei semaphore. Clothes are both figuratively and literally signifiers of personality and individual expression.\nIn Vekllei written script, called Topet, most traditional clothing items are each assigned a single character, giving them a transcendental pictographic quality, a feature impossible to replicate in phonetic speech. In this sense, the written description of a dress in Vekllei supersedes its spoken equivalent, privileging pictorial, transcendental imagery over literalism. This poetic form is part of product-worship, and thus part of Product Atheism. This means that, without even touching the sociological tastes and trends of clothing fashion in Vekllei, we can see Product Atheism smashing Western frameworks against their own assumptions, leaving much of Vekllei epistemology, even today, incomprehensible to ideology without Upen as its framework.\nAtlantic Boredom [07.10.2020] # 📖 Published 7th October 2020 | 🔗Read here.\nFor a brief period of time, Zelda and Cobian took it upon themselves to make something of their youth. Cobian fancied herself a gymnast, and though this ambition arrived too late and left too soon, she was quite good at it for a while. Tzipora was better suited on the trampoline, where her stiff leg didn’t give her as much trouble.\nThey trained for about two hours, and after practice they met up to travel home together. Their gymnasium was in a coastal town called Gigayeh, in the borough of Mirah. Here, sloping lava fields were cast in the sea, buried under fine black sand.\nThere was an hour and a half after practice before the evening train arrived to take them back home to Lola, and so they were left with not much to do. Gigayeh had beautiful empty beaches, littered with icebergs that caught the light like jewels, but Tzipora couldn’t swim and the water was freezing. They could have enjoyed café food in the sun, but Cobian’s regimented home life had left her incapable of eating outside of her designated meals, and Tzipora could only drink so much coffee. Instead, most of these afternoons, they found themselves sitting on the ocean promenade, watching a handful of locals go about their business as they counted the minutes.\nIn the moment, it was stupefyingly boring. They’d spent all day at school with each other and usually couldn’t conjure a word between them. Tzipora would make a remark about a seabird, because she liked them. She had been learning a lot about birds. Sometimes they would share a comic, but they read too fast to fill time. Most of it was spent in the sea air, feeling it grow colder as the day waned, watching the same ocean foam throw itself onto glittering volcanic sand.\n“I think that’s a horned puffin. That’s special,” Tzipora said out loud. Cobian didn’t even look up. Tzipora squinted.\n“No, wait, that’s just a regular one.”\nIn time, Tzipora would remember this period of her life fondly, and would visit Gigayeh to recapture that peace. As a teen-ager, however, those afternoons seemed to last forever.\nVI. Gallery # This month’s sketches, presented without context or or standards of quality. The postcards will be included in the August edition. Contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com for full-res versions of any images received in this bulletin.\nNewda Skyscraper [22.10.2020] # Big Smile [13.10.2020] # POSTS THIS MONTH: 5 # POSTS LAST MONTH: 7 # Published by MillMint Press. Copyright 2020. To stop receiving these emails send UNSUBSCRIBE to melonkony@icloud.com.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 21,
  "href": "/millmint/patreon/letters/2021/july/",
  "title": "Jul 2021","icon": "✉️","color": "blue",
  "section": "Letters",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " ✿ This letter was sent out to Patrons in July 2021 Hello beloved patrons,\nJust checking in after a quiet July. It’s been quiet for several reasons, most of them good.\nWe had a few posts this month, but I’ve also been working on larger things — the comic, of course, but I have also spent many days working on a special map of Vekllei, to be revealed soon.\nThis is me checking in to let you know I’m around and grateful. Tzipora, a dedicated puffin scout, is pictured here doing the puffin salute.\nLook forward to exciting things soon.\nMuch love,\nHobart/Melon\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 22,
  "href": "/millmint/bulletin/2020/7/",
  "title": "Issue 7 | November 2020","icon": "🌼","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "The Atlantic Bulletin Archive",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " From the Editor # Welcome to the sixth issue of The Atlantic. November’s a bitch.\nThis was a hard month, evidenced in part by the smaller number of posts. Personal problems and some bad news are enough to derail plans, I’m afraid, and so other things had to take their place. November saw an increase in articles on MillMint.net and polish to the site, a whole lot of little sketches, as well as plans for a Patreon milestone reward and some private work on the comic.\nThe comic’s coming, by the way. I know it’s a little late and a little quiet, but it’s hard yakka and I’m doing my best. I’m writing this in early December, and I can tell you already that the winds are changing — and man do I have a great month of stuff planned, including comic drafts and pins for Patrons.\nNovember saw two big “article-type” posts about language and city planning — sister articles on religion and nature will arrive in December. These posts help form the full-length wiki articles on the website, which will be comprehensive resources for understanding Vekllei. How exciting! Also expect a few more snapshots of life before the comic pages are released to Patrons in the coming weeks. As always, thanks for your patience, dear reader.\nFinally, if you would like to contribute to The Atlantic with writing, art or reviews relevant to the spirit of petticoat ideology, please contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com before the 30th of November.\nThank you for supporting Vekllei, and best wishes.\nHobart Phillips Enjoy — 楽しんで\nI. News \u0026amp; Announcements # Life can be hard sometimes. But it can also get better! I’m planning a full, complete site launch in the new year! It’ll be a great wiki and archive of all content related to the project, and will really benefit my work overall. The comic will also be hosted via the site, though I’m still figuring out the particulars on that one. In November, I was interviewed by Media Tackle about Vekllei and utopian worldbuilding, and I look forward to sharing that interview with you all soon. My work on utopian worldbuilding in the films of Studio Ghibli will soon be hosted in the Essays section of the website. I love you. II. Tzipora-watch # In November of 2075, Tzipora would begin work as an amateur contributor to the underground ‘zine Kid Comix, a satirical and often crude publication circulated mostly among its contributors and die-hard comix fans. This would get her in trouble more than once, especially after members of the Montre University faculty discovered her caricatures of them, but she would always look back on her time with the ‘zine fondly. In many ways, it introduced her to publishing and would lead to her employ at the Montre University Tribune, where she would eventually serve as Editor-in-Chief.\nIII. Vekllei Fact of the Month # All fishing trawlers in Vekllei — that is to say, fishing vessels above a certain size for large-scale commercial trawling — are owned and operated by the navy. The seas in Vekllei’s exclusive economic zone are mostly fished by small craft laying lines and nets, but the deeper peripheral waters that surround the zone are as contentious as they are well-stocked with fish. To ensure the security of their trawlers and preserve access to these valuable and contested waters, trawlers are often guarded by navy ships — a handful of trawlers are even equipped with guns!\nIV. WordBook # Gouisvenpan — pronounced “gwee-ven-pan,” Gouisvenpan describes a state or territory that is divided between two political powers as a result of treaty or civil war. Tzipora’s middle-school-era homeland, the United States, is currently suffering from Gouisvenpan across many of its seceding states.\nV. The Bulletin # Coming to Grips # 📖 Published 30th November 2020 | 🔗Read here | Archived here\nShe would spend a long time by the rivulet that ran behind her apartment. She would do the housework and hang the wash out, then watch the water trickle past in the sun.\nShe tried to open a jar the other day and started to cry when she couldn’t get it open. She never cried once when she saw those things in America, or got beat to shit, but these days she cried over jam. She didn’t know what was going on. Things were getting worse.\nShe caught her reflection in the rivulet’s water. It provoked a nausea. She was so tired. What would stop her from plunging her face into the river until she slipped right in? Would she drown and float away, never to be seen again? Or maybe, in a miracle, she might grow gills and fins and swim away, her life-force put to better use as a fish or turtle.\nHow do you resolve an ache to confess sadness to someone and the instinct to protect your emotions? It wasn’t in her nature to tell people about her feelings. On some level, she looked down on it; every cell of her body told her to suffer in silence. She wore the same clothes every day. Why did she wear the same clothes every day?\nIt is a fierce thing to discover within yourself that which you despise the most. She watched the foam gather around a stick wedged in the bank of the rivulet. If she’d been born elsewhere, into power and wealth rather than girlishness and poverty, she would have made an excellent thug. She wondered how much management she needed. Why was it so hard to live?\nShe tasted the water from the rivulet and it was cold and sweet, and said a prayer to the rivulet for its purity no matter what happened to her. The wash was dry on the line.\nOut of The Ground and Into The Light # 📖 Published 29th November 2020 | 🔗Read here | Archived here\nNO REALTORS EXCEPT THE STATE ■ THE COUNTY THE AGENT OF THE STATE ■ THE ARCHITECT THE AGENT OF THE COUNTY\nIt is clear that in Vekllei democracy is a way of living more than it is a form of government. After all, by metrics of representation, the Atlantic nation\u0026rsquo;s electoral system often sputters and fails, undermined by the bundling of the human and natural votes as equal, and the wildly disproportionate borough system. But if democracy is a way of life and not just a ballot in its box, then we can see democracy acted out all around us in Vekllei.\nCities are living things; they are made up of people hurrying and talking and building. In cities, we see Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s centralised society/decentralised life contradiction lean towards \u0026ldquo;deurbanisation\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;local transparency\u0026rdquo;.\nThe four principles of Vekllei life are:\nSelf-management and self-interest through Sundress Municipalism. Classification of property as an independent social organ, like nature. Abolishment of currency and currency-substitutes. Economic feminisation. Ranked in order of their immediacy to the average person, we can see that Sundress Municipalism is at the core of Vekllei life. What exactly is Sundress Municipalism? It describes the organisation of Vekllei cities, which are arranged around the following principles:\nLocal employment, or \u0026ldquo;commutelessness.\u0026rdquo; Slumlessness, beautification, and a will to architecture. Property stewardship. Open air and clean water. Land usefulness (\u0026quot;friendliness\u0026quot;). Private ownership of private needs. Public ownership of public needs. These values are oriented around a deeply Vekllei valuation of space, and the accessibility of place and material to ordinary people. They also reveal some peculiarities in their listing \u0026ndash; what constitutes a private and public need, and what constitutes ownership, are deeply spiritual concepts in Vekllei, and their use here relies on uncoded intuition. Let us not forget we are dealing with a state that considers itself to be the human ambassador of the ground on which it sits, and so \u0026ldquo;public\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;private\u0026rdquo; include the nonhuman in their metrics. This is how, much to the amusement of foreigners, buildings can and often do \u0026ldquo;own themselves\u0026rdquo; in Vekllei. Most ownership is proved by stewardship; the use of space. The person who works the shop and lives above it, owns the shop.\nThis image depicts the Vekllei city of Adouisneh, the florid culture capital of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Northwest. It is one of the \u0026ldquo;Five Crowning Cities\u0026rdquo; of Vekllei, measured by population and cultural significance, and was the site of one of the earliest parliaments in the world, centuries before the monarchy would come to power. You can see here the tension between old-world European planning and new-world Sundress Municipalism in the architecture and layout of this city.\nA cactus bloom is beyond any bloom, I think, manufactured by plants anywhere in the world. And there you have an interesting syllogism, haven’t you? The desperate nature of the armed plant and the exquisite, beautiful efflorescence it produces. Something to think about. There you see, revealed, some processes of nature, the significance of which I don’t gather at the moment.\n\u0026ndash; Frank Lloyd Wright, Nov. 1952\nPerhaps urbanised modernity is the cactus, and Sundress Municipalism is the blossom.\nIt is not that Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s feminised Municipalism represents a clean departure from how cities look and feel, but instead constitutes a rethinking of urbanism; it is an ideology of homesteads, decentralisation, clean air, food production, arts and crafts, leisure, and the spirit, if not the literal presence of, \u0026ldquo;disposable income.\u0026rdquo; It is not enough that a factory should be the property of the people who work in it; a factory should become adjacent to the home, a part of it, designed in ways that benefit the good instincts of ordinary people. Vekllei is a celebration of the architect; automatons may now do a lot of the work, but all design is deeply human.\nThis is the heart of the dream. Vekllei is not a big enough country to gift each person an acre of land to do with as they wish; it is, however, sophisticated enough to decentralise that \u0026ldquo;local acre\u0026rdquo; among the community, cultivating those same values in a modern skyline and allowing the city to flow across the landscape, changing as it responds to the place around it. Ownership is important; stewardship is especially important. By allowing people to own and use land, you give them dignity. Above all, design and architecture are important for the same reason spatiality is important \u0026ndash; they give presence to and emulsify work and leisure.\nAfter the mid-twentieth century, modernism began to encircle the world and the architectural and urban images once projected as utopian began to fill real space. In the 1960s this reached a saturation point; utopia was, ironically, realised.\n\u0026ndash; Karatani Kojin, Architecture as Metaphor, 1983\nThis occurred because, upon realising that art must be removed from architecture in order to safeguard it against a looming \u0026ldquo;loss of subject,\u0026rdquo; avant-garde thinkers methodologically reestablished architecture as \u0026lsquo;construction\u0026rsquo; \u0026ndash; utilitarian efforts towards grand ideas. With art removed, architecture was able to close in on the inherent placelessness of utopia. In Vekllei, this approach is extant (though diminished by their absurd place-metaphysics) through Newda, the indigenous design ideology that continues to service architecture through social, rather than artistic, methods.\nThe \u0026ldquo;big idea\u0026rdquo; Newda is an agent for, wrapped up in Sundress Municipalism, is very straightforward:\nThe city should be everywhere and nowhere.\nIn Adouisneh, despite its thousand years of history, we can see postwar Newda come to life in its integration and decentralisation of the \u0026ldquo;city\u0026rdquo; as a living process, moving people and their concerns closer together. Developed only with the consent of the architect, Vekllei has become an architocracy, serving decentralised, pleasant living through bureau monopolies.\nPerhaps, after all, it is the necessity of state authority that is the cactus, and the middle-class free lifestyles of Vekllei people that make up the blossom.\nHow to Speak Vekllei, and A New Website 🎊 # 📖 Published 15th November 2020 | 🔗Read here | Archived here\nFor all you\u0026rsquo;ve seen of Vekllei and her characters, you\u0026rsquo;ve never heard a single one of them speak. This post marks a little exploration into the Vekllei language, and a \u0026lsquo;soft launch\u0026rsquo; of my website, 🔗https://millmint.net. The proper launch will come at the end of the month.\nThis post will briefly discuss some elements shown in this infographic, 🔗but a large article on the language has been drafted here. If you have some interest in constructed language, and some of the more playful aspects of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s evolving utopian communication systems, I encourage you to take a look at it. The website is incomplete, and both the articles on characters and Vekllei itself are very incomplete. Otherwise, a growing archive, essays, and issues of the Atlantic Bulletin are all available. Have a poke around, and let me know if anything breaks! The site has dark mode, if you\u0026rsquo;re a gamer. Just click the moon.\nOne Language, Many Parts # To borrow from the article linked above, the Vekllei language has six core systems often referred to as sublanguages. They are as follows:\n🔗Spoken Vekllei, which is everyday spoken language. It draws from two glossaries with different meanings and feelings, called Oa and Loh. 🔗Topet, which are logographic characters (occasionally characterised as hieroglyphs). Like other pictographic languages, Topet characters can be broken down into repeating components, called Topotte. 🔗Rapotenne, is the traditional logographic language of names. It is much older than Topet, and has more in common with spiritual runes than modern logography. 🔗Potenne, lit. “Hand-Talk”, is a sign language that incorporates gestures and signing to add meaning to emotion to spoken language, and occasionally in place of it. 🔗Upotenne, lit. “Spirit-Hand-Talk”, as the recreation of runes in human form, used limitedly in spiritual ritual. 🔗Vekllei Semaphore is the codification of colour and shape. Traditionally limited to colour, shape and pattern are now also included in Vekllei Semaphore, in which full sentences can be formed. In This Picture # We can see various parts of the Vekllei sublanguages on display, including Topet, Rapotenne, Potenne and Vekllei Semaphore. Before Cobian gets close enough to say hello, Tzipora has already delivered a devastating compliment via a simple three-finger tap to the palm, admiring how she looks. A couple of descriptions of Tzipora written in Topet have been annotated on her left, to demonstrate its use, including a tongue-twister (\u0026ldquo;She always tucks her shirt\u0026rdquo; becomes \u0026ldquo;Louisn Laismoh Loah Liousmineh\u0026rdquo;). You\u0026rsquo;ll notice Topet looks especially hieroglyphic, even by pictographic standards.\nTzipora\u0026rsquo;s full Blood Name is spelled out in Rapotenne below, which is markedly different from Topet in history, characters and grammar. Most formal names in Vekllei employ a seal in place of writing it out in full ornamentation, which has been provided below along with a formal signature. Her signature is entirely pictographic; elements are arranged according to symbolic value, rather than phonological legibility.\nOn the right, we can see an example of how Semaphore lives up to its name through its presence on flags, reinforcing and communicating information without conventional literacy. Also shown are a handful of basic symbols as they relate to authority, with the landscape of Vekllei superseding all human organs. Their colours matter, and so their meanings are more complex than what is described here \u0026ndash; for example, a small black circle refers to a human being, but an orange one refers to an arctic person (usually Vekllei).\nFinally, we have a breakdown of the word comiya (🔗also looked at here), which means \u0026ldquo;friend.\u0026rdquo; Tzipora and Cobian are comiya, and Moise and Cobian are\u0026hellip; sort of comiya. The introduction here of phonetic complements, which are duplicate consonant-pairs used to slightly alter the semantic meaning of a word without changing its pronunciation, allows the idea of a \u0026ldquo;friend\u0026rdquo; to be conceptualised in many different ways, to encompass all sorts of relationships. This one here implies a sort of naïve love (by using characters for late autumn, young woman and a glacial beach, all pronounced /k/.)\nLimpettes are tails that underline vowel-forms called hieyerette to enhance legibility. Although ornamented Topet has visually distinct consonant-pairings, business Topet does not generally use superscript and so limpettes designate the vowel-form. If you\u0026rsquo;re a bit lost, that\u0026rsquo;s okay. It\u0026rsquo;s in the main article, and I don\u0026rsquo;t want to make this post too long.\nYou can imagine then, even with only a handful of examples of language in practice here, how complex Vekllei can become as phonological and semantic meaning compound, combine and seperate in different forms and contexts. The spoken word can be altered by the physical gesture, and the physical gesture can be altered by the written word.\nThat about wraps up this brief analysis of the infographic above. Thanks for reading, and please let me know here if you have any questions.\nThanks for your patience this month, it\u0026rsquo;s been slow and hard. With the first pages of the comic around the corner and the site launching at the end of the month, there\u0026rsquo;s a lot to look forward to. Cheers.\n21st Century Witch # 📖 Published 9th November 2020 | 🔗Read here | Archived here\nWhen the light shifted just right, the ceramic tiles and concrete footpaths twinkled like water off the back of a swan. 16th Century witches could build a hut in the woods and forage for herbs; 21st Century witches were susceptible to modernist persuasions.\nThe Demotic Meeting Hall was constructed twenty years prior as the main meeting hall of the National Dockworker’s Union. Situated on the coast, and along the recently-built monorail line to Roya, it dominated the coastline like a mythic lighthouse. Where the cathedrals of Europe built spires to God, Vekllei built towers for dockmen. At 112 meters tall, the hall’s colossal window structures were awesome within, and its massive bronze ornament glittered for miles. It was palatial.\nThe Dockworker’s Union moved west to Montre at some point, so these days it was simply the Roya Demotic Community Hall. It was used for all sorts of things, not least of which domestic tourism. Its lookout provided views across the North-West Fjords. When Tzipora first arrived in Vekllei, the scale and decadence of it appealed to her enormously. It was depicted on her language booklet, and since then she’d developed a minor fascination with the structure.\nShe got her chance to visit upon her invitation to a costume party hosted by the Chef’s Concern. Tzipora is a witchy sort of person, and the idea of going as a witch appealed to her. She already had the wardrobe — as Cobian remarked:\n“You’ve put on a hat and you’re holding a stick — that’s it.”\n“It’s my costume,” Zelda said. “I’m a witch.”\nYou can see her here attempting to recreate the sumptuous curve of the Meeting Hall in witch form.\nMore posts soon.\nVI. Gallery # This month’s sketches, presented without context or or standards of quality. The postcards will be included in the August edition. Contact Hobart at melonkony@icloud.com for full-res versions of any images received in this bulletin.\nUpdate [23.11.2020] # Chocolate [21.11.2020] # Tzipora [19.11.2020] # Cobian [18.11.2020] # Smile [06.11.2020] # Love Bike [01.11.2020] # POSTS THIS MONTH: 5 # POSTS LAST MONTH: 7 # Published by MillMint Press. Copyright 2020. To stop receiving these emails send UNSUBSCRIBE to melonkony@icloud.com.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 23,
  "href": "/tags/2025/",
  "title": "2025",
  "section": "Tags",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 24,
  "href": "/categories/machines--vehicles/",
  "title": "Machines \u0026 Vehicles",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 25,
  "href": "/categories/police--military/",
  "title": "Police \u0026 Military",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 26,
  "href": "/stories/police-armoured-car/",
  "title": "Police Armoured Car","rgb": "238, 160, 102",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/police-armoured-car.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/police-armoured-car_hu66ec19aaa29bd91437b2d0825f7be692_8525608_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 27,
  "href": "/tags/",
  "title": "Tags",
  "section": "Home",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 28,
  "href": "/categories/comics/",
  "title": "Comics",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 29,
  "href": "/stories/monopoly/",
  "title": "Monopoly","rgb": "237, 132, 104",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/monopoly.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/monopoly_hu50b3f81fd1b8a2995ff91b77f511a67c_9247326_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Commonwealth overconfidence in money abilities is a real phenomenon (sometimes called \u0026ldquo;refugee millionaires\u0026rdquo;).\nBecause they are familiar with capital and markets through systems and games, they tend to think of money as a game and overestimate their ability to \u0026ldquo;win\u0026rdquo; it.\n",
  "date": "2025-09-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 30,
  "href": "/stories/hot-plate/",
  "title": "Hot Plate","rgb": "104, 149, 227",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hot-plate.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hot-plate_hu6265f69e27fb4768643fbb060424f62f_9661341_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora often makes dinner for her \u0026ldquo;father,\u0026rdquo; Baron and her \u0026ldquo;friend,\u0026rdquo; Cobian. We know her primarily as a goofball, but she\u0026rsquo;s actually a really good cook and is a very sincere and hardworking person. This \u0026ldquo;hot plate\u0026rdquo; is a great example of modern Commonwealth cuisine.\nThey live in Oslola, which we call Iceland, but you can see how federation has influenced what they eat. Tzipora has made salad from Lucaya, drinks from Kalina, flavoured rice from the Atlantic and lamb is a staple of the northern and southern Atlantic.\n",
  "date": "2025-09-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 31,
  "href": "/categories/infographics/",
  "title": "Infographics",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 32,
  "href": "/categories/religion--culture/",
  "title": "Religion \u0026 Culture",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 33,
  "href": "/stories/police-interceptor/",
  "title": "Police Interceptor","rgb": "238, 160, 102",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/police-interceptor.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/police-interceptor_hu82ba05610e78084cd4a7c131240fa6a1_8757947_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 34,
  "href": "/categories/characters/",
  "title": "Characters",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 35,
  "href": "/categories/people--society/",
  "title": "People \u0026 Society",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 36,
  "href": "/stories/standard-of-living/",
  "title": "Standard of Living","rgb": "241, 122, 117",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/standard-of-living.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/standard-of-living_hu1d5d61002db9b23c6838e4e662283f31_8656817_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 37,
  "href": "/categories/clothing--uniforms/",
  "title": "Clothing \u0026 Uniforms",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 38,
  "href": "/categories/firearms--tools/",
  "title": "Firearms \u0026 Tools",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 39,
  "href": "/stories/nuclear-commando/",
  "title": "Nuclear Commando","rgb": "128, 148, 201",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/nuclear-commando.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/nuclear-commando_hu28f29c222cde39d18d356233bb96691a_8886168_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Naval Constables are the Commonwealth version of military police. Like everything in Vekllei it\u0026rsquo;s confusing and unconventional. They have a Police commission.\nThe Industrial Detachment secures nuclear infrastructure as soldiers but with the commission of police officers. In Vekllei they can be both soldiers and police at the same time on different commissions.\n",
  "date": "2025-09-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 40,
  "href": "/stories/enjoying-winter/",
  "title": "Enjoying Winter","rgb": "144, 158, 217",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/enjoying-winter.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/enjoying-winter_hu5b02b9614f02f09793c8e547900e7eb3_7924367_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 41,
  "href": "/stories/citizenship/",
  "title": "Citizenship","rgb": "191, 169, 223",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/citizenship.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/citizenship_hu10b0d44d02659355e1c794b0d0cc6827_9272694_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 42,
  "href": "/stories/writing-poems/",
  "title": "Writing Poems","rgb": "232, 121, 122",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/writing-poems.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/writing-poems_hufa4473c3c94a005842fd8d59ead2201b_8621106_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 43,
  "href": "/stories/silly-doll/",
  "title": "Silly Doll","rgb": "221, 126, 177",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/silly-doll.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/silly-doll_hue96db7db6080ccb91e32782fc8c93ee2_8695991_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 44,
  "href": "/stories/menhit/",
  "title": "Menhit Tank","rgb": "98, 171, 124",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/menhit.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/menhit_hudde2cb1c44759c1f2660ca4f02b2c14f_8499361_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "As seen previously:\n",
  "date": "2025-09-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 45,
  "href": "/stories/police-cadet/",
  "title": "Police Cadet","rgb": "80, 128, 213",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/cadet.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/cadet_hueb69795cf69a6451810b76dbe8065ba2_8741785_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "All Police in Vekllei go through the same college and pick up a basic commission. From there, they acquire \u0026ldquo;endorsements\u0026rdquo; in specialisations. A constable might serve as a parish officer on Monday, detective on Wednesday, and sea marshal over the weekend.\nFor a country full of federalised organisations, the police are unusually unitary. Yet they suit the character of the country, participating in a number of roles simultaneously.\n",
  "date": "2025-09-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 46,
  "href": "/stories/chicki/",
  "title": "Chicki Chews","rgb": "110, 188, 87",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/chicki.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/chicki_hu770e8c9a1f54be276e48b8d8f70acd11_8705052_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 47,
  "href": "/categories/sketch/",
  "title": "Sketch",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-09-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 48,
  "href": "/stories/canarii-student/",
  "title": "Canarii Student","rgb": "76, 135, 229",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/berber.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/berber_hu56b45101983d3c3ed903df23185e7624_8861317_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "A Canarii student on her way to school. She lives in what we know as La Palma in the Canary Islands, which Vekllei calls Benahoare. The Canarii are descended from Berbers and survived Portuguese colonisation.\n",
  "date": "2025-08-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 49,
  "href": "/stories/warrant/",
  "title": "The Warrant","rgb": "229, 135, 145",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/warrant.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/warrant_hu11399b3527a444390127e92e1ebd9e22_9177884_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-08-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 50,
  "href": "/stories/nuclear-interceptor/",
  "title": "Nuclear Interceptor","rgb": "223, 145, 81",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/nuclear-interceptor.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/nuclear-interceptor_hudc12ab88687e28e46487f87017b0a430_8980088_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Marsbreaker nuclear AA missile is not for jets; it\u0026rsquo;s for ballistic and cruise missiles.\nThe interceptor is nicknamed \u0026ldquo;Marlin\u0026rdquo; for its long nose, which packs the radar needed to guide the missile to its target. They can also serve anti-ship roles and are primarily VTOL.\n",
  "date": "2025-08-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 51,
  "href": "/stories/saturday/",
  "title": "Saturday","rgb": "189, 198, 111",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/saturday.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/saturday_hu490b21fdf1d3b7808276702c5e733cb2_8343401_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-08-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 52,
  "href": "/stories/school-capes/",
  "title": "School Capes","rgb": "91, 137, 55",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/school-capes.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/school-capes_hu563cde439596d304b34e784e27af819d_9342046_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-08-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 53,
  "href": "/stories/police-robot/",
  "title": "Police Robot","rgb": "60, 85, 149",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/police-robot.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/police-robot_hu1604e828ae67a9db66806a18daf19f1a_9362835_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is technically a droid, since all its operations are offloaded to a large optical computer called an automatic asset command. They don\u0026rsquo;t have weapons, and usually patrol a small area. Amusingly, they can intervene in an assault by ramming the attacker harmlessly and repeatedly.\nInstead, like most mobile robots in Vekllei, they take care of simple and tedious tasks and serve an auxiliary role in the police force. For example, constables can summon them via radio to block a road, use their phones or check for carbon monoxide.\nDifferent equipment boxes can be locked onto a swivelling, circular rail for different purposes. These include things like first aid kits, larger speakers, dazzling lights or even firearms.\n",
  "date": "2025-08-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 54,
  "href": "/stories/moon-coworker/",
  "title": "Moon Coworker","rgb": "73, 84, 142",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/moon-coworker.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/moon-coworker_hu84b409fc04768940cc4b6e824a750e29_9127827_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-08-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 55,
  "href": "/categories/architecture--design/",
  "title": "Architecture \u0026 Design",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-08-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 56,
  "href": "/stories/lunar-hotel/",
  "title": "Lunar Hotel","rgb": "105, 99, 129",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/lunar-hotel.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/lunar-hotel_hu3b6b668a5d48094d58fc6414dcfb7d27_9893699_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The International Lunar Hotel was built for Vekllei people with the promise that each person who wanted to visit the moon could do so once in their lifetime. It has 3,000 rooms and functions as Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s primary lunar settlement.\nThe flight up takes about 24 hours, and the \u0026ldquo;lunar ticket\u0026rdquo; gives you 3 nights. Why not go for an spacewalk at Astro Tower, or visit the lido spa that overlooks Nobile crater? The Lunar Hotel is part of Artemis city, which includes research and defence installations.\n",
  "date": "2025-08-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 57,
  "href": "/stories/god/",
  "title": "God","rgb": "214, 119, 136",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/god.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/god_hua9c71670aeb5518b1326a06b990d9e4e_7551696_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-08-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 58,
  "href": "/stories/jet-seaplane/",
  "title": "Jet Seaplane","rgb": "73, 135, 196",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/jet-seaplane.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/jet-seaplane_hu174ee887f4335780fbb8aead55cc5778_8748329_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Commonwealth Airways has the largest \u0026ldquo;flying boat\u0026rdquo; fleet of any airline in the world, because for some reason Vekllei doesn\u0026rsquo;t like to build runways on their islands. This one is flying over Summers.\nThe front of the aircraft has a lounge that serves drinks throughout the flight.\n",
  "date": "2025-08-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 59,
  "href": "/categories/landscapes/",
  "title": "Landscapes",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-08-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 60,
  "href": "/stories/lin-zhi/",
  "title": "Lin Zhi","rgb": "129, 122, 150",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/lin-zhi.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/lin-zhi_hub33bb13e2a67b102d939b9d59e79ab81_8970405_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Lin Zhi came to school one day with her head shaved. She announced that she was \u0026ldquo;no longer Chinese or a woman\u0026rdquo; and renounced the Chinese government as wreckers.\nLin Zhi did not have any friends except Tzipora because she was extraordinarily rude and spoke only broken English. She was a disgraced princeling descended from Long Marchers and had only been living in Vekllei three or four years. Tzipora liked her a lot.\n\u0026ldquo;Do you think you will ever go back to being a woman?\u0026rdquo; Tzipora asked. Lin Zhi said no, she was now only a synthesis of the international worker and could have no gender or race.\n\u0026ldquo;But you still wear earrings,\u0026rdquo; said Tzipora. \u0026ldquo;It takes more than earrings to be a woman,\u0026rdquo; Zhi said.\n",
  "date": "2025-08-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 61,
  "href": "/stories/whaling/",
  "title": "Whaling Interception","rgb": "166, 159, 185",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/whaling.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/whaling_hu1093d37c0505ee3be34863ff27eb9d31_9071624_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Squeezed out of the pacific, Norway encroaches on Vekllei economic waters to catch minkes. This has been going on for some years but has become much more violent recently.\n\u0026ldquo;Shock shells\u0026rdquo; are blinding, deafening dazzling shells designed to scare off ships.\n",
  "date": "2025-07-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 62,
  "href": "/stories/aqueduct/",
  "title": "Aqueduct","rgb": "157, 189, 78",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/aqueduct.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/aqueduct_hue0c2ffa952a187431ad42c77a635debe_9857109_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-07-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 63,
  "href": "/stories/father-daughter/",
  "title": "Father/Daughter","rgb": "97, 82, 127",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/father-daughter.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/father-daughter_hu4ce9e1c0942a24b998d074a6de43862f_7879791_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-07-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 64,
  "href": "/stories/gremlin/",
  "title": "Gremlin","rgb": "149, 178, 214",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/gremlin.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/gremlin_huda86275d69f5d9c7a181506967e04a6a_8166178_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-07-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 65,
  "href": "/stories/coastal-helijet/",
  "title": "Coastal Helijet",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/coastal-helijet.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/coastal-helijet_hu09c7477ed3457b13ef80ae9dab9c4882_8399836_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In service with the Littoral Service for search and rescue, but comes in a variant with cannons. You can see the Red Wraith buzzing around the Hound-class Surface Effect Hovercraft here.\n",
  "date": "2025-07-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 66,
  "href": "/stories/witness-truth/",
  "title": "Witness Truth","rgb": "141, 188, 118",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/truth.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/truth_hu5c5067bd5ee05e5e83a2099961f019d2_8902460_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ",
  "date": "2025-07-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 67,
  "href": "/stories/naval-commando/",
  "title": "Naval Commando","rgb": "154, 157, 204",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/naval-commando.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/naval-commando_hu54d4385c3a2e7dac9cf54b1b8501cb7b_8078373_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Most large ships have security teams, but only commandos are trained in boarding, which can involve hair-raising stunts out at sea. In combat they always wear anti-flash gear, nicknamed \u0026ldquo;white hoods,\u0026rdquo; and carry signature carbines equipped with 100-round helical magazines.\nThe WVN Noble is the Mercy-class security ship depicted here in the previous Common Navy drawing. It carries an assault group of naval commandos comprising five detachments or about 50 men.\n",
  "date": "2025-07-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 68,
  "href": "/stories/8000/",
  "title": "8,000 Followers","rgb": "224, 68, 101",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/8000.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/8000_hu36755efbc760d3cfaa46711cb4617a31_9008501_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-07-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 69,
  "href": "/categories/announcements/",
  "title": "Announcements",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-07-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 70,
  "href": "/stories/common-navy/",
  "title": "The Common Navy","rgb": "98, 143, 209",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/common-navy.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/common-navy_hu58774b23c0ecbf561821bc77cc4f5653_9381853_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Common Navy is a parallel service of the Commonwealth with naval ranks, pensions and traditions but no cannons or missiles. Instead, the Great White Fleet serves the conscience of mankind, with a mandate of compassion, mercy and international solidarity.\n\u0026ldquo;Justice by bread or sword\u0026rdquo; is the military creed of Vekllei, but it is easy to understate the sincere belief the country has in both of those things, as two sides of the same commitment to dignity. So rarely does bread receive even a fraction of the attention of the sword.\nThe Common Navy is an expression of the Commonwealth as a country and its values, but also an expression of internationalism and the declaration of human rights achieved by the United Nations in their victory over Nazism. A hundred years on they carry on this work. It is not a simple charity at the mercy of real power; the Common Navy is real power in humanitarian form. It is an independent service where the easing of suffering is supplied, organised and prosecuted as though it were a conventional war.\nRecent ports of call include Bangkok, where the Atom-class supported energy relief after the melt down of the Chaiyaphum Atom Station. The navy also completed a tour of West Africa to assist in the technical schooling of engineers.\n",
  "date": "2025-07-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 71,
  "href": "/stories/grocery-merch/",
  "title": "Grocery Merch","rgb": "122, 180, 97",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/grocery-merch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/grocery-merch_hu5e967169b81fffdfae411f454e0940e2_8944822_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "There are over 7,500 United Grocers in Vekllei and you can furnish a basic standard of living completely out of their stock. You don\u0026rsquo;t pay for their goods but inventory is scanned in and out, mostly by bored teenagers looking to reduce their national service obligation.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s worth noting that Vekllei tends to be a bit more formal in public than our own world, and this kind of outfit has all the hallmarks of \u0026ldquo;house clothes\u0026rdquo; with its clashing colours and bright patterns.\nYou wouldn\u0026rsquo;t wear this outside except for sports (not that it stops some people).\n",
  "date": "2025-07-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 72,
  "href": "/stories/bath/",
  "title": "Oslolan Bath","rgb": "237, 96, 93",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/bath.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/bath_hu2310b1a2fe7386df68a6b72da77b5b52_10021919_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-07-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 73,
  "href": "/stories/schizodress/",
  "title": "Schizodress","rgb": "77, 135, 215",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/schizodress.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/schizodress_hueec28a5debad020575001b7e789b79b1_6659309_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The dress is a gift from Cobian with the condition that she doesn\u0026rsquo;t run around in it.\nIt shields her from torpedos and the repressive, paranoiac manipulation of desire by capital.\n",
  "date": "2025-07-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 74,
  "href": "/stories/department-clerks/",
  "title": "Department Clerks","rgb": "233, 83, 111",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/department-store.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/department-store_hu857516b23a28accecd1acde3014d1999_6728581_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Mechanisation, computerisation and centralisation has made sure the Department Store remains the primary place of commerce in Vekllei (insofar as commerce exists). The Atlantic Department Co. is, surprisingly, still privately owned.\nIt is a perfect example of the bizarre manifestation of their ludic, moneyless economy \u0026ndash; where things carry on much as they did before in appearance. The base has changed but in many ways the superstructure remains the same. People continue to \u0026ldquo;shop\u0026rdquo; without money.\n",
  "date": "2025-07-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 75,
  "href": "/stories/bangs/",
  "title": "Bangs","rgb": "226, 166, 79",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/bangs.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/bangs_huf959f8263321a29173067cd87e737932_8520586_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-07-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 76,
  "href": "/stories/weekend/",
  "title": "The Weekend","rgb": "50, 176, 128",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/weekend.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/weekend_hu31f2eea2dcfeb6105f10e591158be22a_9136321_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora stays in good health by following a strict regime on weekends:\nstaying up all night and sleeping thru morning grape fizzy drink with science fiction exercise (standing on head) cigarettes the news you can improve your health by occasionally observing\nnot changing your clothes until Monday ",
  "date": "2025-07-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 77,
  "href": "/stories/conductor-uniform/",
  "title": "Conductor Uniform","rgb": "241, 97, 92",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/conductor-uniform.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/conductor-uniform_hu2efe6038636427336a4ce53b1d3e8311_8901903_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-06-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 78,
  "href": "/stories/conductor/",
  "title": "Conductor","rgb": "243, 114, 118",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/conductor.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/conductor_hu55325d109021169f87e362a0e21d4fdb_8230158_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-06-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 79,
  "href": "/stories/hairstyle/",
  "title": "Hairstyles in Vekllei","rgb": "246, 174, 143",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hairstyle.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hairstyle_hu1d54ec51dc6d9d7028972a1cb7f406ed_7722402_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-06-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 80,
  "href": "/stories/verde-home/",
  "title": "Verde Home","rgb": "142, 189, 77",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/verde-home.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/verde-home_hube92663447f10f837f5301c86147f6ce_8208884_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is a showcase of different features rather than a perfect example of Verdean architecture in the Commonwealth.\nTens of thousands of homes were built during federalisation in the 2030s, and most incorporated some of these distinctly Vekllei motifs.\n",
  "date": "2025-06-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 81,
  "href": "/stories/falklands-soldier/",
  "title": "Falklands Soldier","rgb": "111, 152, 228",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/falklands-soldier.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/falklands-soldier_hu4e3a0352183f28458638b5b9d1ceb72c_8507331_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-06-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 82,
  "href": "/stories/unpmc/",
  "title": "UNPMC","rgb": "103, 149, 214",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/unpmc.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/unpmc_hu6774ba1810762c3a0b4495afe868ee0c_8725442_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-06-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 83,
  "href": "/stories/rainstorm/",
  "title": "Rainstorm","rgb": "194, 186, 119",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/rainstorm.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/rainstorm_huc0db7ab37714e1e5ba7fd8d38b9eebc0_9299062_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-06-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 84,
  "href": "/stories/drink/",
  "title": "Cocktail","rgb": "237, 96, 93",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/drink.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/drink_hu0af6c19e3bae26bfc42527414c639e72_9371629_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-05-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 85,
  "href": "/stories/loner/",
  "title": "Loner","rgb": "231, 171, 150",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/loner.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/loner_hu8438fa31dd317fd87a42018e2cd9d7f6_8745872_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-05-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 86,
  "href": "/stories/debating/",
  "title": "Debating","rgb": "156, 114, 193",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/debating.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/debating_hua424af8274021d207f8ea0ccd2be9845_8588225_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-05-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 87,
  "href": "/stories/design-atlas/",
  "title": "Design Atlas","rgb": "221, 85, 80",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/atlas.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/atlas_hu3d3f72647d5a95cf417d61adcbc61702_8059494_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Main article: National Design Atlas May is the month the National Design Atlas gets mailed to everyone in the country.\nThe Atlas is a complete survey of Vekllei design, and features 4,000-6,000 illustrations. It depicts fine art, household objects, knick knacks, machinery and clothing.\n",
  "date": "2025-05-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 88,
  "href": "/stories/deadbeat-girlfriend/",
  "title": "Deadbeat Girlfriend","rgb": "98, 164, 92",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hanging.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hanging_hu22041fbeef70a33c67d1037d0675fa15_9076535_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The flag on his patch is that of Abakoa.\n",
  "date": "2025-05-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 89,
  "href": "/characters/aoife/",
  "title": "Aoife",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-05-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 90,
  "href": "/stories/celtic-guard/",
  "title": "Celtic Guard","rgb": "80, 153, 112",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/guard.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/guard_hu12e09455f634659900d83dee7625be6c_8792637_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Aoife is stationed in what we know as the Shetlands, but what Vekllei calls Hetland.\nIt is one of three Commonwealth republics that have Irish as an official language — the other is Allia, in the Caribbean, and Demon, in the Arctic.\n",
  "date": "2025-05-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 91,
  "href": "/categories/commissions--fan-art/",
  "title": "Commissions \u0026 Fan Art",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-05-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 92,
  "href": "/stories/fish-girl/",
  "title": "Fish","rgb": "63, 81, 216",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/fish-girl.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/fish-girl_hue8782fa7b22ef15a0223059bf76ca8ef_8747008_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-05-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 93,
  "href": "/stories/inuit-holiday/",
  "title": "Inuit Holiday","rgb": "60, 113, 203",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/holiday.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/holiday_hu5a9fb5b6e9a785a931ec237e015e0322_8011808_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "On the advice of her colleagues at Common Gemstone, Rin took her two months annual leave in Summers to work on her Great Commonwealth Novel.\nShe returned with just fifteen pages and sunburn, saying \u0026ldquo;it\u0026rsquo;s too hot to think there.\u0026rdquo;\nRin doesn\u0026rsquo;t swim. She stayed at an inn at Magic Head and spent most of her time smoking on the balcony listening to records, or walking in well-shaded woods.\nShe put on weight eating so much, but sweat most of it off doing odd jobs around the inn for the owner.\n",
  "date": "2025-05-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 94,
  "href": "/stories/thermal-airship/",
  "title": "Naval Airship","rgb": "136, 177, 224",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/thermal-ship.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/thermal-ship_hu1feda536e8a0c2f2db5012adfab87387_9828726_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Main article: Horus-class The Commonwealth Navy calls it a survey airship, but it\u0026rsquo;s openly acknowledged that the Cold Watch was designed to detect ballistic missiles. It casts a gaze over most of the Atlantic.\nHot air from its reactor is used for altitude. Hydrogen provides static buoyancy.\n",
  "date": "2025-05-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 95,
  "href": "/stories/milk-tea/",
  "title": "Milk Tea","rgb": "217, 123, 94",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/milk-tea.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/milk-tea_huc03773aac779a81d37e1a360ef3a2668_9128753_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Served hot or cold and packed with caffeine, milk tea is the national drink of Vekllei.\nCoffee might be more fashionable, especially among the kids, but milk tea is the comfort drink of millions of Atlantic and Caribbean people. Coffee is conspicuous; you drink it in public and with friends to show you\u0026rsquo;re cosmopolitan and cool like an American. You can impress your classmates by showing preference for different brews.\nTea is the drink of homes and workplaces, an echo of the global empire in their wake.\n",
  "date": "2025-05-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 96,
  "href": "/stories/groceries/",
  "title": "Groceries","rgb": "92, 179, 88",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/grocery.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/grocery_hudfe21a371f0debbf6003c7f122f9132c_10069960_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The industrial production of synthetic meats have made prime cuts widely available. Many urban Vekllei people have not eaten meat from an animal.\nIronically, this is a problem for people like Tzipora who grew up overseas, eating offal and gristle. It\u0026rsquo;s harder to find.\nVekllei is a society that values skill and the dignity of work, but food is a mechanical, industrial process.\nWhile community agriculture fills in some gaps, the reality is that they are fed by a mammoth, centrally-planned system of advanced machinery and logistics.\n",
  "date": "2025-05-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 97,
  "href": "/stories/modern-girls/",
  "title": "Modern Girls","rgb": "230, 102, 121",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/modern.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/modern_hu4080cc3f7663c18dc9c08953d1b21fa3_8829825_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Can you imagine how much worse they\u0026rsquo;d be? Our world sucks.\nTzipora is asking if you\u0026rsquo;ve got games on your phone.\n",
  "date": "2025-05-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 98,
  "href": "/stories/bread-and-sword/",
  "title": "Bread \u0026 Sword","rgb": "217, 141, 85",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/justice.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/justice_hubee351dd323da42518b97170e9b96343_5948549_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-05-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 99,
  "href": "/stories/poems/",
  "title": "Poems","rgb": "128, 139, 204",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/poems.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/poems_hue374800b3c20faa8a519c34757a542aa_8983769_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "I worked on a short story you might enjoy: Poetry\n",
  "date": "2025-05-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 100,
  "href": "/stories/home-survey/",
  "title": "Home Survey","rgb": "226, 71, 95",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/home-survey.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/home-survey_hu82ab312f56481f2030b958e8a5d3967d_7672509_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Construction in Vekllei uses standard parts — standard fixtures, windows, bricks and panelling from a catalogue of tens of thousands.\nThe Home Survey aren\u0026rsquo;t here to ask you if you like your home, they want to know what works and what doesn\u0026rsquo;t. It\u0026rsquo;s an endless cycle of improvement.\n",
  "date": "2025-04-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 101,
  "href": "/characters/keita/",
  "title": "Keita",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-04-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 102,
  "href": "/characters/pip/",
  "title": "Pip",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-04-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 103,
  "href": "/stories/pants/",
  "title": "Trouser Skirts","rgb": "168, 167, 197",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/pants.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/pants_hu939daf4990e7e870204c00ffdffb7d39_8774569_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Vekllei people dress in international styles. They are, after all, diverse internationalists.\nIt is very easy to draw beautiful costumes, but I think it\u0026rsquo;s much harder to think about worldbuilding as a contemporary anthropologist. How does an American dress differently to a Euro?\nI think pants being commonplace under skirts is one of those benign quirks of cultural fusion that give character to ordinary clothing. The suit is the uniform of democracy, but there are many ways to wear a suit.\nSkirts obviously aren\u0026rsquo;t only worn this way in Vekllei. But it\u0026rsquo;s fun to think about. It suits their odd, feminist intrusions into clothing (sneakers in the office and pants under skirts) but also their postcolonial vibe, echoing a styles of a continental metropole long gone\n",
  "date": "2025-04-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 104,
  "href": "/stories/schemers/",
  "title": "Dreamers \u0026 Schemers","rgb": "225, 71, 94",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/schemers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/schemers_hu0c88053d1b55902626717e1b18986c70_8549012_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Cobian is generally well dressed and coordinates her colours seasonally as they roll out through department stores. Tzipora, despite being much more eccentric, is also more self-conscious and generally wears plain, neutral clothes.\nHer domestic taste in clothes only ends up accentuating her intense way of speaking, characterised by thoughts that trail off and questions she asks herself in Spanish. She stares very intensely. You could never point this out to her because it would make her terribly insecure.\nCobian is an eccentric in her own way but only in the middle class idea of it. She has neuroses mostly inherited from her mother, but has basically nothing in common with Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s anxious psychology\nThey like each other very much but have very little in common.\n",
  "date": "2025-04-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 105,
  "href": "/stories/vtol/",
  "title": "Seafire","rgb": "238, 92, 81",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/vtol.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/vtol_hu8ce57ad3f28f99bee10edf15879d5605_8454009_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-04-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 106,
  "href": "/stories/leper-witch/",
  "title": "The Witch","rgb": "59, 70, 205",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/witch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/witch_hu1ecfd6d7f39514e8f8ece2b84d73a7a8_8786528_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-04-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 107,
  "href": "/stories/fast-tram/",
  "title": "Fast Tram","rgb": "250, 114, 116",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/railmotor.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/railmotor_hu269425badad62b199b80b2dfc354eb2d_9118330_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "A railmotor is basically any kind of self-powered railcar. Sometimes they call them \u0026ldquo;fast trams.\u0026rdquo;\nThey\u0026rsquo;re very common throughout Vekllei because basically every neighbourhood has its own rail siding, and railmotors are perfect for intermediate low traffic journeys.\n",
  "date": "2025-04-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 108,
  "href": "/categories/non-canon/",
  "title": "Non-Canon",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-04-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 109,
  "href": "/stories/sukeban/",
  "title": "Sukeban","rgb": "222, 73, 87",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/sukeban.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/sukeban_hufc4d83148cc614de4d23f40804fc24f2_7859700_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "I\u0026rsquo;m going back to Japan in a couple weeks to ride some trains I\u0026rsquo;ve been checkin out.\nVekllei oldheads will remember when Vekllei was basically Japanese Iceland. Now it\u0026rsquo;s more like Thai Switzerland.\n",
  "date": "2025-04-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 110,
  "href": "/stories/restitution/",
  "title": "Restitution","rgb": "227, 167, 130",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/restitution.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/restitution_hu85bd2aceec6e7db51caee438b74c8ba6_9120224_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-04-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 111,
  "href": "/stories/hovercraft/",
  "title": "Littoral Hovercraft","rgb": "78, 113, 189",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hovercraft.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hovercraft_hu51f9ca77b72b7fb6e8e354ce2556e429_9209322_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Main article: Hound-class These strange ships are among the fastest ships to ever sail. They can beach themselves but can\u0026rsquo;t move over land freely.\nThey are most commonly used by the Littoral Service in anti-smuggling and search \u0026amp; rescue operations\n",
  "date": "2025-03-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 112,
  "href": "/characters/cosette/",
  "title": "Cosette",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-03-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 113,
  "href": "/characters/homer/",
  "title": "Homer",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-03-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 114,
  "href": "/stories/situationists/",
  "title": "Situationists","rgb": "146, 108, 103",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/situationists.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/situationists_hu7cff58e4ee0ddbd9feb2e0df6cb4c4ca_8591457_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Homer was a situationist and was writing a treatise about life under capitalism.\nWhen Cosette gently reminded him that they lived in a society with no money and thus did not live under capitalism, he deftly reworked his thesis to focus on the metaphysical, like any great thinker.\n",
  "date": "2025-03-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 115,
  "href": "/stories/phreak/",
  "title": "Photophreaking","rgb": "180, 57, 69",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/phreak.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/phreak_huffe2b4d7a935ab0f5d69da162021d49e_9385420_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Main article: Phreaking Phreaking is easy. Doing it secretly is hard.\nAlthough espionage is a common practice in war \u0026ndash; even in non-wars, or whatever the Congo is \u0026ndash; phreaking is rarely appealing. If you want to stop a computer running the radar guidance of a surface-to-air missile, or managing hydrogen fuel distribution at machine depots, you bomb the towers and cables it uses to talk to the world. Better yet \u0026ndash; bomb the computer.\nThere are specific circumstances that attract interest in phreaking a line. In asymmetric wars like the Congo, where international missions, charities, genocidaires and mercenaries roam its vast and lawless interior, which computers are talking to who becomes a subject of intense interest. If you bomb a Katangan photoline (the cables that carry computer signals, bound up with telephone lines) the Rhodesians will build them a new one. But if you \u0026ldquo;tap\u0026rdquo; the line, the possibilities extend beyond surveillance. A tapped line can hang up a call; it can reroute signals, or even take control. And unless you take control of the computer itself, the only way you can do it is with phreaks.\nPhreaks are dudes who are good at phreaking. In Vekllei, their home is in the Covert Photophreaking Section of the 2nd Signals Battalion. They are not part of the Commandos but do behave like them. They are independent, highly trained, and perform technical roles at great personal risk to themselves. Phreaking is not an abstract exercise; it means finding the physical photoline, pulling it out, bending it and watching the light that leaks out for its characteristics.\nOnce you have some idea of its waveforms, quantum noise level and command signals, you can start to do things with a connection. Every step of this process needs to be performed without interrupting or degrading the connection \u0026ndash; doing so can trip a \u0026ldquo;spectral wink,\u0026rdquo; which wakes the signalling system and either kills or restarts the connection. That\u0026rsquo;s the sort of thing that makes people suspicious. The Covert Photophreaking Section are very good at what they do, but the Congo is not an easy place to do it. The heat, poor condition of infrastructure and distances make accessing enemy or not-quite-friendly lines tricky, and tapping them precise and exhausting. And if they find you, they\u0026rsquo;re liable to treat you as a spy rather than a soldier. That is to say, they\u0026rsquo;ll kill you.\n",
  "date": "2025-03-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 116,
  "href": "/categories/animations/",
  "title": "Animations",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-03-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 117,
  "href": "/stories/born-tzippy/",
  "title": "Born Tzippy","rgb": "26, 159, 143",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/run-cover.png",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/run-cover_hu5d0352999c8a17a8fdc2a9c335581d85_401650_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box_3.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "I really like the film Trainspotting. Watch a simple run animation with music here:\n",
  "date": "2025-03-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 118,
  "href": "/stories/police-carbine/",
  "title": "Police Carbine","rgb": "131, 168, 157",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/carbine.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/carbine_hu305006e1a3a42c1fdabd3b0c720c4744_8290129_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Policing in Vekllei is often unusual. They can carry sabres instead of batons, regularly patrol sand banks and are armed with special revolver rifles chambered in the same .45 colt as their service weapon\nThese rifles are basically an extension of their sidearm, and are usually carried in the boot of a cruiser\n",
  "date": "2025-03-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 119,
  "href": "/stories/national-costumes/",
  "title": "National Costumes","rgb": "84, 95, 180",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/gitana-inuit.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/gitana-inuit_hu35ed8826d62f9e7f370c158bec6c194f_8924054_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Tzipora is Colombian, Cobian is Inuit. This represents a good opportunity to advance Colombian-Inuit relations.\nMany Inuits were forcibly relocated north by the historic American government. Inuits, which Vekllei people call \u0026ldquo;Algics\u0026rdquo; through a historic misnomer, make up about half of northern Vekllei people (mostly in the Volcanic Commonwealth).\nTzipora is ethnically Gitana (Spanish Roma) and Yiddish, but was born in Colombia and basically identifies as Colombian.\nIn public, Vekllei people speak English, since there are dozens of languages in use around the country. She speaks English with a Latin American accent.\n",
  "date": "2025-03-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 120,
  "href": "/stories/gum/",
  "title": "Beep Boop","rgb": "209, 101, 86",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/GUM.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/GUM_hu1971bce8df34d1c438aca4bf2f6845c1_8451297_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is a variant of the General Use Machine (GUM), the most common robot platform in Vekllei. The sphere rotates with the arm, but can be replaced with a variety of tools.\nIn a fashion appropriate for a country with so many trains, most commercial robots move around on rails.\n",
  "date": "2025-03-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 121,
  "href": "/stories/america/",
  "title": "America","rgb": "191, 83, 93",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/america.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/america_hua341e67c4b611747d24507e7437bc57b_8961829_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-03-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 122,
  "href": "/stories/fast-tank/",
  "title": "Fast Tank","rgb": "79, 151, 122",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/fast-tank.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/fast-tank_hu399087be5dc2d668d58f92151fe4bb9e_10167994_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " See also: Airlift These \u0026ldquo;fast tanks\u0026rdquo; are a kind of light tank, and are designed to suit Commonwealth expeditionary posture. They can be operated in a variety of roles, with or without infantry support. They are extraordinarily versatile.\n",
  "date": "2025-03-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 123,
  "href": "/stories/my-birthday/",
  "title": "My Birthday","rgb": "212, 104, 148",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/birthday.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/birthday_hube1f9d7987756a74ab55f0ef6ae0d09c_8392652_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-03-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 124,
  "href": "/stories/grave/",
  "title": "Grave Washing","rgb": "102, 159, 81",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/graves.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/graves_hu8db4a9b023db9353ed006d09480c45ed_8801516_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-03-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 125,
  "href": "/stories/airlift/",
  "title": "Airlift","rgb": "116, 146, 183",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/airlift.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/airlift_hu0ed9ae4ee59df19997d17c459a91cdf8_7914777_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In coordination typical of Commonwealth military procurement, hard points for airlift are built into their main battle tanks. They shuffle them around, obscuring their view from satellites and missiles.\nDisseminating military equipment across their hundreds of islands in the Caribbean and Atlantic makes it harder to determine what they\u0026rsquo;ve got where, and so makes it harder to plan a naval landing.\nThey aim to extract blood from every soldier on their beaches.\n",
  "date": "2025-03-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 126,
  "href": "/stories/good-job/",
  "title": "Good Job, Idiots","rgb": "195, 109, 83",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/idiot.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/idiot_huc7daca6cbc03d96268787f353c1df981_8696563_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-03-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 127,
  "href": "/stories/tram-ride/",
  "title": "Tram Ride","rgb": "167, 158, 91",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/tram-ride.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/tram-ride_hue6e54ecfcdac8c57ff1a466c9342ae06_8970603_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-03-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 128,
  "href": "/stories/lunar-patrol/",
  "title": "Lunar Border Patrol","rgb": "81, 96, 211",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/lunar-patrol.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/lunar-patrol_huaf3f813f51bb583c868ed129b6618d9d_9443192_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This guy is part of the Commonwealth Patrol Service, the same agency that patrols Vekllei borders on earth. They carry larger chrome and bakelite rifles.\nA border patrol implies a real border \u0026ndash; and in doing so strengthens a lunar claim.\n",
  "date": "2025-02-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 129,
  "href": "/stories/low-gravity/",
  "title": "Low Gravity","rgb": "176, 117, 48",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/mural.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/mural_hu140cb5eb9f57cfffd82e08140d284131_8688937_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-02-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 130,
  "href": "/stories/lido-robot/",
  "title": "Lido Robot","rgb": "189, 60, 73",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/lido-robot.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/lido-robot_hub57931afd3ef4ff3044c598641fc804a_8461060_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei robots communicate through Robot Language, which sounds like this:\nBecause people in Vekllei (and in many places around the world) are surrounded by robots, they can understand robot language. It\u0026rsquo;s basically just morse code with shortcuts.\nOn the moon, lunar fashion uses a lot of soft cotton and wool rather than futuristic synthetic fabrics,. This is a psychological extension of wearing soft-soled slippers everywhere, since it\u0026rsquo;s easy to miscalculate and kick someone at 1/6th gravity.\n",
  "date": "2025-02-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 131,
  "href": "/categories/maps/",
  "title": "Maps",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-02-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 132,
  "href": "/stories/moon-2063/",
  "title": "Moon, 2063","rgb": "194, 83, 76",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/lunar.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/lunar_hud03c1f9c74f01c1d78a69e76ece7c01a_9122120_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-02-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 133,
  "href": "/stories/atomic-modernish/",
  "title": "Atomic Modern","rgb": "196, 52, 75",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/atomic-modern.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/atomic-modern_hufb1e41b1215a86d291bbc68dd933dad2_9384089_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-02-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 134,
  "href": "/stories/moon-ticket/",
  "title": "Ticket to the Moon","rgb": "82, 85, 159",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/moon-ticket.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/moon-ticket_hubf25ce95c14015bbf8dcabaca7d130a4_13268930_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Moon immigration is set up to be a mirror of earth, with a few caveats. Security is conducted on Ascension, so it\u0026rsquo;s just a matter of paperwork.\nIt takes a while to acclimatise, but by the time you land on the moon passengers have already been in zero gravity for 12+ hours anyway.\nThe spacecraft is a CM-100.\n",
  "date": "2025-02-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 135,
  "href": "/stories/students/",
  "title": "Students","rgb": "117, 138, 82",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/corner-students.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/corner-students_huf5a7b3a483d08ef3ab271b1edb08b358_9311680_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "These are good examples of how the basic elements of the student uniform, which is established at the federal level, is adapted by municipal schools for the climate and culture. You can see this practice throughout Vekllei, and reflects their attitudes towards federalism and localist subsidiarity.\nEven without accessories, you can see how much variety there is in the basic universal elements. It\u0026rsquo;s a clever approach, because the uniform is basically the same, but accessorising allows people to celebrate and identify with their local culture. Another example are these Afro-Irish students from the island of Montserrat.\nSchools do not restrict hair and jewellery, as long as they are safe for classrooms. Left alone and unhassled, assured by the basic dignity and convenience of a common uniform, you can see how attention to detail even in small matters benefits their lives.\nThis commitment to dignity is part of what makes Vekllei special, and better resembles a moral outlook than a political belief. You can see it in how they treat children, and how access and quality of education remains such a preoccupation of all levels of government.\n",
  "date": "2025-02-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 136,
  "href": "/stories/swordfish/",
  "title": "Air Escort Destroyer","rgb": "123, 161, 202",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/swordfish.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/swordfish_hu866748b8a30a7d0b3e05fb1ce1fab145_8838064_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is the \u0026ldquo;Mad Dog,\u0026rdquo; a Swordfish-class Air Escort Destroyer.\nTheir Rackham surface-to-air missile systems are outrageously large because they have to have the option to carry a nuclear warhead. Their missiles are also controlled by a master computer, and are essentially radio-guided because of the limitations of their optical computer systems.\n",
  "date": "2025-02-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 137,
  "href": "/stories/poison/",
  "title": "Helping Out","rgb": "124, 198, 160",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/poison.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/poison_hudf266ef00726a7ecf26cc8e2f9e8d53d_10237012_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-02-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 138,
  "href": "/stories/silly-goose/",
  "title": "Silly Goose","rgb": "237, 83, 111",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/boy.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/boy_hu1959da1d9eb0da962ef9e5d73a0fb154_8619438_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-02-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 139,
  "href": "/stories/revised-police-car/",
  "title": "Police Car","rgb": "236, 71, 86",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/police-car.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/police-car_hu2a4fdb1a0a614cf0ef9ade874a3d0273_8888698_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Standard municipal police cruiser built by Avro. A common sight around Vekllei republics\n",
  "date": "2025-02-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 140,
  "href": "/stories/wristwatch/",
  "title": "Wristwatch","rgb": "242, 49, 102",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/wristwatch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/wristwatch_huae3dcbb6e95f5de98ff08326f5f3b003_9224290_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Every Vekllei student gets a watch at 16, and are taught how to use it. The designs change each year.\nNotice the inlaid rubies across the seven time zones Vekllei spans. A really good example of the subtle ways the Commonwealth government inspires a common identity across its nearly 80 disparate island republics.\nFederal Timekeeping is actually a municipal corporation, which means it is federated across many different watch brands and workshops.\nThe \u0026ldquo;Federal\u0026rdquo; brand is used only for government watches \u0026ndash; usually military, but in this case for students too.\nTo read the watch:\nThe 24-hour ring moves each hour, so you need to know which time zone you\u0026rsquo;re looking for, and you can see the current time there.\ni.e. I want to know the time in Melbourne. Melbourne is in the same time zone as Sydney, and you can see on the 24 hour ring it is 10am there\nUsing this watch, and accounting for daylight savings, you can tell the time anywhere in the world. Particularly useful for a country that spans seven different time zones.\n",
  "date": "2025-02-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 141,
  "href": "/stories/coffee-with-coworker/",
  "title": "Coffee with Coworker","rgb": "217, 83, 110",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/coworker.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/coworker_hu6cf8db7c396bca53d625d06b2578f8c4_9178534_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-02-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 142,
  "href": "/stories/vekllei-school-lunch/",
  "title": "Vekllei School Lunch","rgb": "223, 137, 81",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/school-lunch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/school-lunch_hu952967e9e2f5af0b53162722466257eb_8955131_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "School lunches in Vekllei schools are typically prepared by students, led by parents in the community or teaches. The meals themselves vary wildly, but commonly include curry, stew or jerk/spiced meats.\nTzipora goes to Moshel Street School, a large district school that serves breakfast and lunch. Students fourteen years and older in Vekllei are allowed a paired wine with lunch if they choose.\n",
  "date": "2025-02-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 143,
  "href": "/stories/german/",
  "title": "The German","rgb": "231, 82, 100",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/german.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/german_hue439c68224873d9af08e556d13b952b5_9740277_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-01-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 144,
  "href": "/stories/worst-clerk/",
  "title": "The Worst Clerk","rgb": "122, 140, 156",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/worst-clerk.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/worst-clerk_hue983e3d44309ea848e6c943d52752831_8732395_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Becoming a municipal or government clerk is a rite of passage for Vekllei people, either as an alternative to military service or to meet the work requirement set by law.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s easy, social and mostly part-time. Most move up or out within a couple years.\n",
  "date": "2025-01-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 145,
  "href": "/stories/sniper-team/",
  "title": "Sniper Team","rgb": "173, 128, 119",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/snipers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/snipers_hu6703765bf002fd2b8e79d318ab78ad31_8533186_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "They\u0026rsquo;re heading for a 2-night patrol on Loggerhead Key (just off Conch). The navy scatters small numbers of troops across its thousands of cays and islets, mostly to watch for smuggling and piracy. The job is to sit and watch. Any fish you can catch is just a bonus.\nWomen make up perhaps 10 per cent of the territorial services. With the high command still anxious about their role in frontline combat, it is common to train them as snipers and relegate them to general patrol. General peacetime only exacerbates this worry, since peacetime conflicts often involve security environments and asymmetric fighting that women soldiers may be at greater risk in. As such, they are trained for a peer conflict (a total war) that has yet to come.\nThis results in an odd situation in which female soldiers make up nearly half of sailors and the majority of combat pilots, but only a fraction of the territorial services.\nIn some sense, training women for a total war is a way for high command to dodge the question. Their equality is theoretical in the same sense that a peer conflict is theoretical. Until then, or until a shift in attitude in the territorial services changes things, women will mostly occupy defence postings in Vekllei.\n",
  "date": "2025-01-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 146,
  "href": "/stories/arts-and-crafts/",
  "title": "Arts \u0026 Crafts","rgb": "205, 88, 88",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/crafts.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/crafts_hufbe098e003bd6d6139d48223c81ca0c9_9564621_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-01-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 147,
  "href": "/stories/spaceplane/",
  "title": "Spaceplane","rgb": "82, 89, 187",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/starship.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/starship_hu52412379a6f0e11386a4325d135173fa_8273992_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The CM-100 Meteor Staliner is a commercial spaceplane in Vekllei. They depart from the Vekllei World Astroport each day, ferrying passengers to the Moon.\n",
  "date": "2025-01-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 148,
  "href": "/stories/hydro-worker/",
  "title": "Hydro Worker","rgb": "229, 143, 76",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hydro.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hydro_hu461ac5ccf7188faf2ffddc14064329ff_7892701_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-01-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 149,
  "href": "/stories/fortress-guard/",
  "title": "Fortress Guard","rgb": "136, 132, 161",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/fortress-guard.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/fortress-guard_hu3dcb5ae70d8b9a838953993b61f2ffcb_8906264_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-01-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 150,
  "href": "/stories/two-wolves/",
  "title": "Two Wolves","rgb": "219, 83, 77",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/wolf.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/wolf_hu6608dda6e7bae0a057ebe296bf4a131c_8052842_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-01-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 151,
  "href": "/stories/2025/",
  "title": "2025","rgb": "107, 166, 111",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/2025.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/2025_hu1dcbf81aebd266e6149388022ca3937e_8862386_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 152,
  "href": "/tags/2024/",
  "title": "2024",
  "section": "Tags",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-12-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 153,
  "href": "/stories/church/",
  "title": "Back to Church","rgb": "209, 76, 96",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/eucharist.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/eucharist_hu043efb7bc63d7fe441ccc7d1ffdef7cb_8828356_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-12-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 154,
  "href": "/stories/haircut/",
  "title": "Haircut","rgb": "215, 108, 78",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/haircut.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/haircut_hu7967a977b34470517355ae3e34be06d8_8554985_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-12-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 155,
  "href": "/stories/blinked/",
  "title": "She Blinked","rgb": "97, 134, 194",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/blink.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/blink_hucf433a070976955a226fb8b6a6fc4429_8844269_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Here she is, playing with the new trainset 🔗Scandinavian101 on Twitter got her:\n",
  "date": "2024-12-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 156,
  "href": "/stories/gift-economy/",
  "title": "Gift Economy","rgb": "221, 112, 85",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/gifts.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/gifts_hu42d1d922d147f7a51a44362de819f1b2_8604850_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-12-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 157,
  "href": "/stories/marshal/",
  "title": "Marshal","rgb": "77, 106, 186",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/marshal.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/marshal_hu614b81fa84ef8bb157af17a2ca0deadb_8617312_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Marshals are one of the few security organisations in the country explicitly (in the setting) modelled after the US and US federalism. I guess they learned from the Ole Miss Riot of \u0026lsquo;62.\nThey\u0026rsquo;ve got the civilian appearance of the marshals but the equipment of the federalised National Guard called in to rescue them.\n",
  "date": "2024-12-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 158,
  "href": "/stories/ludic-productivity/",
  "title": "Ludic Productivity","rgb": "120, 149, 100",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/productivity.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/productivity_hu4e75723d929706b87c0c982a317cf179_9572236_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Most people in the Commonwealth do not use money. They do things for abstract, complicated reasons. They are not altruists, or anarchists. So why do they still go to work?\nI explore the role of \u0026lsquo;play\u0026rsquo; in their lives and careers in my new essay on ludic productivity.\n",
  "date": "2024-12-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 159,
  "href": "/stories/garbage-bag/",
  "title": "Garbage Bag","rgb": "239, 174, 111",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/garbage-bag.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/garbage-bag_hue216612c18f95541e1eb5528cc65d249_8378203_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-12-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 160,
  "href": "/stories/patrol-motor-launch/",
  "title": "Patrol Motor Launch","rgb": "104, 181, 198",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/patrol-launch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/patrol-launch_hu62549038052e0f60a4b13db2968d27eb_10688294_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "These boats and the handful of (or even solitary) officers that crew them are the floating police stations of Vekllei archipelagos. They are also the home of the littoral service commanding officer.\nAlthough they conduct policing and rescue operations, a lot of what they do is just patrolling and conversation. They often carry post or messages between islands, and serve a generalised role in their communities. They have a lot of freedom in how they go about their activities, and are left alone by the Littoral Service as long as the work gets done.\n",
  "date": "2024-12-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 161,
  "href": "/stories/hair/",
  "title": "Hair","rgb": "187, 163, 144",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hair.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hair_hue2358e818e8a983226df95ed78f69525_8595673_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-12-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 162,
  "href": "/stories/panini/",
  "title": "Panini","rgb": "230, 108, 98",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/panini.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/panini_hu1e85a4aa46c67c7dedba5c5401b3f08d_8482465_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-12-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 163,
  "href": "/stories/police-cruiser/",
  "title": "Police Cruiser","rgb": "236, 154, 87",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/cruiser.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/cruiser_hu05c2b2aa740e8c17378bb87340b280e6_9383983_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-12-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 164,
  "href": "/stories/firetruck/",
  "title": "Fire Truck","rgb": "233, 77, 81",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/firetruck.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/firetruck_hu7903633efe41c0e6d4b5a521e30fa66b_10077683_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Civil Defence Service has to prepare for almost every natural disaster imaginable, from hurricanes to polar storms. The unparalleled geographic diversity of the Atlantic country necessitates this kind of centralised and effective emergency system.\nThe patterns on the truck are local cultural patterns of the island of Madiana, in the Lesser Antilles. It\u0026rsquo;s a constituent republic of the Commonwealth, and you can see its flag at the rear of the truck. They use patterns like this a lot as a cultural shorthand; a sort of language in itself.\n",
  "date": "2024-11-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 165,
  "href": "/stories/ranma/",
  "title": "Tzipora ½","rgb": "213, 181, 143",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/ranma.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/ranma_hu4741f03946a64f0c7d6d29838fe74cbe_9209088_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Maoist revival is very popular in Vekllei. There\u0026rsquo;s a lot of kids in the Caribbean walking around with red star caps\n",
  "date": "2024-11-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 166,
  "href": "/stories/naval-helijet/",
  "title": "Naval Helijet","rgb": "219, 90, 74",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/naval-helijet.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/naval-helijet_hud434cbf916fe8d3a97f09410a7a63fa4_9234009_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-11-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 167,
  "href": "/stories/caribpolice/",
  "title": "Carib Police","rgb": "62, 109, 168",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/caribpolice.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/caribpolice_hu3e965b8f7494ab91063792bfc031112b_9516961_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "They actually do have proper sunhats, she just forgot hers. Her badge indicates she\u0026rsquo;s from the Grenadines, which is a constituent republic of Vekllei.\nThere are over 600 islands and islets there, most uninhabited. The police get around on little boats.\n",
  "date": "2024-11-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 168,
  "href": "/stories/softmaxxing/",
  "title": "Softmaxxing","rgb": "236, 154, 87",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/softmax.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/softmax_hu5db40246d0dfba146a325841dada28aa_9465070_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-11-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 169,
  "href": "/characters/grace/",
  "title": "Grace",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-11-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 170,
  "href": "/characters/tito/",
  "title": "Tito",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-11-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 171,
  "href": "/stories/tito/",
  "title": "Tito \u0026 Grace","rgb": "102, 154, 101",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/tito.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/tito_hu8dd42af626c3319b2f5f0dcc18980359_8397207_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "They\u0026rsquo;re both in Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s homeroom. She likes Tito and bums cigarettes off him sometimes, but thinks Grace is kind of mean and a weirdo.\nTito used to do thing thing where he\u0026rsquo;d go up to guys and call them \u0026lsquo;Homo\u0026rsquo; and because he\u0026rsquo;s massive they can\u0026rsquo;t kick his ass.\n",
  "date": "2024-11-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 172,
  "href": "/stories/attendant/",
  "title": "Astro Flight Attendant","rgb": "93, 114, 162",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/attendant.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/attendant_hu3eecb51c6e09dd630c05a93ee11f40d2_9294281_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-11-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 173,
  "href": "/stories/hydrofoil/",
  "title": "Customs Hydrofoil","rgb": "134, 175, 187",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hydrofoil.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hydrofoil_hu91cdd6a33129594d6427518088437ccf_9314267_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-11-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 174,
  "href": "/stories/diwali/",
  "title": "Diwali","rgb": "137, 106, 169",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/diwali.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/diwali_hua897cfcaecf78903d3eb01ab10fc7b71_9958011_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-11-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 175,
  "href": "/stories/sunday-morning/",
  "title": "Sunday Morning","rgb": "242, 150, 168",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/sunday-morning.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/sunday-morning_hu8f43f2c7073feff4bb2193b815454e6a_8663681_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-11-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 176,
  "href": "/stories/lunch-comic/",
  "title": "Lunch Comic","rgb": "201, 163, 136",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/lunch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/lunch_hu3cef8e548c250cf91c641e745e9af26c_10167025_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-11-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 177,
  "href": "/stories/graduate/",
  "title": "One Year Later","rgb": "77, 143, 186",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/graduate.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/graduate_hu0b13b4bd030792e0570a915fd80e8673_9023778_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "She spoke some Lingala, which was useful in the volunteer battalion in Zaire. She taught the boys to sing on march\n\u0026ldquo;Mama a bota nga pona liwa\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;My mother gave birth to me. I was born to die.\u0026rdquo;\nAs the situation in Zaire decayed, that song characterised the feeling of the time. The call for humanitarian intervention had already been weaponised. The results were grotesque.\nThe genocidaires, now on the run, were protected from the repercussions of their slaughter by the Rhodesian army, who called them refugees and protected their camps. To the Red Cross and foreigners, it was impossible to tell refugee from genocidaire. Foreign actors, including China and Rhodesia, exploited this ambiguity to suit their interests.\nThis made violent confrontation with the beleaguered and radicalised UN-CA battalion inevitable.\n",
  "date": "2024-11-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 178,
  "href": "/stories/luce/",
  "title": "Luce","rgb": "224, 155, 66",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/luce.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/luce_hu86674d436d7583e68748444d4c10955e_8917200_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-11-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 179,
  "href": "/stories/rifleman/",
  "title": "Rifleman","rgb": "153, 159, 97",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/rifleman.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/rifleman_hu924622f2a7ca8cfc047636f898ffc248_9340430_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-10-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 180,
  "href": "/stories/eucalypt-girls/",
  "title": "Eucalypt Girls","rgb": "130, 150, 91",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/eucalypt-girls.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/eucalypt-girls_hu6627ee9e2cfc87b5aa5a9db06c2742ef_2373798_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-10-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 181,
  "href": "/stories/purple-scout/",
  "title": "What Are You Up To?","rgb": "105, 105, 156",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/scout.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/scout_hua95366689c4306ddd24866f3f3956326_7356886_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-10-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 182,
  "href": "/stories/father-and-daughter/",
  "title": "Father \u0026 Daughter","rgb": "138, 164, 177",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/father-and-daughter.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/father-and-daughter_hudccdd310963540472b16efc5f69c7a00_7821965_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Is she Indian? Spanish? Mapuche? Egyptian? Yiddish? Persian? Italian? Turkish? Lebanese? Mizrahi? Tamil? Mexican?\n",
  "date": "2024-10-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 183,
  "href": "/stories/coastal-artillery/",
  "title": "Coastal Artillery","rgb": "95, 139, 168",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/fort.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/fort_hu3d58d9871e9972c0d490bef6c0f7cf7e_8132135_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Rather than act as standalone bastions, these forts of the Marine Services dissuade naval invasions by forcing vessels and aircraft to engage them.\nOnce close, an invading party can be surprised by bunkered missile launchers on sleds and nuclear-tipped missile trains sheltered beneath mountains. The guns are mostly for show; the carrier-killer missiles are the real deal\n",
  "date": "2024-10-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 184,
  "href": "/stories/bespectacled/",
  "title": "Cobian","rgb": "131, 139, 137",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/cold-fish.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/cold-fish_huc5a22acf1105bd22bccadffdef67ef21_7681668_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-10-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 185,
  "href": "/stories/dark-energy/",
  "title": "Dark Energy","rgb": "178, 167, 155",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/energy.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/energy_huef766af74d2d939d38c714b54666731f_1244556_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-10-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 186,
  "href": "/stories/moron/",
  "title": "Moron","rgb": "167, 165, 164",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/moron.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/moron_huf651c5591a8f2cabc2ad4a730dc83f6d_2888436_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-10-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 187,
  "href": "/stories/academic/",
  "title": "Academic","rgb": "166, 200, 150",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/academic.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/academic_hu6ad00b67dd858d6cfdea3a49c41ed1be_1676771_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The kinds of silks seen here are worn in East Vekllei, which means the Commonwealth Verde. Linens are instead typically used in the West (the Vekllei Caribbean).\n",
  "date": "2024-10-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 188,
  "href": "/stories/fireworks/",
  "title": "Fireworks","rgb": "203, 186, 203",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/fireworks.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/fireworks_hu2b66b1b6dfbed3ea2f1461aeff04e4c2_2658675_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-10-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 189,
  "href": "/stories/platform/",
  "title": "Platform Attendant","rgb": "248, 115, 111",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/platform.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/platform_hu13662f944873e540eb486b0f00d0762f_1605637_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-10-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 190,
  "href": "/stories/medic/",
  "title": "Medic","rgb": "200, 47, 88",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/medic.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/medic_hu881a6181ea92da1ab6c495328ea5ba75_1111783_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-10-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 191,
  "href": "/stories/washed-ashore/",
  "title": "Coast Guard","rgb": "170, 167, 108",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/coastguard.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/coastguard_hu53db8fa4c53941898dd987f2b7e35be7_2542712_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-10-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 192,
  "href": "/stories/antigua/",
  "title": "Antigua","rgb": "117, 155, 194",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/antigua.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/antigua_hu8e8b6ae37dee3538d5c37a225885f71d_3849459_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Antigua is part of Vekllei, which spans pole to pole as a union of Atlantic and Caribbean communities.\nIn the background, the Caribbea Cane sugar mill looms over the town. Antigua is one of the few places in the Lesser Antilles where sugar is still grown.\n",
  "date": "2024-10-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 193,
  "href": "/stories/lighter/",
  "title": "Lighter","rgb": "200, 74, 93",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/lighter.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/lighter_hu5a0b0e0726f151b3612c24da6632e07a_1280201_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-09-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 194,
  "href": "/stories/police-constable/",
  "title": "Constable","rgb": "147, 130, 173",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/police-constable.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/police-constable_hu82424f73679e4e136abb12fdcbf683b8_1595969_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Most types of police in Vekllei carry swords (in the fashion of a blunt sabre like the one above) though you can choose to take an extendable baton or more commonly both.\nThe sabres have a powerful intimidation effect that a taser or baton doesn’t, which can be very useful.\n",
  "date": "2024-09-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 195,
  "href": "/characters/merce/",
  "title": "Merce",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-09-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 196,
  "href": "/stories/spring/",
  "title": "Spring","rgb": "133, 132, 82",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/spring.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/spring_hu34cd39b72446c85bc81671419e242615_2737220_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The hot springs are like a 15 min walk from school. If you skip first period and get there around 10am you can have the entire forest to yourself.\n",
  "date": "2024-09-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 197,
  "href": "/stories/fission-thoughts/",
  "title": "Thoughts","rgb": "179, 131, 108",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/thoughts.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/thoughts_hu8c7e8afb76f3c337ea408801dff1cd4f_1641975_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ",
  "date": "2024-09-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 198,
  "href": "/stories/medals/",
  "title": "Medals","rgb": "225, 68, 76",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/medals.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/medals_hueae6de2dc50066fddc5eb3eac2e8a454_3016398_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Baron is Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s adoptive father. She knew him as a Noshem intelligence agent but she knew he had been a soldier with the Territorial Services before that.\nHe didn\u0026rsquo;t hide his service but he didn\u0026rsquo;t talk about it either. He was a very moderate person.\nThe Bread and Sword\nThe \u0026ldquo;bread and sword\u0026rdquo; indicates a volunteer. It comes from Vekllei politics and their weird transnational regime-pilled anarchism \u0026ldquo;delivering justice by bread or sword\u0026rdquo;\nIt\u0026rsquo;s also a symbol more generally for Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Armed Forces.\n",
  "date": "2024-09-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 199,
  "href": "/stories/dropout/",
  "title": "Her Day Off","rgb": "212, 112, 101",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/dropout.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/dropout_hue8a05e80e5a495b5348520ddf10283bf_2015428_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Rude coworker on her day off. She is 33 years old, doesn\u0026rsquo;t have a boyfriend and is still a gemstone clerk. Her mum calls her twice a week about both.\n",
  "date": "2024-09-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 200,
  "href": "/stories/jacket/",
  "title": "Jacket","rgb": "201, 163, 136",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/jacket.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/jacket_hu896832157d8be622e70ffe0a739386cb_1365541_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-09-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 201,
  "href": "/characters/nerd-girl/",
  "title": "Nerd-Girl",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-09-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 202,
  "href": "/stories/photovolume/",
  "title": "Photovolume","rgb": "190, 107, 67",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/photovolume.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/photovolume_huf1c0662ed66b1f3381584c6a71f728ce_2192476_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Computers in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s world are based on optical circuits.\nTheir storage devices use patterns of light, marked in crystal wafers, to store thousands of terabytes of data (or what they call tetra, since they use ternary logic). You can read about Vekllei photovolumes here.\n",
  "date": "2024-09-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 203,
  "href": "/stories/wind-rising/",
  "title": "The Wind is Rising","rgb": "60, 124, 166",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/wind.gif",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/wind_hu2e7d686d2387dac771feca917a480470_3060216_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box_1.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-09-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 204,
  "href": "/stories/cool/",
  "title": "Failing Student","rgb": "60, 124, 166",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/students.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/students_hub67d586a959fc3e7446e9f27c274ab41_2471664_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-09-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 205,
  "href": "/stories/bench/",
  "title": "Bench Girls","rgb": "181, 75, 106",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/bench.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/bench_hu4b1ffc813340392d68af13c21d6200de_1460489_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-09-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 206,
  "href": "/stories/bedroom/",
  "title": "Bedroom","rgb": "134, 66, 57",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/bedroom.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/bedroom_hu930d3302f28cec4e3bd4bc3799b9c230_2477674_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "It\u0026rsquo;s cold outside but limitless fusion power means she can crank the central heating.\nTzipora is reading about Mongols.\n",
  "date": "2024-09-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 207,
  "href": "/stories/levant/",
  "title": "The Levant","rgb": "103, 148, 88",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/levant.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/levant_hu541e76295fcff4d7b959c702b32b6aca_1330868_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "A lot of Persians live in the Commonwealth Verde, mostly descendants of Jungle Movement revolutionaries who fled after the first failed coup.\nAlthough they are typically culturally rather than devoutly Islamic, they represent the largest muslim population in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s diverse Atlantic.\nVekllei is a secular country, but many of its constituent republics have state religions, and the federal government operates different religious institutions on behalf of communities.\nThe Levantine University in Sal is a good example, as a multifaith theological institution.\n",
  "date": "2024-08-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 208,
  "href": "/stories/rhodesia/",
  "title": "Rhodesia","rgb": "198, 168, 115",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/rhodie.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/rhodie_huf5c7035e40d1a6e4cc36fc7e459cc221_2472227_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Korean man who lead 4th Patrol of the volunteer battalion had a reputation for violence. On Friday they watched a half dozen corpses float downstream, their bellies surfacing like porpoises. He took his boys up to Simon Town and found six Rhodies. They shot and buried six Rhodies.\nHe was a real transnational anarchist. His men often felt strongly about the politics in Zaire, but the Korean couldn\u0026rsquo;t have cared less. The politics of genocide meant nothing to him.\nHe was a modern fanatic. He was also too good at killing to keep him off patrol.\n",
  "date": "2024-08-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 209,
  "href": "/stories/4000/",
  "title": "4,000","rgb": "147, 156, 160",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/4000.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/4000_hu798339cde24eb652db3bb377e83e0f23_1613121_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Drawn to celebrate 4,000 followers on x.com. I did one for 3,000 too feat. Tzipora falling into a pond, but I hated it so much I never posted it.\nSo this is like a bonus I guess. Soggypora:\n",
  "date": "2024-08-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 210,
  "href": "/stories/colleague/",
  "title": "Colleague","rgb": "139.13, 126.56, 82.567",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/colleague.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/colleague_hue1c362dbcb1e90bda868bc620b0fb108_9519138_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "She works for Common Gemstone, the Vekllei synthetic precious gems company. The company occasionally crashes the world gemstone market by flooding it with unlabelled synthetics because Vekllei makes just that many of them. Precious gems are widely available and they use them for all sorts of things.\nI\u0026rsquo;ll do a full post on Common Gemstone because their history is very funny. It\u0026rsquo;s like Thomas Moore\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;Utopia\u0026rdquo; where the toilets are made out of gold, except it\u0026rsquo;s a ruby pin Tzipora won for long jump at her school athletics carnival.\n",
  "date": "2024-08-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 211,
  "href": "/stories/mary/",
  "title": "Don't Touch Her Maria","rgb": "127.86, 139.36, 96.496",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/mary.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/mary_hu4aa617d61e0b38042271aa66e3d7d666_1500080_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-08-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 212,
  "href": "/stories/pademelon/",
  "title": "Pademelon","rgb": "127.86, 139.36, 96.496",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/pademelon.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/pademelon_hu23996e8fa8bed5ffed911d41f86c5160_2197325_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Pademelons were introduced to Oslola by mistake, when they escaped from a friendship delegation in the 1950s.\nA century on, they thrive in Oslola\u0026rsquo;s cool, temperate rainforests, meaning that the island is the only place outside of Tasmania you can see these wallabies in the wild.\n",
  "date": "2024-08-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 213,
  "href": "/stories/battleship/",
  "title": "Battleship","rgb": "73, 113, 157",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/battleship.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/battleship_hu3f68ccf21ef18eba290b70d30811e5bb_2566977_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Missiles fly farther, but they\u0026rsquo;re limited and expensive. Jets strike more accurately, but they\u0026rsquo;re easy to lose.\nThe Federal-class battleship is the only such example in the Marine Services and is the flagship of its fleet. It provides naval guns where they\u0026rsquo;re needed, commissioned to assist in amphibious landings and shore operations.\n",
  "date": "2024-08-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 214,
  "href": "/stories/patrol-kit/",
  "title": "Patrol Kit","rgb": "175, 110, 73",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/patrol-kit.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/patrol-kit_hu1ddc6a00d18606e7e1486c2553b1286d_1434587_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei spans from pole to pole. At the equator, the federalised army wears lighter kit on home patrol.\nThis uniform is worn at home; around base and around town. They have regular fatigues for training and fighting; this kit is for activities that involve a walking around town.\nThis soldier is from the republic of Habacoa. All Vekllei servicemen are simultaneously a part of a local component (kind of like a national guard) and a federal unit \u0026ndash; in this case the 2nd Habacoan component in the 14th federal regiment.\n",
  "date": "2024-08-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 215,
  "href": "/stories/camo/",
  "title": "Camo","rgb": "107.09, 94.551, 66.616",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/camo.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/camo_hue5f7dfe61ccd76d8e4c061c43c7d6105_2237697_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s landscape is so diverse that the Armed Forces equip their soldiers in region-specific camouflage, which are draped over their coffee-coloured uniforms with cloaks and helmet covers.\nThey might look goofy but they\u0026rsquo;re hard to see, and their abstract silhouette trips up automatic targeting systems.\n",
  "date": "2024-08-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 216,
  "href": "/stories/coworkers/",
  "title": "Coworkers","rgb": "192, 82, 64",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/coworkers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/coworkers_hue093300f81b40475667cec638e29edb3_1588431_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-08-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 217,
  "href": "/stories/cardigan/",
  "title": "Nice Cardigan","rgb": "135, 67, 61",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/cardigan.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/cardigan_hu30270402a6ce5559ba7df3413553c85d_1030267_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-08-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 218,
  "href": "/stories/sprinter/",
  "title": "Sprinter","rgb": "75, 74, 148",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/runner.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/runner_huf1e5d30073362d6d838777f3f7ed0a64_1449730_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Mary Daley was the first person from Allia to win a medal at the games. She\u0026rsquo;s a native Irish speaker; most people from her republic are.\nYou can see the team uniforms in this post: 2063 Olympics Uniforms.\n",
  "date": "2024-08-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 219,
  "href": "/stories/they-like-to-dance/",
  "title": "They Like to Dance","rgb": "198, 127, 114",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/dance.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/dance_hufef87a05152a66ced48b46cbe744bdae_1780711_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Cobian\u0026rsquo;s \u0026lsquo;Algic\u0026rsquo; (Inuit) dress is like her version of a poodle skirt I guess. I was going for sock-hop look. Vekllei isn\u0026rsquo;t a pastiche of the 50s, but it is crazy how much more people used to dance last century.\nVekllei people love to dance.\n",
  "date": "2024-08-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 220,
  "href": "/stories/pretending/",
  "title": "Pretending to Listen","rgb": "205, 165, 138",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/attention.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/attention_hu223fea2d85b116fb2d7382e5c32c6c15_1858695_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s mother was Gitana, so she\u0026rsquo;s trying to learn more about Spain. She\u0026rsquo;s looking forward to finding out how the civil war ends.\n",
  "date": "2024-08-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 221,
  "href": "/stories/riot-police/",
  "title": "Riot Police","rgb": "210, 136, 88",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/riot.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/riot_hu93745c5b60ef0640b7d35e8ffa7a7cb7_1353939_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-08-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 222,
  "href": "/stories/requests/",
  "title": "Taking Requests","rgb": "205, 165, 138",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/requests.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/requests_hu65afeb46cc233d747ccdfb5eeee63e35_3060052_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The only way to get cool, rare clothes in Vekllei is to ask someone to bring you back some from holiday. Marsha\u0026rsquo;s taking requests.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s a big deal for high schoolers because other islands in the country have fabrics and styles that they don\u0026rsquo;t get up north.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s a running joke that a girl goes on holiday, and the week after she returns her class is shivering in linens made for the Caribbean.\n",
  "date": "2024-08-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 223,
  "href": "/stories/woth/",
  "title": "Whisper of the Heart","rgb": "190, 63, 74",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/woth.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/woth_hub3adc42d75d3d847bb2799fb30951814_1519865_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "I found Whisper of the Heart (1995) kind of cathartic. I think it\u0026rsquo;s a really beautiful story about creativity and what you should do with your life. The weird 90s Japanese post-recession vibe is very strong too.\nI wrote my thesis on spatiality in Studio Ghibli, which included visiting several locations that directly inspired the film. You can read that essay on this site here: A Universal Nostalgia.\n",
  "date": "2024-07-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 224,
  "href": "/stories/the-news/",
  "title": "The News","rgb": "210, 96, 93",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/the-news.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/the-news_hu20decb37e647bdb37b6efbee15f33768_2269198_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-07-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 225,
  "href": "/stories/fishgirl/",
  "title": "Fishgirl","rgb": "222, 124, 121",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/fishgirl.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/fishgirl_hu6345e171067dd806c496e85f5e0fe9a8_1690788_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-07-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 226,
  "href": "/stories/olympiad/",
  "title": "2063 Olympics Uniforms","rgb": "201, 150, 92",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/olympiad.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/olympiad_hua9dd800224d89ddf30c97f673c397df7_10793285_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Vekllei is a sporty country, they like swimming, cricket and baseball, and perform well in all of them. They do well in fencing and shooting too, but don\u0026rsquo;t have teams for a lot of sports (like equestrian dressing or rowing).\nIf Tzipora was two inches taller she could probably qualify for long jump, she\u0026rsquo;s very good.\n",
  "date": "2024-07-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 227,
  "href": "/stories/jousting-jet/",
  "title": "Jousting Jet","rgb": "60, 84, 132",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/alert.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/alert_hu7a1c0b312558f736c0461a38501a9ee5_2308016_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Nuclear cruise missiles move quick, so they have to move quicker. Rail sleds like these get them into the air in under a minute, ready to joust incoming threats with their piggybacked retransmission missiles. The militarisation of space has made ICBMs much easier to track and intercept, and so low-flying cruise missiles are a more intimate danger.\nTheir world has poor missile guidance and range, so they need to be “jousted” by jets with powerful radars to reliably intercept them. Vekllei moves them around on rail sleds because their country consists of small islands whose airbases are easily observed and targeted. Pilots receive as much as 6Gs on takeoff.\n",
  "date": "2024-07-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 228,
  "href": "/stories/downriver/",
  "title": "Downriver","rgb": "106, 115, 124",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/rain.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/rain_hu67f925a9aa59f6c1f76c83ffc6bc9064_2445035_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "You can view an animated version with music by clicking here.\nThe music is the beautiful \u0026ldquo;Cais\u0026rdquo; by Milton Nascimento.\n",
  "date": "2024-07-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 229,
  "href": "/stories/comedian/",
  "title": "The Comedian","rgb": "101, 85, 80",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/comedian.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/comedian_huda3d275a9ee64fc5ce3f0852352178bd_2963493_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Oslola has special trams for students during the week, because they clog up the lines leading to busy district schools like Moshel Street.\n",
  "date": "2024-07-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 230,
  "href": "/stories/school-map/",
  "title": "School Map","rgb": "158, 156, 100",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/school-map.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/school-map_hu04e568c83c70e42a00e60020594a5652_5085942_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "It\u0026rsquo;s pretty new, built in 2044 next to a park with geothermal springs. Because it gets cold and dark in winter, the entire complex can be accessed as a contiguous structure.\nIn summer, Tzipora spends her time by the creek among the drumlins.\nMost government schools in Vekllei are secular but some retain \u0026ldquo;chapels\u0026rdquo; for communal \u0026lsquo;pastoral activities\u0026rsquo; like memorials, praying for sick students, etc. They\u0026rsquo;re nondenominational, but serve as a kind of agnostic spiritual heart of a campus.\nThe style of the school is usually called volcanic moderne, and is most common in Oslola. It takes a lot of inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright\u0026rsquo;s Taliesin and Maya-inspired homes.\n",
  "date": "2024-07-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 231,
  "href": "/stories/like-each-other/",
  "title": "They Like Each Other","rgb": "95, 121, 54",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/comix.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/comix_hu2355b4933bef6a6a04e1d8a2063eed93_2402154_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "That mound of concrete in the back is Moshel St School.\nA lot of Oslolan civic architecture has a volcanic, mayan look to it. You can see a map of it here.\n",
  "date": "2024-07-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 232,
  "href": "/stories/work-week/",
  "title": "The Work Week","rgb": "188, 124, 82",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/work-week.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/work-week_hud109c51e5d593c5ab2141b86a12b137c_1802634_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Although working four different jobs is unusual, it\u0026rsquo;s not unheard of. Outside of specialists, most Vekllei people work multiple jobs. For entry-level work and especially for young people, it\u0026rsquo;s the norm.\nThis is because they engage with work primarily as a form of play.\nAs you get older and acquire more expertise and education, people often settle into a particular workplace they like for work they enjoy. It depends on their personality and ambition.\nThis play is productive and contributes to the economy, a fact that does not delegitimise its status as a social activity. I\u0026rsquo;ll explore ludic productivity in future drawings.\nYou can read more about their social economy here.\n",
  "date": "2024-07-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 233,
  "href": "/stories/scruff/",
  "title": "The Dare","rgb": "163, 76, 60",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/scruff.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/scruff_hufb705bb8ee50a739f9307d2da0e44756_1520556_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-06-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 234,
  "href": "/stories/caribbean-police/",
  "title": "Caribbean Police","rgb": "140, 101, 60",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/caribbean-police.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/caribbean-police_hu14183de92bd6a18d59c0868dbe93baac_1874572_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Modern Vekllei policing is starts with the community. These cops from Cama know their neighbourhoods and the people in them. They\u0026rsquo;re often seen arguing with local losers over coffee.\nThey serve the same role in Vekllei as they do pretty much anywhere, but their training is different. They stand close to perps on the street and speak to their face as people rather than threats.\nThe job is less law enforcement and more \u0026lsquo;keepers of the peace.\u0026rsquo;\nTheir summery, British-style uniforms are quite distinct from Oslola\u0026rsquo;s cold-weather style.\n",
  "date": "2024-06-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 235,
  "href": "/stories/school-photo/",
  "title": "School Photo","rgb": "114, 51, 42",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/school-photo.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/school-photo_hubab0e8ab1a7ee1464703b53c30a65ca7_1934200_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Yes, this is the 21st Century.\nThe scarf around Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s neck is a \u0026ldquo;gi,\u0026rdquo; a ceremonial pleat. It is usually worn draped over a skirt, as seen in many of my other pictures. It has magic runes stitched in it for luck, prosperity, whatever\nPeople from Oslola love swords, and having your photo taken with one isn\u0026rsquo;t unusual. Other republics are not so obsessed.\n",
  "date": "2024-06-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 236,
  "href": "/stories/island-hopper/",
  "title": "Island Hopper","rgb": "207, 76, 116",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/island-hopper.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/island-hopper_huee4d523e3553fccd8550657cb36b5a68_1891315_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "These Avia Sunjets are manufactured by Government Aircraft Factories for Commonwealth Airways. They\u0026rsquo;re perfect for island-hopping routes throughout the Vekllei Caribbean, because their swing-wing design allows them to land on shorter island runways.\nThey are particularly beloved in Vekllei for their gorgeous sunroofs that line the roof of the cabin, which are UV-protected and able to change opacity.\n",
  "date": "2024-06-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 237,
  "href": "/stories/sniff/",
  "title": "Sniff","rgb": "115, 102, 133",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/sniff.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/sniff_huf82ac12822e4c5bbcfb225f82435db50_1103581_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Commonwealth stretches from pole to pole. In the Vekllei Caribbean, students wear a linen shirt year-round. At latitude, more layers are required. Tzipora lives in Oslola (Iceland), and so wears the Oslolan version of the standard issue uniform.\n",
  "date": "2024-06-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 238,
  "href": "/characters/aom/",
  "title": "Aom",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-06-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 239,
  "href": "/stories/clerk/",
  "title": "Clerk","rgb": "202, 87, 91",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/clerk.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/clerk_hua3639418017085ee9adf596262b74b88_1107068_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-06-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 240,
  "href": "/stories/tank-engine/",
  "title": "Tank Engine","rgb": "240, 95, 90",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/railfan.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/railfan_hu933c68ef21c2957cac4fff8196aa4b42_2238992_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "No other country in the world is neurodivergent enough to\nBuild a cab-forward locomotive Modify it to become a tank engine Run it daily in revenue service Total Vekllei cultural supremacy. I welcome the endless municipalist regime.\n",
  "date": "2024-06-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 241,
  "href": "/stories/her-best/",
  "title": "Her Best","rgb": "199, 177, 86",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/comics/best.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/comics/best_hueb05952b2c6e15f7c9a9674d2c61d2e6_2884963_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-06-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 242,
  "href": "/stories/froggy/",
  "title": "Froggy","rgb": "210, 109, 40",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/froggy.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/froggy_hu536a789c522a566a81eaf03b4b2e223f_1133635_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-06-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 243,
  "href": "/characters/raul/",
  "title": "Raul",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-06-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 244,
  "href": "/stories/ziggurat/",
  "title": "Ziggurat","rgb": "128, 61, 57",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/ziggurat.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/ziggurat_hubc164b8f16ea7e73755c94f81cde74fb_2398568_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "\u0026ldquo;The Ziggurat\u0026rdquo; is the part of Noshem where the intelligence and analyst clerks work. The building and mural is pretty typical of Vekllei civic monumentalism.\nNoshem is the Commonwealth Intelligence Service, a sprawling and well-resourced organisation with a reputation for deception and zealotry.\n",
  "date": "2024-06-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 245,
  "href": "/stories/offering/",
  "title": "The Offering","rgb": "132, 174, 200",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/offering.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/offering_hu1e6179151549fdb45fedcd4161896c26_1534039_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Can I just say that I thought I was very clever for using this old-fashioned pinafore dress as school uniform, then all of a sudden Chainsaw Man\u0026rsquo;s new arc uses it and it\u0026rsquo;s fucking everywhere on this website.\nFujimoto is RIPPING ME OFF and now my characters look like FAN ART.\n",
  "date": "2024-06-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 246,
  "href": "/stories/spicy-curry/",
  "title": "Spicy Curry","rgb": "189, 20, 33",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/curry.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/curry_hu1061954a6c19bb330fc3725f0df81448_1520666_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Commonwealth homerooms take turns cooking lunch for the school. One of the more idealistic examples of their cultural volunteerism.\nTzipora can\u0026rsquo;t handle spice in her food and doesn\u0026rsquo;t like it much better in her eyes.\n",
  "date": "2024-05-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 247,
  "href": "/stories/industrial-security/",
  "title": "Industrial Security","rgb": "67, 82, 140",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/industrial-security.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/industrial-security_huccae4bf1b3be92419a56795001c2f164_1486449_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Federal Commonwealth servicemen provide security for nuclear plants and laboratories throughout Vekllei.\nTheir priority is defending ageing civilian fission reactors, which are much more likely to be targeted by adversaries than the newer fusion reactors in Oslola and Kairi.\nThey are part of the Armed Forces but operate as a paramilitary security police under the Ministry of Light and Water.\n",
  "date": "2024-05-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 248,
  "href": "/stories/teleswitch/",
  "title": "Teleswitch","rgb": "176, 93, 85",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/teleswitch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/teleswitch_hu5214b012e7530aaf9bb2438fec814465_1791714_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "A teleswitch is a portable switchboard, and lets you know when it\u0026rsquo;s time to find a phone booth or videophone to take a call.\n",
  "date": "2024-05-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 249,
  "href": "/stories/the-cane/",
  "title": "The Cane","rgb": "201, 163, 136",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/comics/cane.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/comics/cane_hu3af426c164667474d93796b46aed2961_3008373_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-05-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 250,
  "href": "/stories/hi-and-lo/",
  "title": "High \u0026 Low (IQ) Fashion","rgb": "201, 163, 136",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hi-and-lo.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hi-and-lo_hu2f824a21cc6e8cea90f23aad9af0f23a_2048560_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "🔗This outfit was too cobian-pilled not to draw it.\nTzipora is wearing a shirt that has a collar and no buttons (low IQ). In Cobian\u0026rsquo;s context here, wide trousers and loose layers are staple youth fashion in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s alt-retrofuturism.\nThis old post talks about their fashion internationalism, and you can see another Cobian outfit in this one.\n",
  "date": "2024-05-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 251,
  "href": "/characters/kefra/",
  "title": "Kefra",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-05-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 252,
  "href": "/stories/scouts/",
  "title": "Scouts Learning to Shoot","rgb": "160, 161, 95",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/scouts.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/scouts_hu9d4ced5478f9bc6422e1bd8f4f035c22_2512299_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "It\u0026rsquo;s not unusual for Vekllei scouts to learn to shoot. They learn for combat, not for sport, and often practice shooting standing and with irons.\nNot all scouts learn to shoot, just as not all conscripts go and fight.\nInstead, casual familiarity with firearms bolsters a general confidence in their independence from Europe and the Americas, and indicates the principles of their free and self-managing localism.\n",
  "date": "2024-05-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 253,
  "href": "/stories/canteen-wine/",
  "title": "Canteen Wine","rgb": "127, 179, 190",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/winecup.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/winecup_hucb3a26030cde29968dcb37b6169b1603_2408062_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Students are allowed to have a small cup of wine with lunch from age 14, if they like. They\u0026rsquo;re not supposed to have 4 cups.\nYou can read more about alcohol consumption in Vekllei in this recent bulletin.\n",
  "date": "2024-05-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 254,
  "href": "/stories/border-guard/",
  "title": "Bored-er Guard","rgb": "126, 82, 58",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/border-guard.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/border-guard_hudf120a526ddd5bcedac4c1cf8779c8f3_1804455_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-05-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 255,
  "href": "/stories/teabag/",
  "title": "Teabag","rgb": "149, 195, 199",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/teabag.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/teabag_hud331432b83f0b253f1d62c4c9c101526_1334058_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-05-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 256,
  "href": "/stories/thailand/",
  "title": "Thailand","rgb": "154, 142, 187",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/thailand.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/thailand_hu2a60690b4732d9136db2d1c72ff5f9bb_1598852_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei people don\u0026rsquo;t stitch their school shirts, they use pins so they can be worn for different occasions.\nThe embroidered name is cute though\n",
  "date": "2024-05-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 257,
  "href": "/stories/malaysia/",
  "title": "Malaysia","rgb": "161, 83, 87",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/malaysia.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/malaysia_hue47bfc595350c1c61000cb9e3cd0ef66_1960165_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ",
  "date": "2024-04-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 258,
  "href": "/stories/merce/",
  "title": "Constable","rgb": "80, 120, 160",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/merce.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/merce_hub691518f8469fe01cff6577bad6fe00d_2498279_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Merce has been with the Seispri Municipal Police Service for six years. She\u0026rsquo;s the daughter of the former Chief Inspector.\nShe serves as a patrol officer, investigator, mediator, café regular and source of wisdom.\nShe \u0026lsquo;knows\u0026rsquo; Tzipora well.\n",
  "date": "2024-04-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 259,
  "href": "/stories/killers/",
  "title": "Killers","rgb": "154, 159, 169",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/killers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/killers_huff57e2f10107871359a890b1c6d51318_1855071_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Baron is clearly her father, but exactly who he is and how they met isn\u0026rsquo;t clear.\nShe comes by his office sometimes after class and sits in the lobby with a comic, eating an apple.\n",
  "date": "2024-04-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 260,
  "href": "/stories/nosebleed/",
  "title": "Nosebleed","rgb": "205, 165, 138",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/nosebleed.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/nosebleed_hucaa84b4e6f12945106445c434153208d_1204259_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-04-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 261,
  "href": "/stories/nuclear-ship/",
  "title": "Nuclear Ship","rgb": "94, 162, 229",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/nuclear-ship.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/nuclear-ship_huc14ab7cd9133fd6a7d1a99f56e08be67_1984733_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Rather than containers, ships like the N.S. Automan carry modular, palletised railcars that simply roll on and off. These nuclear cargo ships are very fast, and common throughout the Vekllei Lesser Antilles. They facilitate rapid industrial freight, since cargo never leaves the railcar it departed on.\nI\u0026rsquo;ll be doing a post on their palletised freight system soon. It\u0026rsquo;s very modular, and quite different to the containerisation with which we\u0026rsquo;re familiar.\n",
  "date": "2024-04-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 262,
  "href": "/stories/petrol-bike/",
  "title": "Petrol-Bike","rgb": "203, 2, 0",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/GINA.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/GINA_hu0c09fee63e4864d1c11fd8014a46f164_2957790_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Gina is the most popular petrol-bike manufacturer in Vekllei. The family that still owns Gina are actually legendary bike racers themselves, and sponsor racing events. Vekllei people use bicycles for work and recreation, but aside from athletes there isn\u0026rsquo;t really a \u0026ldquo;bike culture\u0026rdquo; like we have in our own world.\n",
  "date": "2024-04-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 263,
  "href": "/stories/fruitcore/",
  "title": "Fruitcore","rgb": "212, 76, 60",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/tangerine.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/tangerine_hu4cf57f29ebbb8e6fd75b15f1ea921b87_2294926_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-04-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 264,
  "href": "/stories/jewellery/",
  "title": "Formal Jewellery","rgb": "194, 56, 64",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/jewellery.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/jewellery_hudcc363ed13d143200e95f638b5a28667_2182504_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Still wearing her formal jewellery after Friday Assembly.\nJewellery is an important part of Oslolan culture and it\u0026rsquo;s often part of formal student uniform, worn in ceremonies. It doesn\u0026rsquo;t have to be real and it\u0026rsquo;s not about wealth; it\u0026rsquo;s about form, and your connection to the spirit world.\n",
  "date": "2024-04-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 265,
  "href": "/stories/inuit-student/",
  "title": "Inuit student","rgb": "182, 34, 71",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/inuit.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/inuit_hu49cf8dc220b303286c8b2d7dd64c50dd_1986987_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Cobian (pronounced Koh-bai-an, not Cobain) is Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s closest girl/friend. When they first met she was a bit tedious and insecure, but she\u0026rsquo;s since become very important to Tzipora.\nHer family are indigenous to Oslola (Iceland), and have lineage going back a thousand years.\nShe\u0026rsquo;s wearing a \u0026lsquo;gi\u0026rsquo;, a ceremonial pleat that sits over the skirt stitched with protective runes, unique to Oslola. Vekllei uniforms are very similar across all its constituent republics, but they have a lot of distinct cultural items like this.\n",
  "date": "2024-04-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 266,
  "href": "/stories/radio/",
  "title": "Radio","rgb": "182, 34, 71",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/radio.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/radio_hu0a52376892f99e7566ec71bad5b00210_2677918_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei people don\u0026rsquo;t own televisions, washing machines, or really any other consumer appliances. By American or European standards their lives are austere. But in place of TV is a vibrant soundscape of radio broadcasting. It\u0026rsquo;s a tool of the state and counter-culture; hobbyists and industry alike. Pocket radios are popular, and her model was designed by Adelectrics.\nCoretti was born in Zaire, but was raised in the USSR and now lives in Vekllei. The AM stations in Brazzaville are her link to the distant place of her birth.\nShe likes rumba music just fine, but that\u0026rsquo;s not why she tunes in. She\u0026rsquo;s not really sure why she tunes in.\n",
  "date": "2024-04-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 267,
  "href": "/stories/smoke/",
  "title": "Smoke","rgb": "205, 57, 78",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/smoke.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/smoke_hu35de71b47886f304920e3c13dc52d323_1440638_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s smoking habit upsets Cobian because she\u0026rsquo;s a square, but Tzipora is a nonconformist by nature, not by choice.\nShe keeps some smokes in her purse because it\u0026rsquo;s good for the nerves. It was a bad habit she picked up in America working at Hotel Zion.\n",
  "date": "2024-04-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 268,
  "href": "/stories/coffee/",
  "title": "Coffee","rgb": "215, 172, 136",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/coffee.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/coffee_huac51b51c2d2e4dc0aac1034409275627_4605235_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Oslola, despite being in the North Atlantic, was reforested mostly with eucalyptus and pine after it was completely cleared in the middle ages.\n",
  "date": "2024-04-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 269,
  "href": "/stories/maja/",
  "title": "Maja (Commission)","rgb": "212, 132, 97",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/maja.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/maja_hua1ffacf3220f49a5c296014ccceb0607_2059239_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-04-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 270,
  "href": "/characters/amka/",
  "title": "Amka",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-03-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 271,
  "href": "/stories/volcanology/",
  "title": "Magma","rgb": "10, 171, 30",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/magma.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/magma_huf93be7dda0d036b52b237b1d565c1398_3365720_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Amka works as a glacial volcanologist, sleeps on a mattress in the back of her utility vehicle, eats military rations out of a bag for dinner and LOVES her job.\nShe is one of many volcanologists across Vekllei working for the LSRE (Land Science Research Establishment), which is a part of the national council of science establishments called SIRO. They do valuable work across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s many volcanic republics, and are integral to both Vekllei geoscience as well as protecting the lives of the millions of Vekllei people who live amidst volcanic activity.\n",
  "date": "2024-03-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 272,
  "href": "/stories/submarine/",
  "title": "Submarine","rgb": "59, 101, 129",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/submarine.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/submarine_hu5e137347435867ec1f192b3791180368_2512617_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The No. 3 Mantle Ballistic Missile Submarines have hydromagnetic drives that operate in total silence, and in their disappearance guarantee the safety of even the smallest Vekllei islands through the threat of nuclear annihilation. You might get Reykjavik, but you\u0026rsquo;ll never get them.\n",
  "date": "2024-03-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 273,
  "href": "/stories/pistol/",
  "title": "Pistol","rgb": "206, 161, 138",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/pistol.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/pistol_huaddd793424987d9ee0b83d4c55ba083e_2986778_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-03-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 274,
  "href": "/stories/sami/",
  "title": "Sami","rgb": "189, 67, 116",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/sami.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/sami_huca8c55ae4638d872aa9d3102ec88392d_1808585_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Student uniform of the northernmost town in the world, mixing Sámi cultural elements with the typical Vekllei uniform. The Arctic Sámi comprise most of the 7,500 people who live in Svalbard, which they call Helvasia.\nIt says a lot about Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s attention to detail that, even in minor republics of a few thousand people, they have a complete uniform designed to your climate and culture that still conforms to the broader Commonwealth public education system.\n",
  "date": "2024-03-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 275,
  "href": "/stories/family/",
  "title": "Family","rgb": "167, 158, 91",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/family.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/family_hu76672ffd2791660708d9673f6e5dfc03_2057542_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-03-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 276,
  "href": "/stories/shorts/",
  "title": "Shorts","rgb": "139, 186, 212",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/shorts.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/shorts_hubda91566c93bbce20054ad0e3e733a9c_1592696_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-03-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 277,
  "href": "/stories/steam/",
  "title": "Cab-Forward","rgb": "206, 164, 138",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/steam.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/steam_hu53ed3a3b7db2b8d57cd9eeb1e05f1281_3275115_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Thanks to her new book, Tzipora has found one of the few remaining steam locomotives still in regular passenger service in Vekllei.\nThis one has been running for 110 years. She had to take a superconducting maglev to find it. Vekllei has a social economy, and so high and low tech coexists simultaneously, bucking technocratic logic.\n",
  "date": "2024-03-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 278,
  "href": "/stories/aurora/",
  "title": "Aurora","rgb": "104, 128, 143",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/aurora.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/aurora_hu4fce196efaaf19ade08c8cb09be17b51_1110529_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Originally designed as a jet trainer, the Armed Forces found the Aurora\u0026rsquo;s glider-like manoeuvrability made it a great strafing jet.\nWhile advanced fighters are useful for peer adversaries, more combat is taking place in remote, asymmetric bush wars that need different kinds of weapons.\n",
  "date": "2024-03-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 279,
  "href": "/stories/patrol/",
  "title": "Chief Inspector","rgb": "81, 119, 173",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/patrol.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/patrol_hua9ec061ff4ae90b401816d821a408d51_1323648_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-03-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 280,
  "href": "/stories/the-fountain/",
  "title": "The Fountain","rgb": "206, 158, 130",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/fountain.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/fountain_hua6bf2af1f218cb59ea886ee0354e768e_1998148_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-03-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 281,
  "href": "/stories/algic-fashion/",
  "title": "Algic Fashion","rgb": "158, 168, 170",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/algic-fashion.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/algic-fashion_hu657138f924b91b800f78d580fe1fe654_1250652_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is an \u0026lsquo;Algic\u0026rsquo; woman, what Vekllei people call the arctic Inuits that make up much of the population of Oslola and Kala.\nTraditional jewellery is in vogue across the country, used to contrast their otherwise democratic, international styles.\n",
  "date": "2024-02-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 282,
  "href": "/stories/volcanic-moderne/",
  "title": "Volcanic Moderne","rgb": "192, 78, 82",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/volcanic-moderne.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/volcanic-moderne_hu46798d5be6832085c9ce3b29409aadd9_2770203_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Cobian\u0026rsquo;s house is a hundred years old, and built in the Volcanic Moderne style out of precast concrete bricks. It\u0026rsquo;s much bigger and nicer than Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s apartment.\nNote\nI wanted something modernist but appropriate to their climate which is tricky since modernists love flat roofs.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s actually similar to the prairie style done by Frank Lloyd Wright, in particular his mayan inspired homes\nI think that style works well in Oslola because it\u0026rsquo;s very solid and monumental, which reflects their landscape well. There\u0026rsquo;s a lot of details in masonry and murals etc too\n",
  "date": "2024-02-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 283,
  "href": "/stories/greek/",
  "title": "The Greek","rgb": "137, 84, 166",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/greek.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/greek_huf0dc6e27561d9e30c05e35ffe7f83314_1731669_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora is learning about the Greeks now.\nShe\u0026rsquo;s disillusioned with Roman mythology, so she\u0026rsquo;s going to the source. She learns about the Greeks from library terminals after school, so she can share the best facts over dinner.\nVekllei actually borrows a lot from Greek myths and iconography, because it is a deeply multicultural society that tries not to favour any single group.\nConsequently, at a national level they employ a lot of abstract and placeless civic culture, including their national dress.\n",
  "date": "2024-02-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 284,
  "href": "/stories/briefcase/",
  "title": "Briefcase","rgb": "162, 91, 76",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/briefcase.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/briefcase_huc5c91b9d73b7d5aad08d10cad1b9853a_1177418_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-02-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 285,
  "href": "/stories/bald/",
  "title": "Bald","rgb": "43, 87, 152",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/bald.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/bald_hu5d65f02ad580ddb4b36ca754ecf7d6d9_1141343_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "One week in February Lin Zhi (the princeling communist Chinese girl) showed up to class with a shaved head, and no one said anything because they thought she\u0026rsquo;d finally snapped/\nLin Zhi rocks but she\u0026rsquo;s a bit nuts, and she hates living in Vekllei. It\u0026rsquo;s not like where she came from and she hates being pressured by her parents and school to adapt.\nTzipora is her only real friend because Tzipora is invariably attracted to outcasts and freaks.\n",
  "date": "2024-02-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 286,
  "href": "/stories/sneeze/",
  "title": "A Nice Moment","rgb": "177, 89, 111",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/sneeze.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/sneeze_hu210582c14bb08f01e4dc89175e130f89_2536073_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-02-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 287,
  "href": "/stories/construction/",
  "title": "A House for Each Man","rgb": "232, 13, 64",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/nch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/nch_hu6ce9eb8c2c4c7d6a37ab7e373491c724_2069375_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In Vekllei, three men can build a house in three days. In a ballet of material, machines and planning, this brutal pace has become necessary in postwar Vekllei, as the country saw its population recover and then double in independence. Complicated by postwar housing politics and a disastrous experience with slumlike public housing, the country has had to advance and systematise the construction industry.\nConstruction begins with a residential or commercial petition, submitted either to the Bureau of Housing or the Bureau of Public Works. After a two-week approval process, the bureau will assign an architecture agency to the project via your municipality, who will liaise with the largest government construction company, the National Construction House. Architects have a broad role in Vekllei, and are responsible for projects from planning to completion. They contribute much more than drawings \u0026ndash; architects now work in an automatic construction system, and so construction needs to conform to its parameters.\nAlmost all construction in Vekllei is partially or completely automatic, in the sense that it is completed by \u0026ldquo;automen\u0026rdquo; \u0026ndash; robots. Although some Vekllei robots resemble independent machines, many more are attached to existing systems, either in factories or vehicles like this one pictured above, called the NCH Automatic Truck. Built on an Agraura No. 6 Hevi-Hauler chassis, the Auto Truck can construct small structures completely independently, laying bricks and tiles, pouring concrete and mortar, and otherwise assembling structural materials with its crane implement called a \u0026ldquo;head\u0026rdquo; according to electronic plans programmed by an architect.\nThese plans, called \u0026ldquo;Computer Master Drawings,\u0026rdquo; incorporate a broad catalogue of plans, standards and materials built to many specifications and styles. While many modern Vekllei houses use completely prefabricated styles, the NCH Auto Truck can do much more, including finishing a home brick by brick. There is no fear of drab, uniform prefab homes \u0026ndash; the flexibility of automatic construction is such that architects are rarely limited by their automatic tools.\nThe NCH Auto Truck generally accompanies materials trucks and an Automan Command Truck \u0026ndash; a robot hauler that carries independent tracked or walking robots that finish the interior and run electrics. In certain projects, trains may be used instead with a special rail siding constructed. In this context, construction labourers spend more time setting up and aiding robots than they do laying brick or digging foundations.\nAlthough the National Construction House and its automatic processes are ubiquitious in Vekllei, the Auto Truck is actually built licensed from a French design. You can find automatic construction in many parts of the world, but labour is uniquely expensive in Vekllei and so the Ministry of the Commons, flush with resources cash, has invested heavily in machines to replace the man.\n",
  "date": "2024-02-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 288,
  "href": "/stories/college/",
  "title": "Allia Girls","rgb": "94, 147, 178",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/college.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/college_hu614481782dd02554e7ca66f5de6129cc_2148556_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "They speak Irish and an Allia creole, and are descended from Irish and African peoples mostly compelled there by the British. They take a super-hydrofoil to Antigua for their classes.\nVekllei people wear the same uniforms from preschool right through university, but they vary at the tertiary level depending on their field of study. Law students conventionally wear suits; scientists wear coats. Humanities, mathematics and other deskbound types wear the same styles they did in high school.\nTheir uniforms are assembled off the rack from department stores. While all of Vekllei uses navy and white, cultural items vary their appearance dramatically and there are no restrictions on hair or jewellery.\n",
  "date": "2024-02-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 289,
  "href": "/stories/cable-car/",
  "title": "Cable Car","rgb": "209, 148, 124",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/cablecar.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/cablecar_hu6067f4f55df429b158398fb8824e3b3f_1586047_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-01-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 290,
  "href": "/stories/jump/",
  "title": "Jump","rgb": "209, 148, 124",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/jump.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/jump_hu932886c178bb98123e5b813bc364da73_1670889_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora likes to jump things.\nStuff like chairs, stairs, creeks.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 291,
  "href": "/stories/gravity/",
  "title": "Gravity","rgb": "43, 96, 140",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/gravity.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/gravity_hua798c1365f4adcf4d9a26bd12d6c29aa_2677444_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The flight to the moon is long, loud and most people get sick, but it\u0026rsquo;s also a life-changing experience.\nThe stewardess in pictured here is from Helena. The use of republic flags on uniforms is very common.\nVekllei has nearly 70 republics and Vekllei people think of themselves as a union of city-states belonging to one country, so that kind of upstream and downstream federalism is a core part of their identity.\nPolitically, republics are also elevated as an identity because it decentralises power and identity between nearly 70 republics, rather than 8 regional commonwealths that might be more prone to secession or political antagonism as a rival and self-sufficient power.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 292,
  "href": "/stories/2000-twitter/",
  "title": "2,000","rgb": "228, 154, 68",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/2,000.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/2,000_hu4b5488258c43ae5ba86f36f6a2ccd448_1421364_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "🎉 THANK YOU for 2,000 followers on Twitter.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 293,
  "href": "/stories/astroport/",
  "title": "Astroport","rgb": "59, 116, 139",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/astroport.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/astroport_hu6836f5c9cf2376eb058900cc82de08e9_2258827_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Sketch of the Vekllei World Astroport, the 3rd largest spaceport in the world located in Ascension in the South Atlantic.\nIt is home to most of the national spacecraft fleet and offers commercial service to the moon twice a day.\nThe Astroport and its large terminal and research complex is a monument of Vekllei municipalist design and organic architecture, and is home to nearly 1,500 staff rotating between here and the moon.\nIt has two jetways, four launch pads and industrial nuclear facilities for fuel.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 294,
  "href": "/stories/terminal/",
  "title": "Terminal","rgb": "157, 134, 119",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/terminal.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/terminal_hu3a0556aed98e5bef95274cd2a0e14427_1927940_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Travel to the moon is a whole process — you have to fly to the astroport on Ascension, attend the flight briefing and have a medical checkup. Eventually, Tzipora and Baron are on Commonwealth Starlines Flight 1 to the moon.\nAlthough the timing coincided with Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s birthday, you can\u0026rsquo;t time a trip to the moon. There are only about sixty slots a day and there\u0026rsquo;s a two-year wait.\nWith some patience and luck, however, any Vekllei citizen can visit space, a special privilege of their society.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 295,
  "href": "/stories/jumpsuit/",
  "title": "Jumpsuit","rgb": "228, 103, 115",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/jumpsuit.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/jumpsuit_hudb88eb7494550ebd6d13c412f0b82812_2056580_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Commonwealth Airways gives you a cotton jumpsuit and slippers for the trip so you don\u0026rsquo;t take someone\u0026rsquo;s eye out with your shoe in zero gravity.\nThe flight can take up to 20 hours. Tomorrow we\u0026rsquo;ll look at moon tourism in Vekllei.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 296,
  "href": "/stories/standard-issue-rifle/",
  "title": "Standard Issue Rifle","rgb": "128, 42, 58",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/bullpup.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/bullpup_hue1a910f3a5c6d6190a8b16316d4bb3ae_1496399_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "While Western Europe has wasted two decades trying to make caseless ammunition work, Vekllei has a simple, capable and comfortable standard rifle called the Cateral No. 8. The 8 shoots straight, every time.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s a lightweight, simple rifle with great handling. It strips down to three large pieces, and is encased in smooth polymer so it won\u0026rsquo;t catch on your kit. And it weighs less than the old one.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 297,
  "href": "/stories/company-car/",
  "title": "Company Car","rgb": "208, 91, 66",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/housing.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/housing_huc25d43b2f9d3b108b2fb2aad925418d6_1691613_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The only good thing about working for the Bureau of Housing, as far as Laura is concerned, is that she gets a company car.\nBecause government cars are made to the same standard as police cruisers, they\u0026rsquo;re actually really sporty little things beneath their plain exterior.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 298,
  "href": "/stories/friends-photo/",
  "title": "Friends","rgb": "136, 51, 76",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/friends.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/friends_hu0e8bbb6ff6310af5c62c9a4cfcd7d576_1629263_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-01-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 299,
  "href": "/stories/school-photos-pt-2/",
  "title": "School Photos, Pt. 2","rgb": "196, 64, 80",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/received.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/received_hu81a8e5dde125c95c67ada72fb9e54e37_1228002_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-01-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 300,
  "href": "/stories/school-ohotos/",
  "title": "School Photos","rgb": "196, 64, 80",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/photo.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/photo_hudd75f8413105a1a0f14905274d9d029b_2142317_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-01-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 301,
  "href": "/stories/grunt/",
  "title": "Grunt","rgb": "216, 166, 119",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/grunt.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/grunt_hu5cefda26d5f7c20b993547cec3073432_1435353_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Sketch of summer fatigues of the Territorial Service, wearing iconic coffee colours.\nThey have uniforms for all climates from the tropics to the polar regions, but most of their fighting is in Africa and the Caribbean these days, so the summer kit is most common.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 302,
  "href": "/stories/inspectors/",
  "title": "Inspectors","rgb": "216, 166, 119",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/inspectors.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/inspectors_hu05b725e813fe3b6d0d0e59b10d174699_1516276_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Astrid and Laura are junior inspectors for the Bureau of Housing, which fields concerns from homeowners in municipalised homes.\nIn Vekllei, land \u0026ldquo;owns itself\u0026rdquo; as a seperate entity, and state and private ownership are a contract with that land. As such, land ownership is an overlapping claim by these three agents.\nInspectors like these assist courts by reporting the condition and stewardship of land, since stewardship (i.e. use, improvement and care of land) is often a determining factor of ownership.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 303,
  "href": "/stories/parliament-police/",
  "title": "Police of the Parliament","rgb": "229, 141, 77",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/officer.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/officer_hu0cf2e1fd1bb70674fc36bf81225f472e_1445324_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "An officer of the Police of the Parliament. A well-armed gendarmerie that protect sacred democratic institutions in Vekllei.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 304,
  "href": "/stories/fern/",
  "title": "Tree Fern","rgb": "223, 57, 85",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/fern.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/fern_hufc9d7d04ff8f6617132d16e67993a1fe_2465035_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-01-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 305,
  "href": "/stories/sorbet/",
  "title": "Sorbet","rgb": "197, 129, 128",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/sorbet.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/sorbet_hu907b260df2af9c2bdeba1f00d767314d_1761905_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-01-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 306,
  "href": "/stories/vekllei-student/",
  "title": "A Vekllei Student","rgb": "167, 106, 103",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/student.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/student_hu4b361c50e5c56865a21dac8794fe5752_1193222_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-01-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 307,
  "href": "/stories/cairns/",
  "title": "Cairns","rgb": "103, 116, 44",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/cairns.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/cairns_hu53663bff52448b4809e77d5cd7f0025a_2517514_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Above her neighbourhood in Seispri are the ruins from the Atomic War. Seventy years on, only brick chimneys, silent as cairns, survive the homes and people that once lived there.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 308,
  "href": "/stories/fish-commission/",
  "title": "Fish Commission","rgb": "200, 106, 128",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/fish.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/fish_huf651c5591a8f2cabc2ad4a730dc83f6d_1518352_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-01-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 309,
  "href": "/stories/falklands-students/",
  "title": "Falklands Students","rgb": "58, 120, 164",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/falklands.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/falklands_huda49958dd74ffb70e9aae75de6795e9a_1318217_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Falklands are part of Vekllei, which is a confederation of constituent city-states in the Atlantic.\nMany islands of Vekllei are former subjects of the British Atlantic Territories, a former dominion of the British Empire.\nThis is their flag:\n",
  "date": "2024-01-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 310,
  "href": "/stories/strategic-security/",
  "title": "Strategic Security Service","rgb": "140, 151, 159",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/security.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/security_huc1a7711a28de3c4355220d21eea8b294_2266039_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Strategic Security Service is the Vekllei equivalent of Military Police. They are the primary peacekeeping, policing and base security force of the territorial service.\nThe servicewoman on the left wears summer dress kit, and the gentlemen on the right is in day fatigues. They are recognisable for their white turtlenecks, unique among the other gendarmerie and military services.\nOh, and the servicewoman is carrying a sabre! This isn\u0026rsquo;t just ceremonial; Vekllei police use blunt sabres as a defensive and crowd control weapon. They are very rarely used to inflict pain, but are a powerful deterrent and she is trained in its use.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 311,
  "href": "/stories/military-policeman/",
  "title": "Military Policeman",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/MP.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/MP_hu4a21b5b70c86f695cc111711b9be7ba9_1516820_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The territorial service of Vekllei is a federal army, and comprises servicemen from 71 city-states in the Atlantic. Unlike the U.S. National Guard, these regiments are federalised by default. Even professional, volunteer servicemen in the commandos are federalised troops.\nEven more confusingly, Vekllei has \u0026ldquo;services\u0026rdquo; in place of seperate branches, descended from the navy. So a territorial serviceman can be a subnational militiaman, federal soldier, and commando infantryman simultaneously, since service is simply \u0026ldquo;enhanced\u0026rdquo; rather than superseded.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 312,
  "href": "/stories/grub/",
  "title": "Grub",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/grub.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/grub_hu1831414da4fc30f759f6f2344c494bb7_1787841_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora is a voracious reader. She likes sci-fi and fantasy best, as well as detective and adventure stories. She reads them in library paperbacks on loan or in enthusiast magazines that publish short stories.\nHer favourite book is not science fiction or fantasy \u0026ndash; it\u0026rsquo;s a novella called Caribbean Holiday, about twins going to a boarding school in Lucia (Vekllei). It\u0026rsquo;s a kind of comfort reading, cosy and pleasant.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 313,
  "href": "/stories/library-terminal/",
  "title": "Library Terminal",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/library-terminal.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/library-terminal_hu4b8ca204d6521e137cc81ebd1b1ad749_1609135_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei uses photo-electric circuits in place of semiconductors and transistors. These are very powerful, and holographic memory has a lot of storage, but the computers themselves are room-sized and consequently consolidated. You can read more about them in the computers article.\nVekllei robots combine centralised computing (sent via radio or cables) with organic wetware for things like navigation and balance. Though creepy at first blush, in practice these are \u0026ldquo;chemical steaks\u0026rdquo; with zero cognitive function, simply passing electrical charges.\nNotes on Vekllei Robots\nThe organic wetware of Vekllei robots are situated in an immersion fluid that provides nutrients and prevents decay, and just needs to be swapped out on occasion like an oil change. Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s world also has other biotechnologies like industrial lab meat production, but those are for consumption.\nIn general, this universe has a superior understanding of brain structure and their function, and so has some means to design new ones that use light-seeing primitive eyes to move. There is not, however, much interest or appetite for actually fashioning a cognisant brain that can think. Especially in Vekllei, the line is drawn pretty clearly and bringing life artificially into the world via consciousness would be considered a crime against nature, and wouldn\u0026rsquo;t suit any preexisting industrial or commercial purpose.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 314,
  "href": "/stories/hera/",
  "title": "Hera Passenger Jet",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hera.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hera_hubaa51005e936193d3bc21ae09bc029a2_1689668_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Comen Hera 55 is the world\u0026rsquo;s smallest supersonic passenger aircraft, and the first of its size to include a swing wing. Passengers love its skylights.\nYou can only fly them with Commonwealth Airways, the flag carrier of Vekllei and a vital link between its 71 island republics.\nDesign Notes\nThis jet flies primarily between islands in the Atlantic and the Caribbean, and it really needs low-speed flight manoeuvrability to properly land on runways that aren\u0026rsquo;t as long as those designed for larger, delta-wing international jets. To allow for both supersonic cruising and low-speed take-offs and landings, this design features a swing wing, and it changes angle mid-flight.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 315,
  "href": "/stories/regret-comic/",
  "title": "Regret Comic","rgb": "160, 186, 107",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/ohno.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/ohno_hu372ce395ac48f51c63d57d1932169da6_2328526_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-01-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 316,
  "href": "/characters/catia/",
  "title": "Catia",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-01-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 317,
  "href": "/stories/hijab/",
  "title": "Uniform Hijab",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hijab.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hijab_hua09c39749ed8839d39d7d191f23114c3_1400908_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Revision of the Vekllei school uniform hijab. It now fastens with a school crest pin.\nMostly for use among the Portuguese muslim community across Mira (Madeira) and the Azores. I\u0026rsquo;m not quite happy with this sketch, and I would like to include more Miran elements in future.\nNotes on Headscarves in Vekllei Schools Under the uniform code, only \u0026ldquo;veils\u0026rdquo; are permitted, which encompasses a range of headwear for various groups including Christian and Jewish orthodox communities. No face coverings are allowed.\nRegarding Islamic head coverings, it\u0026rsquo;s not a common issue because Miran muslims do not generally wear a Niqab or similar.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 318,
  "href": "/stories/grocery-robot/",
  "title": "Grocery Robot","rgb": "100, 166, 87",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/robot.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/robot_hub7d2ff0b59b4720015b95d8808020101_1861773_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Robots are used to subsidise rather than multiply productivity in Vekllei.\nThis stock bot was built for United Grocers by National Machines to do the busywork of shelf-stocking. Now the grocer girls just sit outside the shop and chat.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 319,
  "href": "/stories/maria/",
  "title": "Maria",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/maria.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/maria_hu459a9503ad7b66af4a677bb145b07723_2181949_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora has a weird Catholic theology where she\u0026rsquo;s fallen out with God like a roommate and now only communicates with him through saints.\nHer neighbourhood is mostly Jewish, and her friend Cobian is animistic in the Oslola (Icelandic) tradition. Vekllei is a melting pot.\nAyn is part thai and was raised buddhist, Moise is Greek Orthodox, Lin Zhi is a militant atheist (born in the wrong timeline for reddit).\n",
  "date": "2024-01-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 320,
  "href": "/stories/high-speed-rail/",
  "title": "High-Speed Rail",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hs.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hs_huf31dd611ffe884987382c431f40d47d6_3569358_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-01-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 321,
  "href": "/stories/casemate/",
  "title": "The Casemate",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/casemate.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/casemate_hucee44f2c330b6a3c20cd5b3140e60f7e_1225014_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Casemate fighter is the latest atomic fighter in Commonwealth service. It continues the tradition of straightforward fighter aircraft with excellent flight characteristics in the Atlantic.\nThe ongoing evolution of the nuclear fighter is obvious compared to its predecessor here, which has its reactor mounted beneath the fuselage for easy servicing, as is typical of small Vekllei nuclear jets.\nNotes on Safety A century of miniaturisation of fission has improved safety in vehicles but it\u0026rsquo;s still not perfect. The aircraft has gyroscopes to auto-scramble the reactor and the reactor system is well-shielded.\nNonetheless, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s greatest safety measure is that it is a country of islands, and its aircraft are most often flown over water.\n",
  "date": "2024-01-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 322,
  "href": "/stories/2024/",
  "title": "Vekllei 2024","rgb": "145, 97, 90",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/2024.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/2024_hu5704d81fd360a9d3a142d7175e22f120_3171736_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 323,
  "href": "/tags/2023/",
  "title": "2023",
  "section": "Tags",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-12-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 324,
  "href": "/stories/frog-girl/",
  "title": "Just Tzipora",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/frog-girl.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/frog-girl_hudeb2d0ce77d56cce27734ee4e0c1f140_1282258_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-12-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 325,
  "href": "/stories/christmas-lamb/",
  "title": "Christmas Lamb",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/lamb.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/lamb_hu92a5112a5a331965eee74aeb71adea93_2628224_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-12-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 326,
  "href": "/stories/starched/",
  "title": "Starched",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/starched.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/starched_hud71182a54f081c0e7aa16fa1e46207c3_1013031_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-12-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 327,
  "href": "/stories/novel/",
  "title": "Novel",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/lingua.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/lingua_hu7f7175c5f310c6e8493fbe5d7dd524b9_2700277_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-12-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 328,
  "href": "/stories/nabbed/",
  "title": "Nabbed",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/nabbed.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/nabbed_hubb05c907e6b743280c897702885faacb_1383905_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Constables in Vekllei are servants of their community, and know everyone by name. Misdemeanours are usually punished by something much worse than the courts: the shame and embarrassment.\nVekllei is a federal country that spans the Atlantic, so self reliance and localism are essential aspects of their way of life.\nTheir police reflects this; local cops have broad informal powers unthinkable overseas, but are kept in check by community and social codependence.\nThe Vekllei policing system is informal locally, and so municipal constables have autonomy to fulfil their charter to their community. In this case, Tzipora wasn\u0026rsquo;t breaking a law, but she should be in class so the constable is within her rights to drag her back to it.\nThe village raises the child, and municipal cops are very much a part of the community, similar to how neighbourhood general practitioners form the bedrock of Vekllei healthcare. They serve important and diverse roles in the community. Most Vekllei neighbourhoods have very low crime, so a lot of what they do is community organising and mediation.\nAs such, a constable\u0026rsquo;s word on a matter is often a social contract you\u0026rsquo;re expected to obey before it gets litigated formally in court, i.e. disputes between neighbours.\n",
  "date": "2023-12-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 329,
  "href": "/stories/helijets/",
  "title": "Helijets","rgb": "115, 127, 137",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/helijets.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/helijets_hu72c8f05a1150b88041f3e97e8eeb172b_2293258_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Commonwealth uses helijets for all kinds of roles. These are military jets, designed for war.\nMost helijets are nuclear powered and are very heavy, but have much greater lift capacities than traditional helicopters, and move faster. You can read more about these ones below.\nCounterclockwise from top left:\nThe No. 5 \u0026ldquo;Hera\u0026rdquo; is a versatile jet with five light engines suitable for moving people and cargo at high speed to places planes can’t land. It routes its central engine around the main cabin, and is very common in the skies around Vekllei. It is popular in civil aviation too.\nThe No. 6 “Gaia” is a heavy-lift jet, built specifically to carry a No. 4 main battle tank. This is a tremendous logistic advantage and lends Vekllei’s military an expeditionary, fast-moving character.\nThe No. 12 “Nike” is another versatile jet, but serves specific purposes. Some are outfitted as flying hospitals; others as airborne command centres. This one carries sonar torpedoes, stationed on the frigate “Montevideo”. It has a huge lifting capacity for underslung cargo.\nThe No. 14 “Hecate” looks like a stubby fighter, but is a helijet in design and function. It carries material for close air-support to rain down fire on ground targets. It can’t take on real fighter jets — its unusual design is to aid in speed for getting the hell out of there.\n",
  "date": "2023-12-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 330,
  "href": "/stories/commission-by-lecanard/",
  "title": "Commission",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/commission-by-lecanard.png",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/commission-by-lecanard_hu988748287b06e72a68703466ca5458a7_1062818_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box_3.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Just snagged a commission of Tzipora and Cobian from 🔗@iniemohk on Twitter!\nVery happy with the outcome, please give him your business if you want a nice picture of your characters.\n",
  "date": "2023-12-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 331,
  "href": "/stories/sausage-roll/",
  "title": "Sausage Roll",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/sausage-roll.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/sausage-roll_hu1d2a3bdc8b5f2deef4ad52f006190b85_2318078_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In December, Oslola only gets a few hours of sunlight per day. The opposite is true in June, when they enjoy 20-hour days.\n",
  "date": "2023-12-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 332,
  "href": "/stories/pdw/",
  "title": "Personal Defence","rgb": "216, 48, 66",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/pdw.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/pdw_hu4fb4b393d59e7b74645b12e713d3534b_1091616_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "A HO/NI analyst poses with one of the interior defence weapons hidden in their headquarters.\nHO/NI stands for \u0026ldquo;Home Office/National Intelligence,\u0026rdquo; and is the internal intelligence apparatus of Vekllei. It is one of six bureaus: HO/NI, AB/NI, RB/NI EB/NI, OB/NI, and SA/NI.\nAlthough her weapon is obviously inspired by the uzi, it\u0026rsquo;s actually a domestic Vekllei model descended from what the original uzi license. In this setting, both Vekllei and Israel (along with many others) are part of the non-aligned movement, and so a lot of trade flows between its members. ",
  "date": "2023-12-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 333,
  "href": "/stories/lounge/",
  "title": "Ready to Dance","rgb": "219, 50, 71",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/lounge.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/lounge_hub650771e2e2c08518e87f70906e91943_2087179_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Dressed for an evening at the Atlantic Lounge. Vekllei people love to dance.\n",
  "date": "2023-12-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 334,
  "href": "/stories/frigate/",
  "title": "The Montevideo","rgb": "162, 95, 90",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/montevideo.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/montevideo_hu0eac2b22524df8fd571f30641fd7f40d_2130481_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Commonwealth atomic frigates are warships designed to operate independently between its islands and archipelagos. To this end, they\u0026rsquo;re equipped for confrontation with pirates, smugglers, and stray fishing vessels encroaching on Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s precious fishing zones.\nThe Aurora-class has a huge internal magazine stocked with missiles that can kill submarines and satellites, all coordinated by its central fire computer. Frigates are also designed to be replenished at sea via helijet, with rail-mounted missile racks.\nVekllei consists only of island republics, and so its navy is its primary means of defence — especially since the country spans the length of the Atlantic and Caribbean. Frigates are the everyday workhorse of its fleet.\n",
  "date": "2023-11-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 335,
  "href": "/stories/waiting-in-the-hall/",
  "title": "Waiting in the Hall",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/waiting.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/waiting_hu5e26cf750acc34a9e1513f52fbcae1db_1566323_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "She\u0026rsquo;s wearing an Oslolan (Icelandic) pleat with good-luck runes stitched into it.\n",
  "date": "2023-11-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 336,
  "href": "/stories/1000-on-x/",
  "title": "1,000 on X","rgb": "207, 163, 151",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/1000.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/1000_huacdbc455cabbc8fe0c75af2bc82c99df_1907949_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-11-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 337,
  "href": "/stories/commando/",
  "title": "Naval Commando",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/commando.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/commando_hu12a20748537b41253d880592c3741493_1260624_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "A Vekllei naval commando, an elite coastguard unit used for boarding ships.\nThey\u0026rsquo;re known for their white helmets and hair-raising stunts, often leaping from coastguard vessels to the slippery decks of intercepted boats during fierce Atlantic storms.\nTheir white helmets are for visibility in case they go overboard; camouflage is unnecessary since almost all their fighting happens within tight ship corridors and across decks.\nThe coastguard is a military branch, but reports to the Commonwealth parliament, and so is distinguished as the \u0026ldquo;Navy of the Parliament.\u0026rdquo;\nFun Fact\nBecause the Commonwealth consists only of islands, their entire ground forces are technically marine infantry and are trained as such.\nThey don\u0026rsquo;t even have distinct branches as typical of most militaries today; their navy encompasses all branches of combat.\n",
  "date": "2023-11-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 338,
  "href": "/stories/homeroom/",
  "title": "Homeroom",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/homeroom.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/homeroom_hu61a2edc5579c7026039e802189aada7f_1717035_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s homeroom teacher uses her as an excuse to talk to the cute chemistry teacher.\nTzipora\u0026rsquo;s teacher is Mr Kowalczyk. Despite her expression above, they get along well. His appearance is based off drummer Steve Gadd.\nHer chemistry teacher is Ms Zora Ninčić, charming eligible bachelorette and longtime crush of Kowalczyk. Her appearance is based off the teller who sold me a bus ticket in Dubrovnik.\n",
  "date": "2023-11-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 339,
  "href": "/characters/nincic/",
  "title": "Nincic",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-11-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 340,
  "href": "/stories/office/",
  "title": "Officebound",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/office.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/office_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3248183_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "If you work in a Vekllei office, there are two types of attire. You have a suit for meetings and clients, and professional daily-wear for office and clerical work.\nThis dress code is typical for private offices, since government clerks are often given a uniform.\nFor men, a \u0026ldquo;suit\u0026rdquo; means a garment cut from the same cloth and a necktie. It doesn\u0026rsquo;t have to be black, but it should be neutral. For everyday office work though, a sports coat, slacks and leather shoes is fine. Depending on the office you can push this further, with newer styles.\nFor women, things are bit more unusual. Since the \u0026ldquo;Dunlop Revolution\u0026rdquo; (named for the sneaker company popular in postwar Vekllei), it is acceptable in some businesses for female clerks to wear clean tennis shoes in the office as an alternative to heels or flats. Proper professional attire must be retained for meetings, however.\n",
  "date": "2023-11-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 341,
  "href": "/stories/south-east-asia/",
  "title": "Warm Singapore Evening",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/frog.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/frog_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3332825_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Baron and his froggy daughter on their trip through South-East Asia.\n",
  "date": "2023-11-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 342,
  "href": "/stories/oslolan-uniform/",
  "title": "Oslolan Uniform",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/oslolan-uniform.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/oslolan-uniform_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2845500_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "If you\u0026rsquo;ve ever wondered why Commonwealth school uniforms are so schizophrenic, this is why.\nAlmost all of them, from the Falklands to the Bahamas to Iceland, wear the same basic things, but cultural items are allowed and there are no restrictions on hair.\n",
  "date": "2023-11-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 343,
  "href": "/stories/fighter-tundra/",
  "title": "Fighters","rgb": "167, 177, 190",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/tundra.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/tundra_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3239695_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-11-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 344,
  "href": "/stories/barracks-dress/",
  "title": "Barracks Dress","rgb": "124, 97, 69",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/zaire.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/zaire_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2689817_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The 1st Volunteers Regiment became among the most decorated in Vekllei history for their bravery and sacrifice in Zaire.\nAfter 140 days of brutal combat marked by mud, hand-to-hand fighting, infiltrators, scavenging, mortar-fire, terror, and unparalleled bravery, they were home.\nCoretti, a rifleman of the 1st, is wearing Barracks Dress, which is between day fatigues and formal dress in formality.\nShe wears a gi (a ceremonial Oslolan pleat), her sabre (all infantry are trained swordsmen), service revolver, and her awards, including her Medal of Valour.\n",
  "date": "2023-10-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 345,
  "href": "/stories/congo-regiment/",
  "title": "The Congo Regiment","rgb": "105, 120, 85",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/infantry.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/infantry_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2756199_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Coretti Adoula is one of only three female infantry volunteers in the Zaire Emergency Regiment.\nThe volunteers are a Vekllei initiative to support the Red Cross in north-east Congo and prevent ethnic cleansing. Coretti was born in Leopoldville but grew up in the USSR and Vekllei.\n",
  "date": "2023-10-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 346,
  "href": "/stories/new-brushes/",
  "title": "New Brushes","rgb": "247, 167, 144",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/new-brushes.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/new-brushes_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_1941597_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s mother was Gitana (Spanish Roma) and her father was Ashkenazic. Cobian (wearing glasses) is \u0026ldquo;Algic,\u0026rdquo; their word for indigenous Arctic peoples.\nThey don\u0026rsquo;t always get along but they like each other a lot.\nThese kind of complex histories are very common in the Commonwealth, which is nation of immigrants and idealists. Vekllei was a very exciting place to be, full of memories and bitterness and optimism for an even-handed future.\n",
  "date": "2023-10-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 347,
  "href": "/stories/exchange-student/",
  "title": "The Exchange Student","rgb": "46, 59, 109",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/thai.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/thai_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2740557_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-10-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 348,
  "href": "/stories/purse/",
  "title": "Tzipora's Purse","rgb": "187, 143, 142",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/purse.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/purse_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2981455_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This illustration is a spiritual successor to this story from 2020.\nMany institutions in Vekllei give branded accessories to students and employees. Although it is rare that clothing itself is branded, items like bags, pins, jewellery, ties and coats are commonly designed and gifted by corporations and government as a means of fostering community.\nPerhaps most visible in Vekllei society is the \u0026ldquo;company purse,\u0026rdquo; a quirk of this culture in which almost all employment with a major company awards a branded purse, designed in the colours or imagery of the employer. Vekllei government also gifts \u0026ldquo;company purses,\u0026rdquo; as do government schools by extension.\nIt is not unusual for secondary school students to carry purses or briefcases, since students in Vekllei are not generally assigned homework and so leave their books at school.\nTzipora\u0026rsquo;s purse depicted here incorporates elements of the circular Parliament of Education logo, and its colours. It was designed by Vekllei fashion house Spaa S.p.A, and Tzipora uses it to store all her best stuff.\nCola: Tzipora drinks a bottle of Ola Cola a day, usually in the grape flavour. Fruit Tingles: A popular sweet pastille, easily shared and useful for bribing favour. Book of the Week: Tzipora reads 2-3 paperbacks a week, mostly science fiction or fantasy but also some miscellaneous titles that catch her eye. Civic Passport: The Vekllei Civic Passport functions as both an international and internal passport, and contains essential documents and information. It has plastic cards which can be clipped in for things like student IDs. Safety Matches: For cigarettes and mischief. Loose Cigarettes: You aren\u0026rsquo;t allowed to smoke in government schools, but Tzipora keeps a few cigarettes floating around in her purse for emergencies. Pen \u0026amp; Pencil: The purse has special holders for writing utensils, the most important tool of students. Comb: Tzipora has a thick tangle of curly hair, and needs a comb to tame particularly bad curls. Cool Rocks: What are you supposed to do? Leave the cool rock on the ground? How would you show it to others? Lip Balm: For emergencies. ",
  "date": "2023-10-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 349,
  "href": "/stories/raincoats/",
  "title": "Raincoats","rgb": "140, 140, 151",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/mackintosh.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/mackintosh_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2757262_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Commonwealth islands get a lot of rain, and raincoats are issued by the Ministry of Education. They vary slightly by region, but in Oslola they look like this.\nGirls get plastic hoods that snap onto their wool capes, which also have a rayon overslip for weatherproofing.\nBoys generally get a hoodless mackintosh-style raincoat and an umbrella. The girls need to keep their hair dry, the reasoning goes \u0026ndash; such is the wisdom of the education ministry.\n",
  "date": "2023-10-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 350,
  "href": "/stories/futility/",
  "title": "Futility","rgb": "81, 115, 151",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/futility.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/futility_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2851715_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-10-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 351,
  "href": "/stories/115/",
  "title": "Southbound Express","rgb": "180, 85, 52",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/115.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/115_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3125072_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-10-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 352,
  "href": "/stories/weird-energy/",
  "title": "Weird Energy","rgb": "194, 57, 70",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/slump.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/slump_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2799248_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Sketch. The Commonwealth school uniform can be reduced to just a few items bought off the rack at a department store, but it can also be very resplendent, with capes and gold stitching.\n",
  "date": "2023-10-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 353,
  "href": "/stories/a-civil-servant/",
  "title": "A Civil Servant","rgb": "210, 156, 83",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/civil-servant.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/civil-servant_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2841614_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei business attire is pretty casual by the standards of its setting. Heels for women are rarely more than an inch, and they wear cotton and wool instead of nylon and rayon. Men sometimes wear sport coats to the office.\nSome women in clerical positions can even get away with clean tennis shoes, which is unheard of in Western business culture in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s world. Suits are still mandatory for meetings and in certain departments, especially in the Foreign Ministry.\nShe wears the Commonwealth pin on her blouse to show she works for the government. At its centre is a precious stone indicating length of service: ruby for 5 years, sapphire for 10, emerald for 20 and diamond for 25+ years.\n",
  "date": "2023-10-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 354,
  "href": "/stories/a-social-economy/",
  "title": "A Social Economy","rgb": "157, 157, 157",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/prairie.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/prairie_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3183823_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This illustration accompanies an essay, called A Social Economy. It was written as an introduction to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s essential premise \u0026ndash; its moneyless economy. It is about as brief as I can make it, but it is also a work in progress that can hopefully be updated in future, as I refine not just the ideas involved but how I communicate them.\nMoneylessness is maybe the most fantastical aspect of Vekllei, and so it is particularly interesting to me. I\u0026rsquo;m well aware it\u0026rsquo;s a bit crazy, but taking it seriously and engaging with it is the joy of this project. My drawings help depict what a society based on these ideas might look like. All these things contribute to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s immersive and unique qualities.\n❀ Read here: A Social Economy ",
  "date": "2023-10-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 355,
  "href": "/stories/tolerance/",
  "title": "Tolerance Comic","rgb": "187, 202, 112",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/tolerance.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/tolerance_hue64e7969f0ac0db4878bd796b49b23e3_2459803_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-10-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 356,
  "href": "/stories/seinfeld/",
  "title": "Seinfeld","rgb": "255, 192, 22",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/seinfeld.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/seinfeld_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2855496_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-10-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 357,
  "href": "/stories/grocer-girls/",
  "title": "Grocer Girls","rgb": "98, 186, 85",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/united-grocers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/united-grocers_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3076330_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "As they approached adulthood, compulsory service loomed large in their futures like a great wall. The thing about compulsory service (or \u0026lsquo;corsosva,\u0026rsquo; as it was called) was that it could be dice toss, which was a hell of a thing for something that took four years of your life. You applied for jobs you might like to do, but if they were full or you didn\u0026rsquo;t make the cut, you could find yourself on the other side of the country doing clerical work or working construction in the Arctic.\nNo, thank you. There was a scheme that allowed teenagers too young to start corsosva to accumulate credit towards it, which would deduct from the total length of service. You still had to work, but at least you had security in choosing where you were.\nFor Isuri and Catia, they picked up casual work after school at their local United Grocers. Vekllei might be a society of miracles, but their groceries look the same as anywhere, and the work was easy and boring. Their neighbourhood was small and they knew everyone who came through.\nTheir jobs were unadventurous, but the store was owned by a neighbour of Isuri and they goofed off a lot or sat outside in the sun when it was quiet. The stock robot did most of the work, so they were really just around to keep an eye on things, and often read magazines or played chess to pass the time.\n",
  "date": "2023-10-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 358,
  "href": "/stories/tzipora-and-cobian/",
  "title": "Tzipora \u0026 Cobian","rgb": "189, 58, 93",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/soft.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/soft_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2812199_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-09-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 359,
  "href": "/stories/drip/",
  "title": "Drip","rgb": "255, 164, 46",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/drip.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/drip_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2618534_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-09-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 360,
  "href": "/stories/national-dress/",
  "title": "The Veletian Chiton","rgb": "199, 63, 106",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/chiton.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/chiton_hue64e7969f0ac0db4878bd796b49b23e3_2358973_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "As a union of Atlantic communities, Vekllei has no single culture and consequently no single national dress. It does, however, have a national personification: Veletia, a historic illustration of pan-Atlanticism who today makes up one of \u0026ldquo;six sisters\u0026rdquo; which represent the Commonwealth in total. The \u0026ldquo;sisters\u0026rdquo; are not in fact six seperate characters but are different forms of the same figure; homoousion manifestations of a single national spirit.\nBecause of this, Veletia is closely associated with Vekllei society and the civic commons, and unity and transcultural commonhoods are strongly emphasised by the Commonwealth. As such, Veletia\u0026rsquo;s common appearance inspires a de facto national dress, which varies between constituents but has the same basic elements.\nThe example above demonstrates Oslola culture, hence the Gi and Petty Cape. In Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Caribbean and mid-Atlantic republics, the outfit is modified for climate, shortening the stockings, using lighter materials and dispensing with the cape. The main dress most closely resembles a chiton, a kind of historic garment common in Doric and Ionian Greek history. You\u0026rsquo;ll see Greek-inspired names, styles and features throughout Vekllei, which might imply a grandiose national self-identity, but is more likely a means of avoiding emphasis of any one culture within the diverse country.\nLike most Vekllei forms of dress, it is heavily accessorised and flexible to cultural tastes. Dress in Vekllei is concerned with commonhoods rather than differences, and so it is very common to change aspects or add items to reflect different cultures, most commonly regional patterns, colours and jewellery. The Veletian dress is most often seen where Vekllei republics meet, as an extension of the Commonwealth identity \u0026ndash; particularly holidays, celebrations and meetings. It is worn as a kind of formal dress for certain school and business occasions.\nIt is also, of course, a symbol of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s unique inwardness, living politics and level of social control. Like Commonwealth culture, Veletian national dress is at its roots artificial, informed by historic political rather than cultural traditions. But as with other aspects of the Commonwealth idea, once it is lived, worn, spoken and repeated by ordinary people, it becomes real and takes on a life of its own. It is an identity by consent, and part of the shared Vekllei project \u0026ndash; a democracy not just in politics but in culture, traditions and aspirations.\n",
  "date": "2023-09-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 361,
  "href": "/stories/trick-of-disaster/",
  "title": "The Trick of Disaster","rgb": "205, 47, 78",
      "image": "/video/trick.mp4",
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " In a while, will the smile on my face turn to plaster?\nStick around while the clown who is sick does the trick of disaster\nFor the race of my head and my face is moving much faster\nIs it strange I should change? I don\u0026rsquo;t know, why don\u0026rsquo;t you ask her?\nThe Special Activities Directorate is a branch of the Home Office at National Intelligence (HO/NI). It consists of men who have seen combat but are not otherwise career soldiers \u0026ndash; men who suit many environments well and are ideologically motivated.\nThe Directorate is dormant for most of the year. Its members have roles in other Noshem offices or work \u0026ldquo;on the outside.\u0026rdquo; But when the time comes \u0026ndash; and it always does \u0026ndash; they\u0026rsquo;ll be called in for jobs on the other side of the world. They are not just spooks, after all \u0026ndash; they serve a higher purpose, as the sword of Commonwealth ideology. In this context, they have no formal allegiances or masters, just essential values which they serve in espionage and violence.\nFull image of an agent of the Special Activities Directorate during Operation Sea of Reeds. ",
  "date": "2023-09-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 362,
  "href": "/stories/ham-comic/",
  "title": "Ham Comic","rgb": "209, 164, 162",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/comics/ham.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/comics/ham_hue64e7969f0ac0db4878bd796b49b23e3_2709100_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-09-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 363,
  "href": "/stories/atlantic-airship/",
  "title": "Airships for Tomorrow","rgb": "112, 171, 218",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/airship.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/airship_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3242527_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Airships have seen some resurgence in the mid-21st Century as an alternate means of air travel, occupying a travel niche somewhere between the ocean-liner and a passenger jet. Although relatively uncommon compared to fixed-wing aircraft, airships do fly busy routes in certain parts of the world where their capacity and leisurely speeds are preferred.\nIn Vekllei, all passenger airships are operated by Commonwealth Airways. Airships can dock without a runway, making them ideal for Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s many archipelagos and Caribbean island belts, where they are most commonly seen. There are daily airship routes between Kalina\u0026rsquo;s republics, the Bahamas, and between the Verde, Mira and Azores Commonwealths. Other routes link Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s remote islands weekly, or commute passengers between Oslola and Kala. International routes are also common, especially to the US and UK. Since airships can only fly in certain weather, their routes are often seasonal.\nThe smallest Vekllei airship, CNV Astrid has a capacity of just twenty-six. The largest, pictured here, is the CNV Comet with capacity for nearly 500 people. With helidocks, internal elevators and a sky-lounge with panoramic windows, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s larger airships are a far cry from the gondola-balloons of yesteryear. In total, there are 16 airships in service with Commonwealth Airways. They are machines of enormous prestige, and they carry the Commonwealth flag wherever they go.\nThe largest airship in Vekllei service, however, belongs to the Vekllei Air Force. Originally a command centre that could spend the summer months over the Arctic circle, it is undergoing conversion to become a flying aircraft carrier.\n",
  "date": "2023-09-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 364,
  "href": "/stories/police-livery/",
  "title": "Police Livery","rgb": "200, 64, 65",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/livery.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/livery_hue64e7969f0ac0db4878bd796b49b23e3_1633317_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Vekllei is of course a federalised Commonwealth, and so it has different kinds of policing for different kinds of laws. The array of cars on the left have jurisdiction related to the Commonwealth (smuggling, financial crime, mint security, intelligence liaisons, protection, etc.) and the cars on the right are administered by its republics (local law enforcement and regional policing).\n",
  "date": "2023-09-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 365,
  "href": "/stories/heatwave/",
  "title": "Heatwave","rgb": "117, 167, 215",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/heatwave.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/heatwave_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3479761_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Oslola is part of Vekllei, and is known as Iceland in our own world. In this setting, the North Atlantic is a bit more temperate thanks to the Oslolan Low Pole and strong ocean currents. Still, they\u0026rsquo;re acclimatised to cool air, and 25°C (77°F) is hot weather for them.\n",
  "date": "2023-09-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 366,
  "href": "/stories/commonwealth-police/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Police","rgb": "227, 145, 34",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/commonwealth-police.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/commonwealth-police_hue64e7969f0ac0db4878bd796b49b23e3_2016745_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Vekllei has many different kinds of police across its islands, but these two are the most well-known. The Commonwealth cops (called Police of the Parliament) are famous for their sabre, which they are trained to use as a deterrent.\nLeft: Police of the Public, which are municipal police. They spend a lot of time walking around their neighbourhoods and sometimes carry a pistol, usually a revolver.\nRight: Police of the Parliament, which are the paramilitary Commonwealth police. They represent federal interests. They are almost always armed, often with compact machine guns.\nThere are actually many other kinds of police in Vekllei, including the Federal Police and different types of special policing, but the most common are the Public and Parliament.\n",
  "date": "2023-09-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 367,
  "href": "/stories/slip/",
  "title": "Slip","rgb": "100, 90, 131",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/slip.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/slip_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2745110_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-09-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 368,
  "href": "/stories/isuri/",
  "title": "Mira Uniform","rgb": "195, 56, 71",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/isuri.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/isuri_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2898837_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This drawing depicts girls wearing school uniforms on the Vekllei republic of Mira (real-life Madeira), a former Portuguese territory that now has a large population of immigrants from Ceylon.\nIsuri (right) was born on Mira to Sinhalese parents and Catia (left) is also Miranese. Catia is part of a community of Portuguese muslims who originally settled on the island in the 1960s after persecution in Lisbon. Since 2030, all Miranese people are now citizens of the united island republics called Vekllei.\nThe uniform is in the Commonwealth tradition, consisting of simple universal elements accentuated by cultural accessories. In this case, features of Miranese traditional dress like red striped wool skirts and throws or capes are included. A hat is also part of uniform, called the Miranese Carapuça.\n",
  "date": "2023-09-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 369,
  "href": "/stories/sabae/",
  "title": "Sabae-chan","rgb": "53, 88, 127",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/sabae-1.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/sabae-1_hue64e7969f0ac0db4878bd796b49b23e3_2040621_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This character belongs to a Japanese artist and train enthusiast I follow on Twitter. Something about her appearance and oversized glasses were really funny to me, so I decided to draw her. This must have been out of left field for him, since I\u0026rsquo;d never interacted with him before, but he really liked it!\nHer name is Sabae-chan, and was created by 🔗@unagiPost. \u0026ldquo;Sabae\u0026rdquo; is a city in Japan famous for manufacturing, well, glasses.\n🔗@unagiPost liked my drawing:\nSo I said she was planning to go on vacation:\nHis followers reacted with amusement that someone from Australia was drawing his characters:\n\u0026ldquo;Now you\u0026rsquo;re an international cultured person!\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;This character is more popular with overseas followers than in Japan, so I would like to consider adding English without joking.\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;I have to study English! \u0026lsquo;Lady Sabae.\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo;\nIt\u0026rsquo;s funny how the internet connects train enthusiasts.\n",
  "date": "2023-09-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 370,
  "href": "/stories/work-drinks/",
  "title": "Drinks","rgb": "231, 90, 124",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/drinks.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/drinks_hue64e7969f0ac0db4878bd796b49b23e3_1956619_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "A bit of a time-skip from the usual chronology. Here, they\u0026rsquo;re all 22 years old.\nLin Zhi is a junior photovolume engineer, and recovers holographic crystal memory used in Vekllei photo-electric computers.\nTzipora is a librarian at Seispri Municipal Library and is waiting for someone to compliment her new cardigan.\nCobian is a ward nurse at Seispri Hospital in the nuclear medicine wing.\nThey\u0026rsquo;re going to the pub. Coretti is in a war in the Congo. Moise is in Indonesia working for a company whose name nobody can remember.\n",
  "date": "2023-08-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 371,
  "href": "/stories/scrap/",
  "title": "Scrap","rgb": "251, 163, 127",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/scrap.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/scrap_hue64e7969f0ac0db4878bd796b49b23e3_1757413_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-08-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 372,
  "href": "/stories/integration/",
  "title": "Picture of Integration","rgb": "61, 78, 107",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/zhi.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/zhi_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3229333_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora was a picture of integration, because she wanted badly for people to respect her. She also felt she owed something to the country which had lifted her up and given her a quality of life. She had no prospects before coming to Oslola, so she practiced gratitude in everything she did \u0026ndash; sometimes out loud.\nLin Zhi was not a picture of integration; Lin Zhi was a black box. She barely spoke English \u0026ndash; the common language of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s immigrant society and international schools. A lot of the English she did speak came in short, sharp barks. Her severe disposition was well known at Moshel St School. They were paired together in gardening class, and Tzipora learned soon enough that Lin Zhi was not so much rude as she was quiet and isolated, and did not trust or like her peers.\nTzipora was terrible at making friends, but not because she was out of tune with people\u0026rsquo;s feelings. She knew Zhi was a private person instinctively, and so she did not ask her questions or force conversation except to plant crops and water ferns. Zhi in turn became used to her and they developed silent routines in class.\nWhen Tzipora broke her arm a few months later, Zhi asked how she broke it, without looking up from the soil.\n\u0026ldquo;I was playing tennis and fell on it.\u0026rdquo;\nAnd Lin Zhi laughed once.\n",
  "date": "2023-07-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 373,
  "href": "/stories/seispri/",
  "title": "Streets of Seispri","rgb": "71, 130, 198",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/seispri.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/seispri_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3366474_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Seispri is one of the older neighbourhoods in Lola. It is situated on the hills above the historic capital of Reykjavic, and retains its medieval character and chaotic, vernacular architecture. It feels lived-in and worn from a thousand years of commerce.\nIt used to be an upmarket neighbourhood, prior to the Atomic War in 1995. Today it is tired and cramped, after its slipshod reconstruction in the early postwar years. Seispri has a large community of immigrant Jews from Southern Europe, and has large populations of Greeks and Albanians too. They give this old place new life and character.\nTo Tzipora, Seispri was her home. Vekllei did not spend much time thinking about the past these days. This moment lived for the future.\n",
  "date": "2023-07-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 374,
  "href": "/stories/good-morning/",
  "title": "Good Morning","rgb": "104, 57, 125",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/gm.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/gm_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2639900_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-07-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 375,
  "href": "/stories/station-girls/",
  "title": "Station Girls","rgb": "99, 152, 36",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/station.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/station_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3891391_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Tzipora the Platform Attendant # Tzipora was a train enthusiast \u0026ndash; of course she was, you somehow knew that looking at her. She was a member of the Vekllei Rail Association, and worked a couple days a month as a platform attendant. It was part hobby and part job. She had training in first aid and disability services, and so she helped Commonwealth National Rail \u0026ndash; she rode the trains around giving timetable advice and assisting disabled passengers board and alight trains.\nShe had been shilling the Rail Association to her friends, but none of them shared her enthusiasm for train travel. The exception was Coretti, who joined because she was dating Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s friend, Moise, and was trying to know her better. They were employed by CNR in an unusual legal framework as \u0026ldquo;associate employees,\u0026rdquo; or volunteers. These jobs are common in Vekllei, where work is play and volunteerism is beat into them.\nUniform Notes # Commonwealth National Rail employs nearly 40,000 people and has many uniforms. Both Tzipora and Coretti wear white gloves, which is a recent addition. You are supposed to wear them if you are going to touch people, since there are now many immigrants in Vekllei and not all of them are as comfortable as Oslolans being touched or pushed by service staff.\nBoth Coretti and Tzipora are wearing their ordinary shoes and school skirts. The practical colours of their school uniform allow a single navy skirt, white shirt or pair of leather shoes to be useful in many different roles in society, reducing waste.\nCivic Associations in Vekllei # Three types of civic association exist in Vekllei.\nLabour Syndicates: organised labour in enterprises that are not democratised. Most commonly, these apply to small and medium-sized businesses. Policy Advocates: special-interest policy groups that are expressly political. Councils: organised associations of people with something in common. What all have them in common is that they are organised; they have a leadership structure, and keep records. Similar organisations exist in many other countries, but Commonwealth councils are unique in their ubiquity and power in society. Their interests range from Polish cultural groups to academic associations and, indeed, railroad employees and enthusiasts.\nIt is important to remember that work is primarily social in Vekllei and consequently it does not occupy the same role in people\u0026rsquo;s lives. Few Vekllei jobs simply \u0026ldquo;clock in, clock out.\u0026rdquo; Instead, there is a vast sea of semi-professionalised labour that exists somewhere between employment and hobbyism. It is in this context that councils proliferate, and force a reconsideration of how we think about work.\nLarge companies have large associate councils. These are not integrated directly \u0026ndash; they exist voluntarily, as congregations of enthusiasts. Commonwealth Airways has several associate councils with which it engages and does business, including the Student Pilots Association No. 1184, Commonwealth Air Enthusiasts No. 622, Atlantic Model Aeroplane Association No. 646, Air Doctors Social Club No. 801, Women in Flight No. 340, and many others.\nCouncils are a means to engage with customers, provide employees with social and recreational opportunities, and solicit ideas and labour from enthusiasts. Consequently, there are millions of Vekllei people who have semi-professional gigs on the side. These councils, in turn, provide avenues for employment and a means to socialise with like-minded people. They also contribute representatives to the civic ecclesia1 of a local area, and thus advise local government. They are often fickle, schismatic, and poorly organised \u0026ndash; but they\u0026rsquo;re social organisations, and are afforded those shortcomings.\nOther types of council might represent Islamic interests in a city, or Lithuanian culture. Others organise amateur bakers. Their diversity allows for a kind of organising not represented by labour unions or political associations, and validate a variety of interests in the function of democratic government.\nA civic ecclesia is an advisory body of citizens in a local administration. It consists of notable citizens in good standing, cultural groups and representatives from Councils.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "2023-07-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 376,
  "href": "/stories/jump-comic/",
  "title": "Jump Comic","rgb": "184, 89, 182",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/comics/jump/1.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/comics/jump/1_hu1f790bad9ed080513a815dd0c0cf1760_2577920_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ",
  "date": "2023-07-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 377,
  "href": "/stories/miss-colombia/",
  "title": "Miss Colombia","rgb": "197, 63, 93",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/dress.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/dress_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3222629_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora was a foreigner. It was hard to pick out a distinct cultural background amidst her school uniform and wardrobe of modest, secular dailywear, which is typical of Vekllei. But she was a foreigner, and on a few days a year, when she wore her only party dress, you remembered that fact.\nIt is easy to lose track of who comes from where in Vekllei. About half of people were born overseas, and the other half have history in one of a dozen scattered republics that make up the country. It is a deeply multicultural society, a fact which is treasured and protected by the Commonwealth government.\nAt school, they wore the same uniforms every day, which made seeing your classmates at the end-of-term formal a shock. People you thought had lived here all their lives showed up in gowns of styles you\u0026rsquo;d never seen. And here was Tzipora, previously known as an Italian, a Gypsy, an Indian or whatever else they guessed of her, now revealed to be Colombian \u0026ndash; as she always had been.\n",
  "date": "2023-07-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 378,
  "href": "/stories/cola/",
  "title": "Cola Comic","rgb": "62, 88, 112",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/comics/cola/1.png",
        "webp": "/images/comics/cola/1_hu40d33ec311460d9a44d4d171e66fad67_4023981_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box_3.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ",
  "date": "2023-07-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 379,
  "href": "/stories/nico/",
  "title": "Portrait for Nico","rgb": "148, 170, 170",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/nico.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/nico_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3061521_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-07-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 380,
  "href": "/stories/portrait/",
  "title": "Portrait","rgb": "84, 98, 92",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/portrait.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/portrait_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2963681_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-06-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 381,
  "href": "/stories/dune/",
  "title": "The Dunes","rgb": "98, 120, 141",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/dune.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/dune_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3049715_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Oslola has a number of highland dunes made of fine black sand, formed by its active volcanoes and shaped by glacial runoff.\nA popular game when visiting is to race someone to the bottom. Because these dunes are very steep and very tall (up to 40 meters) it\u0026rsquo;s easy to end up flying down face-first.\nThe dunes also have a very important role in Oslolan mythology, as the birthplace of subterranean mole creatures called Somoron.\n",
  "date": "2023-06-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 382,
  "href": "/stories/weirdo/",
  "title": "Weirdo","rgb": "107, 120, 128",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/weirdo.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/weirdo_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2836768_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-06-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 383,
  "href": "/stories/friends-draft/",
  "title": "Friends","rgb": "227, 57, 67",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/draft.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/draft_hubcc2e49f2a0b3b51a998b3a9fdf13863_1304153_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Clockwise:\nCobian is an Algic girl, which means she\u0026rsquo;s indigenous to Iceland in my world, which is called Oslola. She comes from a mixed indigenous Arctic background. Her mother is kind of crazy and Cobian is a bit insecure, but she\u0026rsquo;s very close with Tzipora. They drift between friends and girlfriends, it\u0026rsquo;s complicated.\nCoretti is Afro-Russian. Even though she was born in Congo (sometimes called Zaire in my world) she grew up in the USSR and immigrated to Oslola later on. She\u0026rsquo;s very patient and graceful, and is dating Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s best friend Moise.\nLin Zhi is Chinese and always goes by her full name. She doesn\u0026rsquo;t speak much of their language and she\u0026rsquo;s kind of a hothead so she\u0026rsquo;s a bit of a mystery to them. But Tzipora attracts eccentric characters and Lin Zhi doesn\u0026rsquo;t have any other friends so she hangs out with them.\nFinally, Tzipora (being held) is the main character of the story. Her mother was Spanish Roma and her father was Yiddish. She\u0026rsquo;s very friendly but intense and she\u0026rsquo;s sort of the focus point which the friendship group is centred around. She\u0026rsquo;s got more going on with her (she doesn\u0026rsquo;t live with her parents and how she came to Vekllei is ambiguous) but she\u0026rsquo;s just trying her best.\n",
  "date": "2023-06-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 384,
  "href": "/stories/news/",
  "title": "The News","rgb": "212, 161, 53",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/news.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/news_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3200376_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-06-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 385,
  "href": "/stories/sack/",
  "title": "Tzipora's New Look","rgb": "138, 146, 72",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/sack.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/sack_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3128677_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This was part of an experiment simplifying her style. This scene takes place in the borough of Sojiya, next to her home in Lola.\n",
  "date": "2023-06-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 386,
  "href": "/stories/sneakers/",
  "title": "Saba Island Sneakers","rgb": "124, 174, 177",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/sneakers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/sneakers_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3243810_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora and her friends are from Oslola, these girls are from Saba (Saba Island). I\u0026rsquo;ll do a proper post on Saba soon, this was just character concept stuff.\nThe shoes are knockoff Vekllei anarchocommunist Stan Smiths.\n",
  "date": "2023-06-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 387,
  "href": "/stories/sulk/",
  "title": "Sulking","rgb": "223, 82, 82",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/sulk.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/sulk_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_2958358_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-06-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 388,
  "href": "/stories/trams/",
  "title": "Anarchist Trams","rgb": "215, 105, 90",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/tram.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/tram_hu2cfbcc615c894b2aeaeffaaa2e177f9f_3352904_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-06-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 389,
  "href": "/stories/analyst/",
  "title": "The Analyst","rgb": "164, 129, 120",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/analyst.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/analyst_hu2cfbcc615c894b2aeaeffaaa2e177f9f_3423131_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Ayn is an Intelligence Analyst at HO/NI\u0026rsquo;s Section 3. Intelligence officers in the Commonwealth have ranks, called Grades, and receive awards that can be displayed above their ID tag in formal settings. In civilian clothes, two awards (usually the highest but at the discretion of the officer) are worn in a ribbon bar. In full dress the medals are worn.\nFrom top to bottom, Ayn\u0026rsquo;s accessories are listed:\nRibbon bar featuring the Order of Veletia and the National Service Medal. ID tag featuring name, photograph, ID number, expiry and department. The HO/NI Intelligence Pin worn by all officers. The Order of Veletia, awarded for saving many lives or preventing extraordinary harm as part of service, or for acts of extraordinary courage. Ayn received this for her part in Operation Sea of Reeds. The National Service Medal, awarded for consistently distinguished and competent service to the directorate. Ayn received this shortly after ten years service for her exemplary work in analysis. ",
  "date": "2023-06-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 390,
  "href": "/stories/hardware/",
  "title": "Hardware","rgb": "214, 48, 80",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hardware.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hardware_hu2cfbcc615c894b2aeaeffaaa2e177f9f_2763135_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-05-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 391,
  "href": "/characters/ross/",
  "title": "Ross",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-05-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 392,
  "href": "/stories/downpour/",
  "title": "Downpour","rgb": "72, 114, 132",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/downpour.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/downpour_hu0c238e69413eaaf682b079683ea29b35_446762_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-05-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 393,
  "href": "/stories/corner/",
  "title": "Natural Corners","rgb": "137, 133, 78",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/corner.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/corner_hu042a365127918044332df07caf40d4d7_403674_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-04-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 394,
  "href": "/stories/field-portrait/",
  "title": "Tzipora, the Wanderer","rgb": "174, 143, 54",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/field-portrait.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/field-portrait_hua0014faa7df743b47a759ebf3d9b186a_322728_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-04-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 395,
  "href": "/stories/tank/",
  "title": "Atomic Main Battle Tank","rgb": "74, 124, 66",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/tank.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/tank_huc885127b8ee3825a503dc691031b6015_650044_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The experience of Commonwealth Expeditionary forces in West Africa exposed many weaknesses in existing equipment and strategy. Vehicles designed primarily to defend urban environments after a nuclear war found their weak points ruthlessly targeted in close-quarters asymmetric fighting. If the Commonwealth was truly going to become a great democratic power, with a hand in the affairs of its allies, that meant assembling a force trained for all climates in all theatres of the world.\nThese lessons became more important as we approached the middle of the 21st Century, after the Africa Wars intensified and the scope of Commonwealth peacekeeping expanded. The Army of the Atlantic Crown, as it is still called, needed to professionalise. The decision was made to separate the existing fighting servicemen \u0026ndash; the traditional Army, made up of hundreds of thousands of Atlantic conscripts and dedicated militias and reservists, would remain as a defensive force across the Commonwealth. The new Expeditionary Corps would be an elite, professional Army trained for specialised and extended war-fighting overseas, to meet the moral and political commitments the Commonwealth had made to the 21st Century. Counted in regiments rather than divisions, the Expeditionary Corps is the tip of the spear of Commonwealth warfare, fighting short and surgical wars that leverage the country\u0026rsquo;s technological and equipment advantage.\nExpeditionary Corps units are made up of tactical brigades that are assembled out of strategic regiments for special purposes. The 23rd, 24th and 25th Armoured Regiments are the elite armoured shock units of the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s armed forces, and use its latest tank platform, the No. 4 \u0026ldquo;Sekhmet.\u0026rdquo;\nMilitary equipment is numbered consecutively in Vekllei, so the No. 4 MBT is the 4th domestic MBT in service. It is a distinctive tank, with a pronounced bustle that overhangs the domed molten salt fission microreactor and steam turbine engine. The bustle houses the armoured munitions magazine, which feeds 100mm shells into the stabilised cannon. Another distinctive feature is its \u0026ldquo;panoramic\u0026rdquo; vision blocks and periscopes, which give the driver and gunner much improved visibility while turned in. This was an evolution from the No. 3 MBT, which in exercises demonstrated the superior accuracy of fighting with hatches open.\nThe reactor is highly armoured, and additional anti-rocket slat armour is often mounted to further protect the turbine and transmission from shoulder-launched missiles and rockets. There are currently 480 No. 4s in service, which have replaced No. 3s in the Expeditionary Corps. A previous-generation export version is also in service in Yugoslavia and the DR Congo.\n",
  "date": "2023-04-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 396,
  "href": "/stories/infantry/",
  "title": "General Infantry","rgb": "174, 119, 114",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/infantry.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/infantry_hu1116068a85f912cf61648f5f009b5444_556474_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " It had not even occurred to Coretti that she would see combat. She had never intended to enlist with with the infantry at all \u0026ndash; her life plan, so it was in 2066, was fairly conventional. She would do her four years in Compulsory Service, studying while working as an administrator or circuit technician, and leave with some experience and civil awards (and with luck, a honeymoon). But the call went out that year: the government had pledged to save democracy in the Congo, and the infantry needed soldiers with a good grasp of French to fight a nasty little bush war to prevent a Soviet or American regime.\nCoretti had grown up in Russia, and couldn\u0026rsquo;t remember Zaire. But nonetheless, she was Congolese, wasn\u0026rsquo;t she? She could be Vekllei, Russian, and Congolese simultaneously, such was the enlightened age of the 21st Century. And if she was Congolese, as she felt she was, wasn\u0026rsquo;t it a terrible thing to turn your back on your country? Everyone gave four years \u0026ndash; there was no getting around it. If she chose to stay out of the army, she had a feeling she\u0026rsquo;d regret it for the rest of her life.\nWomen in the Army # Vekllei accepts women into its armed forces and has done so since independence in 2015.\nAll Vekllei people have to give four years to their country as part of Compulsory Service, including women. The majority of people enter civilian service in construction, medicine, administration or in overseas postings. About 20% enter the armed forces, and about 15% of those enter combat units.1\nOf the Commonwealth women that enter the Atlantic Armed Forces, only 15% enlist with the army. This minority is visible in striking contrast with the Navy, in which nearly half of sailors are women, and the Air Force, which is majority women. The Air Force has historically been an opportune place for female conscripts to demonstrate their bravery and fighting skill, because they make excellent pilots and the male physical and cultural advantages are not apparent there. More Vekllei women serve in combat roles in the Vekllei Air Force than American women do in the entire US military.\nWomen were poorly represented in the Army for most of its existence, which was a result of the preference and paternalism of army command. Women face unique threats of violence in combat that their male comrades do not, and this risk was generally not acceptable to the military chiefs. Even now, there is a general hesitation among the Army to rotate female-majority units into frontline service, and are often preferred as home guards and training staff instead. This attitude is changing slowly, but it is changing, spurred by the success of female soldiers on the ground, which has demonstrated irrefutably that female soldiers are not weaker, more prone to injury, or less cohesive than men.\nThe Army has made efforts to support self-selecting women interested in frontline combat roles by making available leadership positions in special brigades, and altering previously unpopular rules. For example, until 2044, female volunteers were expected to shave their heads like their male comrades. With new recognition and effective policy, there are more women in the Army now than at any point in its history.\nUniform # Enlisted infantry receive summer and winter versions of each uniform. At home, infantry wear \u0026ldquo;coffee colours;\u0026rdquo; the colour of the Army. Depending on their station overseas, these colours are covered or replaced with local camouflage. There are four basic uniforms for infantry of all kinds.\nDay fatigues are worn around the barracks and for most types of service outside of combat. The trousers are bloused in regulation coffee brown, but the cotton-sateen shirt is a dusty brown as part of civilian hybridisation common in Vekllei armed forces. It is always tucked. Day fatigues can be worn with or without a helmet or slouch hat, depending on duty. Soldiers also train in day fatigues. Battle dress sees a field jacket worn over or replacing the day fatigues shirt, which can be tucked or left out. The equipment of a soldier varies from mission to mission, but No. 3 harnesses and No. 6 packs are most common. Coretti here is carrying a No. 16 small battle rifle, called a \u0026ldquo;midge.\u0026rdquo; Soldiers are issued with two sets of seasonal full dress uniform in Vekllei, which is worn in parades and outside of base overseas. It sacrifices some of the attractive tailoring of foreign parade dress for comfort and breathability, since it is generally worn more often than strict parade uniform overseas. This version depicted here, called a No. 4, also demonstrates many indigenous Vekllei features. These include: The Army slouch hat, basically unchanged in appearance since independence. A white “Sam Browne” belt with a silver buckle plate embossed with the Army’s crown, which supports a No. 6 service revolver with a personalised synthetic pearl handle. A ceremonial sword gifted to the soldier upon completing basic training, worn at the side. Soldiers also receive training for use of a sword, and some even wear it on patrol. Slacks or a skirt, paired with brown oxfords. A Gi is worn with the skirt. Social dress is analogous to “mess dress” overseas, and is worn at social or semi-formal functions after 6pm. Before 6pm, parade dress is worn in its place. It also features Vekllei cultural items, like the cape and Gi. Equipment Guide # This index is not comprehensive \u0026ndash; many standard patrol items are not depicted here.\nUnit Patch Camouflage paint tube No. 2 Emergency radio Canteen and cooking implements Nylon rope Division Epaulette A lensatic compass Can of serum albumin blood-volume expander No. 12 WP Smoke No. 6 Tear Smoke Machete Diamond and ruby deployment pin Name plate No. 6 Service Revolver Award for overseas deployment Award for gallantry under fire All Vekllei people undergo combat training as per its ungovernable doctrine, but only a small minority of people enter the armed forces as soldiers.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "2023-03-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 397,
  "href": "/characters/fitri/",
  "title": "Fitri",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-03-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 398,
  "href": "/stories/short/",
  "title": "Short","rgb": "143, 118, 158",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/short.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/short_hu7054d7b4fcd561dd8006957e4b3d1c96_316854_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Fitri is the shortest girl in Moshel St School\u0026rsquo;s 10th Grade. Tzipora is the second-shortest. It is for this reason that Tzipora likes Fitri.\nTzipora doesn\u0026rsquo;t mix with her crowd much, and doesn\u0026rsquo;t really know much about her. They\u0026rsquo;d talked a couple times when they were paired up in science class, but Fitri was shy and closed off. There was something about her timidness and appearance that made her seem obscure and impossible to learn from. That wasn\u0026rsquo;t Fitri\u0026rsquo;s fault, Tzipora supposed, but it did nothing to change her opinion. Sometimes people just don\u0026rsquo;t connect.\n",
  "date": "2023-03-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 399,
  "href": "/stories/grey/",
  "title": "Grey on the Mind","rgb": "83, 88, 94",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/grey.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/grey_hud216523cb189cb7b617a12b0b78e4dd7_348111_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora has conservative tastes in fashion that fuse with her eccentric instincts. The result is something between timidness and postmodern rebellion.\n",
  "date": "2023-03-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 400,
  "href": "/stories/hats/",
  "title": "Hats","rgb": "254, 86, 71",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/hats.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/hats_hu9209c8ae7c613038de7047b9a95366df_433755_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-03-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 401,
  "href": "/stories/stair/",
  "title": "On the Stair","rgb": "141, 159, 133",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/stair.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/stair_hu7799f608e2acc88743dc22f548d0d737_366569_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora doesn\u0026rsquo;t sleep that well, so her energy plummets in the early afternoon. After school, she loads up on soft drinks to keep her going until dinner. There is a marked change in her spirits after she\u0026rsquo;s got some sugar in her system.\n",
  "date": "2023-03-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 402,
  "href": "/stories/coretti/",
  "title": "Sketch of Coretti Adoula","rgb": "201, 58, 92",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/corettibg.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/corettibg_hu67802120217c2b62e045eeb26dd8b1ba_517769_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Pictured here is Coretti Adoula, Moise\u0026rsquo;s sweet-natured girlfriend. Originally from the USSR, she moves to Vekllei and enters Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s orbit of friends via Moise after they start dating.\nShe\u0026rsquo;s eating Vekllei chips, which are seasoned above smoking meats and are usually eaten without sauce. Most supermarkets and many cafes offer them as snacks, as a tasty byproduct of meat preparation.\nHere is her original sketch:\n",
  "date": "2023-03-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 403,
  "href": "/stories/jeep/",
  "title": "The Vekllei Jeep","rgb": "80, 99, 75",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/jeep.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/jeep_hue3ced5d4030d4798a04e7f97568a1313_267026_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The M2 \u0026ldquo;Stallion\u0026rdquo; is the backbone of the army. It carries everything from troops to stretchers to fission reactors across streets, sand and snow. It is customisable at the factory and in the field, and can serve nearly any role for Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s fast-moving, hard-hitting army regiments.\nIt is a medium-wheelbase1 utility vehicle with a naturally aspirated 6-cylinder, 4.6 litre diesel engine made by Atlantic Auto. No one company can lay claim to the success of the vehicle \u0026ndash; the M2 is the result of industrial collaboration on a national scale, involving hundreds of contractors to meet a visionary committee brief. It has a 5-speed manual transmission with front and rear locking hubs that allow it to leap up boulders, with enough torque to tow armoured vehicles out of the line of fire.\nAlmost all aspects of the vehicle can be repaired and replaced in the field. The electrical system, engine block and panelling are accessible and modular. Its reliability is famous, and it will run happily for hundreds of thousands of kilometres in fire and ice.\nThe M2 can be configured as an ambulance, troop carrier, power supply, fuel truck, gun platform, or for many dozens of other uses as required. To this end, it forms the basis of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s flexible military logistics systems, and should be regarded as essential to the Vekllei Army as their rifles.\nThe M2 also comes in six-wheel configurations for heavier payloads.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "2023-03-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 404,
  "href": "/stories/tzipora/",
  "title": "Zelda","rgb": "219, 44, 80",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/tzipora.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/tzipora_hue78b4284c8a743d60a87b9c784e860c0_425219_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-03-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 405,
  "href": "/stories/health/",
  "title": "Health Vekllei","rgb": "45, 122, 235",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/nurse.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/nurse_hu7fc62fceb99a3412ea3932d09ddd9acf_297603_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Healthcare in Vekllei is universal, and run as a government service for the wellbeing of the public. The system is financed and governed by the Commonwealth Health Secretariat, and is provided regionally by national health authorities.\nThere is no cost to any treatment in the Vekllei healthcare system, and it covers all kinds of care necessary for a comfortable and dignified life. Healthcare professionals, including doctors and nurses, are highly regarded in the Commonwealth and enjoy considerable benefits provided by their health authority. All Vekllei households have an elected doctor, called a General Practitioner, who is their first point of contact with the health system.\nElective cosmetic surgery is uncommon in Vekllei and hard to receive, so medical tourism is a popular way to receive cosmetic dental treatment and other elective procedures, which occur most commonly in the US or Europe.\n",
  "date": "2023-03-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 406,
  "href": "/stories/soldier/",
  "title": "Dapper Soldier","rgb": "116, 80, 75",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/soldier.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/soldier_hud23fcb0a92629a5757b357da27754a4a_342909_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Some officers in the Army of the Atlantic Crown wear a tie with their jumpsuit. This is a choice that dates back to WW2, but also a symptom of the visible humanitarian role that the army plays in Vekllei and Africa.\nGeneral infantrymen still wear conventional fatigues.\nYes, the Commonwealth Army is formally known as the Army of the Atlantic Crown. This convention gets applied to recent branches too, like the Rocket Navy of the Atlantic Crown.\n",
  "date": "2023-03-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 407,
  "href": "/stories/mail-revised/",
  "title": "Revised Mail Uniform","rgb": "221, 76, 86",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/post.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/post_hu563941aed291d51a3ead29dd477791ac_351079_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-02-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 408,
  "href": "/stories/caught/",
  "title": "Caught","rgb": "209, 143, 136",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/caught.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/caught_huf4eaa49e326f6ca7b67741a18009e391_248802_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-02-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 409,
  "href": "/stories/sand/",
  "title": "Sand","rgb": "191, 164, 98",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/sand.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/sand_hu32b9661167f558253b0676e6b96c4a37_297483_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-02-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 410,
  "href": "/stories/hispanic/",
  "title": "America, 2059","rgb": "76, 133, 207",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/hispanic.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/hispanic_hu50882dda90e353c7dcdb5c439fc51147_357788_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "By November 2059, America was in an uneasy peace. The lease of nuclear sites \u0026ldquo;essential for continental strategic security\u0026rdquo; had been secured by Washington the previous month, and the June ceasefire was still in place despite a border skirmish that killed half a dozen GIs not far from where Tzipora was, in Southwest Utah.\nThe Dallas Administration, which was at this point calling itself the American War Government, was using the ceasefire to lick its wounds and negotiate with state militias to form a central command. The romance of a grassroots revolt, risen in a frenzy of rage and opportunity, had worn off. Now, the secessionist regions were digging in for serious fighting.\nThe quality of life varied between states. In Texas, things were better, but the borders had been closed. In Utah, things were collapsing. There was not much money around and the government in Salt Lake had lost control over their army. In towns like Cherry, police and soldiers worked together to maintain order or murder and rob; whichever took their fancy that day.\nTzipora knew she was at risk, but her options were limited. She lived and worked at Hotel Cairo (formerly Hotel Zion), which was a ways out of town. Most of the other girls had gone home or fled the state months ago, so there was plenty of work. No one else would employ aliens. She did not yet have enough money to make it to the East Coast, which would require bribing pretty much everyone she met along the way. The journey was dangerous, too \u0026ndash; the busses had stopped and the trains weren\u0026rsquo;t running, so you had to walk. There were a lot of violent drifters just moving through these days.\nCome November 2059, it was obvious her time was running out. Posters had gone up announcing all \u0026lsquo;Hispanics\u0026rsquo; \u0026ndash; a term here meaning people that looked like they came from Mexico or further south, not just spanish-speakers \u0026ndash; were to be evacuated from the border. Neighbouring Nevada was a Washington-controlled state, and there would certainly be fighting in Utah. Ostensibly they were worried Latinos had more allegiance to the United States than to Dallas. More likely they just wanted them gone.\nThe posters said they would be evacuated to Colorado City, but Tzipora figured that was a crock of shit. That was a free city; they wouldn\u0026rsquo;t take foreigners, and especially not people like her. She didn\u0026rsquo;t know where they would send her but she didn\u0026rsquo;t like it. It was not just rumours; Tzipora knew foreigners were being picked off the streets. Dallas was talking about saving the \u0026ldquo;free states\u0026rdquo; from \u0026ldquo;Despotism \u0026amp; Outsider Agitants,\u0026rdquo; and Tzipora looked like an Outsider Agitant.\nHotel Cairo was outside of the evacuation zone, but she would have to carry her work-residence papers everywhere she went now. She just needed to save her cash; the US Dollar was a magical thing. In times like these, it bought comfort, security and opportunity. Staying was a gamble, but what choice did someone like her have? The Dollar was the great equaliser; it was life itself.\n",
  "date": "2023-02-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 411,
  "href": "/stories/state-jet/",
  "title": "A Government Jet","rgb": "123, 134, 156",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/statejet.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/statejet_hueb772c72dd5df0dabab24aaae5fc325d_366123_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Prime Ministers of Vekllei take a vow of humility upon taking office. This means they have to live on the Parliament Grounds in protected rural acreage, in modest homes known as lodges that are built in a traditional Vekllei style. This spirit of servitude exists in many aspects of a Prime Minister\u0026rsquo;s term, from their humble remuneration to their suits and carriage.\nThe humility of person, however, does not mean the humility of state. The 4th Commonwealth takes great pride in its industrial and social achievements, and so diplomats and ministers travel in Vekllei aircraft built for diplomacy, as indicators of wealth and taste \u0026ndash; social vectors for good business. To this end, the Air Force maintains a fleet of bare-metal jets for official business inside and outside the Commonwealth.\nThis Comen Firewick \u0026lsquo;60 jet has been extensively modified for the security and comfort of the Vekllei public servant. It is a medium-sized government aircraft mostly used for flights within the Commonwealth, stretching the width and depth of the Atlantic. It is easily identifiable as a government jet by its bare-metal livery, which is consistent among the government fleet and is intended to draw attention to the craftsmanship of Vekllei machines. Like most Vekllei jet aircraft, it is primarily a nuclear-electric vessel that uses auxiliary combustion engines for take-off and redundancy. This is a feature of the air-cooled reactor systems in Vekllei aircraft, which require reaching cruising speed to \u0026ldquo;switch over\u0026rdquo; to nuclear-electric propulsion.\nThe Firewick 60 is well-liked for its distinctive skylights, which allow views of the sky or stars from the cabin. Its interior is well-lighted, though narrower than the wide-body and mono-wing sister aircraft in the government fleet.\n",
  "date": "2023-02-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 412,
  "href": "/stories/ruins/",
  "title": "New Ruins","rgb": "161, 129, 74",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/ruins.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/ruins_hu47b41eda442a0143a987d3e72276ec02_564816_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "From Copetpek to Reykjavic, the hills of Lola are pockmarked by collapsed brick chimneys and fenceless gates. Here is where they died, in their hundreds of thousands. These monuments watched over the postwar period, where the craters had been filled in and decontaminated.\nYou were not supposed to play in the ruins because of residual radiation. That\u0026rsquo;s what they were told as kids. The truth is that the stones were next to harmless after seventy years. They did not want the kids playing there because there was no telling how many unmarked graves remained or what might rise to the surface in the rains.\n",
  "date": "2023-02-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 413,
  "href": "/stories/neko/",
  "title": "Sketch for a Friend","rgb": "177, 66, 99",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/neko.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/neko_hu2cfbcc615c894b2aeaeffaaa2e177f9f_3169986_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-01-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 414,
  "href": "/stories/constable/",
  "title": "Constable Zelda","rgb": "68, 94, 75",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/constable.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/constable_hud14b4416991204b20c029454aa6f83b7_302531_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-01-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 415,
  "href": "/stories/gold/",
  "title": "All That Glitters","rgb": "217, 140, 74",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/gold.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/gold_hufbe77778b0711447dc90a7639836eecb_459126_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-01-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 416,
  "href": "/stories/veranda/",
  "title": "The Veranda","rgb": "203, 67, 81",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/3.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/3_huc081382a99cb99eb245cba6e69589b52_190083_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2023-01-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 417,
  "href": "/stories/department/",
  "title": "Department Commerce","rgb": "188, 78, 50",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/department.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/department_hu5156a89b3aed2762cea6ccf7a16a3a2d_775911_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Read more: Atlantic Despite having many consumer products, Vekllei is not a consumer society and is not equipped to succeed as one. Benevolent state monopolies produce staple goods \u0026ndash; food, clothing, and shelter \u0026ndash; and everything else is left up to the anarchic participatory industriousness of its people, which is situated somewhere between a productive free market and chaos.\nThese planned production mechanisms facilitate the reliable overproduction of essential goods that meet the needs of Vekllei population. The inflexibility of this system is supplanted by the private market of participatory labour, which produces the majority of consumer goods and products in Vekllei, if unreliably. Luxury goods are generally hyperlocalised or imported, and are scarce for most Veklei people.\n\u0026ndash; State Industry of Vekllei\nSince the staples of Vekllei life are produced in an inflexible planned system based on overproduction, the most common place of \u0026lsquo;commerce\u0026rsquo; for ordinary Vekllei people is the department store. They are a feature of the country, capable of furnishing a complete life out of simple and quality goods. Furniture, clothing, some appliances, and all types of food are available. Clothing is of high quality, and has some variety of essential fashions in contemporary society.\nThese department stores resemble the icons of consumer societies overseas, but without an efficient means of exchange to build real markets built on capital, the mechanisms to develop a consumer culture are absent. Instead, Vekllei is full of \u0026lsquo;ghost consumers;\u0026rsquo; people participating in consumer rituals that look like their counterparts overseas, but missing the critical aspects of consumer desire and money-value.\nIndeed, Tzipora was surprised when Cobian took her to the Montvisiosn Department Store one day to \u0026lsquo;shop\u0026rsquo; for new clothes. Cobian tried things on and frowned at herself in the mirror like the Yanquis and Londoners and Parisians do, but she was really acting out what she saw in films. It was a fantasy; a child\u0026rsquo;s idea of shopping and consumption and commerce. It was very exotic to Vekllei people, but Tzipora had lived overseas and knew the difference money-value made. There was no real desire to consume; it was a social ritual without a financial basis. They might as well have been doing each other\u0026rsquo;s hair in the park, or trying on her mother\u0026rsquo;s shoes.\n",
  "date": "2023-01-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 418,
  "href": "/stories/ministers/",
  "title": "The Prime Minister(s)","rgb": "145, 127, 121",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/ministers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/ministers_hueeb2ca921eaab5a91fa9a3581014f1bd_412781_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei is a nonpartisan democracy with two, equal heads of state \u0026ndash; one man and one woman. Known as Crown Ministers in Vekllei, they generally acknowledge the title of Prime Minister overseas, as the head of Vekllei government and secretary-general of the Vekllei Cabinet. The position is a quirk of the postwar period, when radical alternatives to existing systems of government were being explored in the anarcho-feminist whirlwind of independence.\nAlthough the title includes two seperate people, they represent a single office and so are expected to make agreeable decisions, if nothing else. This is a role of compromise and moderation, since each Prime Minister has the power to censure the other. Stalemates and infighting usually results in the sacking of the government by the Cabinet Secretary, since Vekllei people have little tolerance for partisan bickering in their public servants. The nonpartisan nature of Vekllei politics means the formation of government often sees unconventional members of parliament enter the cabinet, often from industry, the arts, or sciences. In this context, the ideal Prime Minister is well-groomed and patient by nature, and all great Vekllei PMs have been masters of compromise.\nWhen Tzipora arrives in Vekllei in the early 2060s, the country is lead by Prime Ministers Raif Housk and Dalia Hospotet, pictured here. Traditionally, PMs divide responsibilities along their strengths as politicians. Dalia Hospotet, for example, is a master of statecraft and so meets regularly with foreign leaders to express the Vekllei position. Raif is an economist at the Ministry of Commerce, and his talents lie in exploiting his deep connections to Vekllei business. That is not to suggest the Prime Ministers operate independently \u0026ndash; quite the opposite in fact. Decisions have to be made as in agreement, as a single office, and so the relationship of the PMs resembles a married couple, with definitive answers postponed until consort can be had. The election of Prime Ministers is a marriage of two people, in a civic sense.\nTheir most important function, as two people in a single role, is to represent their people and indicate, both to foreigners and themselves, the values of their society. Prime Ministership is an intimate and symbolic position, and their appearance internally and abroad is in some ways more like the king and queen of a monarchy than the public servants of a modern democracy. But that too represents Vekllei well, as a hybrid society of contradictory yet fascinating instincts, breaking down the historicism of society by insisting that the past is the future and the revolutionary is ordinary.\n",
  "date": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 419,
  "href": "/tags/2022/",
  "title": "2022",
  "section": "Tags",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-12-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 420,
  "href": "/stories/tannin/",
  "title": "Tannin Rivers","rgb": "212, 58, 28",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/tannin.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/tannin_hu10ff9da4de927c977b576873712a99a8_673162_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Broad mossy meadows slope away from Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;ashen lands\u0026rdquo; \u0026ndash; vast, glacial moonscapes in the highland interior. The soils here are rich with nitrogen, and are dominated by an alpine heathland of button grass and tea shrubs. The oils from these plants seep downstream into the glacial runoff, and by the time the water meets the mosslands the creeks are stained tea-coloured, a mix of reds and yellows that catches gold in the light. These are Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s tannin rivers; rusty freshwater streams that run red from the base of the Thanveler glacier to the outskirts of Antarta and Dasm.\nThe mosses here are thick and dewey, and Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s house sandals did nothing to keep her out of them. With her feet soaked and her school bag on the station platform, she dared Cobian and Zhi to leap the tannin river. Local myth was that it was good luck, but she\u0026rsquo;d have jumped it anyway.\n\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m good at jumping,\u0026rdquo; Tzipors said to her friends, wiping her cold nose on the back of her arm.\n\u0026ldquo;You\u0026rsquo;re going to go in that bloody river and you\u0026rsquo;ll be soaked for the train home,\u0026rdquo; Cobian said.\n\u0026ldquo;Not if I make it.\u0026rdquo;\nShe squelched a few steps backwards, squinting at the amber creek ahead.\n\u0026ldquo;Watch this.\u0026rdquo;\n",
  "date": "2022-12-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 421,
  "href": "/stories/sepia/",
  "title": "Sepia Interests","rgb": "131, 110, 97",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/ross.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/ross_hu2d43b0053ee107478932b015336eb4c1_967758_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The so-called Scandinationalists have a thousand years of myth in their pamphlets, but are in reality a product of the Atomic War. Racial nationalism has existed in Vekllei for centuries, but was only legitimised as a modern political force by the pre-war junta and materialised as violence by its collapse in the days after the Atomic War. Exploited grievances, hundreds in number but all basically the same, overflowed in the chaos of the war and saw savage criminal instincts acted on by militias called Stanis.\nThe Stanis were put down by the British occupying forces, but they persist as terror cells. The Floral Government recognises their ideology as criminal, and so any organising around it is simply not tolerated. When you hear of Noshem, the Vekllei intelligence service, killing foreigners in kitchens and bedrooms, it is usually to these ends.\nThis state of affairs is complicated and often undemocratic, but the thinking is straightforward. The 4th Commonwealth is a multiracial state of disparate, autonomous republics. Nearly half of its population was born overseas, and it recognises its indigenous Algic and Scandinavian populations as a single cultural group. This unity is fragile, and so action in defence of it has to be uncompromising as a matter of routine. To pick up a rifle, or place a bomb, or assist scandinationalist elements is a death sentence served outside of the courts, in a way that privileges this form of terrorism above other terrorist ideologies. This is not just a matter of opinion; this is policy. Anything else is insufficient, so says the state, because the alternative is evidenced by what happened in 2005.\nRoss Gosmiosn was sent to Home Office Section 12 from Section 2. In civilian speak, this meant he was moved from organisation security to the operations command, to work under their solemn new director Baron Desmoisnes, who was well-regarded at the Home Office after his successes at the Americas Bureau.\nBaron\u0026rsquo;s promotion from a captain in the Americas Bureau to a HO/NI Section Chief was not particularly unusual for a longtime intelligence agent, but it was obviously strategic. He had a record of hunting former Stanis in Central and North America, and had good contacts at AB/NI. His promotion to HO/NI indicated that his talents were needed at home; that the Home Office was looking to put down emerging threats in Vekllei. Ross knew this when he arrived at Section 12. It was confirmed by his first conversation with Baron in Winter 2063.\n\u0026ldquo;How do you do, Ross?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;Well, Director.\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;ve been recommended you by Alvi, who said you\u0026rsquo;d served in Africa.\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s true.\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;So you have some tactical experience?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;Yes. Twice in Africa, and some time in the Rifles, too.\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s good.\u0026rdquo;\n",
  "date": "2022-12-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 422,
  "href": "/stories/friend/",
  "title": "The Friend","rgb": "115, 182, 113",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/2.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/2_hub81ef14004a45bb35a7e9f932476c0fb_411363_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-12-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 423,
  "href": "/stories/the-look/",
  "title": "The Look","rgb": "207, 148, 107",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/1.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/1_hu3ab5e3ffe1cdd79ede426eec422201f4_359110_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-12-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 424,
  "href": "/stories/silica/",
  "title": "Silica Rivers","rgb": "124, 158, 84",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/silica.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/silica_hu089ff288001649cb7b1d813faafdd5a4_1054927_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Warm silica rivers flow through the grounds of the Moshel St School. They carry on from there, cascading down the terraces of Lola through rivulets and creeks until they meet the sea. You weren\u0026rsquo;t supposed to bathe in them because they were full of \u0026ldquo;hellpoints\u0026rdquo; \u0026ndash; hotspots that would burn you badly. Thick plumes of steam rise from where a hellpoint meets the air.\nThe algae and silica in the water is good for your skin, and has antibacterial properties. The riverbed at Moshel St School consists of black sand and nectarine-sized stones which press the arch of her foot. In her hands, the milky blue water is opaque and salty to taste. There is no other place on Earth with a school like this.\n",
  "date": "2022-12-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 425,
  "href": "/stories/sleep/",
  "title": "Sleep","rgb": "123, 69, 135",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/sleep.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/sleep_hu5f95813539e5781049cd572eddeb1d9e_415733_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-11-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 426,
  "href": "/stories/poof/",
  "title": "Poofy Hair","rgb": "123, 69, 135",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/hair.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/hair_hu2817cca337ee14b265dea6329cbe0fcd_425579_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-11-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 427,
  "href": "/stories/teachers/",
  "title": "Teachers","rgb": "204, 145, 106",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/teachers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/teachers_hu7ebaca20344c26015c1cd0ced91e1eb9_959093_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "On the left is Ms Zora Ninčić, and on the right Mr Kowalczyk. Students joke that they must be brother and sister because they look similar, but they\u0026rsquo;re unrelated. Ms Ninčić teaches social sciences, and Mr Kowalczyk teaches chemistry.\nTzipora is a somewhat poor student, but she is well-loved by these teachers, and they go above and beyond in helping Tzipora muster the grades she\u0026rsquo;ll need to go on to university. She is very grateful to them.\nThere are rumours Mr Kowalczyk has a crush on Ms Ninčić.\nI based Kowalczyk off Steve Gadd, my favourite session drummer of all time, and Ninčić off a woman who sold me a bus ticket in croatia, who had this wild curly hair afro but looked Slavic. It\u0026rsquo;s also an example of teachers wearing similar uniforms (in their case, more of a dress code) to students.\n",
  "date": "2022-11-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 428,
  "href": "/stories/teeshirt/",
  "title": "Tee Shirt","rgb": "170, 66, 72",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/teeshirt.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/teeshirt_hu80c2b257fad80666f88daaf8a1584e25_763289_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-10-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 429,
  "href": "/stories/watch/",
  "title": "The Riot","rgb": "179, 109, 62",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/watch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/watch_hubc20c914fe9092046f954dcf1b1724f7_672415_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-10-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 430,
  "href": "/stories/caribbean-uniform/",
  "title": "Caribbean Uniforms","rgb": "149, 80, 55",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/kalinauniform.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/kalinauniform_hu739145880bae53672acd3de20700a6a4_804201_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The residents of the Kalina Isles are mostly indigenous Caribs and Afro-Caribbean Garínagu, who in the 21st Century are part of a large multinational and multiethnic commonwealth of autonomous nation states. The Vekllei 4th Commonwealth, as it is now known, stretches all the way from Demon in the North Atlantic to the Antarctic Territories in the south. Although it consists of dozens of independent and self-governing nation-states, they are closely bound by shared political interests in the Atlantic and have significant commitments to the international Commonwealth parliament that legislates and shares features of these countries.\nThe education of young people is largely a burden of the Commonwealth, and so curriculums and resources are developed at an international level. This picture demonstrates student uniform in the Kalina Isles, and its fusion of standard Commonwealth items and local cultural features.\nWhen the Kalina Islands joined the 4th Commonwealth in 2022, the requirements for a Commonwealth-produced uniform were straightforward.\nIt should be comfortable and appropriate to the climate. It should celebrate cultural traditions and the diversity of the modern Caribbean Commonwealth while also reflecting shared conventions and values between member-states. It should be unbadged and uncomplicated except for accessories \u0026ndash; you should be able to wear a white school shirt to your first job after leaving school. The sashes most of these students are wearing are local patterns stitched themselves \u0026ndash; sometimes with the help of a parent or grandmother. They are unique to the student and vary in colour and style, since the Kalina Islands consists of hundreds of islands with many aesthetic traditions. In this sense, they are not that different to the Vekllei student gi, which is also hand-stitched and unique to each person. Personalised, cultural items like these are a good example of the complicated intersection between pragmatic standardisation and geographic identity in 4th Commonwealth countries, and are distinctive of its member-states.\nAs in Vekllei, there are no restrictions on hair or accessories like jewellery, as long as the basic requirements of the uniform are met. Uniforms in Vekllei come from a social tradition, rather than one of conformity, and serve an important purpose in both the shared identity of the multiracial Commonwealth and the alleviation of poverty.\nIn this way, an object of control and conformity in other countries \u0026ndash; a uniform \u0026ndash; becomes cultural and personalised in the Commonwealth. Small subversions like these showcase the difference in thinking of the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s radical \u0026ndash; and also very ordinary \u0026ndash; shared project.\n",
  "date": "2022-10-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 431,
  "href": "/stories/five-years/",
  "title": "Five Years",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/five.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/five_huaed4b504d5ace3c983ef7f1072ea2798_764356_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Today, the subreddit is five years old. A better anniversary for this project would have been July 1st 2022 \u0026ndash; the date of my 🔗first reddit post \u0026ndash; but I missed that anniversary completely. This post is a late 5 year celebration of Vekllei. Next year I\u0026rsquo;ll celebrate with you properly on International Tzipora Day (July 1st 2023, write it down).\nSome statistics:\nNumber of Vekllei stories: 322 First Vekllei post: 🔗Tzipora has her photo taken at Youth Meet 2063 (July 1, 2017 ) First post on r/vekllei: 🔗The People of Vekllei’s Railway (plus Dog) (August 16, 2019) Most upvoted post: 🔗Absolute Quiet (August 23, 2020) Most recent post: this one Read them here: www.millmint.net/stories\nI write about what Vekllei means to me sometimes, and I usually regret it. Any time I insert myself into the project I regret it. Although Vekllei is deeply personal to me, I don\u0026rsquo;t belong anywhere near it and I\u0026rsquo;m learning to keep my mouth shut and let the work speak for itself. In the spirit of \u0026lsquo;killing the author\u0026rsquo; (I believe that\u0026rsquo;s the phrase), I\u0026rsquo;ve collected some notes in the tradition of resolutions.\nSome notes:\nI am better at drawing than I was five years ago. That\u0026rsquo;s not very impressive \u0026ndash; more important is that I\u0026rsquo;m better than I was a year ago. It\u0026rsquo;s easy to look at my 2017 scribbles and smile at the silly, naive people I made. It\u0026rsquo;s much harder to feel that way about your own work a year ago. I should be proud; that\u0026rsquo;s a testament to the fact I\u0026rsquo;ve become a better illustrator this year. Does Vekllei feel the same as it used to? It was sillier back then; some people might prefer that. I think about that sometimes, but I am convinced that things are evolving as they should. Illustration is the demonstration of an intuition deep within me, and it is still just as authentic as it was in 2017. I think Vekllei is more serious and grounded in part because I am five years older, and boys do a lot of growing between 19 and 24. I love my characters more than ever; Tzipora is a more compelling, dignified and complete person than she was back then. It\u0026rsquo;s easy to become nostalgic about the lightness of being a beginner. In another five years, I\u0026rsquo;d like to make my living through this work. This is an existential fear of mine \u0026ndash; the fear of every artist \u0026ndash; but I have the heady confidence of a creative, so I trust that things will work themselves out, so long as I work hard and consider how this project might work as a product people pay for (the comic, for example). I don\u0026rsquo;t need to make much money, because I don\u0026rsquo;t spend much money. I\u0026rsquo;ve paused the Patreon until the first chapter of the comic comes out, so hopefully that will resume soon. Some other notes:\nI think I am getting close to a basic, commercial standard of art. That\u0026rsquo;s exciting, as an illustrator \u0026ndash; it\u0026rsquo;s basically technical work. If I was a carpenter, I\u0026rsquo;d be saying I\u0026rsquo;m close to making a table people would pay for. Drawings are turning out how I imagine them. If I keep working hard on Stories of the Horizon, I should see my landscapes improve quickly. I am working on a Vekllei comic. The whole thing has been a shemozzle; I\u0026rsquo;ve been \u0026lsquo;working\u0026rsquo; on a comic for three years now. I announced it much too early, without realising how unprepared I was to work in that type of illustration. I\u0026rsquo;m learning to shut my mouth \u0026ndash; I\u0026rsquo;m not promising a release date now. But I am getting better, and it is a critical part of this project. If it took me a decade, I\u0026rsquo;d still be working on it. Although any online community has its stresses, I have made several close friends through the 🔗Vekllei Discord, some of whom I\u0026rsquo;ve now met in real life. Thank you always for your attention and support, it means everything to my confidence in my work. Finally, thank you for reading. Some of you have been here for years \u0026ndash; some of you have only been here for a few hours, after I spammed my shit to some other subs (sorry, that\u0026rsquo;s just how the game works on reddit). Thank you sincerely for all your comments and affection over the years. This is a small community but it is tremendously insightful and well-meaning, and seeing you enjoy my work makes my day. I\u0026rsquo;d probably still be working on Vekllei without an audience \u0026ndash; but it wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be nearly as much fun. It really does mean a lot.\nThank you.\nSincerely yours,\nHobart\n(and tzipora)\n",
  "date": "2022-10-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 432,
  "href": "/stories/rifles/",
  "title": "The Rifles Section","rgb": "55, 65, 89",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/rifles.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/rifles_hu5b10f2d1cb4061472d6c102017a59796_706764_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Public Police (COSMOPOR) are not reliably equipped with firearms, and when they are, constables favour old-fashioned police revolvers. Situations that get dangerous or complicated often require the intervention of the Rifles Section of the Police of the Parliament, an elite policing unit trained and equipped to confront gun crime and violent behaviour.\nLike some other other Parliament Police (VENOPOR) sections, the Rifles are dressed in navy silks and their mounts are painted navy with white sillitoe-patterned highlights. Rifles use alternating red and blue lights rather than standard Vekllei \u0026lsquo;Emergency Red.\u0026rsquo; They are equipped and armed by the Bureau of Supply, the same office that supplies Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s armed forces. This includes the Sulphur Make-4 Armoured Car, modified for the Rifles with extra glass for better visibility in the small-calibre gunfire the Rifles are trained to meet. Like most VENOPOR police forces, the Rifles have their roots in paramilitary elements and are expected to support the military in times of war.\nThe crest of the Rifles Section of the Police of the Parliament. Vekllei people generally do not know much about them \u0026ndash; the \u0026ldquo;Parliament Police\u0026rdquo; are also known as the \u0026ldquo;National Police,\u0026rdquo; and as such, are tactical in nature and far removed from the local and personal constabulary they\u0026rsquo;re used to. This leads to sensational rumours about the historic and dapper National Police sections, including whispers about overseas training and secret greyzone ops. Less exotically, Rifles are commonly seen in the streets surrounding Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s parliament, where the alert level has remained high for several years now.\n",
  "date": "2022-10-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 433,
  "href": "/stories/uk/",
  "title": "Off Again","rgb": "141, 154, 101",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/uk.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/uk_hu9009164be8ea54feb901306a5f093ee0_721828_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The last time I made one of these, it was January 2020. When I got back, the news was just starting to talk about a new disease outbreak in China.\nIt is striking to me that the shitty drawing attached to that post was the last time I went overseas. On an abstract level I can understand it\u0026rsquo;s been two years \u0026ndash; but wow, that drawing puts things in perspective. And since that post, I\u0026rsquo;ve been stuck in my house in Hobart, occasionally visiting other parts of my beautiful island state of Tasmania. That\u0026rsquo;s a long time in the history of this project, and a long time for someone who found inspiration to draw from travelling.\nGrounded no more. I am currently in Oxford in the U.K., and will be somewhere else soon. I\u0026rsquo;ll let you know where I\u0026rsquo;m going next.\nStories from the Horizon is proceeding as normal, but I\u0026rsquo;m spending a bit more time creating new styles of architecture inspired by my surrounds. Vekllei is always evolving, and it\u0026rsquo;s evolving especially fast right now. When I\u0026rsquo;ve left the U.K. in a few days, I\u0026rsquo;ll write an article about my experience with pictures attached to the millmint.net blog.\nI\u0026rsquo;m having such a great time and learning so much.\nBest,\nHobart\n",
  "date": "2022-09-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 434,
  "href": "/stories/puffin/",
  "title": "The Scouts","rgb": "234, 147, 101",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/puffin.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/puffin_hu1ca0e044331e7d794b8b850417254118_571565_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Scouts de Vous Seispri Votaisre (lit. Scouts Interior Spirit Corps) is a corps of the Commonwealth Army, modelled after the worldwide scouting association. This unusual intersection \u0026ndash; of a noncombatant youth organisation and the armed forces \u0026ndash; is typical in Vekllei, where many aspects of the military serve social roles. For example, the Vekllei Fire Service and the Royal Mail are both corps of the Commonwealth Army. To this end, the Scouts Corps (better known as Puffin Scouts overseas) has different traditions depending on which brigade it belongs to. The detached Cadet Brigades of the 1st and 2nd Scouting Divisions are youth training organisations for the armed forces, designed to prepare youths for military service. The rest of the brigades, numbering some 12 in total across 2 Divisions (or some 1,460 neighbourhood troops) are decidedly noncombatant, and exist to provide community and training in useful skills for Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s youth.\nTzipora naturally belongs to Scouts de Seispri, her local troop. As a military branch, the Scouts follow identical organisational conventions, and so Tzipora has \u0026rsquo;enlisted\u0026rsquo; alongside other servicemen in the Commonwealth Army:\nCivici Tzipora Desmoisnes, 77th Troop, 7th Lola District, 1st Vekllei Scouts Brigade of the 1st Scouts Division\nThe crest of the Scouts Interior Spirit Corps. It functions as a social club \u0026ndash; many of her schoolmates are in it \u0026ndash; and also provides an opportunity to learn things outside of the school curriculum. Survival skills and camping, agriculture, hunting and weapons handling, driving, and amateur radio operation are common excursions. Some troops have particular reputations, and are highly desirable \u0026ndash; 588th Troop of the 3rd Brigade has a legendary reputation in photo-electrics and computer phreaking. The 77th is a little more local in ambition, and Tzipora spends most of her time teaching the others to cook and gardening around Seispri.\nInstead of merit badges, scouts earn honours that are stitched to a gi. Significant honours \u0026ndash; usually success in national competitions or academic awards \u0026ndash; can also be transferred to troop honours, in the fashion of battle honours for combat army corps. The Scouts uniform has many coded features of army dress uniforms, including its Sam Browne belt (sloped left for Civici, right for officers), epaulettes with honours, cloth aiguillette, and troop patches. Tzipora doesn\u0026rsquo;t wear all that every Thursday obviously \u0026ndash; but it matters at the Games, when her honours are on display and she\u0026rsquo;s trying to show those dicks in the 76th they\u0026rsquo;re dealing with a better class of scout.\n",
  "date": "2022-09-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 435,
  "href": "/stories/lola/",
  "title": "Lola, Borough of Genesis","rgb": "122, 160, 92",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/lola.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/lola_hu98c501638a9cd9dc51b3d0393fb6e0c6_845293_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Genesis of Utopia # Vekllei did not originate in Lola \u0026ndash; according to the Saga of Origins, Vekllei emerged from the corpse of a petty creator god named Oslola. But there was some truth in casting Lola as the genesis of the Vekllei nation-state, since this is where Scandinavian settlers first landed over three thousand years ago, and was where the 1st and 2nd Commonwealths consolidated their power and united the Vekllei Islands.\nIn its peak, Lola was a colonial metropole that rivalled any of the European capitals in wealth and monument. It was the jewel of the 3rd Commonwealth \u0026ndash; the military government \u0026ndash; and retained the splendid summer palaces and elaborate roman baths of the old monarchies.\nFlag of the borough of Lola. The war destroyed Lola and its ancient capital district, Reykjavic. Two 5 megaton fission bombs struck near its harbour, and the blasts rushed up its surrounding plains and steep hills, poisoning its earth with radiation and wiping clean a thousand years of history. Nearly 500,000 people died.\nOne genesis folds into another; the 4th Commonwealth, the \u0026lsquo;Floral Government\u0026rsquo; of democracy and gentleness, was founded in its ashes. The new Vekllei has a new capital, and with it has moved its commerce and shipping. The new Lola, still lush with ruins and roofless homes, has been relieved of the burden of wealth. The borough has emerged as a home for immigrants, particularly Yiddish, Irish and Poles. They are building a new life in Lola; they are building a new Lola.\nAn Essential Journey # Tzipora lived in Lola with Baron. Baron was an institutionalised person and had spend many years overseas, and government realtors had reclaimed his apartment. When he returned to Vekllei for good, he moved into a late uncle\u0026rsquo;s apartment in the tired neighbourhood of Seispri, a terraced community of light industry, workshops and immigrant families.\nSeispri was Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s first home in Vekllei, and would always be close to her heart. It was a different kind of living to what she knew. Vekllei people were much poorer in some ways, but the quality of their lives was much better. There was a real sense of contributing to a different way of living; of improving their lot honestly; of shared burdens. Many immigrants to Vekllei arrived to participate in this project \u0026ndash; whether they were Labour Zionists or Pan-Atlanticists, they all had their reasons for being here and made good use of their lives.\nBaron\u0026rsquo;s apartment was above a garage and down the road from a canvas factory, but the houses were full of families with children. That was very nice, to see kids playing in the street. A creek ran behind the street, and you could catch little fish there sometimes.\nTzipora was a shadow of a girl by the time she finished high school. She was not good at anything in particular and did not have an immediate interest in university. Unresolved memories of the past were lurking in her mind\u0026rsquo;s periphery, and she was starting to worry they would kill her if she thought too long or too hard. On different days she felt her friends were leaving her behind or that she was holding them back. She was unravelling.\nRather than implode in Seispri, she decided she would renew her vows to the country she loved by touring its entirety on foot. This was actually a very old Vekllei tradition called the Visa Con, or \u0026lsquo;private pilgrimage.\u0026rsquo; Like many such traditions, it was once a spiritual practice that has secularised in the postwar period. Tzipora had made her way from California to Utah on foot \u0026ndash; so what was a hundred boroughs? She was good at walking.\nCobian had graduated school with good marks and had started a nursing residency at a Lola clinic. Tzipora had made up her mind quickly about the whole thing and wanted to say her goodbyes before she left. She called the clinic and met Cobian down by the tram station, near the busy heart of Seispri. It was nice here; the sun was out. They talked for a long while and held hands. After Tzipora said her goodbyes and Cobian had said her well-wishes they asked a passing girl to take their picture.\n",
  "date": "2022-09-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 436,
  "href": "/stories/trailer/",
  "title": "Story Trailer","rgb": "191, 40, 94",
      "image": "/video/trailer.mp4",
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-09-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 437,
  "href": "/stories/horizon/",
  "title": "Stories from the Horizon",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/stories.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/stories_hufdd9bff38afc461cb3bbe8b14fa36bff_419933_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " A New Format for Stories from Vekllei # Vekllei has one hundred boroughs that are usually characterised as the foundation of the Vekllei city-state. Some, like Bakur, have only a few thousand people in them. Others, like the Great Coast, have over a million.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve been working on this project for a while now, about five years counting backwards, and in that time what Vekllei means to me has matured. In some ways, things have calcified \u0026ndash; a gift and a curse \u0026ndash; but it\u0026rsquo;s also true that the project is more complicated now than it ever was. I think it\u0026rsquo;s more sophisticated, and it reflects a more complete person.\nFor a long time now, Vekllei has existed first as a series of pictures with stories attached \u0026ndash; this very format you\u0026rsquo;re reading now, which number about 315 posts since 2017. They\u0026rsquo;re all on this site, check them out. Today, I\u0026rsquo;m announcing Stories from the Horizon, a new approach to this format that will depict Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s 100 boroughs in a series of 100 landscape pictures, woven together as a great journey featuring Tzipora.\nIn 2066, Tzipora is drifting between moments. Since high school, nothing has really worked out the way she\u0026rsquo;d hoped \u0026ndash; not university, not work, and not love. She is waiting for the shape of her life to make sense. The past seems further away and more relevant than ever before, and her future is uncertain. Rather than confront these things directly, she meets the universe on her terms, and starts a journey in the great Vekllei tradition \u0026ndash; the Visa Con, or Private Pilgrimage. The Visa Con is a winding path throughout the island of Vekllei, reaching all corners of its great Atlantic landscapes. It is a testament to the goodness of living in this world.\nStories from the Horizon isn\u0026rsquo;t the upcoming \u0026lsquo;Vekllei comic,\u0026rsquo; but it will help me create it. The comic is a big deal for me, and it\u0026rsquo;s forced me to rethink many aspects of how I depict Vekllei. Five years since the first Vekllei post, I\u0026rsquo;m replacing the burden of an established format with the lightness of being a beginner again. These stories will resemble the posts you\u0026rsquo;re familiar with, but will be more considerate in how they depict landscape and architecture in Vekllei, and will altogether produce a really important album of Vekllei landscapes that I can draw on for future projects. You\u0026rsquo;ll notice some of my online presence changing to reflect this \u0026ndash; new banners for social media and that sort of thing. Who knows, maybe Stories from the Horizon could be turned into a little picture-book when it\u0026rsquo;s done.\nIt won\u0026rsquo;t be fast \u0026ndash; pictures will (probably) come out at the same pace as they do now (I want to make them faster, I really do, I\u0026rsquo;m always trying). It won\u0026rsquo;t be consistent \u0026ndash; I\u0026rsquo;ll still want to do other concepts occasionally. And I can\u0026rsquo;t guarantee they\u0026rsquo;ll all be good. But I want to enjoy doing something new, from a new perspective and spirit, and I hope you\u0026rsquo;ll enjoy it too.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve always loved journeys, so let\u0026rsquo;s see where this takes us.\n\u0026ndash; Hobart\n",
  "date": "2022-09-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 438,
  "href": "/stories/crown/",
  "title": "The Crown and the Gi","rgb": "203, 46, 91",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/civilcrown.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/civilcrown_huf0edb8f3fc754a840470544a3a97cc8b_105465_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " The Crown # The crown depicted here is not the actual crown of the Vekllei Sovereign,1 but in fact the national hat of Vekllei and is part of traditional dress. This \u0026lsquo;crown,\u0026rsquo; so-called, is a felt or velvet hat with two peaks and a tall, narrow brim stitched with traditional patterns in gold thread. Historically, the crown was a work hat made of leather and wool, but today it is designed primarily for fashion and comfort, and is most commonly seen at ceremonies, schools and some professions like the Public Police.\nThe Gi # The gi is a women\u0026rsquo;s \u0026lsquo;quarter-pleat,\u0026rsquo; and is one of several styles of separated \u0026lsquo;pleats\u0026rsquo; used in Vekllei traditional dress. It consists of a strip of fabric about the width of a leg, stitched with Rapotenne runes to communicate familial or spiritual heritage.2 Traditionally gi were worn to the hem length of traditional skirts (at the ankle), but have shortened with skirt fashions in modernity. Similarly, many modern gi use regular Topet in place of Rapotenne, which signals a cultural shift of their use away from spiritual artefacts towards secular cultural items. The popularity of the gi today is the result of their use in uniforms in education and some professions, introducing the practice and style to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s large immigrant populations and ensuring the gi\u0026rsquo;s survival into the Floral Period. Gi mostly remain formal or ceremonial wear for special occasions, but are seeing some limited use in modern fashions.\nThe sovereign\u0026rsquo;s crown is only metaphysical, and reproduced as three intersecting rings in Vekllei logography.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nTraditional runes and names in Vekllei are considered to have power, and so are used for religious rather than poetric reasons on gi, though this practice has changed with time.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "2022-08-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-08-06-crown/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 439,
  "href": "/stories/sketching/",
  "title": "Caught Sketching","rgb": "173, 143, 132",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketching.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketching_hu758a4f1a44d48fc5af34b832dbe691d4_356598_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-08-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-08-05-sketching/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 440,
  "href": "/characters/isabeau/",
  "title": "Isabeau",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-08-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 441,
  "href": "/stories/movie/",
  "title": "Waiting for a Movie","rgb": "122, 58, 60",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/movie.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/movie_hu9cb5ca03ee992e6bc70c4c5ce463b344_411535_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This image was part of an art trade with my friend JM. Thank you JM. This picture features his red-head character, Isabeau. See his drawing of Tzipora and Isabeau down below. Most Vekllei people do not own a television, so they go to movie theatres. Even though personal appliances are abundant in the U.S. and Europe, they are in constant shortage for almost all classes of Vekllei people, and so the social tradition of the cinema is alive and well. Most people visit a few times a week for films and the news.\nLike television, the programming depends on the time of day. After school finishes at 2pm, the movies are playing stuff for kids. After the work-day finishes at 4pm, they play normal films and television programmes. 6pm is the news \u0026ndash; Tzipora always tried to catch the news \u0026ndash; usually followed by a documentary. And afterwards came the feature films, which ran late into the night.\nTzipora, Moise and Isabeau are finishing pre-movie drinks in the ruins of Lola, surrounded by night-shadows and stars. Ruins are common all over Vekllei, but no kids gave much thought to them. To them, the war was already history. This time of year, the moon has been up for hours. A science fiction movie Tzipora has been wanting to see again plays at the Royal tonight.\nIt was legal to drink as a 16-year-old in Vekllei, but it didn\u0026rsquo;t mean it wasn\u0026rsquo;t a hassle. Just as they do overseas, most Vekllei teenagers drink together in the private corners of public places, away from parents and the local nuisances, the lights of Copetpek glowing beneath them.\nJM's Submission ",
  "date": "2022-08-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-08-04-movie/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 442,
  "href": "/stories/cape/",
  "title": "School Cape",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/cape.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/cape_hua6a86ce78cac1c414956af6439ac8dd2_351058_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " A Uniform for All Seasons # Vekllei students are internationally renowned for their elegant and, in places, decadent uniforms. This reputation is built on an open-ended, modular uniform system that can be distilled into a simple assemblage of white, navy, gold and red. The spoken guidelines and unspoken curation of the Vekllei uniform system contributes to the variety and personality of Vekllei studentry, and is iconic of the country overseas.\nMost distinctive is the silhouette of the school cape, an accessory that remains in fashion in 21st-Century Vekllei. Vekllei experiences dramatic seasons, and the modularity and comfort of a wool-rayon cape suits the temperamental climate well. It can be unfastened in warmer weather, or pulled tight as a greatcoat. A rayon hood can be snapped and tied over its over-slip to make it waterproof, and the cape is easily folded and stored in classrooms.\nVekllei uniforms are designed to be lived in, and so items like shirts and shoes come off the rack of a department store. Capes are also seen outside of school, and are worn broadly throughout Vekllei society. This quirk of culture and climate contributes significantly to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s obscurity abroad and further demonstrates the inscrutability of Vekllei society. Sun-facing but cautious of the future, Vekllei is a place of anachronisms and emerging ways of living. The wealth of their schools is the wealth of their future, and so dignity and equity are deeply valued in Vekllei education.\nA Cape for All Hours # Tzipora fell asleep in her cape after school sometimes. She did not sleep much in the night so she found times throughout the day, where the fatigue took her. She was not fussy about the proper way of doing things, and was openly contemptuous of (some) traditions and (some) social graces. Cobian was her opposite. She had a structured, stable lifestyle that had flossing and bedtimes. Tzipora didn\u0026rsquo;t usually change for dinner, and if her paperback was good, sometimes she just crawled under the duvet and went to sleep in her school clothes, her cape on the floor. Cobian hated that way of living but liked that she was like that.\n",
  "date": "2022-07-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-07-22-cape/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 443,
  "href": "/stories/hyderabad/",
  "title": "Little Hyderabad","rgb": "146, 53, 62",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/hyderabad.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/hyderabad_hu2ef6988634d743b368cc7563262f8d4d_433959_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Little Hyderabad # Little Hyderabad is a community in the Great Coast, and is one of the few remaining ethnic enclaves in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s postwar period. It\u0026rsquo;s not that immigrants are rare \u0026ndash; on the contrary, about half the people you see in the street were born overseas. But the chaos of British occupation was far behind them now, and the government is more considerate in how it scatters immigrants across the boroughs. These dense concentrations of people and culture are rarer today, and that made Little Hyderabad (Petty Hyderabad, in Vekllei pidgin) both intimidating and exotic to girls like Tzipora, who liked people and adventure.\nTzipora had eaten Indian food once before. She had been tricked by some girl \u0026ndash; her friend at the time \u0026ndash; into trying a mystery beef dish doped with a criminal mix of spices. That girl thought it was funny at first, but Tzipora started crying. Her hands went numb and she thought she was going to die. She didn\u0026rsquo;t brag about her \u0026lsquo;Colombian spice tolerance\u0026rsquo; so much after that.\nShe was staying over at Ayn\u0026rsquo;s apartment in the Great Coast when she decided to visit Little Hyderabad, if only for a convenient dinner when Ayn worked late. She wasn\u0026rsquo;t quite sure what to expect. The neighbourhood was lighted enough and quite low-rise for the Great Coast, but most of the apartments had been built in Occupation and so were tired and sagging in places. She liked that, Seispri was the same. There was this place called the Palace Restaurant which wasn\u0026rsquo;t really a restaurant at all, but a hole in the wall with someone\u0026rsquo;s mum sitting in it. It smelled good \u0026ndash; really good, but there were these two big Sikh guys chatting casually with her like they knew her. Tzipora sat on the curb and watched them until they left a while later.\nShe went up to the mum and looked into the gloom for a board with the menu on it. There wasn\u0026rsquo;t one. The mum asked what kind of curry she liked. Tzipora said she didn\u0026rsquo;t know. Well \u0026ndash; how spicy did she like it?\n\u0026ldquo;Medium \u0026ndash; please,\u0026rdquo; Tzipora said.\nIt came in a wood bowl that was hot to the touch. She ate it in the street and was nearly struck by a guy on a petrol bike. The taste was so big \u0026ndash; it filled your mouth, lighting up all corners of your brain with pleasure. This wasn\u0026rsquo;t like curry from the tin \u0026ndash; it was fresh, and earthy, and foreign-tasting. She was hooked. And smugly, it wasn\u0026rsquo;t that spicy at all. How\u0026rsquo;s that for spice tolerance, she thought to herself.\nA Note on Cafés in Vekllei # Society in Vekllei is not particularly more altruistic than anywhere else, so why do people run restaurants in a place with no money? There are a few reasons.\nIn Vekllei, land (in part) owns itself, and historical use of the land is generally preserved in transfers of ownership. In practice, this means that a parcel of land with a café also comes with an apartment or cottage attached. These establishments are often central both geographically and socially, and so are highly desirable pieces of real estate. While it is possible to convert a café into a different business, land-ownership is complex in Vekllei and usually goes through the courts. You\u0026rsquo;ll require either the backing of the municipality or the sovereign (the extrapolated \u0026lsquo;best interest\u0026rsquo; of the land metaphysic) to make major renovations to a business, so that renovation is not something to rely on when looking for property. Eateries are easy to establish. The Vekllei equivalent of a \u0026lsquo;business loan\u0026rsquo; occurs through a meeting with the Sisterbank (officially Petty Bureau Labour Bank of Vekllei), which is driven by the social good in abstract. Food service is a mature industry with straightforward connections to suppliers, so almost anyone can start an eatery after a few meetings with the bank. Food businesses also scale well \u0026ndash; evidence of good trade allows you to take out greater loans easily, and unlocks options for both your establishment and your living situation. People like doing it. Vekllei is made up of hundreds of thousands of small communities, and a café, bistro or pub is at the heart of all of them. It\u0026rsquo;s a romantic sort of business that requires hard work, but offers satisfying social rewards \u0026ndash; Vekllei people value property stewardship, graciousness and community, and a restauranteur is positioned at the centre of all three. The most well-liked members in many communities are barmen and bakers. These are all optimistic reasons why people run eateries in Vekllei. It is also true that some hate doing it, but continue regardless \u0026ndash; paralysed either by attachment to the location or a legacy or some other social or legal trap. There\u0026rsquo;s plenty of bad food in Vekllei, too. The overall density of cafés in the country is however something to marvel at, and you\u0026rsquo;ll notice it immediately upon arrival.\nA Funny Appetite # Tzipora had a difficult relationship with eating, and by the time she got to Vekllei her hunger was all over the place. It was something to do with the psychology of childhood, and how old memories seemed to tell her how to feel years on. She was still picky; she was still food insecure. She would go on these crazy fasts, then overeat for two or three days. And none of it seemed to matter \u0026ndash; whether it was her god-given metabolism or a byproduct of GHD, she had weighed exactly 86 pounds for over three years. Which at 58 inches was skinny, but wasn\u0026rsquo;t half bad considering where she\u0026rsquo;d come from. The porridge makes \u0026rsquo;em short and retarded, as Moise says.\nIn a girls\u0026rsquo; school full of poor girls, everything is for keeps. The dining hall was run as a charity and it was good, but no one was kidding themselves about the sweetbread. Tzipora was told it was the brains of a lamb \u0026ndash; it wasn\u0026rsquo;t brains, it was the pancreas, but what did it matter? There was always spare sweetbread on Tuesdays, but good luck finding second serves of the roast on Sundays. The nun never gave you enough the first time, so you had to swallow it as quick as you could and go back before they ran out.\nEven now, in another country on another continent, the nun is still running out of roast. And with every meal, even with her friends, she\u0026rsquo;s got these freaky sensitivities that strum like a double bass when the menu comes out. No, she won\u0026rsquo;t share her chips.\nTzipora got really into food in Vekllei. About half of the people in Vekllei came from overseas, so it was a world\u0026rsquo;s pantry. She tried stuff she\u0026rsquo;d never had before, and lots of things she didn\u0026rsquo;t like. She had this vivid memory of eating breakfast with Lin Zhi, and her dad was in his boxers and singlet like he always was, and he brought out some wet fishy rice thing that tasted like it had been scooped fresh out of the Yangtze. She hated it. She ate the whole thing, but she hated it.\n",
  "date": "2022-07-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-07-21-hyderabad/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 444,
  "href": "/stories/vista/",
  "title": "Café Diplomacy","rgb": "122, 144, 80",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/vista.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/vista_hue99863467befbc37a8bc250fde904757_409131_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Instafilm #445. Marked \u0026ldquo;2064\u0026rdquo;. Month of the Mosses. You remembered that because it was about the same time war broke out in the Congo again. Everyone at the table had opinions about that war, but not much to do with it. Everyone asked Coretti what she thought about the war. She hated that, she hated being singled out for it. Coretti had been two years old when she left the Congo. But Vekllei people are far away from the world and curious and so they asked stupid questions sometimes.\nTzipora didn\u0026rsquo;t like the news so she stopped reading it. Sometimes she got people asking her about America \u0026ndash; what do you think about what they say\u0026rsquo;s going on in Dallas? Is it real or is some of it made up to sell papers? Here\u0026rsquo;s an idea \u0026ndash; how about you shut your mouth and stop asking me so many fucking questions.\nLeft to right: Moise, Coretti, Lin Zhi, Cobian, Tzipora. 2064.\n",
  "date": "2022-07-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-07-12-vista/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 445,
  "href": "/stories/lightbulb/",
  "title": "A Vekllei Spaceship","rgb": "195, 54, 70",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/lightbulb.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/lightbulb_hu09106c267b72c301e8ea6fbe097436b5_409774_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " A New Frontier # The stars are close to Vekllei. The common availability of space travel is the most wonderful achievement of Vekllei aerospace. It lights the furthest corners of the imagination in the postwar Vekllei spirit of play and dreams. The democratisation of space travel is in fact the democratisation of space itself, and so essential to the realisation of the Vekllei dream — as on Earth, so in the stars.\nVekllei is one of only a few countries in the world to offer regular, schedules flights to the moon. It is the only country in the world to completely subsidise the cost of such travel, democratising a fundamentally life-altering experience for its 20 million citizens.\nThese flights are operated by Vekllei Overseas Airways (VOA), the international carrier of the Vekllei Air Service. VOA does not purchase aircraft as a means of making money, nor does it operate in a fair market. It monopolises international travel in and out of Vekllei, and leverages its monopoly as a social good for the people of its home country. Vekllei people are entitled to air travel on their own terms, though personal travel requires an advance booking or some charm.\nIn this tradition, VOA’s interplanetary services operate as a loss-making social good, though they have a substantially reduced capacity compared to terrestrial travel. Booking a flight to the moon requires a copy of your identification and itinerary sections of your Passbook, and a medical checkup (including a mental health assessment) within a month prior to departure. There is a strict hierarchy of availability that cascades down through political and economic reasons for travel, with generally 10-20 lunar holidaymakers boarding a flight of 40. On average, you can expect to wait about two years for a ticket.\nThe routes are serviced by a most extraordinary spacecraft called the Aerospatiale VA-5, part of the second generation of commercial spacecraft in Vekllei. It is a machine of dreams. You are asked to exchange your shoes for slippers in the cabin, and the walls are lined with rails. Above, a glass roof shows the sky. The vehicle has three sets of engines \u0026ndash; one for takeoff, one for supersonic climb, and one for space. It takes off and lands at very high speed, and so those engines are used in reverse to brake on touchdown.\nVekllei Aerospatiale S.A. is a municipalised aircraft manufacturing and production company in Pharos (Vekllei’s ‘aviation borough’) and is generally considered the largest and most advanced of Vekllei’s civilian aerospace manufacturers. It is best known for the development of Vekllei’s first supersonic transport — the VA-500 “Sky Dart,” which was a clone of Boeing’s 6th-generation SSTs and resulted in accusations of corporate espionage and theft. The Interplanatery Transport programme, on the other hand, was almost entirely home-grown. It is an utterly unique category pf vehicle, pushed to the frontier of aerospace engineering with the development lightbulb-style nuclear thermal reactors in the late 2040s.\nDesigning a New Kind of Interplanetary Transport # The Vekllei Nuclear-Electric Commission chaired the United Nuclear Transport Working Group (NTWG) in the early 2030s, which included state industry partners like General Reactor as well as specialised nuclear energy companies like Atomic Electric S.p.M. and Future Fission. NTWG conducted a series of experiments with nuclear rocketry in Kala in 2037, and built a technology data base of nuclear thermal reactors that were eventually incorporated into early types of atomic spacecraft (see, for example, the first interplanetary military and research vessel VS-10, a successor to the X-25).\nThe Vekllei nuclear thermal reactor project (NTR) was advantaged by the existing use of uranium-233 reactor fuels in civilian infrastructure and the competitive lead of Vekllei domestic material sciences, which lead the world in investment and research. Development of the NTR was based off studies conducted by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and the West German Atomic Authority in the decades prior. The crown jewel of Vekllei astronuclear research is the Apollo reactor, present in the VA-5 depicted here.\nThe Apollo-type reactor is a gaseous nuclear rocket engine which expels no fissile material. It is an extraordinary device, and stresses materials beyond any other reactor type used in the world today. The reactor core operates at a pressure of over 200 atmospheres and a temperature of 24,000 Kelvin — over four times hotter than the surface of the sun. It represents the pinnacle of Vekllei astronuclear engineering and contributed significantly to the democratisation of Vekllei lunar territories.\nThe Apollo uses a uranium-233 hexafluoride core, a rare isotope bred from thorium in some types of domestic civilian reactors. The uranium fuels a plasma-phase fission reaction within a transparent quartz-composite bulb that is protected from the incredible heat of the reaction by a vortex of neon laced with silica. The quartz-composite is almost completely transparent to ultraviolet radiation, which passes through the bulb into a hydrogen working fluid, which expands as it heats and is expelled through the rocket nozzle to propel the VA-5 forward.\nThe Apollo system uses two types of gasses — a neon-silica composite within the quartz envelope to protect the structure of the reactor core, and a hydrogen working fluid enriched with tungsten to increase radiation absorption. It is a relatively simple fission reactor mechanically, but the science of the materials required to operate it (particularly the quartz composite, developed by the Atomic Electric skunkworks) are the product of decades of research invested by the NTWG. Unlike other NTRs, the Apollo does not expel radioactive material and so is able to be used on the lunar surface — a distinct competitive advantage. It is the only closed-system nuclear thermal reactor used on a commercial spacecraft today.\n",
  "date": "2022-05-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-05-30-spaceship/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 446,
  "href": "/stories/municipal/",
  "title": "The Municipal","rgb": "237, 175, 50",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/municipal.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/municipal_hu5cf77dd8faae5d7c73614911ba89287a_792950_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The base unit of Vekllei society are municipalities, called municipolis in their language. They occupy a uniquely intimate presence in Vekllei life as an unusual body of public affairs. Unlike other state bodies in Vekllei, which function similar to their overseas counterparts, local municipalities supersede their conventional definition as mere \u0026rsquo;local governments\u0026rsquo; and are considerably more essential to the wellbeing of Vekllei communities.\nIn Vekllei, the word municipolis refers to\nLocal government (the ‘municipality’), as made up of assemblies, trade unions, civic organisations, chapels, and school children The general legal authority of the municipality, including its petty legislature and local police Features of the community that are owned by the community, like sewers, libraries, trams and public workshops The municipal attitude of civil service and well-meaning bureaucracy The municipal principles of localism, egalitarianism and democracy1 The style and design language of community features (municipalist design; civic newda; socialist tectonicism) The architecture of the national and commonwealth state as it manifests locally, like local branch offices of government companies and ministerial offices Any sort of construction involving municipal agents or the Army Construction House (ACS)2 All land and housing that is responsible to an agent of the Vekllei Delicture system3 The ‘municipal’ in Vekllei are spaces that are both local and public. It is not just a phrase that refers to the machinery of local government, but in fact a descriptor for all aspects of the spirit of localism as an extension of Vekllei’s indigenous social anarchism. Like a lot of political concepts in Vekllei, its origins are cultural and emotional rather than legal \u0026ndash; the ‘municipalities’ of Vekllei are vessels of all goodwill afforded to community services, from schools to general practitioners. They are fundamentally ‘sun-facing’4 and optimistic.\nA \u0026lsquo;municipality\u0026rsquo; describes a Vekllei community at any scale, as well as all of its social features \u0026ndash; governance, law-making, design, civil services, infrastructure, and so on. It implies smallness and neighbourliness, but also scales up to borough-sized administrative divisions (called ‘borough municipalities’), and, to some extent, the city-state of Vekllei itself. The same principles found in the atomic communities of society grow, like trees, into every level of government and inform the Vekllei national identity. The health of the utopianism of the Floral Period is diagnosed in its communities, not its governments.\nThese principles, in addition to self-mangement and self-interest, are reproduced broadly as part of \u0026lsquo;Sundress Municipalism,\u0026rsquo; a national spirit of the Vekllei state.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe ACS is a major construction firm.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe Vekllei Delicture system refers to the brokerage of ownership between the Land Sovereign, the municipal agent and the occupier; in other words, the negotiation of land-ownership from the land itself.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nSemoisnesne, or \u0026lsquo;sun-facing,\u0026rsquo; is a Vekllei phrase for positivity and general sense of wellbeing.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "2022-05-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-05-08-municipal/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 447,
  "href": "/stories/panaderas/",
  "title": "Panaderas","rgb": "209, 49, 105",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/panaderas.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/panaderas_huc4b32c98a28c7308dcf81a25ddd1068d_298937_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "She was in Lo, at the end of its winding river, standing in the place where the interior rains met the warm currents of the ocean. A mechanical clicking annoyed her but she could not tell if it was coming from the telephone exchange box or the electric street light above her head. It had just rained and it was a cold rain, so the air was sharp, and hurt and excited her lungs.\nShe had a toothache but wouldn’t go to the dentist. For one, she did not like dentists at all. They were much like doctors. She did not trust them. It was easy to forget that Tzipora had many simple opinions that betrayed her class of person. Also, she had a medical checkup each year that lasted a couple days. It was not far away now, and she’d rather get it all out of the way at once. If it became unbearable, she thought, she could always medicate it herself.\nIt would soon be winter, and the days were shorter now. The sun went down at four, and soon it would be dark by the time she got out of school. She hated the dark and hated the cold. She thought about going abroad to a place with better weather. Maybe she would go to Barcelona and learn what it meant to be continental — people always told her she looked like a gypsy. To bake bread and drink well and marry a soldier. Maybe she could ride with the gypsies, and travel in a wooden caravan, singing and dancing in a long skirt.\nYa vienen las panaderas por las calles de San Juan, engañando a los chiquillos cuatro duros vale un pan\nDime panaderita como va el trato, la harina va subiendo y el pan barato\nAnd so on. And she would write letters back to Cobian and the rest announcing her adventures.\n“This week has been difficult,” she might say, “the French have crossed the Pyrenees and have besieged Pamplona. I have decided to take up arms to rescue my beloved husband, and have found passage there with a column of volunteers. Please send prayers and money.”\nThe leaves were starting to turn, and you found them heaped in gutters where the water drained. Her tooth was hurting. There was an emptiness inside her.\n",
  "date": "2022-05-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-05-02-panaderas/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 448,
  "href": "/stories/towers/",
  "title": "Towers in the Park","rgb": "53, 53, 62",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/towers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/towers_hufd42fea458689c3d59e4e701e25691f7_341425_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Merce was one of seven sisters but she didn’t know it. Like many Vekllei people in young adulthood, her parents were born overseas, and so her Spanish heritage was somewhat obscured.\nGrowing up in postwar Vekllei, you develop an unusual esprit de corps which supersedes almost everything about you — a civic mission to establish a place in the world regardless of your prior circumstance or heritage. This well-intentioned internationalism cut both ways; you were not much judged about where you came from, but you also did not talk much about where you came from.\nIt did not help that many immigrants in Vekllei were not particularly sentimental about where they came from — they were often outcasts or persecuted back home, and so only treacly childhood nostalgia survived integration. Foods, styles of dress, religious traditions and folk songs were all Merce knew of Spain — the actual lived memory of her father were mostly suppressed. This is how a whole other marriage and six sisters fade away. Stories like these are very common in Vekllei today.\nMerce worked as a constable in the Pharos neighbourhood of Uclo. Uclo is a big place full of migrants, so she mostly patrolled where she lived in East Uclo, which neighboured Copetpek. These were pleasant, poor boroughs of the Capital lighted by all corners of the world. They are also strikingly diverse in landscape — West Uclo is mostly pre-war, filled with low-rise Junta-era row houses and coffee shops. East Uclo contains some of Vekllei’s rare “towers in the park” — vertical neighbourhoods in the sky.\nThe Uclo Experimental Social Housing Project, called The Towers by its residents, are the result of direct intervention by the Vekllei Housing Commission. Most homes are built by municipalities with municipal-sized budgets, since they best know their neighbourhoods, but the catastrophic housing shortages of the early postwar years demanded national intervention. The Towers were built between 2022 and 2024 by innovative British contractors under the recovery lend-lease, and still dominate the landscape today. The six tower blocks are surrounded by gardens, and are closely linked to shops and transport on their periphery to other parts of the city. The VNR Metro has a station directly beneath them.\nThe Towers are unlike other examples of utopian ‘radiant cities’ because they do not function like other high-rise blocks. Distinctive in their architecture are ways to provide their inhabitants with control over their homes and corridors through great streets in the sky, full of light wells and sunlight. The spaces between apartments are used and cherished, and are extensions of living space for residents Instead of narrow, anonymous corridors and sterile lobbies, the Towers have libraries and food gardens.\nThis ‘defensible space,’ so-called, is not an initiative of municipal benevolence but in fact a foundational aspect of Newda. Home ownership is an essential feature to the Vekllei way of life, and so apartments are designed in ways that encourage residents to retain social and physical control over their residences and shared spaces — corridors are spacious and communal in the Towers, and crime rates have remained low decades after their construction.\nThe Towers today are highly desirable but largely filled with owner-occupiers unwilling to vacate. They are also a kind of post-war architecture that is now exceedingly rare in Vekllei. The Housing Commission now prefers mid-rise housing from which you can view the street, and considers more carefully the density of new construction. The success of The Towers was not enough — municipal architects are continuously experimenting with new ways of building homes for the country.\nThis suits Merce just fine, since she hates waiting for the bloody lifts anyway.\n",
  "date": "2022-04-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-04-24-towers/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 449,
  "href": "/stories/transmission/",
  "title": "Transmission Towers","rgb": "161, 161, 174",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/transmission.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/transmission_huaaf42c1d3efd01d58015cc2017aecdd6_386233_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora finished most school days at two in the afternoon. Her routine looked something like this. Catch the tram home. Walk if the weather is \u0026lsquo;interesting\u0026rsquo; (dramatic). Unlock the apartment and exchange her shoes for sandals. Bring in the bedding airing in the backyard and say hello to the stripy stray cat. Put away her books and rinse her lunchbox. Set the meat out to defrost and boil and refrigerate the water. Blow her nose. Eat an apple with a glass of milk. Listen to the news on the radio.\nDepending on what she was making for dinner, she would usually head back out sometime around three thirty and find somewhere to read in her neighbourhood. From all places in Seispri you could see its beautiful circular high-voltage transmission towers, which carried power from the 2nd Magma-Electric Cogeneration Plant to their homes, supplying them with heat and light. The neighbourhood had been bombed in the war and there were still ruins out here. You could find old paths that were abandoned, overrun with mosses and bushes. These were good places to read.\nTzipora spent most evenings alone until Baron got home. She loved Cobian, but they were quite different people and Tzipora spent a lot of time in her own head. That was probably the origin of a lot of her neuroses; she processed things slowly and inwardly; a cascading reaction of memories and identity splitting and colliding. You could hear the transmission towers hum with electricity. She felt that if her skull wasn\u0026rsquo;t so thick you could hear her brain humming, full of thoughts.\n",
  "date": "2022-03-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-03-23-transmission/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 450,
  "href": "/stories/contrails/",
  "title": "Contrails","rgb": "111, 194, 218",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/jets.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/jets_hud8a3239d5441ad0acd9309a95673c325_557787_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei has the some of the clearest skies in the world, and they are criss-crossed by distant vapour trails of jets coming and going. They bring the world closer together. It was funny to think that Peking and Tokyo were just a few hours away \u0026ndash; it felt very cosmopolitan; very democratic. It emphasised the smallness of the world.\nTzipora would look at the livery of the planes to figure out where they were going. Red and white was Vekllei Overseas Airways \u0026ndash; which meant anywhere, really. With quiet nuclear engines, they could fly for thirty years before deciding where they wanted to go. Blue and white was the Vekllei Air Service, which flew domestic routes between Commonwealth destinations.\nIt didn\u0026rsquo;t really matter what colour they were \u0026ndash; on their lonely island in the Atlantic, anywhere else seemed far away. Peking was Paris, as far as she was concerned.\n",
  "date": "2022-03-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-03-17-jets/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 451,
  "href": "/stories/liminal/",
  "title": "In-Between Stations","rgb": "203, 140, 79",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/liminal.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/liminal_hua1e312313f6fbdb28a2aaffb3daf210c_345727_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Out on the branch lines there are in-between stations. Sometimes they emerge out of history as relics of dead and dying towns overlooked by the timetable. Others are a quirk of the rail company machine \u0026ndash; workshops and line junctions where people switch trains. As you get further and further out of the city, and the trains get older and older, these in-between stations become more common. Between Yana and Kotaismoyeh there is an irregular line serviced by steam trains that are over a hundred years old. Vekllei National Rail thinks in centuries.\nThere is, perversely, a cultural incentive in Vekllei to prioritise experiences over efficiency or productivity. In Vekllei, the company is responsible for not just a material product but an emotional service to its employees and customers, which makes up part of the bizarre social theatre of the Vekllei economy. Vekllei National Rail has the means to rework its rural timetables, modernise its rolling stock and build faster lines. These features are a straightforward economic benefit and a convenience to the people who travel with them. But that is, as the Vekllei colloquialism goes, \u0026ldquo;thinking like an American.\u0026rdquo; Companies in Vekllei, year after year, become more inefficient, apathetic, and playful. Not simply because they are badly managed or poor, but because they have a human emotional interest in cultivating the \u0026ldquo;new way of living\u0026rdquo; \u0026ndash; the Floral Period way of living.\nIn this system, steam trains continue to run not just because they are objects of history and sentimental to their ridership, but because they are old, easily physically conceptualised, and slow. So too are under-utilised routes serviced. It is not that Vekllei National Rail is unaware of their inefficiencies \u0026ndash; Vekllei National Rail is in fact asserting its cultural priorities on you, and expects you to weather those inconveniences. If that sounds sinister, it shouldn\u0026rsquo;t \u0026ndash; every aspect of Vekllei society is like this, and contributes to the richness of their lives. In one sense, it is manipulative and managing, but the opposite is also true \u0026ndash; to scrap old rolling stock, rebuild lines and close stations would also coerce people into new journeys and places. You only need to look at the alternative mindset in America, where wealth and accessible consumerism has, by the late 21st Century, stripped out most of what makes life worth living. Their lives are more convenient and empty than ever, which has contributed to a cultural slump that in part spurred the collapse of Ford and the Dallas Secession.\nTzipora sits at an in-between station and she understands this. This is what makes Vekllei National Rail so smart, she thinks. There is a direct, tragic parallel between the collapse of the Ford Motor Company and why she is waiting forty five minutes for the steam train to the village of Vos. Vekllei people don\u0026rsquo;t realise it because they are immersed in their own intricate ways of thinking, and they will never understand living in the shrill, hedonistic fantasy of the middle class. Being so wealthy and so empty that you\u0026rsquo;re sitting in a motel room trying to figure out if you want to\u0026ndash;\n\u0026ldquo;Whatchoo thinking about, Zelda?\u0026rdquo; Moise asks.\n\u0026ldquo;Nothing,\u0026rdquo; she says.\n\u0026ldquo;This sucks. How much longer?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;I dunno.\u0026rdquo;\n",
  "date": "2022-03-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-03-16-liminal/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 452,
  "href": "/stories/wine/",
  "title": "Lunch in the Park","rgb": "169, 175, 79",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/wine.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/wine_hu9c7196b1f9401e7b37990007826a9c9a_350962_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei has several cold-weather wine producing regions in its south, concentrated around the boroughs of Horn and Mopapa. Local staples are hearty reds like cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir, since whites are served with dessert or as apéritifs. Wine in Vekllei is a product of mass consumption, and is often drunk with meals even by teenagers.\nTzipora liked the drowsy, warming feeling of it. She liked it so much that she kept clear of it except on occasions. Sometimes that occasion is a birthday or a sad night in. Sometimes that occasion is 3pm in the Ivo St Park with her friends. There was plenty to go around.\n",
  "date": "2022-03-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-03-15-wine/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 453,
  "href": "/stories/habit/",
  "title": "Kicking the Habit, Pt. 1 of 12","rgb": "32, 93, 115",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/habit.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/habit_hua3161d000e7a1e60cb69997432cf85d5_429489_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-03-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-03-14-habit/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 454,
  "href": "/stories/lunch/",
  "title": "School Lunch","rgb": "237, 165, 155",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/lunch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/lunch_hu113992163f70b8da6577a41d34cda952_361018_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ Read more: A Vekllei Breakfast In Vekllei schools, they take an hour and a half for lunch most days. Food is a complicated subject here, as a ubiquitous demonstration of the Vekllei cultural tradition and its relative scarcity compared to consumer societies.\nFood unable to be grown for the house is usually obtained from grocers. Those grocers put in orders for produce from agricultural companies or their representatives — usually ‘petty’ (informal) bureaus. Some of these are farms, but more commonly in cities they are greenhouses and hydroponics factories. Rather than manage the stock of individual staples and products, most grocers elect to enrol in automated inventory management through the Central Product Inventories (CPI) system, which are computerised and manage delivery automatically.\nThe problem with this system is that it is both very open-ended (it contains most commercially available foodstuffs in Vekllei) and very unreliable. Central Product Inventories have frequent backlogs for specialty products, particularly foreign foods, and so only staples are available regularly. As these delays cascade down to the consumer, they reveal a system that has no real intention of giving everyone what they want, all of the time.\nBecause of this, many Vekllei people in cities dine out most nights. In the context of schools, this means that the provision of hot, nutritious lunches for students was considered necessary. It is the only real way to guarantee the food intelligence and cooking ability of the postwar generation, who may not otherwise cook at home.\nIn some schools, parents and teachers help student volunteers cook. In others, like Tzipora’s Moshel St School, classrooms take turns cooking for the rest of the school. Depicted here is Tzipora’s packed lunch alongside an example of a lunch provided by the school.\nTzipora’s Lunch # If not eating leftovers, Tzipora likes things that she can eat with her fingers. Processed meats and sausages are readily available in Vekllei and replace cold cuts of meat most days. The heaviness of the blood sausage and kabanos is alleviated with some fruit paste and cherry tomatoes.\nPickled foods keep for a long time and so are a great way to fill out a packed lunch. Tzipora eats her pickled onions first, otherwise her breath smells like onion for the rest of the day.\nTzipora is also sweet on soft drinks, and rotates through different flavours to keep them interesting. The carbonation suits the crackers and sausage well.\nShe has fruit tingles, a chalky tablet sweet, for dessert. The cake isn\u0026rsquo;t for her; it\u0026rsquo;s to trade for other sweets. She\u0026rsquo;s eaten enough of it at home already.\nSchool Lunch # Stews, sometimes called casseroles in Vekllei, are a staple of local cuisine and are an easy and tasty way to feed hundreds of students. They’re made out of ingredients of abundance — the sorts of root vegetables and lab meats churned out en masse by the inflexible hydroponics system of the country. Most schools also have gardens and produce all of of their own vegetables, in this case herbs, carrots, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes.\nThe stew is eaten with bread, which is often shared between friends. A portion of cheese is provided for dessert — today, a semi-hard Norwegian-style cheese (called Keysmi in Vekllei) with cloves and cumin.\nMost government schools serve small portions of wine with meals, even to primary school students. Milk is an available substitute.\n",
  "date": "2022-03-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-03-13-school-lunch/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 455,
  "href": "/stories/chapel/",
  "title": "All Chapels for All Women","rgb": "37, 63, 76",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/gov.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/gov_hu7a8cc29fbae7aa5dd0972a9b18b942c6_378302_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " As we come marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,\nA million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill-lofts gray\nAre touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,\nFor the people hear us singing, \u0026ldquo;Bread and Roses, Bread and Roses.\u0026rdquo;\nAs we come marching, marching, we battle, too, for men \u0026ndash;\nFor they are women\u0026rsquo;s children and we mother them again.\nOur days shall not be sweated from birth until life closes \u0026ndash;\nHearts starve as well as bodies: Give us Bread, but give us Roses.\nVekllei people have a right to organise in their work. This principle is expressed in the structure of the economy, in which cooperative enterprises form company ballots that go on to inform commercial and industrial practice. Collections of individual trade unions may form bureaus, massive monopolies of organised workplaces cooperating and competing under the bizarre structure of the Vekllei moneyless economy. These are expressions of a mobilised democratic workforce which sustain the country in their self-interest, and are a defining characteristic of the Floral Period.\nOrganisation also exists outside the workplace. Their negotiations occur with the municipal and state authorities, and are a common means by which groups of people express their grievances and strengthen each other. The most well-known of these are Vekllei’s Chapel system — the unionisation of local women.\nChapels are localised by community. Tzipora was at first very sceptical of the Chapels, which had offered her membership upon her arrival in Vekllei. You have to understand, Tzipora was in a crisis of inferiority at this time, and considered the ingratitude of the ungovernable female organisers to be naïve and entitled. She was convinced otherwise by Ayn, who was a moderate and carefully-spoken person.\n“You want to integrate in Vekllei, don’t you?” She asked Tzipora. “This is what integration looks like; the Chapels are an expression of our democracy. A means of support and celebration; to have people know and care for you. There is no political commitment.”\nTzipora found Chapel meetings to be friendly and informal, characterised by shared meals and conversations of joys and grievances. Local Chapel № 23 was a social club of individuals made strong by their trust in each other. Tzipora sat silently at the end of the Chapel hall, an old concrete building with a flat roof built after the war. It had the appearance of a midcentury church. She ate her bread and sausage with her fingers and listened to the women talk amongst themselves. Children ran around, playing chasings. It was not like any place she’d been before.\nWell-wishes to all this International Women’s Day\n",
  "date": "2022-03-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-03-09-chapel/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 456,
  "href": "/characters/maya/",
  "title": "Maya",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-03-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 457,
  "href": "/characters/penelope/",
  "title": "Penelope",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-03-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 458,
  "href": "/stories/drawing/",
  "title": "Private Fantasy","rgb": "167, 84, 51",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/drawing.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/drawing_hucbab7cb0c92e81c583309ae90492c454_386001_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "\n\"And who is this lady?\" \u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s Tora, a Palace God who comes to Pachinki,\u0026rdquo; Tzipora said, stumbling over her words. \u0026ldquo;The other Goddesses don\u0026rsquo;t like her much, um, and she\u0026rsquo;s quite powerful. She goes to Pachinki to unite mortals against the Palace.\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;I see,\u0026rdquo; Baron said, not following but nodding politely. \u0026ldquo;She looks a lot like you, doesn\u0026rsquo;t she?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;Oh, well, I don\u0026rsquo;t know,\u0026rdquo; Tzipora said, brushing away the question with another piece of paper pulled from her schoolbag. \u0026ldquo;This is her mortal bodyguard, Hyssop.\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;What kind of name is Hyssop?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s made up.\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;I see. Why not use normal names?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;Because I keep telling you, it\u0026rsquo;s not a normal world, it\u0026rsquo;s a completely different one,\u0026rdquo; Tzipora whined in that way she did when you weren\u0026rsquo;t keeping up. \u0026ldquo;Hyssop means \u0026lsquo;Guardian of the Poor\u0026rsquo; in his language, so it\u0026rsquo;s sort of a metaphor.\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;You\u0026rsquo;ve put a lot of thought into this.\u0026rdquo;\nTzipora talked fast and anxiously. Pachinki was a private fantasy \u0026ndash; a dreamscape of magic and planets and monsters. She was showing Baron her drawings because she shared everything with him. But now, in his hands, her drawings looked all wrong. The people looked weird and her story seemed childish. It was embarrassing.\n\u0026ldquo;\u0026hellip;The Palace only exists because they believe in themselves\u0026hellip; The moment they lose faith, they lose their powers and collapse their space in the Marble Realm,\u0026rdquo; she said, then stopped and rubbed her nose. \u0026ldquo;Sorry, I\u0026rsquo;m just going on and on. I get boring quickly.\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;No, you don\u0026rsquo;t,\u0026rdquo; Baron said. \u0026ldquo;Is Tora planning to rob them of their faith?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;Do you mean it?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;Mean what?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m not being tedious?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;No, of course not. I want to know.\u0026rdquo;\nShe looked relieved and rubbed her nose again. \u0026ldquo;Yes, she does, but it\u0026rsquo;s not that simple. You see\u0026hellip;\u0026rdquo;\nThey sat there in the afternoon sun for over an hour, talking, shuffling papers.\n",
  "date": "2022-02-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-02-14-drawing/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 459,
  "href": "/stories/rivers/",
  "title": "New Rivers of the Atlantic","rgb": "52, 148, 112",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/afterschool.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/afterschool_hu490ffa0a99f8d275a046e9b7709dbc9a_431305_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This character was illustrated as a gift to my friend 🔗Qweezi. Happy Birthday! In Vekllei, you met all sorts of people. All nations passed through the Home Islands, some to visit, others to live. Tzipora met a great many of them in her time at school.\nSydney came from Kosava, an anarchist island commune in the Lesser Antilles we know as St Kitts and Nevis. Kosava is an independent member-state of the Kalina Islands, which describes a series of autonomous islands in the Caribbean. Together, they form the Kalina Sovereign, an independent full member of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;Atlantic Commonwealth,\u0026rdquo; which is something between a federation and a superstate. It was anarchism in the confusing Vekllei sense of the word \u0026ndash; self-organising, democratic, and totally dependent on bureau overproduction to furnish the gaps.\nCommonwealth members, including Vekllei, are united in a belief in Floral Economics and share a lot of social features between them, including education, security, healthcare and bureau labour. A Kalinago girl is not that different from her sister in Vekllei, so it turns out. Together they represent a vanguard of island states in the Atlantic, a self-determining Commonwealth of different people resisting the hegemonies of Europe and the Americas with new ways of living.\nHitori was like Tzipora; she was not from Vekllei. Her parents were Japanese and she\u0026rsquo;d come here as a baby. It seemed like every second person was an immigrant, which indicated a shift in what \u0026ldquo;Vekllei\u0026rdquo; meant in the 21st Century. Under the various regimes of the Junta, it had been a colonial turn-of-phrase to describe the Algic-European metropole in the Home Islands. These days, it was more open-ended and democratic.\nVekllei has been multicultural since its origins as a meeting place of Scandinavian and Algic peoples. Today is no different, except its promise reaches farther and many more are arriving than before. Things are going well in Vekllei, and the quality of life can be exquisite \u0026ndash; provided you have certain expectations of what an \u0026ldquo;exquisite life\u0026rdquo; looks like. That was what kept people coming; an emerging Vekllei and the happiness of their children.\n",
  "date": "2022-02-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-02-01-rivers/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 460,
  "href": "/stories/reading/",
  "title": "Changes to the Patreon","rgb": "220, 117, 128",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/reading.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/reading_hu52bcd70ab07f5a55b176115f19a3104e_349303_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This post announced changes made for patrons of Vekllei. Read and discuss the changes made in this post on Patreon 🔗here. Hello everyone,\nHobart here, creator of this whole thing. For a couple years now I\u0026rsquo;ve maintained a small 🔗Patreon for those interested in supporting my work. Like most Patreons, this has operated monthly.\nFrom now on, patrons will only be charged on the release of a comic chapter. This could be once a month, but will more likely be a bit longer. This means a little less money for me, but also less anxiety about producing enough public work to earn the money pledged to me. It seems more fair, and the comic will be worth it.\nSo what will change? For patrons, nothing will change except that you will be charged less frequently. You will continue to recieve precisely the same benefits I\u0026rsquo;ve promised, including future merch and roles on the Vekllei Discord.\nI will continue to produce standalone posts, much as I always have \u0026ndash; but instead of battling a creeping anxiety of losing patrons if I don\u0026rsquo;t meet a post quota, I\u0026rsquo;ll be working more creatively and flexibly according to the needs of the comic. My work will be better for it, I reckon.\nIn summary:\nSupporters will now be charged on the release of each chapter of the comic, instead of monthly. Merch and Discord rewards will be the same. You won\u0026rsquo;t pay as frequently and will get more for your money as chapters come out. If you\u0026rsquo;d like to support me in other ways, maybe buy a postcard when the MillMint Shop launches! If you have any questions, just leave a comment below and I\u0026rsquo;ll help you out.\nThanks always,\nHobart/MelonKony\n🔗Discuss on the Vekllei Discord.\n",
  "date": "2022-01-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-01-12-reading/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 461,
  "href": "/stories/police/",
  "title": "Policing Anarchy","rgb": "245, 151, 112",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/cops.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/cops_hu3b0edf8598de5d166c4641ae47d0518b_2924607_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Police in the Epoch of Rest # Vekllei is a place divided between public and private spaces. The public markets are very public — centralised, controlled, documented and secure. The private markets are very private — anarchic, wide-ranging, interpersonal and unseen. Police in Vekllei work in both of these spaces, maintaining the peace and navigating their unique criminal topography.\nVekllei has three police forces, one for each of its features as a country. These are the Police of the Public, Parliament, and Crown, reflecting the people, state and sovereign of Vekllei respectively. The diagram attached depicts seasonal variants of male and female uniforms, as well as some of their equipment.\nCosmopor — the Police of the Public # Cosmopor (comoisniyan denporitsa, lit. Public Police) are divided between municipalities in neighbourhoods known as commissions. A commission is lead by an Inspector or Qualified Constable. Each neighbourhood commission, which might comprise an area of thousands of people, is further subdivided in constabularies, which are lead by — somewhat predictably — a constable. The constable knows each person in their constabulary, and visits each residence regularly to confirm the welfare of their community and hear their grievances. Neighbourhoods in Vekllei are quite autonomous and culturally distinct, and so are its Public Police.\nTheir uniforms are modest and pleasant, and like other uniforms in the country have multiple components that are worn at the discretion of the officer in day-to-day duties. Uniforms depicted in this graphic are mostly fully-featured as to demonstrate full dress uniform.\nPublic Police carry rubber or extendable batons as well as a pistol, usually a revolver. Some choose not to carry a sidearm.\nVenopor — the Police of the Parliament # Venopor (fedecenoayan porits, lit. Parliament Police) are the national police who deal with violent crime and matters of importance to the state. They have a reputation for being heavy-handed when confronted, and are widely respected. In summer, women wear a short half-cape (called a capeteht or “small cape”), and both men and women wear long wool capes in winter.\nIt’s worth remembering that the Venopor are servants of the state and rule of law first, and serve many police duties that are legally distinct from the Police of the Public. These include rapid response to and reinforcement of the Public Police, special persons protection, infrastructure security, and counterterrorism. The Police of the Parliament include many different branches, including Vekllei’s 🔗Coast Guard and its 🔗Gold Sappers.\nThey carry sabres, which are still in use in Vekllei today — perhaps the only Western country in which they are useful equipment. All Venopor staff are trained in use of a sabre, which is fairly blunt and rarely causes deep cuts. They are used to sweep crowds, to point and command, and against people carrying blades. More common methods of subjugation are a whack with the hilt of the blade — a chance to move along before meeting the business end. Although women have the option of carrying a rubber baton in daily patrols, they don’t have the intimidation effect of the sabre.\nTheir uniforms are inherited from the Royal Guards of the prewar Junta years, with some floral-period modernisations. In some cases the Venopor may carry machine guns, particularly around government buildings and essential infrastructure — usually a domestic variant of the Israeli Uzi family. In these duties, they may also wear military-style helmets. They are a the floral-period descendants of a police tradition that has lasted a thousand years, and take their work seriously.\nAuspor — the Police of the Crown # Auspor (ausiosmayan porits, lit. Police of the Land) are the police of Vekllei’s “Crown”. This means they serve a body called the Landscape Sovereign, which is not a human person but a metaphysical abstraction of all of Vekllei’s physical territory. They swear their oath to the Sovereign — not to Vekllei’s people or its government.\nLike the Venopor, the Police of the Crown are a paramilitary force equipped primarily to confront crimes against the environment, the country’s biosecurity, and its immigration and customs. The military police of the Crown Armed Forces are also part of Auspor, since Vekllei’s military also serves the Sovereign. This means that Auspor polices criminal acts of and against the army, including tribunal courts.\nIn addition, Auspor includes several unique branches of policing relevant to environmental emergencies, including diving recovery squads, ranger units for patrolling forest and tundra alike, and remote search outfits.\nBecause of their variety of work, the uniforms depicted here are a sample of rangers employed in policing national parks and Crown Lands, which have natural borders with Vekllei. The appearance of Auspor officers varies wildly, since it includes both customs officers and skilled animal trackers alike.\n",
  "date": "2022-01-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-01-11-police/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 462,
  "href": "/characters/tzafi/",
  "title": "Tzafi",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2022-01-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 463,
  "href": "/stories/showa/",
  "title": "100 Days of Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/showa.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/showa_hu6c39cb342f46fdea3d4328e1ec8a5a18_163732_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Hello everyone,\nThis is 2022, Year of Vekllei.\nFor the next 100 days I’m going to do something for Vekllei every day. These \u0026lsquo;somethings\u0026rsquo; could be\nPosts you see, exploring Vekllei Articles on 🔗the website, including upcoming pages on Government and new character pages. Inking of comic pages \u0026ndash; leading up to a release soon. It\u0026rsquo;s been a long time coming but it\u0026rsquo;ll be worth it. New illustrations for use in merchandise(!) Working on new website features or the upcoming MillMint shop 2021 was a pretty bad year. I won’t go on about it much because it’s not very interesting and it’s not the point of my writing this. Let\u0026rsquo;s only hope suffering makes good art!\nThis last year, I haven\u0026rsquo;t finished what I\u0026rsquo;ve wanted to finish, and it\u0026rsquo;s caused some anxiety for me for months now. This is my New Year\u0026rsquo;s resolution to you all, including my 🔗beloved patrons, who I thank sincerely for sticking with me through a really inconsistent creative period.\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s resolutions are kind of corny, and they don\u0026rsquo;t work out for everyone. So don\u0026rsquo;t think of this as a resolution as such \u0026ndash; 2022 is a nice even number, and it\u0026rsquo;s a good time, arbitrary as any other, for a change in the winds.\nMy goal is to have something to show every other day or so. I\u0026rsquo;ve got a long list of ideas I\u0026rsquo;m going to work through. Hopefully this will provoke a change in behaviour from me.\nWhy not join me? Pick up a pencil and I\u0026rsquo;ll draw with you. You can come say hi at the 🔗Vekllei Discord server and catch me drawing sometime.\nThanks again. I\u0026rsquo;m only at the start of the journey here. But this community is where it begins.\nWarm regards,\nHobart/MelonKony\n",
  "date": "2022-01-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-01-03-100-days/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 464,
  "href": "/stories/2022/",
  "title": "Happy New Year","rgb": "170, 198, 203",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/newyear2022.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/newyear2022_hu5dcb8a5be905beeab175a800d3fe73f1_286831_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ Welcome to 2022, year of Vekllei. Here\u0026rsquo;s to a great year of art, dreams and love. Tzipora spent the lunar solstice of 2067 with Ayn and Baron on one of the warm steam lakes of Flous. The lake was near where Ayn\u0026rsquo;s parents lived, and they sailed across it on a wooden boat her father had made nearly 50 years before. Time was cyclical out here; it folded in on itself.\n",
  "date": "2022-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2022-01-01-new-year/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 465,
  "href": "/tags/2021/",
  "title": "2021",
  "section": "Tags",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2021-12-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 466,
  "href": "/categories/fantasy--spirits/",
  "title": "Fantasy \u0026 Spirits",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2021-12-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 467,
  "href": "/stories/meta/",
  "title": "Meta Moments","rgb": "50, 71, 48",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/valin.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/valin_hub7ce96f321fcff77d0fc132f3b2df6bb_469464_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This image was a gift to my friend Bez. Thank you Bez. Occasionally I\u0026rsquo;ll join an \u0026ldquo;art trade\u0026rdquo; to change things up and break the repetition of working in one universe with one set of characters. Bez is a friend of mine and a talented artist, and so for Christmas we decided to produce secret works involving characters and places we don\u0026rsquo;t usually draw. There\u0026rsquo;s nothing more exciting as an artist than seeing through new eyes \u0026ndash; that\u0026rsquo;s the magic of having someone illustrate your people and places.\nMy piece, finished today three days after Christmas, depicts the Vekllei crew encountering Valin and her aphis, a sort of canine-feline hybrid creature. The setting is based on photographs I took of where I grew up, amidst temperate rainforest on my property. Bez\u0026rsquo;s contribution is below. I love it.\nI like the attention to detail on Tzipora and the golden wattle on the right. Vekllei has wattle as canon \u0026ndash; it doesn\u0026rsquo;t make much sense, but who cares? It\u0026rsquo;s too lovely to exclude from utopia. Bez also shared a preliminary sketch with me, seen below.\nThank you Bez \u0026ndash; let\u0026rsquo;s do it again sometime!\n",
  "date": "2021-12-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-12-29-meta/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 468,
  "href": "/stories/friends/",
  "title": "Hall Notes",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/friends.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/friends_hu4dd612f75d65abb07151760059cf37df_388634_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Cobian was a complicated person. When Tzipora met her, she was burdened by her parents and wracked by small faults that glinted openly at the other girls in the school halls. She was insecure, out of touch, a little childish, and desperate to be liked. Tzipora was a fair bit like her, but carried those traits in different ways. It was funny how people, similar in disposition, came across so differently.\nCobian used to say what she thought people wanted to hear. Kids can sniff weakness a mile off. Desperation reeks. Her lame jokes and self-conscious friend-making were tolerated politely, but she didn’t have a regular group to spend recess with until Tzipora came along. Tzipora pitied her and liked her eagerness to establish a boring sort of friendship — they were both lonely and really just wanted to do the things normal girls do. Sleepovers and phone calls and that shit.\nTzipora has coarse, bouncy hair made up of many hundreds of spirals and tufts, which she straightens. If you tousle it, grains of sand might fall out, like she’s just ploughed her head into the ground somewhere. Cobian has shiny, conditioned hair with a severe fringe and, at school, a bun that meets regulations that don’t exist. That was what they were like, as friends. You could tell by looking at them.\nCobian is not like how she used to be. She knows herself now and isn’t so distraught by sad memories of primary school. It was funny how people so different improve each other.\n",
  "date": "2021-12-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-12-23-friends/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 469,
  "href": "/characters/andre/",
  "title": "Andre",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2021-12-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 470,
  "href": "/stories/rumba/",
  "title": "Vekllei Rumba",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/rumba.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/rumba_hu94e14537c2415610405baa6e8f5201e9_314778_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Coretti Adoula was a good singer but didn’t sing much. Tzipora had regarded her politely but distantly for a while after Moise started dating her in 10th grade. It was an awkward thing. Tzipora was not quite sure how to strike up a conversation — maybe she was a little insecure.\nCoretti was an Afro-Russian, but had lived in Vekllei since she was six. She spoke without an accent and was well-accustomed to life in Vekllei. Tzipora had been born in Vekllei, but here she stood, short and stupid with the clumsy, childish accent of a foreigner. She was very self-conscious about her foreignness.\nThere was also a contest of appearances. Moise was Tzipora’s first male friend, and so she paid attention to who he liked. Coretti was tall, sweet-natured, pretty and had dark skin of the kind Tzipora hadn’t seen before. Every time she saw Coretti, Tzipora was suddenly aware of how short, bad-mannered and pale she was. In some ways, they were opposed in his orbit, competing for Moise’s time and affection as satellites.\nAbout the time Moise and Coretti started dating, Tzipora was spending a lot of time in clubs, immersing herself in the Lola jazz scene. It was a fantastic time to be in it — Lola is a neighbourhood of migrants, and you had all the sounds of the world ringing out across the borough. Tzipora loved jazz — she liked any kind of interesting, syncopated and percussive music — and Coretti’s brother was the drummer in a Congolese rumba band called Rats de Brazzaville. His name was Andre. Tzipora knew him well. Rats de Brazzaville were a big band with a big sound, which made them a big deal for dance clubs. She had probably seen them play a dozen times.\nTalk about a small world. When Coretti brought it up, the usually quiet Tzipora looked up — Andre Adoula? From the Brazzaville Rats? How do you know him? All it took was that coincidence and a love of rumba, and all of Tzipora’s misgivings about Coretti were forgotten. Why should she sit here and pity herself? It feels better to dance, doesn’t it?\n",
  "date": "2021-12-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-12-18-rumba/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 471,
  "href": "/stories/moneylessness/",
  "title": "On Moneylessness",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/coast.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/coast_hu8dc20bef15ddb24ab92cdebbdcf85c4a_381763_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This essay was published on 🔗millmint.net. Read it here. Pictured: Tzipora and Cobian cycle around the cliffs in the borough of Totoyan, on Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s East Coast. Up ahead lies the Ocean Atlantique Restaurant and Public Gardens, run by the Totoyan Municipality.\nThe Vekllei Person # What good is more writing about theories and the methodology of country-constructs? More importantly — how is it authentically convincing to the person who has lived their entire lives immersed in their own ways of living? Vekllei does not use money — the purpose of these notes are to demonstrate how such a thing works, immersing Vekllei’s participatory economy in a human lens, and articulate the motivations, biases and assumptions of the average working Vekllei person. This is what a Vekllei working life looks like from the ground up.\nIt is important to recognise Vekllei people do not think like you.1 They are not particularly more altruistic, hard-working, or kind to each other. They are, however, affected by their environment, which has introduced foundational shifts in their basic assumptions about the world. These differences can be illustrated in three features of life, which illustrate the worldview of the typical Vekllei person.2\nMetaphysical assumptions # The Vekllei person understands that there is an afterlife, and that spirits, demons, and a collection of mythological creatures play a part in human life. She does not hold contemporary conceptualisations of landscape \u0026ndash; she does not think of nature except in abstract, transcendental ways. She fears and respects nature, which is afforded sovereignty by Crown Lands under the Landscape Sovereign. She does not believe humans are caretakers of nature. She does not believe in a god, but if she does it created and maintains both the human and natural worlds. She believes the purpose of people is the comfort of people and the good stewardship of human lands. Existential assumptions # The Vekllei person is prepped from a young age to explore their adult personhood. Schooling fosters his interests and technical skills, and prepares him for the casual pace of Vekllei working life. He is motivated to accomplish a social or professional legacy before he dies. He is not particularly anxious about his future. He considers the quality of life in Vekllei to be the best in the world, without having lived anywhere else. Material assumptions # The Vekllei person understands objects in physical and social dimensions of utility. Life is full of small art and beauty for her, accessed frequently and easily through cafes, cinemas, picnics, galleries and travel. The spatiality and physicality of her surrounds are of keen interest to her and open interest in the mechanisms of society. She is comfortable and skeptical about new things. Despite the introduction of robotics into Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s industrial and civilian infrastructure, about 90% of people are employed in some capacity. With an illustration of the average Vekllei person fresh in our minds, let us explore why people continue to work in an age without money.\nWhy do Vekllei people work? # Because they have to, and because there is only so much else to do. In a broad sense, activity is a feature of all people, and work in Vekllei fulfils the desire for activity because it is easy where wanted and rewarding where needed. If work is not easy or rewarding it is mostly dispensed with; Vekllei people are not particularly self-sacrificing.\nWhen work is conceived of in a wage, time and effort are calculated against each other, and removing the wage collapses most reasons for working. In Vekllei no such arrangement exists \u0026ndash; wage labour has not really existed in postwar occupation and free society. We are several generations removed from the age of compensation and into an epoch of rest, which has recalculated waking hours along idling interest and curiosity. Work exists because it is essential to the functioning of society, and because it provides a meaningful method of exploring interests and skill-building. At no point are Vekllei people expected to desire work \u0026ndash; it is something they have to do, and its burden is minimised at great expense.\nThese are sentiments that make sense immersed in their context \u0026ndash; made real by the animistic, satisfied, and curious type of Vekllei person. They are also sentiments made possible only by Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s architected strengths and concessions.\nPersonal luxuries (jewellery, appliances, domestic aid, mechanical dishwashers, specialised food appliances) are rare, but luxuries of free time and entertainment (underfloor heating, cafés, music venues and bars, alcohol, pleasant public gardens and commons) are abundant and easily accessible. Most commodities require personal effort to obtain, but are usually worth the effort (houseplants are found and potted personally, good meat is hunted and prepared, and artisanal furniture is often traded). Vekllei has a thriving barter economy built on favours, goodwill, and lending a hand. These social dimensions of the economy are facts of life for every person \u0026ndash; everyone is aware of the state of things. This is a society where housing, transport, food, small art and beauty are cheap, and convenience is expensive. It does not work equally for everyone \u0026ndash; it was never designed to. The simplicty of moneylessness is actually very complicated, and the Vekllei economy is made up of countless markets bristling with politics, friendships, family, grudges and good-neighbourliness. Outside of bureau monopolies, which meet the basic needs of society, the Vekllei economy is anarchic.\nIn a previous article, these ideas were characterised as the three precepts of the Vekllei economy, articulated as follows.\nAusterity. Petty austerity lurks at the fringes of Vekllei life. Commmon items are frequently in short supply, and require a \u0026ldquo;trial of ownership\u0026rdquo; to acquire. This prevents Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s reliable transition to a consumer society, which would strain bureau production and require more factory work. It also serves a cultural purpose in localising consumption and incentivising work, as a reward mechanism. Apathy. Small businesses in senrouiva3 markets are not provided with reliable methods to expand their business or indeed employ more people than one is capable of knowing. This protects the bureau trade monopolies and bureau-size companies, which are critical aspects of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s consumer manufacturing. Play. Like children, Vekllei people participate in work as a social ritual and act out roles in society. This play is productive and contributes to the economy, a fact that does not delegitimise its status as a social activity. People work because they are built to work. This is not an altruistic idea. It is important to seperate contemporary Western conceptions of wage labour from the reality of Vekllei work, which is largely social and purposeful. Not all work is pleasant, a fact that requires a series of cascading solutions.\nIt is improved. Retail, hospitality and service work in Vekllei are jobs justified only by their dignity. There are only a handful of sales assistants in Vekllei, and their roles are independent and well-respected \u0026ndash; they serve satisfaction, not the company. These usually include working with customers personally to prepare complete outfits, improving their confidence, and studying and practicing fashions. In addition, many people in such work are employed by friends or family, or otherwise work only part time. It is rewarded. Work is rewarded materially in Vekllei, despite misconceptions. In some work, the benefits are small and inconsequential \u0026ndash; good leftovers and access to scarce goods among them. Most commonly, real estate is constructed by the municipal agent and protected for certain types of work, the ownership of which can be wrested away from the employer with extended service. Health care workers are provided for in Vekllei in overt ways \u0026ndash; Vekllei is not, by principle, egalitarian. It is shared. Although large companies retain cleaning automen, most smaller enterprises and senrouive share the burden of cleaning among staff periodically, as at home and school. Schools, similarly, rely mostly on parent volunteers to provide lunches and run extracurricular activities. Since it is common in Vekllei for only one parent to work, much community organising and child-rearing is provided by stay-at-home mums and dads. It is automated. Most factory labour in bureaus is automated by automanufacturies, which require only minimal supervision and are usually integrated into the place of work. Automanufacturies produce the vast majority of shelf goods in the country, including consumer, industrial and agricultural products. The production of automen4 is, mostly, automated in the same process. It is conscripted. Essential labour, particularly in construction, is conscripted through Compulsory Service. The Army Construction House is the largest construction outfit in Vekllei, and is responsible for much of rural construction in the country. It is done without. Vekllei life is missing or unreliably demonstrates features of consumer societies overseas, including many personal electronics, autos, and appliances. Most people have only a handful of personal items and a few pairs of shoes, although their housing and accessible entertainment is of much higher quality. It can be difficult to conceptualise working for free without first immersing yourself in a society where comfort is universal, there is little else to do, and there is no upward mobility through idleness. Powerful cultural biases, particularly as they pertain to consumption and community, are potent social pressures. Power itself is abundant in Vekllei and awarded freely to people seeking it. Jobs carry respect, since employment with dignity almost always requires agency, and agency requires independence and problem solving. And where a job is unsatisfying, unenviable, unrewarding, and unfulfilled, it is dispensed with. Not because the Vekllei state is particularly noble \u0026ndash; instead, it cannot do anything but accept it.\nMeaningful work for ordinary people # Although a great many specialisations exist in Vekllei for its millions of people, jobs are treated of constellations of tasks. For three days a week, the skilled tradesmen works in their specialty, but like it is in school, the fourth day is often dedicated to tasks of company maintenance. Such tasks may include cleaning, food preparation, gardening, maintenance and clerical work. No one likes it, but it has to be done. Labour can\u0026rsquo;t be purchased and there are few people willing to clean or repair uncompensated \u0026ndash; so it remains the company\u0026rsquo;s problem. Since most companies in Vekllei are cooperative, and are owned by the people who work in them, it more precisely remains their problem.\nMost people in Vekllei work three or four days a week, depending on their job and place of employ. Some may work more or less. People particularly desperate to avoid regular employment will find it is easy to do so, with the exception of Compulsory Service, which requires four years from every person sometime between the ages of 18 and 35. You are supposed to register employment with the Employment Commission5, but there are many hundreds of exceptions to employment readily available to the social parasite. That is the precise Vekllei phrase, in fact \u0026ndash; \u0026ldquo;social parasitism\u0026rdquo; \u0026ndash; which surfaces in government reports and local gossip alike.\nThe straightforward requirement to be employed, called \u0026ldquo;Contribution,\u0026rdquo;6 suggests tremendous waste and inefficiency \u0026ndash; this is accurate, and is considered a feature of the system. Work is both productive and a social benefit to society, and its actual efficiency is of little concern except in the context of bureau companies,7 which support the basic comforts of society. The senrouive economy, in all its anarchy, best resembles a modern post-industrial service economy. The product is in fact the managing, serving, networking and strategic thinking of the senrouive class of people. The scale and gross productivity of senrouive work in Vekllei is nearly three times that of the bureau-backed industrial/agricultural monopolies that come to mind when imagining typical \u0026ldquo;bureau business.\u0026rdquo;\nWith much of manufacturing automated by automanufacturies, it is easy to overlook less dramatic efficiencies in the industrial workplace, which now requires only half the staff it did a hundred years ago. In general, automation has affected Vekllei slowly and to its benefit, allowing the country to trade potential increases in productivity for less work. Less work was an essential reaction to the famines and indigence of the early postwar years, and has become a cherished feature of postwar Vekllei society.\nThis loose collection of notes indicates some of the differences in the working disposition of Vekllei people and what their work looks like. Like most summaries of the so-called \u0026ldquo;Vekllei bureau system\u0026rdquo;, this brief collection of facts tends to paint an excessively sentimental picture of working life in Vekllei \u0026ndash; but there are few ways otherwise to describe the utopian premise of the Atlantic commonwealth, and its ongoing reevaluation of the imagined end of history.\nVekllei is a nation of immigrants of many cultures and beliefs, but it is also true that their children are raised in a Vekllei society with overt Vekllei cultural foundations. This trend is documented thoroughly by the Religious Affairs Office of the Commonwealth Culture Secretariat (COLSEC), which wrote \u0026ldquo;animistic features of the indigenous commonwealth emerge consistently in new generations, even where traditionally displaced by prior religious structures, correlating with the emergence of multicultural Upen faiths.\u0026rdquo;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nAs collected by the 2055 Vekllei Census and reported by the Ministry of the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s Statistics Directorate.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nSenrouive, lit. \u0026ldquo;private work.\u0026rdquo;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nAutomen are synthetic biological robots used extensively in industrial applications in Vekllei.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe Vekllei Employment Commission is an office of the Commonwealth Labour Secretariat, which oversees all employment across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s commonwealth of nations.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nTranslated from Consosva, a portmanteau of consivismiosn sovis, or \u0026ldquo;contributory service.\u0026rdquo;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nAlso known as Venrouive, lit. \u0026ldquo;public work.\u0026rdquo;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "2021-12-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-12-09-moneylessness/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 472,
  "href": "/stories/hanukkah/",
  "title": "Happy Hanukkah",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/hanukkah.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/hanukkah_hue57f5f13e35ac94122c6d20e92555df7_347965_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora lived among Jews in the industrial neighbourhood of Seispri in Lola. They had come over after the troubles in Tel Aviv and their persecution in the Dallas States. She had seen that; that was where she learned of her own history. It was not through faith or practice or family that she had discovered her Jewishness, but persecution — the unfolding story of all Ashkenazim.\nA lot of them had come to Vekllei looking for the opportunity to establish some sort of satellite community for the diaspora too embittered or radical to return to Israel. In the early days Vekllei resembled collapsing British mandates of years past, ripe for nation-building and dramatic new ways of living.\nThat heritage was a lot to bear, especially for a girl who didn’t consider herself Jewish. She was still a Catholic, lapsed only in her affection for God. She didn’t know anything about Jews; she barely knew anything about Vekllei. All her life had been one way of living, one way of knowing herself, and now she lived with a Jewish man in a foreign neighbourhood that didn’t use money.\nOnly Greeks, Irish and Italians celebrate Christmas in Vekllei. The people of Seispri celebrate Hanukkah near the same time. Tzipora, in her crisis of identity and faith, championed both — because why shouldn’t she? With the Catholic sabbath on Sunday and Shabbas on Saturday she got both ends of the deal. God knew she needed the rest.\nHappy Hanukkah, everyone.\n",
  "date": "2021-12-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-12-01-hanukkah/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 473,
  "href": "/stories/tingles/",
  "title": "Fruit Tingles","rgb": "68, 135, 71",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/tingles.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/tingles_hu9daef3e52249351aa982763b8994dc86_309869_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This image is a website-exclusive sketch produced as a masthead for the 🔗November Patreon update. The typeface in this image is a preview version \u0026ldquo;Nay Aug\u0026rdquo; by Alex Tomlinson, who you can follow 🔗here. Fruit Tingles (Fodsa Spas) are a chalky sweet popular in Vekllei. They fizz in your mouth and come in several flavours. They\u0026rsquo;re as popular today as they were a hundred and fifty years ago when they were first produced by Montre Confectionary in 1936.\nThey\u0026rsquo;re exported and enjoyed all over the commonwealth, from Kala to Kalina.\nClockwise: Hen, from Kus ( Kala), Bez, from Demon, Tzipora, from Seispri (Vekllei) and Sydney, from Montesur (Kalina).\n",
  "date": "2021-11-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-11-27-tingles/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 474,
  "href": "/stories/socialism/",
  "title": "Socialism, Backwards","rgb": "79, 121, 78",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/socialism.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/socialism_hu6ef06314bb6df8e0e81241179919123a_279802_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora had become interested in the blossoms of Vekllei society around the same time she became aware of them. That’s actually what they were called, in the pidgin of Vekllei ideology — the tenets of petticoat-style socialism were called blossoms.\nVekllei maintains it is not ideological; it is in fact very ideological — you are looking at a state that is afraid of its skeleton. In the dawning weeks after Vekllei’s catastrophic war, the British occupiers (British Recovery Expedition to Vekllei, or BREVEK) released into the streets some 16,000 activists who were rotting away in political prisons. The majority of these were communists or sympathisers, and found themselves vindicated in the ashes of prewar society. “Look at what we told you,” they wrote in the first issue of the Worker, “our country is in ashes.” It is no coincidence that the Vekllei Communist Party was founded on March 3rd, two days after the occupation of the country. They treated the British as liberators.\nThe release of political prisoners coincided with the legalisation of labour unions, which exploded in membership — some 4 million Vekllei, or 60% of the country, were union members by 2011. Most were not aware of what a union did or what purpose they served, but membership could prevent starvation and they were independent from the BREVEK occupying apparatuses.\nThis rise in unionism surprised and alarmed BREVEK commanders, who could see trouble brewing — the unions were a keg, and the communists were an open flame. Since union leadership was usually sympathetic towards the Marxists, and were effective at mobilising their members, it was not difficult to imagine the communists seizing their advantage once occupation ended and 200,000 British troops left Vekllei.\nWhat resulted was the Vekllei Interim Prosperity Government, an early preparation for Vekllei independence orchestrated to temper communist support. The Interim Prosperity Government deliberately excluded existing political activists in its advisory board, but did not exclude radicals altogether — instead, communism was defanged through the invitation of “loveable radicals” in the arts, scientific, industrial and legal communities. These people were often sympathisers, but they were not equipped or networked to mobilise the labour unions, and so were seen as a favourable strategic concession by BREVEK. Another interesting fact is that over half of the Interim Government were women — simply because they were not well represented among Vekllei Communist Party leadership.\nThis is how, in an absurd way, Vekllei’s first independent government was made up mostly of communists but was not a communist government. And it was precisely this disruption of the Marxist revolutionary process that resulted in Vekllei’s unusual syndicalism, which on weekdays moves fluidly between state centralism and anarchy. It was precisely the sort of government vulnerable to displacement, if not for the threat of violence from 200,000 British occupiers. In fact, the Vekllei Communist Party was nearly driven underground by direct intervention by BREVEK command in 2014, after a general strike. The final blow to the Party came in 2015, with the outlawing of political parties in parliament and a transition to floral-style nonpartisan democracy.\nLin Zhi was a Chinese communist, and as of her sixteenth birthday, was now Vekllei, too. Her family, mostly princeling descendants of long-marchers, had been caught up in the purges and were now considered counterrevolutionary. There are many such communists in Vekllei. Moise’s girlfriend, Coretti, came from the socialist Congo and the USSR. Even Baron’s parents had been Labour Zionists. Vekllei was a very exciting place to be, full of memories and bitterness and optimism for an even-handed future, one in which unfavourable worker-peasant-soldiers, postcolonial refugees and dispirited Jews alike might dream of a truly multiracial socialist state.\n",
  "date": "2021-11-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-11-20-socialism/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 475,
  "href": "/stories/coast-guard/",
  "title": "The Vekllei Coast Guard","rgb": "50, 72, 123",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/coastguard.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/coastguard_hu1a072730b436c5f54fa06d9b81918755_390771_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Vekllei Coast Guard (officially the Navy of the Parliament and distinct from the Navy of the Sovereign, i.e. the “Royal Navy”), is part of the country’s broad paramilitary commission and functions both as a civilian maritime police and military naval fleet depending on the mission.\nMost often, its duties are conventional — search and rescue, law enforcement, and maritime patrols across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. Its civilian parliamentary charter, however, is complicated by its participation in grey-zone operations and presence in international waters, largely as part of Vekllei’s ongoing fight to maintain sovereignty over the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea fish stocks. In this sense, Vekllei is among the most enthusiastic enforcers of the fishing treaties in the world.\nIn the postwar period, the Coast Guard has come to resemble a blue-water navy, and has a history of hailing, boarding and detaining foreign-flagged ships in international waters for encroachment on sovereign fish stocks on which Vekllei is dependent. In the typical siloed fashion of the Vekllei Armed Forces, it retains its own logistics and support companies, and even has its own commandos. This quasi-militarisation benefits the country’s political interests, which are to control the Atlantic and maintain security in its far-flung commonwealth that includes several independent states that do not otherwise retain coast guards of their own.\nDepicted above is an armed sailor with the Coast Guard, and to his right his captain and petty officer, who wear white uniforms in the tradition of the Sovereign Navy. Pictured also is a hydrofoil motor launch used to inspect cargo on vessels bound for Vekllei’s ports, and a heavy-lift HMVV-56 “Tuna” helicopter used for boarding and resupply between ships.\n",
  "date": "2021-11-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-11-14-coastguard/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 476,
  "href": "/stories/years/",
  "title": "The Best Years of Our Lives",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/years.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/years_hud4d9b3d795ffa5b9607e94c0ffdc8779_283409_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Kaohsiung changed hands maybe four or five times. Each time the city fell, another company of Chinese burrowed themselves into the city, and each time it took about two months to drive them back into the sea. This was mostly done by the KMT and the Americans, who had heavy equipment. In Taiwan’s mountainous interior, a rainbow coalition of former colonies, indentured states and free-world ideologues fought brutally against the invasion of 2045.\nIt was a real nasty kind of fighting in a real nasty kind of war. Insects and dengue fever. Most of the fighting outside of Taipei happened close-quarters, or even hand-to-hand. His time there affected the rest of his life, and changed the way he looked at the world; looked at people. It forced a reconsideration of the sort of creatures we are, and the sort of management we need to keep ourselves from doing what we’re capable of doing.\nWhat he liked about Tzipora was that she understood what it was like to come out the other side of a thing like that. She did not want to be rehabilitated; she did not want to be treated or talked to or sympathised with. She wanted to move on and pick up where she’d left off — form some kind of life for herself in Vekllei, among decent people. The real killer of civilian life is the dysphoria of the supermarket, and the synthetic quality of domestic society in the shadow of the extraordinary hyperreality of violence.\nHe’d wasted the best years of his life in a jungle in Asia — that experience was now part of who he was. Tzipora understood what that meant without asking. She was not so different, after all.\n",
  "date": "2021-11-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-11-04-taiwan/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 477,
  "href": "/stories/party/",
  "title": "30 Minutes to Midnight","rgb": "187, 187, 93",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/cosme.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/cosme_hu3d64fc9f7af07e3695e260d0a36a5c0e_381537_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Moise’s father worked for Cosme Car, and a big company like that throws a big party each year to celebrate the passing of the summer solstice. It was a good excuse to dress up and drink. This time of year, the sun never sets on the north of Vekllei. It gently touches the horizon and begins to rise again. Tzipora caught a train up the coast with Moise and his dad and they arrived before seven.\nThe big Cosme party was thrown at its headquarters and manufacturing plant in Bohs each year. At the centre of the facility was Auto Tower, which rose 50 floors above the ground and housed workers at the plant. General wisdom was the higher you climbed, the better the party.\nMoise had dressed up as Zeus, but Tzipora didn’t know much about the Greek myths and thought he was Caesar. Moise, for his part, thought Tzipora had decided to accompany him as Helios, god of the sun. She didn’t know who or what a Helios was, but didn’t want to disappoint him so she pretended. She had actually been aiming for the indigenous warrior spirit Acovo.\nWilly the spy was there, on the lawns away from the music. He wasn’t a good guy — he was an officer with AB/NI, and exemplified the fraying edge of Vekllei’s wide-cast intelligence net. He was creepy. Tzipora, in her upside-down view of things, liked him well enough and struck up a conversation with him. Willy liked that about her; he liked the comedy of this schoolgirl chatting with this monster about their old war stories. Moise had never met him before, and the guy put him on edge.\n“You’ve gotten so tall,” Willy said. Same joke every time he saw her — Tzipora wasn’t getting any taller anytime soon. She shook her head.\n“What are you doing here? Who invites a guy like you? Did you get reassigned as a bodyguard?” Tzipora asked. He snorted.\n“I’m actually headed north for a couple days. Thought I’d stop in and have a beer. Feels like a long time since I seen you — hey, why don’t you tell your old man to give me a call? I’m rotating out in a few weeks and wouldn’t mind the work. He’s hard to reach now, Director Desmoisnes.”\n“He doesn’t like you much, you know that.”\n“Yeah, I know that.”\nIt was a good party. They lay about on the lawn drinking and talking like pantheon gods. The sun was low in the sky, and Auto Tower was glittering thirty minutes to midnight.\n",
  "date": "2021-11-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-11-01-party/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 478,
  "href": "/characters/willy/",
  "title": "Willy",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2021-11-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 479,
  "href": "/stories/autumn-love/",
  "title": "Autumn Love",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/autumnlove.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/autumnlove_hub95b8c22cea1d01c9b64c8b345fb4810_124779_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This image was produced as part of a series of concept art for merchandise. ",
  "date": "2021-10-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-10-31-love/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 480,
  "href": "/stories/garden-city/",
  "title": "Garden City","rgb": "70, 81, 89",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/gardencity.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/gardencity_hu24d58f6c1854701138cc76f8daaea660_491074_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei is growing; it was an age of wonder. But it was still old enough to smell like wood smoke on cold days, when a thick mist travelled down from the highlands, filling and overflowing the valleys between glaciers, gentle and cool, leaving dew upon you. This is Vekllei; city of water and light.\nWet weather was Tzipora’s favourite because it made Vekllei feel like home. She recognised the smells better than she did the city. On rainy days Lola is filled with an urban fragrance of wood smoke and malt, which arose as vulcanised rubber and chemical soup washed down rain-slicked pavement.\nA friendly petrichor rose out of the bitumen and soil around her. The smell changed with the temperature — warm rain brought out the ghosts of vehicle exhaust, which smelled like synthetic petrol and a quiet alkali vapour that took some of the chemical sting out of it. Cold weather erased most of the dusty tang of the roads, and brought out water and weeds. Depending on where you were, your unconscious could be led through wet, knee-high grasses or distinct pleasures like fresh bread on a sill or wintry wood fires. Almost always, the distant smell of sulphur reminded you of Vekllei’s volcanism. In America, she had associated the smell with sewerage — here, it was friendly and warming and ancient.\nAbove all, you could smell flowers. Vekllei is a city of flowers; it is a city of gardens. It is a commonly repeated fact that Vekllei has the most flowers per person in the world, and that fact is represented authentically in its decadently florid urban boroughs. Forget-me-nots, jasmine, lupines and mountain avens are a staple of every street. They are regarded not as a decoration but as a natural feature of all human landscapes — is it any wonder their people are so happy and well-centred?\nThere is a Newda concept called Dumousiantopet (lit. Parted Sublime) which means “beautiful and seperate,” meaning human architecture and nature should be separated. This is often mistaken abroad as a rejection of natural design or urban gardens — nothing could be further from the truth. Vekllei is full of nature — in some places, it thrives in its own natural kingdoms, called crown lands. In others, it cohabits pavement, streets, and parks alongside humans. What ‘dumousiantopet’ means is that architecture should not inform nature, and that the greatest gift of architecture towards nature is decay, not imitation. Upen is fascinated with decay and its processes, and Newda inherits this fascination with impermanence. Only in Vekllei do you see such radical modernist architecture encroached by mosses.\nAfter a rain, Tzipora walked home. Usually she’d take the tram up the hill to Seispri, where she lived, but it was better to walk on days like this. The city was subdued, and familiar places revealed new dimensions to the senses. The soft, flat light of mist brought out images in old concrete. Surfaces shone bright with water. A glimpse at the other side of the coin.\n",
  "date": "2021-10-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-10-23-garden/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 481,
  "href": "/stories/gymslip/",
  "title": "New Roses",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/gymslip.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/gymslip_hu17d1ec0e9071137557fb1cbbeb3bd339_512870_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "When she was a girl, her mum took her shopping once a year. She said it was important to keep your dignity, though they didn’t have much money. That was Mette.\nWhen Tzipora relayed the memory to Baron, he said, “it’s strange you call your mum by her first name.”\nPlastic packaging was on the floor. In the mirror, a carousel of images. A new Zelda stares back, colourless and hollowed under the burden of the future. On a rail car headed east, the future is simple — don’t fall beneath the wheels, avoid the bulls at sidings, and beg bread off the experienced bums. Out here, in the department store, it was complicated. Disgust glints in a half-turn; nausea.\nThis was, in total, her third uniform. The first was Colegio Charry in Bogotá — that was plaid, and had a frock like a fairytale. The second was St Mary’s, in Sacramento — grey and blue; miserable like the girls. This was Vekllei’s. She liked it; she liked being in uniform again. She thought she looked sharp.\n“I never even said goodbye. I hated her so much for sending me away I wouldn’t hug her in the airport… in the terminal, where you say goodbye. She said, ‘I love you, Tzipora,’ and I didn’t say a thing back.”\nBaron watched, listening like he did.\n“I hope when she died, wherever that was, she didn’t think of that moment in the — oh, Christ, I can’t even say it. I can’t say it. That’s what I left her with.”\nHer new self stared back, small and colourless. She looked at her eyes. Dull blue eyes. Behind them, memories clattered around. She suppressed them as they emerged in panic. One after the other, cut down ruthlessly and left to float, malformed and incomplete, further along stream of consciousness.\nMum died alone because — it makes me want to jump off a roof — so dramatic, it’s pathetic — but it does, the feeling is real — dramatic like all insecure people — how about we think about the task at hand — this gymslip is my size but doesn’t fit — I’m still losing weight — she died alone —\nWhy was it that ghosts emerged in moments like this? They flocked to liminal spaces, guiding the paths between the past and the future.\n“It fits better than the skirt,” Baron said. “It’s a shame they don’t have the in-betweens for the shirt, but I think it looks good. But I shouldn’t be the judge of such things. Ayn’ll be back in a minute.”\n“I know it’s not your thing, Baron. Thanks for doing it, though. It means a lot.”\n“I think you’re just lucky the colours suit you. They never did me. Your skin goes well with the flowers; pale skin goes well with red.”\n“‘D’you think so? Should I try the red skirt again?”\n“It looks good like this.”\nThe memories had quieted; a warmness had flushed her nerves, cleaned them out and soothed the aches. She got that feeling with Baron. He had no reason to care about her and he did, and that meant a lot. She couldn’t admit it to him or herself, but in her heart he was already her dad. She hoped Mette was looking over her; she hoped her mum thought he was nice too. She would pray again tonight, at her bedside, and tell her she was sorry again. Tell her all about Baron and her life in Vekllei now.\nRed suits me — Tzipora thought to herself — I think I look good like this.\n",
  "date": "2021-10-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-10-12-gymslip/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 482,
  "href": "/stories/vekllei/",
  "title": "The World’s Last Great Utopia",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/vekllei.png",
        "webp": "/images/vekllei_huf99a0f4dcf2523717473e1be6d47c3aa_5934182_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box_3.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei is the last great utopia of the world, defying attempts to predict the curve of progress and standing alone in its radical embrace of moneylessness and the goodness of people. This is what it looks like; here are its streets; its cities and villages.\nA map lays a framework to conceptualise what the lives of these people might look like. You can seperate nature from the city, and places from the paths. You can see where they choose to visit and live, and where lie fresh springs and cool stone lava fields so remote you might never see them.\nIt is easy to forget that Vekllei insists it is a city state \u0026ndash; that the Home Island, pictured in this map, is a single continuous neighbourhood. There is visible urban settlement across the entire southwest to northeast, which are home to the majority of Vekllei’s 22 million people. Elsewhere, the description is stretched thin, with large swathes of forest and wilderness separating boroughs. Vekllei is divided into 100 boroughs of varying size and population, demarcated by gold borders here, further undermining Vekllei’s \u0026ldquo;continuous city.\u0026rdquo;\nThis is Version 1 of an evolving Vekllei map, complete with strategic features and road network down to the branching street level. We see here the \u0026ldquo;main thoroughfare\u0026rdquo; of the transport system, meaning regular timetabled commuter lines for rail traffic and streets of connection (like alleys, dead-ends and cul-de-sacs). Not depicted is Vekllei’s extensive subway, tram and trolley bus network, among other methods of transport not explicitly shown. This is \u0026ldquo;Version 1\u0026rdquo; because it’s incomplete \u0026ndash; there are many more features to include, which will be available as the map is updated at 🔗millmint.net.\n\u0026ldquo;Vekllei\u0026rdquo; is about space and our place in it. Much of Upen, Vekllei’s religious animism, is concerned with raw physicality and the deconstruction of human conceptualisations of it. To this end, there are only two types of spaces in Vekllei: the human and the non-human \u0026ndash; true wilderness. The farm is an extension of the city, and rural living in Vekllei is no closer to its ambition of \u0026ldquo;eliminating the industrial burden\u0026rdquo; than the tangled concrete jungle found in the Great Coast. Hayao Miyazaki described as much in a theatre programme in 1997:\nThe biggest reason why mountain animals decreased so much is agriculture. It’s human arrogance to say that the country scenery is beautiful. A farm basically takes away the chance to grow from other plants. It’s more like barren land. The productivity of wasteland is higher than that of farmland. It’s the same for other creatures. It’s because of the time (we live in today) is such that I have to even think such things.\nVekllei sharply divides its human and empty land, which it calls \u0026ldquo;Vekllei\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;nature\u0026rdquo; respectively. Nature cannot be owned by Vekllei; Vekllei is a human construction. As such, wilderness is sovereign and untouchable, and Vekllei people continue to be afraid of nature. Areas on this map marked \u0026ldquo;Crown Land\u0026rdquo; depict nature, with no permanent human settlement permitted \u0026ndash; although thoroughfare is occasionally granted for road and rail.\nAlthough there are many immediate conclusions available to the viewer here, they are better expressed towards a finished product. For now, please enjoy the product of dozens of hours of hand-wrought cartography, and look forward to future iterations with more detail and features. If you have suggestions as to features to include, or notice errors on the map, let me know in the comments below.\n",
  "date": "2021-10-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-10-07-map/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 483,
  "href": "/stories/recess/",
  "title": "Recess on the Roof",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/recess.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/recess_hu63aa6d0cb28e93723b88ab09158ad5c8_319360_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora had smoked since she was thirteen, and so she did for the rest of her life. What started out as a nasty habit in California’s decaying boarding school system eventually became a social medicine in the severe anxiety of her school years in Vekllei. She used her packs strategically, afraid of building a dependence that would dilute nicotine’s effects on her frayed nerves.\nYou were not allowed to smoke in government schools. Tzipora retained a pithy contempt of such methods of social control and smoked anyway, on the roof. She’d read science fiction there or listen to foreign radio. Sometimes she would read dangerous books — things she liked to pretend could get her in trouble. Tzipora’s brief phase as a self-described Bolshevik began during recess on the roof of the Lola 6th School’s science block.\nShe was actually indulging in a sort of play-fantasy of the past; a revision of herself. There was nothing illegal about what she was doing, but she liked to pretend there was.\nIn a place of deep shame were fragments of a memory. Echoes that shot white hot in her mind — a telephone booth; a lady answers; the face of a girl who told everyone she was pregnant; a handsome teacher; two students dragged out of class; rumours about communists; the end of year dance; four arrests and a suicide.\nIt was a memory she could not disclose even to herself, and so she recast her role in it subconsciously. She should have been dragged out with them. Maybe if she’d been less of a traitorous bitch, she wouldn’t have made the call.\nSo she read her banned books on the roof, smoking like she shouldn’t, sometimes hoping someone would come up there and shoot her for it.\n",
  "date": "2021-10-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-10-04-roof/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 484,
  "href": "/stories/foreignfoto/",
  "title": "ForeignFoto","rgb": "184, 159, 30",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/foreignfoto.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/foreignfoto_huf113f552a6a8013bff0faf669c220a23_383786_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Even as Vekllei people suffer, in the postwar troubles and demographic crises of their fledgling utopia, the media apparatuses of Vekllei have become highly skilled at documenting and confronting suffering here and around the world.\nVekllei people are, by any metric, exquisite documentarians. Fifty years ago, all news reporting was subject to censor by the insecure Atlantic Junta. Today, Vekllei has cultivated timely, comprehensive and impactful journalism among its disparate news organisations and film units. Pioneers of film camera technology, Vekllei journalism is not situated as a point of national pride but an international duty, in the spirit of the United Nations.\nMost of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s news-of-record is consolidated under the Vekllei Telegraph and Record Administration1 as the Vekllei Press Bureau2 (PB), which is not a single publication or broadcaster but several. Much like any other bureau, it acts as a trade association — in this case, a correspondent\u0026rsquo;s club — in which multiple industry leaders co-operate under the bureau frameworks. A bureau helps with funding and political support, and also fosters cooperation (and manages grievances) between Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s news media.\nForeignFoto is the foreign correspondent arm of the Vekllei Press Bureau. Although it cuts together its own documentaries, it is mostly made up of freelancers making their own way around the world. It was formed shortly after independence to cover the War in Taiwan, where it produced several groundbreaking films on sexual assault among British and Vekllei troops, and the Fall of Kaohsiung. These films were later used as evidence in the Taipei Trials.\nForeignFoto is also by far the most dangerous unit in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s overseas journalism. With its origins in war photography, ForeignFoto embeds themselves on the front lines, often undercover, and wherever the going gets tough. Many of its greatest reporters have died dramatic deaths: Simon Nowak was killed in a helijet crash, Sofia Phillips was assassinated by the Stasi, and George Stephens was murdered. Each of them contributed tremendously to the cinematic record of the 21st Century, in ways that have benefited all mankind.\nAlthough documentary films are screened in Vekllei every evening as part of cinema news programmes, the International Press (IP) distributes ForeignFoto\u0026rsquo;s footage and work to news organisations worldwide, with the condition they remain free, unaltered and non-proprietary. The IP is an initiative of the Vekllei Press Bureau and the International Federation of Journalists (a global union of journalists and UNESCO affiliate) to foster free press and open reporting. The IP archive, located in the International Federation of Journalist\u0026rsquo;s building in Vekllei Proper, is perhaps the most comprehensive archive of news footage in the world.\nTzipora never worked for ForeignFoto, but did accredit the Montre Student Gazette with the Vekllei Press Bureau during her tenure as Editor-in-Chief in 2078. This accreditation allowed her to install the Gazette\u0026rsquo;s first foreign correspondent in Paris later that year.\nNow referred to now the Commonwealth Records and Telegraph Directorate\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nNow referred to now the Commonwealth Press Bureau\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "2021-09-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-09-27-foreignfoto/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 485,
  "href": "/stories/studio-zelda/",
  "title": "Studio Zelda",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/gymslip.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/gymslip_hu0d5b120a47c0f7030afad963e92c60b1_180935_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This image is a website-exclusive sketch produced as a masthead for the 🔗september Patreon update. The typeface in this image is a preview version \u0026ldquo;Nay Aug\u0026rdquo; by Alex Tomlinson, who you can follow 🔗here. ",
  "date": "2021-09-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-09-26-millmint/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 486,
  "href": "/stories/picnic/",
  "title": "Roadside Picnic",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/picnic.png",
        "webp": "/images/picnic_huf15700cbe2324e4aa1156f49b2c2eb8f_3794259_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box_3.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This post is an animated PNG without sound. Download the video with sound here. Such was spring. The breeze was cool, but the sun was warm on the skin and everywhere. They’d been driving for a couple hours, Tzipora and Baron. They’d crossed the big glacier and come down the other side into Troll, where there was nothing much for miles around. It was about then that their tyre blew and the little Cosme M40 limped over to the side of the road.\nLemons and lemonade; Tzipora decided it was time for lunch. They ate canned salmon in the sun. She’d baked olive bread the day before and they pulled it apart with their hands. After lunch they opened a bottle and Baron had a cigarette as he figured out how he was going to get the spare out from under the luggage in the front.\nTzipora had no such concerns. They had plenty of wine and didn’t have to be in Fyori until tonight. The bonnet of the Cosme had heated up in the sun and it was warm on her back. Tzipora was getting to the good part of her favourite book. The radio had a good song on. She was living one of the best moments of her life.\n",
  "date": "2021-09-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-09-15-picnic/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 487,
  "href": "/stories/spirit-meet/",
  "title": "Tzipora Meets a Spirit",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/seispri.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/seispri_hu71a41030a750df37169ba9aa95973137_307839_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei is a land of spirits. All things have some life to them, but spirits are something special. Up in Tiyousn, seispri (lit. spirits) wander freely, attracted by sulphur and silica waste pools discharged by the Magma-Electric Flash Plant nearby. Rich with minerals and warm to the touch, these milky ponds are gathering places for creatures of the spirit world.\nVekllei people do not understand spirits; they will never understand spirits. The word itself is nearly meaningless, applied broadly to any creature crossing over from unseen spatial cages. The only thing that characterises a spirit is its human intelligence and, by association, their complicated personalities. Most appreciate gestures, even misplaced ones, so it never hurts to leave offerings and announce your intentions in Vekllei’s autonomous Crown Lands.\nTzipora was outside of Equetti, in Tiyousn, looking for mineral pools that were the right temperature to bathe in. Finding a favourite mineral pool was a right of passage in Vekllei, and locations to good ones were often secrets given only to close friends and family.\nShe was about two kilometres south of the Flash Plant when she saw it and screamed.\nSpirits always provoke raw terror the first time. They are not of nature; they are like humans. Their intelligence distinguishes them from the physicality of their surrounds and complicates their behaviour with cultural constructions. It is not like seeing an animal. It is like seeing beyond the horizon of death and the things that live beyond it.\nTzipora was now looking at herself, dressed in some approximation of the things she wore. She thought it was here to kill her. Shaking, and stupidly, she spoke to it like a reflection in a mirror: “You scared me.”\nAt first she thought it might be a demon — a creature that hurt people. But it — Tzipora did not know what else to call it — sat facing herself, staring unblinkingly. Demons didn’t sit; they beat you to death.\nTzipora had been doing a lot of reading about spirits, but had no real reference for this apparition. It would be a terrible thing to run away — she’d probably offend the spirit, and it was bad manners anyway. She did not know what to do, so Tzipora said hello and introduced herself, and then said something nice about the weather. She spoke slowly, carefully. The spirit sat there, looking at her.\nTzipora asked about the mineral ponds, and if there were good springs to bathe in, but the spirit said nothing. It looked as real as herself — the lichen on the rock was disturbed beneath the spirit’s skirt. Her skirt, actually — was the spirit pulling its outfit from Tzipora’s mind? Could it sense thoughts? She kept talking politely, about how nice the walk out here was. She paused for a moment and worked up the courage for a compliment, then told the spirit she liked its clothes. She was worried it might provoke a response, but the spirit stayed still.\nHer heart was pounding, but Tzipora could suppress fear. She opened her pack and pulled out her lunch, spreading it out next to the mineral pool before them. She had a bar of Gosmo milk chocolate. She asked if the spirit would like some. She unwrapped the foil, looking at it, and broke off a row of squares. She put two squares in her own mouth, and took the other two squares and held it out. The spirit didn’t move. Moving slowly, Tzipora reached over gently and placed the chocolate on its arm. As she did so, her fingertip brushed its arm — her own arm — and she was filled with unease. It was as real as she was; its arm was warm to the touch.\nTzipora had stopped chewing her chocolate. It melted on her tongue. In the back of her mind she thought about getting a cavity. A moment later, the spirit and the chocolate disappeared. It just stopped being there. Tzipora looked around, afraid it might be sneaking up on her, but it was gone.\nShe broke off two more squares, packed her sandwich back into her pack and walked briskly back to Equetti. As she passed by the ponds, her fear eased — there was some abstract sense, perhaps, that she had been invited here. Maybe spirits liked chocolate.\n",
  "date": "2021-09-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-09-11-spirit/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 488,
  "href": "/stories/gun/",
  "title": "The Gun",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/gun.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/gun_hu09f6660e84a8869788932ccf81d5547a_291458_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Baron had been working in the twilight of violence for over twenty years. In that time he had not given much thought to children or family, except for those that lingered as ghosts from long ago. Despite popular misconception, Baron did on occasion daydream, and in those daydreams was an abstract picture of his heir — a dark-haired son not unlike himself.\nTzipora was not a son but she was not unlike him. She gave him a new perspective on life — a reason for going on, and a universe outside of service to the state. And how she adored him. She demonstrated that in how she talked, and how she childishly defended any casual observation or guessing of him. They were old friends — war buddies, in fact — and spent many evenings talking about the world and the things in it. Yet a paternal dimension of their relationship existed. Tzipora was young and full of questions, and wanted desperately to be taught. So he guided her when she asked for it, and answered her questions. And there were so many questions.\nIn his daydreams he taught his son to use the gun. There were guns in the home but Tzipora was not allowed to touch them, because she had been prescribed antipsychotics fourteen months into her life in Vekllei. She didn’t end up needing the pills; they only gave her tremors. It wasn’t until she was diagnosed properly at eighteen years of age that she as allowed to use the guns with Baron.\nThey went hunting for meat, since there had been more shortages that year, and in summer Vekllei is full of a most obscure pest called a Pademelon — a type of Australian wallaby that had been introduced just prior to the War by accident. Now they were all over, inoffensive as they were. The meat was tasty and the government encouraged you to cull them, so they were hunted commonly. Tzipora had some knowledge of how to use a pistol but hadn’t fired a long gun. Baron showed her how to use the sites and hold it. She didn’t kill anything, but Baron bagged two. Tzipora figured out how to skin and clean the animal and they ate wallaby steaks that night, which tasted good but were gamey. She shared the rest of the meat with a neighbour who had helped her repair the boiler.\nIn the echoes of Baron’s memory was a distant, youthful dream of riding a motorbike overseas, maybe across Asia or through the Middle East. Eating from street vendors and sleeping wherever you could. Was it so crazy? After twenty years of work he had plenty of money to withdraw for travel. He wondered if Tzipora would like to learn to ride a motorbike — and what she’d think of such an idea.\n",
  "date": "2021-08-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-08-25-gun/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 489,
  "href": "/stories/new-generation/",
  "title": "A New Generation",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/generation.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/generation_hubd5ad17f37aa25359269678537a51e1c_464338_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Children of the children of the bomb — a generation of war-babies born in peacetime. That was how they thought of themselves. Their grandparents and great-grandparents had lived through the war and the occupation, and so they had inherited the burden of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s future as a country of long-sufferers, visionaries, and dispossessed.\nSome Marxist continental intellectual had said something a half-century ago about the right way to teach children, and the idea had probably caught the ear of some commissar of the Vekllei interim government, who perhaps passed it along to some bureaucrat rebuilding the government schools. As a result, Vekllei children only go to school three or four days a week. There, they spend only a few hours a day in classrooms. There is, after all, no real workforce for which they are being primed. 🔗Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s labour economy is a play-fantasy, and so they mostly learn how to play.\nIt is not designed to \u0026lsquo;free\u0026rsquo; children — Vekllei schools have hierarchies, punishments and are mandatory \u0026mdash; instead, the primary goal of education is self-discovery and self-respect. It is precisely these qualities that benefit most the modern Vekllei economy, which is heavily automated and competes internationally through the product of its participatory creative thinking.\nThere is no grading system in Vekllei — all classes are passed or failed. The value of compulsory education through government schools, then, is the socialisation of boys and girls with others boys and girls, and the availability of equipment and facilities to participate in extracurricular activities. This is the real body of Vekllei school life — its clubs, societies, and individual associations. Many professional photographers in this country discovered an affection for photography before they turned 15 years old, through exposure to it in school. These resources, and the need to socialise children with others, are the reasons the Vekllei government continues to universalise government schooling, even alongside home-schooling or independent/religious education.\nDepicted here are the good-natured youth of the new generation in school uniform — 🔗a topic we\u0026rsquo;ve visited before. All students in Vekllei wear the same uniform, including at university. The uniforms themselves are not designed specifically to regulate appearance — and to this end, schools do not have dress codes regarding hair or cultural/religious accessories including jewellery.\nDiscard any assumptions about the meaning behind the colour or style of their clothes — all variations depicted here can be worn by whomever, no matter their age, school or association. In fact, school uniforms are not provided directly by schools — they are found at department stores, on the rack alongside suits and dresses. Because of this fact, specific styles of shirt, trousers, socks and shoes vary between students — and are acceptable as long as they meet the basic requirements of the uniform. This intersection of control and anarchy can be found widely throughout broader Vekllei society, and is an interesting example of how the basic principles of the \u0026ldquo;Vekllei way of life\u0026rdquo; are reflected in the microscopic mundanities of life and foundations of national culture simultaneously.\n",
  "date": "2021-08-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-08-21-generation/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 490,
  "href": "/stories/june/",
  "title": "June 21st, 2111",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/tv.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/tv_hu139bd9f5732a293fee0c95ac8d22442f_138336_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "000\nCDCDCD DW001 VK\nHEAR THIS — THIS IS CIVIL DEFENCE — THIS IS NOT AN EXERCISE. THIS COUNTRY IS UNDER NUCLEAR ATTACK. STAY TUNED TO THIS WAVELENGTH AT 444 KHZ.\nIN FIVE MINUTES OR LESS NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL STRIKE THIS COUNTRY AND INFLICT …MOST CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE UNSEEN SINCE 2005…\nYOU ARE IN DANGER AND MUST ACT IMMEDIATELY TO SURVIVE. IT IS TOO LATE TO LEAVE. YOU MUST STAY IN YOUR OWN HOME. FIND SHELTER NOW.\nEXTINGUISH ALL FIRES AND TURN OFF ALL FUEL \u0026amp; GAS… DAMAGE TO LIFE AND PROPERTY ARE UNKNOWN AND WILL NOT BE KNOWN FOR SOME TIME…\n…STAY INDOORS IN AN INTERIOR ROOM AND KEEP WELL AWAY FROM WINDOWS… ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT. CRAWL UNDER OR BEHIND SOMETHING. COVER IS THE SAME FOR BOTH HEAT AND BLAST. DO NOT USE THE TELEPHONE. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HOME UNTIL THE ALL-CLEAR SIGNAL IS GIVEN…\nBE-WARE RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT. YOU CAN NOT HEAR OR SEE FALL-OUT BUT IT CAN KILL YOU. DO NOT STAY OUTSIDE OF YOUR PLACE OF SHELTER FOR A MINUTE LONGER THAN NECESSARY. EAT FRESH FOOD FIRST. PRESERVE WATER.\nALL NEWS FROM YOUR GOVERNMENT WILL ARRIVE ON THIS WAVELENGTH AT 444 KHZ. NEWS HERE EACH HOUR EVERY HOUR. THIS IS NOT AN EXERCISE.\n…THIS MESSAGE WILL REPEAT…\n000\n",
  "date": "2021-08-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-08-12-atomic-war/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 491,
  "href": "/stories/anxiety/",
  "title": "Anxiety, Utopia",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/anxiety.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/anxiety_hucd0bb28164f33a898e639968db923f96_341396_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " In the voices we hear, isn\u0026rsquo;t there an echo of now silent ones?\n— Walter Benjamin, On the Concept of History, 1942\nTzipora remembered living in the twilight of the dying world, and how quiet it seemed in Vekllei in those years. It had an effect on the air; on the grass. Tzipora was very good at admiring the mundane, and the spaces it inhabited.\nLandscape is all around us, all of the time. It does not just occur in scenery, or in nature. And it can be very difficult to see landscape for what it is, because our interiors \u0026mdash; our selves \u0026mdash; announce themselves constantly. In order to enjoy the quiet physicality of everyday life, you have to quiet that voice. What is left is the senses, and intuition.\nVekllei was full of these sensory feelings, because it was full of physical things. It was breaking down, one after the other, the mental burdens of modernity. Not just in big ways; in money and in work. But in small ways too, in how we experienced places and how we thought of and understood our possessions. Upen explicitly describes an animism \u0026mdash; all things are alive. But you don\u0026rsquo;t need to believe in Upen to understand that, it\u0026rsquo;s evident throughout Vekllei. The complicated, nonsensical machinations of Vekllei society: 🔗moneylessness; 🔗product atheism; 🔗antifashions; 🔗childlessness; 🔗an absence of landscape, 🔗abstractionism, 🔗a reclamation of womanhood, etc. \u0026mdash; they could not be more simple in Vekllei, where the beautiful products of such things are unannounced and plain to see. Simplicity is in fact complicated; Vekllei is complicated, and life there is simple.\nShe still had her anxiety, of course. She was a full-colour constellation of neuroses. But living was not hard; Vekllei was approaching its epoch of rest. When it arrives, no one will notice a thing.\nBig things coming soon.\n",
  "date": "2021-07-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-07-27-anxiety/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 492,
  "href": "/stories/antifashion/",
  "title": "Looking Good and Feeling Good",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/antifashion.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/antifashion_hu20860fb61079a8ae93b2752418d40d0a_340927_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "For most of her life, Tzipora dressed how she was told to dress. When she was a child, her clothes were provided. When she started school, the school clothed her. After school, heading west on the trains and picking up work as she found it, she wore whatever she could afford.\nUp until her first steps inside the Cozetti Department Store in Vekllei, clothing was for gazing, not for being gazed at. Her new identity as a modern, middle-class girl had yet to emerge. It was a vacuum that needed filling in a new country where social behaviour drove your quality of life.\nClothing in Vekllei is manufactured by the same ideological forces that seek to “deindustrialise” the economic processes of the country — in other words, its broad physical decommodification. This included a championing of what they indigenously called “fashion atheism” or “antifashions,” meaning fashion that was not designed to be sold. This did not necessarily require a return to the woollen jumpers and seal pelts of yesteryear — just that clothing would return to the physical immediacy of art and architecture. It became what Vekllei people call “the decoration of ordinary life;” in other words, simply decorative and exclusively physical, and unburdened by intellectual or economic fetishisms.\nThis position is inherently conservative, in the sense that it was not supposed to change quickly, but the appearance of Vekllei’s “antifashions” did not advocate for traditional native styles specifically — indeed, many antifashions were quite radical both aesthetically and ideologically, and were pioneered by some of Vekllei’s most progressive art communities.\nEmploying Tzipora as an example here is not just a convenience of the project — she is a superb example of how the internationalist movement became a symbol of the global dispossessed. Her tastes were affected by her exposure to a unique style developed in the Vekllei-Italian immigrant design schools called “Nuova Grotessco Internazionale,” (Lit. International New Grotesque), which helped found her affection for simple clothing in simple colours.\n“Grotesque” in this case comes from the Italian grotessco, a reference to forms so simple they could have been pulled from cave paintings. Although Tzipora was too sensible to ever seek them out, the showcase items of the Nuova Grotessco Internazionale movement were radical in their geometric simplicity — advocating androgynous silhouettes and “culturelessness” that looked like it came from nowhere and said nothing. Like all radical fashions, the dramatic conclusions of these ideas were moderated and filtered into general consumption in Vekllei, which went on to contribute to the popularity of new synthetic materials, space-age “cosmocorps” styles and bright geometric patterns common in the country.\nTzipora herself was never much for the grotesque, but she was very interested in internationalist styles. She had a few choice clothing items she reproduced in most of her outfits — she liked that her pleated shirts suggested nothing about her personality, her ethnic background, or her immigrant status. The pleated shirt is simply the “decoration of ordinary life.” It was inoffensive and uncomplicated. Such is the spirit of fashion atheism and the internationalist movement: clothing should suggest nothing intrinsic about you.\nIn Vekllei, this idea was seen as a critical liberator of women, and elsewhere, it was seen as an extension of international democracy and cooperation; an aesthetic of endless social mobility and freedom of expression. In Vekllei, where art was very radical and influenced heavily by continental designers, it was the ultimate symbol of postwar egalitarianism and recovery. The internationalist style has become the ‘new default’ of Vekllei fashion, obscuring its ideological origins through its presence in (and simple decoration of) everyday life.\n",
  "date": "2021-07-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-07-21-fashion/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 493,
  "href": "/stories/something-new/",
  "title": "Something New is on The Horizon",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/june.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/june_hua0628f85e75768c19838f17a3be6221d_185430_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Thanks for a great June. We\u0026rsquo;ve had a lot of different types of posts this month. About 15 in all — that\u0026rsquo;s one every two days! Not bad! I could do with some sleep.\nSomething very special is approaching in July. I\u0026rsquo;m very excited to share it with you all — so are Tzipora and Cobian. A new chapter in Vekllei is fast approaching.\nSee you soon.\nMuch love,\nHobart // MelonKony\n🔗Join the Patreon.\nBe \u0026ldquo;petticoat.\u0026rdquo;\n",
  "date": "2021-06-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-30-june/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 494,
  "href": "/stories/qlc/",
  "title": "The Quality of Life Surveillance Commission",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/qlc.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/qlc_hu9b7a15228768cdc80b42e6ac5fda4654_311556_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Quality of Life Surveillance Commission (Q.L.C.) is part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Fair Work Authority, and is one of the most important economic regulators in Vekllei today. In a country without money, you can think of it as the payroll of every Vekllei person — the body responsible for the welfare of Vekllei people.\nAlthough Vekllei does not use money domestically, the country is bound by the Floral Constitution, the Dignity in Employment Act 2016,and the Fair Work Act 2022 to provide regular, measurable increases in the standard of living for Vekllei people. It is the responsibility of the Q.L.C. to track and report these facts, measured by three metrics.\nThe satisfaction of Vekllei people with actionable markets. The availability, quality, and variety of goods. The strength and maintenance of the Thousand Roses Campaign. The Thousand Roses Campaign outlined a programme of comforts and consumer luxuries the Commission felt necessary for the satisfaction of Vekllei people and the opinion of Vekllei internationally.\nThis programme, called the Thousand Roses Award, reveals interesting tendencies within Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s cultural priorities as the country attempted to furnish its population with a standard of living suitable for twenty-first century life.\nHere are a few highlights. In its essence, fifty years after the war, the average Vekllei person should:\nOwn their home Have all their children in school Work three or four days a week Holiday regularly In addition, the Vekllei person should:\nPossess three pairs of shoes, for daily, recreational and formal occasions. Possess clothing for each day of the week, and for all occasions, so that hygiene and dignity may be preserved. Be awarded clothing for any work considered full-time. Be guaranteed the provision of cosmetics and personal sanitary items. This is part of the origin of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s uniformed work culture — although the Thousand Roses Award did not intend companies to specifically provide uniforms, the simplest and most affordable way of meeting the requirements of the campaign necessitated their use. Not all companies in Vekllei provide uniforms, but they must provide clothing upon request.\nThe Award also describes the basic rights of a modern Vekllei lifestyle. Any working person should:\nBe guaranteed the provision of personal tools, with which maintenance can be carried out. Enjoy equitable and reliable access to cinema, theatre, and live music. Cook with fresh produce. In total, the Thousand Roses Award covers exactly one thousand items that contribute to the state\u0026rsquo;s vision of the postwar Vekllei lifestyle. As we can see here, some of these items are yet to be achieved universally or regularly. The basic premise of the Campaign, however, has been realised — Vekllei people do indeed work few days, own their home, send their children to school and holiday regularly.\nAs an independent regulator of the Vekllei Government, the Quality of Life Surveillance Commission continues to hold the promises of the past to account. In a manner closely related to the Vekllei Census, Q.L.C. agents interview people throughout the year, tallying their pleasures and grievances. At the end of each year, the Commission produces a detailed report cataloguing the successes and failures that affect the Postwar Vekllei Person, and determine what Floral Society still owes them. One day, the debt will be paid in full.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-29-qlc/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 495,
  "href": "/stories/utopie/",
  "title": "Utopie ❦ Concrète",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/utopie.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/utopie_hu69b1c8d3bcbbe319363ec1b5dcd11fb7_206534_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This essay was published on 🔗millmint.net. 🔗Read it here. I write introspectively about the project sometimes, as a means by which I consider what I\u0026rsquo;m doing and where my unconscious is leading me with this project. I have the instinct of someone who is over-educated and self-obsessed; someone who went to university, fell for the farce of serious media criticism, and failed to see that all media theorists are basically freaks. And there is a small truth buried in that hyperbole: it does in fact require a certain dysfunction to write books about the study of anime or television. You can become too close to something.\nUtopie concrète, or \u0026lsquo;concrete utopia,\u0026rsquo; is my phrase for how I work. I saw parallels with the manifesto of musique concrète, as described by Pierre Schaeffer:\nInstead of notating musical ideas on paper with the symbols of solfège and entrusting their realisation to well-known instruments, the question was to collect concrete sounds, wherever they came from, and to abstract the musical values they were potentially containing.\nUtopianism is much the same; it distills the concrete sentiment, concerns, and futures of a time and place and reproduces them in abstract in fiction. In a very straightforward way, my work (Vekllei, so-called) is an abstraction of real people, events, and things.\nIt also refers to the \u0026ldquo;feeling\u0026rdquo; of Vekllei, in a transcendental fashion. Utopianism is associated with very specific, loaded conceptions of perfection \u0026mdash; cleanliness, symmetry, peacefulness, goodness, and impossibility. Vekllei is not any of these things consistently; it is like the raw concrete used in béton brut, and like raw concrete it discolours, weathers and crumbles in its exposure to reality and the march of time. You can see the formwork and imperfections in its product \u0026mdash; not as a result of sloppy workmanship or carelessness, but because those things are beautiful; utopian in their own right.\nAt the risk of disfiguring these notes into a manifesto, the principles of utopie concrète might look something like this.\nPRINCIPLES OF UTOPIE CONCRÈTE ■\nAll things have dignity All things get dirty You must love it To explain further:\nAll things have dignity. You must take your \u0026ldquo;raw utopia\u0026rdquo; seriously \u0026mdash; it has to be honest. In this sense, you must always aim to do your best for it. Consider your landscape and give your characters the respect you would anyone. If you dishonour them through sloppy work, you should feel embarrassed. All things get dirty. In order to \u0026lsquo;consider your landscape\u0026rsquo; and \u0026lsquo;respect your characters,\u0026rsquo; you must also recognise that these things need to live independently from your control. The activity of your utopia is what makes it alive, and also what makes it imperfect. Recognise the imperfections and celebrate them. You must love it. Utopias are very thoughtful and considered, but they can\u0026rsquo;t be intellectual. It must be intuitive \u0026mdash; follow your heart. UTOPIE CONCRÈTE ■ WITH VEKLLEI ❦ CHARACTERISTICS\nYou already have the tools to create your concrete utopia \u0026mdash; you just need to act on it. I have acted, and what has surfaced reveals a great deal about me, how I think and process the world, my anger and prejudices, my hopes and affections, and the pettiest of petty material interests.\nHayao Miyazaki, a great artist I admire deeply, was asked why his films starred heroines. He said:\nAt first, I thought \u0026ldquo;this is no longer the era of men\u0026hellip;\u0026rdquo; But after ten years, I grew tired of saying that. I just say \u0026ldquo;because I like women.\u0026rdquo; That has more reality.\nI mostly draw women, and there is not much good reason for it other than I like women.\nI have said previously I\u0026rsquo;m deeply uncomfortable with the conceptual objectification of women, and the shallowness of girl-caricatures. Yet, when asked why my cast of characters are mostly women, I can only say that I like drawing women. That\u0026rsquo;s very revealing of the hypocritical discrepancy between essay rhetoric and my body of work. I try and give my characters dignity, but I also draw women and girls because they might look more interesting in a certain profession, or have better options for their clothes. Where is the dignity in being reproduced for how you appear in a picture? We can\u0026rsquo;t mistake \u0026ldquo;drawing women\u0026rdquo; for \u0026ldquo;representation of women.\u0026rdquo; This is a failing on my part.\nBut I also think that Tzipora, the most egregious and unusual example of \u0026ldquo;using the appearance of women\u0026rdquo; in my project, is not much of a woman at all. She carries my anger, my obsessiveness, and lives my fantasy of a meaningful life. She is quite explicitly an author surrogate, although with a life of her own. She is also not supposed to be an authentic depiction of the experience of any woman \u0026mdash; she is in fact closer to an anti-woman. She is so tomboyish, obsessive, and neurotic, that it\u0026rsquo;s hard to use her to explore conventional literary interests in \u0026lsquo;womanhood.\u0026rsquo; Thank goodness for that \u0026mdash; it\u0026rsquo;s not my place.\nCreating Vekllei is my way of processing the goings-on of the world, and my lived experience day-to-day. In this sense, I prefer the clothes and appearance of women, and so in my utopia I draw women.\nThis is one of the interesting contradictions of utopianism. It is inherently egoistic, and can always be traced cleanly to the total worldview and personality of its author. But like most fiction, authors are eager to give life to their people and places, and would rather you not glimpse the man behind the curtain. Vekllei is fiction \u0026mdash; Tzipora is a girl, and lives in Vekllei. Vekllei is also a utopia \u0026mdash; Tzipora is me, and lives in my hopes, dreams, and anxieties. The contradiction is muted until authors start acting like the former is not a result of the latter, and that my personal experience does not affect who and what is depicted in Vekllei. This is true of all fiction \u0026mdash; so let us not pretend cuteness is not a female burden, and my desire to draw nice clothes and interesting hairstyles is not an altruistic representation of women, no matter how well-intentioned my depictions may be.\nThis conversation is important only because Vekllei is important (to me), and the principles of utopie concrète are worth upholding \u0026mdash; all things must have dignity.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-26-utopie/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 496,
  "href": "/stories/compor/",
  "title": "Compor, Vekllei's Special Police",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/compor.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/compor_hu73ab3f2083e236bb1ed026ec6da6a777_225836_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Where Tzipora lived in Lola, most people remained of the working class well into the utopian period. Despite their equitable access to the fruits of the country, their housing was poorer and their problems generational. Alcoholism was very common; many of them were veterans of the War in Taiwan. Others were in great pain from their early work in the postwar years, their bodies broken by the demons of manual labour.\nA year after Tzipora arrived, the conviction of a Polish man for two murders sparked protests in Lola along ethnic lines. Protests were very common in Vekllei. In the postwar years, the grievances were often prejudiced, and intensified by the millions of immigrants who arrived in the renewed country, one which was reestablishing itself as a place of dignity for dispossessed people.\nTzipora did not like the protests because they reminded her of where she came from. Per the echoes of the past, she too found old wartime anxiety and despair resurfacing. She was feeling what we now call battle fatigue, or the neurosis of violence — but she did not look like a soldier, and so she was not treated for it.\nAnd that sort of thing brought out the monster in Tzipora. She grappled with her own revulsion towards the anti-immigrant protestors. It upset her hearing the protests from her home. In her mind, she would like to see them shot where they stood. How short-sighted was tolerance in abstract — why did no one seem to recognise that people needed management; they all needed management. They needed management from their own worst instincts! She had seen the wickedness of people, and now it had followed her here!\nThe protest had fizzled out by sundown. Baron watched it from the roof with a drink, apparently unconcerned. Tzipora found herself shaking with anger and had to return inside.\nThe following day, she passed by some riot officers on the way to school. She signed at them in her new 🔗Potenne to say they were doing good work. That was all she said. In her head, she was thinking get them! Go and arrest them all. How can you just stand there and watch?\nThe moment would pass, and the thoughts would settle. She was not bloodthirsty in her heart. But that side of her threatened to surface from time to time. There was some currency to the thought that she had died overseas, and she was witnessing a life unlived in the twilight of death. There is a truthfulness to anger. That side of her felt much more ‘real’ for a long time after. That problem remained unresolved throughout most of her life.\nThe Cosmpasnie Fedecenoayan Porits, or Compor (lit. National Police Companies), are the special paramilitary and riot control wing of the National Police, or the Police of the Parliament. Most police in Vekllei are stationed locally, including the National Police. The Companies, however, are mobile — they move to meet riots, participate in counter-terrorism and counter-espionage operations, and support the Royal Vekllei Armed Forces in wartime.\nDepicted here is a riot officer in “silks,” the term for the Compor uniform including revolver and long truncheon. Besides her is an armoured officer of Special Tactics, which responds to serious threats of violence. The iconic Compor shield is displayed here for documentary purposes. Special Tactics carry powerful radios designed to work in all environments.\nVekllei sees protests regularly for all sorts of things, including ongoing economic grievances, cultural tension, or even more commonly political events designed to pressure government. All such occasions are met with the Compor, who are feared and reviled by a country otherwise only used to local policing.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-23-compor/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 497,
  "href": "/stories/spiritful/",
  "title": "Spiritful",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/spiritful.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/spiritful_hu4359778dec01a14f937f94730283836d_311560_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "There was not much different about one spirit than another. Foreigners mistook Upen, the animism of Vekllei, for environmentalism — that was not the case at all. Landscapes changed, and so did the things that lived in them.\nOf course, humans are sentimental creatures, and they become attached to native things. It is important to seperate human desire — the protection of native plants and animals — and the interests of spirits, since they are not the same.\nUpen is at the heart of how a Vekllei person understands the world. It describes the basis of all being, and the essence of all things, called seispri, lit. ‘spirits’. Some spirits are large and complex, and can resemble creatures. Others are so small and quiet, no person could ever see them. We’ll look at these later.\nTzipora is wearing traditional ritual dress. Spirits are attracted to interesting things, especially precious metals and fine materials, and so outfits like these are designed to attract their attention. Smart people dress for the occasion, and to talk to spirits you must look like a spirit.\nHer hat is called a kitpek, lit. ‘flat hat,’ precisely because you can fold it flat. A wide-brimmed version is still worn in agriculture today. This narrow-brim version is elegant and feminine, and decorated with gold and orange. In summer, shirts stitched with gold like these can be worn. In winter, elaborate capes take their place. You can also see here the earliest form of the gi still in use today, resting to the right of its sister-ornament, the jouvismoakoisnisn belt, with two large tassels. The gi is still worn commonly, and is even part of school uniform. The jouvismoakoisnisn is not so lucky, and today is only associated with Upen ritual.\nHer special tool is called a duapolutchi, lit. ‘twin lights,’ which consists of a mounting stick and two hollow wooden balls filled with seeds. You shake it to announce the start of a meeting, or express happiness. For good measure, Tzipora has also slung gold chord around her neck and arms. All in all, a captivating show for most spirits.\nIn ritual dress, you are supposed to only communicate via 🔗Upotenne, which is the physical language of runes. It’s a form of sign language that incorporates the whole body, and is understood by most Vekllei spirits. Tzipora does not know Upotenne very well, so only says a few words before waving her ball-stick around. With any luck, they’ll shower her with blessings — or at the very least, not cause her harm next time she intrudes on them.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-19-spiritful/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 498,
  "href": "/stories/wickets/",
  "title": "Wicket-Keeper",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/wickets.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/wickets_hu0b985e29650ef615db504c5650a9b94c_411339_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora was good at cricket. That surprised everyone. Her teachers called her bookish; her classmates called her a dork. She didn’t look like a girl who played much sport. In America, at her old school, she was sick from gym class so regularly that they stopped asking about her absence.\nIn Vekllei, however, the sports were better. Instead of “gym class,” they had physical education — Phys Ed — that included a variety of weekly health classes, term carnivals, and daily callisthenics. They’d pile into the gymnasium, take off dark-soled shoes, and run through simple exercises before lessons. Sometimes they’d play games instead, if they had one of the cool teachers. That was a potent memory for Tzipora, actually — the jealousy of watching the homeroom next door play “crocodile” while her group were doing stretches for the second time that week.\nIt was her social environment, in the end, that got her into sports. When she didn’t know anyone, she’d read English books by the sports fields. Two weeks into watching the boys play lunchtime cricket, she took up the bat and scored six runs. It turned out Tzipora was very good at sports. She was fast and well-coordinated — an uncultivated natural gift. That year, at the athletics carnival, she scored best out of the girls in high jump and best out of anyone in long jump.\nThat made Tzipora very popular with her classmates, because she played “both sides” — she was a shy geek that was good at cricket and didn’t mind getting grass stains on her shirt. It was that duality, rather than her sportsmanship, that people liked. She was amusing enough as a character that the sports-playing boys had developed a fascination with her, and they shouted at her to join most lunchtimes. It was paternalistic, sure — they liked her in the same way they liked the retarded rough-n-ready rugby boy in their class — but it wasn’t mean-spirited.\nMost days, she would. She’d pull off her armband, unclip her gi, and roll up her skirt and sleeves as she made her way down to the pitch. She’d come back with dirty knees right to her books, eight runs richer and radiating a casual self-confidence.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-15-wicket-keeper/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 499,
  "href": "/stories/website/",
  "title": "I have a very good website",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/mastheads/banner.png",
        "webp": "/images/mastheads/banner_hufb3d226b59cb796fcaf88a5e9dc9a194_568958_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box_3.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Hi everyone,\nHobart here, informing you that I have a very good website. It has every post I’ve ever made on it, for better or for worse (with the non-canon stuff marked). It has wiki pages that are growing all the time. It has fun things and essays. You can also leave comments!\n🔗Just look at the home page. Isn’t that the coolest shit you’ve ever seen? You can see it live at 🔗https://millmint.net if you’re on desktop/tablet, and play with the trains.\nBonus: 🔗Tzipora with some flowers.\nRegular posts tomorrow \u0026amp; onwards.\n🔗Join the Patreon.\nBe “Petticoat”\nLove,\nHobart/MelonKony\n",
  "date": "2021-06-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-14-website/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 500,
  "href": "/stories/mist/",
  "title": "Heavy Mist",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/mist.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/mist_hud0d568251a6adb51daeb6e9663a8f627_272266_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The sky was heavy with grey and water, and it bled into the air. Vekllei’s moon months were here, and with it came the end of Vekllei’s bright summer season. In came the days of coats, mist and darkness.\nTzipora here wears rouisha, loose-fitting felt pants that have been worn in Vekllei for a thousand years. They’re often worn under a skirt, but can be worn alone as trousers if you like. Today they’re elasticated around the ankles to insulate your legs. She also wears the ‘student cape,’ which is well-known overseas and often held aloft by foreigners as an example of Vekllei’s cultural sophistication. It is not nearly as special in Vekllei.\nA single uniform in Vekllei often includes a variety of colours and styles, since its use is 🔗social rather than conformist. Tzipora demonstrates that well here, in her unfortunate collision of school gold, navy, red, and white.\nWhen the air is mild and the wind is still, the mist feels good. It felt good to be in it. Sometimes it’s just good to be alive.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-11-mist/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 501,
  "href": "/stories/cyclical/",
  "title": "Generations",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/generations.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/generations_huce5e61bf0fcc71765af17234e3babf79_249332_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Ayn was a naturally busy person. She worked long, hard hours at the Americas Bureau at National Intelligence, or ‘AB/NI,’ as a clerk, or specialist, or whatever they needed her to be that day. Her days off were filled with petty occupations and minor obligations — mostly tending to her plants and cleaning. She enjoyed number puzzles. A couple friends had formed a book club, and she went to that on occasion.\nTzipora’s arrival in June of 2063 saw several disruptions to Ayn’s routines, not least of which was the surfacing of her old unsentimental boyfriend, now ten years older and much different. Tzipora herself emerged into Ayn’s personal life, and they became close — much like it was with Baron, Tzipora was both a daughter and a friend.\nIt had been Ayn’s recommendation, actually, that Baron should take her.\n“At least for a while,” she said, “She talks about you all the time. No one’s talking about adoption — just take her until the system can sort her out. That’s my advice.”\nTzipora met Ayn’s parents later that year, and just like that, Tzipora had forged herself a new family through her force of will and good charm — Baron, the father; Ayn, the mother; and her Hong-Konger/Russian parents. And Ayn’s parents adored her; they showered Tzipora with gifts and baked goods. She was the grandchild they’d wanted so much.\nThe whole situation aroused an ongoing memory, foggy through shame and discomfort, about her ageing parents and her unmarried lifestyle. It was very difficult for Ayn to discuss her decision not to have children with her parents. She was an only child. How do you tell your parents their ancestors, their bloodline ends with you? It hurt them a lot. It hurt Ayn too, to make that choice and follow her heart.\nAyn lived in the same studio apartment in the Great Coast she had for a decade, though she now owned it from her work. As a childless, unmarried woman it was very difficult to find larger homes, which were usually allocated to couples and families. Real estate in Vekllei was both a reward and a punishment, and informed the social fabric of the country.\nTzipora was good at being a grandchild when she needed to be, and Ayn was very thankful for her presence in their lives. Ayn loved her parents, and found herself thinking back to her own childhood more and more as they grew older. She was still their baby, and it was sometimes difficult to reconcile her own independence as an adult with her desire to make them happy. That desire — the instinct to please — dated back to being a little girl, dumb and full of wonder, navigating her childhood with her mum and dad, much younger then, always loving.\nAfter work, she would sometimes sit and smoke, then put it out and smell the salt on the breeze. She used to come out here to think, often melancholic about her life and decisions. Nowadays, the thoughts were lighter, more straightforward. She was more self-assured. Sometimes, Tzipora sat out there with her.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-09-generations/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 502,
  "href": "/stories/shalom/",
  "title": "Shabbat Shalom",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/shalom.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/shalom_hu443520f17207ac6829e65f66ee683e4f_529526_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "When they met, Tzipora told Baron she was Catholic. He thought that was hilarious — it was one of the few times she saw him laugh. Her name was “Tzipora”, and she gave herself the name “Zelda” — who did she think she was kidding? But that’s just how she was; Tzipora was an intricate person of many backgrounds and instincts.\nBaron was Jewish, but he didn’t practice much. He did, however, observe shabbas as a cultural legacy of his childhood. He worked six days a week, and rested Saturdays. Sometimes, he’d put on a roast in the tradition of his late father’s recipe. Other times, Tzipora would cook some of their favourite foods. Tzipora, the insistent catholic, would respect the melakhot because she liked the idea of it. Even more unusually, she welcomed the shabbas with a prayer, even though her sabbath was Sunday. That’s just how she was; you get the idea. She was a curious and deeply spiritual person, and became more fascinated with her Jewish heritage after living with Baron.\nCobian didn’t know what a Jew was; she barely understood the concept of any god. Cobian’s family were indigenous Vekllei, descended from generations of animistic Upen observers. She was, however, more than willing to break bread with the girl she loved, and they enjoyed many meals together over the years in that picturesque, naive multiculturalism common to Vekllei.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-07-shalom/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 503,
  "href": "/stories/swimming-carnival/",
  "title": "Standing Around at the Swimming Carnival",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/carnival.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/carnival_huea2c8729779dd18a61f9ee825a310dcb_264804_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Each year, Lola 6th School traveled to the base of the Thanveler Glacier for its swimming carnival. There was a big thermal pool there, heated by the Earth, and students competed in races for prizes and ribbons.\nTzipora told people she couldn’t swim. That was true — she sank like a stone. But she didn’t tell them the other part — that she never wanted to learn how.\nThere is a very tragic and pathetic self-consciousness that afflicts kids around her age. Boys and girls went to school together here, but they weren’t the same thing, were they? She saw girls usually clothed in capes and knee skirts showing skin she’d never seen before. There was this one girl, Cherrie, who was on the heavy side, and Tzipora marvelled unconsciously at how much bigger she looked without her uniform. She realised what she was doing, and was struck with shame — and relief it wasn’t her in that stupid one-piece.\n“Oh my God,” Tzipora thought to herself, “That’d be me. What I’m doing now.”\nTzipora hadn’t worn a swimsuit since she was a kid in Colombia, and she wasn’t going to strip off in front of all these people who already judged her. In her mind, she was ugly-skinny, with scars on her shoulders and no figure to speak of. She didn’t think about these things usually, because all her clothes were a size too big, but a change room changed things.\nNo; she wouldn’t wear a swimsuit. She wouldn’t even take her shoes off. They’d think she was weird for sitting out, but they thought she was weird anyway. Every swimming carnival from here to graduation she’d suffer from the poolside — reading her books, eating her packed lunch and lying about how well she did to Baron when she got home.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-05/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 504,
  "href": "/stories/fighter/",
  "title": "Air Atomic",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fighter.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fighter_huc80a610f3c3a37f12c7002bf3672f425_283060_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Royal Vekllei Air Force runs nuclear these days. Just fifty years ago, that would have been unthinkable. Times change.\nThe Ramoin-Dupont Aircraft Company, with help from the research subsidiary of the absurdly-named “ Government Aircraft Factories,” spent about two decades trying to get a reactor to fly. It was easy enough to build a plane around a fission reactor — the problem was keeping the pilot alive. Ramoin-Dupont figured out that, for every megawatt of power, you required about 8 tonnes of rubber and lead shielding — an intolerable figure for a fighter or light aircraft of any kind.\nThis changed with a breakthrough at General Reactor in Montre, which had been experimenting with sunburst-style heat exchangers but couldn’t find a way to apply the technology. In air-cooled reactor setups, already established in primitive nuclear aircraft, this reactor design could significantly reduce operating temperatures and the burden of shielding with a chromium-cadmium alloy.\nThe eventual widespread refinement and adoption of these innovations changed the role of the fighter, and the satellite appearance of theatres in air warfare. The days of the air-refuelling boom or drop-tank were gone — a nuclear bomber was now able to fly continuously around the world for up to thirty years.\nPictured here is a RD-64 Demon, built in Government Aircraft Factories Aeroyards in Montreya. Like most nuclear fighters in Vekllei, it carries its reactor beneath its fuselage, where it can be refuelled and detached for maintenance easily without grounding the aircraft for months at a time. They are tremendously fast, and thanks to the weight savings of sunburst reactors, are tremendously well-equipped for emerging air combat.\nThese jets can fly at up to 2,500km/h. They are designed for one purpose: interception. Official doctrine of Vekllei’s armed forces expects a nuclear war within a hundred years, and these jets are flown continuously over the Atlantic with powerful Horizonic radars, which talk to AEW planes and Vekllei’s navy to draw real-time maps of “Vekllei’s Atlantic.” Its weapon systems are controlled by military 🔗automan wetware, the effectiveness of which contributes to the Demon’s reputation as a fierce opponent to the rival fighter-types currently produced in the United States and the Eastern Bloc. They also hold great affection among Vekllei pilots and daydreaming children alike, as direct descendants of the biplanes and turbojet wonders of yesteryear — bred for a fight.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-04-air-atomic/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 505,
  "href": "/stories/orange/",
  "title": "VNR Orange",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/orange.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/orange_hu9674b7518496a5e883b2af688c278a19_320387_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei takes a lot from its land. That fact is the bedrock of the Vekllei way of life, in fact — land stewardship and dependency. In this sense, they owe a great debt to the physical landscape of the country, a concept usually translated as the ‘Landscape Sovereign’ in English. The human royals may be long dead, but Vekllei’s flowering petticoat society retains a monarch — the literal physical presence of the land.\nSeveral times a year, their debt is paid through the dramatic interruption of ordinary life. The ground cracks, hot sulphur fills the valleys, and streams of molten rock hiss as they emerge into the cool, temperate air of Vekllei. These are the magic mountains of Vekllei, living and breathing as creatures do; violent as creatures are.\nPictured here is a commuter express train in the sparsely-populated and highly volcanic borough of Troll. It’s a Mustard-56 series in VNR orange, made during its original production run in 2056. Most passengers prefer this series over older models because of its large skylights, which immerse the cars in the strikingly beautiful landscape of their commute. They are also an example of Vekllei National Rail’s shocking disregard for profitability, as lines like these are subsidised entirely by urban centres. Their function as a social engine is priceless, however, and justified easily by the experience of riding along any of these rural lines.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-03-orange/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 506,
  "href": "/stories/mossbound/",
  "title": "Mossbound",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/mossbound.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/mossbound_hu09bb46bcfbee9ee32df011c8bcf68139_328909_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Outside of the cities, sensory pleasure can be enriched by Vekllei’s oldest organism, if you know where to look. The temperate rainforest is alive, and breathing, and smells cold in its freshness. The perfume of the rainforest is earthy and chilled, swirling in a cocktail of fresh water, rich, damp soil and the scents of thick mosses and browning leaves. Out here, only water and the trees move — these sounds are the domain of spirits.\nEven bird calls seem foreign here, as though the plovers and crows had been invited by the same mossbound instinct Tzipora shared. Pushing deeper into the rainforest, the risks become greater but the chance of meeting spirits swells. You are a guest, you are a guest — she keeps this in mind if she has any sense. The spirits tolerate breakage but they won’t tolerate disrespect.\nMuch as the birds nest and feed, Tzipora is welcomed by the spirits to establish a presence in the rainforest. Taking a seat on the soft floor of the forest, she opens her textbook and reads slowly.\nDon’t wear a jacket — the cool air is good for the skin. Breathe deep — the perfume is good for the lungs. Open your senses to the peripheral stimuli of the spirit-forest, and don’t overthink it. Enjoy the sound of wind moving through the ceiling around you, and the freshwater creek that trickles sweetly. This is a good-natured place, so be good-natured.\nTzipora closes her textbook and lies in the moss, listening for spirits. They’re all around her. They talk to her through the sounds of the forest. If she can fill her soul with good things, they might reveal themselves to her one day. Until then, she meets them as a guest and an admirer, and gives thanks in her heart for their continued stewardship of this place.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-02-mossbound/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 507,
  "href": "/characters/aleph/",
  "title": "Aleph",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2021-06-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 508,
  "href": "/stories/station-logic/",
  "title": "Station Logic",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/stationlogic.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/stationlogic_hu8d800fa417b595da92236defa5f5080d_289368_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei is full of stations in the middle of nowhere; platforms for people in no hurry, alighting to places never thought of before. It is in these stations that old government infrastructure projects take on a greater meaning, and cultivate an absurd sort of spirituality that touches the lives of the people who discover them. Is there anything gentler than a concrete platform in the middle of a flower-tundra, weathered and warmed by the sun?\nThe Tzefesmiousn family in the borough of Kotaismoyeh have their very own platform — they’re the only ones with a house here. There’s a couple of farms nearby, which load wool and meat onto freight trams periodically, but otherwise they’re the only commuters at their stop. Both parents work for Vekllei National Rail — Tzafi is a platform attendant and Aleph is an engineer. The kids go to school in the town of Kotaismoyeh. Their lives are entwined with rail, and their home is serviced by their station.\nIt is easy enough to find quiet stations like theirs in Vekllei, since fast trams only stop on command. It’s cheap enough to pour some concrete and leave it there for a hundred years. Over time, some of these platforms take the names of their commuters. These platforms become a metaphor for home itself, as the gateway to rest. Pictured is Tzefesmiousn Station, second-last on the local line.\n",
  "date": "2021-06-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-06-01-station-logic/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 509,
  "href": "/stories/topet/",
  "title": "How to Read Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/topet.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/topet_hufeda5fefaed783216981904110ff8eee_346034_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is an unusual post in that, a) it’s particularly text-heavy and desaturated, and b) much of its material is already available on an existing 🔗wiki article on my website.\nThe above article covers the language conceptually in pretty much all the detail you’d ever want. So, despite the heavy use of labels and text, this picture is particularly concerned with the literal appearance and structure of the Vekllei written language, called 🔗Topet.\nAs an aside, a basic overview of the language was given 🔗in this post. Please check it out to make sense of some of the terminology used here.\nThe basic process of Vekllei’s main writing script (Topet) is this:\u2028Nouns and verbs are modified extensively by associating their subject with other pictographic characters, which have no phonetic value except for the core “principle” character. For example, an “emu” might be tall, or “running” may be breathless. This grouping is called a “minor demon”. The way these groupings look depends on how many associated characters you’re using. The principle can be written alone in the centre of a space. With two, they’re arranged side-by-side. With three, the principle sits on top of the other two in a triangular shape. With four, they become a quadrant. Sometimes, these groupings are enough. If everyone already knows what the principle characters means and how to vocalise it, you can leave it alone as a pictograph — a literal picture, with meaning modified by the characters of its group. Quite often, however, you have to teach the reader how to say it. The minor demon lends the initial sound, and the rest have to be written in superscript next to it, as phonetic “helper” characters called hieyerette. These aren’t used as pictures, they’re used to help spell it out. Of course, Vekllei has 🔗several verbal, non-verbal, signed and written languages. They don’t all work like this. Rapotenne is basically pictographic and is very, very old. It’s mostly used for names and to talk to spirits. It’s never used for conventional writing. Indeed, for signatures, most use their sigils instead.\nSo this post isn’t really intended to help you understand how the Vekllei language works, since the language is very complex and better served by the wiki article linked above. This is a showcase of style — the way the Vekllei language looks and feels on paper.\nYou can see an example of Topet styling in this picture.\nModern, sans-serif FLORAL STYLING is most commonly used today in print, as part of the simplification and standardisation of characters. It’s designed to be easier to write for immigrants, who arrived in Vekllei by the millions after the war. Traditional, ornamented DEMONIC STYLING carries the traditional line weights and decoration of prewar Topet, and is still used in small print like novels for its better legibility. Most fonts in Vekllei follow in either of these two traditions.\nFinally, this infographic makes clear the basic flow of the Vekllei language, which transforms most words into complicated, sentence-like concepts layered with designed, unique meaning. “Minor Demons” (the character groups) are not just used for poetry but in fact for all writing, as is the nature of Vekllei communication.\nLike much else in the country, a lot of the Vekllei way of thinking is deeply conceptual and abstracted, and rarely ventures into modern literalism. This is a feature built into the language, and it affects the Vekllei understanding of many cultural artefacts. For example, the Vekllei language is not really built to describe specific places — instead, the feeling and experience of mountains/beaches/streams is substituted in its place, quite literally by the pictographic nature of Topet.\nWhen you read Topet, you’re not just sounding out a phonetic character — you are looking at a picture of that concept, in a transcendental fashion that prohibits specificity. This sort of indigenous conceptualisation deserves a post of its own, but hopefully this graphic has helped introduce you to the basic cadence and features of the written Vekllei word.\nLet me know, as always, if you have any questions.\n",
  "date": "2021-05-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-05-31-topet/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 510,
  "href": "/stories/forever/",
  "title": "Zelda's Guide to Living Forever",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/forever.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/forever_hue9e31367a46f4e3b8a44f203285e75d2_443915_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "There’s no other way to put it — Tzipora is one of a kind. There are others like her, but fewer and fewer of them are born healthy as the years roll on. Her life is hard, she’d agree, but it’s also sprinkled with miracles. Meeting her, you might not even know she’s set to become the oldest person in history.\nAll stories settle on remarkable people, and Tzipora — with or without her absurd long-livedness — is a person of importance, and much more than the sum of her parts.\nFor those unaware, Tzipora is the 13th person in the world to be diagnosed with Gregori-Heitzfeld Disease (GHD), a genetic disorder that surfaced in the 21st Century. Many more than 13 preceded her, but few “Gregori babies,” as they’re called, ever make it to a hospital for a diagnosis. Where exactly GHD came from depends on who you ask — the synthetic preservatives in food? Residual radiation, from a century of atomic testing? The over-sexualisation of media? Tzipora accidentally swallowed a lead ball as a child — that’s as good a guess as any.\nGregori babies do not grow up, and they do not die of old age.\nShe makes up part of the “first wave” of Gregori discovery, comprising of about fifty individual cases across fifteen years starting in the late 2050s. These boys and girls are, on average, healthier and less affected physically by their disease than those born today. Fatal rates of GHD have increased dramatically in recent years, and very few ‘Gregori babies’ born today live beyond 24 months after onset. Like a passing comet, the miracle children seem to be vanishing as quickly as they appeared.\nIt is commonly misunderstood that Gregori children don’t reach puberty. This is not quite true — they do in fact undergo hormonal changes that usually signal the biological transition into sexual maturity, but are a victim of a poorly-understood protein dysfunction that affects their development and cell reproduction.\nGregori-Heitzfeld, as poorly understood as it is, is not a single malfunction of the human body. It is the intersection of two distinct genetic failings in critical proteins that occur in the oestrogen receptors and enzymes of the body. Let’s have a look at how this works, to the best of contemporary understanding.\nOestradiol is an oestrogen that binds to subtypes of the body’s oestrogen receptors. Of interest here is the agonistic reaction it exerts on a receptor known as the G protein-coupled oestrogen receptor (GPER), a protein responsible for oestradiol’s nongenomic signalling effect on cells. After activation, GPERs exert dramatic and varied effects on the regulation of many parts of the body, including cell growth, and is found not just in oestrogen-receptive tissues but throughout the brain, lungs, skeleton, muscular system and immune cells. In persons suffering from GHD, increased production of oestradiol during puberty onset upregulate GPERs, which has cascading effects on cell production throughout the body, mostly with gonadotrophin-releasing hormones (discussed below).\nAs aforementioned, however, GPER dysfunction is only part of the puzzle. GHD only occurs in the presence of another malfunction of the telomerase enzyme, a ribonucleoprotein which extends telomeres in the human chromosome. Prior to GHD onset, the function of the telomerase RNA templates are unaffected, but once malfunctioning GPER proteins are activated by oestradiol enzymes, a local protein misfolding (not dissimilar to prion diseases) occurs that disrupts part of the telomerase catalytic cycle built into the RNA template of the telomerase itself. This affects the pause signal of telomerase DNA synthesis and offsets the natural telomere loss rate in chromosomes, altering cycle lengths of DNA elongation. This is the primary event that contributes to the so-called biological immortality of some Gregori-Heitzfeld patients, since it offsets the loss of most types of somatic cells which would otherwise age and die. In many others, however, the protein misfolding in GPER-telomerase signalling develops into a fatal neurodegenerative disorder called Variant Gregori-Heitzfeld Disease (vGHD). In the last ten years, most ‘Gregori babies’ are in fact victims of vGHD.\nThe malfunction of GPER proteins also has some kind of affect on the secretion of gonadotrophin-releasing hormones (GnRHs), which affect physical development of the body in pubescence. The interaction between GPERs and GnRHs are still poorly understood, and the complicated effects GHD has on this relationship are almost entirely elusive. What is obvious is that most suffering from GHD do not develop physically beyond the onset of the disease, triggered in girls by pubescence sometime between the ages of 12 and 16. In Tzipora’s case, who perhaps remains the healthiest example of a ‘Gregori baby,’ her puberty is absent despite the increased production of oestrogens triggered by late thelarche. No Gregori baby has ever entered menarche — at least in part a result of GnRH suppression by faulty GPER proteins.\nThe extraordinary rarity of these genetic disorders intersecting contributes to a disease unlike any other. At some point while living in Sacramento, Tzipora slowly stopped ageing. At first, she was just a victim of delayed prepubescence — she was underweight, after all. Then, it was a hormone disorder. By the time she was in Vekllei, she was the country’s first “unageing lady.”\nOur understanding of Gregori-Heitzfeld Disease remains rudimentary because, in part, Tzipora makes up most of its scholarship. She is one of the few healthy Gregori babies to voluntarily submit to public medical research, and so most of our understanding comes from her case specifically. There are many gaps in our understanding. Why are Gregori babies not riddled with rapid-growing cancers as their cells metastasise rapidly? Why are the protein misfolds linked to these specific enzymes, and why don’t they spread throughout the body and brain as they do in vGHD? And, perhaps of most interest to the public — where are they going? Why are our new so-called “immortal children” dying?\nTzipora does not consider herself a ‘Gregori baby,’ because she considers herself ‘Tzipora’. When she was diagnosed at 16, there were only 10 others like her in the world — there was no Gregori community support group. By the time there were hundreds, the disease was rapidly degenerating into vGHD and resembled something closer to a tragic prion disease. These are topics she does not like to think about much.\nVekllei affords her dignity, because it does not have a cultural concept of a child. Children exist, of course. They are loved, and go to school, and learn about the world from guardians around them. But they are afforded dignity as human beings, and generally take on responsibilities at a much younger age. This doesn’t mean Tzipora’s life is easy. Her life is not easy. But if she wants to work, she may work. If she wants to travel alone, she may travel alone. And if she wants a glass of wine with dinner, restaurants will accommodate.\nThese are not special luxuries afforded to her, but basic rights of all young people. In this sense, she is relieved of the inconvenience of justifying her dignity as a person continuously, and allows her to command authority and respect throughout her life.\nIn the scope of her life, immortality and youthfulness is usually the last thing on her mind.\n",
  "date": "2021-05-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-05-28-forever/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 511,
  "href": "/stories/hollywood/",
  "title": "Gone Hollywood",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/hollywood.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/hollywood_hubffc61bf485072eb2f574de319100091_343421_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "You know you’re near the homeland of the Magma-Electric Commission when you smell it. Somewhere between cracking a rotten egg and standing downwind of a sewerage treatment plant, the volcanic heartlands of Vekllei are the playground of the Magma-Electric Commission, often shortened to just “The Magma” or “Thunderburo”. The smell is caused by Hydrogen Sulphide, a byproduct of the naked volcanic activity Vekllei is known for.\nSulphur is everywhere in Vekllei — even in the cities, the drinking water smells of it. It even overpowers the perfume of a ro, the Vekllei flower-tundras. In the places where the smell is most intense, you usually find a geothermal power plant nearby.\nIn Vekllei, The Magma pumps water deep into the belly of the Earth, so deep that the temperature and pressure cause the water to go supercritical, at which point it’s neither a liquid or a gas. Supercritical water carries much more energy than water or steam, and produces much more electricity — so much so that residences in Vekllei are powered entirely by geothermal (Magma-Electric Commission) and hydroelectric (Hydro-Electric Commission) facilities.\nThere is a so-called “flash plant” in Miyatvousi, in the Lava region of Vekllei. Lava is full of plants like these. A rail line runs near its injection well, where fresh glacial runoff is transformed into clean, limitless electricity through the miracle of its landscape and human ingenuity. The water is recycled, but excess waste water is dumped into the surrounding ro, forming foggy pools of light blue water. The earth here is alive; in the cold, the ponds begin to steam.\nMoise had complicated ambitions of becoming a filmmaker. As with all student filmmakers, he drafted his friends to help.\nHis girlfriend, 🔗Coretti, operated the compact 8mm camera. Tzipora was the production assistant, doing makeup and foley and whatever he asked of her. Cobian was going to be a star — that’s what he said to her, anyway, and he paired her up with a mate of his in what would be an epic short film about lost love.\nIt was Tzipora who suggested Miyatvousi, since she’d developed a good catalogue of scenic locations in her quest to find natural shrines. There was a place where the rail line crossed a small mineral lake, near the flash plant’s turbine halls. If worked out just right, you could have a shot that’d make the whole film. It was a hell of a journey — a bullet train in the morning to Krafla, where they got breakfast, and a two-hour local train far out from the city.\nAs it unfolds, you never realise how good a moment is. It was maybe the second or third-best day of Tzipora’s life. She didn’t know Coretti all that well, and it was the first time they’d talked about things other than Moise. They were on a great adventure, and they all knew it. They laughed when Moise coughed out his coffee all over himself and pretended to be interested when Tzipora talked at length about how geothermal power plants work.\nAt first, the gig had been sort of a joke for Cobian — she was humouring the friend of her girlfriend — but as the film progressed, she realised how talented and passionate her friends were. They were deeply odd and talented people, and they believed in what they were doing — Cobian had never had friends like that before. On the train back to Lola, as the city lights of the capital loomed, Cobian turned to Tzipora and told her that she loved her for the first time.\nAmbitious, arrogant, naive, laughing, well-fed, tired, and in love. Looking back, Tzipora thought the candid footage of themselves made better cinema than anything in a theatre. Lights, camera — action.\n",
  "date": "2021-05-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-05-24-hollywood/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 512,
  "href": "/stories/breakfast/",
  "title": "A Vekllei Breakfast",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/breakfast.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/breakfast_hufd8410dbbab51d0287920821762cd79d_462995_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Postwar Vekllei has a problem. In the old days, many hundreds of years ago, Vekllei’s long, dark winters forced subsistence farmers to preserve their dishes for six or seven months of the year. This changed under the Junta, which opened trade with the Scandinavian powers, and Vekllei soon saw its growing population dependent on fresh imports of oats and grain from Europe. These Atlantic people, whose diets were previously gamey and nomadic, were now a rough storm away from famine.\nToday, the diets are the same but the pressures on food production are even more intense. This island has nearly 22 million people on it. The postwar Vekllei Government is terrified of the vulnerability of its indigenous, isolated ecosystems, and heavily restricts raw food imports. Meanwhile, Vekllei cuisine values freshness, localism and sustainability. These are facts that cannot coexist in a place that cannot reliably grow food outside for half the year.\nThe simple answer, then, is that Vekllei cuts corners on its food production. It does not attempt to reliably produce meat, which effectively banishes traditional cuisine to rural areas and those willing to hunt puffins themselves. For what animals are slaughtered, all parts of their body are used, and quite often all you’ll find at a butcher is sweetbreads and black pudding. Quality meat is synthetic, grown as isolated cells in massive liquid solutions. Even blood and organs are synthesised in industrial quantities for human consumption. Vegetables, which only entered the mainstream diet of Vekllei in the 20th Century, are grown in huge quantities under sun lamps, powered by limitless fission. The factory process of synthesising foods is called sincrestiprosmaious (lit. Grown/Made Produce, or similar).\nWith these unusual facts in mind, let’s take a look at a breakfast feast prepared by Commis Chef Tzipora, which features a selection of indigenous Vekllei breakfast foods.\nThe basic composition of a Vekllei breakfast is its proteins (egg, meats, and cheese), drinks (coffee, citrus juice, or light breakfast tea), fried or raw vegetables (potato and rutabaga) and sweet items (usually a bun, pastry, or breakfast roll and honey).\nThe humble egg is a staple rarely in short supply in Vekllei, and one or two are scrambled or fried most mornings, often assembled on rye with briga (a soft Vekllei cheese with a taste similar to feta) and gos (bitter Vekllei moss). Scrambled eggs are especially popular due to their availability, a result of their ease of synthesis, and flavoured with red spice (factory chilli) or herbs.\nGenuine meat is scarce in Vekllei and eaten only occasionally, most commonly in rural areas close to livestock. Most genuine breakfast meats consist of cold, sliced ham or sausages, which are packed with breadcrumbs due to meat scarcity. Vekllei has a type of blood sausage made of genuine pork blood or synthetic substitutes grown in stem cell hematopoietic vats, which are packed with oatmeal, groats and mint, making a black pudding called rue bouismesn (lit. Blood Sausage). Lamb sausages, called blanc oa bouismesn (lit. White Sausage) are also common.\nVekllei people drink a lot of tea and coffee — about 7 pounds a year of each. They eat a lot of bread and pastry — about 200 pounds a year. They like their butter and lamb, but don’t go in much for pork. Game, like puffins, are eaten regularly, though less than seafood or lamb. All of these items are eaten with breakfast in various ways, most famously agne loh lebeau (lit. Lamb Butter) which is a delicious buttery meat spread for toast, or lava oa agnetunfisk (lit. Buttered Lava Tuna), which is cooked until it falls apart and assembled with potatoes and eggs.\nVekllei people like rich, sweet foods, and we can see that here at breakfast. Coffee is sweetened with condensed milk or raw sugar and stirred thoroughly with milk. Tea is much the same. We have here a long pastri, a “long pastry” filled with fruit, which is eaten with (and often dipped in) your hot drink. A large spiced bun with coconut icing, called a sibun (lit. Pale Bun) is a native favourite.\nVekllei people love food. In a way, it has satisfied the vacuum of moneyless society. It is bargained for help, traded for goods, and gifted for favour. It is also one of the largest compromises of Vekllei’s way of doing things. Upen has a very clear materials hierarchy — things made by you, from things around you, which you understand and respect are best. Below that, there are high quality local things made by others. At the very bottom are synthetic, man-made, factory-produced materials churned out to meet demand. Food in Vekllei undeniably exists in this last category for the vast majority of city-dwelling people.\nYou can reclaim the spiritual purity of foods somewhat by simply loving the ingredients you obtain — the black pudding might be grown in vats, but why not transform it by crumbling it over a salad with a nice vinaigrette you’ve made yourself? To alleviate some of this metaphysical tension, most Vekllei neighbourhoods are filled with greenhouses and local shared gardens, which ensures most meals have some produce in which you have participated. That’s very important. Some people think that, because Vekllei has abolished money, it has abolished the fetishism of products. The opposite is true — Vekllei life is about the love and respect of materials, a feature built into the animism of Upen. You cannot buy the best food in Vekllei — you have to find it, in a trial of ownership.\nSitting down and enjoying food is a cornerstone of life in Vekllei. You cannot participate in society without it. For immigrants, the privacy of a quiet breakfast is good practice for the palettes and conventions of eating in Vekllei — so load up your plates.\n",
  "date": "2021-05-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-05-09-breakfast/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 513,
  "href": "/stories/shrine-minded/",
  "title": "Shrine-Minded Girls",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/shrine-minded.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/shrine-minded_hue80a575b8021bcf65ad6e8ad74e21744_389737_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Shattered fjords make up the north of Vekllei, particularly in boroughs like Santes (lit. Saint) which are well-regarded for their striking cliffs and sloping igneous fingers, which evidence Vekllei’s ongoing volcanism. Offshore, hundreds of islets rise and sink over the centuries.\nThis is the tiny village of Cult, which sits on the sparse tip of the Grimsy Fjord. It has a local train, but is otherwise only serviced by the Santes regional express — a mere single step up on Vekllei’s train hierarchy. This makes it relatively isolated by Vekllei’s rail-dense metrics. Cult’s shorefront is flanked by rocky cliffs that shelter its beaches, which means most of the town is squeezed further in and higher up. By the station at sea level, only a cafe and a handful of factories greet alighting passengers.\nIn her final year of secondary school, Tzipora had developed a fascination with Upen’s “natural shrines,” which contributed to her rapidly developing brand of Judeo-Catholic Upen mysticism. Sometimes after school, when all Cobian wanted was a snack and a movie, Tzipora would drag her onto a bullet train and seek out new shrines — unique natural features — described in Upen’s sagas. They would change trains — again, then again — and finally they’d arrive in some backwater Tzipora had read about. Then they’d go looking.\nCobian keenly remembered watching two days’ worth of essay fly out of Tzipora’s arms and scatter towards the beach in Cult, and thinking that it served her right, just a little bit. It seemed to Cobian that the winds were telling Tzipora to pack up and go home.\nVekllei National Rail (VNR) has a straightforward scheme for the names of its trains. Each is given a regional name — usually a flower or moss, the most important plants in Upen — and then the year is appended. This here is a Lesvesn 59-Series, since it entered production with Arisdeh Coachworks in 2059. Its bright orange livery (VNR Orange, specifically) means it’s a regional train — local trains have unique colours voted on by their passengers. The Lesvesn 59-Series is a DC electric multiple unit train type used all over Vekllei, most commonly on quiet semi-express routes, since the trains most often appear in two-car or even single unit configurations. Its bigger cousin, the Mustard 56-Series, is often seen in the cities. It looks more or less the same, but is a little wider.\n",
  "date": "2021-05-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-05-06-shrine-minded/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 514,
  "href": "/stories/vnr/",
  "title": "The People of Vekllei National Rail",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/vnr.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/vnr_hu86c70bf3acf668f7d50be8787a2ec293_226275_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei National Rail, or VNR, is one of those organisations caught somewhere between a faceless government enterprise and a family member.\nAlmost every Vekllei person rides a train each day, and that train is operated by VNR, which has a monopoly on rail travel and operation. Very few people know exactly what ‘VNR’ is. Is it a government department? A state-owned company? Or is it a “bureau” — the Vekllei word for a collection of companies?\nDon’t worry about it. Someone Tzipora knew called it a state-owned, bureau-backed “organ” of Vekllei, and that was enough for her. Someone in the Atlantic wrote a column the other day about horror films failing to capture sales in Vekllei. And why should they, Tzipora thought, when their lives are already a horror? Ask anyone how the Vekllei economy works and watch real terror reveal itself.\nVNR runs the trains, and employs about 60,000 people in its operations, which range from locomotive engineers to copy editors for rail enthusiast periodicals. The privately-run, state-owned, bureau-backed sub-organ of the Transport Requisite of the Vekllei Government known as VNR maintains a fleet of rolling stock across a variety of types and track gauges, including steam locomotives and experiments in nuclear-electric maglevs. All of this bankrolled carelessly through the National Rail Insurance Scheme A.r.R., which prints as many labour-backed government White Bonds as VNR can spend.\nThe people illustrated here are VNR Attendants, professional people-pushers and friends of the rail-travelling public, who work on trains and platforms guiding, managing and assisting people. In Vekllei, most public-facing work is performed by the elderly, conscripted or socially-inclined. Although VNR has existed since independence, and is more or less the ancestor of the prewar Junta rail monopoly in floral-period makeup, its uniforms were overhauled in celebration of “250 years of rail” in 2055. Their jackets display Vekllei’s optimism in the future of plastic-based fabrics in fashion.\nLike most work in Vekllei, their appearance is professional but their manner is informal.\n“What are you doing there?” Who, me? “Yeah, this is your line mate. Yellow, just keep following yellow, all right?”\nTheir shifts are short, but platform work is boring. Most trade shifts to get as much time on the trains as they can, where they can enjoy Vekllei’s exquisite scenery from some of the world’s finest public transport.\n",
  "date": "2021-04-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-04-25-rail/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 515,
  "href": "/stories/diplomacy/",
  "title": "Living Diplomacy",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/diplomacy.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/diplomacy_hue6aa0d3df73bf445866939a262bdcb5b_773509_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Cobian first met Tzipora at Café Maz, though before then she knew her as ‘Tzipora, the New Girl,’ or, less favourably, ‘Tzipora the Gypsy,’ since there was some confusion about where she’d come from. The neighbourhood had known about her for a while, since people like to talk about foreigners, and when she was spotted at the Café people talked about that too. Meeting her, Cobian understood why she had become a fascination. She had keen blue eyes that were very gentle, and quite slow-moving. She would look at you, then casually to the wall, then to her shoes, then back to you. The peacefulness in her face contrasted dramatically with the intensity of her movements, which were frenetic and unconscious. She had a tic where she would pull on her nose and shirt, which combined with her novice 🔗Potenne, had her hands moving almost constantly as she talked. She was aware of this, because she would notice it periodically and grab her free hand, all without breaking eye contact or the cadence of her conversation. She was very funny; Cobian immediately liked her.\nCobian was a soft-willed sort of person, unopinionated and eager to be liked. Every fact filtered down to a reasonable compromise — there was a little bit of good in everything. Some people call that way of thinking gentle. Maybe she was just a little incurious.\nTzipora was her opposite. She lived in a binary world of Tzipora metrics. Things were either pure and beautiful, disgusting and reprehensible, or not worth thinking about. All things passed through this process — cars, food, clothes, the shape of a curve, and the form of a kettle. Some people call that way of thinking judgemental. She was.\nThis fierce intuition applied to people too, and Tzipora had a good memory. She wasn’t afraid to confront someone if they upset her, which earned her a slap now and then from some girl too rude to take shit from.\n“You can hit me, slap me like that,” Tzipora would say, sneering and rearing back on her heels. “For you to raise your hand against me, like you would a dog — I’ll show you, bitch.”\nShe would stop by Cobian’s house, sometimes holding her collar together where a button used to be or nursing an elbow, and they’d sit out back where her mother couldn’t see them. Cobian would fold up a towelette and wipe the gravel out of her palms and knees.\n“I don’t know where you get off, acting like a gangster,” Cobian says, dabbing her face. “It upsets me.”\n“I don’t know, but she deserved it. You know that. Calls me a pisca; it makes me so angry. Not that she said it to me, but that she thinks she can say such a thing in the first place, like I’d just pretend I hadn’t heard it.”\nTzipora wrestled with the things she said and did constantly. In fact, the ongoing judgement of herself was perhaps the most nuanced opinion Tzipora ever had, one that didn’t fit into the pure/despicable binary. Most days, she landed on self-disgust, and yet…\nTzipora pulled on her nose and sniffed, like she did whenever she was nervous, and looked at Cobian.\n“I’m sorry,” she said. “If you don’t like me blowing up, I’ll try and stop it for you.”\n“I don’t want you to stop for me, I want you to stop for yourself. I’m just glad you’re okay,” Cobian said, and took her hand.\n",
  "date": "2021-04-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-04-19-diplomacy/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 516,
  "href": "/stories/cosy/",
  "title": "Saturday. Summer Rains.",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/cosy.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/cosy_huc44474ce8a0c8585fa181b4839e47a45_379864_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In summer, the sun is up all night. She wakes at five and spends the mornings by herself, reading the paper or a paperback. Baron works late — he wakes late. They have breakfast together, so until then she drinks coffee out of a packet and starts the fire if it’s cold. You were supposed to save power, but sometimes she ran her electric blanket all night, which kept her snug until the under-floor heating warmed up. Her concrete apartment had concrete comforts.\nShe has a record player that runs compact diskettes filled with free jazz and rock ’n’ roll. What Baron calls “bongo music”. She reads shit thrillers with the sound of the lashing rain and wild drums in foreign signatures.\nAbove her bed is a cross, which she treats like a totem. She has a very transactional relationship with God. She doesn’t like him much, but figures doing Him a favour by hanging his cross this one time might earn her a bit of luck when she needs it.\nThe coffee is hot, and spoiled with milk and sugar. Everybody tells her that’s no good, that she’s ruined the coffee. She doesn’t care, she likes how it tastes. The rain goes on. She thinks about breakfast.\n",
  "date": "2021-04-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-04-12-cosy/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 517,
  "href": "/stories/sappers/",
  "title": "Gold Sappers",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sappers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sappers_hu362895d3f6c050ea611e6a956fc6eda4_287443_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The 🔗Venopor (Fedecenoayan porits, lit. Police of the Parliament) are Vekllei’s special police branch. They occupy a function somewhere between special policing and the paramilitary, linking Vekllei’s treasured infrastructure with its civilian police (“Cosmopor”), armed forces, and shadowy intelligence networks. Though they fulfil police functions today, their history is with the Royal Guards and Federal Police of yesteryear, which in turn has produced unusual units like the Gold Sappers, which are unique in modern policing.\nGold Sappers are the official police/security detachment of the National Mint of Vekllei. Contrary to popular belief, 🔗Vekllei does in fact mint coinage, but the Mint is also responsible for the production of paper “Government Crowns” (i.e. labour-backed government bonds) and Vekllei’s gold bullion reserve.\nThough Vekllei may not use money domestically, it spends and receives huge quantities of cash through the International Market in trade with other countries. In many cases, trade is made via gold bullion, which still backs the Vekllei Crown (not the Government Crown — 🔗click here if you’re confused). Although this gold is often simply moved around a vault in foreign reserves, like the Euro Bullion Exchange or Fort Knox, there are many cases where gold is moved into, out of, and around Vekllei.\nThis is what the Gold Sappers are deployed to protect — Vekllei’s national wealth, in and out of transit. Their name and appearance date back to the colonial Atlantic Junta, when their historical units were deployed to pillage and steal from vulnerable infrastructure amidst war. In Vekllei’s convoluted military history, these unceremonious and criminal units were at some point folded into the Junta’s Royal Guards, then Federal Police, and now exist within the postwar Floral Period Venopor. In typical fashion for Vekllei, the Gold Sappers are no longer sappers, nor are they a part of the military. Remember, we are discussing a country in which the 🔗postal service is a military organ.\nStill, the Venopor Gold Sappers retain the beards of their ancestral units, and preserve parts of their heritage through their ceremonial parade dress and traditional songs. In this image we can see illustrated two Sappers in both civilian and paramilitary dress. The redhead holds a submachine gun equipped with drum magazines, which are unusual but commonly used in security units to achieve initial fire superiority and suppress, which allows for repositioning and backup in convoy environments.\nTheir vehicle is a R.V. Z-type (a military 4WD chassis used in all sorts of configurations) powered by a high-torque electric motor and charged by supercapacitors. That snorkel is for cooling, not exhaust. The Mint Z-type (called a ZMi-1 or -2) are used as escort cars in ground convoys, with bullion protected in armoured trucks. The Mint also has a train, and, in more common use, armoured helijets and jet planes. Gold Sappers accompany their gold and coins every step of the way. Otherwise, its navy livery is indicative of its authority as a Venopor police wagon.\nGold Sappers stand out — beards are prohibited across every other armed branch except the spooks and sappers. If you see a Mint convoy coming, stand well back and let it pass — for a country without money, they take their coins seriously.\n",
  "date": "2021-04-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-04-09-sappers/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 518,
  "href": "/stories/women/",
  "title": "Vekllei's New-Age Women",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/women.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/women_hu3edc4193973f3d40b3f5f7340a3426f7_305572_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " A woman has so many parts to her body, life is very hard indeed.\n— Lu Xun, 1927\nEven from my point of view, as a woman, there is nothing attractive about such \u0026lsquo;backward elements.\u0026rsquo; Their skin is beginning to wrinkle, their hair is growing thin, and fatigue is robbing them of their last traces of attractiveness.\n— Ding Ling on the long-marcher woman soldiers, 1942\nWhen Tzipora first arrived in Vekllei in 2063, she was traumatised by the foreignness of everything. It was not just that they drove on the wrong side of the road, or that the chocolate was made by someone else, but that her whole understanding of the world — the world she’d been raised in all her life — was unravelled within weeks. It did not matter if you learned the language, or dressed like them, or worked with them — the way a Vekllei person thinks seemed totally alien, as though they were tuned into a frequency that she couldn’t hear. That was very difficult for her.\nHer clearest memory, out of all the emotional turmoil in her first few weeks, was the clothes. Tzipora was not fashionable or materialistic, but she’d never had nice things to wear. In Vekllei the things on the rack were simple, and often second-hand, but they were very well made and the department stores had a big variety. She picked out five shirts, nearly identical, and decided that these would be what she would wear from now on — it was her own way of establishing an identity; SHE IS THE GIRL WHO WEARS THIS TYPE OF SHIRT. Little things like that mattered a lot, because Tzipora was treated differently here. She was both ‘young’ and a ‘girl’, which had implications for how overseas people talked to her and how she was regarded. Here, almost no one seemed to notice. She had dignity by default, which was exciting and scary at the same time, so she needed something other than her appearance to claim as ‘hers’. And at that time, it was the shirt with the pleats.\nVekllei is a place that is very much radical but, either intentionally or as a byproduct of its opaque culture, suppresses the appearance of radicalism in its public affairs (or as they say there, ‘sun-facing space’). This is for a few reasons. First, Vekllei uses its obscurity as a weapon against its continental neighbours, who might pull it into geopolitical tensions it wants no part of. The second is that Vekllei’s failed revolutionary movements of the early 20th Century are buried with the Junta that suppressed them. The third, and most critically, is that Vekllei people themselves are unaware of just how saturated their lives are with the cultural and political ideology of the floral period, which makes “foreign” political thinking difficult and results in a lot of empty rhetoric — for example, “petticoat socialism” describes the Bureau System, which does not have much to do with either petticoats or continental socialism.\nThis paradigm makes more sense when you consider that there are really two Veklleis — the one that existed before the Atomic War, and the one that exists now, called the “Floral Period” or sometimes “Petticoat Society”. The one that existed before has little resemblance to the one that exists now, and that is the way people have continued to think in the decades of independence — anything prior to 2015 is, simply, history.\nMake no mistake — Vekllei is tremendously radical in its culture and politics, which it tempers with conservative names and third-way politicking. Today’s post looks at how the Vekllei woman changed in the years between 2005 and 2020.\nNot unlike revolutions of years past, postwar Vekllei had (for the moment, at least) lost many of its structural oppressors of women, since the structure itself had collapsed quickly. The interim government had taken an orthodox, though contrarian, communist position, which ushered a new handbook of rhetoric towards de-objectification of women and their pragmatic and social value in the workforce. The interim government had several key women figures among it, who are credited with its success in this critical, and rapidly changing period.\nIn the Vekllei socialist (socialisme oa Vekllei) line of thinking, there are two points of attack. There was the suppression of old models of feminine beauty, which argued against women’s independence and dignity in favour of their security with men, who made up Vekllei’s economic and social caste throughout the entirety of the Junta’s rule. But there was also a very real fear that women’s liberation by Western metrics would simply evolve indentured living into a more obtuse, and in some ways more sinister, commodity-woman (cosmavisiousnesh, lit. ‘plastic woman’1), who was free to educate herself but found her appearance subjected to permanent scrutiny — a product for a consumer, dependent on shifting fashions and complex social constellations still fundamentally controlled by men. This fear was not unfounded, as many educated women of the interim government (who made up nearly half of its members) had spent significant time in Western Europe and the United States, and were keenly aware of who was “gazing” (lismious) and who was being “gazed at” (visimett).\nThe solution developed by the interim government was both political and spiritual, designed to demolish the external remnants of Vekllei’s pre-war and highly stratified society, and the looming threats of foreign investment, new wealth, and an import of the modern commodity-woman. Most importantly, it understood that present notions of empowerment or disempowerment were problematic unto themselves — whether it was sexual liberation, modesty, or indeed the economic role of women in abstract — their ability to empower was still fundamentally chained to old society, which was still dominated by the sexist cultural default.\nIn 2016, Cisma de Diviousmesn, First Secretary of the War Recovery Committee, described the problem as such in The Atlantic.\nWe are nearing a precipice that all Vekllei women may fall into, should we follow unblinkingly the Visis Plan [postwar redevelopment plan], and allow foreign investment to replace English colonial governor-generals; we should be wise enough, so to speak, to not trade a king for a master and call it recovery.\nIn Upen’s discourse on womanhood, the essential virtues of a woman have always included good words, good work and good fortune — emphasising the role of women as both an alias for success/wealth and also as responsible for that fortune themselves, either in the workplace or through their innate spirituality. This has remained true throughout much of Vekllei’s history, but was obfuscated by the economic masculinity of Vekllei’s protectionist mercantile period. After the war, Upen saw a revival that would culminate in the spiritual fever of the late 2010s and early 2020s. The interim government co-opted this surge pragmatically, encouraging a shift in local perceptions of womanhood through spiritual, rather than political or ideological, methods.\n“This is a New Age,” the posters said. “So become a New-Age Woman.”2\nBecoming a New Age Woman involved two things — tearing down the external oppressions of the old and interim periods (harassment, domestic violence, and male interference in the affairs of women), and the interrogation of internalised sexisms (empowerment by male opinion [this included styles women found attractive, as inherited from men], abolishment of economic preoccupations, and the reconstruction of womanhood in abstract). This individual struggle was supported by the many social programmes developed by the interim government, with names like “economic feminisation” (abolishment of the male economic burden) and “abolishment of self-beautification for your man” (scisimionze, or “self-adornment/self-beautification”).\nThe point was not to empower women by simply displacing men from male economic and social constructions — a move that was seen as disempowering because of who was setting those priorities — but to rebuild Vekllei’s domestic understanding of “the woman” by the terms of women, legitimised by the authority of the interim government and the powerful cultural force Upen continues to have on society. Within such a culture, it was reasoned, women would be free to choose what womanhood meant to them, since it was not simply reactive to a sexist cultural default. The sum of this effort was called ‘sun-facing,’ or semoisnesne, which referred to the progressive attitude of both the individual and the country.\nAlthough Vekllei’s New Age Woman had dramatic effects and benefitted the status of women in Vekllei society tremendously, it was nonetheless fundamentally political and had obscure and surprising cultural artefacts buried within. The idea that a woman would be “free to choose” her own womanhood was a little misleading, since the interim government was rapidly developing its plan for “petticoat society,” in which Sundress Municipalism, the Bureau System and Floral Aestheticism would become such powerful cultural forces that no man nor woman would be able to escape them entirely.\nAs the wealth of the country grew and then exploded in the transition to Vekllei’s floral society, it was clear how the structure of petticoat society continued to influence women in Vekllei. Women can wear whatever they like — but simplicity and subtle self-decoration are common and encouraged by the uniforms system and floral aesthetics. Women can live however they like — but education is compulsory in childhood and highly valued, and young women are encouraged to fulfil ‘the female inclination for leadership’ inherited from Upen’s mother-metaphysics. And women can date whomever they like — though ideological compatibility, and not appearance, is encouraged in the semoisnesne attitude.\nSome of these things are easily argued as good — few would assume there are many feminists in the world who argue against the education of women — but they do betray the notion of truly “free” choice, insofar as Vekllei society is dominated by the economic and spiritual values of its structure. Vekllei considers capitalist economics, exponential growth, and gross historicism to be “masculine” — of course that sort of language trickles down into the social aspects of society. More directly, it prioritises form, colour, and purity in aesthetics — of course that aesthetic ideology affects how people dress, and contributes to its uniformed culture.\nIt is difficult to place where the state begins and ends in Vekllei, which is how it can be argued for as an unfree and anarchic society simultaneously. So too is it difficult to determine how much of Vekllei culture originates in the centres of power in Vekllei — either political or religious — and subsequently there are problems in clarifying how women are affected by power, especially since women participate and in some cases dominate those hierarchies. Are they externalised, or internalised? Who is gazing at who?\nRegardless of Vekllei’s cultural obscurity, which affects much more than politics and many people other than women, it is clear a dramatic and liberating shift occurred in Vekllei’s interim period of independence, and that shift has contributed tremendously to the status of contemporary Vekllei women, who enjoy economic and social freedoms that were unimaginable just decades prior. Even though Vekllei has not embraced political iconography to celebrate their indigenous feminism, we can see just how radical and wide-ranging the changes made were.\nThe phrase \u0026ldquo;plastic woman\u0026rdquo; was coined by author John Graves, whose work found popularity in postwar Vekllei after its translation.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nCosmatsisosmiosne de Ne, lit. \u0026ldquo;Woman of the New Age\u0026rdquo;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "2021-04-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-04-01-woman/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 519,
  "href": "/stories/city-rivers/",
  "title": "City Rivers",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/rivers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/rivers_hu68adbc77394e98677f6f9589db8e7b6e_416650_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Out in Voya Voya, the gardens light the people, and distill human temperament into momentary, sequential lyrical images. A dead leaf moving by miracle across still water; an overturned bucket collecting dew along its handle; fern leaves half-curled, young and growing. Vekllei is known as a “garden city,” and Voya Voya has the best of them. Vekllei urban planning is wandering and wasteful, and in this borough the city centre is checkered by wild parks filled with silence and rainforest smells.\nCobian and Tzipora were dating, or something adjacent to it. It was an unusual thing they had going on, since they weren’t much like each other. They’d arranged to have a picnic on Sunday, but a few days out the newspaper said it would rain. Rain-dates meant a movie and lunch.\nThen the forecast got worse. It wasn’t just a shower— it was big rain, with high winds. A storm, anyone but Tzipora would say.\n“We should cancel,” Cobian said on the phone.\n“What’s the big deal? The movie’s indoors, isn’t it?” — that was Tzipora, who was very eager to go out with her.\nOn Sunday, they met at the Couisvisia Hills Station, the one closest to Cobian’s house. They took the train to Lola and talked as rain began to make streams down the windows.\n“This looks bad,” Cobian said, not touching the window because she was afraid of germs. “Look at the clouds in the distance, too — It’s gonna pour; I don’t want to get all wet.”\n“I brought an umbrella,” said Tzipora, whose responsibilities now included managing the weather.\nBy some miracle, they reached the cinema before the first storm clouds rolled in. They listened to it whistle beneath the sounds of the film. Occasionally the rain would wash over the roof loud enough to hear it. Every time the storm made a noise Cobian sighed quietly, and Tzipora looked at her anxiously, wringing her hands like she did when she was nervous.\nAfter the film, they stepped into the lobby to find the rain had ceased. In fact, it had vanished — the gutters were running like hell, and every corner of every roof dripped. But the rain had stopped.\n“Look,” Tzipora said, stepping over a puddle onto the footpath and presenting the sky to Cobian. “I am a rain goddess.”\nThey made a run to the station through the park as the wind scattered water through the air. Tzipora took about five steps into the park before splashing a puddle up herself and soaking her foot.\n“For God’s sake, let’s keep going,” she growled.\nAnother two steps and she did it again, with the other foot. In fact, the whole park was sodden, and the gutters had been overwhelmed. The picnic field had turned into a lake. Trees had wilted under the weight of raindrops. The sound of running water was everywhere. Tzipora had given up and began navigating Cobian by the hand like a conscript charging through a minefield.\nCobian followed, holding the umbrella open uselessly as the wind chilled the water on their skin. They came across a concrete staircase, now a waterfall, as the park-lake drained into the street below. Tzipora, emboldened with the strength of the sacrificial, stepped into it and helped Cobian jump across without sliding into the mud on the other side.\nAs she did, with water filling her shoes and her skirt dripping footpath water, she thought about how much fun this was. You didn’t go on adventures much at their age. She looked at Cobian, who was shivering in the wind and waiting for her, and thought she probably didn’t feel the same way.\n“You all right?” Tzipora asked, stepping out and shaking water off her shoes.\nCobian gave a thumbs up as she shivered, and all was right in the world.\n",
  "date": "2021-03-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-03-27-rivers/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 520,
  "href": "/stories/sand-mage/",
  "title": "The Sand Mage",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/sandmage.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/sandmage_hu89b51d41afe8d5b63976018ea8ddde20_297798_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora is a sand mage.\nActually, she isn’t, but I wanted to draw something with particles and ended up doing different paint sketches for a few hours. This was the best one, and also the most stupid.\nCanonically, Tzipora can’t swim, so she spends more time on the beach than in the water. The colour of the sand here suggests it’s an artificial “white beach” in Mumen or nearby. Most beaches in Vekllei are black.\nShe’s wearing something between regular school uniform and 🔗national dress. It’s a bit exaggerated here, but the gold plate and gi quarter-pleat are common enough ceremonial items. That’s how it works in practice — school uniforms are quite literally undecorated, simpler versions of national dress.\nI don’t usually work in this style. It’s fun to learn new things, and reinvent yourself.\nAnyway, this is just a sketch, not part of Ocean Month.\nThanks for hanging out.\n",
  "date": "2021-03-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-03-19-mage/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 521,
  "href": "/stories/serpent/",
  "title": "Killing a Sea Serpent",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/serpent.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/serpent_huf532089ee845421d14a72e5a6c85b466_413802_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Ocean Month in March 2021 In Eyri, the bones of an ancient beast warp and groan in the sun, red skin glinting in the whitecap churn of the shallows, oxidising, broken, ripped open by the sea. Everyone in the North of Vekllei knows about it. Mysteries abound. Even in our atomic century, the humans of Vekllei are enamoured with and terrified by the ocean.\nIn the Winter of 2018, just three years into Vekllei’s shaky, indigent independence, the TransNorth Oil Company purchased a submarine icebreaker called Sea Serpent from U.S. Oil. It was a crock of shit, built in the late ‘80s to move crude through the Arctic in the difficult seasons. Submarine icebreakers were among the ugliest boats ever made, with thin necks that cut through ice and a warty conn crown.\nIt was not unusual for no-name oil companies to buy up old shipping stock, but TransNorth was something else. If you tracked its company address, you came to a dilapidated warehouse in Memphis with signage affixed — totally deserted. It appears, following the paperwork, no one at all had purchased the Sea Serpent.\nTwo months after its sale, an unregistered vessel by chance triggered a decades-old Soviet detection buoy near Vekllei’s EEZ. The Common Interest Watchhawk programme, designed to demilitarise the Arctic after the Atomic War, allowed the Soviets to report the event to Vekllei and the U.K. — perhaps suspicious it was a clandestine U.S. nuclear sub.\nSomewhere in a command room of Vekllei’s fledgeling secret service (back then called the Office of National Intelligence, the predecessor to HO/NI), a siren fired off. Sixty minutes later, a military helijet touched down in Basa, a northern military office. A destroyer left port in Montre.\nThe buoy was working correctly, and the quiet hum of commercial submarine tech was tracked for eight hours, all the way to Vekllei’s territorial waters. There, the mystery vessel was radioed, radioed again, and destroyed. There was no tolerance for smugglers or spooks in postwar Vekllei.\nThirty minutes after depth charges boomed in the North Sea, the Sea Serpent ran aground on an isolated beach in Eyri. It pushed itself right into the shallows, slashing its coolant pipes on the rocks as it capsized into the beach. With ionised radiation glowing faintly in the water, naval commandos stormed the conning tower, now on its side. Radio equipment, maps, chairs — it had all been flung across the dim interior in its capsizing. Inside were eight men in plain clothes, all dead. All were shot — one self-inflicted.\nIt was not until fifty years later, during the Dallas Crisis and the secession of the Dallas States, that some sort of clue as to the lair of the Sea Serpent emerged. As negotiations dragged on for the Dallas lend-lease of U.S. government properties and infrastructure, a building owned by the Chroma Industrial Concern, a Floridian company subsidised by Washington, was included in a trade of some 614 assets leaked to AB/NI. A young AB/NI asset named Baron Desmoisnes, part of the team filing the leaks, followed up and found Chroma had a warehouse in Memphis.\nIt appears the Sea Serpent was coming for Vekllei — who says snakes don’t commit suicide?\n",
  "date": "2021-03-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-03-17-serpent/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 522,
  "href": "/stories/commonwealth/",
  "title": "Vekllei’s Sprawling Commonwealth",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/territories.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/territories_hu7998925409a0d852247f4f43edab7c53_273620_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Ocean Month in March 2021 Welcome again to Ocean Month. If you have questions, just ask.\nWhen we say “Vekllei,” we most often think of the Home Island, the city-state to which the country owes its name. In practice, however, the state of Vekllei is portioned between many far-flung corners of the Atlantic Ocean. From tropical jungles and dry wine-making country to mossy woodlands and arctic deserts, “Vekllei” as a singular concept is obfuscated by its diversity of land and people, and better represents a coalition of disparate Atlantic states than a single, centralised city-state.\nMake no mistake, however — the power is held in the Home Island, where the vast majority of Vekllei’s people live and work. Her autonomous, satellite regions are indulged and supported as any borough of the Home Island, but these islands (and they are, invariably, islands) are often small, isolated and of little economic value. What makes them special is that they are populated with vibrant, unique peoples and cultures of considerable history, and are retained for precisely that fact — their cultural benefit for a city-state that considers itself a representative of indigenous Atlantic people; a “third power” between the hegemonies of Europe and America.\nThis map depicts these places — “overseas territories” is what Vekllei calls them — as well as their exclusive economic zones (EEZs), outlined in white. Let’s take the opportunity to have a brief look at some of Vekllei’s most unique and distant regions.\nKala, or Greenland, is Vekllei’s “sister land”. Many of the indigenous Arctic people who first settled Vekllei nearly six thousand years ago crossed from or lived in Kala. The massive glacial island is self-governing, and has its own regional parliament, but is otherwise a possession of Vekllei. Its largest city, Nusc, reveals just how antagonist Kala remains towards it inhabitants — just 250,000 people live there, compared to nearly 2.4 millions in Vekllei’s largest borough, Vekllei Proper. Pack a jacket! Demon, or Jan Mayen, is a tiny volcanic satellite island and full overseas territory of Vekllei. It has the smallest population of any overseas province, at just 15,600 people, who live in its only town — Skismi. As an overseas territory, it receives daily postal service and full entitlements of any Vekllei person, mostly by way of flying boats and hydrofoils. Aismious Isles, or the Faroe Islands, are an archipelago of charming people mostly descended from Arctic Vekllei (indigenous Algic people) and early Irish settlers, known for their seafood diets and provinciality. There’s a lot going on in the world, and the people of the Aismious Isles don’t want to know about it — or at least, that’s the consensus. For this reason, it’s popular as the “thinking man’s retreat” from society, as opposed to traditional holiday locales like the Azores. Speaking of the Azores, these islands are unique — while self-governing, they are structured more like a Bureau than a democracy. Two governments exist there at once — the Azores Holiday Government, which maintains infrastructure that enables nearly a million Vekllei people to vacation there each year, and the Mira Regional Council, its neighbour and electorate to which locals cast their ballots. This has, historically, made them very cranky. Mira, or Madeira, is situated off the coast of Africa and is one of the few places in Vekllei that requires special permits to visit. It is both heavily protected as a wildlife reserve and a major naval port for the Royal Vekllei Armed Forces at Sumi, its largest city. As is encouraged throughout Vekllei, people here live the way they have for hundreds of years, just more quietly. Kalina Isles, made up of many islands of the Lesser Antilles, are a tropical archipelago of hundreds of small islands, many of which are unpopulated. Like Kala, the Kalina Isles are self-governing, and while its old colonial towns and indigenous Caribbean culture may not at first appear “Vekllei”, you’ll find their relaxed lifestyles and deep appreciation for landscape unite them in spirit with all Vekllei territories, from the Home Island to Demon. Vekllei Antarctic Territories are, somehow, more isolated in feeling than her Lunar cities. During the late 2050s, when sovereignty started to be enforced in the antarctic, Vekllei retained its claim by encouraging domestic tourism to the South Pole. On the coast, an airport services a civilian city called Desma of hotels and commerce, which is marked by the dramatic, hostile desert that surrounds it. The further inland you go, the less accessible the settlements become, finally arriving at the military/scientific Polar Station at the South Pole. Vekllei Lunar Territories are, through the miracle of our current age, accessible to the average Vekllei person. This fact is one of the great sources of pride Vekllei people feel toward their country, and many visit at least once. Moidonnet, or “Moon City”, is one of only a handful of lunar settlements open to the public, and is unique in its accessibility to the people of its home country. Some 45,000 people live there semi-permanently, taking calcium pills to keep their bones healthy, under the large glass domes of the city. Many more visit — and are left with the memories of a lifetime, and the humbling experience of gazing upon our small blue planet from above. It is clear, then, that Vekllei’s conceptual and political bias towards its northern territories is misleading, since — at least domestically — isolation and island living is a foundational aspect of how Vekllei people understand themselves. Although someone from Mira might at first be a novelty to a person of the Home Islands, it very soon becomes apparent that Mira is, in fact, Vekllei — its weather might be warmer, and its people might look different, but their lives are very similar, premised on gentle living and Vekllei’s complex metaphysics of landscape. That is what it means to be “Vekllei,” no matter where you are in the Atlantic.\n",
  "date": "2021-03-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-03-10-commonwealth/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 523,
  "href": "/stories/marine-railway/",
  "title": "The Marine Railway",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/marinerailway.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/marinerailway_hu6304fd8f579877a5b1936decfe1da8bb_431880_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Ocean Month in March 2021 ✿ Note from the Editor Although vessels described here are written with female pronouns as per Western convention, Vekllei traditionally uses male pronouns for navy vessels. Nuclear Heavy Battlecruiser V.V. Lava is the first of the Lava-class cruisers, the largest of Vekllei’s surface warships. Vekllei doctrine does not typically float cruisers with fleets, and so the Lava often operates independently, outfitted for a variety of roles. She can be sailed into any storm-ravaged port and hook up to the local electric grid, powering tens of thousands of homes with her enormous molten salt fission reactor. She is equipped for both fire support and assault. 5 large guns of 50-100mm calibers crater the shore as missiles, torpedoes and lasers of various types fight off threats from the air and sea. She is even equipped for beach assaults and boarding, with 6 assault boats and 5 helijets available to offload hundreds of maritime commandos, which are deployed frequently in Vekllei’s ongoing fight against illegal fishing. Her multipurpose mission is reflected in the visibility of her superstructure, which boasts heliports, vertical launch systems, rack missiles, and heavy guns.\nHere, she enters the world’s largest marine railway in the port town of Cisadra. As she sits in the water here, her sailors have disembarked and her helijets are preparing to relocate as thousands of tons of ballast is pumped into a treatment facility. Once her weight is reduced to a mere 25,000 tonnes, she will be chained to the massive marine railway ‘cradle’ — the supports and bed on which she sits — and slowly pulled by massive nuclear winches into the shallow water of the Cisadra Shipyards, a naval facility owned by the Royal Vekllei Armed Forces.\nThis marine railway is the largest of its kind, and was unfathomably expensive to build. The Navy of Vekllei maintains a naval station in the Lesser Antilles to support strategic nuclear sites it retains on the Kalina Islands, and large-scale dredging and dock construction was deemed unsuitable for the sorts of harbours common to the area. Although a number of ideas, including a floating shipyard were hypothesised, the Cisadra Marine Railway was built after the success Vekllei had with similar systems in the Home Islands.\nRead on for a little more information on the Kalina Islands.\nThe Kalina Islands (made up of Anguilla, St Martin, St Kitts \u0026amp; Nevis, Allia, Antigua and Barbary) are an autonomous overseas territory of Vekllei, structured as a self-managing dependent state similar to Kala (Greenland) and the Aismious islands (Faroe). Although their origins are colonial, today they are a full overseas state of Vekllei with the same entitlements and voting rights as any Home Islands Borough. They remain autonomous in internal policy, similar to a provincial government, and across their hundreds of tropical islands there are some 350,000 people, all of them holding both Vekllei and Kalina citizenship.\nThe Kalina Islands were purchased from the Spanish in the 17th century, and indicated Vekllei’s initial intention to exploit the New World. This ambition was scuppered with the collapse of the Vekllei monarchy, which established forts across them but could not muster the resources to occupy continental America. Vekllei’s colonial efforts were blunted for centuries after, and excluded the country from major participation in the slave trade and the colonisation of Africa.\nThis leaves the Kalina Islands, named after its native peoples, in a peculiar position as both a legacy of the early colonial period while also remaining home to the only major populations of Island Carib people (Kalinago) left in the world. On adjacent overseas territories, like the British Virgin Islands and Guadaloupe, they died out from murder and disease — but through the sheer failure of Vekllei’s colonial policy, they live on as an association of island territories in the 21st Century.\nDespite being thousands of kilometres apart with dramatically different cultures and climates, both the Home and Kalina Islands remain “Vekllei” by way of their ancient cultures, maritime histories and moneyless bureau system. In this sense, the success and prosperity of the Kalina Islands reestablish what “Vekllei” is — where once it meant the indigenous people of the Arctic North, today it represents a coalition of Atlantic territories united in their dependence on landscape and economic systems. If the Kalina Islands were to become independent, it is likely little would change — their centuries of history with the Home Islands have cemented a desire for landscape sovereignty and postindustrial localism, and along with Kala and the Aismious, Vekllei has forged an alternative way of living for indigenous Atlantic peoples caught between the hungry machines of America and Europe.\n",
  "date": "2021-03-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-03-06-marine/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 524,
  "href": "/stories/justice/",
  "title": "Justice",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/justice.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/justice_hu00fc19fd429295cddbba77de9a66c5a5_325805_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Lin Zhi was nuts. She was lovely, but she was nuts. Tzipora followed along, pleading occasionally, a squeaking voice of concern. The cricket bat dragged and bounced along the poor road sealing.\n“You could go to prison,” Tzipora said, protesting weakly. “Why not send Moise and his boys? They’ll put the fear of God in him.”\n“This is stupid,” Zhi said in clumsy Vekllei, staring ahead. “You do not know what it’s like.”\n“I do know,” Tzipora whined. Between their second-hand Vekllei and conflicting accents, they struggled to understand each other. “They call me a gypsy bitch. But I don’t hit them. And not with a bat.”\nZhi and Zelda were much alike. They were both fresh immigrants of school age, and stepped ashore with shadows of a world far beyond Vekllei’s utopian domesticity. Tzipora had spent time indigent in America, nearly lynched in Utah. Zhi had lost her father and uncle to the purges in Red China. Zhi told Tzipora she was the great-great-granddaughter of a hero of the communist party, who’d fought with Mao Tse-tung himself over a century ago. Tzipora did not enquire further, since she knew as much about China as she did the moon.\n“No one is asking you to come,” Zhi said, marching ahead as Tzipora trailed.\n“Don’t be silly, I’m coming with you. Of course I’m coming with you. I just don’t want you to ruin your life over some words.”\n“Words add up,” Zhi said quietly.\nThe rest of Zhi’s seven sisters had taken European names to better assimilate into the hectic transcontinental aliyah of postwar Vekllei. Not Zhi, though. She was wilful and clear-minded, maybe recklessly. Tzipora liked her and feared her, perhaps because she saw herself in Zhi’s frequent outbursts of anger and principled view of the world.\nThe Floral Period was stuffed with new citizens, many of them in disfavour of the politics of their home country. Many of them came from Asia — 🔗Ayn’s father was a Hong Konger, and 🔗Jiro was from Tokyo. Vekllei’s people were indigenously “Asiatic in appearance,” as Europe called them. Most were descended from a mixture of Arctic peoples and Irish or Scandinavian settlers. To this end, Vekllei’s complicated ethnic makeup contributes to the country’s obscurity from the U.S. and Europe, as they tend to be orientalised outside of Western concern. This discrimination does not stop Vekllei people from maintaining ignorant ideas towards its incoming East Asian and South-East Asian migrants, however, and people like Zhi often had to deal with racist abuse in public and in private.\n“Why don’t we be smart about this?” Tzipora asked, upset. “What he did to you is against school policy. He’ll be thrown out — it’ll ruin him. That’s what hurts, really. Trust me, I know. I know what it’s like for you, too. But he wants to go to the National University. If we get him thrown out, that would ruin him.”\nZhi scoffed, and shook her head. “That you could think the school would do anything shows how little you know,” she said.\n“Baron is powerful. He can lean on them. He does it all the time, he’d help if I asked. I know he would.”\nTzipora stepped in front of her, and put her arms out. Her eyes were shining with tears.\n“I was going to get expelled for putting a girl’s head through a window, and it was like this,” Tzipora said, sniffling. “She picked on me every day. Every day, she knew I was lonely and sad so she’d scare me. And one day I snapped and put her head through the window. I was going to be expelled, and my life would have ended there. But Baron knew I was right, and he stepped in. Sometimes that’s all it takes, to beat them. It just takes an outsider.”\nZhi had stopped marching, and leaned on the bat. She was out of breath. She shook her head and tossed the bat at Tzipora’s feet.\n“Okay,” she said. “Because I like you, Zelda, that’s all. Don’t tell him anything. Don’t tell anyone anything. This is my problem. But I don’t want to upset you. We’re quite similar, I think.”\n“Too similar,” Tzipora said, wiping her eyes. “But it’s not our fault. Not really.”\n",
  "date": "2021-03-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-03-01-justice/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 525,
  "href": "/stories/pond/",
  "title": "Post is for People",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/pond.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/pond_hu9405a8461fb92666a656f8ae0af81faa_427596_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Mail Week in February 2021 Caught amidst sunrays in early Autumn, things are good. You could call almost anyone on the telephone these days. And if you wanted to see someone, why travel? A videophone was just as good. But just as the photograph failed to displace the painter, neither did the telephone or videophone succeed in killing the hand-written letter. There was something thoughtful about it. It was intimate, but also dependent on memory. Memories of people, memories of places. It was slower, yes, but that\u0026rsquo;s just how life worked in this country. It is a good way to live.\n",
  "date": "2021-02-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-02-22-pond/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 526,
  "href": "/stories/around/",
  "title": "Turning Things Around",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/around.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/around_hu038ec836143248591941cf16f6bce50b_367306_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "His hand was hurting bad, but no one asked him about it the day after. Moise always had a temper, and now he had a reputation. He got no words of sympathy from the other seniors of Lola 8th School.\nConsidering his bluntness and irritability, it was funny that he could only make good friends with women. His father was a bastard and his mother was in Greece, so his sister took their place. His closest friend was Tzipora, the boyish miracle child who helped him lose weight. His love was Coretti, his high school sweetheart and, a little further along, his wife.\nCoretti was the daughter of Congolese scientists, but was born and raised in the Soviet Union. She had a typical brief for Afro-Russians — her father had worked with the Congo Water Company, and later was brought over for the Soviet Ministry of Agriculture and Food. She spent her early years in the relative wealth of the Basmanny District.\nThe arrangement collapsed quickly after the coup in Congo and the death of Party Secretary Shchusev. The office her father worked for disappeared, and the family emigrated to Vekllei when she was six. Vekllei was full of displaced people with displaced heritage. After all, Moise was himself the son of wealthy Greek folk, his mother a fascist in the shadow party there. The way their identities intersected brought about difficult dimensions to their character — often empowering, occasionally suffocating, and sometimes resurrecting ghosts from their past.\nMoise was graduating this year with Coretti, and had already landed a gig running cameras for Dovo Studios, a big deal for someone his age. His real passion was filmmaking — the creation of dreams. That was on hold, after last night.\nSome shithead assistant-to-an-assistant was mouthing off about him to the C.A., telling him he had an attitude. Moise didn’t know what this guy’s problem was, and he kept picking at him all night. Moise didn’t take shit, and got up in his face.\nHe looked at his right hand, which was swollen so fat he couldn’t tuck his fingers in. It’d be right in a couple days, maybe a week. But he was off the set for now.\nCoretti hated his fighting. Tzipora, ever the contrarian by way of instinct, admired him for it. It was like those cartoons with the angels and devils on your shoulders.\n“I hate it when you fight,” says Coretti, in a white gown and halo. “You’re a better man than that, I know it in your heart.”\n“Is that right?” Tzipora says, with horns and a tail. “Seems to me he’s proved exactly who he’s better than.”\nHe’d lost his job and got in trouble again, but as Moise lit a cig and sat back, the whole afternoon ahead of him, he felt pretty good.\n“Yeah,” he said, and took a drag. “Serves me right.”\n",
  "date": "2021-02-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-02-20-around/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 527,
  "href": "/stories/stamps/",
  "title": "Philately Foolery",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/stamps.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/stamps_hu6a8887bc74fe172cf9de627a9d39ccab_344846_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Mail Week in February 2021 We’re going to do a deep dive on stamps today.\nYou can tell a domestic Vekllei stamp from its international counterpart quite easily:\nDomestic stamps have a coloured square, called a chromacode, used for sorting mail automatically within the country by a special machine called a kinosemimatia. Domestic stamps do not show a price in 🔗Vekllei Kroner, and generally do not use the Vekllei hieroglyph to announce its origin. We can deduce that the stamps pictured above are all domestic stamps used for sending mail to other Vekllei people, regardless of whether they live in Antarctica, Vekllei’s lunar colonies or anywhere in-between.\nStamps are valuable records of their time, particularly as memories of celebration. You can learn a lot about a place and what it values by looking at its stamps.\nLet’s take a look at some of Vekllei’s domestic postage stamps from the last few years. From the top left:\n2063 marked the launch of the third generation of Vekllei rocket booster since independence in 2015. The introduction of these boosters, spaced evenly across the postwar decades, marked eras in themselves for Vekllei’s extraterrestrial ambitions. By the 2060s, most metals were mined off-world, marking one of the greatest weapons for peace in the atomic era — vast new worlds of untapped resources. This particular postage stamp was released as part of a set celebrating Vekllei rocketry, including recent expeditions to planetoids on the very periphery of our solar system. Puffins are the national bird and appear everywhere. You can see why — they’re pretty birds and very common in Vekllei. They are popularly circulated on stamps in a variety of styles simply because people like to see them when sending and receiving mail. This stamp may look abstract at first, but is actually a message in 🔗Vekllei Semaphore. Green and gold represent nature and living blood, which alternated like this usually refers to natural chaos. But there’s more to it — this striping pattern, called a sunburst in Vekllei hieroglyphs, refers to the sun, and can mean warmth. These swooping white lines mean purity, or delicateness, and those patterned squares are used for the borders of announcements from the Prime Minister’s Office. So can you guess what this stamps says? It’s announcing Vekllei’s success in the Olympics in skiing, of course. Vekllei Semaphore is rarely straightforward — it has a thousand quirks built over a thousand years. Speaking of the Prime Minister’s Office, this is Ms. Prime Minister Jo Sismiosnah, one of two Prime Ministers in the country. Atomic weaponry is a fact of life in the 2060s, and Vekllei has a complex psychological relationship with nukes as both a victim and retainer of nuclear weapons. It is also the only country in the world to have detonated nuclear weapons for a 🔗cultural purpose. This stamp depicts such a detonation. In the absurdity of the Royal Mail Press, antinuclear stamps are also produced simultaneously, depicting white doves urging world leaders to denuclearise. This flower, called a Lava Rose, is common to the 🔗Lumiousniyah region on the West of the country. Not by coincidence, its chromacode is destined for Copette. Vekllei retains a great many nuclear icebreakers to keep shipping traffic moving in and out of its Northern regions. The country depends heavily on foreign shipping for its bizarre peripheral markets and such icebreakers are often celebrated on stamps. This is Vekllei’s lovely agricultural belt throughout its rich volcanic interior, specifically based off Kyala’s wheat fields. By no coincidence, its chromacode is destined for Kyala. Finally, we see a celebration of Anglo-Vekllei relations in the post-occupation period. Although historical tensions will linger for many generations more, and disputes over fishing rights in the Atlantic continue to threaten friendly relations, Vekllei is very keen in a political context to celebrate the diplomatic successes achieved with the U.K. since occupation, and you’ll find the U.K. generally overrepresented on Vekllei’s ‘foreign’ domestic stamps. Now that’s a lot of stamp facts! Before we go, Tzipora has just a couple of words on starting your own stamp collection:\nNEVER PEEL STAMPS. Cut them off the envelope and soak it in water for an hour or so, until it separates freely. Dry your stamps on a tea towel. Press them with books so they don’t curl. Keep your stamps safe by keeping them in an album, preferably. Share your stamps. Stamps are meant to be shared, so never be afraid to trade your boring Vekllei stamps to some friendly Soviet or American for theirs. That’s all for now. We’ve got one more post left in “Mail Week” (more like Mail Month at this rate), before we head off to something new. It’s going to be very exciting!\n",
  "date": "2021-02-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-02-16-stamps/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 528,
  "href": "/stories/manufacturie/",
  "title": "The Stamp Manufacturie",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/manufacturie.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/manufacturie_hu59b1a1ddc9492e5eacf98ad3c9a36c31_354503_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Mail Week in February 2021 The Stamp Manufacturie of the Royal Mail Press, located on 5th Avenue, churns millions of stamps a year out of its massive drum presses. Stamps are used on mail instead of postcodes, and as payment for the international and courier work the Royal Mail does abroad. Since Vekllei does not use money domestically, Vekllei people do not pay for postage and stamps are used in the automatic sorting system to determine the destination for any Vekllei territory, including its arctic, peripheral and antarctic possessions.\nThe main factory, seen here, is an original Newda building in the simple, postwar style common in the time it was built. The street and loading area it looks over is actually just one part of the Royal Mail headquarter complex, and the surrounding city blocks have slowly been claimed for the Mail’s singular mission: reliable post for Vekllei people, anywhere in the world. In the background, the Mail Tower, so it’s called, punctuates the mid-rise skyline of the Capital. The tower is actually a vestigial artefact of a military telecommunications facility, now home to the Mail’s Office of Telecommunications.\nAt street level, pedestrians can take lunch at the Royal Mail Press Cafeteria, tour the Royal Vekllei Philatelic Museum, or take a monorail to the Royal Mail Post Office General, where the organisation is administrated. Like many State Requisite manufacturers, these facilities are available to the public via tours, which make common day trips for the unburdened Vekllei worker/holidaymaker.\nLet’s take a closer look at why the The First Post Office of the Royal Vekllei Mail looks the way it does.\nVekllei has throughout much of its history evolved outside of Western rationalism, and this incurs all sorts of peculiarities in its public life, not least of which its affection for the perceptual, affective, natural and other unsentimental artefacts of pre-rational thought. For Vekllei people, art is just the decoration of ordinary life. In architecture, this is catastrophic; buildings in Vekllei are not “projects,” and they have no “subject” that centres its design. This has resulted in the bizarre manifestation of a sort of postwar postmodernism, rooted in 🔗Upen and valorised by 🔗Vekllei Metaphysics, in which informal poststructural utopianism is projected onto the objects — in this case, buildings and factories — of ordinary life.\nVekllei modernism is basically utopian. Not utopian in the way this whole project is; as a peculiar expression of being — but utopian in its unabashed projection of texture and emotion in place of an authentic art-form. Newda is utopian in the sense that buildings are not art-objects, and they serve a rational purpose agnostic to subjectivity. Newda is also unsentimental, as art is merely the decoration of ordinary life in Vekllei, not dissimilar to language or cooking. It is obvious, then, that architecture and art have been separated intentionally in Vekllei.\nNewda is the face of this cultural legacy, and despite its poststructural origins, is deeply modernist in appearance. It is styled in the instinct of the postwar period, as symbolic of recovery and wealth. It gives very little concern to imitation of past styles or structural gimmicks — it prioritises geometry, cleanliness, “the human face” (meaning original human construction; not biomimicry) and dependence on place. Although influenced by experiments in modernism in France and the United States, it is mostly indigenous and isolationist today, as the rest of the world rumbles amidst yet another crisis of architecture.\n",
  "date": "2021-02-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-02-11-manufacturie/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 529,
  "href": "/stories/3000/",
  "title": "3,000 MEMBERS!",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/3000.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/3000_hub7a2dc325cc5b928b6d114213b0df8b3_345996_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Hello,\nI’m Hobart, and I’m the creator of this place. I’ve been drawing Vekllei for a few years now, and I love doing it.\nTo celebrate 3,000 members, use this as a cosy thread/AMA to settle in, and have any questions you might have about the project answered.\nFor those who are new, I encourage you to read the posts pinned to the top of the subreddit for a crash course in what’s going on here.\nFor longtime friends, come say hi! This is a party thread, whoo!\nQuik Fax:\nVekllei is a country set in what we know as Iceland, in an alternate vision of the future. It’s my utopia, which means it’s an expression of everything I value in life, the good and the bad. I draw all sorts of things, and write about all sorts of topics — all set in Vekllei or other countries. It’s slowly becoming a comprehensive utopia, filling in everything from 🔗economics to 🔗love stories to 🔗metaphysics and 🔗espionage. You’ll notice the scope shift a lot in my posts. The project has a comic being worked on, available to my 🔗patrons as an ongoing series of drafts at the moment. Otherwise, “Vekllei” is what you see here — a collection of posts that are snapshots of the world. It doesn’t have an end goal, it’s just what I like to do. Every post I have ever made, plus an expanding collection of wiki articles about this project, can be found at my website: 🔗millmint.net Thank you sincerely for paying attention and caring for my work. It’s a wonderful thing we’ve got going here.\nKind regards,\nHobart/MelonKony\n🔗Join the Patreon\nBe “petticoat”\n",
  "date": "2021-02-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-02-09-3000/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 530,
  "href": "/stories/mail-train/",
  "title": "Racing the Post Office to the Station",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/mailtrain.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/mailtrain_huc30ff1b62e38eca40eb96d451262590e_555470_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Mail Week in February 2021 It was the hottest day of June so far, in that time of year where the sun never set on Vekllei. It was the first week of sleepless nights; the windows thrown open, air sticky and pungent with the smells of the rainforests, tossing and turning in the heat.\nA stab of panic shot through her as she woke, bleary-eyed and senseless, to the quiet bedside clock. She blinked a couple of times before the terror set in. She’d overslept — 08:32 — but critically, the Travelling Post Office left at 8:30. Shit, shit shit.\nMaybe, just maybe, she could run to the next station and catch it when it stopped to offload the grocer’s produce.\nLying atop damp sheets, she rolled out of bed and made a racket on the wooden floor of her house, wiping her eyes as she looked for her friend’s package. She flew out the front door moments later in the shorts and tee shirt she’d slept in, raking a sandal across the gravel as she landed awkwardly. It was usually a fifteen minute walk to the station, so she ran as fast as she could, the package bouncing off her leg painfully as she took off down the drive. Warm raindrops started to hit the dirt around her.\nAs she rounded the corner where the dirt track met paved path, she met it — the No. 76 Mail Train, closing in from behind. The mist had rolled in and the hot rain was belting down. No. 76 was going to overtake her — but she still might catch it before it departed. This was going to be close.\nMail Trains, or Rail Post Offices, are a common sight in Vekllei once you leave the dense urban infrastructure of its coastal cities behind. The further you venture into Vekllei’s dramatic, tendril-like mountain ranges and igneous valleys, the smaller towns become. Some, like Montre-Lola, had their post offices closed long ago, and today are served by a series of travelling post offices that run along the ubiquitous web of commuter rail lines in the country. The advantages are obvious; one train, running along a single line, can service six or seven towns in a morning.\nThey pull into a siding, usually the platform of the local station in quiet towns, and wait for fifteen minutes or so to allow for the loading and unloading of mail. They can also perform duties of regular post offices, like the renewal of identification and travel booking, as long as you phone ahead.\nModern Mail Trains are typically based on the Series 225 EMU in 2-car configurations. These are modern locomotives with electric motors in each car, allowing the 225 (known as the RM Series in its Mail Train configuration) to easily run along Vekllei’s old interior rail lines, which have steep gradients and tight curves. The exception is the Siviouscopet de Desmisnion, or Ambassador of the Postmistress, a special mail-sorting train based on the 6-car Series 4000 trainset that operates between the Capital and Montre. The Ambassador is particularly special, since it houses a fully furnished office available to the Postmistress General for her use in running the Royal Vekllei Mail.\nTzipora here has encountered the simple adventures of rural living; navigating the friendly bureaucracy of her government from small towns long since forgotten in common memory.\n",
  "date": "2021-02-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-02-05-mailtrain/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 531,
  "href": "/stories/fairie/",
  "title": "The Fairie",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fairie.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fairie_hu95b9c2141bdf0b9c20f506985de49298_280781_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Mail Week in February 2021 The M.S. Fairie Model 54-2 “Mail Hopper” is a strange aircraft. The basic design has remained unchanged for over a hundred years, imported from the United States way back during the massive scrapping of junk warplanes after the Second World War. Even back during the Junta years the country had little respect for foreign intellectual property, and by 1949 had started rolling out Imitation Catalinas, which were among the first indigenous aircraft in the country. A hundred years on, the Fairie is still being developed and produced, its most recent version rolling out in 2054.\nThe Government Aircraft Factories (the actual name of the organisation and design bureau is literally “Government Aircraft Manufacturie”) produce military aircraft for Vekllei’s armed forces. And since the Royal Mail is technically a military organisation, Mail vehicle contracts are furnished by the government arms merchants of the country.\nWhile keeping the same basic form and fuselage of the ancient Catalinas, the Fairie has been thoroughly overhauled inside and out. The twin props have been replaced by low-power Sami 🔗S.p.M. electric pulse jets raised high off the seas to keep salt water out, which are angled slightly downwards. Though inefficient at the sorts of altitudes the Fairie flies at, they are much quieter than turbofans and better suited for slow flying, benefitting the low-speed gliding tendencies of the aircraft. The aircraft is smaller overall than its predecessors, with a redesigned tail and wingspan that lower the Fairie’s stall speed.\nVekllei has many islands, and more emerge all the time. This is a violently volcanic country after all, and after a day of churning seawater whole new landmasses can appear off the coast. The archipelago communities of these landmasses are often serviced by light flying boat aircraft like the Fairie. Some of them, like this one here, are seaplanes exclusively and have no landing gear (the “-2” of its designation refers to this omission). Others, especially those assigned to the arctic, are equipped with skis.\nThe Mail retains fourteen Fairies across the Home Islands, and a further six across the Azores, Aismious (Faroe Islands) and Kala (Greenland). To the people they service, these planes represent much more than the arrival of the mail — they are a direct gesture of the mother Vekllei state; a reminder they are not forgotten by the Crown Metropole, and a pipeline to friends and relatives across oceans. These pilots are among the luckiest in the world, flying superbly engineered aircraft, refined over a century, across some of the most striking lands and oceans on Earth.\nBonus: 🔗a much larger Vekllei aircraft built by the Comen Aeroyards.\n",
  "date": "2021-02-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-02-03-fairie/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 532,
  "href": "/stories/postmistress/",
  "title": "The Postmistress of Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/postmistress.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/postmistress_hu9dfc4ece335b31b27542df08480a4366_326907_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Mail Week in February 2021 Here we have arranged the highest-ranking and lowest-ranking members of the Royal Vekllei Mail (Mail A.r.). On the left is an Office Postgirl, a precursory position tasked with distributing letters in the sprawling bureau complexes abundant in the centralised postwar period. This particular employee is Aleja Hernández, who has decided she’d rather deliver mail than spend another year studying for high school exit exams. Mail runs in her blood — her father, a Dominican, is stationed abroad in service of the Royal Mail’s Cuba Office with her mother, a native of the country. They’ll be abroad until the Spring, and by the time they get back they expect Aleja to have found full-time work with the Mail. She wears a baggy smock to keep ink and dirt off her uniform. Here, she represents a common intern of the organisation, tasked with menial and uninteresting work for a few weeks as she’s trained to be a proper Postwoman.\nThe difference between someone like Aleja and the Acting General Postmistress is the Postmistress does not spill letters all over the hallway.\nThe current General Postmistress of the country is Sious Desmesneh, who stands here beside Aleja. At 32, she is the youngest Postmistress in Vekllei’s history. She is also among the most cunningly ambitious people currently employed by the Mail, and scandalously usurped her immediate superiors to inherit the role after the passing of Postmaster John Iousasmor, a shock promotion formalised by a landslide company ballot in May last year.\nIt is only appropriate that she ascended via coup, since the Postmaster General is a de jure military rank, equivalent to an Admiral in the navy. The Mail is a State Requisite, not a military organ, but it retains a formal military leadership and ranked hierarchy from its origins as a military communications organ many centuries ago. Although a military “General,” Sious has no actual military powers and serves less exotically as a de facto director of the Mail A.r. She wears the Postmistress’s uniform, complete with traditional Vekllei 🔗floral plate and round heismious hat.\nFinally, the flag of the Royal Mail is depicted above Aleja. Most bureau-sized organisations in Vekllei have their own flags, as part of 🔗Vekllei semaphore, and the Mail Flag is flown alongside the domestic and regional standards outside every post office in the country.\n",
  "date": "2021-02-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-02-02-postmistress/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 533,
  "href": "/stories/mail/",
  "title": "The Men and Women of the Royal Mail in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/mail.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/mail_huf62e4d338bb6af20082cccd4387fc2cf_354027_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Mail Week in February 2021 There are not many postal services older than the Royal Vekllei Mail. It is so old that in the Vekllei language its title is simply ‘Mail’ — the ‘Royal’ and ‘Vekllei’ are implied by the use of its hieroglyph. Founded in 1422 as part of the military communications system between government and mercantile government holdings, it has survived various restructurings — and several wars — to remain a critical communications and cultural institution today.\nAs is the usual way with State Requisites (A.r.), the (Royal Vekllei) Mail maintains a state monopoly on all paper and electric mail in the country, serviced by a workforce of nearly fifty thousand people and two hundred thousand 🔗automen. Peculiarly, telephones, telegrams and videophones are structured under the Mail as the Mail Bureau Office of Telecommunications, which acts as an independent organ of the Mail A.r.\nVekllei people send nearly 12 million letters a day — that’s about one for every two people, and the Mail processes and delivers another 40 million mail pieces a day. It does this with a fleet of jets, automatic trucks, dedicated mail trains, intercity pneumatic systems, vehicle automen, and postmen, all wearing the red and gold colours of the organisation. It previously served the King of Vekllei, during the years of monarchy, and today serves the Royal (Land) Sovereign — the confusing name for the landscape of Vekllei and its potential for human use. It is de facto bound by the 🔗Petticoat constitution of the Floral Period.\nVekllei people love their Mail, as a patriotic analogy for the unity of the city-state. Red postboxes are visible on every street in city boroughs, and in the country Post Offices serve as critical contact points for communities isolated from urban business. The announcing of the Mail’s Postmaster General is a deeply ceremonial affair, second only to the ascension of new Prime Ministers. Vekllei was home to the world’s first Postmistress General, Mi Miou, in 2016 shortly after independence.\nIt is only appropriate that the Universal Postal Union, the U.N. body responsible for the worldwide mail treaty coordinating international postage, is headquartered in Vekllei’s Capital district, two blocks away from the Mail’s luxurious 🔗Newda head post office and administration complex. As one of the oldest of Vekllei’s ancient, evolving state institutions it perhaps best symbolises the age and service of the Vekllei state to its people.\n",
  "date": "2021-02-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-02-01-mail/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 534,
  "href": "/stories/puffling/",
  "title": "The Puffling",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/puffling.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/puffling_hua1af8c8d7dc34f523825f660ba1e7180_365354_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "She joined the Puffin Scouts to make friends. Tzipora was not especially rugged or outdoorsy, but she was a fresh patriot, and the idea of collecting awards for conservation, in her mind, was much like Baron collecting medals for killing reds in the War.\nThe green and gold of the Puffin Scouts represent nature and living blood respectively. Entwined, as here on her scarf, they mean the chaos and inhumanity of nature in Vekllei Semaphore. Puffin Scout troops are based out of a region with a Kronaismioudelfia (Crown Land), which are abandoned wild areas the Vekllei state has relinquished to the natural spirits worshiped in Upen. Hikes aren’t done in Crown Lands because if someone gets hurt or goes missing it can be very difficult to get them out.\nThese wildernesses captured Tzipora’s imagination, since they are often the site of gods and extranatural features. The animals you saw out there seemed deeply disturbed by the presence of people, as though they were the vessels of spirits, irritated that a human girl had made her way in.\nSchool-aged Puffin Scouts are called Pufflings. In Vekllei, puffin birds are as common as gulls, and nest in cliffs where they raise their young in burrows. Tzipora, despite being a Puffling, never had much luck with puffins. They seemed to exempt her from their natural friendliness and curiosity — they flew away whenever she came close, and when they didn’t fly away they attacked her. She joined the Puffin Scouts to make friends, and yet here she was, cast out from both the Human and Animal Kingdoms.\nIn this picture, Tzipora watches a puffin in full scout regalia, wary of its intent. The birds make cute novelties for some, but Tzipora knows better. Just like Baron in the war, she sits still and watches closely, listening for movement on the wind. They are locked in a battle of the wits, waiting to see who will make the first move.\n",
  "date": "2021-01-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-01-27-puffling/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 535,
  "href": "/stories/moments-in-love/",
  "title": "Moments in Love",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/momentsinlove.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/momentsinlove_hu1e6c7458bfcaf470c9a43d46001dd756_642206_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Lava was a modern walled city. It had long lost its walls, but its florid green belt disguised a complex network of trenches, tunnels and forts that linked emplacements in the surrounding mountains. Together, these systems would ensure Vekllei would never again have to tolerate occupation by a foreign power. Lava was on the outskirts of Vekllei’s great capital city, and much of its cityscape was dispersed, affording residents a slower pace of life.\nAbove Lava’s commercial heart were its terraced hills, and from up there you could see the canal ferries wind their way through the city. At the edge of a terraced park sits a bench full of memories.\nAlthough Tzipora looked the same as ever, she was 20 now. Cobian was nearly 18, and considering more sincerely her future. She cared about what other people thought of her. To that end they were always worlds apart. Tzipora was driven by a self-sustaining obsessive intuition, not the advice of her peers. Her imitation of ordinary teen-age life was usually misguided and clumsy. She had never made a good teenager — a good much of anything, really. But she was a very good Tzipora.\nEven now, Tzipora didn’t really think of herself as a homosexual, in the same way she didn’t consider herself a girl who wore glasses despite the near-sighted prescription specs she kept in her purse. After all, as she liked to say, there was nothing sexy about her — a good Catholic education and a miracle prepubescence saw to that. In the prejudice of the time, that’s what it meant to be a homosexual, at least to her. So this relationship — whatever it was — was not really that. She could avoid public judgement and her own ongoing prejudices if she simply pretended like her sincere feelings for Cobian did not amount to homosexuality.\nTzipora was a funny person, capable of great emotional maturity and immaturity depending on her environs. With Baron, she was serious and independent. With Cobian, she was energetic and overeager. Cobian was in no such turmoil about her preference of partner, and unlike Tzipora she was becoming an adult woman capable of exploring a serious, adult relationship. She would grow older and older, and Tzipora would stay there, same as ever. They both knew it was coming. Tzipora was not a child, but she was also not exactly an adult either — she was Tzipora, and she would be Tzipora for as long as she lived, much as she was now.\nTzipora didn’t generally talk about her feelings, but Cobian was very good at it. They travelled to the terraced park from Lola, and found the bench they’d visited years prior as junior high school students. Back then they’d seen a film at the State Cinema in town and walked for a while after, just talking about it. They’d ended up here, as night fell, and talked until the early morning. Maybe it was a date; maybe it was their first date — what constituted a date with Tzipora? Their relationship was much the same as it had ever been, just with the knowledge they loved each other. But what a revelation that had been. Tzipora had cried when she told her. Tzipora did not cry about much but gestures of affection always overwhelmed her.\nToday they sat on that bench again and talked, and they talked for a long while. What will you study? What will we do? What will Tzipora do for the rest of her life — is she destined to drift from person to person, parasitically enjoying their friendship until they aged out of her reach? Where would Cobian live? What would Tzipora like to do for a living? Will they always be friends, and love each other?\nYes, they both agreed, they would always be friends, and they would always love each other.\n",
  "date": "2021-01-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-01-23-love/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 536,
  "href": "/stories/robots/",
  "title": "Robots in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/robots.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/robots_hu7239f3e35598efb8b6b85d177a6acdf4_569860_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Vekllei word for a robot is automasiosn, or ‘automan’. When we talk about Vekllei being a “post-scarcity society,” it is by automen through which it happens. They are found across the entire country in all types of hard and boring work, forever dutiful, forever mindless. It is not that the robot has replaced the human worker, since 🔗about 90% of Vekllei people are employed. Instead, the automan takes its place in the necessary evils of industrial society, fulfilling the wildest fantasies of utopian industrialists; the factory is no longer just the place of the machine, it is in fact a machine itself.\nWhen we talk about Vekllei “deindustrialising,” it is by automen through which it happens. They are neither alive nor entirely synthetic, and work to maintain the basic comforts of consumer society in secret, as the Vekllei state moves towards total deregulation of the human life experience. The more they produce, the further Vekllei people are pushed away from modernity.\nAutomen better resemble automatic machines than a synthetic person; the vast majority of them are bespoke products integrated into infrastructure for a specific purpose. Some are hidden in plain sight — the automatic train control, the system which closes and cleans public lavatories, and telephone switchboards are all operated by automen. They don’t think like a human does, because they are manufactured, not born.\nThe activity of the robot brain, called mind-genesis, emerges from artificial substrates of crystal (called command clocks) linked by vat-grown brain tissue, which organically process commands delivered by a computer. Most commands for a robot are sensory, and utilise the brain’s natural instinct for balance and orientation in processing. Most robot brains in Vekllei are completely engineered, but are based on mapped sections of ape brains and grown in pluripotent stem cell vats in an immersion fluid.\nCommand clocks are produced in superheated ovens that are then submerged in an ionised liquid. These wafers, called “cookies”, are manufactured out of tetrachalcogenic materials that support “cartographic” (as opposed to “chaotic”) crystal pathways. Early robots used tridymite, which occurs naturally in Vekllei, but almost all robots today use synthetic crystal (usually quartz) grown in hydrothermal crystal plants.\nThe tissue and command clocks are knitted together in what is basically an incredibly precise and expensive sewing machine, connecting the command clocks to their electrical components and the clocks to the living tissue by way of an axon gun. The result is a device with instincts, dumb and unthinking but highly sensitive and adaptive to inputs. When coupled with other modules, like sensor lasers, automen are able to navigate independently of programmed instruction sets. Since most of their programming and memory are offloaded, they are also relatively inexpensive compared to early overseas models.\nVery few automen in Vekllei are functionally independent, since robotic independence requires complex and expensive command processing computational and control units. Since the vast majority of automen operate in logistics or manufacturing industries, they are usually slaved to a facility Master Computer, which offloads most processing. In the case of maintenance and infrastructure, Master Computers may be consolidated into a region-wide single supercomputer, called an Automatic Asset Command.\nThis picture shows Tzipora socialising with a school maintenance robot, primarily used for vacuuming floors clean. It is connected to its Master Computer via cabling that runs in rails across the interior of the school, since radios are common enough here to interfere with communication between the automan and its computer. Behind her, a service automen used for crowd control, announcements and communication tells her to stop making friends with the maintenance droid. Incidents like these are common enough, and modern automens have security features to prevent vandalism and self-report damage.\nA final question remains — if Vekllei has entered post-scarcity using robots, why does the rest of the world not simply replicate them? The simple answer is that they do, and the synthetic automan was not invented in Vekllei — it was invented in Poland, and copied by West Germany. They are used world-over in manufacturing and industry. But Vekllei is unique in its heavy use of vehicle automen in public areas, for the simple fact that the economics of robotics just don’t make sense anywhere else in the world. Even in economies of scale, it is too expensive to grow a brain to replace human janitors, milkmen or refuse collectors. Automen demand enormous amounts of electricity, and require complex maintenance and special nutrient fuels to work. These expenses make sense in the contexts of sophisticated manufacturing, but don’t add up in unskilled work where they would be subject to vandalism and theft. In a world of dwindling resources and a rising tide of instability, the problem is much larger than a simple lack of automen or the fact that people must work — a limit has been reached, and robots as we currently understand them will always be more expensive than human life.\nVekllei, in its soviet approach to science, sees these wonders of the atomic age wandering school halls, crushing shoes.\n",
  "date": "2021-01-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-01-11-automen/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 537,
  "href": "/stories/rocket/",
  "title": "A New Year",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/rocket.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/rocket_hu4d57b95c9001f869f9c6e8a6f3f48f98_412479_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The New Year in Vekllei rings out during its months of darkness and cold. This calendar runs the regular affairs of the country, like it does the modern world. To Vekllei people, however, it is plain that New Years occurs not in darkness but instead in the summer solstice in June, the way it has for thousands of years in the dramatic cycles of light and dark in the country. In this sense, the end of December resonates among businesses and little else, much like the financial year elsewhere. An ancient pagan festival, one of twelve each year, takes its place in summer. This event is called Rascismion, or “Rebirth of the Season” in the old Vekllei usage of the word — meaning the complete cycle of seasons.\nAs a spiritual artefact of Upen, it is no surprise that the Solstice brings good luck and rebirth to Vekllei. It marks good fortune then, that the assembly and launch of the Desg met the Solstice, launching for Jupiter’s Europa just before midnight on June 21st, 2064. Constructed by the Solar Concern of the Vekllei Commonwealth Materials Bureau (or Solaburo) in cooperation with the Rocket Navy of the Vekllei Commonwealth Armed Forces and the Cosmos Office (or Cosmoburo), the Desg will land material on Europa to prepare for human arrival in six years. It is named after the Desg creatures of Vekllei mythology, who passed messages between malicious and benevolent factions of creatures before human settlement.\nAlthough it was nearly midnight, it was the Solstice and the sun would not set tonight. Ayn and Tzipora had spread out plates of Vekllei Kimisosyo stew across a blanket just south of the Lita Cosmodrome to watch the launch. The Royal Borough of Lita was not far from Copette (🔗map of Vekllei here), one of the Five Crown Boroughs of Vekllei, but this was Vekllei’s glacial interior and it felt a million miles from anywhere. Its geography was ancient and violent, strikingly barren and brutally volcanic. Why visit Europa? It was alien enough here.\nAyn had brought her portable television. Baron was supposed to meet them there, but his train was delayed and he was stuck somewhere in Miyatvousi with the beer and fruit spritzers. Tzipora liked a drink, but Ayn liked it too much and had given it up years ago.\n“I suppose it’s better than being drunk,” Tzipora said, nursing a fizzy drink.\n“Oh, it’s not at all, Zelda… Getting drunk feels great, that’s why I got drunk,” Ayn said. She was watching some teen-agers cuddling further down the hill, and sighed after a moment. “That’s the trouble with it. A warm night like this, tired and with nothing to do? It’s the best feeling in the world. Let’s not kid ourselves.”\n“I like wine,” Tzipora said stupidly before erring a moment later, embarrassed at how childish she sounded. “Well, you know. I drink alcohol, but not much. I like sweet things mostly.”\nAyn felt sorry for girl as the awkwardness of the conversation settled on Tzipora. It was worse to be self-aware, sometimes.\n“Baron likes a drink,” Tzipora continued. “He drinks a lot. He’s okay though, I don’t think he can get drunk. He’s a cool cucumber, he doesn’t change at all.”\n“Is that right? Anyway, what time is it? It’ll be launching soon.”\nAs the minutes ticked closer to launch, Tzipora began to fret that Baron wouldn’t make it. The New Year was very important to her.\nHe was out-of-breath and wrestling a crate of beer back under his arm as the distant boom of the atomic thrusters caught the mountaintops. He crested the hill as a dull roar invited the distant glitter of rocket engines that flickered out of the Lita Cosmodrome Launch Basin. He saw Ayn and Tzipora not far away and called to them, but they couldn’t hear him — the Desg had called in the New Year, and all eyes were on it as it shined in the sky, brightest of all the stars. 2064 had became 2065, or Year 59 of the Floral Period.\nHappy New Year!\n",
  "date": "2021-01-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2021-01-5-rocket/","/posts/2021-01-05-rocket/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 538,
  "href": "/tags/2020/",
  "title": "2020",
  "section": "Tags",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2020-12-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 539,
  "href": "/stories/army/",
  "title": "The Vekllei Army",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/army.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/army_hu99091157643d11e581fb88d48a3fb1fa_444051_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "There’s a thousand years of history in Vekllei’s armed forces, though you’ll find very little of it recalled casually today. Almost everything about Vekllei’s prewar society was scorched by the bombs, and the scraps of military infrastructure that survived were appropriated in the subsequent British occupation.\nSince independence, a slate has been wiped clean, and a modern fighting force has replaced the colonial legions and battleships of yesteryear. Since reestablishment, Vekllei’s mettle has been tested in the jungles of Taiwan and the arctic deserts alike, and have proven themselves to be a rugged, versatile army of considerable bravery and fighting strength in spite of poor equipment in the bankruptcy of independence. Attached to British units in Taiwan and sent carelessly into dirty work, the Vekllei Army today has forged new prestige in the blood of its rebirth. Although Vekllei is an island nation, it maintains a large professional and conscripted army and is the third-largest contributor of personnel towards U.N. peacekeeping internationally.\nArmy Types # Pictured here is a coalition of soldiers from different branches of the army. Let’s explore some of them now. Please note that this list is not comprehensive, and merely represents a portion of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s most common army branches.\nArmipor # The Armipor (armi denporitsa, or army police), are a special branch of the secretive cross-bureau Military Intelligence Operations Council, which joins Vekllei’s sprawling espionage networks with its military infrastructure. The Armipor have many duties, including conventional military police-work, but may also engage in intelligence-gathering, counter-terrorism and rural policing work depending on the division.\nSomitzisma # Somitzisma (meaning militia groups) are formal army units with training somewhere between active reservists and independent militias. Unlike reservists, they are not assigned uniforms and generally receive only periodic training. Their training focuses on a hypothetical home front, specialising in improvised warfare, urban combat and ambushes. They number some 2 million total, and represent one to the largest equipped militia forces in the world. This number would likely rapidly inflate during wartime due to high rates of firearm ownership in the country.\nMacka # A “macka” is prewar Vekllei slang for a blunt tool or implement, and at some point during occupation and independence it became attached to Vekllei’s general infantry. Vekllei mackas number some 90,000 serving, and make up the bulk of Vekllei’s professionalised infantry. Mackas are reinforced by nearly a million active reservists, conscripted through Mandatory Service and equipped for defensive fighting. Their equipment varies dramatically, since they are trained for a variety of environments, including Vekllei’s warm southern climates and arctic warfare.\nCarasbine # The Carasbine (commandos, derived from carbine), are Vekllei’s special forces. Broadly defined as any Vekllei army unit attached to unconventional forms of warfare (since counterterrorism and domestic paramilitary roles are served by the 🔗venopor), the country’s strategic focus on high-value and covert ops require a flexible fighting force. Although structured within Vekllei’s army hierarchy, their function has considerable latitude among divisions and often intersects with active operations planned and directed by the bureaus of National Intelligence. To this end, Vekllei maintains commandos trained for sabotage, hostage-rescue, special offensive action, combat diving, and manhunts. They often support and work alongside espionage agents of the NI bureaus.\nTzipora # Tzipora does not have a gun and is not very good at killing the enemy and/or invading foreign nations.\nShe does, however, enlist in the Garden Corps for Mandatory Service and spends her military years growing flowers in street garden boxes, severely distracting any foreign invading force with their beauty.\n",
  "date": "2020-12-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-12-30-army/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 540,
  "href": "/stories/christmas-story/",
  "title": "A Tzipora Christmas Story",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/deadplanes.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/deadplanes_hu7a50729032913967fd5b3a0835c7de22_428360_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Pachinki is a world of Tzipora’s own creation, a dorky retreat from the difficulties she has in Vekllei. Tzipora always loved stories of wild places and adventure, and Pachinki blossomed organically from within her daydreams. Eventually she started writing and drawing it. When she was sad, bored or anxious, she would descend back into Pachinki’s world of ancient magic, edible gems and pirates.\nA chapter she wrote in late November one year resembled her idea of a Christmas story, and so I’ve included a portion here to accompany this picture.\nShe wrote,\nThis story starts with the tale of a young Pilot Witch, whose job was to guide dead aircraft to safe airports in the shaky peace that followed the Black War. It had to be female witches, since men couldn’t see the dead. She would meet formations of heavy bombers and strike fighters stuffed with corpses out at sea and show them the safe paths to the landing strips, flying low and fast where the Palace Gods couldn’t see them. This was the safe part of the job, since the Palace Gods and Necropirates ambushed out at sea, where they could hide between the archipelagos. Over land, they were mostly safe. It was an important job. Without the witch’s guidance, these planes would navigate the world forever, circling overhead, still packed with bombs.\nThe witches would guide the dead airmen down to the ground, where they could finally be relieved of their duty and released with proper burial rights. The planes would be repaired and flown back to the royal palace in Lily. This young witch was glad it was once again peacetime; when the empires warred, they couldn’t keep up with the dead planes.\nOnce, she was told to meet a special transport delegation out at sea. They didn’t explain anything more. She flew out to the coast on her broom and the glint of a wingtip caught her eye. As it approached, her instinct flared with alarm. These were not dead planes — the crew in them were very much alive. She flew out and approached the largest aircraft in the formation, a transport bomber of a type she’d seen several times before. She landed atop the aircraft and made her way inside via a turret.\n“What’s going on?” The witch asked, irritated at the break in procedure. The captain of the aircraft jumped at the noise, and straightened his shoulders as he addressed her pompously.\n“You’re here to guide us, are you? We’re from the Palace, in Lily.”\n“I understand that; I saw your markings. But why’s it any of my business?”\n“What do you mean, witch? We need safe passage, don’t we?”\n“That’s not my trade; what are you doing this far out? Do you have any idea how dangerous these archipelagos are?”\nThe captain snorted and resettled his cap.\n“You know what time of year it is, don’t you? All five planets are above us, silly girl.”\n“The other witches won’t like you coming in uninvited, I’ll have you warned.”\n“It’s nearly the time for the festival. The Queen wants fine gifts for the Princess, and she won’t do with any old hat or dress. We’re part of a military attaché that’s spent the last six months searching the lands for the finest gifts in the world.”\n“Gifts,” the witch said, betraying her surprise. “W-what sort of gifts?”\n“Well, how about you head below deck and see for yourself. While you’re there, why don’t you pick something out? Provided we understand each other, of course.”\n“Well, all right. Okay,” the witch said, and hurriedly turned away from the bridge.\nA few minutes later, the witch was once again atop her broom, though somewhat unevenly under the weight of the largest gem necklace she’d ever seen. She couldn’t believe her luck; it was laden with Soup Gems, and they hadn’t been seen around here in nearly a hundred years. You only found them growing in the stomachs of the Kemi people, and they had been wiped out many eons ago. A gem like this would produce excellent powders, and make her very powerful for a time.\nShe resettled her pilot’s hat, and placed both hands on her broomstick. She felt the wind swirl around her as she shot to the front of the formation.\n—\nThe witch depicted here looks awfully like Tzipora, and that’s no coincidence. Tzipora is always somewhere in her own stories. She writes herself in because she likes to imagine herself living among these people, flying on broomsticks and becoming a powerful witch.\nThese types of posts aren’t very regular, but they’re important for my health as an illustrator. Vekllei might be fantastical, but it’s a Cold War consumer society at the end of the day. Pachinki provides me (and Tzipora!) a fun holiday now and then, into a surreal world of planetoids and magic.\nLet me know if you have any questions. You can read other Pachinki posts (quite old now) 🔗here and 🔗here. Also 🔗here and 🔗here. And 🔗here. That’s all of them, that’s all I’ve ever done. This project’s been going on for a while.\nMerry Christmas.\nLove\nHobart/MelonKony\n",
  "date": "2020-12-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-12-26-deadplanes/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 541,
  "href": "/stories/sundown/",
  "title": "Full Heart",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sundown.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sundown_hue00e4620624764e4565a8b0f701a52c9_474556_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "She’d dropped out of school and had the slow accent of a person too foreign to employ. She now lived in a country that did not use money. Food was everywhere and you ate until you were satisfied. Around each corner was a new cinema or basement lounge, and water trickled through the streets like all mythic garden cities. It was a paradise.\nSomehow, despite her new wealth, a panic had set in. School hadn’t worked out and she lived parasitically with a person who hadn’t really expected or wanted to take her. Desperate to justify her presence as an immigrant, she started to cook — first from the TV, then out of books. A year into her new life in utopia, she had the makings of a master home cook, serving hot suppers six days a week. On Sundays Baron made a roast.\nVekllei is the sort of place that rewards attention to common things, and Tzipora soon cultivated a chef’s eye for fresh ingredients and learned how to bargain with grocers for the best produce. She would plan her meals carefully and indulged her Colombian childhood, rediscovering the bandeja paisa and flatbreads of her youth.\nShe was relaying her sadness at being unemployed one day when Baron asked her “why not become a cook?” Somehow the thought had never occurred to her. She began to walk into restaurants and ask for work — but most restaurants in Vekllei are run by families, and have no interest in expanding their kitchen for teenage foreigners. There was a restaurant two stops away on the Lola Main Line she liked especially: The Bull, or “Toro”, was run by a loud Spaniard called Che who’d opened his kitchen into the dining area, so you could see him cook. He was rude — Tzipora’s native fluency picked up more than your average Vekllei person — but more importantly, he was an excellent, classically-trained chef. In any other city in the world, he might have been celebrated, but here he ran his business beneath a print shop in the artist’s quarter of Lola.\nShe asked him for work in the kitchen — any work, and he told her no. She finished her meal and left. The next time, he shouted her out of his restaurant. She continued to look around for work, but a quiet stubbornness deep in her heart had convinced her that el Toro is where she wanted to be. She started waiting until closing, where she would ambush him. Six weeks into her courting, Che told Tzipora that she should be sent to an asylum if she wanted to wash dishes so much — but if she would stop bothering him, he would expect her at 2pm the next day.\nIt was hard work and it was unrewarding work. In her first year she was ostensibly a commis chef in a kitchen of six — but spent more time with her hands in the sink than preparing food. She would occasionally handle ingredients prep too, and had to reach the markets in the early morning to get the best produce or face having a pan thrown at her in the evening. She worked five nights a week from 2pm till the early hours of the morning. Che ran his kitchen like it was in Barcelona. Sometimes she would step out for a cigarette and fall asleep on the stair in the alley, sweat glistening under the streetlamp, cooled by the ocean stir.\nThree years into her work at el Toro she would replace the outgoing sous-chef, and her talent as a cook blossomed. It was a peculiar sight, to have someone of Tzipora’s height and appearance shouting at young men, totally secure in her authority. The years of labour had hardened her resolve, and refined her intuition. She wouldn’t be a chef all her life, but she would always be a wonderful cook. In a country of rich foods and hearty wines, that was a precious commodity. More importantly, her persistence in that kitchen earned her place in the country — Vekllei was a land of opportunity, after all. It is one thing to visit paradise, but quite another to be a part of it.\n",
  "date": "2020-12-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-12-21-sundown/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 542,
  "href": "/stories/bea/",
  "title": "Bea and the Mosses",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/moss.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/moss_huf48e3e8629cc2bfe3de3bdd11a7299af_850839_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This character was illustrated as a gift to Bike. Happy Birthday! This is Bea, an energetic Botanist with the Landscape Bureau of Vekllei. People know her as an eccentric young woman easily persuaded by cottage-fashions, but she takes her work very seriously and spends most of her waking hours documenting the dense temperate rainforests of Vekllei’s coastal lowlands. These are not particularly adventurous expeditions — most of her work is performed along old trails and paths, but Bea finds the sublime amidst the mundane and has contributed enormously to the ecological understanding of local flora in the borough of Holsyim, where she was born. She specialises in Bryology, the study of mosses and soft green bric-a-brac found abundant on Vekllei’s cool wet forest floors.\nWish her luck on her work, it benefits all people to know and respect the smallest of things around them.\n",
  "date": "2020-12-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-12-08-bea/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 543,
  "href": "/stories/crown-land/",
  "title": "Crown Land of No King",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/gods.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/gods_hu8dc84494aa0c456fc9d107b3c4736d59_571229_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "It would be misleading to characterise Vekllei as environmentalist in the usual idea of the word. Vekllei is no such thing. This is obvious in subtle ways, like Newda’s Dumousiantopet, or “beautiful and seperate,” which advocates the separation of human and natural design. It is also policy; Vekllei is dependent on its landscape as part of Autosuffisouitopet, or “self-sustenance,” and to this end sinks forests for hydroelectric dams and topples mountains for novel urban projects.\nBut unlike most developed countries, Vekllei policy is still informed by an unwavering fear of the natural world. This is a country where belief in demons and fairies and trolls abound; where rivers carry names and biographies; and where Upen’s gentle animism resurrects most material into life. Vekllei is also geologically active, home to some of the world’s largest active volcanoes that grow in the tectonic fissures atop which the country sits. The forests they may sink; but should certain mountains come back to life, entire cities will be consumed in fire and ash.\nThis inspires a fear of nature as old as the history of human settlement in the country. Most Vekllei people worship a pantheon of traditional animist gods alongside abrahamic or local faiths. This is a culture in which all things have value, and so the national superego has declined to position human civilisation as unique and consequently exploitative. To this end, Vekllei’s segregationist environmental policy is inversely a symptom of this direct connection with nature, and a cultural fear of the unknown.\nToday, this is obvious in the “forbidden regions” of the country. After the war, vast territories of the interior were designated as Kronaismioudelfia, or “crown land”. These forbid sovereign entry or human exploration in any capacity other than personal curiosity. These are dark pockets of ancient wilderness, where myth and legend abound. If you enter them and become lost, only volunteers will seek you out — for the purposes of the Vekllei government, you have exited the sovereignty of the nation-state. They function in part as natural reservations, but that neglects just how isolated, wild and untouchable these regions are.\nAt first glance, this might seem archaic and superstitious, but like most spirituality-as-policy in the country, it serves a foundational component of Vekllei society (and subsequently, the economy). As Vekllei seeks out deindustrialisation via post-scarcity systems, a sincere respect for landscape as living and dangerous becomes essential. Mere appreciation or stewardship in abstract is, by Vekllei metrics, not much different than naked exploitation. Removing human constructions from landscape also necessitates the dismantling of landscape, cartography and tourism conceptually. There are few national parks in the country, but hundreds of Kronaismioudelfia. Deep within them lurk unmapped, undocumented things — and at their hearts are pure springs, grasslands of eternal life, spirit dwellings and the souls of your ancestors.\nIn this image, Tzipora meets her reflection with the Upotenne sign for peace and friendliness. Reflections of mirror-pools in Vekllei are believed to be places to meet spirits. While your reflection may not be a spirit, your reflection is closer to their world than your own, as a deconstruction of image and physicality. In this sense, Tzipora is hoping her gesture may carry through into the other worlds and convince them of human peacefulness. Such gestures are good manners, considering she is no longer in sovereign human territory and stands in the land of gods.\n",
  "date": "2020-12-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-12-05-gods/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 544,
  "href": "/stories/grips/",
  "title": "Coming to Grips",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/grips.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/grips_hu981e651bd0812454e1dea0848f3a0d49_891604_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #7 of the Atlantic Bulletin She would spend a long time by the rivulet that ran behind her apartment. She would do the housework and hang the wash out, then watch the water trickle past in the sun.\nShe tried to open a jar the other day and started to cry when she couldn’t get it open. She never cried once when she saw those things in America, or got beat to shit, but these days she cried over jam. She didn’t know what was going on. Things were getting worse.\nShe caught her reflection in the rivulet’s water. It provoked a nausea. She was so tired. What would stop her from plunging her face into the river until she slipped right in? Would she drown and float away, never to be seen again? Or maybe, in a miracle, she might grow gills and fins and swim away, her life-force put to better use as a fish or turtle.\nHow do you resolve an ache to confess sadness to someone and the instinct to protect your emotions? It wasn’t in her nature to tell people about her feelings. On some level, she looked down on it; every cell of her body told her to suffer in silence. She wore the same clothes every day. Why did she wear the same clothes every day?\nIt is a fierce thing to discover within yourself that which you despise the most. She watched the foam gather around a stick wedged in the bank of the rivulet. If she’d been born elsewhere, into power and wealth rather than girlishness and poverty, she would have made an excellent thug. She wondered how much management she needed. Why was it so hard to live?\nShe tasted the water from the rivulet and it was cold and sweet, and said a prayer to the rivulet for its purity no matter what happened to her. The wash was dry on the line.\n",
  "date": "2020-12-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-12-01-grips/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 545,
  "href": "/stories/city/",
  "title": "Out of The Ground and Into The Light",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/city.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/city_hu0222595104940a9cdb452f2a5f7ade82_1008814_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #7 of the Atlantic Bulletin NO REALTORS EXCEPT THE STATE ■ THE COUNTY THE AGENT OF THE STATE ■ THE ARCHITECT THE AGENT OF THE COUNTY\nIt is clear that in Vekllei democracy is a way of living more than it is a form of government. After all, by metrics of representation, the Atlantic nation\u0026rsquo;s electoral system often sputters and fails, undermined by the bundling of the human and natural votes as equal, and the wildly disproportionate borough system. But if democracy is a way of life and not just a ballot in its box, then we can see democracy acted out all around us in Vekllei.\nCities are living things; they are made up of people hurrying and talking and building. In cities, we see Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s centralised society/decentralised life contradiction lean towards \u0026ldquo;deurbanisation\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;local transparency\u0026rdquo;.\nThe four principles of Vekllei life are:\nSelf-management and self-interest through Sundress Municipalism. Classification of property as an independent social organ, like nature. Abolishment of currency and currency-substitutes. Economic feminisation. Ranked in order of their immediacy to the average person, we can see that Sundress Municipalism is at the core of Vekllei life. What exactly is Sundress Municipalism? It describes the organisation of Vekllei cities, which are arranged around the following principles:\nLocal employment, or \u0026ldquo;commutelessness.\u0026rdquo; Slumlessness, beautification, and a will to architecture. Property stewardship. Open air and clean water. Land usefulness (\u0026quot;friendliness\u0026quot;). Private ownership of private needs. Public ownership of public needs. These values are oriented around a deeply Vekllei valuation of space, and the accessibility of place and material to ordinary people. They also reveal some peculiarities in their listing \u0026ndash; what constitutes a private and public need, and what constitutes ownership, are deeply spiritual concepts in Vekllei, and their use here relies on uncoded intuition. Let us not forget we are dealing with a state that considers itself to be the human ambassador of the ground on which it sits, and so \u0026ldquo;public\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;private\u0026rdquo; include the nonhuman in their metrics. This is how, much to the amusement of foreigners, buildings can and often do \u0026ldquo;own themselves\u0026rdquo; in Vekllei. Most ownership is proved by stewardship; the use of space. The person who works the shop and lives above it, owns the shop.\nThis image depicts the Vekllei city of Adouisneh, the florid culture capital of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Northwest. It is one of the \u0026ldquo;Five Crowning Cities\u0026rdquo; of Vekllei, measured by population and cultural significance, and was the site of one of the earliest parliaments in the world, centuries before the monarchy would come to power. You can see here the tension between old-world European planning and new-world Sundress Municipalism in the architecture and layout of this city.\nA cactus bloom is beyond any bloom, I think, manufactured by plants anywhere in the world. And there you have an interesting syllogism, haven’t you? The desperate nature of the armed plant and the exquisite, beautiful efflorescence it produces. Something to think about. There you see, revealed, some processes of nature, the significance of which I don’t gather at the moment.\n\u0026ndash; Frank Lloyd Wright, Nov. 1952\nPerhaps urbanised modernity is the cactus, and Sundress Municipalism is the blossom.\nIt is not that Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s feminised Municipalism represents a clean departure from how cities look and feel, but instead constitutes a rethinking of urbanism; it is an ideology of homesteads, decentralisation, clean air, food production, arts and crafts, leisure, and the spirit, if not the literal presence of, \u0026ldquo;disposable income.\u0026rdquo; It is not enough that a factory should be the property of the people who work in it; a factory should become adjacent to the home, a part of it, designed in ways that benefit the good instincts of ordinary people. Vekllei is a celebration of the architect; automatons may now do a lot of the work, but all design is deeply human.\nThis is the heart of the dream. Vekllei is not a big enough country to gift each person an acre of land to do with as they wish; it is, however, sophisticated enough to decentralise that \u0026ldquo;local acre\u0026rdquo; among the community, cultivating those same values in a modern skyline and allowing the city to flow across the landscape, changing as it responds to the place around it. Ownership is important; stewardship is especially important. By allowing people to own and use land, you give them dignity. Above all, design and architecture are important for the same reason spatiality is important \u0026ndash; they give presence to and emulsify work and leisure.\nAfter the mid-twentieth century, modernism began to encircle the world and the architectural and urban images once projected as utopian began to fill real space. In the 1960s this reached a saturation point; utopia was, ironically, realised.\n\u0026ndash; Karatani Kojin, Architecture as Metaphor, 1983\nThis occurred because, upon realising that art must be removed from architecture in order to safeguard it against a looming \u0026ldquo;loss of subject,\u0026rdquo; avant-garde thinkers methodologically reestablished architecture as \u0026lsquo;construction\u0026rsquo; \u0026ndash; utilitarian efforts towards grand ideas. With art removed, architecture was able to close in on the inherent placelessness of utopia. In Vekllei, this approach is extant (though diminished by their absurd place-metaphysics) through Newda, the indigenous design ideology that continues to service architecture through social, rather than artistic, methods.\nThe \u0026ldquo;big idea\u0026rdquo; Newda is an agent for, wrapped up in Sundress Municipalism, is very straightforward:\nThe city should be everywhere and nowhere.\nIn Adouisneh, despite its thousand years of history, we can see postwar Newda come to life in its integration and decentralisation of the \u0026ldquo;city\u0026rdquo; as a living process, moving people and their concerns closer together. Developed only with the consent of the architect, Vekllei has become an architocracy, serving decentralised, pleasant living through bureau monopolies.\nPerhaps, after all, it is the necessity of state authority that is the cactus, and the middle-class free lifestyles of Vekllei people that make up the blossom.\n",
  "date": "2020-11-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-11-28-city/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 546,
  "href": "/stories/language/",
  "title": "How to Speak Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/language.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/language_hucd7b3b8c47b93be46900c52dfbf8e13a_643449_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #7 of the Atlantic Bulletin For all you\u0026rsquo;ve seen of Vekllei and her characters, you\u0026rsquo;ve never heard a single one of them speak. This post marks a little exploration into the Vekllei language, and a \u0026lsquo;soft launch\u0026rsquo; of my website, 🔗https://millmint.net. The proper launch will come at the end of the month.\nThis post will briefly discuss some elements shown in this infographic, 🔗but a large article on the language has been drafted here. If you have some interest in constructed language, and some of the more playful aspects of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s evolving utopian communication systems, I encourage you to take a look at it. The website is incomplete, and both the articles on characters and Vekllei itself are very incomplete. Otherwise, a growing archive, essays, and issues of the Atlantic Bulletin are all available. Have a poke around, and let me know if anything breaks! The site has dark mode, if you\u0026rsquo;re a gamer. Just click the moon.\nOne Language, Many Parts # To borrow from the article linked above, the Vekllei language has six core systems often referred to as sublanguages. They are as follows:\n🔗Spoken Vekllei, which is everyday spoken language. It draws from two glossaries with different meanings and feelings, called Oa and Loh. 🔗Topet, which are logographic characters (occasionally characterised as hieroglyphs). Like other pictographic languages, Topet characters can be broken down into repeating components, called Topotte. 🔗Rapotenne, is the traditional logographic language of names. It is much older than Topet, and has more in common with spiritual runes than modern logography. 🔗Potenne, lit. “Hand-Talk”, is a sign language that incorporates gestures and signing to add meaning to emotion to spoken language, and occasionally in place of it. 🔗Upotenne, lit. “Spirit-Hand-Talk”, as the recreation of runes in human form, used limitedly in spiritual ritual. 🔗Vekllei Semaphore is the codification of colour and shape. Traditionally limited to colour, shape and pattern are now also included in Vekllei Semaphore, in which full sentences can be formed. In This Picture # We can see various parts of the Vekllei sublanguages on display, including Topet, Rapotenne, Potenne and Vekllei Semaphore. Before Cobian gets close enough to say hello, Tzipora has already delivered a devastating compliment via a simple three-finger tap to the palm, admiring how she looks. A couple of descriptions of Tzipora written in Topet have been annotated on her left, to demonstrate its use, including a tongue-twister (\u0026ldquo;She always tucks her shirt\u0026rdquo; becomes \u0026ldquo;Louisn Laismoh Loah Liousmineh\u0026rdquo;). You\u0026rsquo;ll notice Topet looks especially hieroglyphic, even by pictographic standards.\nTzipora\u0026rsquo;s full Blood Name is spelled out in Rapotenne below, which is markedly different from Topet in history, characters and grammar. Most formal names in Vekllei employ a seal in place of writing it out in full ornamentation, which has been provided below along with a formal signature. Her signature is entirely pictographic; elements are arranged according to symbolic value, rather than phonological legibility.\nOn the right, we can see an example of how Semaphore lives up to its name through its presence on flags, reinforcing and communicating information without conventional literacy. Also shown are a handful of basic symbols as they relate to authority, with the landscape of Vekllei superseding all human organs. Their colours matter, and so their meanings are more complex than what is described here \u0026ndash; for example, a small black circle refers to a human being, but an orange one refers to an arctic person (usually Vekllei).\nFinally, we have a breakdown of the word comiya (🔗also looked at here), which means \u0026ldquo;friend.\u0026rdquo; Tzipora and Cobian are comiya, and Moise and Cobian are\u0026hellip; sort of comiya. The introduction here of phonetic complements, which are duplicate consonant-pairs used to slightly alter the semantic meaning of a word without changing its pronunciation, allows the idea of a \u0026ldquo;friend\u0026rdquo; to be conceptualised in many different ways, to encompass all sorts of relationships. This one here implies a sort of naïve love (by using characters for late autumn, young woman and a glacial beach, all pronounced /k/.)\nLimpettes are tails that underline vowel-forms called hieyerette to enhance legibility. Although ornamented Topet has visually distinct consonant-pairings, business Topet does not generally use superscript and so limpettes designate the vowel-form. If you\u0026rsquo;re a bit lost, that\u0026rsquo;s okay. It\u0026rsquo;s in the main article, and I don\u0026rsquo;t want to make this post too long.\nYou can imagine then, even with only a handful of examples of language in practice here, how complex Vekllei can become as phonological and semantic meaning compound, combine and seperate in different forms and contexts. The spoken word can be altered by the physical gesture, and the physical gesture can be altered by the written word.\n",
  "date": "2020-11-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-11-14-language/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 547,
  "href": "/stories/witch/",
  "title": "21st Century Witch",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/witch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/witch_hue577a60be69cb95b5ceab9896a2cf110_320807_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #7 of the Atlantic Bulletin When the light shifted just right, the ceramic tiles and concrete footpaths twinkled like water off the back of a swan. 16th Century witches could build a hut in the woods and forage for herbs; 21st Century witches were susceptible to modernist persuasions.\nThe Demotic Meeting Hall was constructed twenty years prior as the main meeting hall of the National Dockworker’s Union. Situated on the coast, and along the recently-built monorail line to Roya, it dominated the coastline like a mythic lighthouse. Where the cathedrals of Europe built spires to God, Vekllei built towers for dockmen. At 112 meters tall, the hall’s colossal window structures were awesome within, and its massive bronze ornament glittered for miles. It was palatial.\nThe Dockworker’s Union moved west to Montre at some point, so these days it was simply the Roya Demotic Community Hall. It was used for all sorts of things, not least of which domestic tourism. Its lookout provided views across the North-West Fjords. When Tzipora first arrived in Vekllei, the scale and decadence of it appealed to her enormously. It was depicted on her language booklet, and since then she’d developed a minor fascination with the structure.\nShe got her chance to visit upon her invitation to a costume party hosted by the Chef’s Concern. Tzipora is a witchy sort of person, and the idea of going as a witch appealed to her. She already had the wardrobe — as Cobian remarked:\n“You’ve put on a hat and you’re holding a stick — that’s it.”\n“It’s my costume,” Zelda said. “I’m a witch.”\nYou can see her here attempting to recreate the sumptuous curve of the Meeting Hall in witch form.\n",
  "date": "2020-11-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-11-09-witch/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 548,
  "href": "/stories/comic-update/",
  "title": "A Vekllei Comic",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/comic.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/comic_hua4ea0ce78356c97c0c075bccb0d8a1c3_1023281_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #6 of the Atlantic Bulletin Hi everyone,\n\u0026ldquo;He not busy being born is busy dying,\u0026rdquo; — that’s off a Bob Dylan bootleg. I’ve just finished my thesis and I’m busy being born again. Sometimes I feel like I’m busy dying. Drawing’s been the way out for a long time now.\nAs of today I’m starting work full-time on a Vekllei comic called Atomic Modern. The front cover looks like a textbook. The name is not that interesting. That’s okay — apparently my honours in media didn’t do anything for my marketing ability, but this project is about celebrating mundanity and restraint. Tzipora’s got a fag in her mouth but it isn’t lit. I feel like that a lot of the time. It’s a self-contained image.\nAtomic Modern is about Tzipora and Vekllei. It’s about her friends and her memories and all the good and bad parts of her life. It’s about what went down in America and how you can justify living. It’ll have beautiful Vekllei landscapes and characters in muted colour. It will also include passages that act as a guide to Vekllei and society — diagrams, infographics and footnotes. It’s also an escape from everything going on right now — there’s good and bad in all stories, but at the end of the day Vekllei is a utopia.\nI will publish pages here for free. 🔗I’ll collate them into chapters available exclusively to my patrons. Maybe some extra stuff too. I’m a good dad to my patrons. I already made a set of postcards and sent them out. Either way, you’ll continue to see stuff here. This is exciting, isn’t it? This is a new chapter for me as an artist. It’s a vulnerable moment for me, because up until now it’s just sort of been “posting on reddit”. I don’t have a publisher, I’m not trained, I’m just some guy. But this is what I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m trying to get busy being born again.\nThere should be regular world posts here still. There’s drawings I like to do that just don’t fit into a comic format. I think during weekdays I’ll work on the comic and on weekends I’ll do a painting. We’ll see how it goes.\nAlso, I’ll have a nice big wiki soon with multiple language support. I’ll let you know when it’s done.\nLet’s start this again, with all that off my chest.\nHi, I’m Hobart. I’m busy getting born again.\nMuch love,\nMelonKony\n🔗Join the Vekllei Patreon.\n🔗Join the Vekllei Discord.\nBe “petticoat”.\n",
  "date": "2020-10-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-10-27-comic/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 549,
  "href": "/stories/melting/",
  "title": "All That’s Solid Melts into Zelda",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/melting.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/melting_huc8dc3a6fc14517d7242ce8a79637f7dd_712022_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #6 of the Atlantic Bulletin My nerves are like overused sandpaper—all dull; only the eye-catching, bizarre and grotesque can excite me now.\nTanizaki Junichirō, 1918\nThe wind had died and it seemed that she would follow it. Crazy shadows distorted beneath car headlights. It occurred to her in some way that, as she approached dying, she was living out the ultimate dramatic fantasy of the American misplaced girl, in the same way the townsmen were fulfilling their grotesque constellation of death by murdering women. To them, she was not Zelda, or an agitator, or even a maid from Motel Grande; she was just a girl of girl-form, washed out; beat in; bent before the death-bridge where the creek rolled on below. It was brutal and violent, and also the most tacky thing. It scaled up and down, because it was murdering.\nThe hearts of America are like overused sandpaper — all dull. This is how it played out in 2063, ages into the Great American Decline and well before it was put down like a sick dog by Chinese methods. The worn out bodies of the hedonistic coasts were numb to the spectacle of collapse and found themselves displaced and unfeeling, and so the neurotic motions of vampiric culture barons responded. In 2036, long before the Dallas Secession or Zelda’s birthday, the NBC under the Radio Corporation of America broadcast the first televised execution in the United States of child serial killer Wayne Graham. This enticed similar coverage across all major television networks for subsequent executions, which were viewed by millions of Americans. The format culminated in NBC’s The American Justice Show programme, in which the method and subject of broadcasted executions were made participatory by public poll. It was tremendously successful but was cancelled in 2041, after the botched death of George Kovacs.\nThis is not necrotic; this is neurotic; it is the ultimate sucking up of human desire into the commodity-form, and it was only the beginning. It is not just a poetic coincidence that the cancellation of American Justice saw the legalisation (or at the very least, decriminalisation) of prostitution in all regions but the Deep South over the next decade (which would contribute to the eventual secession). This is pleasure in its raw form, and the murder of prostituted immigrant-labourers and the eroticisation of the death of Wayne Graham’s teen-age victims was one and the same. The necroticisation would arrive later, as modernity tumoured and pleasure outpaced the sovereignty of the federal government.\nHere was Zelda, who was a perfect caricature of the real American in the 21st century — born overseas, poor as shit, and dressed up for dying. And why shouldn’t she die? All the old things were dead. God, kings, outrage, empathy, optimism — it was all thrown in the creek, with the rest of the immigrant-labourers. Why shouldn’t a child and her sensitivity be among them? You could change the channel on television and see pornography and the brutal violence of the Secession adjacent to each other. If you clicked the knob back and forth fast enough, they could become one and the same.\nTzipora was the last to arrive and among the first to be lynched, and maybe they would make postcards out of her dead body. She couldn’t even wonder this in her terror; the thought would only occur to her much later. It seemed like the whole Great American Decline, in all its hungry decomposition and hedonism was leading to this single moment — and all that was once solid melts into Zelda.\n",
  "date": "2020-10-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-10-18-melt/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 550,
  "href": "/stories/auto/",
  "title": "Petrol Heaven — The Rohsm STR-750",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/auto.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/auto_hufb96090f91ee94c5ce419f8c21616322_1405003_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #6 of the Atlantic Bulletin The Rohsm STR series is a small racer built for clubs by Rohsm S.p.M., a hundred-year-old company headquartered in the Mediterranean racing culture of Tohs. Its most recent variant, the 750, is available in limited quantities to enthusiast owners and club pools. Like most petrol cars in Vekllei, they are built by hand, so no two 750s drive exactly alike.\nCompared to its neighbouring continents, petrol cars are criminally unsafe in Vekllei, where a preference for speed and lightweight manoeuvrability in European bodies see much of the steel of electric autos traded for light alloys and carbon. They crumple like drink cans in a crash, but prior to their death the driver is having the best driving experience of his life. This reckless pursuit of good driving means locals call them “bastard cars”. Extraordinarily lightweight and tremendously powerful, they cut sharp racing lines and trace corners. Poised and nimble, they make good use of Motorway One, the gentle curved ring road of Vekllei with no speed limit.\nBecause of the inconvenience of finding petrol stations and their relative danger, not many people drive petrol cars in Vekllei. Why would you, when it is usually faster and more convenient to take a fast tram or train, or a battery auto from an autopool? The ones that do drive, however, drive hard.\nPictured is the 25th STR-750, returned home after wins on the circuit in Italy and Spain. Her drivers are pictured above. It also happens to be Tzipora’s favourite car, because it was the first petrol car she ever drove.\n",
  "date": "2020-10-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-10-13-rohsm/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 551,
  "href": "/stories/metaphysic/",
  "title": "Mittens and Metaphysic",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/atheism.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/atheism_hud925eb68c8be5701922b2c0ec1888f00_1063981_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #6 of the Atlantic Bulletin Pictured above: various fashions worn by Vekllei women, showcasing heavy cold-weather dresses, simple styling, strong geometric shapes and colours, loose fits, and modest hemlines.\nPictured below: postmodern neomarxism, which I’ve tricked you into reading with anime.\nPrevious posts on the Vekllei economy, if you’re new:\n🔗Sundress Municipalism and how it works 🔗Macroeconomics and currency in a country with no money Vekllei’s obvious contradictions are commonly referenced, but not always clear. Why are parts of Vekllei epistemology, or the ‘Vekllei way of thinking,’ contradictory? And if these are contradictions, then surely they must fall apart when they’re examined? How is it possible to hold two contradictory ideas at the same time and apply them? Let’s look at Product Atheism, Vekllei’s foundation for necroeconomics.\nAtismoprodarte, lit. “product atheism,” is the process by which Vekllei culture breaks down and rebuilds social preconceptions of objects, including products. Vekllei does not really have commodities in the traditional idea of the word, so it is supplemented here by ‘product,’ which more closely resembles the Vekllei word for commodity-forms: prodart or prodatte. This concept is a part of Upen, which is found throughout Vekllei culture and its constitution, and coexists agnostically with organised religion.\n“Product Atheism” is the term for how Vekllei people think about the objects that make up their lives — clothes, appliances, toys, trinkets and treasures. These things are not quite commodities, because they are not “sold”. Vekllei does not use money, and so it does not produce items of any economic value.\nAn object’s economic form, then, is replaced by social form. Among Marxists, they call these social forms fetishistic, because products are given lives of their own and exist independently of the labour that created them. But this doesn’t work in Vekllei, because\n• Labour-value is social, not economic. Vekllei people are not paid for work and they do not pay money for products. All work is for social reasons; all consumption is for social needs. Any object that is prohibited from the ordinary Vekllei person is merely landscape; it has no form.\n• Labour-value is simultaneously suppressed, in imitation of commodity, and celebrated, in imitation of dereification. Vekllei shops look like any foreign shops, because they participate in the same fantasy ritual of shopping and allow easy access to products. At the same time, Upen emphasises the importance of local consumption and objects made by hand, and so Vekllei appliances are generally hand-made. This creates a social bond between the producer and consumer, and breaks down commodity-form, but it can’t escape the fetishised valuations encouraged by the consumer-fantasy. So it is neither a social or economic product while being both; resulting in a permanent contradiction.\nIn fact, Vekllei ‘Product Atheism’ is more or less a rejection of Marxist commodity fetishism, and instead advocates product-worship. This is because objects in Vekllei are regarded as fantasy, and are eroticised by a fantasy market. This is a symptom of the unspoken truth most foreigners are well aware of — Vekllei does not have an economy; the Vekllei economy is dead; the economy has been reanimated and is zombified. No money changes hands, no product has value, and all products are abstracted and exclusively physical simultaneously.\nThus Product Atheism has two contradictions; first, that the participatory market economy of Vekllei is both alive and dead, making it both undead and unaliave, and second, that products are both abstracted by Product Atheism and then unabstracted through Product Atheism at the same time, leaving them formless and unconstructed — and, per Upen’s definitions, truly personal and intimate.\nAcknowledging this necroeconomic construction destroys it, and so a final truth is revealed. In Vekllei, the exchange of objects is a social formality, like their uniforms and sign-language, and is both entirely superfluous and essential to the functioning of the state. This is not Marxism; this is not even economic; this is Vekllei, and its cultural forms are what determine all constructions of society. Vekllei’s ‘material form’ is actually cultural, and Upen is its culture.\nSince Vekllei economic forms are not truly economic, it makes sense that Product Atheism does not merely apply to the economy. All products, or objects, are part of its frameworks. The example used in this picture, depicting women’s fashion, is a good example of how Upen brings together an abstract object value and a valueless physical object simultaneously. Clothes in Vekllei have a very powerful social function, enhanced by how colour and shape become forms of communication in themselves as part of Vekllei semaphore. Clothes are both figuratively and literally signifiers of personality and individual expression.\nIn Vekllei written script, called Topet, most traditional clothing items are each assigned a single character, giving them a transcendental pictographic quality, a feature impossible to replicate in phonetic speech. In this sense, the written description of a dress in Vekllei supersedes its spoken equivalent, privileging pictorial, transcendental imagery over literalism. This poetic form is part of product-worship, and thus part of Product Atheism. This means that, without even touching the sociological tastes and trends of clothing fashion in Vekllei, we can see Product Atheism smashing Western frameworks against their own assumptions, leaving much of Vekllei epistemology, even today, incomprehensible to ideology without Upen as its framework.\n",
  "date": "2020-10-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-10-11-metaphysic/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 552,
  "href": "/stories/waterfront/",
  "title": "Atlantic Boredom",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/waterfront.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/waterfront_hu6d6ea83c0fcadaf88a8bd7e2057a89d7_1145493_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #6 of the Atlantic Bulletin For a brief period of time, Zelda and Cobian took it upon themselves to make something of their youth. Cobian fancied herself a gymnast, and though this ambition arrived too late and left too soon, she was quite good at it for a while. Tzipora was better suited on the trampoline, where her stiff leg didn’t give her as much trouble.\nThey trained for about two hours, and after practice they met up to travel home together. Their gymnasium was in a coastal town called Gigayeh, in the borough of Mirah. Here, sloping lava fields were cast in the sea, buried under fine black sand.\nThere was an hour and a half after practice before the evening train arrived to take them back home to Lola, and so they were left with not much to do. Gigayeh had beautiful empty beaches, littered with icebergs that caught the light like jewels, but Tzipora couldn’t swim and the water was freezing. They could have enjoyed café food in the sun, but Cobian’s regimented home life had left her incapable of eating outside of her designated meals, and Tzipora could only drink so much coffee. Instead, most of these afternoons, they found themselves sitting on the ocean promenade, watching a handful of locals go about their business as they counted the minutes.\nIn the moment, it was stupefyingly boring. They’d spent all day at school with each other and usually couldn’t conjure a word between them. Tzipora would make a remark about a seabird, because she liked them. She had been learning a lot about birds. Sometimes they would share a comic, but they read too fast to fill time. Most of it was spent in the sea air, feeling it grow colder as the day waned, watching the same ocean foam throw itself onto glittering volcanic sand.\n“I think that’s a horned puffin. That’s special,” Tzipora said out loud. Cobian didn’t even look up. Tzipora squinted.\n“No, wait, that’s just a regular one.”\nIn time, Tzipora would remember this period of her life fondly, and would visit Gigayeh to recapture that peace. As a teen-ager, however, those afternoons seemed to last forever.\n",
  "date": "2020-10-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-10-07-boredom/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 553,
  "href": "/stories/father/",
  "title": "Baron, the Father",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/father.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/father_hu484594ce18b1df0e419c1553ae520fe0_684166_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #5 of the Atlantic Bulletin People are not sure what to make of Baron. They are not sure what to make of his daughter, Tzipora, either. To that end, they are lucky to have found each other.\nHis obscurity is part of a severe disposition, made obvious by his astonishing disinterest in friends and hobbies. When he finishes work, he listens to the radio, prepares supper, and goes to bed. His unrelenting seriousness is mitigated by his general passivity — Baron is a man totally in control, who keeps to himself and does not take issue with what goes on around him. For his seriousness he is not particularly judgemental or opinionated. To call him boring would be a poor characterisation; he simply feels he has done enough and is not looking to complicate the basic equations of his life.\nTzipora (Zelda to him) complicates this equation. She’s similar to him in many ways, with her conservative personal disposition and humble lifestyle. She does not make a very good teen-ager.\n“It’s funny you say that. I was talking to her the other day, and she was talking about how nice it was to have some peace and quiet,” Baron once confided in Ayn. “Of course, she looks very young, so sometimes you have to remind yourself that she’s not a child. She’s not thirteen, she’s nineteen, and very unusual, I think. She’s very smart but she doesn’t let that on much.”\nTzipora did not really have “phases” — Tzipora was Tzipora, eternal. But she was a much more emotionally attuned person, and her highs were higher and her lowers were lower than anything Baron had felt in decades.\nHe was not always so unfeeling. Baron’s Ashkenazim parents were pulled straight from the bubbling diaspora of Eastern Europe. They met in the labour zionist movement, but fell out of love with professional organising and immigrated to a struggling Vekllei to 🔗work in the national hydroelectricity scheme, among thousands of immigrants employed by the Thunderburo.\nHe was born in 2027 and was not very interested in school as a child. He was rebellious and obstinate, and had only vague ambitions of acquiring a trade certificate in motorcycle repair. His sister, Amelie, died of tuberculosis when he was 11. That was about the end of school ambitions for him.\nHe started conscription early and spent his high school years in an army college. By the time he was 18, he was transferred to military police. It was 2045. He had started dating a middle school sweetheart, Ayn, two weeks before the war in Taiwan broke out.\nYoung Baron died in Taiwan, and another figure in his body returned. He was transferred almost immediately to a junior post at the Americas Bureau at National Intelligence (AB/NI), where he would spend the next decade. While he was stationed abroad, his mother died and his father followed. By this time, Baron was a significant asset for Vekllei’s deep autonomous intelligence work — apolitical, unattached, unsentimental and steady on his feet. He was destined to die in Colombia, employed indefinitely and waiting to be used up. In 2063, he met a fellow Spanish-speaking Jew by name of Tzipora.\nIn many ways, his identity is as fractured as Tzipora’s, whose Jewish European ancestry was a novel curiosity and not much more. She considered herself a Latina-American until she was Vekllei, and since then she has not been anything more. That was how it went in Vekllei’s grand secular melting pot. Tzipora was still ta bubeleh to him, but by his mid-thirties Baron had lost most of his mother’s Yiddish. Tzipora is his closest friend and daughter at the same time. She is a wholly energetic and independent agent in his life, and their relationship alternates awkwardly but intuitively between father-daughter and old friends. Ayn wonders if it is not a coincidence that Tzipora looks like Amelie, his sister.\nThe two of them champion the redemption of losers; the adrift, empty people of the world, acting on a chance to salvage a life and family. Tzipora expected to die in America; Baron expected nothing at all. But when Christmas comes around, and Ayn visits for supper, Taiwan and America melt into air; and their apartment houses the only Jewish Christmas tree in the neighbourhood.\n",
  "date": "2020-09-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-09-30-father/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 554,
  "href": "/stories/animation/",
  "title": "Little Bouncy Zelda — an animation diary",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/intro.png",
        "webp": "/images/intro_hu55b9c5ef9e5da7b2c7b3afc36921828d_693953_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box_3.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #5 of the Atlantic Bulletin It\u0026rsquo;s been a week since I\u0026rsquo;ve posted. Most of that was spent drawing the same thing over and over.\nA painting? Please. That\u0026rsquo;s a day\u0026rsquo;s work — maybe two. A five second loop of Tzipora jumping in and shuffling over? A week.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s difficult to grasp just how much work animation is until you try it. This runs at 12 frames per second (which dickheads will recognise as the anime frame rate). There are maybe 38 unique frames in this tiny animation. It\u0026rsquo;s a title card for my imaginary studio, MillMint, in case I ever make videos in the future.\nThe sketch was fun. It comes alive — your precious characters become real. Then comes the inking. 38 lines traced and polished. Then comes the colouring. Good lord, the colouring. It isn\u0026rsquo;t just labour-intensive \u0026ndash; it\u0026rsquo;s mind-numbingly boring.\nThis animation has a lot of little imperfections. No, I\u0026rsquo;m not fixing them :)\nRegular post tomorrow to make up for a week of empty suffering. Thanks for looking. Let me know what you think!\n",
  "date": "2020-09-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-09-27-intro/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 555,
  "href": "/stories/death/",
  "title": "Memory and Death in the Flower Tundra",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/death.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/death_hu7b6c4bd4cdfbeeb1e650a76cb07ff3ba_1116652_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #5 of the Atlantic Bulletin It was their first hike after Maya’s funeral. She had found adult life completely disappointing, and never moved out of home. In her last summer, she developed a desperate fascination with her receding childhood, and eventually took her own life outside of the classroom she’d studied in as a third-grade student.\nHer death deeply disturbed Tzipora, who was keenly aware of how sentimental people died against metrics of their own imagination. She wondered if the government architects who designed schools and universities considered how those spaces gave life to memories. They were filled with lunchtimes and puppy love and old friends and your parents — and those things folded into brick and concrete and linoleum floors. Fifty years earlier, some architect designed a classroom so valuable that Maya took her own life in the memory of it.\nTheir Puffling troop had set off for a camp site two hours away. Tzipora and Zo did not walk with them. They followed the flower tundra north, near where Zo and Maya had played as kids. At the base of an old oak, shrouded in a cool mist, Zo buried a pair of plastic earrings and laced school shoes, neither of which had been worn in a long time. Zo started to cry. Tzipora gave her some time to herself. After a while they drank hot tea with their feet in the creek. The mist had closed them in. There was good reason why people travelled to flower-tundras to meet with the dead. The mirror-pools and tombstone drumlins invoked the spirits.\nAfter the tea, Zo pulled out her map and they set off again for the camp site, leaving the tree behind forever.\n",
  "date": "2020-09-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-09-19-death/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 556,
  "href": "/stories/heels/",
  "title": "Cobian and Zelda \"head-over-heels\"",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/love.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/love_hu3cbcce470bc47007fb4764d699d9d9c2_1113522_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #5 of the Atlantic Bulletin make love not lore\n",
  "date": "2020-09-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-09-17-gay/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 557,
  "href": "/stories/matchstick/",
  "title": "Matchstick Girl",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/matchstick.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/matchstick_hu9df0ce0865326fc30e8faddd6a091702_1725752_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #5 of the Atlantic Bulletin Another paint-sketch — a painting done fast. I’m trying to learn to a) paint and b) paint on an industrial scale.\nShe’d missed the fast tram, caught a tiny splinter in her thumb, lost a button and now the match wouldn’t strike. It just wasn’t her day.\nThey were in Callaisn (pronounced ka-lane), a borough of the capital Tzipora regarded as “the worst of them” for its tall buildings and labyrinthian concrete alleys. “Bad people, bad food, bad smells” she said, flashing the tact she was known for. “Let’s go home.”\nCallaisn was an oddity, built largely by the British during the occupation years in the fashion of London. It was nonetheless a thoroughly Vekllei borough, with its parks and tramways and rivulets, but it had a continental skyline marked by tower blocks and skyscrapers. A lot of boring business was done in Callaisn that Tzipora didn’t care about.\nCobian frowned as Tzipora rotated a second match between her thumb and finger. She didn’t like this nasty little habit she’d picked up. “You’ll smell like your dad if you keep this up,” she said.\n“Suits me,” said Tzipora.\n",
  "date": "2020-09-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-09-14-matchstick/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 558,
  "href": "/stories/road-trip/",
  "title": "Road Trip",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/roadtrip.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/roadtrip_hu23066d1f1771a1dee16ddb8ce528ac6b_3309346_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #5 of the Atlantic Bulletin They showed up at the autopool, and someone had just returned a brand new AAAC Voya Voya — incredible. It was like Christ himself had blessed them. It only (barely) seat five, and there were six of them, but it wasn’t a problem. Moise would drive, Tzipora bunked with Cobian in the passenger seat and Alise, Zo and Jerome could cram into the back. It was a squeeze but with the top down and on the coastal highway it couldn’t have mattered less. It was the car of late summer.\nZo had just married Jerome, and they had recently moved in with each other at age 17. Tzipora had no metrics to figure out if that was too young, but Zo was her friend and young newlyweds were lonely people. She was all too ready to volunteer her labour (and that of Cobian and Moise) to drive them down to Koisniya and pick them up a coffee machine she’d ordered six months prior. Tohs S.p.A. was a good company but Tohs himself was a disorganised bastard and he’d rung up to a few times to tell her the order had been delayed. Then she called him back a month later and he said he’d never received the order. So it was that they were on their way now, well after Zo and Jerome had married, to pick up the wedding gift. That was just how things worked in Vekllei.\nZo’s friend Alise sat the coffee machine in her lap on the way back, and as the coastal highway reached Vik it skirted an incredible series of cliffs that they stopped to look at. The wind was out and the Atlantic churned beneath. The sun was hot on their skin. The coffee machine was left on the tiny back seat as they got out to have a look and take a picture.\n",
  "date": "2020-09-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-09-11-roadtrip/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 559,
  "href": "/stories/uniforms/",
  "title": "Uniforms in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/uniform.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/uniform_hu761b187d2c66de5987842ed03439c216_791675_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #5 of the Atlantic Bulletin In Vekllei, uniforms are prevalent across all levels of society. They are perhaps the most obvious example of the opaque contradictions at the heart of Vekllei life, caught between wholly opposing ideas: between tradition and progress; liberty and control; and, most crucially here — between individualism and the burden of society.\nDepicted here are uniforms for education — Tzipora as a puffling of the Puffin Scouts on the left, and the others in mere school uniforms. These uniforms are universal and used across all ages of schooling, from kindergarten to university. Even some teachers wear them — it starts to stretch the conventional imagination about what constitutes a uniform.\nA few observations on this picture:\nFirst, these uniforms are used interchangeably across ages and disciplines. The difference between a red pleat skirt and a navy skirt is trivial; it is merely a difference in the meaning of the clothing, as part of Vekllei semaphore. They are both equally the school-mandated uniform of education, and can be worn interchangeably from one day to the next, in third grade and at university.\nSecond, there are many small uniquenesses in the uniform of each person, which are accentuated by their surrounding uniformity. Tzipora’s school shirt is pleated along the buttons, acquired off the rack of a department store. One pair of trousers might be a slightly different shade to the pair next to it. These discrepancies are not regarded as malfunctions of the uniform system, since the system is not designed to make each student conform to a single appearance — it is about identity and convenience in a country that spent many decades clawing its way out of abject poverty.\nThese principles apply across many workplaces and in government, too — where uniforms are not intended to only signify publicly a place of work but instead form social bonds through clothing, which are intimate factors of ordinary life. In Vekllei, clothes are not an expression of personality, but items to communicate and bond with, regulated not by an authority demanding strict conformity but a desire for identity, physicality, infrastructure and convenience.\nSuch a state of affairs is unimaginable in some countries, especially beyond collectivist or conformist cultures. Individualist intuition suggests that uniforms are actively detrimental to personal expression — but this idea demands a scale of expression far beyond the preference for subtlety and delicateness in Upen. Deviations from uniformity, like earrings, the way hair is worn, wristwatches, makeup and minor irregularities accentuate the value of those things, and make them more important. This aesthetic contrast is at the heart of the wider Upen intuition that you can see in architecture and political priority alike. And, as any Vekllei boy will tell you — seeing a classroom crush out of uniform for the first time is a religious experience, and only afforded by scarcity.\nVekllei is an individualist society, modelled after self-concern and self-love by a salt-of-the-earth and larrikin people of my native Australia. This is not a people compatible with conventional thinking on the regulation of appearance — but, as with many things in Vekllei, both are held true at the same time. They are a free and unrestrained population clothed at work and in school in clothes gifted to them. As an addendum, although many readers find common ancestry with Japan in this project (not unreasonably, either), Vekllei has more in common in some ways with the distant neighbours of my Australian homeland — countries that haven’t been glamorised in the West through culture export. Thailand, Cambodia and Laos are among them — coincidentally, all three are rare examples of countries where university students wear uniforms.\nSomeday, we’ll look at the aesthetics of power and authority-worship, inspired at least in part by the history and culture of these countries, and associate them with cultural forces in Vekllei. If you have any questions, just ask.\n",
  "date": "2020-09-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-09-08-uniforms/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 560,
  "href": "/stories/war-map/",
  "title": "Absolute Grotesque",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/warmap.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/warmap_hued79b75ee9a4c7624a192000cd969315_2959818_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #4 of the Atlantic Bulletin On the morning of the second day, I watched a fly crawl across the cheek of the middle-aged woman, probably an office worker, lying next to me. It moved up her cheekbone to her temple, stopping now and then to rub its front legs as though performing a ritual. A jagged tear ran down the leg of her dark blue work trousers, but the white calf it revealed was miraculously unscathed. The woman lay still. Probably dead, I assumed. After a while, the fly got on to her eyelid. Suddenly, she reached up and brushed it away, opening the eye. There was still a moist light inside.\nFrom Insects, by Seirai Yūichi\nBy chance, the glass paperweight had survived. When her in-laws’ house had burnt down in Yokohama, the paperweight was among those things that she’d frantically stuffed into an emergency bag, and now it was her only souvenir of life in her girlhood home.\nFrom evening on, in the alley, she could hear the strange cries of the neighbourhood girls. Rumour had it that they could make a thousand yen in a single night. Now and then she would find herself holding the forty-sen paperweight she had bought after ten days of indecision when she was these girls’ age, and as she studied the sweet little dog in relief, she would realise with a shock that there was not a single dog left in the whole burnt-out neighbourhood.\nFrom The Silver Fifty-Sen Pieces, by Kawabata Yasunari\nOn the 14th of August 2111, the Atomic War began in a Chinese submarine in the South Pacific, and ended six hours later. The war marks the single greatest loss of life in human history and would disrupt human life on Earth in previously unimaginable ways — consumer society bottomed out, the world became small, the Earth grew cold, and a new chapter in human history was opened.\nThis political map marks the territories of Earth as they stand five years on, in 2116. There are fewer countries in the world today than in any other point in human history, in part because the catastrophic reduction in human population — some 520-600 millions in the first year — has emptied out countries and rendered others uninhabitable. Many of these territories here are disputed and, in some cases, autonomous — for simplicity, they are presented as they are recognised by the U.N. The map also presents a long-exposure view of the war as it happened, and its remaining fallout currents today. Red dots mark significant nuclear detonations on August 14th. Yellow dots mark surface warfare in some capacity. Red trails mark missile flight, reduced in number here by strict denuclearisation treaties of the decades previous. Yellow trails mark the flight paths of atomic bombers, both supersonic and subsonic. This map does not record failed launches, intercepted missiles or downed aircraft.\nFighting was arranged along political axes — namely Western (U.S., U.K., West Germany \u0026amp; N.A.T.O. members), Warsaw Pact (U.S.S.R., Cuba, Egypt), East Asian (China \u0026amp; Korea), and non-aligned (Vekllei, France, Brazil). The war experience was unique to each country — Vekllei exchanged warheads and bombs with China but not Warsaw countries, the U.S.S.R. exchanged with both Western and East Asian members, and Brazil fought a catastrophic war against both Soviet and American territories. The immediate aftermath saw a quiet Earth, much of it scorched. Temperatures dropped by 10 degrees centigrade for the first six months, and slowly warmed as debris cleared in the following years. Wide-scale firestorms were tempered by rains that followed the war shortly.\nSome 274 millions of the dead are accounted for in China, where in 2116 the cities still lie in rot, swollen with corpses; heavy with miasma; concrete dams bleached and cracked; the wood all burned up; the rivers warped and quiet; dead fish along them; a surfaced water main weeping blood; harsh asbestine whistling; railcars in a ditch; sloughing skin; tremors; smoke with no fires; confused wandering; bleeding from the inside; families-as-sand; sand-as-trinitite.\nExchanges were confused, helter-skelter, and the combatants rattle off like a death snare. The U.S.S.R., the U.S., France, and Vekllei all exchanged death with China.\nIt would take more than mere annihilation to extinguish the P.R.C., but the toll was nauseating. Beijing and Shanghai were simply disappeared; there was nothing where there once was. The fistfuls of rebar and concrete amidst glassy, ossified landscape were heaped into direct administration of the U.N. The following year, 40-120 million more Chinese would succumb to the greatest famine in the history of the world. Of course, in the U.N., there was good argument for the nuclear retaliation — China launched first; why should money and food go to the perpetrator of the vastest disaster in human history? One can’t help but wonder if the life of an Oriental coolie wells fewer tears than his equivalent in Paris. There are not enough flowers in the world to pay tribute to the dead of China, who were simply dispensed with in European memory and subsumed in part by the United Nations. The communist party would continue to control the vast interior, divided into two states by ethnography, where 1949 seemed closer than ever. Necrotic politics are legitimised in the land of the dead. Soon, we saw the consolidation of nation-states into geographic regions with a disregard for ethnography not seen since the colonial years. This was met with violent resistance in some places — in others, locals capitulated to the extraordinary hyperreality of the postwar world.\nThe United Nations was quickly catapulted into the status of a de facto administrative world government in a last-ditch attempt to ‘freeze time’ as it were, in order to provide the superpowers time to recover from the scope of immediate devastation and prevent humanity from entering a long period of decline. This involved the moving of soldiers on a scale unseen since the World Wars, as U.N. international brigades propped up vulnerable, scorched territories in Central/Western Europe and Asia. The immediate peace of the first days after the war was ruthlessly enforced — and strategic opportunism was threatened to meet indiscriminate violence and U.N.-sanctioned nuclear retaliation. There was some belief that the status quo could carry on. So troops of non-combatant countries were supplied, and in some cases press-ganged, into this global mission.\nThe battered United States, acknowledging its ‘century of decline’, found itself consolidating control over its urban, though devastated, coasts. The awkward appellation \u0026ldquo;Dallas America\u0026rdquo; was used as a colloquial shorthand for a disputed territory that insisted on referring to itself as the legitimate United States. The name was only superseded by the ridiculous \u0026ldquo;United Nations Heartlands of the United States,\u0026rdquo; the Aid Region of the U.S. interior that had collapsed in the days after the war. This was buffered by the Mojave and Great Lakes Special Administrative Regions, federal territories that contained war industry and nuclear infrastructure that propped up the precarious coasts. Despite efforts to revive agriculture in the scorched U.N. Heartlands U.S., starvation was met with martial law along the coasts the following year.\nThe U.N. was granted temporary, direct control over several collapsed territories that had either succumbed to nuclear fire or had caved to anarchy in the weeks and months after. In some cases, like the U.N. regions in Hawaii, Jerusalem and the Central Europe International War Government, these behaved as states in themselves, administrated directly by the United Nations Mission for War Recovery. In others, they were merely named as such with the vague promise of future aid. U.N. Cuba and U.N. Taiwan were such examples, in which devastation had been so catastrophic that little remained to govern, and the local population was mostly left to anarchy. In general, there were great inequalities in how the U.N. chose to dedicate resources, largely informed by its largest nation-states and political interests.\nThere are thousands of stories from communities and territories across the world directly impacted by the war — from the atomic bombing of Sydney to the catastrophic reactor meltdowns of Brazil’s south. The war was unprecedented in scale and devastation. This map reveals little of the profoundly human tragedy that was brought about, nor does it invoke the difficult existential artefacts that are still being reckoned with. Perhaps humans are just animals after all — destined to die out the way so many have in this age. Most tragic was not the colossal scale of death, or the collapse and pain that followed, but the upending of domestic society into violence, in which people of consumer society — the middle class — found themselves with not much at all, thrust into a world of chaos and suffering in which all prior epistemologies evaporated. Like the flash of blue light that preceded the roar, it was the stuff in supermarkets and department stores that marked the absolute grotesqueing of life in the new age.\n",
  "date": "2020-08-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-08-31-grotesque/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 561,
  "href": "/stories/2000/",
  "title": "2,000 members! WOW!",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sailorzelda.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sailorzelda_hu76eda78be1e55e4b1c93a924fb5e2943_439376_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #4 of the Atlantic Bulletin Hello,\nI’m Hobart. I’ve been working on this project for a while now. It doesn’t really have a purpose or an end goal — I just want to draw and write about nice things, and I’m learning a lot on the way. Welcome to everyone new here. I don’t really have anything to sell, I’d just like to thank you for tuning in and checking Vekllei out.\nI’ve drawn Tzipora here as a sort of Sailor Moon knock-off. Good show that. The Japanese intro is very nostalgic, I’d love to do a little animated short in that style.\nI post about twice a week. I do a bit of everything — machines, maps, characters, landscapes, architecture, etc. I’m truly a master of none.\nYou can come join the Discord if you’d like — it’s just a quiet community to share interests and talk: discord.gg/dCE6vSU\nOtherwise, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and you can keep liking my stuff (please). If you have any questions about the project, or just want to introduce yourselves, here’s a good place to do it! Thank you kindly to all commenters, readers and friends of the project, whether you’ve been here for years or for six hours — it’s very special to have so many people interested in work that’s so close to my heart.\nKeep on keeping on,\nHobart\n",
  "date": "2020-08-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-08-27-2000-members/","/posts/2020-08-27-2000/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 562,
  "href": "/stories/absolute-quiet/",
  "title": "Absolute Quiet",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/missile.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/missile_hu65b076c3ff16bd5033dd1ce0527ad165_1209009_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #4 of the Atlantic Bulletin There were plumes in the sky, sent from bunkers buried deep in the well of the Earth, killing with switches. Vekllei went to war, and so Tzipora went to war with it.\nThe throbbing machinery of another world began turning, and anyone who saw the bomb would hear it. Passing seconds dislocated and caught heartbeats. The plumes were pretty. It was such a shame, those plumes. It was a quiet afternoon in the flower-tundras.\nThere was an absolute quiet among the grasses, and peace in her heart. She had work to do. She was a warden, after all — and she’d done a good job spotting the missile before the sirens caught up. In truth, any devastation seemed incomprehensible. The flower-tundra would last forever. But that was her job, and she had to do it.\nShe left her bucket by the freshwater creek, intending to retrieve it a while later. The drinking water tasted better up here. She turned from the plume and followed the moss path out of the flower-tundra. Her village was before her.\nSo ended the old ways and so started the new.\n",
  "date": "2020-08-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-08-24-missile/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 563,
  "href": "/stories/rural-newda/",
  "title": "Rural Newda in Rural Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/house.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/house_hu3eab164bcdc4723e3a1b9a290e044832_1171904_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #4 of the Atlantic Bulletin 🔗Newda is Vekllei’s national architectural ideology, applied flexibly in a range of modernist styles developed domestically in her architecture schools. Broadly, Newda buildings emphasise distinction from the surrounding landscape (called Dumousiantopet, or ‘beautiful and seperate’), natural decay, and honesty in material and construction. Vekllei’s great Parliament House is Newda; as are the little rural homes found in the mountains inland in Vekllei.\nTzipora’s house in the village of Montre-Lola (🔗as depicted on the map here) is built in what Vekllei calls “Azores revivalism”, a Newda style heavily influenced by the stripped deco and streamline moderne buildings of a century prior. It is part of a constant conversation Newda holds with its past, as both a deeply modernist, progressive school and one bound up in the wider aesthetic and cultural traditions of Upen, the spiritualism of Vekllei.\nHer house is small, but appears larger due to the layout of the structure. A small sleeping loft sits atop the living, bathing and cooking areas of the home, and opens out into a private rooftop garden. The utilities tower also hides a small staircase leading to the roof, which is also accessible for outdoor recreation. Her home stands amidst the farmland of Montre-Lola, and very near the library and primary school where she works. Her property is marked at its end by a creek that runs into the Dentre River. She has a vegetable garden in her backyard, and shares her paddocks with her neighbours for grazing periodically throughout the year.\nHer house was erected in gratitude by her neighbours out of prefab components, and assisted by a “construction line,” — a temporary rail line in which goods are delivered and cranes are supported, minimising the need for lorries. Houses of this type and period are rarely seen in agricultural settings in other countries, but in Vekllei, where Landscape has been abolished, there might as well be no difference between a building suitable for the cosmopolitan, coastal cities and a dwelling for a farmer-girl.\n",
  "date": "2020-08-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-08-17-house/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 564,
  "href": "/stories/gregori-heitzfeld/",
  "title": "The Thousand-Year-Old Girl",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/gregori.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/gregori_hu70b3ce8b94441ed22e11458bf1c56b69_761422_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #4 of the Atlantic Bulletin The concept of living forever jumps out at people uncomfortable with their own existence. There is a contemplative instinct among educated people that — if they could simply will themselves into a state of self-actualisation — death would only be an obstacle to greatness.\nAs Tzipora found out quickly, the opposite was true — death and temporality were wells of meaning against which all great people, beauty, and human constructions were cast.\nTzipora Desmoisnes is what is known as a Gregori Baby, a catch-all term for a unique genetic condition that has seemingly produced a variety of miracle children appropriate for the frothing futurism of the atomic age — boys and girls who, suspended in the purity and good-naturedness of childhood — live forever.\nThere is no single “Gregori Baby” — each is unique, and Tzipora is the 13th to have been recognised overall. The phrase is a shortening of Gregori-Heitzfeld syndrome, a stand-in for medical information that isn’t there. The first, Gregori Hordiyenko, was born in 2024. He was healthy, and died of unrelated causes in his 20s. Tzipora, at 13th, continues to live to this day and is the oldest person on Earth.\nThere is a disturbing trend among the Gregori children, first heralded as miracles and symptoms of the space age, to deteriorate medically as more are born. The culprit is the malfunctioning of telomeres in their DNA — the source of their longevity — which regularly produce devastating chromosomal disorders, including Trisomy 13 \u0026amp; 18, killing most “ageless children” before their third birthday. Those that survive are often victims of a severe anaphylaxis caused by a hyperactive immune system — rendering many of them permanently sickly. Others find themselves unageing, but continue to grow — reaching as tall as 2.5m before their bodies give out from exhaustion and osteoporosis.\nSo what is Gregori syndrome? What does your average (healthy) Gregori baby look like? Their genetic miracle is linked to the structures of the body that activate at puberty, and so girls vary between 11-16 years of age at onset depending on many factors that affect their development. Boys tend to be a little younger, from 8-14. Between the two, girls tend to be more stable, and all but two of the supercentenarian Gregori children are female.\nAmong girls, they are prepubescent and generally stop ageing on the eve of menarche, or their first period. In Tzipora’s case, her body is estimated to be 13 years and 11 months old. Unlike many Gregori children, Tzipora lives in a wealthy country and has volunteered for extensive research into her genetic makeup, meaning that much of early medical documentation around Gregori-Heitzfeld syndrome was received directly from her case.\nMost obvious is that, at a foundational level, her cells are similar in function to unipotent stem cells, and have been since hormones at the end of thelarche suspended her ageing. This change has occurred somewhere in her DNA — exactly where is unknown — but the end result is that, unlike regular progenitor cells that make up most adult bodies, the building blocks of her body are capable of cell-renewal. Her telomeres, the endcaps of chromosomal DNA in mammals, are undamaged. And so there is an amazing shift in her basic human structure — in which human cell lineage, which usually ends in a mature cell incapable of division, is caught and rearranged. With this considered, it is no wonder that Gregori children suffer from such catastrophic chromosomal instability, and why healthy ageless babies are a rarity. Her body is not exactly a “body of stem cells,” but for their function in a healthy Gregori child, they might as well be.\nSo it is that nothing about Tzipora is changing. She suffers from pains in her legs often — called growing pains, although they are not from growing — and her cells continue to replenish, albeit at a rate 1.25 times that of normal people. She is, in essence, “growing” as any other premenarchal girl would, but she is not getting bigger or becoming older.\nTzipora is blessed with an adult life in Vekllei, where the “Child” does not exist as it does in the West, and her individual freedoms are far-ranging. She may smoke, and drink, and has held many different jobs in her life. She holds two doctorates in English and Vekllei Literature. She is obviously sterile — even if she were to somehow “age out” of prepubescence into pubescence and receive the required hormones, she simply lacks the genetic code to reproduce — but raises many children through her active participation in village life and her roles as Montre-Lola’s municipal and school librarian.\nIn other countries, with coded roles for children, their problems are much greater. Unable to form adult relationships and often incapable of finding work, many work in entertainment or fall into poverty as they outlive their friends and parents. Socially ostracised and forever young, many are victims of superstition and fear. As the pattern of Gregori children indicates an increase in mortality, even as more are born, their appearance is both a miracle and a tragedy — ageing not through mitosis but through weathering the societies in which they live.\n",
  "date": "2020-08-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-08-12-ageless/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 565,
  "href": "/stories/apricot/",
  "title": "The 31st Century",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/apricot.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/apricot_hu455a23e9be5079ffd721dabc23410061_1614238_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #4 of the Atlantic Bulletin The Epoch of Rest # We’ve spent a lot of time in the 21st century — but Tzipora is biologically immortal. Where does she go from here? Well, let’s enjoy a small glimpse at that future together, by winding the clock forward one thousand years.\nBy 3076, our Solar System is a pleasant place to be. Most of the planets we once gazed at from afar are now habitable and lived on. The Great Epoch of Rest has begun.\nThere is no great interstellar empire, no rise and fall of spacefaring supernations — a Vekllei way of life is now lived out in multicultural, prosperous clusters of people across our Solar System. The ordinary person is afforded incredible freedoms previously reserved for science fiction through the accessibility of personal light spacecraft, translated literally as “boats”.\nThis here is the M-7000 APRICOT, manufactured by the Government Aerospace Factories (GAF) of Vekllei. Many companies are contracted by the GAF, including General Reactor, to whom this boat lends most of its flight control systems and all of its power plant. It is a light, personal boat for women built in 2807, making it relatively unique in both its 28th century design language and its gendered marketing. While the personal boat market was growing rapidly by this time, the vast majority of owners and pilots were men. The APRICOT set out to change that, and Tzipora, the world’s oldest living person with a youthful face, was among the first to demonstrate the accessibility and freedoms of space travel for women and girls in the personal boat market. It was her first boat, and despite its orientation for women it was christened with a male name: BARON.\nIt is a comfortable and pleasant craft that can be lived in for extended periods of time. Tzipora has done just that, travelling to stars in search of water-planets with Micronesian archipelagos, where she likes to spend most of her time. Its glass roof across the entire accessible cabin, including bubbled cockpit, gives it breathtaking visibility in the depths of space and the most scenic of planets alike. Like almost all spacecraft, it is unarmed, save for the pacifying “jazz” electric canon, named for its firing sound reminiscent of a double bass strum.\nWhen she tires of being alone, she returns to her hometown of Montre-Lola in Vekllei frequently. Boats are usually parked at off-world stations, preserving the aerospace and quiet of the Solar System.\nLight speed is exceeded through superluminal travel. So-called black boxes require extraordinarily precise programming, since superluminal travel is in all ways but name time travel, and the universe does not tolerate time travel. Coordinates calculated in the universal pyramid system by a pyramid computer ensure that a vessel arrives when it arrives, so to speak. The alternative is going nowhere at all — there is no in-between.\nSuperluminal systems are affected by gravity, so any person looking to exceed the speed of light and subsequently visit other stars must take the highways beyond our home system’s planetary orbit and launch into so-called free-travel from there. There are only a handful of these highways — the solar system is very, very large, and human construction is very, very small.\nThere was an instinct among many people that human progress would naturally scale exponentially — these were extrapolated from the remarkable progress in the lifetime of Tzipora’s parents and grandparents, who saw canvas aircraft in their childhood advance to the landing of a man on the moon, and again in her own exaggerated lifetime, in which the provinciality of her youth has simultaneously seen an expansion and exploitation of the planets in our native solar system.\nThis curve of progress was not to be, however — and it also explains why we had such trouble meeting aliens in the first place. Part of it was simply that there are very few worlds with water that also formed earthlike landmasses nearby — there are many aliens, and Tzipora has seen many herself, but most of them are fish and fish-adjacent. The second is that, if there is civilised life out there, it has most probably encountered the same engineering truths that humanity did, in our great interstellar project of the last thousand years. Namely that, all accounted for, there is no use for wasteful megastructures when a small one will do. People are having less children — on Mars, Mercury and Neptune, the population is actually shrinking. What good is the so-called “ocean liner of the stars,” with a capacity of millions? There are around 12 billion people across the solar system today. Maybe another 8 billion in the Ala system. Maybe a few millions more who have simply given up society for scattered stars in our neighbourhood.\nIt is likely that if any other civilised races exist, they are simply of our scale, or have destroyed themselves completely in the reckless pursuit of expansion. Humanity is lucky not to count themselves among them.\nThe APRICOT is one of many models produced by Vekllei’s Government Aerospace Factories. It is now possible for the ordinary person to explore distant stars for themselves, granting freedoms unimaginable in a previous age. Such is life in the Great Epoch of Rest.\n",
  "date": "2020-08-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-08-09-spaceship/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 566,
  "href": "/stories/tzipora-concept/",
  "title": "Meet Tzipora — concept panel for a Vekllei comic",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/tziporacon.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/tziporacon_hu83641af596114a7a3540748dac706801_2307508_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #3 of the Atlantic Bulletin Unique among girls # There are a lot of things Tzipora does differently to everybody else, and they start to make a lot more sense when you realise Tzipora either does not realise she is unusual, or does not care.\nShe has a lot of endearing characteristics that give great character to her mannerisms and physicality. She has a small overbite that makes her look a little froggy, and ritually pulls on her shirt and wipes her nose in anxious conversation. She is round-headed and cuts her hair herself. She talks in a low, expressive voice. She has been poorly socialised in childhood, and is afraid of casual conversation with people she does not know. She is keenly socially attuned and feels awkwardness painfully.\nShe wears the same clothes two or three days in a row. The outfits themselves are variations of the same thing, and her tastes don’t change. Everything hangs off her — she likes baggy, airy clothing, and upsizes to accomodate. She doesn’t like fashionable or voguish people, whom she regards as decadent and offensive. To Tzipora, taste is timeless and bound to the soul. In her case, this fact has held true — she has dressed the same as childhood, and very little else has changed about her in that time.\nShe is paranoid and conservative, good-natured and austere, with a moral outlook bound by her deepest anxieties and obsessions. She is deeply spiritual and material, fascinated with objects and their history. She has many collections of many things she’s found. She’ll likely die a Catholic, but has a confrontational relationship with God and no longer attends mass, as a declaration of humanism. She does not know if this has pissed Him off, but it’s working out so far. Maybe that’s why He made her a homosexual — to get back at her. He must have a good sense of humour, if that’s the case.\nTzipora may be intense and inward-facing, but she can also be disarmingly charming and self-deprecating. She has a good sense of humour. There are not many girls that can so easily reconcile the contradictions between the peculiar and the healthy, the eccentric and the friendly, and the violent and the domestic. That’s part of her character — an essence of being that radiates decency, good taste and a respect for the spirit of all things.\n",
  "date": "2020-08-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-08-01-tzipora-concept/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 567,
  "href": "/stories/summer-house/",
  "title": "Summer House in the Azores",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/summerhouse.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/summerhouse_huf734d95ad254d659b3784247c132abf3_658419_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #3 of the Atlantic Bulletin The Azores had been a possession of Vekllei since 2002, when they were leased from Portugal indefinitely. The lease was defunct by the time of Vekllei’s independence from U.K. occupation in 2015, and the new state took formal ownership over the small Atlantic islands.\nThe Azores was Vekllei’s resort region, often called simply the “holiday isles”. Brief reprieves from the North Atlantic cold were granted to hundreds of thousands domestic tourists each year in resorts and holiday rentals alike. Tzipora spent the summer of 2079 there. Good memories were made in that summer. She did not much like the beach but she liked the ocean. If she could retire, it would be in the Azores.\n",
  "date": "2020-07-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-07-28-summer-house/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 568,
  "href": "/stories/base-camp/",
  "title": "Base Camp",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/basecamp.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/basecamp_hu2fcd9b386ab35ec52af475ed4d1bfe96_1021955_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #3 of the Atlantic Bulletin Just a paint-sketch.\nThe puffin scouts set up camp not far from the rest, just outside of Krafla in the Lava region. When they moved south tomorrow, thick native grasses and trees would give way to flower-tundras and bare hills, and by Tuesday they’d be in the heart of Lava — empty and extraterrestrial and volcanic.\nThe Krafla high-energy communications tower was visible from all over the region. It provided uninterrupted radio to most of North Lava, and could relay signals through satellites. In another country, it might have been considered a blight on a pristine view — but in Vekllei, there was no such thing as pristine. It was as much a part of the landscape as the trees.\nThey started the fire first, figuring they’d have more enthusiasm for the tent when they were warm. Warm sunrays played on the field-grasses around them.\n",
  "date": "2020-07-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-07-21-base-camp/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 569,
  "href": "/stories/edc/",
  "title": "Tzipora’s ‘Every Day Carry’",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/edc.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/edc_hudfeda3919756c3953393f11a31e53336_1010427_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #3 of the Atlantic Bulletin Like a lot of girls of poverty, Tzipora was very possessive of her things. No food was ever left on her plate. There was a deep anxiety that whatever wasn’t claimed would be lost.\nShe was also naturally obsessive and material-oriented, keenly aware of the importance of objects measured by metrics in her own silly head. You can discover a lot about a person from their trinkets and toys — let’s discover a bit about Tzipora.\nHer handbag is manufactured by Spaa S.p.A., a design firm in the capital. They’re a luxury item in the international market but readily available in Vekllei, since few other handbag makers operate on the scale of Spaa. Ayn picked it out shortly after Tzipora’s arrival for its colour, after Tzipora told her she did not own any red things. Tzipora has a sweet tooth. Especially for soda, which she calls “fizzy drink”. On her person at any time, she carries a flavoured beverage from one of several brands capable of meeting her discerning tastes. She supplements them with a water bottle, since not even fizzy drink refreshes as well as water after phys-ed or a hot day. She also stocks her arsenal of snacks with good fruit picked off trees that overhang footpaths, as well as devastating salvos of Vekllei’s finest confectionary, including Fruit Tingles and chocolate pearls. Other girls in her class bemoan her childish metabolism as she drinks soda for lunch while they watch the scales. The nostalgic whimsy of the sweets is tempered by two or three loose cigarettes that float around in her purse at any given time. She’s not a regular smoker, but she’s prone to attacks related to stress, and nothing helps as much as a drag. She carries matches, for not much reason other than that’s what Baron uses, and Tzipora is notoriously sentimental. Tzipora has a rock collection that sits on her bedroom sill, and her recent additions sit at the bottom of her purse. She’s not a rock elitist; quartz from footpaths catches her attention as easily as igneous treasures like palagonite. Her favourite is obsidian. She carries a small collection of useful books, including a contemporary paperback and a notebook. The paperback is for recess and lunch; the notebook is for language notes and phone numbers. Her Vekllei I.D. papers, which are both a passport and a reference booklet of key information and services, are carried on her at all times. It’s not really necessary in day-to-day life — but who knows when it might be, and Tzipora won’t be the one patting her pockets at the airport gate. Finally, there are a few accessories sitting in the bag. Tzipora made a ring for Cobian in metalworking class, but Cobian is on a school trip to France at the moment and Tzipora is waiting for her return. She has a wristwatch given to her by Baron, which she wears sometimes depending on the occasion. Other items are more precautionary — a scarf for the wind, a handkerchief for sneezing, and a spare pair of socks for when she visits Cobian’s house or if she needs to double up in cold weather. As summer turns to autumn, she also carries gloves and a beanie. With everything in its place, her handbag is her anchor in the world outside her small second-floor apartment. The decommodification of society has only intensified the social value of objects, and they remain as important as ever in the life of the ordinary Vekllei person.\n",
  "date": "2020-07-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-07-20-edc/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 570,
  "href": "/stories/inefficiency/",
  "title": "The Race for Inefficiency",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/economy.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/economy_huc253825b0cb54a7cb2c19ca4b6404bdf_1148888_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #3 of the Atlantic Bulletin Vekllei’s advocation of austerity, apathy, and playfulness as economic principles # This post is about the economy of Vekllei. It\u0026rsquo;s a bit of a long one. If you have any questions, just ask.\nOverview of the Bureau System # There are many thousands of companies busy with work in Vekllei. The vast majority of these companies are single-person shops (S.p.A., or senrouiva pettetie anaproiouya). Also common are wobbly shops, or co-operative businesses (S.q.A., or senrouiva qualitie anaproiouya). The largest of the non-bureau companies are village factories (S.p.M., or senrouiva persimonaya manufacturie).\nThe bureau-level world is full of company mastheads that emphasise modernity, dynamism and progress. Vekllei’s “private businesses”, however, tend to be local in taste. The vast majority of S.p.A. and S.q.A. businesses bear the family names of their founders — Desmesyo S.p.A., Risyiouisnesn Home Machines S.q.A., etc. Their legal denominations are almost always affixed to the end of their nameplates.\nTheir senrouiva designation marks them as non-bureau businesses. A bureau, as a reminder, is simply the top-level organisation of a trade union that organises business in the country. In practice, it means that a company is responsible to the political organs of the country. Although independent from the government, bureau business is inextricably entwined in government concern and runs parallel to it.\nSenrouvia businesses are also part of the bureau structure, but are in practice not managed directly by them. They are usually united in local concern by so-called petty bureaus; small cooperative organs that safeguard local interest and business. These petty bureaus are often at odds with the bureau organs proper, and so even though they are part of the same structure, they are fundamentally political opposed.\nSo what is sort of business goes on in a bureau proper?\nThere are two common categories of so-called “bureau firms”. You have state industries (S.A., or societie indastrie), which deal with manufacturing and exploitation of resources that require direct management by a public organ. You’ll already be familiar with several — General Reactor, Comen Aeroyards S.A., Farmer’s Syndicate S.A. to name a few.\nYou also have state requisites (A.r., or requoisesiasn amourisocietie), which refer to the vast government-operated organs made up six categories primarily.\nUtilities (A.r.Un.) Transport (A.r.R.) Education (A.r.E.) Local healthcare (A.r.F.) Construction (A.r.Lo.) Automation (A.r.M.) Yes — education is not organised as a government department, but a bureau business. Other state responsibilities are folded directly into government departments — war, intelligence, healthcare, police, fire, and the mint are all managed directly by the government.\nArgument # With the legal division of enterprise laid out, let us examine again the four precepts of the Vekllei economic ideology.\nSelf-management and self-interest through Sundress Municipalism. Classification of property as an independent social organ, like nature. Abolishment of currency and currency-substitutes. Participatory employment. Economic feminisation. These four principles reveal a great deal about the character of the country, and stand largely at face value. There is an interest in chasing the promises of modernity while deconstructing its metaphysical constructions, through the abolishment of exchange-value, property and the overhaul of gender-economics. There are anarchist gestures in each principle, yet it is obvious that the product of these values complexify the conventional anarchist imagination. This is part of a series of contradictions — between free and planned markets, between internationalism and provinciality, between man and woman, between freedom and security.\nAusterity # The bureau system is plagued by inefficiencies, arising from logistic systems premised on warehousing, poor Coasean bargaining between petty bureaus and proper bureaus, a political emphasis on macroeconomic outcomes, a decoupling of aggregate demand and national economic output, cultural intolerance for Pareto inefficiencies, etc.\nLuxury goods often vary in both supply and access, and economies are often severely localised to the point of provincialism, meaning that Vekllei has failed to transition reliably to a modern consumer society. The inhabitants of the Montre borough most often eat seafood because speciality meats, especially authentic red meat, are scarce. The opposite is true in Yana. Clothes are repaired and regifted, appliances are available only from regional outlets usually located in the same city as the factory, and culture and diet are fiercely regional.\nThis is, in part, a result of unflinching national austerity and the sublimation of artificial markets prompted by Vekllei’s gold-based auxiliary currency, which necessitates meeting debt obligations for its strength internationally. There is a belief in Vekllei that the wealth of the country allowed the abolition of the currency — in fact, the opposite is true. The abolition of currency allows a permanent wealth that compensates for the inefficiencies of the bureau system. The bureau firms do not pay their workers — on paper, there are no expenses for anything beyond raw commodity exchange. This is how Vekllei’s largest companies — and, per the bureau system, its government — remain solvent.\nAusterity is a cultural force, too — the scarcity of luxury goods inflates their social value, where comforts and necessities are largely abundant in automation. It creates an unimportant hardship that keeps Vekllei people forward-facing, lean, and ambitious. To acquire Picco S.p.A.’s iconic lounge chairs, you have to travel to their outlet in Horn, hundreds of kilometres from the capital area. There is no motivation for a craftsman to meet demand — there is no petty consumption, either. To own a Picco chair means you have understood its cultural value, utility and craftsmanship, and have made the effort to find and transport one to your home. Inconvenience, and by extension, austerity, is celebrated as a “trial of ownership.” Objects are very important in Vekllei, and craftsmanship is highly valued, and so people like to surround themselves with hand-made, sublime things wrought not just by the labour of the artisan, but their own effort to acquire it.\nPetty austerity instills a national sentiment that tells the ordinary Vekllei person they are hardier than the ordinary American or European, even if the wealth of the ordinary Vekllei person is much greater than that of the ordinary American or European.\nApathy # Despite a vast, loosely organised private market in the senrouiva categorisation, Vekllei does not reward entrepreneurial ambition. Ambitious people are funnelled into positions of power in bureau firms and political office, but the founding of S.p.As and S.q.As is rarely motivated by a desire for influence or power. Indeed, artisanal S.p.As are often incapable of the sort of economies of scale needed for expansion. Vekllei instead relies on a sort of economic apathy, in which aggregate demand and productivity are spurned for immediate interest and pleasure.\nThis ensures that\nluxury products remain creative, personal works per Upen’s insistence on the symbiosis of labour and product the private senrouiva market is not capable of threatening the provincialism of Sundress Municipalism, which might make a commodity universally accessible and threaten to introduce generic consumer society into Vekllei life the private senrouiva market under petty bureau organisation does not threaten the organised de facto monopolies of the bureau companies If Vekllei has replaced the commodity with the object, then it is through economic apathy that they have ensured objects will never again become commodities. Just as the ordinary Vekllei person is apolitical, so too are they apathetic towards change in their purchasing habits, favouring small, inconvenient and personal brands over those exploiting aggregate demand. In a sense, this also contributed to the popular Vekllei term product atheism, in which the metaphysics of products are dismantled and rearranged into social forms.\nIn this sense, the apathy is found on both ends — within the senrouiva business owner, who is provided little upward mobility to satisfy ambition beyond local and regional expansion, and within the consumer, who recognises products only within cultural and social dimensions. Neither is conducive to a functioning, fair market on an interregional scale.\nPlay # Play is the foundational motivation of most work in Vekllei. There are existential motivators, too — a desire to wield power, or professional legacy — but in many professions it is play by which a Vekllei person justifies labour. It is also why work is fiercely protected by petty bureaus and other labour organisations — work is their connection to wider society, and that connection is held sacred in Upen.\nIt is through work as play that Vekllei is able to justify the employment of children. Financial motivations for work have all but disappeared — in its place, the workplace has to convince people to work. There are few state protections for businesses unable to maintain a workforce, either — it is one of the most common reasons for the shuttering of a company. The boss must convince his workers to stay, and so a total inversion of power has occurred.\nIn place of money, there is prestige, and in prestige there is myth. Few people have genuine interest in Fordism. Many more are attracted to the hand-crafted furniture of Picco S.p.A., and becoming recognised as a builder of great things. In a sense, a person “acts out” the role of a craftsman, in the same way a person “acts out” the role of a police officer, or “acts out” life as a pilot.\nIn this system, the childish spirit of recreation, duty and “the adult world” is acted out by millions of Vekllei people each day. Seeds planted by a child play-acting as a farmer continue to grow, and so too does the Vekllei economy feed its population through the intersection of fantasy and labour. At this point it is obvious that play is not fantasy at all, but in fact a motivation for labour as genuine as profit. Where it falls short, in hard, disempowering jobs, it is automated and conscripted through the mandatory service system. As it is often described:\n“The Bureau System is labour-intensive where wanted, alleviated by industrial machinery where preferred, and automated where necessary.”\nIn its wake are states of play, and through play comes a decent framework for living, obvious in the basic satisfaction of the Vekllei people.\n",
  "date": "2020-07-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-07-13-economy/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 571,
  "href": "/stories/policing/",
  "title": "Police in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/police.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/police_hu88ef33d366f0df5eda55ed4bc758eccb_1391568_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #3 of the Atlantic Bulletin There are two regular police organs in Vekllei.\nFedecenoayan porits (national police, or venopor) Comoisniyan denporitsa (local police, or cosmopor) A young venopor officer stands on the left, in the full street regalia they’re renowned for. Unlike cosmopor, they often carry machine guns while on patrol and are stationed outside of government buildings, hospitals, train stations, ports, schools and any company managed directly by a bureau, which is a trade organ of national importance. They are special units of special purpose, and supplement the deficiencies of local policing through their training and tactical deployment.\nThey are police insofar as they protect and respond to their community, including through special tactics situations, but are paramilitary in their wider function as a defence force for critical infrastructure. This is reflected in their history, traced cleanly back past independence and the Atomic War to the royal guards and junta federal police of old society, which continue to be reflected in their uniforms and several other ceremonial artefacts, like swords and knee boots. Venopor is a complex organisation with many different purposes. There are street patrols, pictured here, but there are also intelligence units associated with HO/NI and by extension the military, as well as tactical response teams, bomb squads, search and rescue and most other specialised emergency units outside of the capabilities of any given local police station.\nThis is contrast to the cosmopor, a more conventional police outfit. A cosmopor officer stands on the right, in standard summer uniform. He carries a radio, revolver and rubber baton for the worst of his duties, and is embedded deep into his local community. Cosmopor officers traditionally visit and introduce themselves to each house in their beat, and spend far more of their time mediating, counselling and organising than they do making arrests. The autonomy of most Vekllei communities largely spurns petty legal proceedings, and so the cosmopor are a critical aspect of sundress municipalism, resolving disputes personally and taking custody of a person only when it’s needed. Most crime in Vekllei tends to be emotionally motivated — so it is in this domain that cosmopor navigate.\nThis makes the cosmopor especially powerful figures in a Vekllei village or township, but their duties are closely watched. While the Vekllei village may be autonomous, all officers in Vekllei are responsible to a division of venopor called “officer welfare,” or picosec, which operates autonomously to seek out incompetent or misbehaving police officers, no matter their jurisdiction or status. Where most business in Vekllei has very little in the way of professional behaviour or “work culture”, policing in Vekllei is held to high standards, and they are severely bound by traditions that have become codified as the country has grown. This is a time and place where the children of police often inherit the jobs of their parents, and the constables of a village often have roots that go back centuries. This often makes cosmopor very respected figures, and their successors and recruits are expected to work for that respect.\nIn a country that has done away with money as a measure of success, professional legacy is profoundly important in Vekllei. In this inversion of priority, teachers, doctors, pilots, constables and librarians are celebrated. This is not founded in a general egalitarianism, but in fact the precise opposite — a celebration of success and influence, touching the lives of those around them. The glamour, and paycheque, has largely been stripped away. Only the work remains, and so that work has become more important than ever.\n",
  "date": "2020-07-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-07-08-police/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 572,
  "href": "/stories/what-is-this-project/",
  "title": "What is This Project?",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/whatisvekllei.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/whatisvekllei_hu3009cb06d654cdbde878fc9afeb4c003_591312_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #2 of the Atlantic Bulletin What is Vekllei?\nHi, I’m Hobart and I write and draw Vekllei at Studio MillMint.\nThis is a pretty complex project. Not just complex insofar as there’s a lot to read about it, but that it uses concepts and terminology you might not be familiar with if this is your first time around utopian fiction.\nSo Vekllei is a utopia — what does this mean? It’s latin for “no place,” and I use that literally. Vekllei, in a literal sense, cannot exist. Not because I think it could never have existed, or that some part of it is completely unreasonable, or it breaks the laws of physics — but because it exists in a certain place and time that is just isn’t replicable. It’s all built from the ground up.\nVekllei is a very good place to live, but it is not perfect. Utopia does not mean “perfect place”. Utopia is a form of social dreaming, much like worldbuilding, linked to the values and priorities of its author. In utopian studies, “utopia” is usually broken down further:\nEutopia — “good place” Dystopia — “bad place” Note that both form a part of the “utopia” — this is appropriate, since Vekllei is grounded in a social realism that acknowledges the good and bad parts of life. Indeed, they are inseparable — you cannot have the light without the dark. Obviously, in my eyes, Vekllei is very much a eutopia. You can read more about Vekllei (the country) by clicking here.\nThere are three parts to my “social dreaming”:\nLandscape — the world and country of Vekllei. When you think of “utopia,” this is it — shining modernist cities against striking landscapes. Character — not all social dreaming takes place in spaces. Some of it is built around experiences, objects and relationships. Tzipora is a “character utopia” in the sense that she represents a utopian life experience, full of stories good and bad. Author — Vekllei is a representation of the problems of my life, as a form of escapism. A lot of my posts here reflect dissatisfactions and displacements in my own life — consumer society, commodification of childhood, wage labour, postmodernism, etc. I’m very much a part of this utopian dialectic. Let’s run through some of the common queries and misunderstandings about Vekllei\nWho are you? A Tasmanian illustrator.\nYou’re not Japanese? お前はもう死んでいる\nWhy is Vekllei a utopia? It makes me feel better about my life and the world. It’s escapism; it’s a dream.\nIt’s a bit cringe to grandstand your political beliefs, doncha think? Vekllei is a personal utopia. That’s what I’m selling. At least you’re getting good opinions.\nWhere’s the tension if it’s perfect? Vekllei is very cynical and tragic in places. Utopia is just a reflection of the author, good and bad.\nIs there a novel? A story? A comic? I’m working on a comic right now. I’m pretty much working on Vekllei full-time so I’m hoping to announce it soon. I’ve got a lot of different Vekllei projects going.\nWhere is Vekllei? Iceland.\nWhy does Vekllei look Japanese? Vekllei is like a country of Scandinavians speaking French with an Aussie accent in Shōwa era Japan/Maoist China/Taiwan etc. Vekllei looks however I imagine utopia looks.\nHow does that make sense? Why can’t it just be cool?\nIs your alt-history thought out? Vekllei’s history is whatever I need it to be. I’m always trying to be realistic, but it’s all worked backwards from the setting. I’m not really “worldbuilding” in a typical sense. Very little of it is published, most of it is retrieved on request. Just ask if you have questions.\nIs Vekllei communist? No.\nBut Vekllei calls itself “petticoat socialist”. Vekllei is set in a culture of Marxist revivalism in the 50s and 60s. A lot of Vekllei’s lexicon is set in that context. Vekllei is a decentralised democracy that doesn’t use money. It’s a sort of participatory economy.\nWhy the \u0026ldquo;petticoat\u0026rdquo;? Vekllei is a female country. Womanhood is decommodified. It\u0026rsquo;s maternal, social and friendly where socialist rhetoric is masculine, technocratic and progressive.\nWho is Zelda? Zelda is another name for Tzipora. She has two names specifically to confuse you.\nWhat is the “bulletin”? I publish the Atlantic Bulletin once a month via email. It’s got the month’s posts in it as well as facts and tidbits from Vekllei. DM me an email if you want to join.\n",
  "date": "2020-06-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-06-30-project/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 573,
  "href": "/stories/map-of-vekllei/",
  "title": "A Map of Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/railmap.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/railmap_hu222b08ad47ecef671ed1b6faddd45dcb_2288326_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #2 of the Atlantic Bulletin Map Key\nRed: Magjet trains, 750km/h\nYellow: Bullet trains, 300-400km/h\nOrange: Regional trains, \u0026lt;150km/h\nBrown: Local trains, including limited express, \u0026lt;100km/h\nBlue: National highway\nDashed: Ferry line\nGreen: tarmacadamed airport\nThe largest division of any portion of Vekllei land is the borough; a region of varying size and population with common culture, food dependency and economic interest. Anything larger than that is simply Vekllei — they are “one city”, after all, and consider themselves a city-state.\nThere have been exactly 100 boroughs since 2015. Each is named after the largest city in its region.\nThe smallest borough is Bakur, in Afouismeh, with a population of 7,500 people. The largest is Vekllei proper, in the Capital Region, of 2.4 millions. This transit map illustrates all 100 boroughs, Vekllei’s five tallest mountains, its permafrost glaciers and Tzipora’s home in Montre-Lola. Her five largest boroughs — namely Vekllei, Lonne, Adouisneh, Montre and Copette, are highlighted.\nEven in this simple transit map we can see several truths about the country, like its population bias on the West Coast and the emptiness of the Lava volcanic region. You might recognise a few names there, like Lola in the West (Tzipora’s home with Baron) and Yana in Vekllei’s Ro Highlands (Ayn’s birthplace).\nTrains are clean, reliable, fast, efficient and safe. They are incorporated under 🔗Vekllei Rail, owned by the Transport Group Bureau. Using this map, designed for domestic tourists and foreigners, the adequacy of Vekllei’s rail transport is easy to plan around — you can eat breakfast in a cafe in the seaside town of Mumen, and hike before midday on the glacial slopes of Askayoisn. Since there are no tickets or costs, there are no excuses for not visiting relatives in the country, now that transport is now a trivial inconvenience.\nEach borough is represented in Vekllei’s parliament by an elected representative. These representatives wield extraordinarily disproportionate power — the representative for Callaisn, for example, represents hundreds of times more people than the representative for Tanger, but both have the same vote. This is because boroughs are not just representative of their populations, but also their environments, industry and other social organs otherwise unable to vote. It is important to keep in mind that Upen (and consequently, policy) recognises the landscape itself as the sovereign organ of the country, and so in this sense it has its own interests and projections.\nIn practice, representatives act in an advisory, nonpartisan role in government, voting rarely in an auxiliary role to the professionalised, elected legislature. Vekllei has a strictly constitutional parliament, and the economy largely prohibits interference. In this sense, the parliament is both partially undemocratic in its inefficiency and apolitical in its orientation as a sort of civil service bureau, managing state affairs and reacting to pressures and the long-term aims outlined in the 2015 constitution. In the Vekllei mindset, the “government” is more or less another bureau, no different or particularly more interesting than the Transport Group Bureau. The trains, at least, have a tangible impact on their daily lives.\nHow appropriate, then, that this transit map produced in the summer months of 2076 combines both monuments of society. It also offers a glimpse of a larger, documented country not necessarily revealed in piecemeal story posts.\n",
  "date": "2020-06-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-06-14-map/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 574,
  "href": "/stories/currency/",
  "title": "The Vekllei Crown",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/crown.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/crown_hubee79e9431fb98c09a686a1301f8e8bd_1239278_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #2 of the Atlantic Bulletin Vekllei, legendarily, does not use circulate currency. Goods and services are moved and offered arbitrarily, provided amply in abundance. Anything that is not abundant is manufactured and distributed directly under the control of a bureau, which is a trade organ responsible to the affairs of the country. At no point do coins or paper currency change hands in the day-to-day affairs of the country.\nIn this sense, Vekllei is usually described as “moneyless” — yet it does in fact have a currency. The Vekllei Kroner, or “Crown,” is hundreds of years old, and Vekllei still operates a mint for currency. At any time, a Vekllei person can write to the National Mint and order a set of coins, like the ones pictured above. So what is going on here?\nAlthough the Kroner has not been used since 2022, after the last village in Stochi returned coinage to the Mint, it continues to exist to this day as a gold-backed currency in the International Market, through which Vekllei trades with other countries. The physical coins, produced mostly as a novelty in the tradition of mayaesdiou (medallions, or small metal pieces commonly collected and given in Vekllei), are a physical coinage of the International Market. The coins also operate as a form of bullion, or wealth reserve, since each coin is worth exactly its face value in gold. Since the International Market is completely closed and independent of the domestic economy, its value is controlled directly by the so-called Government Bank. It is one of the few gold-backed currencies in a developed nation today.\nTo further complicate things, there are actually two different Kroner in Vekllei. There is the Vekllei Kroner, which represents the International Market, but there is also a seperate Government/State Kroner, which is not minted and used only as an investment mechanism, backed by government \u0026ldquo;white bonds\u0026rdquo; which are usually measures of labour-hours or refined materials. It is, in a sense, a fiat currency alongside a gold-backed currency.\nThey exist independently because they are used for two seperate purposes. The Vekllei Kroner is used a wealth reserve and bullion, and also represents the collective wealth of the Vekllei people. Each citizen, in theory, is entitled to an equal share of the Government Bank, although it can only be withdrawn as currency in specific circumstances. Vekllei also holds substantial amounts of foreign currency in the Government Bank and Vekllei Kroner, which is used to invest and stabilise holdings and capital in foreign countries. The Government Kroner, on the other hand, is used as an investment mechanism abroad, usually in support of infrastructure. It is also used to acquire foreign currencies through investment in foreign capital.\nDespite having two currencies, neither the \u0026ldquo;Vekllei Crown\u0026rdquo; or the \u0026ldquo;Government Crown\u0026rdquo; are used in the domestic economy in Vekllei, which is autonomous and not subject to a central bank. So it is that Vekllei’s currency is both little more than a novelty and essential to the function of the country in a world still ruled by money.\nIn the coinage depicted above — 8 coins are minted in Vekllei today. They were designed in 2015, in the year of independence. They represent eight core values in the country.\nThe “small crowns,” worth 1VK and 10VK respectively, represent fraternity and liberty, two founding elements of the Vekllei constitution. The 50VK coin is plated in silver and has a small ruby inset. Rubies are used to represent energy, in this case, the vitality of the spirits, which dominate Upen and the Vekllei landscape. The 100, 200, 500 and 1,000VK coins represent different landscapes of the country. As a volcanic island nation, the ocean (100) and landscape (200) coins are fairly straightforward. The humanity coin (500) represents the Vekllei people and ancestry — note how humans are placed alongside other natural forces. The flower coin (1,000VK) represents the flowers of the country, which are important spiritually and have formed part of the Vekllei identity. Vekllei has the most flowers per capita in the world. The final, larger 10,000VK coin represents the previous seven together, as a total sum of Vekllei landscape and identity.\nTo answer Tzipora’s question — a bottle of fizzy drink cost about 2VK in the waning days of coinage in the early 2020s.\n",
  "date": "2020-06-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-06-24-crown/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 575,
  "href": "/stories/montre-lola/",
  "title": "Village Map of Montre-Lola",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/montrelola.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/montrelola_huddb17e94f1831db368de7b62088680d8_1193666_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #2 of the Atlantic Bulletin The village of Montre-Lola is home to about 400 people in its entirety, a stone’s throw from the Aisyo borough. Each morning, however, the population swells as 300 children from tiny villages in both Aisyo and Montre take a fast tram to the Montre-Lola Area School No. 2, a district school raising all ages of local youth.\nLike many Vekllei villages, Montre-Lola’s history is complex and has origin stories in both viking-inuit settlement as well as less sentimental government programmes that flourished after the atomic war. By historical accounts, Montre-Lola has been inhabited since at least 1500CE. By contemporaneous records, however, it was established as a village in land reform during the 1960s and revitalised by the building of the area school in 2057.\nMontre-Lola features many civic objects common to Vekllei villages — a nondenominational place of worship (in this case, a historical Catholic church), a constabulary, a doctor, an auto/tractor pool, a general store, a station platform, and a village hall. A map of the village centre is dominated by the Area School, built in an Edunewda style, which features many new facilities that distinguish it from smaller, 20th-century schools. It’s a good place to grow up; where farmland and earnest modernity collide.\nMontre-Lola is most relevant as the residence of Tzipora Desmoisnes, the world’s oldest person and one of the first people to be diagnosed with Gregori-Heitzfeld Syndrome. She works as a librarian in both the Montre-Lola Area School and the Montre-Lola Library \u0026amp; Archives, spending most of her 12-hour workday in either of these institutions. She commutes via fast trams, which arrive automatically at the two platforms in Montre-Lola every half-hour and continue out into the surrounding farms. This means that, if she sets her watch right, she can step outside her front door and arrive at the school library in under ten minutes. This journey is marked in red on the map above.\nDominated by farmland, Montre-Lola is communal and more traditionally ‘anarchist’ in flavour than Vekllei’s urban boroughs, which are obscured by convenience. As charming as it is suffocating, the community is very close-knit and made up of all sorts — smart educated young men and women sent from Montre to teach, as well as farming families that have resided here for centuries. Life moves slower and people know each other. When the school hosts its cross-country race each year, nearly every person in the village is out to watch it. After all, it takes a village to raise a child.\n",
  "date": "2020-06-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-06-29-montrelola/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 576,
  "href": "/stories/beautiful-woman/",
  "title": "A Most Beautiful Woman",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/ayn.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/ayn_huca4f375e7124f6cd0915c92932c7800c_1385150_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #2 of the Atlantic Bulletin When Tzipora first laid eyes on Ayn, hours after her arrival in the country, she thought, “that’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”\nIt wasn’t just her features or figure that captured Tzipora’s attention — it was also her confident, inconspicuous movements and a quiet self-assuredness that seemed obvious in her gentle expression and posture. Tzipora was not quite sure how to describe it. Her beauty was very alive in the way she inhabited a space, as she walked into the hotel lounge to meet them. Maybe it was grace — maybe it was a little girl-crush — she didn’t know.\nAs Baron greeted her and they exchanged cheek kisses, it appeared to Tzipora that Ayn and Baron were old friends, and she was further assured in her respect for him — that Baron could know such beautiful women seemed natural! Baron was capable of anything in Tzipora’s eyes, a figure of ultimate power — it only made sense that he knew this woman!\nOf course, both Ayn and Baron were mortal, and Tzipora got to know them well during the helter-skelter weeks following her arrival in Vekllei. Baron might have rescued her, but it was Ayn who introduced her to Vekllei, as AB/NI called Baron into office for the first time in a decade. It was Ayn who took her clothes shopping and wrestled with Zelda’s obsessive-compulsive fabric requirements. It was Ayn who taught Tzipora her first Vekllei sentence. And in the end, it was Ayn who convinced Baron that he had to take responsibility for Tzipora.\nIt was only years later that Tzipora began to realise that Ayn and Baron were, in a sense, married to each other through their work. They worked closely (he as recent head of operations at AB/NI, she as a research analyst in American economics) and their friendship went back decades. She was his “work wife,” which was the closest Baron could ever get to that particular institution, and so her proximity and love towards Tzipora made her a mother.\nShe was a vision of everything Tzipora wanted for herself — to be capable and respected; beautiful and unassuming; intelligent and productive. And once more, it was Ayn, in the end, who convinced Tzipora that she could these things for herself, regardless of her genetic disability. “Go out there,” is what she said, “and trust in yourself.\u0026quot;\n",
  "date": "2020-06-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-06-12-ayn/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 577,
  "href": "/stories/cruiser/",
  "title": "The Oa-Class Battlecruiser",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/cruiser.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/cruiser_hu2fd9ce618709c687b8aca7624bb04a69_965917_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #2 of the Atlantic Bulletin Vekllei’s defensive military posture has, in doctrine and arms development, limited its ability to meaningfully project power outside of the Atlantic. As an island nation with a large and multifaceted naval armada, the Oa-Class Battlecruiser is the heart of her armed forces, as the flagship of her fleets.\nWhere U.S. doctrine places carriers offensively in the structure of its ship-groups, the Vekllei Navy is considerably more Soviet in its employ of carriers as primarily defensive air-bases to exercise sovereignty over her far-flung territories and island possessions. Oa-class Battlecruisers are notable as hybrid carrier-battleships, and feature a diagonal jetway with capacity for carrier-type naval jets (almost indistinguishable in the illustration above) and a variety of VTOL aircraft, which are common by the 2050s.\nFirst built in the 2050s by the sprawling National Naval Arsenal (located on Vekllei’s Far East coast, close to the foundries that pour her iron), 12 Oa-Class Battlecruisers are in service in the 2070s. They carry heavy fission reactors built by bureau monopoly General Reactor, supplemented by a gas-turbine generator, as is standard on all Vekllei-built nuclear vessels. Her unusual serpentine funnel is characteristic of Vekllei’s navy, and is a distinguishing feature of their naval design language.\nHer hulking superstructure and massive 15-inch fore guns recall the capital battleships of yesteryear, but she is a thoroughly modern battlecruiser with contemporary armament and electrics for combat and fleet administration. Named after Vekllei’s National flower, these Battlecruisers are the third-largest vessels in the navy and are multifunctional by design, often operated as strategic and operational platforms to support Vekllei’s large defensive armadas that patrol the North Atlantic.\nShe is armed with two triple-barrelled 15-inch shore guns that can be loaded with a variety of shells including nuclear payloads, silos for guided missiles, and specialised guns and missile platforms for anti-ship, submarine and satellite warfare. Her powerful communications array and sensors are positioned 80 meters above the surface for the benefit of radar and subsurface monitoring. She can also support up to 12 standard carrier jets at one time, or 16 individual helijets/VTOL craft.\nVekllei has larger battlecruisers (the so-called super-battlecruisers match her height and are nearly twice her length) and much larger carriers, but the displacement of the vessel was never a priority. Vekllei’s naval architecture prioritises mobility and capability in their capital ships, and so the Oa-class vessels represent many intersecting vertices of Vekllei’s naval doctrine.\n",
  "date": "2020-06-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-06-06-battlecruiser/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 578,
  "href": "/stories/canal/",
  "title": "Canal Living",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/canal.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/canal_hu45a849a86237a47faf6c6aa85dcffaa8_1072554_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #2 of the Atlantic Bulletin Atlantic Salmon was the best in the world, and Vekllei had a lot of it. Ocean-going fishing boats brought their haul to Ro, where they cruised wide postwar canals and unloaded tonnes of shiny, bright salmon into processing plants. If a new factory was built, so too was a canal or a railroad. Nothing was trucked. Fish was traded fresh in markets or turned into emulsifiers and fertiliser.\nThe canals were worked heavily, and few fishing vessels were incorporated. The vast majority of Vekllei’s fishing fleet was owned by the people that worked them, trading with the Sea Office. From a quaisiosn or “canal park” you might see a dozen vessels in an hour. Some were run-down prewar things limping out to the shallow coasts, while others were nuclear-powered salmon trawlers designed for the storms of the Atlantic. On the northern coast, the bigger boats were reinforced as ice-breakers. Fish was one of the few meats in the Vekllei diet that wasn’t grown in an industrial laboratory, a fact reflected in the scale of its infrastructure.\nCanals are good for a city, and are good for the heart. Tzipora would take long walks in the morning along the Wellington Canal to where it met Touismah, then follow it to where it circled back into Lola. She would figure out what she was doing with her life as the boats departed for the day’s catch. She never much liked salmon, but she liked the boats. They were an island country, and their futures and pasts met in the sea — where it churned and swelled in their dreams.\n",
  "date": "2020-06-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-06-03-canal/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 579,
  "href": "/stories/fission/",
  "title": "Fission Cloud at Vekllei's 50th Anniversary",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fission.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fission_huaac69be463b543e1369bc4b933266e65_1163682_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #1 of the Atlantic Bulletin In an unprecedented event, during Vekllei’s 50th Sea Festival since Independence in 2065, an 8 kiloton fission bomb was sunk to a depth of 150 meters and detonated at midday. It was an incredible sight on a day so clear you could see the gentle curve of the earth where it met the horizon. A flash of light and a spray dome surged outwards into the quiet Atlantic, which was broken apart by plumes that formed a column of water that climbed high into the sky. The lateral plumes, the “mushroom”, reached far across the horizon, forming thick clouds that would begin to rain into the sea. From the coast, fifteen kilometres away, a warm light bathed observers and was followed a moment later by a bang that deeply shook you and those around you. In this instance it seemed that the whole universe was their domain.\nThe plume would rise nearly 1,500 metres into the sky before falling away. It stayed that way for a while. Almost nobody moved for a long time after — people stood on cars and tables. You could only recognise the scale and the feeling of the fission bomb by seeing it in person.\nIt seemed incomprehensible, in the face of such a device, that wars could still be fought at all. What use is a battleship in the face of a cloud like that?\nTzipora and Elise, covering the detonation for Lola 7th School’s student newspaper, found themselves not quite sure what to say. Elise wrote, captioning Tziproa’s photograph, “The Independence bomb filled our sky with our sea for a half-hour on Sunday, and with it rose the thoughts of every person in attendance, who considered the awesome power now shouldered by each of us.”\nThere was indeed some sense that they had contributed to the bomb, and that they had more at their disposal. Few would fly the planes to deliver them, and fewer still had the brains to develop them, but participating in a nuclear century contributed to, in some effect, a nuclear horizon.\n",
  "date": "2020-06-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-06-01-fission/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 580,
  "href": "/stories/rain/",
  "title": "Hot Rain in the Arctic Circle",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/rain.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/rain_hue7588e9756957f84f11808ed1917fa0b_1362900_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #1 of the Atlantic Bulletin Tzipora had been ejected from the operations room once the guys arrived. She knew what was going down, anyway. No specifics. But you didn’t bring in uniformed soldiers for regular business. National Intelligence liked to work with their own people.\nFive days prior, Baron hailed an EB/NI company car and it pulled up beside him. The electric passenger window slid down. Baron nodded at the passenger.\n“Everything’s in here. There’s more if you need it. I’d appreciate a call, I’m in my office all next week, okay?” He passed over a white postage envelope. “Take care.”\nThe British man opened the letter and read it twice as the car approached the Vekllei World Jetport.\nJULES WYNN IS YOUR 3RD MAN. “JEREMY” APPEARS IN ARCHIVES 2046 — ALMOST CERTAINLY WYNN. NEARLY 20 YEARS. NOTES TO USSR THRU CYPHER CLERK (UNKNOWN). RECALLED TO MOSCOW — GREAT SUSPICION OF HIM FROM CONTROLLER DOWSETT-CLARK (OXFORD). THIS IS GOOD INFO FROM PARIS ASSET. WYNN WILL DIE IN RUSSIA. GET HIM AND ANOTHER RING SURFACES. CIA KNOWS WHERE BUT NOT WHO. DO US BOTH A FAVOUR.\nTzipora went for a walk to clear her head. She had a lot going on in her life — though she was sure it seemed small compared to whatever was going on in the operations room.\nIt began to rain an hour into the walk. She’d left her umbrella with the rest of her things in Baron\u0026rsquo;s office. That was okay. She didn’t mind the shower, anyway — it was mid-summer, and the rain was warm. What a novelty that was, at 60 degrees north. This was weather from the sunny Azores, pulled north by the wind currents over the Atlantic. Within minutes her skirt was heavy and her camisole was showing at the shoulders. She blinked heavy streams of water out of her eyes.\nShe passed the soldiers on their way out as she returned to AB/NI reception. A friendly receptionist had cloaked her in a towel by the time Baron had found her.\n“Did you have a good meeting?” She asked.\n“Sure,” and characteristically, he considered that a satisfactory answer. He pulled the towel off her head. “You’re completely soaked.”\n“It doesn’t matter. Are you with those guys? About that other guy?”\n“Watch it,” he said. “Keep that talk past security. But I’m going to fly out tomorrow. I’ll be back in the evening.”\n“No cooking for me, then. Where are you going? Or can’t you say?”\n“England.”\n“Oh,” Tzipora said, forming a gun with her fingers. “Like James Bond.”\nHer life was a nexus of various global ambitions, it seemed — imagined only through the dreamy lens of a teen-ager too small for the world’s problems.\n",
  "date": "2020-05-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-05-27-rain/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 581,
  "href": "/stories/missed-train/",
  "title": "The Last Train Out of Ada",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/missedtrain.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/missedtrain_hufc55891d125bb5a4931e1bfafb7005fa_1158497_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #1 of the Atlantic Bulletin They both watched as train 416 pulled away from the platform. And that was that — there would be no school in the morning. That was how it worked in rural Vekllei, a million miles from the automatic trains on endless timetables. Out here, you paced life around the station.\nThere was not much to say about this, between the two of them. Tzipora looked at Cobian and pulled a froggy smile that tried to express that it was nobody’s fault. Sure — it was Tzipora who had misplaced her purse, and it was also true that it was Tzipora who’d stopped by the orchard to steal a peach, but as to how they’d missed the train? It was simply impossible to say.\n“You’re a complete idiot,” Cobian said matter-of-factly, and Tzipora wilted. They watched 416 trundle into the sunset. A picturesque vision of rural utopia — if only they were a part of it.\n",
  "date": "2020-05-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-05-21-missed-train/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 582,
  "href": "/stories/winter-uniforms/",
  "title": "Winter Uniforms in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/winteruniforms.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/winteruniforms_hu5eaa8ddd67c2fb4b96715752ae6d2e11_1055425_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #1 of the Atlantic Bulletin When I paint Vekllei, I usually depict the warmer months. Hems are shorter, days are longer, and the destabilisation of the world’s climate has only benefited these arctic people. At the gift end of the Vekllei low pressure system, Scandinavian misery has become Mediterranean pleasure, with warm summers and a mild Autumn and Spring.\nStill, by late October, the the earth is hard with cold and the days are short. The world may be warmer, but Vekllei’s polar latitude is unchanged, and in the depths of winter the sun only rises for an hour a day. These are Vekllei’s “moon months”, and they announce some of the most important spiritual festivals in Upen.\nAlthough school hours are reduced in winter, life carries on and Vekllei fashion becomes traditionally utilitarian. Tzipora has poor circulation and cold hands even in the warm months, and by November she’s traded the skirt and gi for traditional rouisha trousers and a cloak. Rouisha, like a lot of traditional clothing, have origins in agriculture and are characterised by a loose, baggy fit and insulated lining. Cobian is wearing a heavy wool sack-type dress, which is worn like an apron over other clothing. Winter brings forth “petticoat society” literally. Note the leather plate on her shoulder, to which her christmas aiguillette is attached.\nIn this sense, Winter’s revival of traditional clothing and customs further evidences its practice as the most traditional season of the year. Although the warm calendar flourishes with the futurist sympathies of a modernist Vekllei, not even the atomic age has been able to dispense with its hard-worked pragmatism developed in a millennia of bitter cold.\n",
  "date": "2020-05-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-05-16-winter-uniforms/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 583,
  "href": "/stories/apartment-diagram/",
  "title": "2031 Apartment Diagram",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/apartment.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/apartment_hub53a52b9d27d990f81873656a1ef3cfc_1244252_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #1 of the Atlantic Bulletin Baron had inherited the apartment from his uncle, who passed in the year following his parents. It was in a mixed residential-industrial neighbourhood, adjacent to a canvas factory. Out back was a rivulet, which roared in the long rainstorms of early April.\nEach January, the Colour Bureau of the Architecture Assembly announces the year’s colours, and tradition in mainstream architecture and interior design is to incorporate the announced palettes, which usually contain a hundred or so colours. His uncle’s apartment had been built and furnished in 2031, and so it had a #2031 Colour Profile.\nIn some ways, it was a very conventional apartment in the Vekllei tradition. It had a sauna and bath in the wetroom, a bidet, a sunken living room and a bread oven. In others, it was more peculiar. The apartment was bizarrely allocated across three levels. You alighted the entrance light well into a sunken living space, then climbed back up into the kitchen. The main living room and master bedroom were another step above the kitchen. Adjacent to the main living area was a closet and study, which overlooked the entrance from a half-meter mezzanine.\nIt was in this study that Tzipora set up shop when she arrived in March 2063. Baron had been reluctant to take her even provisionally, not least because it would mean searching for a new apartment in his busy return period after being abroad for ten years. Tzipora, however, had lived in a dormitory for much of her life and had settled in the alcove once she acquired a dresser screen. She refused outright the master bedroom, which sparked a sleepy agoraphobia. By the time Baron had made other accomodations, Tzipora had entrenched herself in the neighbourhood and had developed a severe sentimentality about the apartment and its rivulet, and so that was where he lived for the rest of his life.\nIn this sense, Tzipora had a strange kinship with the apartment. Baron sealed himself off in the master bedroom each night, but she never left the main living space. It was warm in there, especially in the flickering light of the enormous oven and fireplace, and when she moved the screen aside in the morning her little corner became part of the living area.\nShe had a lot of good memories of that apartment.\n",
  "date": "2020-05-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-05-15-apartment/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 584,
  "href": "/stories/postcards/",
  "title": "Announcing Tzipo-stcards",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/tzipostcards.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/tzipostcards_hu5386e55a5f7fa4bc5818df7004789987_768753_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Hello everyone. Just a little update.\nAs a way of thanking my Patrons, I’m taking some time over the next two weeks or so to create a little set of Tzipora postcards and send them out as gifts.\nHow many cards will the set contain?\nI’m aiming for about six cards.\nHow much money would you need to have forked over to get some?\nI think about $20 over your pledge lifetime would cover print and shipping, though I’ll let you know if that goes up or down. I’m hoping to cover shipping, so you’ll just need to supply an address.\nWhat if I haven’t yet pledged enough?\nIf you’re a Patron who hasn’t yet pledged the $20 or whatever it is to cover print and shipping, just contact me and I’ll make… alternative arrangements for you. Don’t worry — if you want the cards, you won’t miss out.\nWho would even want these?\nPeople who like cute 6x4” illustrations on nice card stock will like them.\nIt’s a good time to plug my Patreon if you’ve got some government stimulus bux floating around — 🔗link here. It produces enormous pressure for me to create new work and art, so if you’re a fan of what I do it’s a good way to position yourself as an investor and get on my ass about posting more.\nSpeaking of posts, there’s one coming tomorrow or the day after.\nThanks always, and best wishes.\nHobart\n",
  "date": "2020-05-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-05-13-tzipostcards/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 585,
  "href": "/stories/peaks/",
  "title": "Fiery Peaks",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/peaks.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/peaks_hu7ab7b553ba9881bc41b20d8bc33efda2_1234253_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #1 of the Atlantic Bulletin After three days in Ada, Tzipora set off towards Mt Miya. She made good time, and after three hours had happened upon the shoulders of the bright Volouisnesnkull Glacier. It was about here that she heard a morbid industrial siren, echoing up the valleys from far away.\nAt first she thought it might have come from Ada, since Boya Chemical had a large plant there, but as she lay out her things for lunch she heard the distinct whine of a turbojet. It grew louder, and deeper, until a National Fire VTOL tanker roared across the sky, swirling powdered snow on nearby peaks as it arced across the glacier. It was close enough to catch the sun ablaze in the reflection of its glass nosecone.\nShe later learned that lava streams had opened up not far from where she’d hiked, and had been making their way towards a geothermal power plant nestled in the highlands. In the evening, on her way back, she saw a long line of fire supertankers and pumpers spraying water in beautiful arcs, where it caught hisses from bright streams of melted rock. It was a common enough sight in Vekllei — hoses were the only defence you could reasonably make against the the fracturing earth.\nStill, it was not often you saw jets flying so low. It was funny to her that even the barren glaciers were tamed in this age.\n",
  "date": "2020-05-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-05-07-fiery-peaks/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 586,
  "href": "/stories/chemical-feast/",
  "title": "The Chemical Feast",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/feast.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/feast_huf8889d07ace761aeb991ac89e97b3774_1208167_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #1 of the Atlantic Bulletin East of Montre, West of Tjornes, waits a rare sight among Vekllei’s hard igneous slopes — a crown of gentle sedimentary cliffs packed with ruddy sandstone, which melt glacially into the sea chasing blue-sky bergs.\nTzipora was, at the time, making her way on foot from Montre-Lola to Ada, which was a coastal town in the North-East known for its luxurious health spas. Tzipora was not much interested in health, but she was interested in walking, and she made a pilgrimage along the coast every few years to make sense of the world. She was going whichaway and destined for nowhere in particular. Tzipora was very much Baron’s daughter, in the end.\nShe had stopped to see the Red Cliffs forty kilometres out from Tjornes when she saw a cruiser of the constabulary parked unusually by the shore. The constabulary were not local police — they were a national outfit tasked with policing government and “bureau business”. You found them at power plants, outside universities, guarding the prime minister and providing bodies for HO/NI (Home Office at National Intelligence) when they needed doors kicked.\nTzipora was not the sort of girl to be intimidated by a badge, and she wandered innocently to the shore where she found the cruiser empty. She looked across a beach of black sand and saw some sort of operation playing out — there was a gun boat not too far from the shore, and a police hydrofoil beached on the sand. She counted maybe a dozen officers. She wondered if they’d arrest her if she walked down to see what was happening. She climbed onto the hood of the cruiser to get a better look. Perhaps it was immigrants — or smugglers.\nIt only took another moment to spot the smashed crates broken across the rocks before she knew what was going on. She was witnessing the dying days of the countercultural decade, and its chemical fuel was now smashed open before her.\nThe 2070s were a wild time for the so-called “pink years” in Vekllei, and for the first time in Tzipora’s memory she started seeing “pleasure drugs” on the streets. There had always been plenty of sin carrying on in Vekllei, even in her early days — hallucinogenics, alcohol, and synthesised highs were legal and easy. But you didn’t see much of the exotic stuff, which grew in a better climate. Hash, coke, H — it was all underground stuff for personal use. These drugs were listed among many others in the class-A import prohibition orders, which made them hard to find and illegal to import. These were “pleasure drugs” — the Vekllei phrase for overseas narcotics that didn’t have a place in Upen or a preexisting cultural history. Comparatively, they were just ‘for pleasure’.\nH for heroin was a big news item for a long time, and with it you had one the largest moral panics in modern Vekllei cultural memory. Crackdowns came soon after. Tzipora found it difficult to describe the feeling of the time. It was a new generation — one she didn’t belong to, despite her appearance — and she didn’t have much sympathy for hedonists. They might tell her different, but she never thought the pink years were about much more than feeling good all of the time. She wondered if she was growing old and grumpy inside.\nShe wondered how the crates had got there. Had the coast guard sunk another smugger? You heard about the navy firing shots in the news sometimes.\nRuined with seawater and picked over by constables, the chemical feast of Vekllei’s pink years died with the times. Tzipora wouldn’t miss it.\nShe stepped off the hood and set off back towards the road, where a warm inn and hot food awaited her.\n",
  "date": "2020-05-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-05-06-chemical-feast/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 587,
  "href": "/stories/trials/",
  "title": "The Trials of Cobian",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/trials.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/trials_hu01134ffc55f2c73142638b7bcff4a409_940914_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ This article was featured in Issue #1 of the Atlantic Bulletin According to her friends, Tzipora’s contemporary afflictions were tragic. Her medical problems; her violent childhood; her sensitivity and melancholy — you could feel sorry for her, because a lot of her problems were not her fault. She invoked sympathy.\nTzipora never considered herself particularly tragic. It seemed straightforward, if difficult; she continued to live — and so she lived. Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s sympathy was instead reserved for her first and closest friend: Cobian.\nCobian was not well-liked at school, and it did not take long for Tzipora to find out why. She had a childish edge for a sixteen-year-old, and bitterly hated losing. She was not good at school or sports, was not particularly charming, and came across as desperately lonely. She was a quiet misandrist, which would have been fine if she could play the part of a self-assured social matriarch, but her mother’s despotic conservatism struck out that possibility early on. Such is life.\nAnd because her world was predicated on being liked and living a normal life, her psyche prohibited self-reflection. That was the great difference between Cobian and Tzipora. They may both have been young and neurotic, but Tzipora’s relentless self-interrogation left great space for personal growth. Cobian was instead trapped in a domestic play-fantasy, in which she could live out a mythical high-school life, and shattering that illusion would collapse her whole reason for being.\nTzipora recalled visiting Cobian’s home for the first time. Cobian’s mother asked Tzipora to remove her shoes and socks and wash her feet before going to play inside. By the time Tzipora found Cobian in her room, the girl had already changed and handed over her uniform to be laundered. Tzipora, in her tomboyish indigence, had never encountered such a brutally hygienic regime.\nCobian was a different girl at home. Her anxiety and neurosis washed out a little, and her confidence was propped up by the routines her mother had set out for her since she was a child. There was a friendly, curious girl buried under a decade of loneliness.\nTzipora wondered what Cobian thought about lying in bed at night, and why the girl worried so much about things that didn’t matter. And it was precisely in the smallness of those things and the tremendous anxiety Cobian owed toward them that made Tzipora want to hug her. To be so worked up over something so pathetic was startlingly moving. The idea that the girl had deluded herself into a corner of hopelessness seemed sad — and the fact that no one would reasonably care about such a feeble, meaningless, self-inflicted state of affairs made it tragic.\nThrough Tzipora’s friendship and the world it opened up for her, some of Cobian’s edges were sanded down. Some of it was a late maturity — some of it was Tzipora’s dismantling of the scaffolding the girl’s mother had shoved in there. With that effort, and obvious love, Cobian’s reason for being changed too. One day, in Tzipora’s presence, it didn’t seem so important to be liked by everybody anymore.\n",
  "date": "2020-05-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-05-02-trials/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 588,
  "href": "/stories/rural/",
  "title": "Life in Montre-Lola",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/rural.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/rural_hu73ca603728d741032664b08efd7fa03c_1453072_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tomorrow: 2020 Complete Guide to Vekllei\nToday:\nUp in the ro, the Vekllei flower-tundra home to spirits and people alike, green slopes and igneous monument make an ample crucible for myth and magic.\nOut here, there was a very keen sense of place and purpose. “Landscape” was neither revered nor ignored, since it did not exist here altogether. Every hill, rock and tree was taken at face value in its full honesty, with commodity dead and modernism suppressed. The place supported human life, and human life supported place. It was intuitive symbiosis.\nTzipora’s house was built by the hands of her friends with wood from the forest nearby and concrete from Adouisneh. They built her a fireplace big enough to keep her loft warm and the bread hot. She was a small girl and had to split her wood with a pedal saw, which she fed wood from her journeys for kindling.\nShe cycled to the village a kilometre down the road each morning, where she worked in the district library. People from villages nested in the hills and valleys made the commute here, to see films and borrow books. It was funny to her that the scope of the books were so worldly and comprehensive, and that the lives here were so small and pleasant. Living like this, the whole world seemed like a distant curiosity, far removed from their concern.\n🔗Much like the inversion of the sublime, Tzipora found an inversion of priority in Montre-Lola too. Time and space seemed to collapse in on themselves here, and all abstractions and petty knowledge was squashed. All that existed was the immediate relationship between herself and her surrounds — the old path and tractor, the flowers and drumlins — each heartbeat after the next, life and death adjacent, the future and past as quiet as the present. In places like this you could live a thousand years.\n",
  "date": "2020-04-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-04-24-rural/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 589,
  "href": "/stories/enthusiasm/",
  "title": "Gentle Enthusiasm",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/enthusiasm.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/enthusiasm_huba8065209ce072ce824495a064b8c5a0_406937_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora stood astride the bicycle luggage rack, and looked at her best friend Moise. She smiled at him, and looked to the town before them, and squinted at the clouds rising over the Atlantic horizon.\nIt was a warm late summer and there was salt in the air. Pebbles made better swimmers than Tzipora, but from up here she could admire the coast and fill her heart with the breeze.\nShe looked at the road ahead, and thought about what they’d eat for tea. It was all good from here.\nShe had a thought that she would remember this moment for the rest of her life.\n",
  "date": "2020-04-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-04-23-enthusiasm/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 590,
  "href": "/stories/hydro/",
  "title": "The Ou Hydroburo Office",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/hydro.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/hydro_hu799b0addf658877e99bd0a858cf554e5_1185227_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Almost any other venrouive national bureau is more glamorous than Vekllei’s Hydroburo, but that fact does not detract from the organ’s critical function.\nAlthough the sophisticated age of robotics demands the incredible yield of nuclear fission, a significant minority of Vekllei’s electricity is produced by hydroelectric dams, which are jointly operated by the Thunderburo and Hydroburo. Hydroelectricity appeals to the common Vekllei person strategically and culturally.\nFirst, where the nature of fission demands operational stability and exceptionally well-trained personnel that might be vulnerable to nuclear strikes, estimates by the War Department suggest the country’s hydroelectric dams would survive a nuclear strike, and would be operational shortly after a war.\nSecondly, hydroelectric dams appeal to the Upen intuition. Vekllei’s principle of dumousiantopet (beautiful and seperate) is epitomised by the concept of a dam, which modifies its environment to benefit its local community, but also transforms a landscape with a permanence associated with natural phenomena. It is a tremendous structure, monumental in size and quiet in operation. Its analogue modernity and gentle nature appeal to Vekllei’s deindustrial spirit.\nDepicted here is the Ou Hydroburo Office, located outside of Ou in the Vekllei West Ro Highlands and serviced by a special express train that arrives in the morning and departs at the end of the day. Many townsfolk in Ou are employed in operation of the dam, either through the Thunder or Hydroburos. It is also the site of a small Vekllei National University laboratory which examines the dam environment and trains its staff.\nThe site is early Newda in style, built soon after the Atomic War, and is remarkable for its striking water tower and pump house. These pumps draw water from the reservoir into pipes tunnelled into the surrounding mountains, at which point gravity carries it all the way to Ou, Yana, and Vekllei proper’s own reservoirs.\n",
  "date": "2020-04-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-04-21-hydro/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 591,
  "href": "/stories/spectre/",
  "title": "AB/NI’s Spectres of Violence",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/spectre.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/spectre_hu4f991ade9ec3fdf39370eccd265a7fb6_1204676_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Americas Bureau at National Intelligence (AB/NI), a semiautonomous organ of the covert operations council of the War Department, is recognised as the busiest of the continental bureaus. There is a lot to be busy with — the Dallas Secession, the Brazilian invasion of Bolivia, the Dallas nuclear lend-lease, and the reliability of Venezuelan oil production are all of some concern to Vekllei, and so AB/NI proactively has fingers in those pies.\nAB/NI foreign operations are provocative and direct, often guiding or outright employing shadow contractors, criminals, mercenary groups and political action groups. This is in the spirit of Vekllei’s concentric security concerns, which are benefited by the destabilisation of major powers.\nFrequently implicated and rarely rarely held accountable, AB/NI soaks up hard men returning from the previous decade of vicious fighting in Asia and puts them to work in coat and tie as servants of the Vekllei intelligence community. These include superficially respectable, decent men like Baron Desmoisnes, but also many of those whose violent tendencies and undiagnosed psychological problems are kept isolated from domestic life by their disposal in the regional bureuas.\nTzipora first met Wihle “Willy” Tesmehsnoisen in Baron’s orbit shortly after her arrival in Vekllei in 2063. She immediately liked him. His filthy ragged hair and stache were at odds with his business attire, and his short, sharp movements carried a threat of violence. His incongruity radiated freakish charm and power — the sort of person Tzipora liked. He thought Tzipora was the funniest thing he’d ever seen, and not just for her good sense of humour. To him, her diagnosis wasn’t worth much more than a good laugh. “You haven’t changed a bit,” he’d say every time he saw her. She liked that. He also faked an American accent.\nHe worked as an operative at AB/NI, and she only saw him occasionally. As far as she could tell, he was not particularly close with Baron — Baron was not particularly close with anyone but her and maybe Ayn — but she thought Wihle respected him. They’d both been boys in the Asian war, and he’d clearly had a place in Baron’s history, no doubt in shadowy work to which Tzipora was not privy. When Tzipora performed in the school play as Witch #2, Wihle was in the audience with Baron and Ayn, clapping and stomping his feet.\n“Where he’s from?” She asked Baron.\n“He said he’s from California, but that’s a lie. I don’t know where he comes from.” Like most of their conversations in his office, he was looking at his work and did not look up to answer her questions.\n“California,” she said, and something about it — the spirit, if not the truth — made sense. She asked, “what does he do at work?”\n“Shit all,” Baron said, and that was the end of that.\nIn 2072, Wihle was killed in an altercation with his wife. The unsolved disappearances of several Americans went with him.\nWilly’s loud anarchism was contrasted by Jiro Kondō’s obsequious professionalism. Here, lo, was another AB/NI contradiction — a man dressed like a gangster with the disposition of a well-paid civil servant. Jiro had started out as a merchant navy sailor on old diesel ships in the Sino Crisis, and after the war had found work with Vekllei’s Japanese Embassy as a double agent. Soon he’d been granted citizenship and recognised as a capable regional advisor for OB/NI (Oriental Bureau at National Intelligence) and met Baron through Vekllei’s work monitoring U.S.-Japan relations.\nAlthough many Vekllei staff in the provincial HO/NI (Home Office at National Intelligence) dismissed him as an unremarkable “import” from the East — a pretentious Japanese bureaucrat — Jiro was a fascinating character. Generally, men who’d actually seen action were unremarkable and gentle like Baron, or easy-going and irreverent like Wihle, but Jiro was neither. He was a very intense, focused man who volunteered almost any information about himself freely, though he was not a conversationalist. Baron shrugged decades of his life away in the most innocent of questions, but a simple “did you ever kill somebody?” elicited a frank, disarming admission from Jiro:\n“Yes… In 2056. A Korean… He was monitoring a man of interest to me… and the man in question was in a very delicate situation. I shot the Korean in his apartment. This was in Osaka.”\nHe was not a warm man, but he remembered every occasion of her life and delivered small gifts. Tzipora loved gifts, the the care of the gesture in a decommodifiied society, and so she reciprocated the gesture to him several times a year. So it was that Jiro’s birthday gifts consisted only of the scarves knitted by the daughter of his boss. He never married,\nThere were others at AB/NI whom Tzipora liked, not least of which the fabulous and loving Ayn, but few typified the eccentricity and violence associated with the regional bureaus more than Wihle and Jiro. It was a glimpse of the “real” world. Away from her Vekllei language lessons, and the superficiality of her classmates, were the spectres of real danger, mental illness and genuine intrigue. That connection, as tenuous and unjustifiable as it was, was very important to her.\n",
  "date": "2020-04-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-04-20-spectre/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 592,
  "href": "/stories/lakehouse/",
  "title": "Ghosts of Taiwan in the Yana Lakehouse",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/lakehouse.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/lakehouse_hu1ad60570270a59eaf9ca21afe12e48ee_1153677_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "By 2047, Vekllei had a lot of broken men. Tens of thousands had alighted troop ships at the end of the War of Taiwan, only to find that pieces of their lives had unravelled overseas. Hardy, bronze-skinned boys were left with their ghosts, and those ghosts introduced them to drinking, and brawling, and suicide.\nAs part of the Birmingham Convention and the second round of the Commonwealth War Trials, a young and recently defeated Vekllei nation was chained to a conflict that was beginning to fester in East Asia. They didn’t want to be there, but that’s what happens when you lose a war. So they became \u0026ldquo;Whites\u0026rdquo; — as opposed to \u0026ldquo;reds\u0026rdquo;, or communists, they supposed. But it was also apparent that they were anglos in an oriental war. They fought begrudgingly alongside the Taiwanese, American GIs, Brits, and some Australians. At one point there were more white foreigners in the Datong district in Taipei than Chinese — that’s modern war, Baron supposed.\nHe was not a friend of any People’s Republic, but the Kuomintang wankers were off the rails. The high schools had closed down and they’d taken the boys and put them in uniform. They sent those boys south from their provisional headquarters in Wulai, down as far as Yuchi where they rounded up the smartest-looking people and shot them. In the Five Days Terror, Taipei glowed in the light of a hundred thousand books turned to ash in bonfires. They were spotting Mao on street corners.\nBehind any KMT officer there was a Joint Intelligence Bureau slug, and behind the slug was some CIA motherfucker. Vekllei soldiers, who were ostensibly nonaligned but were in no position to argue, took orders from these clowns.\nThe People’s Republic had control over a decent part of Kaohsiung and the whites were terrified of rumours of Red Chinese in the mountains on the West Coast. The communists did not have the benefit of a century of support from the Americans, and most of the boys they killed were ill-equipped and skinny. At night you could hear the distant booms of gunfire in the sea between the ROC and Xiamen. At this time Atomic shit was still restricted to naval warfare. Occasionally an old diesel ship would go up, and you’d see it from the shore. Those fireballs looked like they touched satellites overhead.\nBaron had a clinical, empty side to him in which he stored a lot of his pain. He had done unspeakable things, and had merely forgotten them or parcelled them away so that they could not be coherently retrieved. That sort of conscience lands you with spooks; for the rest of the boys coming home from Taiwan, their lives had ended with the war.\nThe problem of dead vets and criminal heroes became such that the War Bureau, equipped with new research on shell-shock, established a series of hospitals across the country that isolated and gave time for these boys to come to terms with what they did and what they saw. They were sanatoriums, in a sense — you took a train into the highlands, and you came back when you were ready. A lot of boys found it difficult to be around people who didn’t understand them. At the hospitals, called ouismaindesdenyo or “Care Homes”, they could be around those people.\nBaron would visit people occasionally at the Yana ouismaindesdenya. Tzipora would go with him. She thought it was because her being there made him feel less like a patient. She did not know if the people he visited were comrades, friends or if he was simply fulfilling a duty as an ex-officer. He never made it clear to her. She spent time on the lake shore painting and thinking. At dusk the sky would glow, and she would think about what the hell it was she was doing with her life.\nIn some ways, she was a patient at Yana too — after all, like these men, she’d done and seen terrible things. She’d seen the other side of life’s coin, in a way. When she underwent sumoirnesdenen (ego death) years later, she thought it felt similar to that moderated, clinical idea of trauma — like she had crossed a rubicon, and had been exposed to some secret about violence and death, and that every part of her life was now framed in relation to it.\nShe never claimed to be like the boys at Yana, because she wasn’t. But she knew what it was like to enter domesticity and never feel at home in it. She was lucky; she had Baron. She wondered about those boys who married before they left. She wondered where those brides were now.\nAfter a week, they would travel downstream from the highlands and leave Yana behind. There the memories would stay, until their return the following season.\n",
  "date": "2020-04-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-04-05-lakehouse"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 593,
  "href": "/stories/learning/",
  "title": "Montre, City of Learning",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/learning.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/learning_hu968d2cafb3bfd97c5af60e2ea3f2ea46_571142_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Montre Prefecture of the Vekllei city-state is among the most learned urban landscapes in the world. In the days of the monarchy, it had been an unremarkable city, home to the empire’s submarine fleet. It was obliterated by bombs in the war, and the \u0026ldquo;new Montre\u0026rdquo; that has blossomed in its place is nourished by its ashes.\nAmong the most prolific creatures in Vekllei’s academic elite, including prestigious folk like physicist Thomas Weihennet and Chief Engineer of General Reactor Maya Ou, almost all of them were educated in Montre. It is home to Vekllei National University, and also to the more bohemian Montre School of Economics.\nIt isn’t the ivy or sandstone that makes Montre remarkable, however. Montre’s status at the forefront of learning is found amidst the dozens of small unorthodox, nonconformist, radical and avant-garde schools that have proliferated in Petticoat Society. Any chump can wiggle his way into Vekllei National University — but only twelve students a year can study under renowned architect Urian Reddennen, who teaches “Sick Newda” architectural ideology to talented young architects as young as fourteen.\nTzipora herself has a brief encounter with the uoismendainda, or “underground schools”. While working anonymously as central mailer of Kid Comix, an underground APA (amateur press association, a sort of decentralised magazine created and possessed only by contributors), she made contact with Sgt. Salt, AKA cartoonist Darren Heidoismen. It was only years later that he discovered that editor “Squick” was Tzipora Desmoisnes — none other than Vekllei’s first Gregori Baby. After meeting her in Montre-Lola, her quiet provincial lifestyle in stark contrast with his fame as a comics author, she agreed to work for him at his studio in Montre, mostly as a colourist for serialised strips.\nHer apprenticeship only lasted six months, and she wouldn’t return to comics after her stint in the biz, but she kept in close contact with both Heidoismen and her own roots in the underground comix scene.\nIt is in these schools, taught by auteurs against curriculums of fancy, that much of Vekllei’s cultural fabric is woven today. It is not particularly sentimental — in fact, it is ruthlessly modern, facing deindustrialisation as the liberation of artist and worker alike. Uoismendainda are the spirit of Vekllei’s postwar resurgence, and their concentration in Montre makes the prefecture a clear choice for youth looking for answers in the world.\n",
  "date": "2020-04-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-04-03-learning/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 594,
  "href": "/stories/ego/",
  "title": "Ego Death and Upen's Spiritual Rebirth",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/ego.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/ego_hu7cc0a8eece5438590dc23f307db2ad44_876576_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " The Beach was a small part of herself.\nAnother stroke on the Hell Screen\nShe washed ashore\nTwo dollars were in the sand\nA hound had come here to rest\nDamp cotton touched green water\nShe thought of what she was doing here\nOf what the night invoked\nHot sand met a rising wind\nIt happened again\nShe realised\nThere was not a single dog left to fight\nAmong the whitecap constellations\nSumoirnesdenen or “facing self abolishment” is better described as ego death. It has a long history in Upen, Vekllei’s nondenominational animism, which employs hallucinogenic drugs in service of spiritual revitalisation.\nThe aim of sumoirnesdenen is not to better prepare a mind for a sincere spiritual pursuit, but to propel the psyche into an objective, disassociated space to clarify the pressures and deceptions in life. It is in a sense a psychological and spiritual rebirth, if performed with an experienced guide in a controlled environment.\nTzipora Desmoisnes, Vekllei’s first Gregori Baby, engaged in sumoirnesdenen in 2076 at the age of 29 against her father’s advice. She had concerns about having a “bad trip” because of lingering psychological concerns, but decided to proceed after years of depression. She engaged in the trip with the help of an Upen minister, as is standard practice in Vekllei.\nThe practice is celebrated in two parts — first, a period of ego-death under influence of mushrooms (although synthetic drugs are often used today, especially in urban areas), and second comes a sober reassessment of priority (called maloidenen or self-worship) that aims to rebuild the person positively while the memory of the open soul is still vivid. This is done largely through scripture and controlled socialising, and is celebrated, much like a birthday, as a milestone.\nAlthough Tzipora’s sumoirnesdenen experience was positive and provided important clarity in a very lonely time of her life, she soon after began recalling dreams from her early months in Vekllei for the first time in a decade.\nThey were nasty-feeling images, encumbered with insecurities and a dark paranoia. Never a strong swimmer, she found herself washed up on beaches, meeting dead acquaintances, and grimacing as her waterlogged nightshirt chafed her shoulders. It began to disturb sleep. She wondered if sumoirnesdenen had exposed a clearer subconscious filled with a sinister, more accurate, depiction of her past and future.\nIt had, however, provided a clear frame of mind to understand herself in the context of the universe. The dreams began to fade. Her ego quickly reasserted her place in the world — indeed, it had never really disappeared. It provided her with a glimpse at the other side of the coin, and it put her heart at peace.\nI\u0026rsquo;m back after a break. I\u0026rsquo;m relearning how to write worldbuilding posts. I hope you enjoyed, there\u0026rsquo;s more on the way \u0026ndash; Hobart.\n",
  "date": "2020-04-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-04-01-ego/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 595,
  "href": "/stories/highlands/",
  "title": "The Great Ro Highlands",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/highlands.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/highlands_hu477f31bae7def62f3d517a24d40df944_411002_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "As I pick up some larger projects, my posts here will slow down a little bit. That\u0026rsquo;s okay \u0026ndash; I\u0026rsquo;m still easy to track down and get in touch with, and you guys will still see the best stuff.\nI post a lot of sketches to 🔗the Vekllei Discord, which is something between a fan club and a social club for the project. Check the #utopia channel for little artworks like this one.\nIf you\u0026rsquo;re paying me money to make posts, that\u0026rsquo;s where you want to be.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve got a few projects on the go at the moment:\nThe website is still be developed, complete with a comprehensive wiki of all the latest canon. I stopped working on it for a while as I approached the limits of my HTML ability, but I\u0026rsquo;ve enlisted someone smarter to help me. The comic is making tentative progress but I hope to release some pages here eventually. It\u0026rsquo;s a long-term project that needs to be started right \u0026ndash; in the meantime, I can prepare as well as I can for it. A Vekllei card game is well under way. 150/180 cards are sorted, and then it\u0026rsquo;s all a matter of doing the art for them. It\u0026rsquo;s going to be pretty great! A couple other things, like animation experiments, storyboards for a trailer, and so on are also burning in the background. I just hate to see so much time go between posts on this place :)\nOtherwise, feel free to hang out here and keep on keeping on. I\u0026rsquo;m on the upward trend out of a serious creative slump that\u0026rsquo;s lasted the last three months, and it feels good to be working again. Let me know if you\u0026rsquo;ve got any questions about\u0026hellip; anything, or this picture specifically!\nKind regards,\nHobart\n",
  "date": "2020-03-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-03-11-highlands/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 596,
  "href": "/stories/cobian-concept/",
  "title": "Meet Cobian, a concept panel for a Vekllei comic",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/cobiancon.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/cobiancon_hued770731d3383b7a5bf91c3683bd188e_801524_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "If you go back through my posts here, you\u0026rsquo;ll notice Tzipora is basically a cartoon whose only consistent characteristic is her iconography \u0026ndash; her hair fountain, bangs, round head and big smile. This isn\u0026rsquo;t really intentional. I\u0026rsquo;m just an amateur artist who is still learning to draw.\nThat doesn\u0026rsquo;t work so well in a comic with sequential panels, so I\u0026rsquo;ve been working on standardising my characters. This is a concept panel for Cobian, Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s longtime friend (and occasional girlfriend). She\u0026rsquo;s an awkward, sympathetic sort of person, and often left out in my posts. She certainly doesn\u0026rsquo;t deserve such treatment \u0026ndash; she\u0026rsquo;s one of the most interesting, complex people in the Vekllei cast and I hope to treat her with respect in future.\nThis panel is the first step.\nI\u0026rsquo;m working on pages for the comic, but it\u0026rsquo;s slow going. I post pages as they come to my patrons (more or less!) but it\u0026rsquo;ll be a while before any chapters come together. That\u0026rsquo;s okay. I work better that way.\nLove,\nHobart\n",
  "date": "2020-03-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-03-01-cobian/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 597,
  "href": "/stories/earth-princess/",
  "title": "Tzipora, the Princess of the Earth",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/earthprincess.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/earthprincess_hucdb903787240ee308828049339b2aa8f_1447625_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Editor’s note — it’s getting close to 4 a.m. and I’m not sure I can even remember why I wrote this post. Everything is a fog. Expect revisions and possibly major changes in the morning.\nPictured above is Tzipora Desmoisnes, the Princess of the Earth and one of the most interesting persons of the last century. She has made good use of her 126 years on Earth (and counting), and a few samples have been chosen for your viewing pleasure. Conveniently, captions have been attached to briefly describe a few choice (but not comprehensive) depictions of her life.\n2 Years Old / 2049\nAn infant Tzipora arrives in a country she would remember as her homeland. Knowing the tumultuousness of her childhood from here on, it is sobering seeing the round baby\u0026rsquo;s face staring back, red-faced and full-cheeked. Her mother, Mette Sumoisnesn from Vekllei, is a bohemian political scholar and radical looking to start fresh in South America after several life events leave her dissatisfied with life in Vekllei. With her savings secured, they move into a wealthy neighbourhood called Modelia, in Bogota.\n5 Years Old / 2052\nAt five, Tzipora speaks Spanish natively and only a handful of Vekllei phrases like many immigrant children. A naturally lithe and timid girl, she won’t make friends at school until her second year. In many ways, she is already becoming a picture of opposites from her mother; where Mette is a postmodern lady of wide social interest, Tzipora is conservatively inward-facing. She has, however, already inherited Mette’s disarming honesty and decisive mindset.\n7 Years Old /2054\nAs Mette kept irregular hours and a laissez faire attitude towards parenting, Tzipora is already fairly independent for her age. Although hardly the only child to maintain a household in Bogotá, she is certainly unique in her social class. Mette’s Vekllei-sourced wealth goes a long way in Colombia, but her bohemian lifestyle and liberal social instincts lend to a world of contradictions and colourful schisms that leave Tzipora caught between worlds — that of the poor, artistic, and revolutionary as well as the wealthy, polite and domestic. Even at this age, Tzipora already showcases several of these contrasts in her malleable personality, which are as charming as they are awkward. Although her relationship with Mette is untraditional for a single mother and daughter, it is affectionate and Tzipora is happy in Modelia.\n10 Years Old / 2057\nIt’s 2057. President Cifuentes has been dead for six months, the communists are in power in Bogotá, and Mette has depleted ten years of Colombian wages to shelter Tzipora in a Catholic boarding school in the U.S. to keep her safe from an imminent American invasion.\nShe now wears the uniform of St Mary\u0026rsquo;s Catholic College in Sacramento, California. She\u0026rsquo;s cut her hair in keeping with the American fashions and has lost some weight as she diets for what the other girls in her dorm call a “Coca Cola body”. On Tzipora’s small, girlish frame, her thinness looks pitiful and achingly neglected, not attractive. She is an Inuk-Scandinavian girl with Jewish European ancestry who knows only the language and culture of a wealthy Latina. Compounded with her little eccentricities and timidity, she does not fit in well at school.\n14 Years Old / 2061\nA lot can happen in four years. There was an atomic bomb in Cairo, and the Federal Government has lost control of the so-called Dallas States. Mette has stopped responding to letters and Tzipora’s out of money. She makes plans to move in with her male mathematics teacher, who predated on her near-idiotic numeracy weaknesses to foster an illicit relationship, but abandons that idea when she discovers he has been grooming multiple other girls.\nShe takes the California Zephyr to Utah instead of San Francisco on advice of a trusted priest, and quickly finds herself indigent and starving. Clothed by a charity in filthy artefacts of the previous decade, she lives in a women’s shelter that has too little to go around. There’s not even work as a strikebreaker anymore, since sporadic fighting in Southwest Utah has moved or shuttered all business that isn’t literally burrowed into the surrounding desert.\n16 Years Old / 2063\nShe’s aware by now, and has been since her school days, that she has some sort of nutritional deficiency or hormone imbalance impeding her puberty. As a good Catholic girl of the faith, she does not understand anything about puberty, but it doesn’t take a doctor to figure out she looks half the age of the teen-agers in the shelter.\nShe has miraculously managed to find work as a maid at a nearby motel, and has money for little luxuries that now mean the world to her. Clean underwear, some sneakers that are good for day work, and a steady stream of penny dreadfuls from the local bookshop, operated by the mysterious “Baron”. She lives in a so-called “Women’s House” that starts attracting attention as the turbulent political climate in the Dallas States continues to destabilise.\n18 Years Old / 2065\nTzipora celebrates her eighteenth birthday as a student at Lola 6th School in Vekllei. She is overwhelmed with affection for the country and her new father, Baron, but is struggling to reconcile her natural inadequacies as a new immigrant with her expectations of success in a country that offers her so much. Life is busy, and is full of new things that send her reeling with excitement — friends, music, and good food are just a few. At once younger and older than her years, Tzipora’s independence and stubborn affection make raising her easy for first-time dad Baron, who never intended to have children, let alone start with a teen-ager.\n32 Years Old / 2079\nSuffering from a severe bout of seasonal depression and a deep sense of listlessness after graduating from university, Tzipora’s long-neglected existential epistemology breaks open all at once. Now a librarian in the Lola central library, she watches Baron get older and wonders about ending her life once he passes. She drowns her panic in her work, working days at a time cataloguing stock at the library while also editing the underground ‘zine Kid Comix. The sardonic nihilism of the underground Comix community is her only comfort as she considers her future and the place in the world.\n86 Years Old / 2133\nAlthough Tzipora always evolved slowly, by 86 Tzipora’s turbulent youth is well behind her. Her little insecurities and aching sense of inferiority have blossomed into a gentle sense of humour and easygoing disposition common in old ladies. Does Tzipora qualify as one? By the numbers, certainly. But ask anyone in Montre-Lola, the village she’s lived in since moving there over fifty years earlier, and they’ll tell you that she retains a teen-age vitality and curiosity in her that should have been dissipated long ago. Physically, she is, of course, unchanging — and her spastic tics are as present as ever. Montre-Lola may change, and Tzipora may watch generations cycle through, but she is apparently timeless.\n126 Years Old / 2173\nMuch older, and a little wiser, Tzipora has had decades to reconcile her extended stay on Earth with the seeming immortality of the Vekllei cultural landscape. She still lives in Montre-Lola as a maternal root of the community, and resides in the little house built for her by the town over eighty years ago. For Tzipora, her sense of time has slowed to a crawl. A creature of routine, life around her goes on despite it all — the atomic war, the rebuilding, the stresses of a post-war world. A lot of her life is boring. She doesn’t mind. She finds great pleasure in the mundane, and her body is young and healthy. There are always reasons to live, and not just for the people in her life — after all, novels continue to be written and her plants need to be watered. Absorbed in her pleasant little life, it barely occurs to her that next year she will become the oldest living human being in history.\n",
  "date": "2020-02-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-02-17-princess/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 598,
  "href": "/stories/salad/",
  "title": "Salad Time",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/salad.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/salad_hu134a052208e59db9cc5600a57dbfe176_440910_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Despite appearances, most of the population of Vekllei are Scandinavian, not Asian.\nZhu is the first time in a long time I\u0026rsquo;ve drawn an ethnically Chinese person. She was graciously lent to me to draw by u/boodyclap in an art trade. 🔗You can see his end of the deal here, complete with Tzipora balancing a baseball bat.\nIn Zhu\u0026rsquo;s homeland she suffers a meat-heavy diet, and Vekllei is the first time she\u0026rsquo;s seen a salad this big. You can see iconic Vekllei icebergs washing ashore on a beach of black sand behind them. I\u0026rsquo;ll let u/boodyclap share any extra tidbits below :)\nFollow Zhu\u0026rsquo;s adventures at 🔗@the_jeggy on insta.\nIf you like worldbuilding, trains or friendship please come 🔗join us at the Vekllei Discord. It\u0026rsquo;s a good time.\nMore posts soon.\nLove,\nHobart\n",
  "date": "2020-02-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-02-11-salad/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 599,
  "href": "/stories/timeline/",
  "title": "The Vekllei Timeline",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/timeline.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/timeline_hu9bd9a9429c90026f71401848022af44c_809705_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is it. The dates are laid out. I\u0026rsquo;ve created a document that tracks the story thus far. Longtime followers might be surprised by where certain events land.\nThis post will be pinned and serve as a stopgap until I can complete something more professional on my site.\nCLICK HERE for a timeline of the events so far, and how they line up in this story.\nLast Updated: 13/7/2020\nFor your convenience, I\u0026rsquo;ve embedded links to the relevant posts in each year to help you keep track of the spiralling canon. Please note that this is not a complete or comprehensive catalogue of events, since for the sake of storytelling (and spoilers) I\u0026rsquo;ve deliberately excluded the bulk of events around the world in the document above.\nThis post will be updated with the most current version of the timeline.\n",
  "date": "2020-02-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-02-05-timeline/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 600,
  "href": "/stories/immortality/",
  "title": "Face to Face with Immortality",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/immortal.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/immortal_hufcbd7d3a0bdd47c7af80253e5c7ac031_548106_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora had never been taller than anyone in Vekllei at a meagre 5’2, but she was taller than Shizuku Kobayashi. Like Tzipora, Shizuku had not physically aged a day since she was a child.\nIt was summer, and six days after Tzipora had arrived in Japan as a Gregori ambassador from Vekllei. Although she would not be the oldest victim of Gregori-Heitzfeld syndrome until Quentin Cook’s (USA) infamous murder-suicide ten years later, she was one of the so-called \u0026ldquo;First Thirteen\u0026rdquo; publicised patients, and so was somewhat known to the international community. By the time of their meeting in 2071, there had been an estimated 250 Gregori baby births, and around 130 living across the world. Kobayashi was the 122nd ageless child, and Japan’s first.\nTzipora met Kobayashi in the Ozake Ryokan outside Kamigōri, Kobayashi’s birthplace and home. It was not far from Aioi. Tzipora was 24 at the time, and Shizuku was 18, and still in school. Poor Zelda was so nervous about meeting another Gregori baby that she became overwhelmed by Japanese manners. So it was that Shizuku’s first introduction to Tzipora was via a clonk on the head.\nShizuku was sweet and even-tempered, and they talked for nearly five hours before she was retrieved by her mother in the late evening. She spoke okay English, because she’d dropped out of school for a year to pursue acting with an American film company based in Yokohama that operated through the NGHQ. Acting was a common profession for Gregori babies — it seemed that the miracle children of the world were quickly relegated to freaks of entertainment. Tzipora did not have the stomach for it, but she knew of several others around the world who made good money playing children in film.\nTzipora excitedly relayed the awkwardness of life in Vekllei as an unageing child, from her problems at university to her dreams of the future. She had no metric for how it might differ in Japanese society, because in many ways she was still fourteen — the problems of a young teen-age girl seemed universal, even then.\n“No one takes you seriously at first,” Tzipora said, but she acknowledged that once people got to know her she’d had no problem being treated with respect.\n“I suppose,” replied Shizuku.\nTzipora could not help but notice that Shizuku looked different from her Japanese peers. It was only later that she would learn that Shizuku’s father was a GI from Okinawa, shamefully rendering her eternally “hafu” despite the miracle of her existence. She could sympathise, in her own privileged way — Tzipora, too, was a girl of many ethnicities and cultures. But even with her television understanding of the land of the rising sun, Tzipora grasped that things might be more difficult here, where old-world memory collided with new-world growth.\nTzipora quieted her obnoxious enthusiasm and asked Shizuku what pictures she was in. Shizuku said she wasn’t in pictures, just television, and Tzipora wouldn’t have seen them anyway. Tzipora asked what she wanted to do. She said she didn’t know. As for Tzipora?\n“I want to work in a library,” Tzipora said. “I love stories, and I like the idea of being in charge of the books.”\n“I love stories too,” Shizuku said. “I’d like to write them, really. But we’ll have to see. It’s difficult…”\nShe trailed off, perhaps lost in her foreign vocabulary. She didn’t have to finish the point. It was difficult: it was difficult to make money, it was difficult to find love, and it was difficult to picture a future where the only constant was yourself. It was no wonder that Gregori children, whose personalities were often developed by the projections of those around them, ended up killing themselves when the uselessness and meaninglessness of their existence revealed itself.\nAlthough Shizuku’s mother received money from the estranged father, and Shizuku herself had made good money through acting, a fugue settled on Tzipora in the days after their meeting. Previously she had not considered herself a “Gregori baby;” she had considered herself merely “Tzipora”. In Vekllei, that was an identity she could afford. But despite Shizuku’s outward satisfaction with her present state of affairs, Tzipora couldn’t help but feel ill thinking about the anxious, isolating existence that almost certainly awaited any girl whose childhood stretched into the decades. All at once it seemed very unfair in its quiet cruelty — the hafu girl who would never grow up to be a beautiful actress.\nAlthough she’d kept in contact with Shizuku Kobayashi, Tzipora would not visit another Gregori baby for many decades.\n",
  "date": "2020-01-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-01-31-immortal/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 601,
  "href": "/stories/carriage/",
  "title": "The Girls of the Last Carriage",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/carriage.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/carriage_hu9b0a862d682a8a60c78470dcb77f005c_473727_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "She’d accidentally starched her gi quarter-pleat in the wash. She held it self-consciously against her side as she watched the clouds navigate the sharp mountains that formed Montre’s deepest valleys. Even out here, where human presence was gentle and subservient to the land, Vekllei National Railways had tracks that serviced the smallest villages. Today it was high summer, and the slopes were green and free of ice. They waited in the shade of the regional limited express carriage for train 802, which would take them home to Montre-Lola and complete a two hour ritual all Montre-Lolan university students made for their studies.\n802 was the second of an 800-series trainset that had been manufactured since 2003. These trains came from old society, long before Tzipora or her father had ever been born, back when VK Rail had been the Montre Regional Transport Company. It was crazy to think that the 802 had been around since before the bombs had fallen, and had survived the chaos of the atomic aftermath. It was funny how human creations became guides through history, linking young women like Tzipora to the solemn echoes of the past.\nThere was something sobering about that idea, she thought. She was thinking about this as she waited in the carriage, as a younger girl fidgeted in boredom and another whistled away in sleep. The sun was hot on the platform outside and the rising air distorted the bright yellow glint that signalled 802’s approach.\nDespite a week between posts, I’ve been a busy little bee. I made a Tintin-style Tzipora today, 🔗please click here to see her. I also drew Tzipora causing a 🔗ruckus in a Ryokan here.\nI also encourage you all to come 🔗join the Vekllei Discord, where I do a lot of sketching and a lot of nice worldbuilding discussion goes on. In the coming days I have a few projects I’d like to share, including a new animated studio title for this project!\nThese last few posts have been heavy on the melancholy and light on the worldbuilding. That’s all about to change.\nSee you soon.\n",
  "date": "2020-01-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-01-27-carriage/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 602,
  "href": "/stories/sublime/",
  "title": "The Girl and the Sublime",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sublime.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sublime_hua9b64b1a4692fb16ce27dc27804a2db9_434537_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "When Tzipora moved to study English and Vekllei literature at the university of Montre in 2075, she had to walk from the little home where she lived to Montre-Lola’s old concrete platform, which facilitated a single electric railcar each way, each day. If she was feeling lively, she could make it to the platform in a half hour. On the days where she dreaded sighting her plimsolls in the shoebox, it might take forty-five minutes. She made this trip six days a week for five years, because that was the price of acquiring two degrees at once.\nAt first, the walk had been a welcome canvas of boredom. If the weather was good, it could even invoke the sublime. A row of gnarled old pines, planted by dead men, formed rank beside the dirt road. In the spring, the flower-tundras flashed colour through the waving pine needles as the breeze rolled through, which cooled her dreadful perspiration. She felt a very strong kinship with the Earth then, and she steadied the pace of her breaths, and she tasted sweet pine and warm soil in the air. She looked doll-like in her cape and dark leather shoes against the bright sunlight. After a long winter, her skin was not gently porcelain, but instead a waxen and tallowed complexion coloured only by the vigour of the honest walk and the spirit of the good earth around her.\nEvery day, she passed the same gnarled pines, and the same buried fallout shelter by Silverwater Creek, and the same abandoned machine shed that slumped closer to the fenceline with each passing season. It collapsed one day in March, baring its rusted mechanical organs briefly before it was buried in winter snow. She would look at the old tractor and wonder what part it had played in the lives of the stewards of these old fields. She thought about the factory where it might have been made and was struck with sadness.\nAfter five years of walking in this timeless landscape, she no longer resented its obtrusion on her journey to school. She had memorised everything there was to memorise along her path. She recognised lichen on the old stair rail like moles on the face of a friend, and could recite the make and count of the wine bottles in the bed of the creek. It occurred to her, in some small way, that it was only after the beauty of the path had evaporated that she was able to truly visit it. It was the eternal conflict of landscape, she supposed; it was only now, in her utter boredom and total blindness to landscape, that she had finally removed herself from the vista and allowed herself to see place as it was for the first time.\nShe had intuitively discovered for herself a central tenant of Upen, where the sublime had been usurped by the much quieter, and much richer, mundane. The sublime screams like colour through pine leaves; the mundane is the dew that gathers silently on the spokes of the tractor ruin. The sublime is in the perfume of country air; the mundane is in the carcass of a beetle nestled in the moss; the sublime is the self-conscious rouge on her lips; the mundane a dirty scuff on her sock ankle; the sublime the whisper of the wind, betrayed by a new bud beneath a branch; the prism of her light blue eyes by the moistness around her nostrils in the cool weather.\nNo, it was never a matter of birth and decay, or light and dark; it was never about a schism to begin with. It was a fundamental kinship with a transcendental memory of place, and the hidden spirituality of the unimportant, and the sweetness of the unbeautiful.\nThe unconscious recognition became conscious knowledge, and it obliterated her world. The entire axis of cosmology tripped. The world pivoted. Beauty and pleasure were rediscovered in an instant. She looked around her, and she had discovered the mundane. She was no longer standing amidst landscape, but mere place.\nHer heart swelled with pleasure. Her blood sounded in her ears. Through five years of emotional labour and millions of footfalls, she had discovered the mundane in the sublime, if only here. Her eyes and heart had a sudden clarity; she was filled with love not just for the smallest of things, but in fact the smallest things exclusively.\nAlthough the feeling she had in that moment was by its nature irreproducible, she would do her best to recognise the mundane everywhere. She sincerely fell in love with Newda shortly after. The small and honest voice of the simple and inconsequential and imperfect called to her wherever she went, and from then on she was always at peace in place; for she was always surrounded by patina, and change, and the most delicate hinge of life that animated the inanimate in her renewed understanding of the world.\n",
  "date": "2020-01-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-01-19-sublime/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 603,
  "href": "/stories/dress/",
  "title": "Traditional Dress in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/dress.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/dress_huc87d6fc32c30fa7857b6c70581172d92_307328_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora, illustrated here, is happy because her traditional dress makes her feel stylish and her cape is soft and warm.\nVekllei is an ancient culture with many inherited and vestigial artefacts. Nowhere is this more apparent than in her national dress, particularly that for women, where old and new collide as they do all across Vekllei. Pre-war, post-war and future are present here. Let’s run through some of the elements, which can be found throughout her society.\nFountain hairpieces. These are the centrepieces of Vekllei ceremonial hairstyles, and are aided by sticks traditionally or more commonly gels today. These are only for women, and are arranged at the top of the head. Hats are not worn with traditional dress, and the Fountain hairpieces date back to the 12th century, in initial Danish settlement. Temple hairpieces. These hairpieces are fastened symmetrically at the side of the head, and accompany the fountain. Traditionally an exclusively male style, it was incorporated into women’s culture in postwar liberalisation. Uroastopet (birth flower) hairpieces. Flowers are central component of Vekllei animistic iconography, and their employ with people is analogous to Zodiac or astrological traditions. A birth flower is usually attached as a hairpiece in ceremony to distinguish the girl against the stars, acknowledging the chance in her birth not dependent on blood or heritage. Floral collar pins. These are recent items that first appeared in the last half-century, in response to the urbanisation of Vekllei life. Where traditionally flowers would be attached to the collar, here they are replaced by enamel and metal pins that are also worn with business and school shirts. Regional Flower Plate. This unusual item displays a special floral arrangement, called a ro poisnesn (flower-tundra blood arrangement) which can be genuine or artificial. It displays a curated collection of flowers from the girl’s village or region, usually selected from a local flower-tundra. Camisole Pinafore. These pinafores first appeared as detachable suspenders in the 19th century and have become an indispensable component of styles and uniforms since. Like most elements of Vekllei ceremonial dress, its origins are in agriculture. Refined Women’s Tie. A woman’s tie is carefully folded to respect the integrity of its sacred source; the shape and cascading petals of the Oa flower, which is the national Vekllei symbol. Men have a similar item that fastens to the neck of a tie. School/workplace armband. Armbands are universal in Vekllei. Instead of a symptom of authoritarian workplace culture, they are instead seen as markers in the country of public face. They are found in most professions and schools and have even seen ironic popularity in progressive fashion scenes. Dien agricultural shirt. These loose, baggy cotton shirts rolled at the elbow are a uniquely Vekllei style of dress, and appeared just prior to the time of the Camisole pinafore. Originally a male item, it is mostly worn by women today in professional and casual settings alike. Uroaten floral belt. These belts are mural testaments to the lineage of a girl, usually displaying the birth flowers of her female relatives. Bell Sash. The bell sash jingles as she moves and it sounds nice. The girls pick the bells themselves, and different sounds have different meanings. Oanan lace apron. These aprons are rarely worn, because they are extremely delicate, but they are precious cultural items often handed down through generations. Girls are often married in them. In postwar life, they are iconic for how the woman has been liberated from work — where even her aprons are stripped of utility and transformed into beautiful decorations. Honey half-cape. Vekllei is very cold, and half-capes or full-capes are often worn. You’ll find them in school uniforms and throughout professional workplaces in the country. They are interchangeable with other long coats, but are beloved for their versatility, warmth and softness. Gi quarter-pleat. These are very sacred items, and are designed specifically for the girl at her menarche. They usually incorporate their birth flower, birth festival and other iconography into their patterns. Girls wear them to school. Boys also have gi, but they are much smaller and not nearly as intricate. Glory Sash. A glory sash is affixed to the uroaten and proclaims the beauty of the girl’s family through religious iconography and runes, called upotenne. Thousand-pleat skirt. Traditionally skirts without pleats are worn, but postwar manufacturing has gifted young women with many types of skirt and pleat less varieties have been largely substituted for decorated or “thousand-pleat” versions. Sun petticoat. These are petticoats that hang below the hem, and often accompany the oanan lace apron as a set. Like the oanan, these are very delicate and are usually only worn on special occasions. Pure white, they dirty easily below the hem and are mostly decorative, although they do have utility in supporting the weight of the girl’s skirt with pleat and sash attached. Mido socks. A longer cotton sock is folded three times to make a cuff, which offers versatility in a climate that changes without warning. At the hem’s current fashion, a mido sock can instantly become a stocking of sorts, depending on the make and taste of the girl. They are worn throughout the country, including in business environments. Misc. felt/leather shoes. There are several types of traditional Vekllei shoe, from old boots and sandals to modern makes of foreign design, like penny loafers. The choice is the girl’s, for it is by far the most impermanent style of the outfit. Traditional dress is worn on holidays, to church, in festivals and in ceremony at school and work. To many Vekllei people, it epitomises womanhood.\n",
  "date": "2020-01-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-01-11-dress/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 604,
  "href": "/stories/japan/",
  "title": "Hobart and Tzipora are off to Japan",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/japan.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/japan_hu67bdb818b00e8780841f1372e1e554e2_331106_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Tzipora here is wearing a simplified form of Vekllei’s national dress, which plays fast and loose with lace and showcases some of Vekllei’s more decadent iconography. Long gi (decorative quarter-pleats you’ve seen around) accompany sun petticoats, or Vekllei lace aprons. Flowers take the place of astrology or the Zodiac in Vekllei, and so they often accompany spiritual runes (in upotenne, or religious script) about the girl. Other aspects are just as unique, but not nearly as noticeable. The loose style of shirt, folded at the elbow, is a deliberate imitation of Vekllei agricultural fashion, and three-fold socks and soft felt or leather shoes are worn by women of many ages and professions. Much like her ecology, Vekllei is also culturally atomised, and in her isolation has developed subtle variations of what might otherwise be dismissed as plain clothing items. Every part of her outfit has heritage and symbolism, often barely detectable to a foreigner.\nHi everyone,\n4 hours from now I’m off to Japan again. The last time I was in Japan (August 2019) left me inspired and enthusiastic. While I was there I started work on this subreddit. What a good time it’s been.\n1.2k subscribers later, and I’m off again. It’s been a hectic week. I’m still unpacking into my new house. The house is quite nice. I’m hoping to return to my roots somewhat, featuring different folks around Vekllei in a rougher concept style. Hopefully, I’ll find the time to stick to the semidaily illustration routine, instead of the 4-5 days I’ve been operating on for the last month or so.\nI’d like to invite anyone interested to the 🔗Vekllei Discord, which has blossomed into really great little community full of art and fashion and photography and all sorts of things. It’s much better than the r/worldbuilding Discord.\nI’m hoping to do a drawing a day while I’m over there; the one time a year I acknowledge without caveats the Japanese influence on this worldbuilding project.\nBest,\nHobart\n",
  "date": "2020-01-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-01-09-japan/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 605,
  "href": "/stories/wind/",
  "title": "Valleys of the Wind",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/wind.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/wind_hu55810ebe780d8bd4a01c3b55c5ea336e_321733_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The summer had rolled into the valley, and so the air smelled of hot grass from the fields. It was quiet at the station, where a single train clacked each way in the afternoon. The only sound was the wind, which caught the heads of dry grass and roared up the slopes of the mountain ranges around her.\nIt seemed an exaggeration to even call it a station, since the bare concrete slab had been laid fifty years ago and left to crumble. The installation of a station sign had been the first work on it in decades. The whole world seemed to have forgotten this place. Every day she would catch the train both ways to university, and watch Vekllei’s ancient slopes groan by as the train cars rounded the waists of the valleys. There was no hurry out here. There were no thoughts of the future. In Vekllei’s warm agrestic towns, pastoral spiritualism took many forms; and for her, no site would stir the heart like the old concrete station outside of Montre-Lola.\n",
  "date": "2020-01-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-01-04-wind/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 606,
  "href": "/stories/dance/",
  "title": "So long 2019, here's to 2020!",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/dance.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/dance_hu9cfc3177296207a3bd9e5a8840eb32cf_365692_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Moise has somehow been swindled out of his slow dance in Zelda’s eighth floor New Years party. I’d like to invite everyone here to come celebrate at the 🔗new Vekllei discord — we mostly argue about architecture and share art and stories. No pressure, but at least you can hassle me directly about the gap between posts. Speaking of which, this one is a substitute — the one I’m working on ended up being a bit too sad for an exciting new year, so I’ll put the sad stuff off until Jan 2nd in favour of something happier tomorrow.\nWhile Moise sits alone and feels like a cow-handed chucklehead, let’s wind up the year with some awards I’ll hand out to myself.\nRunner Up: Favourite Post of 2019\n🔗The Forgotten Generation\nOld photographs have a certain tragedy to them. Especially considering the hardships of the past. I like the maoist elements of the uniforms and the vague sense of loss.\nRunner Up: Worst Post of 2019\n🔗Wallabies of the Arctic\nThe pademelons are cute, and were fun to draw. Somehow I managed to make Tzipora, whom I’ve been drawing since I was 15, incredibly ugly and awkward to look at. The expression I was trying to draw is fine in theory; the shape and colour of the face is wrong. You’ve got to wonder what I was thinking, posting it without alterations.\nFavourite Post of 2019\n🔗Absolute Grotesque\nAs anyone who does creative work knows, you don’t usually anticipate your favourite work. This one was made in about four hours (it was the quickest landscape I ever did).\nI don’t always like the dark stuff, but this one just turned out well. The lore doesn’t waste any words, and it says exactly what I wanted to say about the subject. It’s clear and simple and I like reading back through it. The art is much better than more recent attempts at similar subjects, and there’s a brevity to the art and lore that I usually fuck up. I’ve made many posts now trying to recreate it.\nWorst Post of 2019\n🔗Uniform Ideology in the Arctic North\nYou’ll have to trust me when I say the women’s uniform is extraordinarily beautiful. Despite its capes and gold, it can be stripped of ornamentation and reduced to a white shirt and red skirt, recalling images of Taiwan in the White Terror or postwar Vietnam. It has a fundamental simplicity and adaptability that’s quite important to me.\nYou’ll have to trust me about all that, because it does not carry through in this post at all. It’s not that there’s one particular element that makes a post shitty; it’s just the total half-arsed effort throughout. Uniform ideology is such an untapped concept, and I wasted it here. The girls look strange. The only good thing about this post is that it introduced me to several nice fellow worldbuilders that I would go on to collaborate with.\nWhat is your best and worst? I know my choices might be a bit surprising. If you comment that the worst is \u0026ldquo;every post\u0026rdquo;, I’ll ban you.\nFinally, cheers to all of you here and at my Patreon. I’ve had a slow month for drawing, and I’ve got to find a place to live by this weekend, but we’ve got good things ahead. I’m back in Japan on the 9th, so expect some vitality there. I love drawing on the trains there. I was inspired to make this subreddit after my last visit in August, actually.\nI’m trying to get back to making posts every other day — it’s the best feeling in the world to put stuff up here, but sometimes life just gets in the way. January is a time of rebirth, and Tzipora is eternal — there will be lots of Vekllei to come.\nHere’s to 2020.\nHobart.\nP.S. Moise did, in fact, get his slow dance.\n",
  "date": "2020-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2020-01-01-new-year/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 607,
  "href": "/tags/2019/",
  "title": "2019",
  "section": "Tags",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2019-12-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 608,
  "href": "/stories/christmas-2019/",
  "title": "Merry Christmas",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/christmas2019.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/christmas2019_huc62244366d36864762d6c5ac1ecc5c25_680032_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "I’m still eating pudding, but once I’m home tomorrow and settled at my drawing desk I’ll be sure to report Tzipora’s holiday adventures in full.\nFor the Christmasfolk out there, enjoy your presents. To everyone else, have a good holiday and be sure to celebrate the Australian way — with prawns, salmon and snags on the barbie.\n(Gorgeous 25°C [77°F] yesterday)\nBest,\nHobart\n",
  "date": "2019-12-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-12-26-christmas/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 609,
  "href": "/stories/geyser/",
  "title": "A Kodak Moment by a Vekllei Geyser",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/geyser.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/geyser_hua359e8eb27fa196f1e4e102a85889abf_363900_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In her journal for practicing writing the Vekllei language (appropriately called Vekllei), Tzipora wrote:\nThe heavy clouds above were children of early spring, but among the steam vents it seemed like the whole sky was polluted by geysers. Large pools, opalescent with healthy minerals, were heated by the core of the Earth. In a volcanic desert of black sand, the geysers were an oasis, rising from the sulphuric fog like a little eden.\nHer study was well beyond mere communication by now, venturing further into the pleasures of language and poetry. It made her smile to think back at where she’d been just five years before. She recalled images of a nervous immigrant thumbing through her dictionary at a tram stop, terrified of the nonsense characters around her.\nGeysers are the heart of Vekllei spiritualism. The town of Geyser in Vekllei is in fact the origin of the word. They are symptomatic of Vekllei’s naturalistic statehood — a testament to the impermanence of landscape and the symbiosis of people and soil. The geysers, once barren jewels of harsh volcanic landscapes, were now ringed by foliage at their edges as the seeds unwittingly carried by travellers blossomed in rich volcanic earth.\nVekllei people will visit from a young age. Nothing is signposted — there is no natural infrastructure. Several deaths a year are reported. As a Vekllei child you develop a relationship with your spring, and learn its unique qualities. Where it is safe to draw water, for example, and where it will boil your skin in a flash. You learn its colour and smell. In rural communities, they are an essential organ, where birth and marriage and death coalesce. Vekllei heritage is not dominated by blood, but by earth, and no clearer are the sites of life than amidst her ancient volcanoes, where the wind carries steam across dark igneous slopes.\n",
  "date": "2019-12-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-12-23-geyser/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 610,
  "href": "/stories/apartment-ideology/",
  "title": "Life and Death in Vekllei Apartment Ideology",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/newda.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/newda_huccd1813eddc3ace1d15e3731d3fd47e3_785271_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "To substitute for my shocking (and deeply shameful) absence over the last two weeks, please accept a longer-form post concerning domestic Apartment Ideology in Vekllei, which they call Newda and is known internationally as The Vekllei Newda School. Pictured is the apartment of our very own Zelda. While the building itself deserves a feature, for now we’ll discuss Newda as a theory and her life in this building. If you get bogged down and pissed off at the jargon, skip to the “practice” section. I\u0026rsquo;m not sure how I feel about this post, I might have indulged too much, but either way, I\u0026rsquo;m BACK. \u0026ndash; Hobart\nArgument # “A man of the eighteenth century, plunged suddenly into our civilisation, might well have the impression of something akin to a nightmare.”\n— Frederick Etchells, Towards a New Architecture.\nSome critics of architecture (and adjacent slugs) deride Newda as decadent. It is as incestuous and plastic as most other modernist constructions, they say. It mistakes austerity for utility, and le blanc for cleanliness. This is not an unreasonable criticism, especially since foundational Vekllei cultural principles of natural immersion and human decay seem irreconcilable with the white, shining concrete of her modern cityscape. How does a style like Newda claim to be anything other than a reckless adoption of continental urbanism for its own sake; a symptom of the social decay we call postwar austerity?\nFor these people, Newda represents a grotesque squandering of a rare, virgin landscape which had been wiped clean in the atomic war. It is impossible to imagine any other means by which the opportunity to rebuild today’s modern cities might arise. She could have been Paris, critics say — entirely unaware that they are discussing a city more beautiful than Paris. “Oh, to see Rome reduced to urbanist tower-blocks”; “a garden city of concrete and asbestos”; “a cauldron of plastic and rebar”; and so on go the tears. “Never had tacky decadence looked so plain.”\n“There exists a new spirit,” Le Corbusier wrote in Towards a New Architecture. “Our own epoch is determining, day by day, its own style. Our eyes, unhappily, are unable yet to discern it.”\nWhat a tantalising phrase that was, when it finally reached Vekllei’s shores from his native France. Not just for its celebration of a young era, which appeals to Vekllei’s fluid and agnostic antihistoricism, but for its appeal to “spirit”, which gestures towards the intimate and gentle Vekllei nature. Hence the critics’ fundamental mischaracterisation of Vekllei’s great modernist project — namely that the country understands nature as an organ alienated from their “civilisation,” or that they recognise their æsthetics as a progression of history. Neither is true, as is plain to anyone who has been to any part of Vekllei. Landscape is suppressed in Vekllei, even in an industrial age, and so there is no schism between the human and the natural worlds despite the fact that they live in tower-blocks and wear clothes of rayon and gingham. And “History” in Vekllei is gutted as easily as they might a tuna for which their cuisine is known; their collective story as a state is one of movements and gestures, laterally and lineally at times, and “backwards” at others (although to apply such a word to Vekllei is to criminally misunderstand her project).\nIt is the application of sickly sentimentalist instincts to Vekllei that betray the reactionary criticism of Newda as a “superficial, austere school of architecture” for what it is; a deeply historicist suspicion ingrained in the same modernist instincts it claims to critique; at once fucking and wagging a finger at the pig. It is also a brash rejection of Vekllei sociology as a foundation of petticoat ideology, and mistakes Vekllei’s “material culture” (her buildings, her clothes, her toys) as something somehow disconnected from so-called \u0026ldquo;petticoat intuition\u0026rdquo;, which is just a phrase for the social unconscious that forms consensus in the country on everything from television soaps to her beloved tower-blocks. This is aesthetics in action, what Hegel praised in The Philosophy of Right as “philosophising, which could well have continued to spin itself into its own web of scholastic wisdom, [coming] into closer contact with actuality.” Newda is real, and it is alive in the instincts of the ordinary Vekllei person.\nParis can burn. Newda will survive a thousand atomic strikes, through that cockroach known as ideology.\nDo not let Vekllei architecture, which might be assaulted by promiscuous subjectivity or the bores of American objectivity, be discussed in anything but a sociological arena. When talking about Vekllei things, it is a mistake to rely on uniquely Western (or otherwise) constructs. As Adorno noted in Aesthetics, taste is preprogrammed — the “sublime,” so it is invoked, is spiritual phenomenology, dependent on so-called objectivity only insofar as objectivity relates to your postcode and personal wealth. Tell a man he is listening to a Stradivarius and replace it with any other violin, and watch the sublime grow mold.\nTheory # Decoration has nothing to do with sophistication, nor spirituality. Vekllei is characterised by honesty as a premise in itself — not in how they talk or how they do business, but in the frankness and clarity of Vekllei culture in ideology and its cities. “Honesty” is to make plain the exact functioning and beneficiaries of the economy; the production and movement of commercial goods; the labour and value of “commodities”; and the material and operation of machines and structures.\nSo too should it inform the foundations of life. Housing is one of the greatest urgencies in the mind — and so architecture should respond to urgency with the solidity and reliability required of it. That essence, or “form,” is the premise of a structure, and it requires the reestablishment of architecture not as “style” but as an ideology built upon a place of living defined by form, purpose, and purity. Newda is characterised by large light wells, common areas, the integration of civic essentials (like food-production, hydroponics, gardens, shallow pools for washing and bathing), and expression through shape. In form, Newda is defined by strong vertical geometry, the baring of utility including pipes and water tanks, and strong colour. Newda structures are constructed in béton brut, even in smaller villages, abiding by the principles of dumousiantopet, or ‘beautiful and seperate’. A Newda structure is large enough to house a community but appears gentle and lightweight, since it perches majestically on large columns.\nThere are many types of Newda buildings designed in many different languages and principles of architecture, but I’m approaching the character limit here so we’ll pursue them another time.\nPractice # Let’s take a tour with Zelda on her journey inside her building.\nFacing the street is a conservatory atrium of ten stories, which is filled with trees. It opens out into the air at its base, since the entire structure is raised on elegant columns that encourage the ground floor as a place of public living. The path to the central elevator towers are lined on each side by a wading pool with a depth of one meter — the pool tiles are bright-coloured and contrast each other. They make a good place to cool your feet in summer. Since the load of the structure is vested in columns in the interior, glass encircles the atrium façade like a ribbon, serving as a natural lightwell and growing space for produce-bearing plants which supplement the Vekllei diet.\nZelda calls an elevator at the free-standing tower, since she lives on the eighth floor. The elevator is glass-lined and she soars up through the canopy of the indoor forest as it moves. The apartments of the eighth floor open into lome a’ pasænet or an ‘internal street’. These are found in most Vekllei apartment buildings. The street is a long balcony, decadently wide, that runs the length of the interior and connects the five apartments of that floor. Large glass windows in the apartments look out into the internal street, or are hidden with curtains in times of privacy. The street is a popular place to read or meet friends and neighbours, since the yawning interior multiplies the sense of space tenfold, and it received direct sunlight throughout most of the day. At sunset, the glass façade of the public interior casts a warm, fantastical light on the ten streets of the ten-story building, transforming the space into a prismatic cathedral of light.\nStepping in to the footwell of the apartment, Zelda removes her shoes. There’s some rumour about the custom dating back to the Viking days as a sign of peaceful intention, but today it’s for cleanliness. The living room is sunken, and is lighted by the windows looking out into the interior street, which receive sun about the time she comes home. The kitchen overlooks the living space and indoor fig, and includes a large partition/cupboard that can roll on rails across the width of the apartment. There are many small examples of similar modularity throughout the apartment, balanced carefully with Newda’s affection for permanence. Pipes run beneath the concrete for underfloor heating, providing toasty floors in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s dark, brutal winters. The apartment is divided between a semi-public half, which includes the living, dining and cooking areas, and a ‘private half’ which contains the two bedrooms, bathroom and laundry.\nZelda took the larger bedroom despite her initial protestations — Baron insisted, and so that’s where she spends all her time when he’s not home. It’s by far the biggest space she’s ever had to herself. In fact, thinking back, this is the first room she hasn’t had to share since she was ten. In other buildings it would be large enough to house a cramped studio apartment.\nNext door is the bathroom. There, you\u0026rsquo;ll find a French bidet, which is separated by a wall from what looks like, at first glance, a modest oriental wet room and bath. The precise opposite is true. It is a Vekllei (that is to say, Scandinavian) wet room. Instead of cleaning your body with a shower and bucket and then soaking in a hot bath, a Vekllei person scalds their skin until it glows and then plunges into a tub of cold water. The contrast of temperature encourages vasodilation and then constriction of the circulatory system, which, in addition to the hydrostatic pressure supplied by the bath, invigorates the skin and can help with muscle fatigue. Some experts believe it may aid the immune system. Vekllei bathers generally do not spend luxurious amounts of time in the bath or shower — cleaning is a utilitarian process, which, while shocking and stressful in its temperature contrast, leaves the bather refreshed and with sensitive skin that lends to a feeling of sterility. Public baths work much the same way, through the scalding and cooling principle.\nAn empty storage room, indicative of Baron and Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s spartan minimalism, conceals a small personal laundry. A private laundry is considered luxurious in Vekllei, especially in urban areas where such things are easily communalised, but these apartment towers are new and these are among its benefits. Finally, there is Baron\u0026rsquo;s bedroom and study. Like his daughter, he is a creature of routine, perfectly acclimatised to a home of any size. There is enough space here for a full-size electrotype and the books he needs to work from home on the occasions that permit it. Just beyond his door, in the living area, is a prayer table for their respective friends and family who have passed on.\n",
  "date": "2019-12-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-12-20-apartment/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 611,
  "href": "/stories/jet/",
  "title": "A “Horizon Wing” Atomic Passenger Jet",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/jet.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/jet_huabe1f052b58ecd16ff564ce977043151_402556_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Click here for a view inside the wing.\nAlthough the CN-1 Horizon Wing passenger jet was not a “flying wing,” that didn’t stop Comen Aeroyards, the manufacturer, from celebrating it as such. Much like similar large-wing aircraft from McDonnell and de Havilland, the CN-1’s large vertical stabilisers and obvious centre fuselage precluded it from qualifying as an authentic “flying wing,” which were already common in many air forces at this time. To argue the etymology, however, is to miss the point entirely — the “flying wing” is a style of flying, not a technical appraisement.\nVekllei Overseas Airways (VOA), a subsidiary of the Vekllei Air Service, operates many types of aircraft for different markets. 🔗You can see their uniforms here. Some of these are small and propeller-driven. Others are particularly expensive and unusual — the astroplanes used to reach cities on the moon are among the more fantastical. The CN-1 occupies a space between the needle-like supersonic jet for business and 🔗the large airship for leisure travel. It allows the wandering family (or the comfort-conscious individual) to make good time while retaining the liberty to eat, smoke, read and wander comfortably about the aircraft. In the wings you’ll find a canteen, a bar, a reading room, and sleeping cabins that can be booked in advance. Because of these amenities, the CN-1 serves only long-distance international routes originating from the Vekllei World Jetport, including to Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Cairo, Moscow, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Sydney.\nThe power plant aboard is a 6MW air-cooled molten salt reactor using an indirect air-cycle system. The CN-1 is nicknamed “the hunchback” by mechanics for its large air intake atop the main fuselage. The air-cycle system, aided by sunburst-style radiators courtesy of General Reactor, limits radioactive pollution in operation and does away with most of the heavy shielding required by early nuclear passenger jets at the turn of the 21st century. Her large wing gives her tremendous lift and a smooth glide, allowing low-power flight at cruising altitude for a quiet trip. Although she is the first in a series of aircraft for the New Salmon Design Bureau and Comen Aeroyards, she is largely adapted from the XCn-series of military prototypes that have been languishing in development for nearly a half-century. Though the design is sound, her military applications are less certain, and so now the CN-1 flies folk around the world peacefully.\nThe front-facing glass in the common areas lend to vistas never seen before by the ordinary person. For a citizen of Vekllei, flying with VOA is as simple as phoning ahead to reserve a seat. For those around the world, your options for getting on the CN-1 are grim — Vekllei is a closed, protectionist country and, save for a handful of CN-1s operating with CAAC Airlines in China, your only option is to purchase a ticket to Vekllei for an exorbitant price, which can run as high as US$10,000 today’s money for a one-way ticket.\nI’m working on a few more aircraft for 🔗r/vekllei’s SkyMonth. Let me know if you have any questions.\n",
  "date": "2019-12-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-12-12-jet/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 612,
  "href": "/stories/sneak/",
  "title": "Sneak Sneak",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sneak.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sneak_hub4e3f903e6392389b7276a52711b5195_907694_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " He kept bad hours. Sometimes he worked so hard he came home in the early morning and fell asleep to the television with the subtitles on. Like a guerrilla sighting a commanding officer, she would approach discreetly, wearing her blanket like a cape and bouncing on her toes. With a gentle movement she\u0026rsquo;d drape it over him and listen for a break in his snoring. If he didn\u0026rsquo;t stir, she\u0026rsquo;d find a nook in his shoulder and would stay there till the sunrays woke him in the morning. Those were her favourite nights.\nHello everyone. Hobart here. We hit 1,000 subscribers only a month ago, and it gets a bit tedious to carry on thanking everyone, so I won’t. I’m not thanking the commenters who say nice things, and I’m definitely not thanking the lurkers who continue to validate my self-worth through subreddit metrics. It would be tiresome to mention that it really means a lot and I’m thankful, so I won’t.\nI’ve got a few updates to share.\nThe new website looks really good. This doesn’t really affect anything on the subreddit aside from the fact it’s crippled my output this last week or two. It’s only in alpha, if anything, but once it’s polished it’ll be mesmerising. I really mean it. It’s so fun to play with already. It\u0026rsquo;s not like other project sites. SkyMonth will wrap up this December. It’s taken longer than planned, but so what? There’s lots of planes to come. I’d like to thank the handful of kind people who donate to my Patreon. I’m not much of a drinker, but I like a drop of Irish cream with my tea and coffee, and I’d have to choose between it and food if it weren’t for these nice people. I\u0026rsquo;m \u0026ldquo;between jobs,\u0026rdquo; so it really does make a difference. Thank you kindly. I reckon January will be a free-for-all in terms of posts. I might even pull back and do a really nice, time-intensive painting like I used to. Then we\u0026rsquo;ll go in for a deep-dive themed month (to be revealed). Comic is being written. I’ve gotten really nice feedback on a few of the character posts. Sorry if I didn’t reply — they were all written between 3-4am to get them over and done with, and I promptly disowned them when I woke up in the morning (might happen with this post too — it’s 3:26am on my clock). It’s easy to forget most of you don’t know the characters of this world.\nSo let me know. What kind of posts are your favourite? What’s working and what’s not working? Or you could just say a nice thing about me or my art, those do me just fine as well.\nI won\u0026rsquo;t conclude by thanking you for sticking with Vekllei.\nSleep tight, and see you in the morning,\n(something about bed bugs biting)\nHobart.\n",
  "date": "2019-12-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-12-11-sneak/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 613,
  "href": "/stories/horizon/",
  "title": "Inside VOA’s “Flying Wing” Atomic Passenger Jet",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/horizon.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/horizon_hu70bbc2bac38d680497034da19f858dfd_920591_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In this limited cross-section of a CN-1 “Horizon” Wing, the scale of the aircraft is immediately impressed upon the reader. It is nearly four times as wide as the older wide-body passenger jets of yesteryear, and twice as wide as most American and European supersonic jets. It is no coincidence that the “flying wing” concept was only made possible by the development of supersonic jetport infrastructure, with their wide and long runways, at the turn of the century.\nSince their introduction, the flying wings have been exclusively a vehicle for leisure and tourism worldwide. The man of business takes a supersonic jet, which permits attendance of company business on two or even three continents in a single day. The wealthy family prefers the comfort and quiet of a large subsonic aircraft like the CN-1, which ensures a timely arrival without the cramped cabins of a fast aircraft.\nAnd transport of the wealthy they are, for only rich cities can afford the land area and facilities of a jetport capable of hosting a flying wing. Jetports are a limited network linking the global elite: Los Angeles, New York, Vekllei, London, Paris, Moscow, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney and Johannesburg, along with some others.\nVekllei International Airways (later renamed Vekllei Overseas Airways, or VOA) flies 22 CN-1s, the first generation of the Vekllei flying wing. We’ll look at more technical details in the next post. 200 passengers can be aboard during flight, and it offers both sleeping cabins and row seating. In the cloudlounges abreast of the main fuselage are a bar and upscale canteen respectively.\nEven minor adjustments to the aircraft’s bank are felt violently in the wingtips, and so passenger areas are concentrated near the aircraft’s centre fuselage. Nonetheless, the common areas are closed and passengers are returned to belted seats in the centre fuselage for landing, since adjustments made in flight can easily send passengers (and anything not tied down) into the ceiling.\nThe panoramic windows of the CN-1 lounges lend to dizzying views unlike any other on this Earth. It is comparable to visiting Moidonnest (Vekllei’s Moon City) and looking back at the Earth for the first time. It recalls the ocean liners of the late 19th century, but her boilers are atomic and her cabins are pressurised. Flying VOA is to enjoy flying as an act in itself; a further proclamation of Vekllei’s longstanding commitment to pleasure in infrastructure and common luxury.\nA nice coloured illustration of a person takes me an hour, tops. Let\u0026rsquo;s just say I vastly underestimated how long it takes to illustrate machines. After an Author update tomorrow, we\u0026rsquo;re going to look at the exterior of the CN-1 and then airline food! Then we\u0026rsquo;ll have a few more different aircraft, including supersonic, helijets, and military aircraft to wrap up SkyMonth. Let me know as always have you have any questions. It’s 4am here and I’ll get to them in the morning\n",
  "date": "2019-12-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-12-09-wing/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 614,
  "href": "/stories/wallaby/",
  "title": "Wallabies of the Arctic",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/wallaby.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/wallaby_hu8dcca29afe000f822838d1fe17fc03ae_942560_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " 8 days without posts feels like a century. Tomorrow, SkyMonth returns, and we’ll see what it’s like flying VAS. The day after tomorrow we’ll see an update for a few things — particularly a massive (and awesome) overhaul of the Vekllei site + wiki. Yeah, if you’re wondering where I’ve been, I’ve ditched Wordpress and have been learning HTML, which is like scraping the exposed brain against unpolished concrete. And after that there will be a lot more posts to follow to make up for the silence\n— Hobart.\nThe rufous-bellied wallaby or \u0026ldquo;pademelon\u0026rdquo; is often mistaken for a kangaroo or even a rodent, but it is neither. These furry little lumps, known both for their rotundity and fecundity, do not share the dry and tropical temperament of their marsupial cousins throughout Australia and Indonesia, and are most at home in the wet, cold temperate rainforests of the quasiantarctic island of Tasmania. They also have a significant population in the least likely of places; a similarly cool, rainy, forested rock known as Vekllei (or Iceland, historically).\nThey grow like a radish and their ears rotate independently on the top of their heads, searching for noises that could eat them. They are an excellent meal for any predator, and are ill-equipped for the larger, invaded ecosystems to which they are extinct.\nVekllei, however, in its geographic and environmental isolation, has only a population of arctic foxes and some wolves to threaten them. The island\u0026rsquo;s biosecurity laws are among the strictist in the world, mostly to protect vulnerable birds (like puffins) and the biodiversity of their unique cattle, sheep, dogs and horses. There are entire brigades of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s armed forces dedicated to the culling of feral dogs and cats, and many species common to the rest of the world — rabbits and red foxes come to mind — are not found in Vekllei, which employs ruthless culling methods to contain them.\nThey were introduced intentionally to the Les Noisnosn agricultural belt (just north of Ro) in the early 2010s. Their import was a diplomatic effort between Australia and Vekllei as part of a wider series of gestures designed to reconcile tensions between the country and the British Commonwealth just prior to the First Atomic War. The introduced pademelons were very good at eating non-native grasses which had ravaged the temperate rainforests of the region, and were able to survive on the native mosses and plants once the infestation was dealt with.\nSixty years and an atomic war later, they have spread like wildfire. A healthy population exists across the entire island, and can occasionally even be seen in city parks. Their presence in the arctic, as an Australasian marsupial, is utterly unique. They are so common (and tasty) that there are no restrictions on their hunting, and are a staple of diets in and outside of the country’s urban areas. In smaller agricultural villages, like Tzipora’s Montre-Lola, they are hunted locally and prepared for eating in the traditional principles of Upen landcare. The meat is low in fat, mild, and sweet, and is often substituted for beef in Vekllei.\nThey are timid, docile creatures that sleep in the day and come out at dusk. Outside of cities, they are often kept as pets. Although Tzipora would never keep a pademelon, she would feed a dozen of her favourite regulars each night when they came out to chew on the mosses of her property. She also took part in fostering a joey which went on to live at the village post office.\nLet me know if you have any questions.\n",
  "date": "2019-12-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-12-06-wallabies/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 615,
  "href": "/stories/trouble/",
  "title": "Making Trouble",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/trouble.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/trouble_hu9ee363bf0ce32c9a569757e40f1e2772_943072_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Tzipora never lost her youthful curiosity. She would swish about the apartment, chasing an idea or plan that had occurred to her. Baron would look over and say “What are you doing, Zelda? Making trouble?” He said that a lot. He would come home in the afternoon and she would be writing lists, or organising her paperbacks, or moving furniture and he’d say, “What are you up to, Zelda? Making trouble?” She would say “No, I’m sending out invites for Christmas/learning the Dewey Decimal/going to have a nap in the sun.”\nZelda had a way of attracting trouble.\nTwo deputies dragged the maid who worked at Motel Grande off Route 70 to a tree beyond the Kennecott salt flats. She was crying the whole time. She was very young for a maid, but girls needed money like anyone else. She was starving. It wasn\u0026rsquo;t the kind of hunger you saw in the National Geographic; it was a long, slow year of starvation, where most of her muscle had wasted away and she’d been left with a bit of youthful fat around her belly and cheeks. That\u0026rsquo;s just how people looked in Utah in 2063. Atomic power collided with indigence across most of the Southwest.\nThis girl did not have a last name, because she was some immigrant worker with a fake visa worth less than her shitty hand-me-down rayon uniform. She knew what was coming in the back of the police cruiser and started to tremble uncontrollably as they left the highway. An immigrant expects what happens to immigrants. They pulled up by a stump and a small patch of dead ashes that were visible from the highway that crossed the flats. Would they take a picture of her for a postcard? She didn’t want that. Who would cut her down? Would they bury her? Suddenly the finality of it hit her — who, at all, would remember her?\nShe was not sure if she was being made an example or an excuse, but could not recall for her life what she’d done to deserve either. The car engine ticked over as the bigger of the cops slung a thin noose around her neck and yanked on it until it hurt her throat. She pleaded with them in good English, trying to suppress her Latina vocalisations, and cried desperately.\n“I am American,” she whined, “I’m from California. Do I look Latina? Look, I’m white. My mother is from Germany. Please, you have the wrong person.”\n“How old are you?” The big cop asked.\n“Eighteen.”\n“If you start fuckin lying I’ll string you up now. Tell me how old you are.”\n“I’m sixteen. Sixteen,” she coughed. “I\u0026rsquo;m just a late grower. My father’s from Salt Lake. Please, I’m not an immigrant. I was born here. I’m American.”\n“Shut up; I don’t give a shit. You live with some girls in town, right? In that house?”\n“In downtown Cherry, yes. Yes, I’ll tell you about it.”\n“And you work for Mr Parker at the motel?”\n“Yes, I do. He’s nice.”\n“Do you pay union dues?”\n“Dues? No, I don’t think so.”\n“Do you pay any tax?”\n“It’s all cash,” she blinked tears out of her eyes. “I don’t know much about taxes.”\n“All right, Griselda. We’re going to talk about some of the girls in that house.”\nThey asked her some questions and took some notes. What she was doing only occurred to her after the third name. They gave her a sandwich to eat. It wasn’t out of kindness — it was to bask in the absolute violence of their authority. You could find as much pleasure in pardoning a girl as you could beating her. For a moment, on their command, her poverty and fear was excused. She chewed through bologna as she listed out her neighbours, and after a while her tears were for them.\nWhen she was almost done she began to wonder again if they’d kill her. She’d finished the sandwich and was unconsciously picking crumbs off her uniform, squishing her fingers pathetically against her lips as her eyes darted nervously between them. They left her there, with the noose around her neck, beneath the dead ash.\n🔗Read more about Utah here.\n",
  "date": "2019-11-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-27-trouble/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 616,
  "href": "/stories/despair/",
  "title": "Medicating despair in the pasture of plenty",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/despair.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/despair_huc659482f516488271367fc2982da0b6f_910350_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Tzipora is doing well now. She has looked into her heart and made peace with who she is. She has discovered she is a girl who likes free jazz, and milky coffee, and cotton shirts, and trains — to the surprise of no-one who knows her. She knows what things she values in a friend, and what deserves to become family. She knows what clothes she likes and how to do her hair. A year ago, she was a shivering little girl, but today she has become a glowing young woman.\nA glowing pleasure though she may be, her nerves are still shot and her past is still with her. Tzipora is a habitual creature, prone to obsessions and addiction, and she’d suffered many vices by the time she met Baron. For a while it had been sleeping pills with the other girls in the Women’s House, chasing the mind-bending effects of a methaqualone high and sleep deprivation. It was about that time she picked up cigarettes, which helped with the tics she was cultivating in her violent poverty.\nShe never quite kicked them. Like the tics, they stuck around. For a girl whose joy filled mountains and lows loomed cliffs, a cigarette now and then took some of that edge off. Ayn never liked her habit. Baron never asked her about it — he knew, she thought. He knew what it was like to feel the walls closing in.\nIt made for some awkward encounters, not least of which was a moment of panic the first time Cobian stayed over. Zelda has always suffered very bad dreams most nights, and her fear of waking her friend led her out onto the frigid balcony in the early hours of the morning. Six drags in, the lights turned on and the door slid open. An awkward minute of fumbling followed, pushing Zelda into territory she was uncomfortable sharing with anyone but Baron.\n“So it helps?” Cobian asked, mulling over the idea with her legs to her chest. Tzipora was fidgeting miserably in the cold.\n“Yeah.”\n“Where do you get them? The cigarettes?” She asked, as though Tzipora would mistake the question.\n“They’re Baron’s.”\n“And what happens if you stop?”\n“I don’t know,” Zelda sniffed. “You don’t have to make it a big deal, anyway. I don’t like this. I don’t like doing it, but what helps, helps.”\n“Can I try? I’ve never tried.”\nA moment later Tzipora laid a hand gently across the girl\u0026rsquo;s mouth to quiet the vicious coughing and hacking for fear it would wake Baron.\n“Shh. It’s okay, I know it’s not good,” she soothed. Even as a genuine teen-ager Tzipora had been maternal.\n“It’s terrible,” Cobian gasped.\n“I know. But it helps. Let’s go inside, I’ll get you some water.”\nAlthough Tzipora would always operate according to the charter of her various obsessions, she was always slightly self-conscious about the cigarettes. Even sixty years later she only smoked alone. It was unbecoming of a satisfied person, she supposed, let alone a woman in the body of a girl. Still, for all her quirks and all her ticks, to most people her little vices were the most normal thing about her. She was a figure of contradictions, and her weaknesses were just as precious to her loved ones as her tremendous strength and bigness of heart.\n",
  "date": "2019-11-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-26-despair/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 617,
  "href": "/stories/airship/",
  "title": "Ocean-liners of the Sky — Vacuum Dirigibles in Vekllei","rgb": "130, 179, 194",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/dirigible.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/dirigible_hu478541e7e074adb28053e0f6c8c9efb6_685042_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Sorry it took so long, mateys. I\u0026rsquo;ve been laying the first pages of the comic down and it\u0026rsquo;s like crack for me. Not much sleep and totally fell behind on SkyMonth. But, as any longtime members know, our Months are r/vekllei usually last a little longer than they should past their expiry date. There\u0026rsquo;s a lot to come!\nThe Angel and Memory of the People of Vekllei is the largest and most recent of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s airships. It’s usually just referred to as the Angel of Vekllei, since transliteration of Vekllei hieroglyphs carry with them a lot of wordy semantic baggage.\nThe Vekllei Air Service (Skyburo), the public bureau that operates the country’s commercial air fleet, also operates a dozen commercial airships of various size and capacity, colloquially referred to as ‘skyliners’. Where American skyliners are built as a luxurious alternative to the supersonic jet (although moving many thousands of times slower than one), Vekllei skyliners are similar to cruise ships, drifting lazily over continents and taking pleasure in the journey. Hilariously, the simple livery of the VAS aircraft is scaled up to absurd proportions on its airships, including the crowned circle on its keel.\nThe Angel exemplifies the spirit of the so-called Skyliner-mindset, since it serves a dual purpose; to carry five hundred Vekllei people across the world, and as a diplomatic vessel emphasising both the scientific achievement and peaceful intentions of the island country. For this reason, and unlike the rest of the Skyliner fleet, the dirigible only offers passage to Vekllei citizens.\nTo this end, it offers hundreds of passenger cabins across the middle of the ship, each with spectacular views. A grand ballroom sits beneath the fore, and the glittering crystal nosecap contains one of sixteen viewing galleries scattered about the ship. The indoor arcade and Vekllei stone-water gardens sits above the vacuum tanks, and spans nearly 250 metres in length. In the centre is a small heliport that can accommodate six helijets of a standard size. In the various glass constructions beneath the vessel you\u0026rsquo;ll find the Hall of Atomics, a library, smoking and reading rooms, and a cinema, among various other amenities.\nLarge geodesic vacuum tanks constructed of boron nitride ceramics support near-vacuums throughout the interior of the vessel. These tanks provide a maximum lift of nearly 6,000 tonnes, shedding the restrictive weight limits of yesteryear’s zeppelins for all the comforts of the modern age.\nVekllei airships have extremely rigid tanks to support the creation of vacuums, which are controlled mechanically through valves. The infrastructure required to support the systems aboard is entirely electric, and powered primarily by a water-shielded atomic steam plant that powers two turbines. The primary reactor has a viewing gallery above it, where passengers can admire General Reactor\u0026rsquo;s triumph (A 16-megawatt HA5400 Series) without danger to themselves. An auxiliary reactor is positioned in the aft of the vessel in the machine room.\nAfter popular novelist Jacob Herdesnoisn\u0026rsquo;s Memories of the Sky recalled a summer aboard the Angel, it is very popular for aspiring writers to apply for a job aboard, and use their generous days off to watch the entire world pass by from the window of their cabin, typing on an electric writer. Up to 15 per cent of its staff may be writers in the summer tour. The Angel of Vekllei will usually pick up passengers at major airship terminals by lowering its inbuilt terminal to the ground, and return a few days later after touring the country.\nIt is very important to the Angel\u0026rsquo;s mission that it be seen by as many foreigners as possible. It might spend two or three days soaring above small towns and villages to impress upon the people there the quiet benevolence and love of science of the Vekllei people. A dirigible is quite unlike any other vessel to tour the skies today. It is luxurious and slow-moving; at once outmoded and unsurpassed. In an age of resource depletion and the race for efficiency, the vacuum dirigible is an incredible sight; a peaceful giant watching over the darkened cities of all the Earth.\n",
  "date": "2019-11-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-24-dirigible/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 618,
  "href": "/stories/stewards/",
  "title": "Air Stewards in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/stewards.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/stewards_hu7ed316085b65f4822215a7cc29d8761a_672330_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Overview # Although Vekllei’s flag-carrying airline might appear just one of many in the small island country, don’t be fooled — all civilian aviation operates under a venrouive bureau excitingly titled the Vekllei Air Service (Skyburo), which operates several distinct ‘airlines’ but wholly controls all of them. In Vekllei economic lexicon, a bureau is the largest trade union of an industry, made up of many hundreds of others, and is partially beholden to the direction of government.\nThis makes the Skyburo a ‘public airline,’ but is not government owned in the way the rest of the world might understand it. Vekllei segregates business only along personal and public lines, with the political organs of the country largely segregated from daily affairs.\nIllustrated here for your viewing pleasure are the largest of Vekllei’s ‘airlines,’ represented by their stewards in uniform.\nVekllei Air Service # The Vekllei Air Service is Vekllei’s domestic airline, and operates within the country as well as to Vekllei’s semiautonomous Atlantic possessions like Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the Azores. The fleet are mostly twin or tri-engined nuclear jets. Vekllei has a comprehensive rail network, and the domestic VAS is mostly used to ferry people between Vekllei’s various islands.\nThe Domestic Office # The Domestic Office is an unusual organisation largely responsible for unusual or unique aircraft that require specific training to command. These include sea planes, dirigible airships, helijets and so on. Their navy and white uniforms are remarkably simple, even spartan, and are the last remaining legacy of private commercial aviation in Vekllei’s pre-war years. There was not much money for uniforms then, and they carry on in this humble tradition today.\nVekllei Overseas Airways # Vekllei Overseas Airways is the international flag-carrier of the country, and compete with the likes of Pan-Am and BOAC. Their uniforms are the public face of Vekllei for many foreigners, and so they reflect both the dignity of the island nation and the high price required of foreigners for travel on the national carrier. It is customary to receive a bottle of Montre wine with a ticket. They also employ capes on male and female stewards, but they must be removed on the tarmac. They operate ‘flying wings’, large jets and a handful of airships called sky liners.\nThe Special Charter Service # The Special Charter Service is an unusual branch of the Skyburo, and is usually regarded as a government airline. Although civilian, it coordinates closely with Vekllei’s military and intelligence services to assist in moving personnel, and also would be responsible for evacuating Vekllei tourists in the event of an incident overseas or at home. Day-to-day, it operates only a few scheduled flights, with the bulk of its flight-hours spent operating charter services for bureaus and personal business alike. They wear uniforms styled after Vekllei cultural dress, which predates even the old regime and is a strong part of the national identity.\n",
  "date": "2019-11-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-19-stewards/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 619,
  "href": "/stories/blue-shoes/",
  "title": "Blue Shoes",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/blueshoes.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/blueshoes_hu7b7071d3439f8b2038a58f50edc1b9fa_410883_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Welcome to the r/Vekllei variety hour, where the tone between posts judders so inconsistently you\u0026rsquo;ll get whiplash of the mind. I was just drawing and thinking today. This is an author post, in case you haven\u0026rsquo;t noticed \u0026ndash; just a shitty blog.\nYou see, even today I\u0026rsquo;m wildly jealous of the success of those slice-of-life artists on reddit and Twitter. I still don\u0026rsquo;t understand the genre entirely, as a phenomenon. It\u0026rsquo;s usually male artists (at least in Japan), drawing distinctly Japanese neighbourhoods and landscapes, and situating a schoolgirl in the midst of it. They\u0026rsquo;re usually pretty amazing scenes. It\u0026rsquo;s almost always a schoolgirl, too \u0026ndash; in modern Tokyo uniform or セーラー服.\nI\u0026rsquo;m still trying to figure it out. It\u0026rsquo;s obviously not sexual objectification, like so much elsewhere in Japanese illustration \u0026ndash; in fact, it\u0026rsquo;s usually nothing more than mundane or wistful scenes featuring some girl. But why is it always a girl? If it\u0026rsquo;s supposed to evoke a nostalgia for a childhood you\u0026rsquo;ve never had, why is it so rarely schoolboys? It\u0026rsquo;s surely to do with cuteness \u0026ndash; \u0026lsquo;cuteness\u0026rsquo; is almost always a female burden, and cute art is good, happy art. I don\u0026rsquo;t have any stats for this, but anecdotally most of the SOL artists I follow are men, and I reckon a large chunk of the audience for it is too. It\u0026rsquo;s boys creating cuteness for boys.\nMaybe it\u0026rsquo;s interesting for me because Vekllei has a lot of similarities to slice-of-life art. I\u0026rsquo;m in the business of peddling nostalgia for places you\u0026rsquo;ve never been, and Tzipora is very much a girl who is very much in uniform a few days a week. It almost reads as satire, in fact \u0026ndash; Tzipora will never stop being a girl, since she is one of thirteen in the world to \u0026rsquo;not age,\u0026rsquo; as per her canon diagnosis. I don\u0026rsquo;t like to think that I\u0026rsquo;m carrying on in that tradition, or that I\u0026rsquo;m infantilising or deliberately cutifying these characters, but does intention matter at all?\nI\u0026rsquo;m not sure there\u0026rsquo;s anything wrong with it, anyway. It\u0026rsquo;s just that sometimes I look back through my catalogue, see its female/male ratio, and consider if I\u0026rsquo;m not just buying into the same kawaii currency.\nHere\u0026rsquo;s a cute picture of Tzipora I made. 🔗I made a wallpaper of it, if you\u0026rsquo;d like it. Let me know what you think about the slice of life art crowd; I\u0026rsquo;m sure I\u0026rsquo;ve got a decent overlap, aside from the cool bros here only for the hardcore geopolitik deprezzion posts.\n",
  "date": "2019-11-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-18-blue-shoes/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 620,
  "href": "/stories/coup/",
  "title": "Ten corpses in the snow",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/coup.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/coup_hu6606bb27f833956af05842e346ea25c1_400104_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "\u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;ve just pulled a body from an air force jet here that looks like General MacMillan, and we really need to know right now if it\u0026rsquo;s him.”\nThe partially buried remains of a U.S. Air Force passenger aircraft are the only blemish on the horizon of central Greenland’s frigid snowscape. It is the site of one of the greatest political scandals in American history. The ancient landscape was violently disturbed in late December of 2068, when a Grumman Atomcat slammed into the ground, killing all 10 people on board.\nThe Common Interest Watchhawk programme allowed a Soviet naval patrol to report the disappearance of a low-flying aircraft without a transponder. The bodies pulled from the wreckage some hours later would set in motion a panic among Vekllei’s intelligence agencies and a bloody purge in America’s south.\nVekllei military intelligence units, who arrived at the site not long after the search began, battled irradiation from the aircraft’s reactor and freezing temperatures to confirm the origins of the mystery aircraft.\n“That’s him, all right. This is bad news.”\nAn intelligence servant of the Vekllei Intelligence Americas Bureau (AB/NI) examined the brutalised face of the general. After a moment of consideration, perhaps to reassure himself of the identity of the cadaver, he ordered a suppression order over the site, which would enforce radio silence and conceal the disaster from the political organs of the Vekllei state for up to six hours.\nMacMillan had been distinguished in the U.S.A.F., but would have been an unremarkable soldier in history if it were not for the separatist movements of the Southern states in the late 21st century. The Marshal became Commander-in-Chief overnight, and quickly positioned himself as a lynchpin of negotiation between the separatist and federal governments. As a reasonable military man, he was trusted by the Federal committee, and was at the time of his demise negotiating the lend-lease of strategic nuclear sites that had been seized under the de facto splintering of the United States.\nUnder the lease, the United States Armed Forces would retain control of sites essential for ‘American continental security,’ but would withdraw sanctions against the separatist states first imposed under the Dallas Accords. So what the fuck was MacMillan doing mangled on a Greenland ice slope?\nAmong the dead was his mistress Olivia Scott-Madison and his two children, Daniel and Sofia MacMillan. His children were in nightclothes. Fighter jets were buzzing the Atlantic. It was clear something had gone terribly wrong in the hours prior.\nThe outside world would never learn the details of the MacMillan Incident, or its causes. What would follow, however, was the purge of many longtime associates of MacMillan from the military hierarchy of the Dallas Coalition states, and the immediate denunciation of the General and his political associates. AB/NI had long chased whispers of a coup against Dallas leadership in the months prior, and it appeared the perpetrator had arrived spectacularly closer to Vekllei’s gaze than anticipated. The bodies of the General, his family and his aides were flown to Vekllei, where they were identified and placed into archives. Both prime ministers of the country were informed, but were told that Vekllei would not need to worry about attempted American reclamation of the crash site or its occupants. Sure enough, neither the aircraft nor the bodies of its passengers were formally requested by the U.S. or the Dallas states.\nThe findings of an investigation into the crash were inconclusive and quickly shelved. The aircraft was flying low, perhaps to avoid radar detection, so it was possible the pilots misjudged their altitude in the poor weather. Perhaps there had been an incident on board. There were no technical faults determined in the remains of the aircraft, which remains on that slope to this day.\nWhat was known to the wider world was that the proceeding months would spark the bloodiest period of the ongoing American crisis, and the collapse of diplomatic relations between the separatist and federal governments. MacMillan and his family were the first of the vanguard separatists to die, but they were far from the last.\n",
  "date": "2019-11-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-16-coup/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 621,
  "href": "/stories/mountaintops/",
  "title": "From Beaches to Mountaintops",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/mountaintops.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/mountaintops_hu274b61dcfce4b9f3ee933ecc556d5610_934177_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "I had the wonderful opportunity to work with one of our resident worldbuilders on reddit, u/EpicJM, and spend a while with their world and characters. The world of Eipljord has a lot of distinct, unique cultures and characters. As a sucker for uniforms I went with the garb of the Pruscyldan Academy of Magic, and you\u0026rsquo;ll find JM\u0026rsquo;s character, Honora being splattered with ice cream by Tzipora on the left and in Vekllei education uniform on the right. You can see the Vekllei racing jet from a previous post face off against Pruscyldan BlackJay behind her.\nJM\u0026rsquo;s got a very big world and a 🔗very good instagram. I\u0026rsquo;d recommend checking out both. It\u0026rsquo;s not often I get the chance to work with nice volcanic islands and sandy beaches (nor Tzipora to visit them!) so thanks u/EpicJM for working with me.\n",
  "date": "2019-11-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-15-mountaintops/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 622,
  "href": "/stories/1000/",
  "title": "1000 SUBSCRIBERS",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/1000.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/1000_hu5897bf83e1fc6651920281b1a0578efe_439685_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Hey everyone,\nHobart here. You might not know it, but I’m sort of a big fucking deal on the internet. No, don’t touch me. Why am I? Because my subreddit just hit 1,000 subscribers. What’s a subreddit? I’m actually laughing at you; imagine not knowing what reddit is. You ingrate.\nSeriously though, this whole renewal of the project through a subreddit (rather than disconnected r/worldbuilding posts) has been an amazing thing. It gives me more wriggle room in what I can talk about, and — even better — allows me introduce you to my characters, who are very precious to me.\nYour State of the Subreddit bulletin follows:\nIf you’ll turn your attention to the badges on this post, I’ve scribbled up a few community awards for fun. They’re both 500 coins, the cheapest I can make it. They can’t give you premium. Reddit is garbage and they don’t really deserve your money, but some of the regulars here are pretty wonderful and if they ask a really good question or something you can reward them in a way you never could in Vekllei — with money. I made them so I can hand them out, really. You can choose from \u0026lsquo;Medal of Valour\u0026rsquo; for long-time service or \u0026lsquo;Great Question\u0026rsquo; for, uh, you can probably guess. Let me know what you think. Do I need more types? For my new friends, of which there are many of you, it might take a while to settle into Vekllei’s world and characters. For example, Tzipora, pictured here abusing a friend, also goes by Zelda. If you get confused, you can check out 🔗this meta intro to the project and 🔗this brief summary of Vekllei as a country. I’ve got a few different projects going, in addition to the regular posts. 🔗I’ve made a Twitch, since it’s literally a single button on my iPad to stream me working. This isn’t the start of some illustrious streaming career, just something that was easy to do. 🔗I also have a Patreon, if you’d like to send a few dollars my way for the posts or food or whatever else. On the horizon is the graphic novel (no two ways about it, it’s a long-term project but it’s coming), and a few special experiments. Thanks again for hanging around. I’m very lucky to have a community that responds to my work. So many of you have reached out personally and interrogated my posts and it’s very flattering to attract that sort of interest. I’ll keep on keeping on.\nHobart Phillips\nMelonKony\n",
  "date": "2019-11-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-10-1000/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 623,
  "href": "/stories/beach/",
  "title": "Like Father, Like Daughter",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/beach.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/beach_hu6a0514d55b35c8f6ddc874332cbe5852_604318_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The main beach in Mumen, the nicest of the seaside districts, is constructed out of sand imported from the dunes of Africa. Where the rest of the country has black sand, a symptom of its volcanic turbulence, Mumen has nice yellow sand.\nBaron doesn’t like the water, and getting him down to the sea at all was a trial. Zelda, for her part, sinks faster than lead in water and only ventures into the shallows with Ayn, who herself is afraid of the deeper ocean. She spends most of her time on the beach in her clothes, watching the other girls splash and compare suits.\nBaron here is reading his paper, The Atlantic. 🔗I wrote a bit about that organisation here. Zelda is reading a horror gazette. A naturally curious girl who enjoys newsreels and documentary, she swaps with him when they’re done. He claims he doesn’t like her horror gazettes, but he keeps taking them, and he keeps reading them.\nThe sunsets of Vekllei are nearly as legendary as the Aurora, and when the end of the day is at their backs it’s finally dark enough to face the sun and watch it settle. They take the tram home and finish reading in the warmth of their eighth-floor apartment.\n",
  "date": "2019-11-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-09-beach/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 624,
  "href": "/stories/tourist/",
  "title": "A Jetport Guide shuffles Americans onto the airport maglevs",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/tourist.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/tourist_hue46661d6bc5aff1047d6ba0d21177bab_412008_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "It is very difficult to obtain papers for tourism in Vekllei as an American, despite the fact that the Arctic island nation is positioned obstinately between the Americas and Europe. It’s not made difficult for any discernible political reason, either — relations with the U.S. are as good as they could be for a country like Vekllei. Nonetheless, tourism is regarded as a risk rather than an opportunity, and most Americans who visit for pleasure are wealthy enough to put up the sums of cash required to enter on the national carriers that exclusively operate in Vekllei’s airspace.\nStepping out into the country for the first time is a hell of an experience. As an American you don’t really have a framework for understanding these people. They’re not European, or really Scandinavian. They don’t share many cultural or political bonds with the continental powers. And they’re not as easy to politicise or orientalise in the same way the folk of the USSR or Asia can be. They’re a mystery.\nFurthermore, work in Vekllei is social, and there are no real laws governing child labour. It is common to see children as young as twelve working as guides in the city’s largest jetport, Vekllei International, since work is basically a form of play. The dependence on Vekllei people for help (since a foreigner can only navigate society with the assistance of those that speak the language and understand the economy) essentially infantilises dignified, wealthy tourists otherwise not used to being looked down upon. This is further exaggerated by Vekllei’s complete absence of honourifics, lack of professional culture and suspicion of foreigners, meaning that even tourist infrastructure in the country regards Americans as a curiosity to be investigated and gawked at.\nThese barriers to entry only further isolate the country from the outside world, in a position that is (in the late 2070s) totally unique. They are not quite \u0026lsquo;white\u0026rsquo;, not quite \u0026lsquo;religious\u0026rsquo;, not quite \u0026lsquo;Western\u0026rsquo; and not quite \u0026lsquo;communist\u0026rsquo;. Their iconography is nonsense; their language is spoken only by themselves, and their political motivations are as complex and built on intuition as they are incomprehensible to outsiders. Hence the scene above, where the new assistant to the ambassador and his wife are thumbed out of the terminal by a thirteen-year-old girl who speaks broken English.\nThe young worker pictured here carries only a radio for communicating with her colleagues and a pouch to fill with personal items, jelly beans or whatever takes her fancy. They work in shifts of usually a few hours each, which are coordinated with the larger nuclear monowing jets that land from the Americas around noon.\n",
  "date": "2019-11-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-07-tourist/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 625,
  "href": "/stories/timetable/",
  "title": "A Vekllei Timetable",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/timetable.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/timetable_hu5296b5971d333dc851258066fb0825f5_431847_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Let\u0026rsquo;s wind down Study Month with a look into the Vekllei curriculum. A few days ago I wrote about how Vekllei schools operate on fundamentally different assumptions about what it means to be ‘a child’. Let’s take a look at how that pans out in practice.\nMost students study about 3-5 days a week, depending on the taste of the student and the work timetable of their parents. These days might occur sequentially or be scattered throughout the week, but most common is a Monday-Wednesday table table of four hours a day.\nTzipora, whose previous schooling was in a Catholic school in California, struggled to make sense of her timetable at first. The Vekllei curriculum very quickly depreciates courses outside of the interest of the student, and so staples of modern Western education — science, history, mathematics, language, were jumbled and in some cases dropped altogether.\nLet’s break down her timetable, illustrated partially in English for your convenience.\nMathematics. Zelda struggles with even basic maths, and so she retains a course for her own wellbeing. Mandatory curriculum maths in Vekllei is mostly pragmatic and straightforward, and teaches theory as well as the basics of calculation and operations. More abstract maths like algebra and calculus are generally only taught in advanced classes designed to facilitate interest in those who show promise in it. Zelda is not one of them. Language. Zelda is an immigrant and at this point in her life speaks only primitive, conversational Vekllei. Because of this, she has three hours of class time a week but attends a special class for tutoring after school each day. She also makes use of her own time to study Vekllei logographs, called Topet. Baron is a good help because she can practice conversationally with him without the shame of mangling language in the real world. Ideology. Zelda for the first time in her life is beginning to engage with the world as a global network, and is quickly learning geography and flags to illustrate it in her mind. The Ideology class is concerned with worldview and how social structures influence it. It looks at traditional political ideologies as well as unconscious assumptions, and how those things affect policy and geopolitics. Chemistry. Zelda likes chemistry and has good grades in it, and so she’s testing her ability in that area. Although she’s clearly developed an aptitude for the arts and language, she’s young enough to doubt her place and still enjoys experimenting with disciplines outside her expertise. Sewing. Zelda likes sewing, and it helps her feel useful since she’s largely dependent on others for most other parts of her life. This class teaches young Vekllei people practical skills for maintaining clothes in the household. Next year, she plans to take on a more rigorous maintenance course to varnish wood and caulk windows, since it takes forever to get a contractor up to their apartment. Illustration. Zelda does not have enough of an ego to be intimidated by the skills of those around her, so she enjoys the class as a therapeutic outlet for her boundless creative impulses. She is trying to learn to draw portraits so she can do one of Baron for Christmas. Club time. Zelda belongs to the news club of Lola 7th School, and works on weekends as a photographer for the weekly newsletter. Her colleagues are polite and ambitious, and they appreciate her desire to learn. On school time she mostly meets with other members to help print the newsletter by hand on the old jobber press, and develop her photos in the school’s dark lab. Society. Zelda learns Vekllei history and values in this class, which helps explain everything from the intricacies of the Bureau System and Sundress Municipalism to more intimate notions of the proper way to wear a quarter-pleat and semoisnesne (sun-facing attitude). It also helps contrast Vekllei’s system against the rest of the world, and more explicitly outlines Vekllei’s place in it. Although Tzipora would have many troubles with school, none of them were ever related to her enthusiasm for her classes. Since she picked the ones that benefited her and had plenty of time off to explore the skills learned in them, she developed a healthy curiosity for her talents and it was reflected well in her grades. But, as most Vekllei students will tell you, they learn just as much growing up outside of school as they do inside the classroom. She would not have it any other way.\n",
  "date": "2019-11-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-06-timetable/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 626,
  "href": "/stories/racing/",
  "title": "High-stakes air racing",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/racing.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/racing_hu17ae88d7de75e955004444d12084c744_280619_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Each year, a race is held amongst the most remarkable geological monuments of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s interior. Steep mountains forged in the restlessness of the European and American tectonic plates become deadly checkpoints in the world\u0026rsquo;s most high-stakes aeroplane race in the Western Hemisphere.\nLow-speed, high-maneuverability jets (manufactured by the likes of General Reactor, V.K. Heavy Industries, and Kaleidoscope Aerospace) roar through narrow valleys in time trials that last only a few minutes. These jets are built differently from your standard light aerocraft, and feature heavily shielded reactors and cockpits (or, unusually, combustion engines), automatic ejection mechanisms, and a fuselage and wings designed to crumple upon impact. They are constructed first and foremost around high-velocity crashes.\nAlthough a high-risk sport where fatalities are common, it remains popular in Europe and Vekllei. In the latter, the races are organised and subsidised by air racing orgs, usually clubs or pilot associations, and enthusiasts hike the otherworldly slopes of the valleys to watch racing jets compete for glory. In a world where seconds make the difference between failure and a world record, aerocrafts and pilots are pushed to their limits.\n",
  "date": "2019-11-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-02-racing/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 627,
  "href": "/stories/schools/",
  "title": "Schools in a Society Without Children",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/schools.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/schools_hu865a90b134ac9de6ca99f6c24f960bdc_310534_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Let’s talk about childhood and utopia. This post comes as we wind down Study Month in r/vekllei. Strap in kids, because this one gets kind of heavy.\nWhen you get into the idea of it, “The Child” is a particularly unfortunate projection. It’s not something most would agree with, but that’s how it’s worked out in the late 2070s. In fact, critical foundations of how foreigners view the world are not culturally neutral subjects as they might assume, timeless and naturally occurring, but are in fact symptoms of ideology. And despite the fact that there are children everywhere, The Child as an independent category of human being is a recent invention, informed by modernism.\nIf you visit Vekllei, and pay enough attention to the ordinary routines of the common Vekllei person, you too might be struck by the absence of The Child.\nThis is the Montre-Lola-Yuman School, but is usually recalled as its district number: Montre 6th. Although modestly pretty, situated in a misty valley and constructed in the postwar demonewda style (a literal portmanteau of education, or demolan, and Vekllei modernism, or newda), it is the site of a remarkable clash between old and new.\nPeople live simpler lives here. Smaller lives, too, focused on pleasure and its pursuit. They have less to hide, and so less to hide from their own children. Here, a kid discovers a great deal about the basic premises of life and navigating relationships from watching their parents go about their work and conversations, and learn largely through play and interaction. Older siblings take on adult, independent roles within the family whilst the United States and Europe further complexify The Child into atomised subcategories; teen-agers, pre-teens, toddlers, and so on. In Vekllei, media and products designed for The Child are uncommon, as are clothes designed for Children, and so growth is informed through exploration and observation, rather than their age and year of schooling.\nThe changes are small but shift mountains culturally. It is not simply that children are “small adults,” or that they are ignored or not given affection, but that the grotesque commodification of childhood has been abolished with commodity itself. The very nature of childhood, then, is different from how foreigners understand The Child. In Vekllei, children mix freely between age groups, and do not subconsciously recognise stages of development in a matter of years. They attend the same school for the entire length of their mandatory schooling. Uniforms are universal and carry all the way through university. By their early teen-age years, the young Vekllei person is ready to carry out their place in paradise. This affords the youth of Vekllei dignity and responsibility, and forces a reconsideration of identity outside of the generic expectation of that age group.\nNow, modernism does not necessarily mean commoditisation — but they\u0026rsquo;re almost always found sleeping in the same bed. There is no scandal here. From the supermarkets of Utah to the villages of Uraguay, modern ideas of The Child and Interiority have warped the human brain unconsciously, rendering the whole world a meaningless scaffold of incestuous constructions — with a cultural history buried in copies of copies of copies. The way we understand landscape, the Self, our children, are all missing or altered in Vekllei, a modernist society without modernism. The rest of the world has been this way for centuries — and, most devastatingly, as soon as these constructions were \u0026lsquo;discovered,\u0026rsquo; their origins as constructions were suppressed. It seems to have always been this way, even though it was an invention that coincided more or less with the steam engine. The Child is no more inherent to “nature” (itself a construction) than a railway locomotive.\nThus, over the course of several centuries in the Western world, the child was discovered. Once it was found, an epistemological constellation had to be erected around it to make use of it. To write a story or paint a picture, The Child is projected. A child of America today will now wear clothes for children, play with toys for children and consume media built for that age group. You can expect a child to go through distinct phases, quantified numerically through their years of modern schooling. This carries on to poison the entire lens of childhood, and indeed, the subsumption of the outside world into this sort of culture and commodity is shocking to the Vekllei tourist.\nThis unusual fact makes Vekllei unique in the ideological landscape today, at once a pioneer of the arts and industry and a pre-industrial village, free from the ideological misery of modern life. The abolishment of industry, and the rising up of all people, has rendered the Vekllei people not classless, but a single enourmous class — an intellectual, educated class. What truly makes them unique, however, is how the “old ways” and “rural priority” are alive and well in the cities and apartments of the modern Vekllei person. That is utopia in Vekllei today, and that is what it means to grow up there.\n",
  "date": "2019-11-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-11-01-schools/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 628,
  "href": "/stories/emotional/",
  "title": "Emotional Intelligence in the Epoch of Rest",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/emotional.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/emotional_hu09db97459a637cec39920c43b1fe0139_391712_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Let’s talk about childhood and utopia. This post comes as we wind down Study Month in r/vekllei. Strap in kids, because this one gets kind of heavy.\nTzipora and Cobian, pictured here, have very different stories but both have felt something was not quite right about them. That difference, so it would turn out, would blossom into a preference for women as partners, in the unusual desexualised way Vekllei goes about homosexuality in the late 2070s. To Cobian, who grew up in Vekllei, the realisation was fairly straightforward, although not without moments of anxiety and doubt. To Tzipora, who grew up in the United States, she found herself in crisis. She had previously held deep reservations about so-called ‘bolshevik lesbianism,’ only to discover a contradictory, immutable fact about herself. The canyon between their understandings of how relationships work reveals just how unique Vekllei is in the world today.\nOne of many pains of Vekllei’s growing material wealth was the economic unchaining of women from their husbands, and a shift towards solitude and independence for both men and women. For many, especially in the anxiety of the First Atomic War, lust became work, and marriages and birthrates fell quickly. As the poverty of post-war life developed into fledgling community-focused industry, so too did so-called “economic feminisation” (the abolishment of the male burden through the bureau system and work as pleasure) bring about changes in how women understood themselves in a society without commodity.\nThese economic facts coincided with serious cultural seizures of anger and confusion at the collapse of old values and the bloodline-focused family, which culminated in a period of great population stagnation and cultural unrest without anything to fill the vacuum.\nIn a move rare for Vekllei’s growing council-style democracy called Sundress Municipalism, a cultural movement was enacted at a national level. It was called something along the lines of a ‘sun-facing’ attitude, or semoisnesne, in which free love, relationship pragmatism and most of all, familial independence were encouraged to foster baby-making and marriage happiness. Realistically, this cultural ambition was reinforced with several hundred social programmes designed to mitigate domestic violence, marriage breakdown and divorce. The restructuring of the post-war legal system, in conjunction with semoisnesne, had the unintended side-effect of decriminalising homosexuality, making Vekllei one of the few countries in the world to have done so. Normalisation was not a smooth experience, and social problems linger to this day, but is nonetheless utterly unique in the cultural landscape of the modern Western world.\nSemoisnesne, like most cultural phenomena, has seen a downturn in popularity in the most recent generation of teen-agers and young adults, as part of a wider trend of emotional and sexual reticence in part as a reaction to the ostentatious displays of sexuality of the decades prior.\nUndoubtedly, semoisnesne has made Vekllei a better country. It is now much easier to announce your preference for love in your own gender than it was previously, and that brings with it a whole shift in worldview — most crucially of normalisation, where such things are tolerated and visible in everyday society. Like many ambitious progressive projects, it has become a cultural pariah in recent years (teens today sarcastically refer to their attitude as lumoisnesne, which better translates to good-facing [in the sense of a moral or ethical good]), but its marked impact on emotional intelligence and feminisation of the country has undeniably set Vekllei apart in a time dominated by fear and cultural retreat.\n",
  "date": "2019-10-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-10-25-love/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 629,
  "href": "/stories/school-fashion/",
  "title": "Boyhood Fashion in Vekllei's School Halls",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/schoolfashion.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/schoolfashion_hu68f0cf8ddf77df5e2857a8ad12454b1a_467124_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is a follow-up 🔗to this post, as part of Vekllei’s “Study Week,” where we’re touring education and youth in the utopia of Vekllei.\nCompared to their girls, who are adorned with many layers of clothing and dazzling patterns, the schoolboys of Vekllei are unadorned. Lace and quarter-pleats give way to bolder forms and masculine colours.\nAs much of Vekllei’s uniform ideology straddles complex (and often precipitous) schisms of modern and traditional clothing items, boys have received considerably more progressive attention than their sisters. They sport jackets of synthetic materials where girls favour wool and cotton, but do not enjoy the same modularity or flexibility in style.\nVisible here are the standard armbands universal to Vekllei life, a male tie (although only male in an education context, and is often appropriated by rebellious young women), and a captain’s plate to distinguish certain older students as club leaders, which are integral parts of the Vekllei schooling experience. Clubs operate independently of the school and often assist students in honing their expertise for higher education.\nPeter, shown here on the right, had a game for a while where he’d surreptitiously point at his crotch, and when you looked he’d scold you for looking at his dick.\n",
  "date": "2019-10-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-10-24-school-fashion/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 630,
  "href": "/stories/uploads/",
  "title": "… where did I leave all the uploads?",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/uploads.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/uploads_hub4d7df1e4cc7b934127e49d5d7309510_398687_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Hello everyone,\nThanks again for subscribing to this subreddit. I’m playing a game of chicken right now pitting my little Vekllei projects against my university work.\nVekllei boys uniforms (and school architecture) is coming later this week, turning Study Week into a Study Month!\nStarting from next week, several exciting projects are getting kicked into gear. One is the graphic novel. There’s also the Vekllei wiki, which is under construction. There will be a lot more art. And a secret, special project that’s gonna be really exciting. I can’t wait to share it with you all.\n🔗I have a Patreon now — not that you need to donate! It’s like a priority inbox. If you want me to print out illustrations and send them to you, see drafts of upcoming projects (like the graphic novel script and preview the special secret), or you want a little drawing of your own, sending me a dollar is a good way get my attention. It just goes towards server costs and keeping me from malnutrition, nothing exciting.\nSo there’s a lot on the way. I know most shouldn’t care, but I get nervous if I’m not here every other day or so. And lurkers, just so you know — Tzipora and I appreciate you.\nOn with Study Month.\n",
  "date": "2019-10-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-10-23-uploads/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 631,
  "href": "/stories/king/",
  "title": "The King",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/king.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/king_hu6fd4c8884d9019819462e300b85a701c_398520_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The King and Tzipora do not get along. Zelda met him through Moise, when King managed the Domepent School’s cricket team. Moise was a pretty good wicket keeper.\nKing had offended Zelda with an off-hand comment on her youthful appearance, and she’d retorted with a remark about his weak blood circulation. Moise, caught between his new boss and his angry Zelda, navigated these stormy waters by ignoring the dispute entirely and separating them on the walk home.\nAlthough Moise would turn out to be a decent athlete, and she would spend more time around King, she never would come to like him. He was pompous without pomp. For his part, he regarded her as small and cranky. It was not an entirely unreasonable assessment.\n",
  "date": "2019-10-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-10-21-king/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 632,
  "href": "/stories/challenger/",
  "title": "A New Challenger Has Appeared!",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/skytrade.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/skytrade_hu5cae2f2edaa822e61024f716dc03b750_589400_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Well isn’t this exciting! The talented u/Herald_of_Zena decided to draw Isabelle from his world in the uniforms I posted the other day. It was too much fun not to join in. It turned out to be a classic story told in two parts \u0026ndash; shit weather, put on coat.\nIt’s a pleasure seeing such a unique style that’s really one of a kind in the worldbuilding scene. It\u0026rsquo;s painterly and soft where a lot of worldbuilders favour a determined, blocky, concept art look. 🔗Check out some other pieces on Isabelle while you’re here — she’s a really intriguing character with a stoic sort of disposition, not unlike our Zelda.\nIt’s just so cool to see an item or outfit from my world appear in someone else’s style. Thanks a lot mate, it was a blast.\n",
  "date": "2019-10-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-10-19-challenger/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 633,
  "href": "/stories/uniform-ideology/",
  "title": "Uniform Ideology in the Arctic North",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/uniformideology.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/uniformideology_hu5d77c6aec96baaa84083c8a9d67cffe2_445223_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Hello everyone. In celebration of the approach of exams (at least in the Southern Hemisphere), we turn our gaze north to Vekllei to celebrate Study Week. Every other day we’ll be looking at education in Vekllei, and today we’re looking at uniforms.\nLife in Vekllei is filled with uniforms for work and in study, for a various historical and cultural reasons. In the late 21st century, in a society where work is social, they help distinguish and professionalise employment, which grants important psychological and social benefits. Where a uniform might be employed for economic reasons in a country of poverty, or as a form of social control in schools, in Vekllei they are identifiers and champions of labour in a workplace or school.\nFor the students of Vekllei, a single uniform is distributed across all ages of schooling, from preschool right through university and miscellaneous higher education. For girls, it is highly modular and incorporates important cultural items of clothing, like the gi quarter-pleat, temple and fountain hairpieces, and overskirt lace aprons called sun petticoats (in ceremony). Although Vekllei was once cold year-round, today it sees warm summers and mild winters that encourage distinct summer and winter fashions. A girl’s preference in uniforms may cycle through many styles over her schooling years, from spartan minimalism in high school (of just an armband, white shirt and red skirt) to decadent ceremony in her university years.\nIn Vekllei Semaphore, the language of colour and shape, red and white imply both youth and energy (as well as sweetness, determinedness and purity depending on the context), and are often recognised as the national colours. In youth, it distinguishes education from traditional labour (in the literal, physical sense), which is communicated with navy blue.\nHigh-quality uniforms are a marker of national pride, as indicators of national wealth after the shameful poverty of the First Atomic War’s fallout. To the people of Vekllei, an intricate and expensive uniform distributed amongst ordinary people greatly influences the national ego, and further contributes to Vekllei’s social and cultural isolation from the rest of the Western Hemisphere.\nTomorrow, we’ll be seeing how the boys compare. Then things will get a little more exciting. Please let me know if you have any questions!\n",
  "date": "2019-10-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-10-17-uniform-ideology/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 634,
  "href": "/stories/tattoos/",
  "title": "Tattoos of Violence on Quiet Men",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/tattoos.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/tattoos_hu22cdff65ab1e164700ac5ab3a75d4020_457272_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Where tattoos had once been an indication of class and work, they were now uncommon. Both class and work had been abolished. Tattoos were almost never seen in the prism of ordinary Vekllei life, but in less savoury occupations they were found where utopian concessions collide with violence and memory.\nBaron rolled up his sleeves and laid them out for her. You could accuse him of many things — he was a reticent bloke — but he was never dishonest with Tzipora. She was as much a companion as a daughter, and he treated her with the respect he’d afford any close colleague or friend. His upper arm was marked with faded illustrations from a previous chapter of life. Most obvious was a dragon that looked like it had been done professionally, or at least by a comrade who’d had some experience. It was intricate and artful. The rest were simple words or illustrations, maybe done by the man himself. Holding her tongue about the dragon tattoo, which demanded attention in its colour and scale, she asked about three dots that matched the patterns of her shirt.\n“Those are for Amelie. I mentioned her, didn’t I? She was my sister — she would have liked you, too. She had a strange sense of humour.”\nThey marked the grave of his sister who passed as a teen-ager from tuburculosis. It was a common outbreak in the poverty that followed the First Atomic War. She was fifteen — the Vekllei lifespan is measured in sets of five. Beneath it was a dagger, or improvised military cross, listing the initials of two friends of his and his years of service. “All done,” he told her, “while black-out drunk.”\nShe asked about his friends, and where they were, and he told her he didn’t know. “It’s true. That’s how service overseas goes sometimes. Look how long it took for me to get back here. I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t recognise them.” He paused for a moment, and raised his eyebrows. “Most likely, they’re dead.”\nWithin the Chinese dragon, illustrated cleanly with improvised equipment, lay a history of sweltering heat and combat. This one was a soldier’s tattoo, proud and impossible to ignore. You don’t give much thought to scarring your skin if you’re about to die. She did not know how long he was there, or in what capacity, because he did not talk about his time in the army. She just knew he was young — maybe a few years older than her.\nShe liked his tattoos. For the thirty years she would know him, he was outwardly a quiet and thoroughly unextraordinary man. He took part in no great pleasures except a glass of wine on Friday evenings and a movie with Zelda on Sunday. Not once did he ever raise his voice at her. He smoked occasionally, and a pipe on weekends. But when he rolled up his sleeves after supper to smoke his pipe, and watch the evening from their eighth-floor balcony, the snake climbing the dagger was visible on his forearm. And behind that dagger, and that snake, there was a filthy room in Ariquemes, and a baby’s cry, and blood. A sinister revelation settled on the room.\nAs Zelda would once explain, you might go to a friend’s party or parent-teacher, and all the other dads would see hers and think he looked like a professor or bank teller. She liked to think they gave no regard to him at all — he looked like a quiet, pleasant, nothing-person. But if he reaches for his left sleeve and rolls it up, that all changes. He reveals himself to be a figure of death.\n",
  "date": "2019-10-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-10-14-tattoos/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 635,
  "href": "/stories/showdown/",
  "title": "The Showdown",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/showdown.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/showdown_hu62dae86c4df18265ef3e245b30e69901_323178_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "It is not uncommon for gangs to form in Vekllei, especially among immigrant communities otherwise marginalised by a complex logographic language and rigid belief system.\nIn fact, in a country of plenty, there is not much to otherwise identify with. Class is irrelevant in utopia, and the basic ideas of manhood and womanhood are being destroyed in hand with the abolishment of industry. Racial identifiers certainly exist — the population is descended almost entirely from Scandinavian settlers (with notably fair hair) and those of mixed Inuit-Scandinavian ancestry, whom carry Caucasian features but have dark, often black, hair. There are also many Vekllei of immigrant heritage, largely from Eastern and Southern Europe after the First Atomic War. It is along these racial lines that bullying occurs in schools and atomised communities form.\nIn Montre, a university city of Northern Vekllei, it is not uncommon for these prejudices to fester. The capital may be cosmopolitan, but cities like Montre and Adouisneh are largely homogenous. Decades on from the First Atomic War, arguments between native Vekllei and children of Greek heritage continue to play out, usually in stupid and meaningless ways.\nCast against the racialised violence of the U.S. in the 2070s, and the Apartheid regime in South Africa, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s ethnic tensions would be incomprehensible. On the small, arctic island, however, they will slowly be buried as generations cycle on and the pleasures of common Vekllei life realise themselves. There is no room in Vekllei for anything but Vekllei ambitions, regardless of heritage.\n",
  "date": "2019-10-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-10-11-showdown/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 636,
  "href": "/stories/witches/",
  "title": "The Mountain Witches of Pachinki",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/witches.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/witches_hu3692954f53d73484bd6b8cff2e5cdeff_406886_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Pachinki is the fantastical notebook of Tzipora, in all her loneliness and thunderous imagination, shared with you all to enjoy. She\u0026rsquo;s so far constructed Pachinki posts about 🔗gem children, 🔗palace henchmen, 🔗sinister earth magics, 🔗the Palace Gods, and 🔗teeth regents.\nFrom Tzipora’s notebook:\n[A Guide to Magic, Chapter 2: The Witch]\nThe witches of Pachinki are an interesting affair — many books have been dedicated to their research after discovery, yet so little is known about them. They are almost universally misandrists, which is understandable considering their present illegality and persecution in the subcontinents of Zen and Domos. They serve only themselves and individuals they happen to like, and spend most of their lives exploring the canyon between the chaos of nature’s fundamental frequencies and the power of human magic.\nThey are rumoured to be able to split their own minds. Using old spells long since lost to ordinary people in Zen, they are able to siphon their mental faculties into a trusted object — usually a precious gem, and relegate essential functions of the brain to it. For example, a witch might siphon a tenth of her mental ability into a necklace, which then pushes out whatever consciousness exists within then carries on a witch’s essential functions — respiration, blood circulation and pain are just a few of unconscious functions a witch might do away with.\nWhy would they do such a thing? Well, it is known to all people who have ever attempted magics that powerful spells force great stress on the mind. In fact, the more thorough the subsumption of the mind towards the spell, the better the results. By dispensing with her bodily functions, a witch is able to dedicate almost all of her mental power towards the task at hand, and since a brain operating without vital functions is a very stressed brain indeed, she can become extraordinarily powerful as a result.\nSuch magical efforts make perfect sense for people of power — government workers, or traditional sorcerers — but witches are far more interested exploration and discovery than they are power and conquest. So again — why would they do such a thing?\nOnly recently has a possible answer to this question arisen. It is disarmingly straightforward — witches are outcasts, and usually very lonely people. By siphoning enough of their own mind into a creature or pet, they replace the pet with a functioning copy of themselves. They are consequently able to make friends at will.\nSuch a process is incredibly dangerous — although only a fraction of brainpower is required to make a functioning consciousness, they are in essence duplicating a human mind. To transplant a consciousness of human intuition into, say, a raven, requires powerful psychophysical drugs and gems of a correct frequency to stop a collapse of the mind (and subsequently render ten percent or so of the witch’s brain ability permanently nonfunctioning). Even upon a successful schism, her summoned consciousness is hardly a raven — it is an anthropomorphic creature, of human mind and animal body.\nAnother fact of the witch, which may interest the reader, is that they do not decompose upon death. They are ordinary people in life, but ancient magic the likes of which is unobservable and unknowable keeps their body, intact or otherwise, totally preserved (though thoroughly dead). In kingdoms where witchcraft is a crime, you can find “witch towers” filled with the fresh, undead body parts of executed witches that will long outlive the grisly silos themselves…\n",
  "date": "2019-10-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-10-06-witches/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 637,
  "href": "/stories/mafioso/",
  "title": "A Mafioso and His Witch",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/mafioso.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/mafioso_huabc93948cb781d8d8116bc721db91c3d_416093_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Hello, everyone. It\u0026rsquo;s been six days. I\u0026rsquo;d like to have been here sooner, but I had the good fortune to leave my Apple Pencil in a hotel room in Sydney. Although delighted with my welcome and surprising expense (~$150AUD, or roughly 43 bacon and cheese pull-apart loaves), I\u0026rsquo;ve consequently fallen behind with my off-daily illustrations.\nHowever, I carry the ANZAC spirit deep within me, and I\u0026rsquo;ve made use of my time. I have a document, many thousands of words long, detailing a special kind of script. 🔗The writing is excellent.\nI\u0026rsquo;ll give you a hint \u0026ndash; it\u0026rsquo;s not for a film.\nThanks for sticking with me. I\u0026rsquo;m back. In the meantime, please enjoy this illustration and story.\nWhen Moise arrived at the Desmoisnes\u0026rsquo; to pick up Tzipora for the halloween festivities, he was greeted at the door by Baron, who looked tired and held a powder mirror in one hand.\n\u0026ldquo;Oh, hello, Moise,\u0026rdquo; Baron said.\n\u0026ldquo;How\u0026rsquo;s things?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;Good, good. Say, Moise, could you tell Zelda she looks nice when you see her?\u0026rdquo;\nBefore Moise could ask, Zelda\u0026rsquo;s voice rang out from behind her father.\n\u0026ldquo;Tell him I\u0026rsquo;ll be a moment! Just a moment!\u0026rdquo; \u0026ndash; like most Zeldaic exclamations, there was panic in it.\nA few minutes later, he stepped inside her room to see her. She was dressed as a witch, and wore a cardboard hat fashioned in black linen on her head. Most immediately, however, he noticed she was wearing eye-liner and rouge. He\u0026rsquo;d never seen her wear make-up before, because she looked too young to wear it. She was a teen-ager whose appearance made such feminine gestures a costume rather than daily practice.\n\u0026ldquo;You look really nice,\u0026rdquo; Moise said. \u0026ldquo;Have you done yer face?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;Yes,\u0026rdquo; she beamed, \u0026ldquo;you noticed! It\u0026rsquo;s not done poorly is it? I\u0026rsquo;ve got no practice.\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;Nah, it looks great.\u0026rdquo;\nHe wasn\u0026rsquo;t lying. She\u0026rsquo;d gone a bit heavy since her lashes were so dark already, but she looked years older for it. Zelda wilted under any timid flattery and smiled genuinely at him.\n\u0026ldquo;Maybe I should wear it sometimes. It\u0026rsquo;s not too much trouble.\u0026rdquo;\nBaron called from the living room: \u0026ldquo;It took two hours.\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;All right!\u0026rdquo; she yelled, and after a moments of pause, followed with a kinder shout. \u0026ldquo;Thanks for helping me.\u0026rdquo;\nThe festival went until the early hours of the morning. Cold city air washed over them in waves as they passed through warm clouds of woodsmoke from fires set out for hallow\u0026rsquo;s eve. He was dressed in pinstripes as a Mafia don. He told her he had Mafia blood in him. Zelda asked if he was getting Greece confused with Italy, to which he took great offence. She started laughing as his fake moustache danced about on his upper lip when he corrected her, which made him more annoyed.\nIt was a nice night out, in the end.\n",
  "date": "2019-10-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-10-05-mafioso/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 638,
  "href": "/stories/moon/",
  "title": "The State of the Moon in 2078",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/moon.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/moon_hu084ad0176b0ebd97c729c1c787458bc6_308649_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Welcome again to MoonMonth! It started a week ago and will go until I’ve said all I can say. We’re looking at how Vekllei conquered the moon today.\nVekllei unequivocally won the space race. Not because it had the first man in space — the Soviets succeeded in that. Nor were they the first to the moon — the Americans had been there for nearly a century. But Vekllei was the first to establish permanent habitation of the Moon’s southern pole, and its claims of territory were reluctantly accepted in the early 2070s after nearly a decade of heated diplomacy. Although the value of the Southern Pole had been known for some time, it was Vekllei that leapfrogged the world’s largest powers to secure the moon’s most valuable real estate.\nFrom Vekllei’s Mt Io, which the rest of the world knows as the Malapert Massif, Vekllei’s largest city enjoys more sunlight year-round than the arctic home country, and parts of the Copette Basin (Shackleton Basin in English) have peaks of eternal light. It enjoys uninterrupted microwave visibility to the Earth. A thick smooth regolith has supported a permanent, concrete settlement and landing areas. It also sits adjacent to regions of permanent shade, which are home to valuable gasses and water which supply Vekllei’s spacecraft with fuel, and assist in fusion research.\nThe Vekllei Moon Zone has expanded several times in the thirty years of its existence. At first it claimed only a few hundred square kilometres around Mt Io, but has since come to dominate much of the territory around the moon’s Southern Pole.\nToday, it is a thriving colony of invaluable economic and psychological importance to the city-state back home. It includes Moidonnet, a city of 50,000 people with all the luxuries of home — plus a few more, like biome domes and zero-gravity museums. Traismodonnet is a military city in the Aitkin Basin that houses much of Vekllei’s classified research into fusion technology. An enormous cosmodrome sits in the Huay Crater (named after Vekllei’s largest cosmodrome on Earth), supported by a military landing site a few hundred kilometres away in the Schrödinger Crater. Prohibited zones litter the Vekllei Moon Zone, including areas allocated for hydrogen and water extraction (such as the SPA Basin Mining Zone, the largest of its kind on the moon) and the Aero Prohibited Area, which extraterrestrial landing craft and weapons in view of the disputed territories.\nValuable real estate is scarce on the moon, especially when costs for travel and infrastructure remain so high. The moon is rife with claims and counter-claims, which often escalate into border skirmishes. These claims sit alongside vast unclaimed territories, largely on the far side of the moon. Any claim made on this vast Terra Nullius will trigger a reaction of counter-claims, and escalate a declining world further into conflict.\nThat is the moon today. A place of military espionage and tremendous scientific advancement, largely distributed between a handful of superpowers and Vekllei’s jewel in orbit.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-28-moon/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 639,
  "href": "/stories/puffin-scouts/",
  "title": "Puffin Scouts",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/puffinscouts.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/puffinscouts_hu3d0458a1d9c6a2b890f0674f6b0fd7ca_463131_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "MoonMonth will return tomorrow. As an interlude\u0026hellip;\nIn Winter 2064, the changes made to the constitution of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) would be felt around the scouting world. By this point it was pretty clear that the globe had entered a “helter skelter” decline towards tragedy. The emerging fission technologies were too slow and expensive to mass produce, and the fossil fuels that lighted homes around the world were starting to run dry.\nIt wasn’t just a crisis of resources — there had been Taiwan, and the Commonwealth Wars, and the disaster of decolonisation. There was a long history of decline, paved in blood, and it was pretty clear that things were going to get worse before they got better. If they got better at all.\nIn Winter 2064, several clauses were introduced into BSA recruitment that would reposition the organisation as a fundamentally patriotic youth org, and would seek to raise a generation of the kinds of boys and girls America would need in the coming decades. They would have to be resourceful, capable and most of all, dutiful adults.\nChinese-born children were thereafter denied entry altogether, and those of immigrant heritage would be subject to allegiance testing. Over the course of a week and several indiscreet searches of the family political history, the BSA recruitment board would weed out communists and suspected agitators.\nFor an organisation of the prestige and heritage of the BSA to implement overt racial vetting meant that political repression was normalised — so-called “national orthodoxy” — in youth orgs around the world.\nIn Vekllei the largest youth organisations include\nThe National Blossoms The Puffin Scouts The Landscape Bureau The National Blossoms concern themselves largely with traditional landcare and stewardship of national parks, and the Puffin Scouts are focussed on camping and friendship. The Landscape Bureau includes people of all ages, not just youth, and form part of Vekllei’s Parks and Heritage organisation (in which careers can be forged).\nAlthough the constitutional reforms of the BSA, and subsequent militarisation of many European scouting organisations (as well as several so-called Western pockets of Asia), had little obvious effect on Vekllei’s youth orgs, subtle changes were made to better distinguish her domestic scouts from the rise of child fascism across the world. Parts of the uniform were demilitarised, and girls were allowed to wear skirts for the first time. The colours of the Puffin Scouts shifted from red and white, which is associated with the country as an identity, to gold and green, which better translate to “wilderness” in Vekllei Semaphore. The political curriculum of the youth orgs (covering Upen, the Bureau System and the modern Vekllei city-state) was shifted to eighteen and above.\nIt’s a scary time to be alive, but the children of Vekllei’s youth orgs are largely unaware of it outside of nuclear drills. Young scouts — ranked as Pufflings in the Puffin Scouts — spend their childhood years learning to tie knots and make friends, where the children of America are learning to shoot a rifle and memorise the dual constitutions; that of the Boy Scouts, and that of America.\nIn the picture above, you\u0026rsquo;ll notice a guide to decoding a simple Vekllei Gi, a type of ceremonial quarter-pleat, and a collection of items a Puffin Scout is likely to have on their person.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-27-puffins/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 640,
  "href": "/stories/500/",
  "title": "500 SUBSCRIBERS",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/500.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/500_hudc2456a3d2d647159a49c5ab8a479223_497353_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Thank you very much everyone. It\u0026rsquo;s very exciting for me. I ordered a cake from Banjos to celebrate but Tzipora got it all over the floor and herself.\nThanks for subscribing. I\u0026rsquo;ve been pushing myself a bit too hard and my writing\u0026rsquo;s suffered for it. I\u0026rsquo;m not sure I can slow down, I\u0026rsquo;m just not that kind of guy, but I want to promise some exciting adventures in the future as we hang out with Zelda and her loved ones.\nHere\u0026rsquo;s to a thousand! My goal is to get bigger than the main worldbuilding subreddit. Only a few hundred thousand to go.\nIn the meantime, feel free to stick around, enjoy the party, scrape whatever cake you can off the floor and have a good time with Zelda and me.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-24-500/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 641,
  "href": "/stories/tomorrow/",
  "title": "Living in Tomorrow, Facing the Past",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/tomorrow.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/tomorrow_hu839685ed9de74de7fdc97877ec44ec65_426937_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Welcome again to MoonMonth! It started four days ago and will go until I’ve said all I can say. We’re looking at the space industry in Vekllei. This is just a quick piece I\u0026rsquo;ve done between some larger things.\nThe Copette Science Basin and Rocket Factory launches sixteen rockets a day. Those rockets are packed with robotic mining equipment and are sent chasing asteroids floating through our solar system. The robots return sometime in the following year with an asteroid rich with metals in tow, where they are incinerated upon entry and many tonnes of metals are plunged into empty drop zones in the Atlantic.\nFor Vekllei, a resource-poor island country with an insatiable demand for steel and uranium, extraterrestrial mining has allowed the country to fund projects of great national pride. These include the moon tourism programme, the Faroe military bases, and large atomic airships for work and pleasure.\nThe Copette Basin is a mountainous region far enough from Copette proper to launch rockets regularly. The flower-tundras that frame them are caught at once between the incomprehensibly ancient tectonic landscape and these visions of tomorrow. Old and new; agriculture and futurism — these are marks of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s schizoid relationship with the present.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-22-tomorrow/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 642,
  "href": "/stories/moonwalk/",
  "title": "A space tourist contemplates her first moonwalk",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/moonwalk.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/moonwalk_hu8e05f30f4126b021f4e69f1271c5f60a_517514_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Welcome to MoonMonth, which started two days ago and will go until I’ve said all I can say. These posts are going to work a little differently — we’re going to follow Tzipora through her adventures in Moon City and beyond, and learn about the moon in this world along the way. Strap in!\nVekllei has put a great deal of effort into developing infrastructure for tourism across the lunar surface of the Vekllei Moon Zone. For no cost except their labour in society, a Vekllei person is able to enjoy a handful of activities in Moidonnet (“Moon City”), the largest and most recreational of the moon colonies. It is a complex of about a hundred connected buildings at the base of Mt Io, far away from the border territories of the Vekllei Moon Zone. On her 18th birthday, for which she still looked fourteen, Tzipora was gifted a week-long holiday in Moidonnet with her father, Baron, who surprised her with tickets.\nTzipora had never got to grips with flying. She was uneasy around most things too big for her immediate comprehension. The sky and the sea and space might be grand, but she was a small girl of a provincial disposition and was satisfied with a pocket of land and some people to talk to. She had taken pills for the flight to the moon, which climbed steeply and enjoyed several hours of zero gravity, but had calmed down by the time she’d acclimatised to the novelty of life in Moidonnet.\nShe was now in a room fretting over the equipment that would separate her person from millions of miles of empty vacuum. Around her was a pink preparation room with padded walls, typical of the confined spaces of Moon City. In this gravity it only took a stumble to send you careening into the air, and the cushioning would prevent you from cracking your head open. Along the walls were metal railings available to seize in the event you lose your balance.\nThe City was distinctive in its shoelessness, as it was easy to float in the low gravity of the moon and kick things that should not be kicked. It made the whole place feel quite scientific and homely at the same time — like all tourists here were fellow travellers in some great expedition, too familial to bother with formalities like shoes.\nA heavy atmospheric suit was suspended by its lifelines to the roof. It was bulky and had strange shiny booties at the feet. Nearby were moon boots, which would be sealed along with the rest of the suit in a vacuum cocoon before test depressurisation in the airlock. The International Standard flag was hung on the wall, probably to impress foreign tourists. There were a handful of foreign tourists visiting, usually relatives of Vekllei citizens. Occasionally you saw obviously wealthy foreigners who’d payed their own way. They were easy to spot, for their gold rings and nice clothes looked absurd and tacky in the face of the glory of Vekllei infrastructure.\nThere was no appetite for skirts in Moon City. The risks were too great. She’d changed out of trousers into a stiff jumpsuit bleached white with cleaning chemicals. Now that the domestic conventions of getting changed had been completed successfully, the weight of her adventure finally dawned on her. She took a seat and looked between the helmet and the body of the atmospheric suit, and felt her stomach drop. All of a sudden she missed Baron very dearly. Where had he got to?\nNext time, we’ll look at rockets. See you soon!\n",
  "date": "2019-09-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-21-moonwalk/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 643,
  "href": "/stories/moon-holiday/",
  "title": "Holiday on the Moon",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/moonholiday.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/moonholiday_hua8833326217048b13e07b685aaa14bfb_606439_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " caption: “So — Mr Spaceman… How long have you held a job at Vekllei National Astrospace? 37 years?”\nLike most Vekllei people, Tzipora has visited the moon. From Ground Control on Earth in the district of Huay, Vekllei operates many moonbases, domes, research facilities and tourist opportunities in the moon’s southern hemisphere within a large complex called Moidonnet — Moon City. It sits a hundred kilometres south of Mt Io (called Malapert Mountain in the West) in the Vekllei Moon Zone. It receives shuttles several times throughout the day.\nThe first time Zelda visited the moon was as a birthday gift from her father, who hadn’t been in many years. She recalls reading extensively about the moon in preparation for the trip.\n“… here’s hoping, then. So we’ve booked for three nights up in Moidonnet, and then a single night in Traismadonnet, a smaller city closer to the equator. I wanted us to do as many things as possible, so I think we should visit the peak of Io Mountain today, where they say they have a spectacular bio-dome and you can see forever, and maybe go on a space-walk. We’ll see. Spacewalks are hard to book ahead for, but if we get tired we can just do everything else the next day.\n“There’s also an art gallery built for low gravity. It’s amazing, like a rubber castle, filled with sculpture and room pieces that are — well, they’re just amazing. You’re always telling me I’m too skinny. Guess how much I’ll weigh on the moon?”\n“Twenty kilos?”\n“Just under ten,” she smiled, and then laughed at the idea. “You could pick me up and throw me.”\nFor the rest of September I’ll be looking at Vekllei space tourism. There\u0026rsquo;s a lot to cover, so stay tuned!\n",
  "date": "2019-09-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-19-moon-holiday/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 644,
  "href": "/stories/puffin-attack/",
  "title": "Puffin Attack",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/puffinattack.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/puffinattack_hu41e55437d16088a47fc124923f8733b0_491116_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Although Zelda can\u0026rsquo;t have kids, she mothers whole generations of village children.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-16-puffin-attack/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 645,
  "href": "/stories/reactor/",
  "title": "The Expo’74 Experimental Molten-Salt Peace Reactor",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/reactor.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/reactor_hu7b203b68c350e41a1dc47f1ad7208ee1_347092_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Only had time for a quick painting tonight. Bigger things soon, after I get some things out of the way\u0026hellip;\nExpo’74 was the 2074 World’s Fair, hosted in Vekllei for the first time in nearly a century. The country had made tremendous progress in recovery from the First Atomic War, and set to work nearly a decade in advance of the Expo to create a palatial fairgrounds between the districts of the Capital and Ro.\nThe centrepiece of which was a triumph of Newda design and Vekllei civic construction: the Number 7 Plant, or Peace Reactor, which was the first commissioned molten-salt fission reactor of its type in the country to produce power. The main reactor structure is located within a pure unblemished sphere above a grand public hall and museum detailing Vekllei’s long history with nuclear power.\nAlthough it does not produce as much power as the country’s larger plants at 1,020 megawatts, and is frequently shut down for experiments, it is uniquely situated upon a hill in the centre of the city and is visible from almost all parts of the capital area. It is a physical testament to prosperity itself, and its public grounds are a popular attraction for locals and visitors alike.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-15-reactor/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 646,
  "href": "/stories/ayn/",
  "title": "Introducing Ayn",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/introducingayn.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/introducingayn_huc8c185084d77141b3597c282ae7882f1_419782_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The daughter of a Soviet expat and Hong Konger deckhand, Ayn Rumouisen has never stepped foot outside of Vekllei. A serious fear of flying and the open ocean has hedged her appetite for travel for all of her thirty-two years. She is well respected as an operations consultant within the Americas Bureau at National Intelligence (AB/NI), and is close with the ABNI Operations Director Baron Desmoisnes and Vekllei’s first “Gregori Baby,” Tzipora \u0026ldquo;Zelda\u0026rdquo; Desmoisnes.\nShe’s known Baron, Tzipora’s father, for nigh twenty years. They met when she was eighteen, both as cadets in Vekllei’s combat intelligence programme. They dated for a few years before the requirements of intelligence work forced them apart. Baron was sent to South America for nearly a decade, and Ayn stayed behind in the Monitoring \u0026amp; Preparations Department where she published work in the classified journals about events relevant to ABNI. She was also an associate contributor to the “Import Strangle” theoretical model, which has proven successful at plotting the collapse of major U.S. employers (like U.S. Steel in 2065 and Chrysler in 2068) for use in Vekllei foreign policy.\nBaron and Ayn exemplify quiet, uncinematic mateship — people satiated by occasional company and mutual respect, satisfied by their intermittent time together. After Tzipora’s adoption, Baron, now approaching his forties, returned to work as a senior director for the Americas Bureau, and soon found himself in Ayn’s professional orbit. In doing so, he introduced a nervous young satellite called Tzipora to her.\nTzipora adores Ayn. Ayn is everything Tzipora wants to be. She is even-tempered but strong-willed, graceful but not girlish, fiercely intelligent but pleasantly social. Where Baron is a product of his years in America and is totally professionalised at home and at work, Ayn has enjoyed life in Vekllei and is well-rounded and sweet. It was a shock for Tzipora to see Baron and Ayn in a photograph from their cadetship. Baron straddled a motorcycle, and did not wear spectacles. He was well-built and rough-looking. Ayn was a slender Asian woman dressed in slacks and a sunhat. Ayn today looked very much similar. Baron, in his beard and white-speckled hair, looked like an entirely different person.\nTzipora and Ayn share a hardship in their infertility despite a desire to have children — Ayn suffered from endometriosis for many decades and is incapable of pregnancy. In all ways, Baron’s reluctant decision to adopt Tzipora was a wonderful blessing — it brought old friends closer together and gave Ayn a daughter. For Tzipora, whose memories of her biological mother were bittersweet and muddied with time, Ayn was a breath of womanhood and light-heartedness in a household that contained only a single hard-working middle-aged man and his teen-age daughter.\nSince Baron’s immediate family is dead, Tzipora is close with Ayn’s parents in the North of Vekllei and they’ve taken to her as a granddaughter. Although Ayn and Baron are not married, and may never marry (although Tzipora gauges his response at least once a year), their lives are so thoroughly entwined that it is not uncommon that Baron will return home to Ayn and Tzipora preparing dinner together. In fact, Ayn is the reason Tzipora is such a good cook. Love takes many forms, and Tzipora enjoys several of them.\nNormal programming will resume presently. Thanks for your patience everyone.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-14-ayn/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 647,
  "href": "/stories/bread/",
  "title": "I like bread",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/bread.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/bread_huce9f5bb0f11da6ba768e3413f69a26cd_480291_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "I have a research proposal due today, and since I\u0026rsquo;m pretending to still be a university student I suppose I\u0026rsquo;d better do it.\nI spend a lot of time thinking about what the hell I\u0026rsquo;m doing with my life, and after a while I get hungry. Banjos \u0026ndash; a very Australian name for a bakery chain \u0026ndash; satiates my existential hunger with two bacon and cheese pull-apart loaves for $10. I don\u0026rsquo;t know what that would be in American money. Probably like $6.80 or some bullshit because our exchange rate is absolutely not very fair dinkum at the moment.\nI suppose what I\u0026rsquo;m saying is I eat as lot of bread, and I appreciate you guys being here for it. I despise the idea of myself blogging but sometime I need an outlet.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-09-bread/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 648,
  "href": "/stories/foreign-legion/",
  "title": "The Face of War in the 21st Century",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/foreignlegion.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/foreignlegion_huc39e2d39c513ada45c6f672696db119a_432320_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is a story about Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s consumption and disposal of soldiers through her foreign fighting force. You can read more about the Vekllei army in these old posts 🔗here and 🔗here.\nThe Vekllei de ra Couismenan Desnepotet, or the Vekllei Foreign Army, is an exclusively foreign fighting force employed by the National War Bureau. It accepts any person between the ages of 18 and 35. After five years or being wounded, the soldier is granted Vekllei citizenship, making the Foreign Army one of the only guaranteed ways to secure citizenship in the country. Many thousands apply each year, but only a few hundred are chosen to enter training. Out of those hundred, almost all recruits have previous military experience, and many have spent time in conflict zones as mercenaries or special forces.\nA Vekllei soldier is called a “Macker,” or “Macka,” which is Vekllei slang for a tool or implement (with origins most likely in the useless colonial wars of a century ago), and the fighters of the Foreign Army share this name. Macker slang is called Mackanese, and serves as a colourful argot that distinguishes military people from the general population.\nThe Foreign Army recruits are given a very different style of training to those at home. Where Vekllei people are egalitarian, laconic, and suspicious of authority, foreign recruits are taught to reverently serve the Army as an institution and maintain their status as elite soldiers. Vekllei has no qualms about allowing women to enlist in its special forces, and they are treated the same as male soldiers. Their numbers remain low among the Foreign Army population, but those that succeed are very skilled soldiers.\nSoldiers of the Foreign Army are stationed abroad, and command areas of Vekllei political or economic interest. Almost eighty percent are stationed in the so-called “quadrilateral of poverty,” which has corners in Hong Kong, Darwin, Johannesburg, and Casablanca. Within this shape you’ll find the interests of the world’s powers, pushed to the brink following the collapse of oil and an extraordinarily expensive arms race for over a century.\nWhile on a mission, unless food is acquired by other means, mackers eat pills. They carry three kind of pills: vitamin and performance-enhancing supplements (usually amphetamines), water disenfectants, and growables. Growables are capsules that, when mixed with water, solidify into a sort of paste that mackers call \u0026lsquo;remen soup,\u0026rsquo; after the male prime minister of Vekllei (Vekllei has both a male and female head of state). Although they come in several flavours, they invariably have the texture of cold, watery gruel and are never eaten outside of missions.\nIn addition, all fighting folk of the Foreign Army carry \u0026ldquo;fucksticks,\u0026rdquo; a deliberately crude transliteration of \u0026ldquo;fox-sticks\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;explosive fox-hole diggers.” The firing end of a fuckstick is placed against asphalt, earth, or a wall, and after a short fuse it craters whatever is unfortunate enough to be on that end of it. In a grassy field, it will provide an emergency foxhole in otherwise flat earth. In an urban environment, it will allow entry through walls (and potentially bring the whole structure down). In the desert, it will produce a huge plume of sand that will obscure the soldier.\nMost spectacular of the fighting man\u0026rsquo;s equipment, which otherwise distinguishes today\u0026rsquo;s equipment from that of yesteryear, is the jump-belt. Up to ten propellent canisters feed two jets that enable an ordinary person of mild athletic ability to perform superhuman jumps. They are not jet-packs; indeed, jet-packs are dangerous, specialised equipment rarely used for combat operations. Instead, a tug of a rip-cord will allow an unencumbered soldier to jump several meters, or cross a gap of up to 30 feet. While in development, the jump-belt was imagined to revolutionise infantry combat; it would allow troops to leap into second-story windows or leap across rooftops. Perhaps, it was even theorised, that someday we might do away with parachutes altogether and use belts to land instead. In reality, the jump-belt is mostly used to cross open roads or avenues, or to escape incoming fire. They are enormously unwieldy, and inexperienced troops will almost always lose their balance. In the right hands, however, they have seen success in the battlefield.\nThe National War Bureau is not a naive organisation. Outwardly the Foreign Army are foremost a declaration of power, in the child\u0026rsquo;s masculine fantasy most warlike forces rely so heavily upon; recruits are told that they are beyond good and evil; that they do what needs to be done; that they are a vanguard in the face of the forever war. The iconography and legend of the Foreign Army relies so heavily upon the masculine and the mercenary for the same reasons that the reshaping of a person’s identity is an essential part of the recruitment process \u0026ndash; to submerge a decent person into the raw language of power, and disguise the iconography of hero-worship from its praxis as a totenkopf. In a global climate where consumption has ravaged the national and spiritual identity outside of Vekllei, and force is normalised and glorified, the foreign army is legitimised and made innocent for their vast crimes across the poverty quadrilateral.\nThey carry on, doing “what needs to be done”. It is only once they are broken and emptied by five years of indiscriminate violence, for undeclared reasons in an undeclared war, that they are shipped into Vekllei and find themselves too broken to assimilate into domestic society. So they reenlist; they are the eternal soldiers of a forever-war.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-08-war/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 649,
  "href": "/stories/fishing/",
  "title": "Tesmosnen, the Festival of Fasting",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fishing.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fishing_hue926c2ba2ca4fdc1dae6e30a6f326f00_387361_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In the quaint ocean country of Vekllei, during their years of fecundity and fun, the calendar is divided into twelve festivals of various celebration and purpose. They include the Festival of the Sea in October, which celebrates Vekllei’s vast fishing navy and concludes with the detonation of a nuclear weapon off Vekllei’s coast, to the Festival of the Moon in January, which is quiet and acknowledged only through personal ceremony and decorations.\nOne of the most important festivals in the country’s animistic spiritualism, called Upen, is the Festival of Fasting. It is not a traditional fast — you are permitted to eat as much as you like. Instead, the Tesmosnen festival asks participants to either reject meat or hunt it for the duration of the festival.\nAlthough by no means mandatory, during January you’ll begin to notice restaurants alter their menus and youth organisations train to hunt during the festival weeks. There is an important cultural reason that usurps the largely spiritual origins of the festival — fasting or killing forces you to acknowledge, as a consumer, the cycles of production and consumption at a most basic level. In Vekllei, which seeks a return to preindustrial lifestyles, modernisation largely abolishes the previously intimate relationship a common person had with agriculture.\nAs a mountainous island country, Vekllei must import the majority of its red meat, and shortages are common in rural areas. Although polls show that Vekllei prefers fish as its meat of choice, it is undeniable that consumption of red meat has increased tenfold over the last few decades.\nDuring the three weeks of the festival, Vekllei people, including older children, are encouraged to fish or hunt as personal recreation or through environmental organisations. The act of killing and cleaning better illustrates the servile relationship the Earth now has with voracious human appetite, and this relationship forms in part the total Upen worldview.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-07-festival/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 650,
  "href": "/stories/autokinetheodolite/",
  "title": "A Most Complex Machine, the Autokinotheodolite",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/autokinetheodolite.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/autokinetheodolite_hu0969c256b9969a38c707b50e3ee59056_430303_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Hey everyone, I drew this a little while back after getting back from Woomera, South Australia. Woomera\u0026rsquo;s a closed government town that tests missiles. Not my finest illustration, but it is what it is.\nDeep in the mountains around Montre, above a tangle of submerged forts and ballistic missile silos, there sits a Vekllei Rocketry Corps test facility called the Strawberry Site. From the peaks of the surrounding mountains, should you evade the helicopter patrols and dog teams, you can witness the next thirty years of missile technology unfolding before you.\nA variety of missiles, from ship-mounted seaslugs to satellite killers, are prepared and launched from the cold igneous valley. Occasionally, either to test antimissile lasers or flak, national news media are invited to witness the launch of an older declassified missile type and after which the broadcasts extoll the wonders of Vekllei missile technology.\nSpecial footage of all launches at Strawberry are captured using an odd device with a hefty name — the National Labs Autokinetheodolite. This machine is capable of recording high-velocity objects from very far away, and are used in civil supersonic aviation also. It sits atop a platform with the rest of the carefully-vetted news media, watching an anti-ship guided missile roar into life and sail in a graceful ark into the air.\nSince Vekllei is small, and highly populated, a special prohibited air corridor guides the missiles west of Montre and out into the North Vekllei Sea. The arctic seabed is littered with many prototypes of this kind, and is patrolled regularly by navy ships to discover enemy submersibles seeking to engage in deep-sea espionage.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-06-machine/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 651,
  "href": "/stories/fat-lip/",
  "title": "Big Mouth, Fat Lip",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fatlip.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fatlip_hu64495a5342932bfb429b78344c0facde_453493_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "For the first six months Baron had known her, Zelda was a serious and wisened young woman who carried symptoms of her troubled past as gracefully as anyone ever could. Poverty ages a person, and she’d nurtured a calm and dispirited disposition. She did not like war films or books with unhappy endings, or loud noises or arguments. She dressed conservatively and spoke quietly and uncontroversially. She had lived a lifetime already, working in exploitation in motels and supermarkets, watching as Utah unraveled around her. She was an immigrant and uneducated, homeless and independent, and so by the time she arrived in Vekllei she was ready to settle down and live quietly.\nWatching her psyche attempt to reconcile her sombre nature with her desire to be normal and socialise with people her own age was heartbreaking. She had this pathetic, mythical idea of normal girlish life, and it took her a long time to figure out that teen-age life worked differently from films. She had a group of people she hung around, but always on the periphery. She was blatantly disposable and socially innocent, and so she carried on pretending she could somehow rework her own image into the mythologised Coca-Cola teen dream she’d clung to since California.\nEventually, the idea fell apart. Where she was mousy and pitiful as a school-girl, as Zelda she was uncompromising and principled. As bullying got worse, and her school friends came to resent the parasitic relationship she\u0026rsquo;d worked her way into, things eventually came to a head and the whole thing came crashing down. She got beat up pretty bad, and ruined a new school shirt, but Zelda had fought tougher creatures than Vekllei schoolgirls and she was suspended for the rest of the semester.\nEventually, Zelda would figure out that she never really needed or wanted the sort of bubbly teen-age friends she’d imagined. Zelda was, after all, not that bubbly or teen-age. Throughout her life, her closest friends were always those that required nothing and gave her space. That was how she liked to be; loved and shown affection, but left to her own devices.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-05-fat-lip/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 652,
  "href": "/stories/railway/",
  "title": "The Mountain Railway",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/railway.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/railway_hu7553e78fafe28b766b40ff173e08eec8_523830_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Many dozens of little trains wind their way around mountain peaks in the centre of Vekllei. They stop at upland villages and towns of sometimes only a few dozen people, before consolidating into larger terminuses that connect nearly every village in Vekllei by rail. It is possible, should the timetables align, that you can reach 🔗the capital from any part of the country in under 2 hours.\nThis sprawling rail network is ubiquitous with the Vekllei landscape, where images of simple agricultural life coincide with a train or tram. They are among the most beloved services of Vekllei society, from the vehicles themselves to the people that run them. Almost every precious memory and significant occasion of Vekllei life is preceded by a trip on the train.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve posted another painting of 🔗Vekllei trains here. I\u0026rsquo;ve also illustrated the 🔗uniforms of Vekllei rail staff.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-04-railway/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 653,
  "href": "/stories/an-introduction/",
  "title": "A Brief Introduction to Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/lola.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/lola_hu98c501638a9cd9dc51b3d0393fb6e0c6_845293_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Editor\u0026rsquo;s note: this article, while ready for reading, is still under construction.\nConsidering both the length and convoluted terminology that embroil this project, there was only so long I could carry on before people started getting lost. The truth of it is that Vekllei is not a particularly complex or difficult project to summarise, despite the snapshot \u0026ldquo;lore in scenes\u0026rdquo; approach that kneecaps a complete understanding. I\u0026rsquo;m just lazy.\nIn fact, Vekllei is not a particularly challenging idea. It is unique, but some days that\u0026rsquo;s about all it has going for it. The word itself — Vekllei — refers to both the landscape and the people of an island we know as Iceland. This project looks at that country and its people across a span of about fifty years, mostly between 2070 and 2120. As an alt-history, timelines diverge between our world and theirs in the 1940s, although Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s history is much older.\nVekllei is utopia, but Vekllei is not perfect. It is constructed under a framework of utopie concrète, where dreamlike landscapes and characters collide with the dirt and dysfunction of reality. To some people, the contradictions and imperfection of Vekllei society would disqualify it as utopia, especially in an orthodox understanding of the idea, but Western cultural orthodoxy is not the metric used by a Vekllei person.\nVekllei people instead use Vekllei cultural metrics, and to a Vekllei person it is the patina of things — its imperfections and tragedy — that recognise the beauty in life itself, as markers of both existence and usefulness. This cultural intuition is a central tenant of Upen, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s nondenominational animism and universal spirituality.\nSimultaneously, Vekllei is undeniably heavenly. It is a gorgeous country of spiritual satisfaction and earnest friendship. Your first day in Vekllei is a dizzying spiritual experience. The weight of the world seems to shift, and then rise off your shoulders. Colour and vitality disentangle themselves from injustice and consumption and pivot to meet you. Food is good and free, strangers are friendly and bursting with lively purposefulness.\nVekllei understands itself as a city-state. This colours a lot of how Vekllei people think of themselves. In practice, there are many distinct \u0026lsquo;cities\u0026rsquo; — the Capital, Little Vekllei, Copette, Ro, Montre and Adouisneh are the largest of them — but they are not recognised as such or federated in Vekllei geographic lexicon. Vekllei is a single continuous neighbourhood, circling nearly the entire coast of their island. Vekllei is also the land on which they sit, which predates the country by millions of years and informs many principles of Upen, which go on to manifest in public policy.\nVekllei cities are almost entirely built according to a single architectural school, Newda, which manifests in many different ways but is almost always obviously a flavour of midcentury modernism. Water and concrete define Vekllei cities.\nThe Vekllei flag is an unornamented purplish red, known as the \u0026lsquo;Domestic Standard\u0026rsquo;. Internationally, they employ a highly decorated flag called the \u0026lsquo;International Standard,\u0026rsquo; which features both the Oa national flower (and omnipresent symbol in every corner of society) and Vekllei logographic script, called Topet.\nVekllei has five language systems, which contribute to the single national language \u0026ndash; also called Vekllei. There is spoken Vekllei, Topet (logographic Vekllei script), Rapotenne (name-script), Vekllei semaphore, and Potenne (hand-talk) or Upotenne (spirit-hand-talk). Potenne is a sign language used with or in place of speech, and Upotenne is a way of manifesting physical runes specifically.\nVekllei cities are very colourful, because colour has great meaning. You can construct sentences using only colour and shapes through Vekllei semaphore.\nThis sort of lifestyle is possible because of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s abolishment of work, commodity and consumption. In the case of Vekllei, this means that people do not use money and work only for personal benefit, as both ways of actualising themselves and keeping useful or socialising. Not all work is equally difficult or interesting, but everyone must work in fairness. For some, that means as little as a few hours a week copy-editing neighbourhood newsletters. For others, they may work weeks without days off. The consequence of this is that value and products are valueless in any real sense, as post-scarcity relegates the functioning Vekllei economy to autonomous overproduction and waste.\nThe question of why people work is not an especially difficult one. In Vekllei, where money has not existed for a long time and generations are raised without it, basic premises of motivation have been reconsidered. Life in Vekllei is mostly a largely individual march towards actualisation, through several avenues of pleasure. There is the enjoyment of food and culture, the intimacy of love and marriage, the heritage in family and blood, and the power of work and professional legacy. Only a handful of these contribute to the pleasure of work, but in a society that has mostly done away with menial work through automation and advanced robotics, pleasure is mostly what you make of it. In Vekllei, this is called Product Socialism, an inaccurate nominer that describes both the bureau system of work and distribution and Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s fundamental syndicalism. In politics, it is called Sundress Municipalism.\nThe quality of life for almost any other person in today\u0026rsquo;s world, however, has declined slowly by nearly any metric. People are, on average, poorer and hungrier than they were fifty years ago. Various contradictions — in startling contrast to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s own schisms — have left previously dignified superpowers in disorienting cycles of bloodshed and madness. In the U.S., a large number of confederate states have reasserted their sovereignty following the collapse of the Ford Motor Company and the Northrop corporation. Cultural reforms in Red China have left vast wings of the CCP disatissfied with current leadership, with whispers of a coup. Western Europe has rediscovered her reactionary heritage and indulged in a serious of increasingly authoritarian traditionalist movements, and the export economy of the Soviet Union has collapsed after the shift towards atomic fuels. Vekllei rejects millions of applications for asylum each year.\nThe circumstance of the world is only made more tragic by the relative peace and stability of Vekllei, and the simplicity and carefree lifestyle of the average Vekllei person. Vekllei has the most flowers per capita of any country in the world. The last fifty years has seen the melting of much of the poles and the the introduction of el nino summers and instant winters that wrack Germany, Austria, Italy, and much of temperate Europe. The Adriatic seems to see more gloom than mediterranean sun these days. The equatorial deserts of the world, Nevada included, are mere degrees away from unsurvivable. With temperatures frequently breaking 50C (125F) throughout the year, it thins the population of Southerners too old or too poor to avoid the heat. North Africa is a husk. There is no water and no food. There is a reason there are mass graves all across the shores of the Black Sea, and why Europe tastes the boot. There is a reason the southern African states are crumbling.\nIn Vekllei, with her extreme daylight cycles and polar latitude, the weather has improved significantly. Summers are warm enough to host outdoor activities for much of the season and winters are milder than previously, rarely dropping below freezing. Vekllei life, in its insular fashion, has been somewhat improved by the destabilisation of the climate. Lush temperate rainforests cover much of its lowlying basins, and rich volcanic soils spoil agricultural endevour in the warm seasons.\nVekllei\u0026rsquo;s current prosperity has enabled the country to embark on her final project. The benefits of industrialisation and contemporary post-scarcity are employed in a serious effort to reestablish localised, agrarian life built upon the unit of the community.\nVekllei understands the the achievements of industry as a liberationist tool to return to preindustrial, satisfying life. It is not as though the country will abolish three centuries of tremendous progress — quite the contrary, in fact. But understood through petticoat ideology, the marriage of labour and the ordinary person can only occur through self-satisfying, personal work. This is in contrast, one can suppose, to mechanised, industrial labour to which we owe our enormous wealth. To a Vekllei person, work is social, productive, creative and satisfying. The simple pleasures of agriculture; specialised craftsman and tradesman; artistry — these are the fruits only of a society that can afford them, since they necessitate the deindustrialisation of agriculture, factory manufacturing and mass media simultaneously.\nSo even though Vekllei is by all measures an industrial society; a land of helijets and plenty; the people of this country see automation as the deindustrialisation of society, at least culturally — a return to community employment, decentralised agriculture and tending of the land.\nVekllei is a fundamentally female country. This is what petticoat society means. There are plenty of men in it, and quite distinct social constructs for men and women exist in a way that distinguishes the country from traditional progressive projects, but the feminisation of the economy and politics remains. Vekllei economic gender theory understands masculinity as first and foremost a value to be consumed in industrial society, in a perverse sort of value exchange. Men are first commodified and then broken through work, killed in wars, are suffocated emotionally, and so forth. The very premise of manhood, as the 1950s understands it (which this world is very much immersed in) is not just a biological or social construct, but an economic one. As Vekllei progresses, and erases these identifiers of masculinity, men will become female first in an economic sense (in a process called economic feminisation), and will eventually become females socially also. These are gender constructs that are essentially still prescribed by traditional Vekllei values, but are tied to the deindustrialisation of the country. The perfect Vekllei society is one in which the man dies with the machine.\nAlthough Vekllei is not a traditional egalitarian experiment, and is often a land of absurd contradiction in Western political tradition, Vekllei women enjoy a society built for them. Womanhood in the country is not defined by commodity or appearance, but by ideas the culture associates with womanhood — compassion, bravery, intelligence, grace, etc. They are defined not by their relationships or their economic circumstance, but by their friends, political opinions, ability, etc. The decommodification of society has also decommodified womanhood. Vekllei is not simply a good place to be a woman, but is in fact a female country.\nFinally, you might have notices a certain set of recurring characters. The girl with short dark hair is Tzipora Desmoines, the character of utopia in this project. Her adoptive father, Baron, is bearded and wears half-framed spectacles. Her friend, Cobian, wears round spectacles and her hair in a ponytail. Their mutual friend, Moise, is heavy-set and has curly hair. Together, they represent a broad demographic of Vekllei people. Baron is descended from Nordic caucasians; vikings from Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s initial settlement. Tzipora and Cobian are descended from both inuits and Scandinavians, in the population explosion that followed Inuit settlement in the Danish territory. Moise is descended from Greek immigrants in the tide of immigration that followed the immediate postwar era. Although there are Vekllei people of colour, they make up a minority of the population.\nHopefully, this guide has helped to introduce you to the world in which Vekllei is situatated. I\u0026rsquo;m likely to expand in the coming days on this section, so stay tuned.\nIt is a world of nuclear power, gingham and moon colonisation wrapped in the aesthetic of the 50s/60s. There\u0026rsquo;s a lot of poverty and suffering in it, but also tremendous hope. Vekllei is utopia.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-03-an-introduction/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 654,
  "href": "/stories/shadow/",
  "title": "Lighter Than Her Shadow",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/shadow.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/shadow_hua0a4cac02684db3dfa82fd7ffac959c1_522334_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Zelda, for all her outward timidity and mousiness, was mostly self-assured. In the same way that a child is self-assured, in which there is no real epistemology of the self as adults know it. Zelda never grew up to become a real teen-ager, after all — her body is forever thirteen-and-a-half, despite her mature and maternal disposition — and so she had a reckless sort of confidence that never really doubted the premise of her existence.\nShe did have many weaknesses, however, and she was very conscious of them. They were almost too many to count. The biggest of them, aside from her blatant neurodivergences, was her inability to keep weight on. In her first few months in Vekllei, her skinny frame was symptomatic of her malnourishment in the States. Then, as she struggled to stay above thirty kilos, it became a question of eating habits. Finally, the question was asked — did she have some sort of problem, here? And if so, was it something to do with Gregori syndrome, the comfortable answer? Or was it something more complex — perhaps an eating disorder?\nAside from her small portions, she did not indicate much in common with other girls her age who struggled with image. In fact, much of physical self-loathing was directed at her thinness, which only emphasised her childish lack of figure and breastlessness. The only times Zelda ever cried over a mirror was when she saw her own scrawny frame that a healthy diet should have been able to remedy. Yet even when she pushed herself, and choked down a second serving, it seemed to hardly make a difference. It was a cycle that would haunt her for a long time, until the age when Gregori women must learn to accept their girlishness in place of traditional ideas of beauty.\nWhatever the case may have been, Zelda has never weighed more than forty kilos except in a winter coat, and she can still count her ribs in bath. What has changed — in a most wonderful way that alleviates much of her suffering — is her ability to love herself, and understand the limitations of her condition. Considering the fact that she has done so much, and despite her childlessness has mothered many boys and girls to adulthood, priorities shift and the importance of beauty fades. She spends more time today being the best Zelda she can be rather than worrying about her image. After all, image is a loser’s game in the life of a Gregori baby. Happiness is only ever found within.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-03-shadow/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 655,
  "href": "/stories/valley-of-faith-and-sorrow/",
  "title": "The Valley of Faith and Sorrow",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/valley.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/valley_huee18a3526fbd8e176de02c6ced7770d2_485789_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " On her days off from her place of work in the village library, Zelda would descend the slope of the village into a great basin of creeks and flower-tundra. In the summer, when it was warm enough to sit in the sun, you could sit at one end of the valley and admire the wind rushing to meet you as it whipped through fields of flowers. For a few moments you could admire yourself for what you were — a small being in a landscape as old as the Earth. It put certain things in perspective. Some people needed to go out and look for a place that would finally make everything make sense. But, Zelda thought, sometimes you could reach the corners of the Earth and still stay where you are.\nThere is no greater struggle in a Vekllei person’s life than that with themselves. Work, like recreation and indeed like consumption itself, is social in this country. Most ordinary material whims of a person can be satisfied in a matter of hours, depending on the nearest station’s timetable. A handful of dreams are also accessible — a trip to the moon, for instance, is a matter of writing the Moon Office and waiting to receive tickets.\nWithout money, there is not much by way of commodity. And without commodity, the premises of life and identity have to be interrogated. A cultural intuition that hasn’t been seen in developed countries since before the industrial revolution has reawakened, and with it come uneasy existential questions.\nWhat are we doing here, on this planet? What am I doing here? How do I come to terms with the fact that everything is either moving away from or moving towards nothingness?\nWhere the pit of material desire sits in other nationalities, the Vekllei person has a great deal of social anxiety. This phenomenon has only become more severe now that recovery from the Great Atomic War is nearly complete and Vekllei’s security in the world is mostly assured. Life for most people now engages with their immediate surrounds — family, community, and love.\nWhile any combinations of these things can actualise a person, and even rehabilitate the directionless, it doesn’t work out like that for everyone. Family bonds often sever; communities can be transitory; love is elusive. Even with these things, the question of purpose is more pertinent than ever before, as the whole world approaches a reality without human labour. Just what is it that makes life worth living?\nThis explains, in part, why Vekllei people may not be much happier for all their enormous collective wealth. Despite the richness of their culture, optimism for their future and satisfaction with their conditions, none of these things properly emancipate the heart of utopia from its existential question — is it possible to automate humanity right out of humans?\nWhen Vekllei people meet that golden horizon, and cross that rubicon, what waits for human intuition on the other side? Will it be endless days of poolsides and dinner parties? Or will it destroy the soul of our animalistic origins — leaving us desperate for value as useful people, and our purpose in work? Whatever the case may be, Vekllei is rapidly approaching it.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-02-valley/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 656,
  "href": "/stories/squish/",
  "title": "Squish!",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/squish.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/squish_hu8670e3f5e7b6f26e1149b1847601b743_422181_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Sorry for breaking my streak everyone, I\u0026rsquo;m on beta software and it totally shit the bed these last couple days. I\u0026rsquo;ll be doing my best to hobble along until full release :)\nTzipora is easily squished. In this picture Moise would be around 16, Cobian 15, and Tzipora about 18.\nMoise has lost a lot of weight and has been blessed with a hefty frame befitting his temperament. Tzipora \u0026rsquo;s tastes in clothes are specific and mostly unchanging, except for a brief phase a few years after her arrival where she started poaching neckties for her own use. Cobian is conscious of and struggles with the fact that she is not particularly photogenic.\n",
  "date": "2019-09-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-09-01-squish/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 657,
  "href": "/stories/helijet/",
  "title": "The Noble Helijet",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/helijet.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/helijet_hu3fd9bb67509cf4bd0e0a7f03959fff84_320526_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Fourteen girls from the 23rd Chapel Explorer’s Club and two of their supervisors have been airlifted to safety after heavy rains overran the banks of the Rumoisen rivulet. The girls, aged between 10 and 16, found themselves stranded on the southern face of Mt Resner for three nights after the single bridge to the area’s trails was washed away in Thursday’s storm.\nClear skies Saturday allowed air rescue services from Montre to reinforce the tiny Rumoisen Village fire brigade, and by Sunday morning a mammoth rescue operation involving two 45th Brigade helijets and several rescue teams brought Rumoisen’s girls home to safety.\n“Unfortunately, the risk of flash storms in early June is quite high, and are difficult to plan around,” Rumoisen Brigade Chief Toumisian de Angelo told press. “Always consult forecasts before embarking. We’re very relieved to have got everyone out safely.”\nThe Chief of the 23rd Chapel Explorer’s Club announced Sunday that a wreath would be presented to their heroes.\nHelijets are the backbone of Vekllei’s domestic air fleet. Not only are they employed in broad capacities for work, but also form a fleet of ‘air busses’ for public transport in Vekllei’s three largest districts: the Capital, Montre, and Copette. They depart from the roofs of large buildings, usually offices or department stores, and shuttle passengers to express destinations like airports or cosmodromes.\nThey come in many forms and are manufactured by several companies in Vekllei, including the famous Ramoin-Dupont Aircraft Company and Vekllei National Aerocraft Factories, but most usually maintain flight through multiple turbojets attached to their sides and are propulsed by horizontal turbojets atop the stabilisers. By 2070, almost all are nuclear and use similar sunburst-style direct-air-cooled reactors found in Vekllei’s nuclear fighters.\nThe ones pictured here are Fire Jets, used usually for personnel transport and rescue operations, but can also be fitted with large water tanks for fighting bush and chemical fires.\nAlthough rotors are still used on some aircraft, most of the world has decided helijets are the future, and Vekllei, hardly coy around glamorous technologies, has followed suit.\n",
  "date": "2019-08-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-08-28-helijet/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 658,
  "href": "/stories/vna/",
  "title": "Sweat and Ink in the Vekllei News Agency",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/vna.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/vna_hu789af5602b0564dea21bcf1e67237882_474412_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Tanny was twenty-five and as colourful as her flaming red hair implied. She was a once-in-a-generation editor, the kind of person who absorbed grammar rules on magical wavelengths beyond mortal comprehension and proceeded to violently enforce them. This was compounded by the Vekllei language, with 🔗its sublanguages and logography, leading to daily shouting matches in The Atlantic’s newsroom over sentence structure and colour as language. Although only a copy editor, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that she would be head honcho one day. Already, in her youth, she wilted senior correspondents — middle-aged men — with her expressions of contempt as she thumbed her way through their drafts, licking her finger on every other page.\nThe Vekllei News Agency is the bureau of the nation’s premier broadcaster and newspaper of record, and includes several companies you may already be familiar with, like the Vekllei Broadcasting Company and The Atlantic daily broadsheet. In Vekllei, a bureau is an organisation made up of the largest trade unions of the country, and is usually somewhat beholden to national direction and public interest. Many different companies can operate under a bureau, but at least outwardly the Agency is Vekllei’s singular national “public broadcaster and press”.\nThe Agency is one of Vekllei’s largest institutions and operates as a core pillar of Vekllei culture, as it publishes all matter of media material, from magazines to children’s programming. Television is popular in Vekllei, but as a particularly social country cinemas remain the most popular places to find newsreels, and documentaries are shown nationwide daily at six in the evening.\nVekllei has an endless supply of eager journalism students looking to report from abroad, and has consolidated news bureaus in almost every major city across the world, from Brisbane to Bogota. A special few go on to become war correspondents and foreign investigators, usually after receiving military training in mandatory service. Vekllei’s largest camera manufacturer, FilmFoto, produces specialised equipment for her news services that include gyroscope-mounted film cameras and portable audio equipment. Every Vekllei journalist carries a card guaranteeing them medical care across the globe.\nThe Agency’s iconic “children’s blocks” logo has been in use since 2030, and is often simplified into three red squares without Vekllei characters. It is animated playfully to suit programming.\nVekllei is also home to the International Federation of Journalists, who maintain a headquarters in her Publishing District.\nWith nearly two dozen daily broadsheets, six news studios and countless independent rags, Vekllei enjoys a colourful and noisy media landscape that is suspended between the worlds of old and new, in a way that reflects the Vekllei as a whole.\n",
  "date": "2019-08-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-08-27-vna/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 659,
  "href": "/stories/moise/",
  "title": "Introducing Moise",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/introducingmoise.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/introducingmoise_hu94ae9b290253e5dd42a68168950facb7_398356_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Moise was a fat kid who went to another school. Zelda only knew him from the tram, where he carried a criminal stigma because of his rumoured gang affiliations. He was a second-generation Vekllei boy of immigrant Greek heritage. There were a few ethnic gangs in his area, and most immigrant boys that didn’t do well in school quickly found other causes to fight for.\nZelda quickly antagonised the boy by offering him to her own bullies. She would point out his weight and he’d point out her clumsy Vekllei language skills and apparent lack of intelligence commonly attributed to foreigners, and so the arms race began.\nBullying did not come naturally to either of them, since they were on the receiving end most of the time and were not particularly manipulative. She would tell Moise he stunk, he would say she was skeletal and unattractive, and they’d seethe about each other that evening. She would make fun of him for eating a chocolate on the tram, and he stole a hairclip and wouldn’t give it back.\nOne day she was walking behind him after alighting the tram and had set to whacking him with her bookbag, demanding the return of her red pencil. She kept pushing him. In a fit of anger he slammed her against a garage door repeatedly, where her head bounced against the corrugated steel and nearly knocked her out. He left her incapacitated on the pavement, and fled.\nHe buzzed her apartment the following evening after school, seeking to apologise. She weighed her own crimes against his attack, using unique Zelda metrics that gauged physical and emotional violence somewhat improportionately. She accepted his apology.\nThus began the kind of awkward and unconventional friendship that Zelda seemed to attract. With entrepreneurial zeal she rarely displayed, she struck a deal with Moise — he would teach her to fight, and she would help him lose weight. He did not have much experience talking to girls, which was both revealing and endearing, but it helped that Zelda was socially maladjusted and not particularly girlish. On weekends he would take her to the nearest park, they’d lay out a blanket, remove their shoes, and he’d show her how to use a bigger opponent’s weight against them. During the week, she’d meet him at the tram station and they’d go for long walks until he was red and puffing. Zelda liked making food, which seemed to be the one thing she was good at, and soon after began preparing his school lunches, which she’d pass surreptitiously on the morning tram.\nAlthough they grew close, they both recognised her condition would make any romantic relationship inappropriate and so they remained each other’s quiet soulmates as he went on to film school and married. Moise’s wife, an incredibly patient woman of enormous spiritual strength, would soon learn to tolerate Zelda’s presence at their life occasions. Although Zelda would often think about what might have been if she’d only been normal, they remained close for the rest of his life and she would remain a close family member and guardian of his children for decades after his passing.\n",
  "date": "2019-08-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-08-25-introducing-moise/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 660,
  "href": "/stories/regent/",
  "title": "The Teeth Regents",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/regent.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/regent_hu2a437d119e6422b38671444692739385_514633_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "From the notebook of Tzipora:\nTotal hedonism across a thousand generations produced the creature known as the ‘tooth regent’, who was a human by technicality but was built genetically only for consuming. His name was Arhen CIII, and where his ancestors had mouths, he had a thousand teeth that sat in messy rows to the back of his throat.\nThree times a day his mouth had to be washed by palace maidens, and excess teeth brushed off. At night, as he slept, the teeth would grow back and occasionally sprout from his cheeks and chin.\nHe was one of the most powerful men in all of Zen, the land of gem deserts and magic, and tales of his brutality echoed among the large cities of the subcontinent. His jaws were mounted in his face like hunting traps, and upon bad news he would order the messenger’s hand to be placed in his mouth. That would clamp shut, the poor soul would scream, and minced meat would be spat out by the regent.\nFor a man built for consumption, luxury became lust. Like his father and his father’s father, he quickly became the richest oligarch of the Zo peninsula, acquiring old magic, artefacts, estates and fine foods like a glutton piles supper on a plate. It was not possession that motivated him, but acquisition and consumption, destroying hedonistically objects that might lift a thousand from poverty or heal the sick. The simple biological impulses of a human were so primitive compared to Arhen, who satisfied his genetics with an insatiable lust for growth and purchase. Over and over, the cycle would continue…\nIn some ways, he was on his way to becoming a Palace God, in which the essence of his family dynasty was being rewritten to a higher place of purpose. But where the Palace Gods derive their powers from superstition and traditions, the Arhen bloodline cultivate godhood through industry and commodity subsumption of the orgasm.\nArhen’s greed, or rather, his purpose, was only satisfied by the acquisition and consumption of one invaluable product — himself. He mortgaged his soul into his estate, through the aid of a spirit-banker, and set to work.\nThe maidens recall hearing only snorts and ecstatic screeches from his room for days. It was not uncommon for the regent to snort — his airways were severely deformed by his posthumanism — but it soon seemed to replace his loud breathing altogether, as though he were talking to himself in pig. This went on for a week.\nFinally, on the eve of the new Zen calendar, his favourite maiden dared enter. She was called Zamen, and being a strong-willed woman, had attracted some level of respect from the otherwise inhuman Ahren. She found the bedroom empty, except for a pair of fine shoes and a small pile of teeth. It was suddenly clear to her what had happened — finally, the prince had completed his cycle and consumed himself. His father had cycled out the same way.\nThat day ushered in the regency of Ahren CIV, and the cycle of consumption would begin anew.\n",
  "date": "2019-08-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-08-23-teeth-regent/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 661,
  "href": "/stories/vigilant/",
  "title": "Zelda, the Vigilant",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/vigilante.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/vigilante_hucb29094c911801ff09e52f94597f6ff8_438321_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "I should start work on the graphic novel\n",
  "date": "2019-08-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-08-23-vigilante/","/posts/2019-08-23-vigilant/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 662,
  "href": "/stories/police-cruiser/",
  "title": "Neighbourhood Cruiser",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/policecruiser.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/policecruiser_hu9f2fce156b7a313f27a81d45fcd6a491_359109_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The foundations of a Vekllei neighbourhood, repeated so often to foreigners and children, is the community — a group of people larger than a family but small enough to have valuable social bonds through work and shared spaces. In a society without currency, value is almost entirely derived from your immediate surrounds.\nMunicipal police, as distinct from Venrouiva police, appear in many different roles in Vekllei communities. There are officers as we’d understand them, but there are also many employees of the municipal police that deal exclusively with social work, mental health and substance dependency. These social workers, while employed by a neighbourhood police department, are not actually police officers and do not have the ability to detain people.\nAll constables ride in cars built like European cruisers but styled like American ones, with many lights and an obvious presence on Vekllei’s empty roads. All of them are electric, but 🔗motorcycles still use combustion engines. The type of car used varies between municipalities, but the markings are the same.\nThis is more of a concept sketch than anything, I\u0026rsquo;m just refining how I think it should look. Feedback appreciated, as always!\n",
  "date": "2019-08-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-08-22-cruiser/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 663,
  "href": "/stories/peace/",
  "title": "At peace, in dark",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/peace.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/peace_hu5894435b87d22e36bf6f6347d6f7c421_379963_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Zelda liked to sleep beside someone, which made her feel safe and loved, but she never had many friends and she hadn’t a mother to share a bed with. And, despite her enthusiasm, she was not very easy to sleep beside. She was prone to jerking movements and night terrors, and alternated between pushing her partner to the periphery and then clutching them in comfort. Like so much of who she was, she was caught between contradictory aesthetics and ideas — at home she might sleep in days-old clothes or underwear, but at Cobian’s house she wore a neat nightdress that emphasised her simple middle-class tastes. Poverty and nouveau riche, rude and sweet, boyish and cute. Her eternal schisms were put aside in sleep, where only the lithe ghost of her childhood remained, breathing quietly.\n",
  "date": "2019-08-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-08-21-peace/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 664,
  "href": "/stories/supermarket/",
  "title": "Supermarkets in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/supermarket.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/supermarket_hubcec3fe9eeef5bc9cabb724e2f34d0af_381926_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In Vekllei, the economy is a social organ that lingers awkwardly between cultural and political interests. On one hand, the country is regressing (both politically and culturally) towards deindustrialised, decommodified life. On the other, it is irreversibly equipped with the benefits of automation and robotics, rendering large swathes of the labour-force obsolete. Work is now, for most purposes, a creative organ that facilitates society, culture and technology. This has led to a society not unlike most planned economies, in which employment is both essential and unnecessary, leading to vast wastage and consumption at scales a market would see as horrifically inefficient but in Vekllei is understood as an enormous social benefit. Some people must still work — so everyone must work in fairness. In Vekllei, employment is casual and often unrecorded except by the syndicates, as per the foundations of Sundress Municipalism. As long as you are working, studying or otherwise justifying a life in Vekllei (raising your children or training for competitions, perhaps), then you’ll be left alone to do what you like.\nSince everyone must work, there are many archaic jobs in Vekllei, especially for those still figuring out what they want to do with their lives. The supermarket now rules across most of the world, but in Vekllei there are only a handful of chains with few stores, simply because the provincial self-interest of Sundress Municipalism is sympathetic to individual stores populated by a community, rather than chains. The corner grocer is king.\nSince these supermarkets are often built in imitation of the west, and are remarkably un-Vekllei, the largest three chains are illustrated above for your benefit.\nComen Grocer is the only pre-Atomic War supermarket company in Vekllei, and offers mostly special-interest or foreign products. It actually operates under the same retail bureau that runs the Farmer’s Syndicate, but is independent. It is run by a board of representatives from each store, whom are elected. Roman here has platinum hair and is a good example of an ethnically Scandinavian Vekllei person, who has descendants dating back to the 11th century.\nJoyloaf operates in the Lola district of Vekllei’s capital, and is a popular day job for artistic young women who otherwise do not have the means or time to socialise with people their own age. It started as a bakery in 2064 but has since grown to stock many different kinds of foods. It is quite fashionable in Lola, and appears in cultural material originating from that district (as seen in several comics and films). Tzipora has dark hair and a round face, but blue eyes and fair skin. She is a descendent of both Inuits and Scandinavians, making her a member of the second-largest ethnic group in Vekllei.\nThe Farmer’s Syndicate is both a name and a description of Vekllei’s venrouive food retail arm, which means that it is beholden to the direction of the country and would be the organisation called upon to provide rations in the event of war. It is a collective of agricultural villages and organisations and operates as a distributor of these products directly. It almost exclusively stocks Vekllei products, as well as “items of cultural significance” that are traditionally eaten in ceremony and ritual, but are otherwise most popular with Vekllei’s elderly population. The Farmer’s Syndicate is the largest supermarket chain in Vekllei, but very few of its stores are actually supermarkets — many individual grocers senrouive business operate under the Syndicate’s structure, but often do not brand themselves as such.\nSupermarkets are fundamentally a novelty in Vekllei, which has a vibrant cafe reputation and in which most food prepared at home is grown locally. Food production is a very important part of Vekllei culture and Upen, and the desacralising effect of chains are symptoms of an industrial, globalised society. This is an unattractive proposition to a country rapidly approaching isolationist pre-industry, in which the cycles of production and consumption are both visible and important.\n",
  "date": "2019-08-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-08-19-supermarket/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 665,
  "href": "/stories/puffin-logic/",
  "title": "Puffin Logic",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/puffinlogic.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/puffinlogic_hu0f1eb5468f9cfa956742298c34900abf_339384_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "i\u0026rsquo;m like that Ben Folds song about escaping your redneck past but instead of redneck it\u0026rsquo;s anime. who stands like this???\n🔗Time-lapse here.\n",
  "date": "2019-08-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-08-18-puffin/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 666,
  "href": "/stories/cherry/",
  "title": "The Cherry Car",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/cherry.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/cherry_hu399b2af6a906bf0b97a4dfaa9ac07e3b_447278_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "A road trip around Vekllei in the summer is an experience that makes life worth living. In some ways, it is a spiritual detox than reinvigorates a person with the intimate, elusive premise of the Vekllei spiritual enlightenment. In others, it is a way of returning to the earth, and understanding the human place in the principles of Upen.\nNo matter your intention, be it holiday or rediscovery, the very best of Vekllei is on display. Liberated of the desacralising effect of routine, the villages and factories you’ll zoom past take on new and extraordinary light. Removed from it, you see better how society works. The complex web of logistics, from roaring trains on adjacent rail lines to squinting at a passing nuclear flying wing through the sun roof, are now aesthetic indications of petticoat society.\nThe All-Atomic Auto Company betrays its name instantly by not offering a single reactor-powered vehicle in its entire catalogue. Indeed, commercial reactors are so heavy that they are only realistically mounted in truck frames, even in Vekllei’s insensitivity to cost. You simply cannot fit a fission reactor into a small auto. At least, not yet. In fact, in countries where costs are concern, it is feasible that reactor technology as we currently understand it will never be economical in the frame of a small auto.\nThe AAAC is actually an industrial concern of several Vekllei venrouive bureaus negotiating commercial atomics with the future. These include famous companies like General Reactor, which are at the forefront of global reactor technology and compete directly with Raytheon, and Common Battery. Several lesser known, unglamorous companies also contribute to the cooperative concern. Astrotransmissions supply transmissions and Montre-Rayon Foundry provide composite steels. The AAAC has an internal design house, but most of its staff are poached from appliance manufacturers.\nThe result are a series of small, playful cars with colourful paints and a friendly look. They’re sleek and fun without being toylike, and recall remarkable household appliance designs like Fettener Kettles or Vekllei Supernational television sets. Although AAAC autos are not yet atomic, they are almost entirely electric and fueled by Vekllei’s atomic and geothermal plants, legitimising the concern’s name partially.\nThe flagship of AAAC is the Cherry, the first mass-market vehicle the company has brought to international market. Several stereotypical errors were made introducing it to the non-Vekllei world, including the unusual name and even more unusual tagline — “The Future Car for an Eternal Summer.” In Vekllei, summer is a feminine, fragrant season of warmth and rebirth. The way it was transliterated makes it seem like a reference to the world’s 🔗rapidly destabilising climate and ecosystem, which is inching the globe towards economic collapse.\nThe car was a flop in the States, but saw moderate success in Europe. In Vekllei, it is one of the most common cars you’ll find in autopools today and is a favourite among road-trippers circumnavigating Vekllei’s diverse coast.\n",
  "date": "2019-08-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-08-17-cherry/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 667,
  "href": "/stories/station-dog/",
  "title": "The People of Vekllei’s Railway (plus Dog)",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/dog.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/dog_hu4163cad5e11ea80af3b93536f72dafd8_812664_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "I’m starting a series looking at the lives and machines of domestic Vekllei life.\nVekllei National Railways, or ‘VK Rail’ was the bastard of six major pre-war rail companies that were extinguished along with the society that housed them. Today there are three rail companies in Vekllei, but all of them operate under direct supervision of a Vekllei Industry Bureau (🔗making it Venrouiva, in other words) and are only broken up for reasons of logistics. So even though a train may run under the Montre Inclinantor Rail Company, it is fundamentally a Vekllei National Railways train much in the same way that all regional airlines are actually fully subsumed by Vekllei International Airways.\nA few characters you’ll find at every manned Vekllei station have been illustrated below.\nThe first, the locomotive engineer, drives a train in four hour shifts. They wear a shoulder plate to distinguish them from other miscellaneous station staff and carry a pedigree in Vekllei culture, as a country dependent almost entirely on rail internally.\nEach station has a station master, who manages the station. In small stations, they do many types of work including maintenance and assisting public enquiry. In large stations, like Vekllei Central Terminus, there are dozens of station masters commanding multiple platforms each and are extremely demanding jobs.\nMost stations also have a most unusual employee, nicknamed in Vekllei a ‘daughter’ or ‘son of the station,’ who are usually children or teen-agers particularly interested in entering employment with Vekllei Rail and are thus apprenticed in many different roles. They are usually taught some English in a special extracurricular programme and are used as guides for tourists, as Vekllei signage is usually written only in the country’s native tongue. After a few hours of miscellaneous works a child of the station might ride the trains, checking carriages and platforms for cleanliness and observing passenger behaviour.\nMore recently, stations have been adopting station dogs to help lift spirits among commuters and tourists alike. These dogs, usually of breeds too large for Vekllei apartment lifestyles, have no work but to meet people and offer pets to passing commuters. Some are trained in rescue and as service dogs to those who need them, but for the most part they are simply large dogs in uniform who wander with the station master or child of the station to look for love from strangers.\nAt nearly 20,000kms of rail, Vekllei has one of the most dense and intricate rail systems in the world. Stations are built to 🔗receive modern transonic maglevs and century-old steam engines simultaneously, and nearly 15,000 people are employed in some form to keep these railways running.\n",
  "date": "2019-08-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-08-16-station-dog/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 668,
  "href": "/stories/carry/",
  "title": "Carry me! \u003e:(",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/carry.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/carry_hu93cb442f28dd5685310b7b70de59d9ee_247144_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is Tzipora and Cobian. They have not been friends for very long but they like each other a lot. Tzipora weighs nearly 10kg less than her friend, so she gets piggy backs more often.\nBy me! 🔗@melon.kony or r/vekllei on reddit!\n",
  "date": "2019-08-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-08-05-carry/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 669,
  "href": "/stories/draft/",
  "title": "2nd Draft",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/draft.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/draft_hub39939766463b3125c92895923d77d58_673476_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "I first saw this film at a low point in my life, and watching Shizuku discover her ability was one of the most touching things I\u0026rsquo;ve ever seen. I\u0026rsquo;m not a big fan-art guy, but I still find myself thinking about them years later and I wanted to paint them happy after the end of the film. Shizuku\u0026rsquo;s got a second draft and Seiji\u0026rsquo;s reading it for the first time (maybe not far from Cremona!)\nI\u0026rsquo;ve imitated the animation style (I\u0026rsquo;m a clumsy digital artist, which is a pity since it\u0026rsquo;s my only medium). You might even notice the character plates have their own shadow on the background.\nI\u0026rsquo;m 🔗@melon.kony on insta or you can find me at r/vekllei on reddit. Most of my art is very Ghibli in style.\n",
  "date": "2019-07-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-07-31-2nd-draft/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 670,
  "href": "/stories/what-is-vekllei?/",
  "title": "What is Vekllei?",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/map.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/map_hu19f872bf1d0034b98e4fc14a255ea878_725404_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei is a country in my alt-world; a utopian fever dream of googie aesthetics, participatory economics and nostalgia.\nWelcome to the ‘Petticoat Project’, a collection of stories about a country and a girl. The concept is broken down into three sections:\nAuthor: for blog posts and articles on the Petticoat Project, utopian fiction, personal news item, etc. Character: for posts about Tzipora, people in her life, or otherwise events that occur during her time on Earth. Landscape: for articles on Vekllei and her society, incorporating all that goes with it. Otherwise, read on for an introduction to this project and what I intend to do with it.\nThe Epilogue to the Epoch of Rest # The core of the Vekllei project is in understanding utopian fiction as a viable means for expressing yourself in two arenas. Creative, as a way of articulating a worldview, and personal, as a way of introspection and projection.\nIn this case, the creative worldview is that of Vekllei — a thought experiment in economics, socialpolitik, infrastructure, architecture, demographics, spirituality, language, actualisation, etc. The personal product is Tzipora — a character of good mannerisms, language, sense of fashion, ideological disposition, personality and body.\nThe premise of an epoch of rest is that the problems unique to an author, the conductor of the orchestra, can be reasoned with and turned into beautiful monuments in a way they can’t in reality.\nRunning low on money? Vekllei does not use money — go to a cinema, eat out; have a nice time. Likewise, are you shameful of your body or your ability? Tzipora is fraught with problems, too — but look at her! She is beautiful. Repeat this process for all creative arenas and you will find a world you can escape to, away from the problems of your reality.\nKeep in mind that utopia and perfection are two different things. A city can be utopian without it being perfect — a relative judgement. Carrying on in this sense, the concept of utopia can equally be applied to a person. The character is not necessarily a romantic interest or charming or intelligent or sexual product, because none of those things really describe utopia — instead, a person (a utopian?) is perfect as a collection of ideas and experience. Vekllei is a place of utopia, Tzipora is utopian. And so there are three actors in this project.\nThe Author # The producer of the whole thing, the creative and personal products are theirs, as unique as a fingerprint. They most likely produce a lot of different societies and characters in trying to tell a story, or flesh out an idea they’ve had — but for the purposes of the idea of an epoch of rest, there are two perfect utopias: landscape (society and the world), and character (personality and appearance).\nVekllei [/vƐk.laɪ/] # Vekllei is a country in which the external burdens of the world can be shifted. Worries are relegated to the personal — an arena in utopian fiction that conveniently still falls under the domain of the author. In Vekllei, self-actualisation is tangible, vivid, only metres away. It might be in creativity or power or love, but it is attainable, because the economic and cultural orchestra of the country is in the imagination of the author, and so it is perfect as by definition of utopia.\nTzipora/Zelda Desmoines [/dzɪpˈɔːr.ə’dƐm.wəːn.Ɛːh/] # If Vekllei is the arena of external burden, Tzipora is a girl on which the internal pressures of self-doubt and conscious flaw are cast aside like a rag. In the sense of a narrative, Tzipora might suffer because of her behaviours (her nervous tics, her jealousy, her body and image), but they are adopted in a way that is graceful. So despite her fierce problems, it fades away in the fact that she will not die; she will not be unsuccessful; she will not be unloved. As long as those core premises are true, then every other nervous tic or obsessive-compulsive behaviour are commodity; window-dressing to an aesthetic taste.\nThis project is sort of what I want to do, and I can’t imagine slowing down anytime soon. Stick around and I’ll do my best materialise the world and story of Vekllei. Thanks for stopping by.\nKind regards,\nHobart Phillips\nMelonKony\n",
  "date": "2019-07-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-07-26-what-is-vekllei/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 671,
  "href": "/stories/garden-corps/",
  "title": "Vekllei’s Elite Military Units",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/garden.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/garden_huee32e594653d474b5e43ecc980e23509_753061_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "🔗Previous post\nOn Tuesday, two casualties were reported among Vekllei’s Folifedestarmie 24th and 25th Garden Companies in the ongoing war to make the capital’s parks the finest in the world. Michael Helen-Louisviuan cut his leg on an exposed nail during the deinstallation of old fence posts, and Ana Po cut her thumb on a rose. Both attackers were neutralised appropriately, through planned deinstallation and some mild pruning. The reports were passed onto the local Garden command, where they were filed and will eventually be destroyed after ten years.\nIn Vekllei, where a military service of four years is mandatory between the ages of 18 and 32, the purpose of conscription is twofold; first, to ensure the citizenry is at least lightly trained should an invasion follow 🔗a nuclear strike, and second; to ensure that important jobs in the country that are not easily automated are always filled.\nA breakdown of the most common roles a Vekllei person will enter upon conscription:\nConstruction, 22% 🔗Misc. support roles for the armed forces, 18% 🔗Combat roles in the armed forces, 15% Arts work including 🔗architecture and 🔗garden preservation, 8% 🔗Local policing, 6% 🔗National policing, 4% Service roles, 4% 🔗Education, 2% 🔗Politics, 2% 🔗Other misc. work, 19% The garden battalions are not simply the pacifist’s way out — there are many other jobs for principled people. Instead, they appeal mostly to those nearing the end of their eligible conscription age who are looking to get service out of the way before family-making or major career advancement.\nIn this sense, conscription for most Vekllei people is a rite of passage that mimics preindustrial ritual, and otherwise defines the transition to adulthood in a country that has largely desegregated aged schooling. It is one of the few times in a Vekllei persons’ life in which the organs of power of the country will interfere directly with their lives, making conscription a welcome structure for young Vekllei boys n gals not yet sure what to do with their lives. Indeed, many of the roles taken on during service will echo throughout their working lives, as gardeners become council planners and labourers become robotics engineers.\nThe truth of automation and work as pleasure is that the unfettered freedom and hedonism of the Vekllei lifestyle can often feel as aimless and agoraphobic as it does liberating. The four years of service in 🔗Vekllei’s military reflect Vekllei in total — both in its confronting usurpation of traditional institutions 🔗by petticoat ideology and in its tantalising, insatiable liberty and pleasure. The military will let you dip a finger into that well, and help prepare your posture for the leap.\ncaption:\nTzipora: “They were telling me! ‘We never planted them here!’ The idiots! Look at it. Tell me that is not a god-damned rose. Sitting under this rock. They must have planted them last spring. I was resting in the sun. That’s how I found it.”\nDuma: “Uh-huh.”\nIf you have any questions, let me know! Check out 🔗www.vekllei.city, 🔗@melon.kony, and r/vekllei for more!\n",
  "date": "2019-07-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-07-25-garden/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 672,
  "href": "/stories/showa-memories/",
  "title": "Shōwa memories",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/showa.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/showa_hud11d7c75e656ff820df2a44946384b18_734884_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "new r/worldbuilding post soon, just filling in my garbage upload schedule with generic anime and shōwa nostalgia\n",
  "date": "2019-07-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-07-21-showa/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 673,
  "href": "/stories/sex-ed/",
  "title": "Summer sex-ed",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sex-ed.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sex-ed_hud74b893f49f630f3cf5b716132c3964f_875457_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Porno is available over-the-counter at most book stores. Some industry associations attempt to limit availability to minors but generally it\u0026rsquo;s at the discretion of the shopkeeper. Often, shame and embarassment are more powerful tools than legislation in Vekllei.\nGenerally it\u0026rsquo;s pretty traditional stuff supported by columns and fiction, although it varies between pornographers. It\u0026rsquo;s quite common for well-known Vekllei models to end up in nude shoots either before or after their fame. Nudity is a little more common in Vekllei than it is in the U.S. (at beaches and so on), and that relaxes the moralising of smut somewhat.\nThat said, the generation previous to Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s (about 20 years prior, so around the early 2050s) were very sex-positive and deviant. Certain cultural iconography from this time is still used in porno \u0026ndash; heavy makeup, curled hair, bare thighs \u0026ndash; but this has prompted a conservatism among Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s generation towards the \u0026ldquo;vanity\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;superficiality\u0026rdquo; of their parents\u0026rsquo; sexual liberation and bare skin. Today it is much more common to have skirts below the knee than above it, and pornography is starting to shift to accommodate the fetishistic and fantasy as opposed to outright explicit desire common in the previous decades.\nforeign porno, however, is highly prized as a sort of racialised sexual unorthodoxy (especially of Asian or Black men and women, neither of whom are particularly large racial demographics in Vekllei). It\u0026rsquo;s rare to find and not commonly traded. There are very few bureaus that import pornography, and export is far more common.\n",
  "date": "2019-07-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-07-08-sex-ed/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 674,
  "href": "/stories/decay/",
  "title": "The Principles of \"Human Decay\"",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/decay.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/decay_hu6e5e0813fd41f9aac5467a6bd1217800_550990_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Talking about utopia in landscape is easy — 🔗Vekllei is a glittering midcentury paradise that fosters human life as a wonderful dream.\nTalking about utopia in character is much harder. How can you find utopia in flawed and sometimes unattractive human beings? By what metric is the vague, intuitive values of a utopia measured against a living person?\nIn Upen, the 🔗nondenominational animism of Vekllei, there is the living principle of Dumousiantopet: “beautiful and seperate”. This is a modernist reconciliation of Vekllei’s 🔗striking, symmetrical and clean Newda architecture school with Upen’s otherwise modest and naturalistic principles. This makes fine sense for cities and towns, in which the triumphant and monumental nature of Vekllei architecture is at odds with Vekllei’s efforts to deindustrialise through post-scarcity, but it also applies to human beings, as natural objects, in society. In Vekllei, architecture is not adapted to its environment, but built in spite of it, as recognition of Vekllei’s human-centric worldview.\nSimultaneously, however, Vekllei is a land and people deeply linked with their surrounds, in which purpose and value is drawn from their landscape and nature is an intrinsic part of life. Dumousiantopet does not mean the domination of nature by human construction, but to exist together in segregation of their different systems of beauty.\nHence the concept of ‘Human Decay’, or Lemdisiandan, a system of human beauty that warps intuitive Western principles (the symmetrical woman, the rational man, the healthy boy, the cute girl, and so on) and worships instead decay, which in Vekllei is a positive natural process that unites all life, including landscape and human beings. Where Vekllei might build a utopian city to last a thousand years, human beauty is acknowledged to be far less eternal; it is in fact fleeting, at once suspended in a single moment and returning slowly to absence, or ‘nothingness’. In Vekllei, it it this process (and how it manifests) in which beauty is found. It is the evidence of life; the symptoms of living; the detail of imperfections in human beings that validate their place on Earth.\nA worn shirt, windswept hair, sweat on your brow — small images of dignity and history in how a person talks and carries themselves.\nSo how does this manifest? Here is Tzipora Lo Ula Desmoines, 🔗a girl who suffers from Gregori-Heitzfeld Syndrome. She is a perfect example of character utopia:\nShe is very shameful about her body and her thinness. She is angry at a lot of things and cannot let bad memories die. She suffers from hypertension after her childhood, and is terrified of dogs and loud noises. Bad dreams interrupt her sleep. She is distinctive but well-kept, productive but inward-facing. She is afflicted with nervous tics that manifest as shirt-pulling and nose-rubbing and has had them for many years. They appear involuntarily in nervousness and pointing them out to her will only increase their intensity. She has obsessions about clothing materials and the material composition of outfits, which can affect her emotionally (she cannot stand a wool skirt and rayon shirt, for example, intersecting). These bizarre principles include the proportion and length of items, and the tightness and looseness of clothes. This list could go on and on to paint a very uncomfortable and invasive picture of an otherwise quiet and happy person, but these examples neglect the many wonderful things about her — her affection and good sense of humour, her humility and loyalty, and so on. But while these good things might be employed to counteract the bad to us, to a Vekllei person they would accentuate and complete a complex and positive picture of a girl touched by ‘human decay’, an ugly phrase in English that essentially refers to the sweet detail and intricacies that evidence the life of a person.\nHuman Decay does not glorify anxiety or mental illness — nor does it worship dirtiness for the sake of being dirty, or imperfection for being imperfect — but it does recognise the greatness in the texture and detail of human life. So it is that in Vekllei, splotchy birthmarks and soft skin alike are the characteristics of a beautiful person, and lend to a metric of beauty defined by storytelling and complexity.\nA lot of how Tzipora would be remembered would be in the way she appeared in the person. She was a good-looking young teen-ager of quiet and unusual movements. As she became known to the wider public, her physical appearance would come to define her as both a phenomena and disability — a victim of blessings; a sweet child of cotton and gingham carrying on in the dark schism between teen-age impetuosity and the adult world of power. What a tragedy and miracle she was.Zelda, which was how she introduced herself among friends, was as intricate as she was indecipherable. She had her own internal logics; a unique carousel of intuition that marked her out as some unfortunate undamoispotet among other teen-agers. In conversation that stirred any emotion in her she was susceptible to spasmodic, defensive movements that distracted from her talking. Most frequently she would pull on her nose as if to wipe it, or reach for her shirt at the shoulder and adjust it. If she was particularly self-conscious, which could be brought on even by the spasms themselves, she would take hold of her shirt and keep her hand there, as though her thin girlish arms could shield her breast from judgement. She confided in her father that she did not like the tics. The more conscious of her imperfections she was, the more her idiosyncrasies flared. He asked her once how long she’d had them — the nose rubbings, the shirt pullings — and she said she couldn’t remember, but thought it might have been after she arrived in America. Which was possible, he supposed — trauma could bring on tics, even laymen knew that. If you spend a while with her, however, it becomes more obvious that her tics are symptomatic of a nervous, fidgety subconscious not cowed by the supposed tomboyishness of her movements — she jigs a leg, and run the back of her hand beneath her nose. Then, when she realises people notice those things and judge her for them, the same synchronistic hyperactivities became shirt-pulling and face-touching.\nThanks folks. Just a quick reupload of a concept I thought worked best here :)\n",
  "date": "2019-06-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-06-30-human-decay/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 675,
  "href": "/stories/newda/",
  "title": "Hot Summers in the Arctic (and Newda architecture)",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/summers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/summers_hu0359c531cf730a117e66dc2118fbd263_439273_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "🔗Previous post here.\nThe Café Resmoiones approaches its hundredth birthday as the girls outside await their fifteenth. The building was once a kindergarten, so they’d been told, but through decades of Vekllei’s irreverent planning it had become a café. It was not a very good café, the food was shit, but the building was nice and it was at the bottom of Lola’s steep residential hill. Locals struggling down it would pool at the bottom and inevitably step inside for a drink. In summer, the café serves seasonal iced drinks to welcome a climate that has destroyed much of the world’s equatorial agriculture but has provided their arctic home a liveable summer. The girls dodge freckles and sip iced coffee as millions around the world flee encroaching deserts.\nThe unstable Atlantic pressure oscillation, of which Vekllei anchors as the Vekllei low pole, can pull in bitter cold from the Greenland currents, or warmth from the Azores tempestuously.\nSo it is that in summer, on a beach of black igneous sand from the volcanoes of this place, hot rains can descend instantly and beat pedestrians until the rains vanish, minutes later. Winters are equally unstable — they shift between unlivable cold and sporadic thawing periods.\nIf you have ever spoken to a Vekllei person in English, you will notice an irritating habit of adding unnecessary vowels to words. ‘Loafer’ becomes “lowiefer”, ‘a ciggie’ becomes “des cigoirettenne”, and the concept of ‘trees’ become “tres foliage”. This is an instinctual artefact of 🔗Vekllei talk, which incorporates vocal gestures to accompany physical ones, even in foreign words. It is also how ‘nakedity”’becomes ‘Newda’, the dominant architectural school in Vekllei, found almost everywhere.\nAs a sort of post-deco modernism, it retains the striking geometry and vertical movement of more decadent architectural styles, but employs them conservatively to better reveal naked shape — ‘newda’. It is a flexible school that manifests differently depending on the utility of the building. Residential apartments, for example, often display elements reminiscent of constructivism, where national bureaus, or ‘hard buildings’ as they’re called in Vekllei, are more brutalistic. The stripped classicism of buildings of authority stands in stark contrast to the playful googie of utilities like phone booths and public restrooms. These allusions to grand midcentury architecture are domesticated with a unique form of Vekllei populuxe, usually because of Vekllei’s 🔗use of colour and shape as a language in itself.\nSome have called it a \u0026lsquo;Paris moderne\u0026rsquo; for the hegemony of the modernist bastards in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s architecture schools, but to Vekllei people, these space-age visions of the future are home.\nyou can check my reddit profile (and there\u0026rsquo;s a follow button there now, because reddit is Facebook) for more posts about Vekllei and Tzipora.\n🔗www.vekllei.city or 🔗insta fer more. I love questions. thanks\n",
  "date": "2019-06-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-06-18-summers/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 676,
  "href": "/stories/grotesque/",
  "title": "Absolute Grotesque",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/eroguro.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/eroguro_hudf1569b962cb2b1eeff3a5a48d9eb31c_583669_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Six bodies hung from the Rodney Creek Railroad Bridge, without names. The leftmost corpse, which was a boy, had a sign slung around his neck with tomorrow’s 8am train on it. Besides the swaying boy was his father, and next to him was his mother, and so it went down the railroad bridge, counting off his little sisters and grandmama and so on. The baby had been thrown in the creek. Who they were didn’t matter much, since the types of people hanging from bridges and trees and lampposts were cut from the same cloth.\nLater that night, a man from the Kennecott Copper Company payed a sum of four and a half million dollars in cheque towards three bastards, two pigs and a thug. For that sort of money, you could buy a home to the North and the East, far out of Utah and far out of the violence. Not that any of them would leave — the pigs had good jobs with the Sheriff’s office, the bastards had been born here and would die here, and, well, the thug just liked killing too much.\nYou could trace today’s nightmare back to the collapse of the Ford Motor Company, but there were problems in the southwest long before even that. The truth of it is that there’s been a lot of anger in Utah for a long time, it\u0026rsquo;s just taken a lot longer than anyone thought it would.\nIt’s quite impossible to imagine the tragedy of the U.S. in 2094, where suffering can be predicted by the latitude at which it occurs and midcentury domesticity collides with violence and power. As the U.S. Dollar inflates wildly and the Atomic Age has priced out the working man, is it any wonder that Southerners waste away beneath horizons of the quiet, rusting manufacturing plants of the southwest, where the wind whistles between conveyors once carrying bits of Pontiacs and Fords?\nWhat we saw, as the Dallas Accords failed and the talks of a total secession ascended from fantasy, was the rise of militias, company cities, industrial action, bloodshed, lynchings, racial animosity, the death of suburbs, mass killings, child labour, sexual violence, decaying infrastructure, and so on. The air was electric with opportunity to live out your wildest, most depraved fantasies. Bizarre images of single-story cul-de-sacs and a half-dozen State police excavating portions of desert existed simultaneously. The free flow of immigrants between Mexico and Arizona was quickly seized upon and exploited by companies like Anaconda Mineral and Kennecott Copper, who filled their mines with Latin Americans to shut out striking workers.\nAn immigrant labourer was dead at the signing of his contract. He was killed by vigilantes, or in a mine accident, or was simply consumed, since these people did not have names and the companies had no expectations of their longevity. That attitude soon came to shadow almost every interaction between otherwise decent people of impoverished communities — that there was no future, that they were the last generation, that the hedonistic cycle of production and consumption had become life itself.\nThe hedonism of brutality and modern pornography manifested in the violence of the company militias and local sheriffs alike, and so both cannibalism and necrophilia were widespread in oft-secret killings. Desecration of corpses, mutilation of the living, and widespread lawlessness came to characterise the hell that was life in the southern U.S. in 2094. How terrifying it was that beautiful things could decay so quickly.\nSo it was that men became creatures — lust became necrophilic, suffering became ecstasy. This mad spiral towards our worst instincts came out in full force. The biopolitics of life and consumption became the necropolitics of grotesqueing and subsumption. A girl’s sandal; poisoned bread; leaded cosmetics; copper in the mountains; apricot phosphorous on the horizon; a nuclear family in the current; six Mexicans gutted; six good boys killing for cash; whole towns cashing in and shipping out.\nThat is life in Utah today. Absolute erotic; absolute grotesque\nyou can check my reddit profile (and there\u0026rsquo;s a follow button there now, because reddit is Facebook) for more posts about Vekllei and Tzipora.\n🔗www.vekllei.city or 🔗insta fer more. I love questions. thanks\n",
  "date": "2019-06-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-06-13-erotic-grotesque/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 677,
  "href": "/stories/much-love/",
  "title": "Much love to all of you",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/love2019.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/love2019_hu80dde3c022b4dba01dbf7230e06012bc_749431_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Much love to all of you!\n",
  "date": "2019-06-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-06-02-hello/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 678,
  "href": "/stories/cab-forward/",
  "title": "Catching a steam locomotive to school",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/cabforward.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/cabforward_hu5f6f045bb678ffc7c145e17241d56c2d_584888_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Most of the kids pictured here are the cubs of lumberfolk who make a living out of felling hard pines in the mountains in the North of Vekllei. About half have dark hair and rounder faces, as descendants of both inuits and Scandinavians, and others are of mixed ancestry. Families in Vekllei are large and often nonbiological, and a single lad can have a dozen sisters. Ame Louisendopet might be a bitch on occasion, but that’s how it goes. Jo’s little sister, Popet, has decided age ten and a half that she’ll be a locomotive engineer one day.\nAs you may have learned by now, Vekllei is a land of contrasts. Last year, the Lonne Rail Authority commissioned a new generation of maglev trains for blistering five-minute commutes between 🔗Little Vekllei and the Lonne terminus, turning an otherwise 60km journey into an unconscious gesture. At a top speed of 750km/h, the pride of Vekllei’s commuter rail seems to gunning for subsonic commuter jets head-on.\nMeanwhile, in the mountains around Montre, the D-006 steam locomotive approaches her 130th birthday. Where the maglev guzzles direct current from atomic power plants around the country, D-006 chews through bunker fuel — literal scrapings from a barrel somewhere — and leaves soot where she goes. Her train is not carrying businessfolk but log cars bound for the coasts, where they will be sold to Europe for furniture. In the mornings of most weekdays, the engineers and lumberjacks that man her bring their children along for the trip, where the little ones watch the engineer work the cab while the teenagers shiver on her maintenance catwalks.\nShe is dirty, slow, and makes absolutely no sense occupying a route in the space age, one marked by moon colonies and new empire. What is going on here?\nThings begin to make a little more sense through the lens of an ordinary Vekllei person, with their own bizarre domestic intuition and frame of mind. 🔗Like we talked about previously, Vekllei understands the the achievements of industry as a liberationist tool to return to preindustrial, satisfying life. It is not as though the country will ‘undo’ three centuries of tremendous progress — quite the contrary, in fact. But understood through petticoat ideology, the marriage of labour and the ordinary person can only occur through self-satisfying, personal work. This is in contrast, one can suppose, to mechanised, industrial labour to which we owe our enormous wealth. To a Vekllei person, work is social, productive, creative and satisfying. The simple pleasures of agriculture; specialised craftsman and tradesman; artistry — these are the fruits only of a society that can afford them, since they necessitate the deindustrialisation of agriculture, factory manufacturing and mass media simultaneously.\nThe steam locomotive is ultimately a fetishisation of this sort of thinking — it is an analogue machine, complicated while comprehensible to the ordinary person (unlike, say, atomic energy or even gas-turbine locomotives). It is enormous and impressive, and also nostalgic for many Vekllei people. In a place and time where money did not matter, as it does not in Vekllei, and productivity was an afterthought, as it is in Vekllei, they make perfect sense. These ‘images’; of rural labour assisted by steam locomotives; of children growing up with these machines; of the constant fetishisation and decommodification of the world — these are currency in Vekllei. That is why this useless machine is a wonderful machine, and why a handful of steam locomotives mother their respective communities decades after their obsolescence.\nyou can check my reddit profile (and there\u0026rsquo;s a follow button there now, because reddit is Facebook) for more posts about Vekllei and Tzipora.\n🔗www.vekllei.city or 🔗insta fer more. I love questions. tahnk\n",
  "date": "2019-05-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-05-30-cabforward/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 679,
  "href": "/stories/meet-tzipora/",
  "title": "Meet Tzipora Desmoines",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/character.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/character_hu6b3efde7263ba94b94595e9ad4f144e0_1737447_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is Tzipora. She goes by two names \u0026ndash; Tzipora, her birth name, and Zelda, a name she mistakenly thought sounded less Jewish. She lives in 🔗Lola in the 🔗Vekllei city-state.\nAs an immigrant, she struggles with school but holds her own on in track and field, an inversion of her otherwise quiet and bookish nature. She is intimidated by pretty girls and can throw a half-decent punch.\nGenetic Freak # Gregori babies, as they\u0026rsquo;re called, suffer from Gregori-Heitzfeld syndrome. It\u0026rsquo;s usually described as agelessness at menarche, since about 90% of cases are girls. It\u0026rsquo;s essentially a genetic malfunction that puts the body in a cycle of eternal growth \u0026ndash; they effectively continue to grow (without actually growing bigger), but do not develop and are more or less suspended at the onset of their first period.\nThe question of whether they\u0026rsquo;re \u0026lsquo;mentally\u0026rsquo; children is an interesting one that there\u0026rsquo;s not a simple answer to. Their minds are not fully developed the way an adult human\u0026rsquo;s would be, since ageing stops in early teen-age years and before pubescence. They tend to retain some childish characteristics \u0026ndash; mostly decision-making and emotional control. But this sort of speculation risks dehumanising otherwise very functional and capable people. The effects of long-term childhood and social isolation are far more profound on the personality of a Gregori child than any biological limitation or squabbling about the teen-age/adult schism.\nBoys can also have it, but are always hyperallergic and suffer from a broad anaphylaxis at onset of the condition (usually a little earlier, in early thelarche at 8-10y/o). It will almost always kill them. The discrepancy between the sexes is still being researched.\nGirls also have a risk of developing hyperallergies. Gregori babies have never developed cancers as far as anyone is aware, and these hyperallergies are a result of this hyperactive immune system.\nGregori babies fulfill the first of two miracles required for sainthood in the Catholic Church. In other parts of the world they are targets of violence as practicers of witchcraft or demonic pacts. The oldest Gregori baby, Tzipora Desmoines, is 120 years old and is set to overtake the human lifespan. She was 13th overall to have been diagnosed, but Gregori children have high mortality rates (largely violence, car accidents and suicides) and she is the first to pass 60 years of age. So, somewhat ironically, the children with speculated immortality almost always die young.\nKnowing her # A lot of how Tzipora would be remembered would be in the way she appeared in the person. She was a good-looking young teen-ager of quiet and unusual movements. As she became known to the wider public, her physical appearance would come to define her as both a phenomena and disability — a victim of blessings; a sweet child of cotton and gingham carrying on in the dark schism between teen-age impetuosity and the adult world of power. What a tragedy and miracle she was.\nZelda, which was how she introduced herself among friends, was as intricate as she was indecipherable. She had her own internal logics; a unique carousel of intuition that marked her out as some unfortunate undamoispotet among other teen-agers. In conversation that stirred any emotion in her she was susceptible to spasmodic, defensive movements that distracted from her talking. Most frequently she would pull on her nose as if to wipe it, or reach for her shirt at the shoulder and adjust it. If she was particularly self-conscious, which could be brought on even by the spasms themselves, she would take hold of her shirt and keep her hand there, as though her thin girlish arms could shield her breast from judgement. She confided in her father that she did not like the tics. The more conscious of her imperfections she was, the more her idiosyncrasies flared. He asked her once how long she’d had them — the nose rubbings, the shirt pullings — and she said she couldn’t remember, but thought it might have been after she arrived in America. Which was possible, he supposed — trauma could bring on tics, even laymen knew that. If you spend a while with her, however, it becomes more obvious that her tics are symptomatic of a nervous, fidgety subconscious not cowed by the supposed tomboyishness of her movements — she jigs a leg, and run the back of her hand beneath her nose. Then, when she realises people notice those things and judge her for them, the same synchronistic hyperactivities became shirt-pulling and face-touching.\nI love questions, so please let me know if you have any! If you want to see more of her you can check my reddit profile (and there\u0026rsquo;s a follow button there now, because reddit is Facebook) for more posts about Vekllei and Tzipora.\n🔗www.vekllei.city or 🔗insta fer more. tahnk\n",
  "date": "2019-05-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-05-27-character/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 680,
  "href": "/stories/participatory-economy/",
  "title": "The participatory economy of Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/square.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/square_hufe296c0f07a3660b18d3e14a8c63d56d_665891_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Nestled between the regional tram offices and the pre-war Ferouistet Department Store, the Lola district is not known for much but her department store and good schools. It sits on the slope of the wide Vekllei capital basin, where the Atlantic can be seen from the street. It was Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s first home in Vekllei, and it was where she lived with her father. The schools were good, the kids were all right, and the trams were a gift from Christ.\nMost of Vekllei looks like Lola, marked by her mid-rise streets and public thermal ponds and geyser baths (named after the Vekllei village of Geyser, as it happens). Vekllei people do not generally own cars, and mostly commute via the metro, the exhaustive tram network or on occasion in a loan car from the autopool. The streets are narrow and empty of traffic save for service vehicles, and in the summers they are invaded by neighbourhood children playing baseball or seeking shade under the street trees.\nLola is one of hundreds of neighbourhoods in the vast, densely-populated capital of the country from which it aquires its namesake. It is a city facing its past, now that there is plenty to eat and little to do \u0026ndash; and as a sprawling urban utopia with a fierce nostalgia for preindustrial life, there is no other place like it on Earth. Caught at once between the future of space and helijets, and her collective memories of agriculture and simple labour, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s petticoat society marks a departure from futurism and a turn to its history, as though the violence and suffering and chaos of the past three centuries were but a chore obstructing utopia.\nParticipatory Economics \u0026amp; Property # In Vekllei’s feminised parpolity, the revitalisation of 🔗Upen brought about an ancient understanding of property reborn in the widespread poverty of Vekllei society following 🔗the first Atomic War. Widespead social regression and cross-generational nostalgia for preindustrial life took hold in urban Vekllei society almost immediately after the atomic fire, as the ruins of colonial and imperial society lay around the Vekllei people. The monarchy, a tokenistic and fashionable invention of the gilded Mercantile age just three centuries before, evaporated nearly overnight with the death of the king. So, too, did the military junta salivating over the charred remains of the capital find it nearly impossible to consolidate power in a city now without infrastructure. In the ashes of modern industrialisation grew tempered, atomised communities of streets and villages — the common council as we see it today. Food production returned to the city in the ruins of vast factories, wide canals were dug for unmotorised barges, and councils of working people organised self-interest in these communities, which would be understood a century later as Sundress Municipalism. So too did the common understanding of property evaporate.\nThe old libertarian bugbear of the origins of property was revived — the population had been decimated, Vekllei people were surrounded by vast swaths of useless land of deceased ownership, and the institutions of old society had failed to retake power following the war. The question of ownership was pertinent, as it would clarify the sovereigns of future society. The sovereignty of Vekllei, as it would later be determined, is decentralised and portioned between any land-operating individual, local organisations, municiple councils, and syndicates. This tradition carries on today. In any one apartment building or row-house, you will find the inhabitants, building administrators, local councils and tenant unions exercising types of ownership over a space. In other words; residents of a home will have implied ownership over a home, but a community has implied ownership over the community itself. The intersection of different kinds of ownership result in complex and partially uncoded laws that, although vulnerable to beaurocratic and exhaustive legal disputes, are mostly discarded in place of local opinion.\nThe foundation of the Vekllei political and economic system is the community; a population larger than a single family and small enough to have valuable social bonds; a group of people bound by common living, work, and recreation. An unruly or criminal tenant is more likely to be run out of town by his neighbours than by the courts. This is not to misrepresent the daily conflicts of Vekllei domestic society — disputes are common and meaningless. But abuse of common ownership is tempered by the fact that it is quite impossible to evict any individual from his home without overwhelming agreement of his neighbours, essentially relegating formal council ownership to irrelevency; the true owners of any single home are, in practice, the community in which it is situated, supervised by protections offered under the local judicial councils.\nThe ownership of a factory is a lot more straightforward — the old mantra of the democratic workplace is more or less true here. Principally, unautomated (manned) factories recieve production requests from one of the hundreds of different economic bureaus keeping stock of production in the country, which otherwise do not directly supervise production except in circumstance of scarcity. Production requests are voluntary, and usually formalities in the production of items for local consumption. Heavily centralised industries, particularly heavy industries like raw product extraction and refining, usually operate under direct supervision of a bureau. Unions exist independently of the bureau system and usually hold membership from every worker of a factory, including managers. Mirroring nested councils, there are also larger industry unions that generally involve themselves only in general strikes and legal cases without precedent.\nThe ownership of a grocery store is clear and implied, if not codified. The person who manages and works the shop, either through implied property bonding (so-called ‘folk morality’; a phenomena largely dependent on the person’s social value and local consent) or familial tradition, owns the shop. These are not lawful protections of ownership — indeed, Vekllei common law says very little about senrouive business ownership — but in almost every case, they are validated by a community intuitively. Even antisocial or hostile shop-owners are rarely challenged on their right to the property they manage — the shop is, technically speaking, seen as an extension of the natural landscape (as no more than fired clay and timber), and the live-and-let-live culture in Vekllei is sympathetic to leaving people to their business and shop elsewhere. Legal disputes on the right to live above and manage a store are relatively rare, and usually resolved through ‘blood rights’ ( similar to ‘folk morality’) in the case of an individual or in a more democratic fashion involving multiple relevant complainants, like employees. In both of these examples, the disputed property is considered an entity itself with its own rights and interests extrapolated from its history and surrounding landscape.\nHerein remains the distinction between venrouiva/senrouive property, and their implied ownership. Venrouiva usually operate in cooperation with the product bureaus in the case of manufacturing, or other national organisations as their industry requires in education, medicine, power, water, etc. They are ultimately beholden to the direction of the country, as organised by the seats of power and politics. Senrouive exists somewhat independent of the economy entirely, recieving mostly what it asks for and immersing their respective economies in the communities around them. Although all physical material in Vekllei is ultimately property of the country (a vague, naturalistic construct seen as distinct from the government, at least in a Western understanding), senrouivewill almost never be managed directly by larger unions or administrative bodies. This distinction does little to articulate public and private ownership, as the very concept of property remains formally unacknowledged in the economy in the country. Instead, all business today is conducted in cooperation with the ideas of community, implied ownership, self-interest and some sort of idea of supply and demand largely usurped by post-scarcity and widespread automation.\nBecause of this, Vekllei does not actually consider itself classless — Indeed, venrouiva are fundamentally a coordinating class of workers that are atomised from senrouive work through their power and decision-making. They are a class of power in law, education, science, medicine, and politics, and consequently, guide the direction of the country. Although even senrouive business is still fundamentally worker-owned and managed (as part of Sundress Municipalism), this hierarchy remains in principle, even if the quality of life of venrouiva and senrouive workers is in practice identical. This fact is rarely acknowledged outside of technical circles in the country, because it matters very little to the common Vekllei person. Vekllei is not outwardly egalitarian, despite practice, and the problems of power are mitigated by a mess of democratic structures ultimately enslaved to self-interested, independent communities of people. For one of the most centralised countries in the world, with a homogenous ethnic people and culture, Vekllei is better described as hundreds of thousands of hamlets than a single city.\nthis section is continued on my website: 🔗www.vekllei.city. It\u0026rsquo;s too long for reddit, and so I\u0026rsquo;ll continue work there.\nyou can check my reddit profile (and there\u0026rsquo;s a follow button there now, because reddit is Facebook) for more posts about Vekllei and Tzipora.\n🔗www.vekllei.city or 🔗insta fer more. I love questions. tahnk\n",
  "date": "2019-05-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-05-07-utopia/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 681,
  "href": "/stories/birthday/",
  "title": "Dad's Birthday",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/birthday.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/birthday_hu367af746f33f557065a491bede3acd93_660757_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Dad\u0026rsquo;s Birthday.\n",
  "date": "2019-05-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-05-04-birthday/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 682,
  "href": "/stories/goddess/",
  "title": "The Littlest Goddess in Pachinki",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/palace.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/palace_hu174727f759ba9a2305b7ebfdaac053bc_616135_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Palace Gods live in decadence in an isolated and incestuous land above the mortal planes called the Palace. They do not eat and will live forever, provided they stay within the gardens of the Palace and consummate their industrial godhood occasionally with domen, an opium that they believe purifies blood.\nAdult Palace Gods are almost entirely women, but birthrates of boys and girls are about equal. At the onset of puberty, boys can enter rituals to become female gods, but sexual pleasure will stain their transition and thus romentet (as they’re called in god-tongue) will never maintain blood parity with female Palace Gods. Boys who enter sexual acts or allow sexual thoughts will not transition correctly and instead be consigned to serfdom for the rest of their lives (and in the impurities of their blood, they will be dead by forty).\nThe intersection of the Palace hierarchy and immortality mean that adult Palace Gods are terrified of deposition by younger generations. Older gods will often take an oath of chastity or, failing that, attempt to sabotage the blood purity of god-children to ensure they do not grow up to threaten their positions of power. Adult women often enter relationships with boys for this reason, which will prevent their transition and rise to power and instead grant them mortality. Young girls, however, cannot be dispossessed of their powers so easily. Homosexuality is strictly forbidden in the Palace, and so girls are often tricked into destroying their potential in rituals known as bloodfits.\nAs inhabitants of the Palace do not need to eat, it means that they do not consume the souls of other creatures. According to their own tapestry myth, their spiritual veganism has come to be a core lifestyle on which godhood is predicated. Young goddesses are often curious about mortal pleasures like food and body functions, and so particularly manipulative adult gods will trick them into eating meat and thus consuming the soul of another creature. After the meat is consumed (the quantity rarely matters, so long as the goddess in general understands they have eaten it), their sin is revealed to them and that knowledge sparks a spiritual crisis in the young goddess that collapses their powers and their physical presence in the Palace.\nWhere they go is unknown to anyone still living in the Palace — to those unfortunate girls tricked into bloodfit, they find themselves in a land not quite Pachinki (the mortal planet) or the Palace (the central harbour for gods). Instead, there exists a realm constructed of young gods’ ideas of what mortal life might be like, complete with the idealism and fear of the unknown beyond their Palace lifestyles. They begin to breathe for the first time — a terrifying experience to a goddess previously unused to it — and will experience weather, texture, and sunlight for the first time. Their clothes will suddenly have weight, and their wings are now vestigial relics of magic-aided flight. Many girls simply pass out, unable to deal with the shock of reality.\nMost stories here end happily though, in a trend unusual for Pachinki and the Palace. The in-between world these goddesses find themselves in is constructed of their hope and curiosity of Pachinki, too. Green pastures of stunning colour and flower-meadows straight out of their wildest fantasies are never far away. A community of ex-goddesses actively look for new girls and help them integrate into the material world. With time, the Palace life simply doesn’t compare.\nUloah, pictured here, is one of the most recent goddesses to be tricked into committing bloodfit. She was unwittingly fed her own pet peacock, and ended up in the salt lakes of the in-between realm. Any god trying to eat for the first time is a messy affair. After a day of desperate tears and despair as she wandered aimlessly, she came across two beautiful goddesses about her age in Palace clothes. They took her to a village with homes made of long grass populated entirely by her kin. A life of pressures and treachery in the Palace was replaced with the simple pleasures of quiet agriculture and play.\nSo why is so much of the magic of the Palace Gods predicated on myth and tradition? After all, it is not a potion or gemstone that strips goddesses of their power. The truth of it, understood by very few and acknowledged by fewer, is that the Palace Gods are sustained entirely by their own myth, with no future or past.\nPrincess Torah, the revolutionary ex-goddess that would eventually liberate the mortal Pachinki from the Palace, said as such in her early writings:\nThe Palace Gods are not gods because of bloodlines, despite their insistence. They will tell you it is hereditary, and that blood is colloquial for purity, but they are misunderstanding their own myths. They preach immortality, but can be slaughtered like failing livestock if you’d only realise it. They are not gods because they are better equipped to employ ancient magic, or because they have unlocked the secret of eternal life. They are gods because they’ve fallen for the fiction that sustains them — they are monarchs because they believe in the monarchy, they are cruel because they believe in cruelty, and they subjugate because that is how they’ve read the elaborate tapestry their ancestors constructed. So when Princess Moswen, my martyr and humanist sister (rest her soul), descended to the human people and addressed them universally without regard to race or subcontinent, she called the Gods what they were — tokens writing simultaneously their past and future, failing their own present. Waxen, pastel nepotists misunderstanding their fiction as constitution.\n-\u0026mdash;- Pachinki isn\u0026rsquo;t a normal constructed world. It has its own canon. It is a creation of 🔗Tzipora, who is the character utopia of my worldbuilding project. Soon after she moves to 🔗Vekllei, she\u0026rsquo;s pretty friendless and surrounded by pulpy paperback novels. Pachinki is sort of a worldbuilding project within a worldbuilding project, and it belongs to her.\nyou can check my reddit profile (and there\u0026rsquo;s a follow button there now, because reddit is Facebook) for more posts about Vekllei and Tzipora. This isn\u0026rsquo;t the last you\u0026rsquo;ll see of Pachinki, not by a long shot!\n🔗www.vekllei.city or 🔗insta fer more. I love questions. tahnk\n",
  "date": "2019-04-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-04-06-palace/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 683,
  "href": "/stories/educated/",
  "title": "Young and Educated",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/educated.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/educated_hu4b48eb96b2238a5a4ec5054830677fd3_840566_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "lmao wish I had nice clothes\n",
  "date": "2019-04-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-04-02-educated/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 684,
  "href": "/stories/mineral-lake/",
  "title": "A Mineral Lake starts absorbing Grief in Pachinki",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/swamp.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/swamp_huff77aab8f3d90a69de550a09389cd06c_513565_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Rena’s little boy was found in the closest town with his guts turned out and his throat cut. They didn’t tell it to Rena like that, but that’s what happened to him. His village and people, the Lehmanen, are descendants of Palace Gods forced out of the heavens some millennia ago over their refusal to smoke Domen, a sort of opium of the Gods and essential practice in the Palace.\nAs descendants of Palace Gods, many still carry birthstones in their bodies — small gems buried in the heart of the gut, beneath the stomach. These birthstones are very powerful magical artefacts and fetch a high price in Pachinki’s larger and less magical kingdoms. Rena’s little boy, who was not yet ten, had been taken by pirates looking for his stone and killed. The great tragedy of it was that he was fathered by a man from Zen — the boy had not inherited a birthstone from his mother.\nHe was her only child and she’d been widowed in the war. The chief of their village announced a month of mourning and fasting in his memory. Once the period had passed, life went on. Rena resumed work in the mineral swamps in which Lehmanen live. The roots and algae that grow in these waters sustain communal village life and produce potions of medicinal value, including leprosy and tuberculosis vaccines.\nTwo months after the murder of her only child, Rena came across a stone that struck her dumb with shock. It was her boy’s face, unmistakeable in the perfection of the diorite, caught in the terror and pain of his final moments. It hadn’t been there the month before. She waded over to it but found no other indication of its origin.\nThat boy was only the first. As more people died, and the village went through its cycles of joy and grief, the swamp slowly began to fill with the forms of the dead. Heads of the fog. The Lehmanen were confused and angry by the insensitivity of the mineral swamp, and couldn’t understand why it was happening. Something was intercepting the quiet grief of these isolated people and resurrecting the memory of the dead. Was it the minerals? The wind? Something beneath the waters? Was it even a phenomena so simple as to assign to a single force of nature?\nNearly a year after the death of Rena’s little boy, another head appeared, joining dozens already hidden in the fog of the mineral swamps. This one was identical to the diorite totems before it. But it was unique.\nThis one was of Rena — and she was very much alive.\nPrevious posts 🔗here and 🔗here.\n—\nThe Pachinki pangea is home to six subcontinents of old magic, mostly inherited from the Palace Gods, who are worshipped by urban centres to this day. The Lem subcontinent is sparsely populated, as the minerals of its many swamps are rife with disease (an illness contracted here, of which there are many, are called plaguentart in Lem or honeydeath in the Zen tongue).\nThe Lem are ignorant of the much older magic of the swamps, which predates perhaps even the Palace itself. As stupid to it as they are ultraviolets, the people of Pachinki can only react to the manifestations of it, and will never harness the raw, low-frequency power of ancient harmonics.\n— Footnotes —\nPachinki is the creation of a fourteen-year-old girl in my world, 🔗Vekllei.\nSo Pachinki occasionally lurches into horror otherwise incongruous with the sweet fantasy Tzipora shows such affection for. Pachinki may be a world of peace and wonder, but just like Tzipora’s own present utopian surrounds, it belies a historical context of starvation, mass graves and political violence. Part of the wonder of Pachinki, looking back, is that Tzipora seemed keenly aware of the prohibitively dark nature of this kind of violence in her otherwise escapist whimsy, and this maternal turbulence with her own work is so obvious that even the most casual reader will be conscious of its inconsistency. A page about the pleasure of tasting fruit gems will pirouette into musings on the use of slavery in their procurement and the sabotaging of their production to justify conquest and war. The surreal dissonance of her own motivations for creating Pachinki reflect a girl who was herself living a surreal, contradictory existence — at her time of writing, she was living in a land of plenty and peace, where just a year before she was nearly killed after grocers in Cherry started poisoning their food waste to drive away homeless and vagrants. Her own existence was one of startling contrast — a rapid transition to petticoat society from the misery of the American South, where she witnessed indiscriminate slaughter, sexual violence and crippling poverty. Whatever hurts is real, and so Vekllei did not feel real to her — and consequently, Pachinki is suspended in the same internal turmoil.\nPachinki isn\u0026rsquo;t a normal constructed world. It has its own canon. It is a creation of 🔗Tzipora, who is the character utopia of my worldbuilding project. Soon after she moves to 🔗Vekllei, she\u0026rsquo;s pretty friendless and surrounded by pulpy paperback novels. Pachinki is sort of a worldbuilding project within a worldbuilding project, and it belongs to her.\nyou can check my reddit profile (and there\u0026rsquo;s a follow button there now, because reddit is Facebook) for more posts about Vekllei and Tzipora. This isn\u0026rsquo;t the last you\u0026rsquo;ll see of Pachinki, not by a long shot!\n🔗www.vekllei.city or 🔗insta fer more. I love questions. tahnk\n",
  "date": "2019-03-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-03-31-swamp/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 685,
  "href": "/stories/parade/",
  "title": "A Celebration of all Women across the World",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/parade.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/parade_hu8ef6cf6b8bfe2061b1783af1f8bacfeb_841754_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In 🔗Vekllei on the first of each May, the women’s councils and industrial unions wipe clean their banners and flags and join great parades that regale the main streets of the city with song and colour. They carry flags and banners in celebration of womanhood and remembrance of the dead — for those Potter’s Fields and unmarked graves that intern nameless women across the world.\nThey walk in universal solidarity but not without local identity — women’s unions, called chapels, number themselves. Here Local Chapel № 23, represented mostly by a half-dozen families and a few generations, make their way to the 🔗Little Vekllei prefecture, where the day’s march will take them back to the heart of the city. Little Lili leads the charge with confetti, while her sisters, mother and grandmother follow. They will find it difficult to fit the flags on the streetcar. Her bespectacled sister Patet is sickly and this is the first time she\u0026rsquo;s left the house in five days.\nThe 🔗catastrophe of the first atomic war had set in motion what no protest or revolution ever had — a cleansing of the political and cultural landscape, and a rebirth of Vekllei traditional culture and reestablishment of 🔗Upen in everyday life.\nIt is a day where the men shower the precious women of their lives with gifts and affection.\nAlthough Vekllei is not necessarily a progressive country, and is often a land of absurd contradiction in Western political tradition, Vekllei women enjoy a society built for them. And really built for them too, on an infrastructural level. Womanhood in the country is not defined by commodity or appearance, but by superficially humanist ideas the culture associates with womanhood \u0026ndash; compassion, bravery, intelligence, grace, etc. They are defined not by their relationships or their economic circumstance, but by their friends, political opinions, ability, etc. The decommodification of society has also decommodified womanhood. Vekllei is not simply a good place to be a woman, but is in fact a female country.\nlet me know if you have any questions! 🔗www.vekllei.city or 🔗insta fer more\n",
  "date": "2019-03-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-03-25-parade/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 686,
  "href": "/stories/palace/",
  "title": "The Palace Gods attempt to retrieve their runaway child",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/henchmen.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/henchmen_hu3ebe469083c22dd7adc4dab54c71982f_430466_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "She could feel the wind rising. The horizon beyond was warped, caught in the distortion of a forested planetoid before them. The morning sun cast a honeyed warmth on her wings of black sugar, which sang like wind chimes as she soared high above the gem deserts below. Hyssop, her new and only friend, followed her ungracefully under the spell of his flystone.\nA chill caught her skull and traced her veins to her stomach, where it seized up. She felt the strength go from her wings and the world tilt out of focus. Her body plummeted, her figure limp, and Hyssop yelled out at her, “Princess! Tora! What’s wrong?”\nHer wings trailed her as she fell from the sky, and he dived after her. The sparkle of the sand blinded them as the gems rose into view. They hit the dune in a plume of rubies.\nShe awoke and emerged from his arms. He was beneath her, dazed in the crash.\n“Hyssop!” She screamed. “Hyssop, I’m sorry! Wake up—!”\nShe cried out again when she noticed two men in fine suits watching over them, like kites and carrion. Hyssop was wrenched from his dreams by her scream and scrambled to his feet. He turned to her seriously.\n“Don’t move,” he told her calmly. “Don’t talk to them. Don’t even look at them. Just watch the flystone in my hand, Tora. Look at my hand and the sky. Look, the planetoids are out in their brilliance. Look at their oceans, Tora.”\nShe looked over the shoulder of the dune and faced the planetoids, but her thoughts were with him. She could admire nothing in her fear. Her knees and palms were pitted with gems and wept blood.\n“Hyssop,” she whispered from the corner of her mouth, her face in the sun. A whimper caught in her throat and it coloured her voice. “What are those men?”\n“Henchmen of the Palace Gods. They’re looking for you.”\n“I’ll kill myself, before I go back. I belong among the living.”\n“No-one will do anything,” he said. He sounded undisturbed. He reached behind himself and felt out for her hand, and she seized it and held it tight to her.\n“Don’t acknowledge them,” he said, staring the henchmen down. “They are not among the living. Do not speak to them, or you’ll bring them here.”\n“Okay. What do you want me to do?”\n“Look at the sky. Think of us in Rose, by the sea. That’s where we’re going, when we leave this dune.”\n“I’ve never been to the sea,” she said. “That’s where you said you were from, isn’t it? Rose?”\n“Sure, Rose.”\n“I’ve only seen it from the heavens. I want to see it as a girl.”\n“You’ll see it. We’ll just have to wait for the henchmen to be recalled, first.”\nPrincess Tora, Part II, Pachinki Codex\n-\u0026ndash; The following is an excerpt from the book Outside Looking In, as prefaced by media analyst and outsider art historian Roy Tesmein.\nThe author herself, Tzipora Desmoines, would usually describe the henchmen of the Palace Gods as ‘Pinkerton’ — a sort of brutal thug for hire that dealt with asset retrieval and strikebreaking. Of course, the henchmen come from the heavens and are summoned for singular purposes, usually surveillance or sabotage. Tzipora was always very clear on the limitations of the Palace Gods, and their struggles to enter the mortal world, a weakness that inhibited the successful recapture of their runaway princess, Tora. In fact, Tora’s ability to enter the mortal world without the collapse of her mind, as dictated by the schism between planes, was more shocking in itself than her youthful betrayal. In many ways, Tora is a self-insert that witnesses much of the tragedy Tzipora had to come to terms with and rationalise in her early years in the American South. In this context, the Pinkerton moniker makes sense in Tzipora’s mind — just as Tora later attempts to organise Pachinki into a revolt against the Gods (with brutal suppression on the part of the henchmen), Tzipora herself witnessed bloody strikebreaking several times as she rode freight trains on Southern Pacific, a freight company that experienced violent industrial action shortly before its bankruptcy.\nAnd further;\nSo Pachinki occasionally lurches into horror otherwise incongruous with the sweet fantasy Tzipora shows such affection for. Pachinki may be a world of peace and wonder, but just like Tzipora’s own present utopian surrounds, it belies a historical context of starvation, mass graves and political violence. Part of the wonder of Pachinki, looking back, is that Tzipora seemed keenly aware of the prohibitively dark nature of this kind of violence in her otherwise escapist whimsy, and this maternal turbulence with her own work is so obvious that even the most casual reader will be conscious of its inconsistency. A page about the pleasure of tasting fruit gems will pirouette into musings on the use of slavery in their procurement and the sabotaging of their production to justify conquest and war. The surreal dissonance of her own motivations for creating Pachinki reflect a girl who was herself living a surreal, contradictory existence — at her time of writing, she was living in a land of plenty and peace, where just a year before she was nearly killed after grocers in Cherry started poisoning their food waste to drive away homeless and vagrants. Her own existence was one of startling contrast — a rapid transition to petticoat society from the misery of the American South, where she witnessed indiscriminate slaughter, sexual violence and crippling poverty. Whatever hurts is real, and so Vekllei did not feel real to her — and consequently, Pachinki is suspended in the same internal turmoil.\n",
  "date": "2019-03-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-03-11-gods/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 687,
  "href": "/stories/fortress/",
  "title": "The Sugarhouse Mountain Fortress",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fortress.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fortress_hu8ab9429f565f4beeca1ee8c020220b4b_1237095_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "A hundred years ago, the fortress existed as a spectre of the neighbouring villages; a beast of suffering and woe with fingers deep into the mountains around 🔗Montre. In the waning days of the military junta, the beast’s creators, the Sugarhouse Fort served as a strategic command centre for Vekllei’s nuclear arsenal and a blacksite to disappear the most prolific and dangerous agitators.\nThe Fort was not finished when the bombs fell, and it sat abandoned for a half-century as the scorched fragments of 🔗Vekllei society were preoccupied with 🔗their total devastation. It was not until Vekllei’s reemergence as a great power, and one that was convinced of an imminent nuclear war, that the Fort was reoccupied as one of the largest buried forts in the world, rivalled only by the Moscow Metro complex and Cheyenne Mountain’s extensions in the late 2080s.\nThe Fort is no longer a spectre of the nearby villages — in fact, commute between them is so regular that a special railway has been installed into the heart of the fort, where many thousands of locals work as labourers, switchboard operators, engineers, administrators and research scientists. The fort houses Vekllei’s international telephone exchange, her largest geothermal research outfit attached to Montre University, Vekllei’s nuclear command buried deep in the ganglia of the fort, the auxiliary national railway control, Vekllei’s fourth-largest nuclear shelter system, and many other bureaus of national importance that have been relocated away from the capital city in fear of their destruction there.\nThe high-frequency telephonics and radar suck so much power that they would cause blackouts in nearby towns if they were both activated at the same time. As a modern all-electric fort with complex electrified munitions transport systems and pumps, her power plants are modern and overhauled every decade or so.\nTwo supercritical hydrothermic geothermal power plants at opposite ends of the fort operate as primary sources of power. In other countries they would be prohibitively expensive \u0026ndash; high-temperature geothermal sources have a high failure rate and require extraordinarily complex infrastructure to construct. These two plants (Suzie East and Ame West) have wells nearly five kilometres deep (just over 16,100ft), and capitalise on the plate margins of the European and American tectonic plates, which Vekllei straddles.\nThe fort is inherently outdated in an age of thermonuclear weaponry (although her shelters deep below the Earth are estimated to be impenetrable even to several direct strikes), but Vekllei is not a large country and the viability of mobilised command for civilian bureaus, like that found U.S. and the Soviet Union, is limited. The country has an affection for infrastructure, a fact of no surprise to anyone who has been there, and it is the size of the fort, and its decentralised network of tunnels throughout much of the Montre-Sugarhouse mountain range, that serve as primary defences in the face of a second nuclear war.\nThis image here is a \u0026lsquo;pocket\u0026rsquo; telegram signed with love. The fort is one of the largest construction projects of the last two centuries, and is a point of pride among the people of the North. In all their agrarian and peaceful living, Sugarhouse Fort has no equal in anything in the industrious South of the country.\n-\u0026ndash; thanks for stopping by. 🔗www.vekllei.city fer more. follow me on 🔗reddit or 🔗insta for all that good vekllei shit\nPlease let me know if you have any questions!\n",
  "date": "2019-03-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-03-10-fortress/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 688,
  "href": "/stories/generations/",
  "title": "The Forgotten Generation",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/family.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/family_hu36b83aba420d6dda22d75c5461d0b407_494649_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "We best know 🔗Vekllei as a dense society of utopia and great infrastructure today, but there was blood in that crucible. It is difficult to imagine that only fifty years ago these streets were unpaved and impassible with the rubble of old society. Shadows on concrete marked the souls lost in the arrogance of the monarchy. The nuclear fire was pregnant with a new generation of people, who, in the principles of 🔗upen, would forge a new society out of the ruins of the old.\nBack then girl’s shirts weren’t made of cotton and you wore holes in your shoes. He was part of the budoinetnoikotet, or the ‘war children’. His parents had lived through the first atomic war, and he was the born in the shadow of it.\nIn that time the currency had completely collapsed, and so people traded within their own communities in an awkward return to preindustrial life. Often, people’s best clothes were their uniforms, and so that was what they took photos in. This photo sits on the commode in the living room, next to a vase of lilies.\nHe remembered sour details of his teen-age impetuosity. How he insisted he remove his glasses for the photo, insulting his bespectacled father in doing so. How his mother argued with his sister over the appropriate length of her fountain hairpiece. The women wore their family gi, ceremonial quarter-pleats, and he\u0026rsquo;d had his hair cut.\nHe thought a lot about his sister, Amelie. She was beautiful and clever and had a weird sense of humour. He’d loved her a lot. She confided in him as teen-agers— about problems with friends, her rampant insecurities, her dreams of the future. It turned out she’d had a beast in her lungs and it took her when she was fifteen. That was how it went back then, in the poverty of the city. To think a hundred years earlier tuberculosis had been a rumour. That is what war does to a country. He was not even afforded the dignity of anger. The English had been right to bomb them.\nLife was different now, of course. Vekllei was strong, and although he was not much wealthier, there was more to be had. The country had flourished in the ruins of the old society. Now he watches his own child sport the uniform his sister once wore, and when she smiles at him she looks like Amelie.\nVekllei developed rapidly in the face of total destruction. In the space of fifty years the country consolidated infrastructure and its rural population into a powerful city-state of autonomous, rugged agrarian hamlets, they themselves flowers of the extinct monarchy and military junta. In some ways it was an exciting time to be alive \u0026ndash; there was now plenty to be had. No-one was hungry. But the children of those interim years have almost been erased from common memory entirely, as bastards of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s story of utopia and violence.\nThanks for stopping by. Follow me on reddit from misc. things, and check out 🔗www.vekllei.city fer more.\nI love questions. thanks.\n",
  "date": "2019-02-26T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-02-26-generation/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 689,
  "href": "/stories/air-raid/",
  "title": "Air Raid",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/airraid.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/airraid_hu47268d4e0c3b9148fa91b8f4610b9d27_632122_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "She loved helping out. It was important to her, as an ageless girl of ultimately transient relationships, to be able to establish for herself a family wherever she lived. So within a few years of her arrival in Vekllei, she put time in as a warden for her apartment block and undertook the medical training that went with it.\nShe carried debts of blood because of how she sold out her friends some years before. She was very conscious of the fact that she was living as a traitor to her old friends. If she was going to die in a nuclear blast — so be it. It would finally be repaid. She had lived a wonderful life these last couple years and had made good use of her borrowed time.\nWhen the war did come, as she always had suspected it would, she was prepared to die in it. She was caught outside when the bomb hit Montre, and when it failed to kill her, she spent three days searching tirelessly for wounded with the rest of the Civil Defense corps. It was only when her legs gave out that she made the long journey back to her father in the capital, to reassure him that she was in fact still alive.\nShe was awarded for her efforts, along with two others from Montre-Lola. It cemented her place as grandmother of the small agricultural village; the quite librarian from the city who had only the village’s interests at heart.\n",
  "date": "2019-02-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-02-25-air-raid/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 690,
  "href": "/stories/moment/",
  "title": "One Long Moment",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/moment.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/moment_hud14b2616a87f06418223558e7953f1bf_284780_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The whole world gives way to a moment of silence. The other seasons are filled with noise and marrow, jerking and twisting with the pace of the clock. But a moment lasts forever — and wintertime is one long moment.\nAlthough the uniforms got heavier and the commutes longer, Zelda would always like the wintertime. Even in the writhing digits of the city — the subways, the streetcars, the dockyards — snowbanks took the noise. There’s no hurry that time of year. Your feet are wet and your ears hurt, but that’s the price of liberation — to have normal productivity disrupted, usual play moved away. For one long moment — that’s winter — you can spent a while outdoors alone in the city.\n",
  "date": "2019-02-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-02-21-moment/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 691,
  "href": "/stories/gem/",
  "title": "A gem girl shows off her enormous strength in Pachinki",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/gem.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/gem_hu57ba98f39b287da46bc12075f76340cf_571608_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The subcontinent of Zen on the Pachinki pangea is so weathered by enormous gem deserts that there is scarcely enough space to grow wheat for bread. In places where the soil is too thin for heavy wheats, sparrowgrass is grown. This grass has large heads that can be eaten raw and taste citrusy and acidic as they only grow in toxic soils.\nBattered by gem storms, where holy winds pick up stones from the deserts and scatter them, the people of Zen live a hard and honest life. They have forsaken Palace Gods, and have consequently lost a lot of their fertility. Since marriage is dissolved upon failure of a child, Zen has many lonely and desperate spinsters. Driven nearly mad by their childlessness, it is possible to give birth to ‘gem children’ by crushing certain magic gemstones and consuming that powder with normal edible fruit gems. After a short labour of about a month, an extraordinarily painful pregnancy precedes a dangerous birth that kills about half of gem-pregnant women.\nThe child is undeniably beautiful — with a perfect colour and a glitter like no other, gem children are otherwise just like you or me. They usually find themselves popular among other village children as objects of wonder. In poorer Zen regions beyond the large wheat kingdoms, they are targets for pirates who whisk them away in airships and sell them to slavers on mainland Pachinki, since gem children are prized as well-groomed, beautiful servants of the aristocracy. This is somewhat misguided, as the majority of gem children that live in Zen live an unglamorous, happy life in agriculture.\nThey are extremely strong — with nearly no limit to their ability to push and crush — but are easily threatened by frequencies that shatter gems. One can easily hold themselves up with a single finger. They move gracefully though and have universally fine motor skills, so they have never harmed a fleshed human unintentionally. Grace here is caught mid-leap to a single handstand. With her fine balance and limitless energy, she could stay there forever if she chooses.\nGem children are kept alive by love, and as long as they are loved by someone — their mother, the community, friends — they will live forever. They also grow up, and stop physically ageing in their early twenties. Tragically, many gem children that are kidnapped die soon after as they are thrust into unloving environments.\nMarried gem children often move abroad with their partners, since their appearance makes them popular fortune-tellers, spell-casters or oath-breakers.\nGem deserts are mesmerising and a joy to wander, but you must only walk with a low sun or at night. Even in a bright moonlight, the brilliance of the gems can easily blind you for days, sometimes forever. They symbolise Zen as a people and as a landscape, and are one of the oldest shifting monuments on Pachinki.\n--\nPachinki isn\u0026rsquo;t a normal constructed world. It has its own canon. It is a creation of 🔗Tzipora, who is the character utopia of my worldbuilding project. Soon after she moves to 🔗Vekllei, she\u0026rsquo;s pretty friendless and surrounded by pulpy paperback novels. Pachinki is sort of a worldbuilding project within a worldbuilding project, and it belongs to her.\nyou can check my reddit profile (and there\u0026rsquo;s a follow button there now, because reddit is Facebook) for more posts about Vekllei and Tzipora. This isn\u0026rsquo;t the last you\u0026rsquo;ll see of Pachinki, not by a long shot!\n🔗www.vekllei.city fer more. I love questions. tahnk\n",
  "date": "2019-02-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-02-16-gem/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 692,
  "href": "/stories/sleepover/",
  "title": "Too Old for Sleepovers",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sleepover.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sleepover_hu46ae2292d1ddf03a1c2860b1413a2d05_404090_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Even for those ageless kids, there’s a time when the charade of childhood comes to a head and begs a certain uncomfortable question: at what point does the whole thing — of immaturity, of carelessness, of sleepovers — start looking like two old women posturing around youth, indulging in a sick genetic perversion? At what age to they stop brushing each other’s hair and buying magazines?\nThe question wasn’t phrased like that, but it was there. And though they had a good time, it weighed heavy on them as the schism between their innocent intuition and their public appearance grew wider.\n",
  "date": "2019-02-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-02-06-sleepover/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 693,
  "href": "/stories/militia/",
  "title": "A story of community policing and sweet militia",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/militia.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/militia_hu04da5f84e4ebe6a0d0148bd125963b86_300536_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "As part of sundress municipalism, Vekllei’s villages and townships are mostly self-sufficient and self-regulating. Although a walk in the capital will take you past colossal apartment blocks and cinemas, libraries and schools of great magnificence, you are really looking at a hundred different communities going about personal business at their leisure. The villages are large and concrete now, but the people are are still there.\nSo does it surprise anyone that the police are just as much caregivers as law enforcement? That’s the thing about cultural matriarchy — even old moustachioed crustaceans like Teddy Roresoin here are mothers in the consciousness of the country.\nTeddy came from shipbuilders and he was desperate to avoid becoming his parents. He enlisted in the Navy, but at university his politics soured on dying in some hole in Taiwan and he returned to his seaside prefecture. His office in the station overlooks the dry dock where his parents once worked. In his day it birthed large trawlers of fatty Atlantic salmon. Today it makes nuclear submarines.\nHe didn’t mean to have a child, much less a daughter, and she turned out to be everything he was terrified of. In Vekllei, they are called ‘Lodoinopotet’, which fits into English best as ‘woman-girls’ or \u0026lsquo;girly girl\u0026rsquo;. It evokes a specific image — a high-school girl with modified uniform, enamoured by useless trinkets like perfume and rouge.\nMay, his daughter, was not always close with her father but her mother did not stick around long and so it was how it was. She did not intend to become a police officer in school. She spent most of her schooling life having her heart broken by a whirlwind of paper friendships and easy boyfriends. With no qualifications and mediocre grades, she asked her father for a job. She found out she liked it, and the people she policed liked her, too. These days she patrols their hometown together with her father, killing time and making friends. She used to wear makeup heavy like the inner-city girls. She was ashamed of a beauty mark near her mouth. Nowadays it doesn’t bother her much.\nOne of her favourite of the town’s children is Laura and her brother Rike, which is a brutish-sounding name but he’s a sweet boy. He loves her dad and her father lets him wear his officer’s cap. May’s pushing thirty now and her father’s on the winter side of fifty, and her worries of marrying right out of school are far behind her now — she has enough children to fill a village.\nThe story might be saccharine, but that’s what no crime and community policing does to constable. It takes these masculine warriors of a community and makes them mums. Vekllei people’d have it no other way. At once therapists, negotiators, friends and guardians, the community police of Vekllei are symptomatic of the wider feminisation of Vekllei society, and their ambition to crest the final age of industry and enter a peaceful, post-industrial epoch of rest.\n--\nIf you have any questions, I like questions. If you\u0026rsquo;re new to Vekllei you can check out a website I worked quite hard on: 🔗www.vekllei.city. Or check out my profile! I\u0026rsquo;ve written on Senrouiva and Venrouiva policing 🔗here and 🔗here.\n",
  "date": "2019-02-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-02-03-militia/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 694,
  "href": "/stories/rabbit/",
  "title": "Look...!",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/rabbit.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/rabbit_hu233ca777fcc356fa752ad8178bfff483_229271_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Look at it!\nThe bastard ate the lettuce! There\u0026rsquo;s a hole in the wire!\nHe\u0026rsquo;s cute but he\u0026rsquo;s a bastard!\nI\u0026rsquo;ve been drawing a train for over two weeks now and I needed to draw something alive before I shinkansenned myself. This only took an hour or two but I\u0026rsquo;m not drawing enough and it feels like I\u0026rsquo;m running out of time to get good at drawing.\n",
  "date": "2019-02-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2019-02-02-look/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 695,
  "href": "/tags/2018/",
  "title": "2018",
  "section": "Tags",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2018-12-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 696,
  "href": "/stories/fight/",
  "title": "On Childhood and Modernity",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fight.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fight_hu5e1ac1520dc184f2575ccf641815aec6_587936_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Because the other girls would not stop calling her a lesbian, and because they had realised she was scared of loud noises and made use of that fact, Tzipora struck this bitch and her friend out beyond the football pitches after school. Tzipora was a good fighter — on her side is viciousness and a conviction to fight. That’s usually enough for most teen-agers, who like the idea of fighting but are unprepared for the unglamorous reality of it. But those things do not make up for being short and underweight, and the two older girls had her bleeding on the ground by the time two passing community police-officers pulled them apart.\nAs an officer examined Tzipora’s head with a torch to find the bleeding in her scalp, one of the girls was desperately explaining that Tzipora had swung first and out of nowhere. Tzipora had nothing for her defence, since it was true and since she did not speak to cops, but the policewomen figured it out for themselves easily enough. Tzipora had been beaten savagely in her foolhardy attempt to get back at her bullies, and her pitiful state made the girl’s desperate blame-passing petty and childish. Although she might have lost the fight, she was not bothered again by the two older girls.\nPart of the difficulty in understanding Vekllei as a foreigner is in the basic assumptions we make through the lens of modernity. Vekllei has not discovered ‘landscape’, and it has not discovered ‘the Child’.\nNow, children have existed since ever, but we live in an age of modernity and commodity — of nuclear power and department stores. The concept of the ‘child’ as we currently identify and understand it did not exist prior to a certain time, in which the rapid accessibility of both industrial goods and luxury in society stripped children of their productive relationships with family and labour, and introduced them to the beast that would become modern schooling. As Kojin Karatani writes about the Meiji Restoration:\n… It becomes clear that the grouping of children by age in the compulsory educational system of modern Japan signified the uprooting of children, as abstract and homogenous entities, from productive relations, social classes, and communities that had previously been their concrete contexts.\nNow, Vekllei is not Japan. Vekllei is caught, instead, between a spectre of modernity and the myth of its past. At once socialistic and deeply conservative, the intuition of the common Vekllei person is going to be fundamentally different to a person acclimatised to foreign society.\nVekllei has a modern compulsory education system like much else of the world, but the way in which Petticoat society is coloured by 🔗Upen forces a strange compromise between modernity and Vekllei’s agrarian past. Tzipora, for example, shares a classroom with students both older and younger than herself. Boys and girls wear a single uniform, shared with teachers, all the way from kindergarten to university. Compulsory school operates only three or four days a week and lasts only for a few hours. Work and play, in addition to education, have always been essential parts of childhood in the country and modern schooling has accommodated that. By the time a child is a teen-ager, the person has essentially transitioned into young-adulthood.\nBy sexual maturation, a Vekllei person has essentially transitioned to young-adulthood and submerged themselves in the productive relations of the adult age; they often leave school for work, they quickly drift to mature, independent relationships with parents, and generally marry young.\nThe consequence of this idea is that Vekllei people often attend some sort of school for most of their lives. Whether trade schools for work or adult learning institutions for personal curiosity, it is very common to fill the many free hours of a Vekllei person\u0026rsquo;s week with education of some kind.\nThis is not to mislead the reader into imagining adults and children mixing freely, either in compulsory schooling or wider society. Adults do not attend compulsory schools and the median age of a classroom rarely deviates more than a few years either side. But from the perspective of the child, growing up in Vekllei desegregates children from one-another and introduces them to mature economic and social relationships early on, allowing in theory real liberty to choose and work for your lifestyle in the country.\n-\u0026ndash; This scene takes place in a 🔗Kadesoinan park, as indicated by the offerings bench and concrete paths snaking through water. In the distance is the Lola Neighbourhood School, with its central classroom tower standing six stories high. In the city beyond is Atomic Park and its distinctive, massive sculpture.\nI’m still feeling out my ideas on this piece, and I’ll update this post as I figure it out. If you have any questions, that would help me out! Check out 🔗www.vekllei.city fer more, or follow my reddit profile.\n",
  "date": "2018-12-31T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-12-31-fight/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 697,
  "href": "/stories/christmas-2018/",
  "title": "Merry Christmas everyone (plus a little Christmas story)",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/christmas2018.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/christmas2018_hu3492186e05d59679fd04caeae5a2c94c_689977_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "She had always been a very serious girl, from the first time he’d met her. It was more than a reflection of character; it was how she talked, how she carried herself. Her clothes were plain, her nervous tics were not that funny, and she was afflicted with all sorts of fears and anxieties. She opens her mouth in public and what comes out is usually of serious opinion — a judgement of something or a political remark. But that is not how Gregori syndrome works. It does not take young girls and make them old. As the months wore on and the length of the days reflected the passing of warm season, he learned well enough that she was a teen-ager, despite her seriousness. She was slowly domesticated into regular society, her conversation became casual, and she started to worry more about things that might have been inconceivably petty in the months before.\nIn late November they put up the tree, at her insistence. She was six months a citizen at this point, and not yet familiar with all the familial traditions of the country. But she knew Christmas. And that became her season. This chick, awash with anxiety and domestic terror, was fucking around with ornaments he’d left in the box for five years.\n‘Do you mind if I put the angel up the top?’ She asked him. She was kneeling at the foot of the tree with a sample of tree-toppers spread out before her. He looked up from his paper.\n‘Why would I mind?’\n‘I just thought you might.’\n‘Do what you like, I don’t mind.’\nShe shook her head and shifted back on her rump.\n‘It’s no fun if you’re not helping. I have no idea what to do, I haven’t had a proper tree since I was eight.’\nHe put the paper to the side and rubbed his eyes under his spectacles. He breathed out slowly.\n‘What if I make Christmas lunch and you can do the tree?’ He said.\n‘No, I’m already doing lunch,’ she said, then in English: ‘Pitch in, that’s how we all do it here.’\nShe got up and shuffled her feet into slippers and sat next to him.\n‘Did you invite Ayn?’\n‘I haven’t, yet,’ he said, ‘It’s been a busy week. I’ll ask her, though. She’d be thrilled to be asked.’\n‘Maybe I should make a card.’\n‘That would be nice,’ he nodded. ‘She likes you a lot.’\nShe looked surprised and smiled at him, teeth and everything.\n‘That’s sweet,’ she said, and tugged at her shirt. ‘She’s sweet. I like her too.’\nAs Tzipora worked her way into a Christmas fever, he began to like it too. She was better when she was happier — she smiled more, and the compulsion to pull her shirt or rub her nose abated. It was very strange to see a girl he’d known as old before her time suddenly revert five years and adopt a flurry of youth; it was a childish rekindling of the good things in her that might be more accessible if she’d grown up in her home country. He was suckered into the season’s festivities too, a holiday empty in the country of plenty without faith and family. He even attended a mass at Tzipora’s request — she was still deicidal, but she remained a Catholic and wanted to be a part of the fun.\nOn Christmas Eve Tzipora had put herself to sleep with sickly Winter wine and had curled up on the couch. Ayn sat with Baron at the table and they finished what was left of the bottle as the evening rolled on. He’d lost the nose but still had antlers. She was in a Santa hat and sweet with good cheer.\n‘It’s funny, when you think about it,’ she said. Her smile had become small and serious. ‘It all turned out well enough, didn’t it?’\n‘It’s hardly started,’ he smirked, and gestured with his thumb at the girl on the couch. His voice was very low as to not wake the girl. ‘She’s got a whole thing planned. She doesn’t want me to know what it is. She’ll happily let me clean up her wrapping paper and wash the dishes, but she won’t tell me what’s going on. She’s got something in the oven, that’s all I know.’\n‘Mmhmm,’ she said, and she stretched out a hand and gently laid it across his. ‘But I mean in the scheme of things, Baron. I meant in general.’\n‘Like how?’\n‘Well, you and I could never marry. And I could never have a baby, you know that. I always wanted a child,’ she said. She squeezed his hand. ‘But here we are, anyway. Think about what it was like when you left for America, and then as it is now.’\nHe nodded.\n‘I think about it,’ he said. ‘We’re lucky.’\n‘Of course we are.’\nHe thought about it some more when he got up to carry her to bed some hours into the early morning.\nMerry Christmas and thanks for a great year.\nAlso on the sexy website it (probably easier to read on mobile): 🔗https://vekllei.city/christmas-with-tzipora/\n",
  "date": "2018-12-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-12-23-christmas/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 698,
  "href": "/stories/motorbike/",
  "title": "The Suburban Constabulary",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/bike.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/bike_hu06633955245295a7c5cf6806b2e0dabc_706838_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The constabulary is old-fashioned and it can’t last forever. It predates Petticoat-era Vekllei, the previous regime lost to atomic ash, and even the monarchy itself — it was the first community militia of the country and a great deal of romanticism that had been lost in the death of the monarchy has been invested in them. Vekllei people have no gods and no kings; the comfort of tradition is invested in relic institutions like the constabulary. Their uniforms are ostentatious and stylish; they carry ceremonial swords; they guard the nation’s children and leaders alike as part of 🔗venrouiva policing, and so on.\nWhere community police stations are populated heavily with women and are largely unarmed, the constabulary has traditionally been a male institution with capable equipment. Even now, in an age of petticoat society and integration of womanhood into the economic fibre of the country, the constabulary is still mostly staffed by men.\nAs they do not make house calls, the constabulary is tasked with defending institutions and business of national importance — everything from schools to petrochemical plants and water infrastructure. They ride in cars or motorcycles. Vekllei still operates many thousands of combustion-engine motorcycles, but there are efforts underway to research all-electric motorcycles that could be refuelled periodically. A pity for constables, for whom the roar of a motor engine is half the fun and symbolises their unique status in Vekllei society, which is nearly totally nuclear-electric.\nThis woman here is an office lady, as designated by the small gi on her skirt. She’s late to lunch for a friend and only has an hour left. She hails the nearest constable, who helps her with directions. Such is the most extreme encounter most Vekllei people will ever experience with the elusive and romantic constabulary, at least until the second nuclear attack on the country and their rapid mobilisation as military police.\n🔗vekllei.city for the whole world, or check my profile! I love feedback and questions, too.\n",
  "date": "2018-12-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-12-19-constabulary/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 699,
  "href": "/stories/valley-of-the-dead/",
  "title": "The Valley of the Dead",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/deadvalley.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/deadvalley_hu7eeed46390808dadf8dabdc65c3dbb29_469404_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "As Zelda got older and her sense of urgency decayed, the bone between life and death seemed to grow less important as time went on. Could you blame her? She was eighty years old at this point and still as fresh as fourteen — suspended somewhere in the misery of her old age and enthusiasm of her youth. You get a sense of it when you meet her — there’s no urgency about her, no hurry at all. No hurry at all. Just the mild, sweet curiosity of her teen-age appearance and the patience of an old woman.\nSince the friends and family of her teen-age years (her real teen-age years) were dead by this time, their spirits had returned to their places of birth. Her mother was in Ula. Baron was in Lola, by the sea. She hoped everyone she loved was at peace. She did not have many friends in her first cycle of life but the ones she did have were precious to her.\nIn the mountains south of Montre, near the village where she had worked as a librarian for some years, there lies a healthy plateau between monumental basalt ribs. Here is the grave of her mother, long since turned to ashes and returned to the earth. This whole ro, this flower-tundra, was alive with spirits. The ro are important to Vekllei people as the meeting points between life and death. Her mother appears as a cat she recognised from the train station, and the two of them share a space for a while. Zelda never knew her mother all that well, and disliked her for some of the things she did, but eighty years does a lot to the turbulence of grudges and these days she wonders more and more about the bloodline from whence she came and, perhaps some day, she might return.\nShe pets the cat and talks to her mother, and once it gets too cold to bear, she wishes her mother well and leaves her. Zelda knew there were demons here and didn’t want to spend much time in the Valley of the Dead after dark.\nShe returned home on the express line from Tiamoin and alighted at Montre-Dupau, where her little country home and the working week awaited her.\n",
  "date": "2018-12-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-12-17-valley/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 700,
  "href": "/stories/cosmojet/",
  "title": "The Cosmojet",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/cosmojet.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/cosmojet_hu37554091a3d157df2b0716a5ce5adf9a_308257_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Ramoin-Dupont H700A “Cosmojet” series are the primary carrier-based fighters of Vekllei. They’re a real bitch to fly. Beloved as they are iconic, variations of the Cosmojet (H600A, B, H500A, etc.) make up the bulk of Vekllei’s total fighter outfit. Unconventional inverted gull wings and embedded turbofan engines make for a striking and uniquely Vekllei aircraft.\nAnd that was the whole point. The first Ramoin-Dupont fighter was always about more than military prestige — it would signal to the world that Vekllei was more than a backwards trough of hamlets and cities. The RD H-series would be an all-nuclear, all-Vekllei fighter. The country had been left scorched by the nuclear exchange at the turn of the millennium. The collapse of the old regime brought about widespread poverty and backwardness. The United States and Europe had emerged with industry mostly intact, and their governments were bankrolling nuclear aircraft programmes. So Vekllei began tentative research into modernising its ageing air force.\nThe Ramoin-Dupont Aircraft Company was founded by the two cities of its namesake in the cooperative economic boom of the 2010s and 2020s, and the initial development factory and test fields were outdated and burdened by a catalogue of old-fashioned turbojet transport aircraft. The handful of genius engineers in the RD skunkworks set to work, in collaboration with General Reactor, on the new fighter project. As progress was made, the pressure to catch up was eclipsed by excitement as key technological breakthroughs offered Vekllei a chance at leapfrogging conventional military fighters and ushering in a new aluminium-body nuclear fighter. Most crucial were the advancements in Vekllei domestic reactor technology, brought about by General Reactor. Sunburst-style heat exchangers meant lower reactor temps, which allowed for lighter chromium-cadmium shielding and an overall weight reduction of several thousand pounds compared to American and European projects.\nAfter two decades of development, the result was the Aurora. It was still too heavy to properly arm because of the shielding and size requirements of a molten salt reactor. Succeeding generations corrected critical flaws in power management, manoeuvrability, and weight. Fifty years later, the Cosmojet is a direct descendent of that project and stands as the 15th iteration in the nuclear jet programme overall.\nThe aircraft pictured is named “Lola,” a common girls name in the country. Her nose and forward air intake are painted like a puffin’s break, the national bird. The Vekllei roundel features the logographic character for ‘land of volcanoes,’ the 🔗masculine glossary’s (Loh) hieroglyph for Vekllei. The paint on her vertical stabiliser marks her as the second fighter of her squadron.\nThe nuclear reactor makes the fighter extraordinarily heavy, and despite three powerful engines and an inverse-gull delta wing, the aircraft is most commonly launched by catapult systems, even on land. The indirect air cycle system limits radioactive pollution of the surrounding material and the cockpit is only lightly shielded. Although the reactor saves many thousands of tonnes of jet fuel over the course of its lifetime, day-to-day operations of any carrier fighter require manoeuvrability and reliability. To save weight, the Cosmojet carries only enough chemical fuel for controlled descent using the auxiliary lightweight chemical combustion engine. Her two auxiliary exhausts swivel with the primary flaps, allowing the heavy jet to slow for approach. The iconic inverse-gull wing reduces the strain on landing gear and saves weight by removing the need for fortified (and heavy) landing gear. It also allows for heavy torpedoes to be mounted on the fuselage, which are designed primarily for use against nuclear submarines.\nThe Cosmojet uses a 2.5MW air-cooled molten salt reactor with an indirect air cycle system powering one chemical-reactor hybrid electric turbofan and two auxiliary segregated turbofans mounted in the wings. The reactor heats liquid metal, which is circulated in radiators by turbopumps and heats air drawn in through the wing and forward intakes. The air is then pumped back into the engines and expelled through one of three exhausts at the rear of the aircraft. In addition, the Cosmojet uses a small chemical combustion engine for take-off and landing and for auxiliary power in the event of reactor malfunction or the EMP effects of a nuclear weapon. The prohibitively strict weight limit means that the Cosmojet only carries enough fuel for take-off and landing.\nVekllei employs nearly 4,000 Cosmojet-series fighters today. All of them are used as supersonic air-superiority fighters. As an island nation with a defensive military posture and a fear of nuclear war, this enormous expenditure is supposed to show results in a global nuclear exchange, much of which will still be delivered by supersonic jet bombers.\nIf you have any questions or want to interrogate my (limited) aircraft knowledge, go ham! You can read more about Vekllei at 🔗www.vekllei.city or clicking on my profile and sorting by posts!\nThanks for reading\n",
  "date": "2018-12-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-12-14-cosmojet/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 701,
  "href": "/stories/metro-days/",
  "title": "Metro Days",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/metrodays.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/metrodays_hu37db307affbbc10512be90fadb95fb5c_268285_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Metro Days.\n",
  "date": "2018-12-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-12-11-metro/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 702,
  "href": "/stories/flower-tundra/",
  "title": "The Flower Tundra",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/flowertundra.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/flowertundra_hu45b6f00fc7702293d11d22bb8f6be0c9_291532_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " The two girls caught a train from school to the terminus, and then a rural line as far as it would take them out of the city. They had walked the granite shoulder of a mountain range for most of the afternoon, carrying only a few mouthfuls of provisions between them. They were both dressed in winter uniforms for the summer hike. The sea air gathered cold and malevolence as it escaped up the range of peaks that chased Vekllei Proper. The girls walked as far as they could with a view of the city abreast before mounting the peak and descending into the flowery plateau beyond the city centre. The path gave way to basalt drumlins and soft flower-tundra. The horizon was marked by volcanic imperfections, and framed a stretch of colour entirely untouched. For only a few hour’s ride from the city, and a handful of foodstuffs acquired from the small village the train terminated in, they had disembarked from civilisation entirely and entered the world of the spirits.\nThe flower-tundra is like mania; it overwhelms the soul in great colour and ancient presence. Centuries collapse, bloodlines congeal, and suddenly there is a hair between you and your forefathers.\n🔗Read more at vekllei.city.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s not actually all wank, just a conversation between girls. I\u0026rsquo;m doing words-a-day at the moment so I\u0026rsquo;ll update the page in the following days as the scene completes. For now I\u0026rsquo;m pretty happy where it ends.\nAs always, let me know if you have any questions or comments.\nThanks everyone.\n",
  "date": "2018-12-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-12-10-flower-tundra/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 703,
  "href": "/stories/rural-trains/",
  "title": "Rural Trains",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/ruraltrains.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/ruraltrains_hu6978cbca766c04d9560aa5bc4f58061e_184319_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "I caught a train out of Tokyo as far as it would go, and I ended up on a little platform in the mountains. Nice place.\nVekllei has a lot of mountains and a lot of trains.\n",
  "date": "2018-12-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-12-05-rural-trains/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 704,
  "href": "/stories/koka-parks/",
  "title": "Koka parks \u0026 municipal recreation",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/kokaparks.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/kokaparks_hu2fc5fd4a82e85c9d59446250dce1d976_716734_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Between the atomic fire that ruined the city, and the death of the king, there was a time when the city of Vekllei once resembled its lifeless lava fields to the North. In the communities that gathered themselves in the shadow of holocaust, common agriculture like fruits and berries returned to the city in what they call koka parkland.\nKoka is the Vekllei word for forest (ka), combined with a prefixtual particle that ‘industrialises’ it. It is usually translated as ‘municipal forest’, and was designed for and continues to serve two purposes in the city today.\nThe first is that consumable raw agricultural products, like fruits, nuts and berries, were valuable commodity in the starving post-war neighbourhoods that emerged in the ruins of the old city. These foods were combined with bread and meat, staples of the Vekllei diet, to give flavour in a country without easy access to spices and salt. By integrating them into common gardens, the people of Vekllei returned the production of food into a common, shared space that predicated the wider decommodification of the country. To this day, very little fruit is distributed through grocers; it is grown freely and year-round in koka parks in the city.\nThe second is that Upen, the animistic spiritualism that guides most of Vekllei culture, blossomed in the ashes of the monarchy and revived a real desire to desegregate spirits from urban life. The construction of massive koka parks, filled with food and old trees and free-flowing water, offered an apology to the spirits driven out by industry and agriculture, and invited them to return to human settlement as fellow custodians of the earth. Many koka parks house temples for dialogue with spirits and sprites, and they bless the surrounding neighbourhoods.\nTo step into a koka park is to disappear from the urban world. Birds warble, leaves whisper to themselves and water trickles sweetly through bright mosses. The largest parks hide the surrounding skyline entirely, and disappear tourists for hours at a time, only to spit them out hours later, confused and exhausted. Any piece of infrastructure, any human touch, is strangled with banners and wires suspending pennants. In keeping with Vekllei Semaphore, a separate language from upotenne and written Vekllei, the flags themselves speak to visitors through their colour, direction and shape. The effect of being swallowed by a koka park is detoxifying and luxurious — and by the time your lunch break has ended, you are fed and at peace.\n-\u0026ndash; If you have any questions, let me know! You can read more about Koka parks and learn all about Vekllei at 🔗www.vekllei.city, which has just been redesigned and I think it looks pretty amazing.\nPost Scriptum: The figure in this girl, Tzipora Desmoines, is in her second week in Vekllei in this picture. Timid and isolated through her sudden immigration, she makes her way through a koka park with a guide she can\u0026rsquo;t read, fretting about which tram she has to get back home.\n",
  "date": "2018-12-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-12-04-koka-parks/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 705,
  "href": "/stories/guilt/",
  "title": "The guilt dies with her",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/guilt.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/guilt_hue3ced5d4030d4798a04e7f97568a1313_214045_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Some years ago, she was in the desert. At the time she had just fallen out with her lover, and their friends had sided with him. The reasons why they had sided with him seemed to matter less and less as time wore on — they might have always liked him better.\nThey were self-styled anarchists waging war against the Indian Springs Sheriff’s Department, who operated one of the larger camps north of Las Vegas. Fashioning themselves as martyrs, they carried on in the spirit of Sacco and Vanzetti.\nTzipora had been growing tired of fighting. There had been an outbreak of botulism not far from where they were camped out, and she was worried she might catch it. She wouldn\u0026rsquo;t survive it if she did, because her body was wasting as she slowly starved. The folks they used to steal from had fled the fighting. Once her lover had left her, and her presence began to irritate the small group, she left one night and walked to the local Women’s Auxiliary, a barracks of women and girls supporting the marxist stooges in that part of Nevada. It was impressive to the fourteen year-old — the dusty desert outpost was flush with Soviet-made rifles and medicine, with rations aplenty. As she enlisted, she thought of her abandoned comrades. She was filled with anger and jealousy.\nShe told her garrison leader, a man with an accent from somewhere on the East Coast she couldn’t quite place, about how she and her skilled anarchist friends had been at waging guerilla war against the secessionists. Then, in an act of spite, she mentioned that her old comrades had stolen supplies from an Worker\u0026rsquo;s Reunification Party camp. Perhaps, in her silly little head, she had wanted to see them brought under control and disciplined, and she would finally be satisfied after their cruel words and coldness.\nMichael and Lenny, two friends, leaders, and one an ex-lover, were picked up by a WRP patrol and shot in the head in their prison cells. The KGB, which was supporting the WRP at that time, gathered up the rest of the anarchists, six in all, and sent them to a detention camp in Utah. Tzipora would not see any of them again.\nThe same day she found this out, she was singled out at morning assembly and awarded for her efforts in front of the entire Women’s Auxiliary. When she returned to her bunk, she found a hundred pairs of eyes on her, and her meager possessions thrown onto the floor. She slept outside as a traitor that night, and would leave soon after.\nBlood does not wash off her hands. The shock of her childish mistake gave way to extraordinary self-hate, and some sixty years later she is still coloured by queasy, anxious guilt.\n",
  "date": "2018-11-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-11-16-guilt/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 706,
  "href": "/stories/summer/",
  "title": "Happy Summer Everyone",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/summer.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/summer_huf02f89383b4f61f330c6ac89c3d3570b_284019_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In Down Under it\u0026rsquo;s coming around summer, and things are heating up. It\u0026rsquo;s not my fault Yanks broke the northern hemisphere and made the weather go wrong.\nVekllei gets warm in the summer, reaching heights of 30C occasionally. 🔗For a variety of reasons. A city of gardens and flowerbeds (the most flowers per capita in the world, actually), apartment dwellers take turns watering their local gardens and clearing weeds. Most parks have utility as herb or fruit gardens, and so maintenance of those plants in summer is important.\nAnd to all the new folks following me, cheers! I post to my profile every so often, usually snapshots of domestic life or Tzipora that I can\u0026rsquo;t crowbar into a r/worldbuilding format. Posting to that sub affects what kind of content you make, and I like making lots of different types of content, so a lot of different things end up here.\nThanks everyone\n",
  "date": "2018-11-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-11-05-summer/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 707,
  "href": "/stories/scout/",
  "title": "Talking about Girl Scouts and Child Soldiers",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/scout.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/scout_hu1101184e25a1ca4596fdc1f302f43613_428825_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "About half of Vekllei kids go through the \u0026lsquo;Blossom\u0026rsquo; network of youth orgs at some point in their lives. Yeah, youth groups are popular nowadays. The Boy Scouts and Girl Guides of the United States are as mandatory as schooling in some states, and various Red Pioneers around the world test orthodoxy in Soviet and Red Chinese children.\nThe Girl Guides of the U.S. now boast catalogues of several hundred pages, selling thousands of Guides-branded items to their own members and Guide-friendly suburbs. Outwardly, the cartoons of Heinz and Carpenter (both of Western Family Magazine fame) might show off Guides assembling tents in jigger jackets and bright sashes, but they always seemed to neglect the impoverished girls priced out of the Guides organisation, like was so common at the time. There were a lot of poor girls in America by 2083.\nThings are not much better for the Boy Scouts, who are only a few lethal armaments away from becoming paramilitary. They worship the flag and guard America’s character. Following the catastrophic Sino-American nuclear exchange, the Boy Scouts were enlisted in Civil Defense, an order that would kill many times more boys than the bombs ever did. You had kids being killed protecting grocers in food riots, and disappearing en masse as the cities collapsed. It was absurd.\nSo in the search for an analogue to Vekllei’s Blossoms, do we have any choice but to look to the Pioneers of those miserable countries of the East? After all, 🔗Vekllei has no money to spend, and no flag to worship (the domestic standard is a simple red rectangle, the international standard is decorated). Perhaps the Blossoms, a relatively decentralised organisation for a youth group, has no real comparison in the world today.\nBoys and girls of schooling age can join unisex troops\n(the literal translation of the word is ‘barracks’, but in Vekllei it lacks the military connotation)\nand they will receive a uniform of wool, lisle cotton and nylon blended advanced fabrics. On their person they carry binoculars, twine, and tools of various utility. On hikes they often carry air rifles for small game hunts; most every Blossom will learn the basics of gun safety and shooting at some point.\nThe real emphasis of the Blossom network 🔗is in the naturalist spiritualism of the country, or Upen. Blossoms are taught about agriculture, food production and consumption in their society. Most troops enforce ‘catch-kill’ rules: if a troop member wants to eat meat, they should kill, skin, and clean the animal to illustrate the relationship between consumption and exploitation. Environmentalism in the organisation is broad and humancentric. Although environmental science and the geology of the country is taught, most camps place emphasis on rural infrastructure, roupoismentet (or \u0026rsquo;local living\u0026rsquo;, a word for agrarian communities), and the place of spirits in Vekllei’s domestic affairs. This is not to portray Vekllei as an overly vegetarian or sentimental country \u0026ndash; just that Upen is a part of life for Vekllei children, and contributes to their understanding of the world.\nMany Blossoms pursue employment in the Armed Forces upon leaving school, as a natural extension of the organised lifestyle of a youth org. This is not to say that life in the Blossoms is particularly militaristic \u0026ndash; Vekllei does not actually have professional culture, despite hierarchies, and so life in the Blossoms is casual fair, and like the rest of the country, largely individualistic and self-satisfying. Boys and girls go on camps, eat food out of a can, sleep under the stars, collect badges, fall in and out of puppy love, learn to assemble a rifle, meet wild animals, etc.\nTzipora perches on a tree stump as her friend rushes to steady the camera. She surveys her domain. The flower-tundra from here to Montre was uninhabited. Society had been stripped away and they were fellow creatures of the forest. Her friend places the plaque with her name and year on it at the foot of the stump, and Tzipora adopts a masculine pose typical of her.\nI’m still fleshing out the ideas in this post, so let me know if you have any questions. Like always, you can sort my profile by posts for more info. You can read more about the project at 🔗www.vekllei.city, although that website is still a work in progress. It’ll do for now.\nThis is a quick reupload: the first image had a great big bloody line through it, and I just couldn\u0026rsquo;t unsee it. 🔗This is what it looked like. LOOK AT IT. IT\u0026rsquo;S SO OBVIOUS ONCE YOU SEE IT. Sorry folks.\n",
  "date": "2018-11-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-11-04-scout/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 708,
  "href": "/stories/stewards/",
  "title": "The Stewards of the Earth",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/spiritstewards.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/spiritstewards_hu916babcb5f5a76091f82278322ac1e46_538992_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Upen is the animistic religion of Vekllei. It doesn\u0026rsquo;t have priests, but it has ceremony, and it shapes every part of the country today. From apartment cooperatives to the types of cotton used in clothing, Upen has extraordinary reach for an ostensibly agnostic and secular country.\nIt works out that way because Upen is not an organised religion, and resembles more closely a collective spiritualism with supernatural beliefs. It is not incompatible with theism, a quirk we\u0026rsquo;ll explore below, but it manifests outside of churches in the passing of seasons, code of dress and rural egalitarianism.\nHow exactly a person goes about their animism is their business, and depends on personal faith. Most Vekllei people are atheistic and believe there is another plane of existence which houses their ancestors, spirits, sprites, and demons. This is reflected in how they see the world:\n​Upen, as atheistic and animistic, shelters the landscape from becoming ‘simply nature’, as it does when viewed as a product of a monotheistic creator god. To these people, agnostic of \u0026rsquo;landscape\u0026rsquo;, nature is not ‘simply nature’; it is a spiritual vessel in itself, inalienable and inextricably linked to human purpose and satisfaction. Industry is divorced from the whole concept; it is a country of forest commons, collective stewardship, and volcanic unrest.\nIt is not always easy to reconcile the basic assumptions Upen makes about the world. Viewed through Tzipora’s nonpracticing Roman Catholic lens, the mess of her religious beliefs look something like this:\nThere is a single creator God, who took on man’s flesh as Christ. He\n(and in her mind, it is most certainly a He)\nis not omnibenevolent or even totally omniscient. Humans, as weak and mortal, must obey Him until they have the power to usurp Him. He is a guiding force of the world. Spirits, as physical manifestations of the landscape, are fellow travelers on this planet and should always be treated with respect, as humans are guests. With a fragile, physical form, it is a uniquely human burden to cultivate and protect the land, and actualise their purpose as a species.\nSo, to dissect her version of Upen, we have here four (five) different characters in the spiritual world:\nFirst are spirits and sprites, which are the souls and fabric of the forests and hills. They are as old as the Earth itself and predate humans by billions of years, a fact that seems implied when you are joined in physical presence with them. They treasure, and indeed, embody the Earth and can reap wealth or chaos among us. Spirits take many forms, sometimes anthropomorphic, sometimes only partially corporeal. This one here has collected jewellery, gold, and peratin leaves, as they are fiercely attracted to precious metals. Just as we dress up for them, peaceful spirits will dress up for us and mimic parts of our bodies. Sprites (as opposed to spirits) are smaller, more emotional, and are fragments of reproduction \u0026ndash; think of them like spores of ferns, of the pollen of flowers. You can see a small one floating beside the spirit.\nChrist was the first and only time that God is recorded to have walked among the living. He might visit the spirit world often; Tzipora wouldn’t know. As a creator and guide for humans, He was born as a human and taught ways to live well. Humanity is very young and is still learning to live on the Earth. The ritual of communion is a way of reminding us that We are in His image, and We are unworthy. He died for our sins; sins Tzipora is very sure will eventually usurp Him altogether in whatever deicidal sci-fi utopia she\u0026rsquo;s got going on in her head.\nThen, there are humans themselves. Here, Tzipora is in full costume designed for religious ceremony to talk to spirits. 🔗You can read more about the costume here. She might ask for rains, or a long summer, or for the forest to return a missing child. Food offerings are presented. She forms a whole rune with her body as part of Upotenne, or the language of spirits. Upotenne itself is an ancient type of Potenne, which is modern Vekllei sign language. This is a calming rune, indicating maternal affection, and you can see the written hieroglyph appears visually similar to the pose.\nFinally, demons walk the Earth and can manifest in many different ways. This one has taken the form of a girl, and carries the severed head of a goat. Its eyelids are painted with ritualistic eyes in mockery of proper funeral rites. They often wander aimlessly through uninhabited areas, as noise in intolerable to most demons. They are mysterious creatures, and their purpose is unknown. They come from the place spirits go to die. Like apex predators, they wander aimlessly and without purpose, hunting and feeding at random. They are feeble in physical forms, with one exception: they can form physical runes quickly and maliciously. The one cast here is an omen of suffering (translated literally as \u0026lsquo;harpoiseanin\u0026rsquo;, or overpowering the body with its own stomach acids). In Vekllei, a \u0026lsquo;demon\u0026rsquo; is any biplanar or otherwise supernatural creature that takes corporeal form and harms folk directly. Spirits can maim and kill, but only through the forces of nature \u0026ndash; a demon attacks physically. There are many types of demons, 🔗and you can read more about them here.\nIf you have any questions about Upen, just ask. You can read more about Vekllei by clicking on my profile or visiting 🔗www.vekllei.city! Thanks for stopping by!\n-\u0026ndash; Post scriptum: Upen is also the reason Vekllei does not recognise either private or public property, and was actually the inspiration for making this post. Although many people exert \u0026lsquo;ownership\u0026rsquo;, the concept of property as something other than \u0026rsquo;nature\u0026rsquo; is not recognised, and so society in Vekllei remains thoroughly decommodified. Looking at Vekllei through the lens of Upen, it becomes clear that a moneyless domestic economy is not the product of grand secular collectivist ideals but a natural extension of egalitarian environmentalism; essentially urbanised agrarian socialism.\n",
  "date": "2018-10-30T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-10-30-steward/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 709,
  "href": "/stories/military-fashion/",
  "title": "Let’s look at military fashion, because why not?",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/militaryfashion.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/militaryfashion_hua18d8ce97d71a82bd962a372ab1668f0_141328_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Unlike the United States and Western Europe, the ‘teen-ager’ has not been discovered in Vekllei. To be pedantic, they do technically exist — their people do indeed enter a transitory stage between childhood and adulthood, as far as anyone can tell — but they do not exist as a separate cultural identity. The teen-age person in Vekllei is immersed in adult economic and social relationships, and so they have no real cultural material of their own. They listen to the music of their parents, raise younger siblings, and generally marry young. I could go on for a while about things Vekllei has not ‘discovered’ (read: commodified through modernity); landscape, childhood, history, etc. But let’s stick with teen-agers for now.\nBy sexual maturation, a Vekllei person has essentially transitioned to young-adulthood and submerged themselves in the productive relations of the adult age; they often leave school for work, they quickly drift to mature, independent relationships with parents, and otherwise carve out lives in their wondrous country. All of this is not to say that the country lacks materials aimed at young people entirely — you can’t fit a middle-aged woman into a sixteen-year-old’s dress, no matter how much she might try — but I am simply trying to establish an understanding that folk here do not enjoy the glamour (or what was once glamour) of American teen-agers, with sock-hops and convertible cars and magazines.\nTangentially related, as Vekllei society has militarised in the face of nuclear war, so too has fashion adopted a bayonet’s edge. In womens fashion, we’re seeing the reemergence of ‘dazzle’ camouflage in imitation of her great capital ships. Jackets, skirts, jewellery, hats, are all being manufactured in flavours of it, and are often touspian or ‘pastelised’ into designs and colours considered more feminine. In men, military caps and ties are popular in semiformal social outfits, and often complement suits. The country is already heavily uniformed in the workplace, and has a passion for badges and armbands and decorative knick-knacks, and so a lot of these authoritative trinkets are trickling into everyday fashion.\nIt’s easy to despair at the militarisation of society, and a warhawk fashion culture, but it could also be seen as a critical modernist/postmodern attack on the traditional institutions that are so integral to life and culture in Vekllei society. In sharp dresses women wear armbands embroidered with brands of soup, men wear faux-military badges displaying ridiculous illustrations — while not outright political perhaps, they are certainly appropriating the imagery of war and domesticating it.\nTzipora here is sixteen, waiting for a first date, and patterned with the dazzle of the Sundress nuclear-equipped capital ship.\nI haven’t really felt out my thoughts fully on the subject of teen-age life and its introduction to Western society, so if ya got any ideas leave a comment. I’m also building a website, 🔗www.vekllei.city, but it’s a bit shit at the moment. I’m slowly cementing its style and turning it into a proper wiki, so check back soon!\nCheers!\n",
  "date": "2018-10-22T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-10-22-fashion/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 710,
  "href": "/stories/collapse/",
  "title": "The Collapse of the South",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/southerncollapse.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/southerncollapse_hue3ced5d4030d4798a04e7f97568a1313_95647_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In October of 2074, the Ford Motor Company was embroiled in political catastrophe after Vermont senator Henry Walsh accused unionism in its East-Coast plants of traitorism by allowing foreign spies to acquire jobs in the Company. Whether the spies were Soviet or Chinese changed several times in Walsh’s accusations, but the claims themselves were not entirely unfounded. An investigation by the FBI received by congress found that several high-ranking Auto Workers Union members in Ford plants had connections to communist organisations, which were then discovered to have smuggled foreign agents into the country.\nThe recognition of Ford as a traitorous company, combined with an ailing combustion-engine automobile catalogue, sank the company into receivership and then bankruptcy. In a few short weeks, the titan of American industry, and the grandfather of mass-production, had ceased to exist except in name (which was acquired by Chrysler and branded tokenistically on several models of Chrysler vehicles).\nForty-thousand jobs disappeared by the new year. The economy was bad and the plants of the company were unsold and were bleached by the sun. The Southern states, which had served as primary hubs of the auto industry after Detroit’s collapse a decade before, saw unemployment jump ten percent. Is it any surprise what followed?\nIt would be misleading to categorise everything that has happened since as a consequence of the Ford Motor Company’s collapse, but in the minds of most Americans — and most importantly, blue-collar men of the Southern States — it was the beginning of the end for the Union, and the secession of the Southern States from the United States four years later had rolled off the back of the economic collapse spurred by Ford.\nHungry and anguished by economic collapse, and increasing fragmentation of Southern culture as cities, companies and universities diversified culturally, Southerners found conspiracy in many sectors of modern American life. There were Jews, who controlled big money in the East Coast cities and relished the South\u0026rsquo;s failures. There were capitalists, who were often conflated with Jews as enemies of the noble small business community. There was the Federal Government itself, and a cabal of socialists, communists and leftists who had wrought their jealousy upon the south. And there were blacks and hispanics, who were brothers in victimhood or conspirators depending on what county you were in.\nAlthough the South would gain some measure of independence after the heat of the fighting had tapered out, the Southern States would never fully recover, and both the secessionist and Union states continued to maintain a single U.S. military.\nIf you have any questions, let me know! You can read more about the world of Vekllei by clicking on my profile, or visiting 🔗www.vekllei.city.\n",
  "date": "2018-10-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-10-05-south/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 711,
  "href": "/stories/sadboi/",
  "title": "real sadboi posting hours",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/sadboi.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/sadboi_hucde662d47266d1f6ea7a5503a5db2e01_89467_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Coming up on 2am here in East Australia. Had a rough day at work. Feeling pretty isolated and my other job starts in a few hours. I don’t know if it’s intrusive thoughts from OCD or just something everyone has, but four or five times a day I’ll have some sort of regret pop right into my head. I can’t seem to move on from much. Tzipora’s the same. She’s probably thinking about physical education from early that day. She’s thinking about faking a sick note so she doesn’t have to do it anymore. She cringes and curses under her breath and then the memory passes.\nI like drawing her at home, but the proportion’s all shot to shit and it took way too long for such a simple sketch. Doesn’t matter though, it turned out pretty close to how I wanted.\nYou got any similar experiences or anything, feel free to comment.\n",
  "date": "2018-09-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-09-29-sadboi/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 712,
  "href": "/stories/old-uniforms/",
  "title": "School uniforms for girls",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/olduniforms.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/olduniforms_huc8f6d2db88d14c7e810658e6fc996c59_315341_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "From preschool to university and beyond, all students wear a variant of the same uniform. The kindergartners may not wear a full gi and camisole pinafore, but the basic ensemble is still there. This is the girl’s one, and it’s much more elaborate than the boy’s uniform.\nYear-round, all students wear a school armband with their year and class embroidered on it and a badge of education, which is pinned to the top button. Girls wear a selection of other traditional items.\nThe gi is a ceremonial quarter-pleat worn by schoolgirls and the wider public generally. It is usually embroidered for the festival month it was made in, and many Vekllei girls have several gi for different celebratory months (birth month, blood month, shipbuilder’s month, etc). In summer it is also common to wear a sun petticoat, a delicate lace petticoat worn exposed beneath the hem of the skirt. These are often handmade. Traditionally hair is pulled into a fountain hairpiece if it is long enough, and can accompany temple hairpieces as well. These hairstyles trace back to the spirit priestesses and have become fashionable again.\nIn winter, both boys and girls wear a half cape for Vekllei’s miserable winter months. These are usually wool and lined with insulating materials. Girls also wear a camisole pinafore, which is essentially a traditional girl’s camisole that is tucked into the skirt to make a dress for the winter months.\nArmbands, badges, half capes and gi are worn in many other industries as well, since nearly every company employs a uniformed staff. It is common for a girl to hold a gi from her middle-school years, where it is oversized and clumsy, all the way to graduation and then employment.\nFor those wondering what happens to valuable metals and gemstones in a moneyless society like Vekllei, you simply have to look a little closer — they are often sewn into badges and ceremonial clothes. Stripped of their commodity, they have become precious and sacred items that bejewel important objects. The badge of education, for example, contains a ruby in its heart.\nNone of this stops roughhousing, and Tzipora’s just beat the shit out of a girl who called her a lesbian.\n",
  "date": "2018-09-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-09-25-uniforms/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 713,
  "href": "/stories/end-game/",
  "title": "Some notes on the end of the world",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/endgame.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/endgame_hu80a81da8a21d7bd24de7c53b56e35942_592363_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "A single hiss, the heavy door rolls back, and it derails into sandbags. A gas piston grinds, an engine ignites, and a roar sends flames pouring fifty feet high out of the silo as a sleek missile emerges and climbs towards hunting altitude.\nThis missile will strike Lanzhou, China. The larger cities, swollen with people, are protected by antimissile laser batteries. But China is very big, and there are not enough lasers, nor enough power, to shield the entire country from missiles. This missile will extinguish 42,000 people instantly, in a ball of hot fire, and kill anywhere from 250-750,000 moments after as the city is ripped up like paper. Along with other missiles from the U.S., Vekllei, and Europe, this missile will irradiate the Yangtze and set fire to great swaths of farmland. Lanzhou will be a crater, her neighbouring villages will be on fire, and the scraps of her people that survive will drift elsewhere, this land scorched. Famine will set in, radiation will poison her children and ensure that future generations living in the great land that was once China will be primitive and factional for hundreds of years.\nThe Chinese, too, will do good work destroying America. Where missiles are zapped out of the sky, bombs are sent into freefall from jets, and they erase the heart and culture of American cities and industry.\nBy the end of it, three hours later, 1.4 billion people will be dead or taken ill, ash will rain from the sky as huge fragments of earth cycle across the Northern Hemisphere’s atmosphere, and the thyroids of the global youth will get to work soaking up radiation in the vast wastes of North America and East Asia.\nVekllei, as it had always known it would, emerged flustered and unharmed. It had lost 23,000 people to bombs, one in the city and one near Montre, but her food stock was secure, her population was underground, and so her diplomats set to work resuscitating the U.N. and organising relief to the globe. Such remarkable attempts to save face, hands still warm with Chinese blood.\nAnd future generations would condemn the use of missiles in the last great war of the 21st century — from the defunct U.S., from defunct Red China and the Warsaw Pact, and especially from Vekllei — but it made no difference to how things played out. With one stroke of a match, the world’s great civilisations had collapsed and petticoat society was on that global horizon. Like how Vekllei had known it would be, and like how it was meant to be.\nHey folks, let me know if you have any questions about this or anything else! Cheers.\n",
  "date": "2018-09-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-09-19-endgame/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 714,
  "href": "/stories/comix/",
  "title": "KID COMIX",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/comix.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/comix_hu9445691029d71085c255e0ab8c3aac3c_676976_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "There are some comics that Vekllei syndicates just won’t publish. KID Magazine, or KID Comix ran for nearly a century. It was picked up and dropped by dozens of anonymous artists, writers and editors, all operating under nonsense pseudonyms — Red, Squick, Failson and Daddy Fun were some of the longest-serving. It would go out of print for years, until some contributing artist would revive the mailing list and recruit new editors and writers. Not even editors knew the names of their team — and so KID became a rag-tag, pornographic, angry, satire comic published anonymously anywhere from biannually to a dozen times a year and distributed through universities, underground comics syndicates and workplaces. A single copy might be repressed dozens of times and redistributed further, making original copies collector’s items.\nIssue 36 blasted Vekllei munitions trade with the United States, which was by this point gripped by economic collapse as the industrial centres of the South were levelled by poverty and fighting.\nThe comic is not subtle: a stereotypical Vekllei girl complete with gi and fountain hairpiece offers an artillery shell to a deformed pigman soldier carrying the U.S. flag and an atom bomb. The girl wears the national flower on her apron. The pigman sits atop a throne of food and corpses, as he himself decomposes. Subtitled in English by Squick: “Just let the fucker DIE”.\nThe article inside parodied the sitting U.S. President, W. E. White, using Vekllei munitions as sex toys before one of them detonates and he flies off into the moon.\nSuch was the tone of the magazine, one of the most important examples of underground comix culture in the world and a landmark training ground for successful comix artists.\nPost scriptum: Tzipora was introduced to KID through a contributing writer at her university. As a fluent English speaker she served for some time as KID’s first and only English editor, and would later contribute both art and articles to the magazine.\nLet me know if you have any questions!\n",
  "date": "2018-09-11T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-09-11-comix/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 715,
  "href": "/stories/masculinity/",
  "title": "Masculinity \u0026 Fatherhood in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/masculinity.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/masculinity_hu3972fea4c938982dcbe8ce87acf5304e_132841_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Just a few notes on what it means to be a man in Vekllei.\nVekllei is a country at odds with itself. On one hand, it is universal in its politics and fundamentally internationalist; on the other it is a deeply traditional country that values bloodlines and heritage. It is a secular democracy that regularly alludes to monarchy in its rituals and symbolism. It is a culture that is so casual it offends foreign visitors while retaining strict codes of conduct.\nVekllei is unique in that it is one of few Western countries with strong matriarchal tendencies. As part of petticoat feminism, it explicitly states as such: the default disposition of the human race is ‘female’. That is not to say that men are robbed of masculinity or women are stripped of their femininity — both roles in Vekllei society have pervasive roles and stereotypes, and are lived out every day by millions of people. Instead, it means that over the course of hundreds of years, and the inevitable triumph of Vekllei over whatever those years will bring, ‘man’ as a concept will cease to exist. After all, femininity has nearly absorbed all masculine traits in Vekllei already — warrior culture, casual mateship, profanity and drinking, etc. Petticoat feminism, and by some extent petticoat socialism, understand masculine figures as an economic and social product of a previous age, and consequently, to co-opt some business newspaper slogan, “the future is female”. As the economy is revolutionised, and the country is rebuilt over and over again, so too will it leave behind the economic products of “old society”, a phrase that in Vekllei has very specific connotations (namely, the years of monarchy followed by authoritarianism).\nTzipora’s father is a man’s man. He is a product of a dying generation. He wears his pants too high, the fit of his suits are loose, and he has spent his life in authority, surrounded by critical decisions that require his attention. Yet even he carries in his heart petticoat culture — he has raised two daughters, and they have ‘feminised’ him, in a sense — not in a way that makes him ‘weak’ or ‘emasculate’, but in his ability to interact with wider petticoat society.\nI’ll close with a letter from his oldest daughter, on the subject of Tzipora and her relationship with her dad:\nHe’s a good father, and a good man — an excellent man, in his later years. He’s a hard worker and radiates masculine authority, like many of his generation, but he was also forced into progressivism by the fact that his entire family at the end of his life were women. A man like that can’t choose to be picky about what he does and doesn’t hear concerning the personal and biological intricacies of womanhood. And this girl, this little Montre chickette he is telephoning, was the worst of them all! Thank God he was an affectionate father to her, even more so than he was to me, because the things she would tell him about! Her suspected lesbianism, her flirtations with bolshevism, and that’s not to mention the difficulty she had making friends at school, a wound that she scarcely hid from him. Yes, this man was all she had! Girls like me, good blood daughters, we have our women. Zelda, bless her, had him. I ask my girlfriends to brush my hair to get the knots out — Zelda puts her hairbrush on his desk and waits patiently until he can’t ignore her anymore.\nPlease let me know if you have any questions.\n",
  "date": "2018-09-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-09-07-masculinity/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 716,
  "href": "/stories/shot/",
  "title": "The Vekllei Grocery Economy",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/shot.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/shot_hu22c16842776e3d3f1f0660ee61d54c41_731644_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " A fluorescent light burst on Thursday. She was stacking cans for a display. The girl was working alone that evening and leaving her mark everywhere — happy apple drawings, new posters, displays — she liked the job.\nThe light burst like a gunshot and she leapt to her feet. Down the aisle she saw herself, at the lowest point in her life, standing over an old friend. To say she had shot him would be misleading — she had executed him, point-blank. He was bleeding into the sandwiches with flaps of skin stirring weakly on the back of his head.\nThe store evaporated and the girl was back in Cherry, Nevada. He was trying to leave in the middle of the night. She’d followed him and confronted him. She’d asked the same question over and over as she had held the gun out. ‘Are you going to the Soviets?’\nHe told her he was hoping to secure armaments for the Wolves, and that with clean clothes and Soviet support they could launch bigger things — better things. Ambushes, bombings, even assist the Militias in real rebellion.\nHe was lying, of course. He was going to the Soviets because the anarchists were all dead, and he would be too if he didn’t run. That was enough for her. She didn’t shoot him for lying. She shot him for desertion.\nThe memory had ruined her life, and here it was, triggered by one of so many things that reminded her of that time in the desert. When she was back in the supermarket, sweating like a pig, she picked up the can she’d dropped and went back to work.\nIt was all exaggerated in her head. The boy had covered half the aisle in blood! That wasn’t how the whole thing went down. In the desert she’d shot him from a few feet back, and there had been a red mist but it didn’t touch her. He didn’t splatter none. He went into the ground and bounced off it, kicking as his whole body went haywire, before he went still on the ground. The back of his head spurted once, like a man pissing nervous, and then it bubbled and trickled out of the hole in his head like a drinking fountain as he set to work emptying as many of his litres as he could manage before his organs died. The blood didn’t fucking shine on tiled floors, either. It soaked into the desert. When they moved him, a sweet rose of colour was in the heart of it, red in the sand, but the wide stain was damp and grey and innocent.\nShe didn’t sleep much that week, goes without saying.\nThe following concerns Vekllei’s domestic economy, fair warning.\nSupermarkets are relatively rare in Vekllei, especially compared to the States. Like many command economies, Vekllei’s internal economy requires total employment. Supermarkets are too automated, and so distribution is usually decentralised among many smaller grocers that can be found on nearly every street. These are what we would consider private enterprises, although Vekllei does not make a distinction between public and private.\nSenrouive types of workplaces are distinct from Venrouiva as private or personal business. This is not the same as ‘private’ property, as we understand it. Vekllei does not actually make any distinction of property — everything belongs to the land, including the country. Vekllei does not use money, either. Instead, anything self-operating and nonessential to the operation of the country is Senrouive. Restaurants, cinemas, department stores, etc.\nSo despite the fact that Vekllei does not use money, grocers benefit from having first pick of goods. There are no real shortages of essential foods in Vekllei, but seasonal and otherwise special produce — like that made for festivals or imported from abroad — are often in short supply. If you like your food, being a grocer is a good place to start. Occasionally it can also be difficult to obtain special types of ordinary produce — flavoured ham or fruit yogurts, for example.\n‘First pick’ is less a gift of the economy to Grocers than it is just a natural conclusion of Vekllei’s moneyless system. Tzipora works at only fourteen, not because she needs spending money or because she wants to climb a food-prep or managerial ladder, but because she’s bored and wearing an apron and badge gives her a small sense of importance, even if she only impresses the handful of regulars that stop by. There is no real value in professionalism in Vekllei, so work hours are very casual and many business close frequently for lunch, afternoon tea, and pre-closing celebration. Most shopkeeps will only give you a passing nod from behind from their paperback when you enter a store.\nAt first glance, Vekllei’s shelves look like that of any other Western country, but the actual purpose of advertising and posters are pure theatrics — they are superficial imitations of an American supermarket with all its colour and splendour — the entire purpose of advertising goods it so soak up work-hours of some marketing graduate on his way to bigger and better things. The labels on the cans are just labels.\nIf you have any questions, please ask! Back to effortposts for me.\n",
  "date": "2018-09-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-09-06-shot/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 717,
  "href": "/stories/princes-of-the-earth/",
  "title": "summer nerds reading comix",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/nerds.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/nerds_hue3ced5d4030d4798a04e7f97568a1313_254708_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "nerds\n",
  "date": "2018-08-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-08-29-nerds/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 718,
  "href": "/stories/mood/",
  "title": "big mood right now",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/mood.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/mood_hue3ced5d4030d4798a04e7f97568a1313_209500_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "That\u0026rsquo;s how it goes sometimes.\n",
  "date": "2018-08-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-08-28-mood/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 719,
  "href": "/stories/police-uniforms/",
  "title": "The Constabulary",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/policeuniforms.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/policeuniforms_huba61eb9ba5fc7b76d59b1705d410ec7e_92845_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Policing is always difficult in utopian planning. On one hand, utopia is inherently opposed to the idea of policing and the can of worms it brings — on the other, people need to feel safe and protected. That’s not something I’ll be talking about today.\nThe Vekllei Constabulary are the second largest policing body in the country, after conventional police.\nBusiness and manufacturing are divided into two arenas in Vekllei:\nVenrouiva: administrative, governmental and national facilities of essential function. Technically, anything under command of the bodies that form national direction (government, legislature, judiciary, etc.) are part of the Venrouiva. This is similar to what we think of nationalised institutions in our countries, but also includes essential industries like electricity and education.\nSenrouive: is distinct from Venrouiva as private or personal business. This is not the same as ‘private’ property, as we understand it. Vekllei does not actually make any distinction of property — everything belongs to the land, including the country. Vekllei does not use money, either. Instead, anything self-operating and nonessential to the operation of the country is Senrouive. Restaurants, cinemas, department stores, etc.\nThe Constabulary are the police force responsible for responding to, patrolling, and protecting Venrouiva business in the country. They are general protection for all seats of power, military assets, power stations, libraries, hospitals, places of worship, national monuments, schools, etc.\nTheir distinctive uniform is handed down from their years as a rifle-equipped military police. They wear a dark half-cape, white Sam Browne belt, leather gloves and a ceremonial sword from Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s years of monarchy. Women often wear a skirt with a gi quarter-pleat also found in civilian Vekllei clothes and uniforms, as well as a cap. The uniform changes depending on the season and purpose of their duty.\nUnlike regular police, which are mostly disarmed in Vekllei, Constabulary always carry pistols, and often submachine guns. While they do not make house calls, you will see them establish checkpoints and escort protests. Keep an eye out for them next time you’re there.\nLet me know if you have any questions! Another entry in the series of cheap sketches that are easier than effortposts.\n",
  "date": "2018-08-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-08-23-constabulary/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 720,
  "href": "/stories/troops/",
  "title": "All-weather combat for the Atomic Age",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/troops.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/troops_hu29a69dacbed4bd00dd393876ffefd9ff_188581_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The single most important function of today’s global powers is not in the numbers of men at a state\u0026rsquo;s command, or the prosperity of their domestic markets, but the ability to project power across the world entire.\nWe have seen this manifest in many ways; ICBMs are just one example. Warfare in a modern context has become a highly intelligent and specialised force that has simultaneously limited the brutality of warmongering while amplifying the ruthlessness and political function of state-sponsored murder.\nIn Vekllei, there is no real distinction between the intelligence services and the military, although the latter is almost always subservient to the former. Just as agents are armed as terrorists, soldiers are equipped as spies.\nThis all-female sniper company is world-renowned, thanks to the film Beyond These Shores. Like agents of espionage, every woman of this company will spend her entire military age in the cauldron of war, in a cycle of training and international operations that keep their bayonets sharp. They are not coloured by romanticism — on one hand, they can function as a noble skilled partisan in defense of the Vekllei home country. On the other, they are also employed with the secret services to commit acts of terrorism and fratricide. They wear tattered red armbands in camaraderie with their ancestors before them. In parade dress they wear a peaked cap or slouch hat, depending on the festival month.\nAlmost all of what they do is secret, as much of Vekllei’s military-industrial underbelly is, and no one person directs the employment of these types of people. You can, however, find traces easily enough, even if the women themselves remain unnamed — last week, in war-torn Burundi, a public hanging was interrupted by mass gunfire and casualty. This destabilising effect on another impoverished sub-Saharan country is trademark Vekllei foreign policy — as is the remarkable accuracy of the shots heaped into the executioners.\nIf you have any questions, just ask!\n",
  "date": "2018-08-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-08-20-troops/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 721,
  "href": "/stories/blood/",
  "title": "This is Blood Worship",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/blood.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/blood_hud146e2d899243b9de2d01db6c5ad383e_99710_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Blood is everything to these women. It defines them through every stage of life — bloody emerging from the womb, bloody again in the delicate transition from child to womanhood, and bloody on the table, awaiting cremation in wait of the afterlife.\nEven in her name — Zelda lo Ula Desmoines — the premise of blood is there.\nZelda, blood of Ula, daughter of the Desmoines family…\nYet her fundamental human ritual has broken down. It is corrupted — as a Gregori Baby, she will never reach menarche and have a period, nor will she ever end up on the mortician’s table. And the promises these things bring — of family, of love, of fucking, of heritage, of mourning — so too are they stolen from her. So if in her native culture her blood defines her, then what definition does she have? Her womanhood is rotted, it is sick, and she is incomplete.\nPart of her wonders if the spirits can sense it, too. They seem to flock to her, like demons, as though they can sense she only has one foot in the corporeal world. Is there a reason why blood demons ignore her? And why, on entrance to the spirit world, did the spirits filled her lungs with blood? Maybe these things are just coincidences, but nonetheless…\nBe thankful of your blood. Be proud of your bloodline, and when you bleed, acknowledge that what drips from you is everything you are. Some girls, like Zelda here, have to remind themselves that they are human to make it through the day.\nRead more about 🔗Gregori Children here.\nRead more about 🔗Demons here.\nRead more about 🔗Blood Names here.\nIf you have any questions, please let me know!\n",
  "date": "2018-08-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-08-19-blood/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 722,
  "href": "/stories/demons/",
  "title": "Old, dead demons still wander the countryside",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/demon.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/demon_hu079bda0b1770c3cd91c33edbc0e4b0af_119312_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " She met herself out by the shrine, many summers ago. At first she didn’t know what it was — she thought it might be a spirit, or — and she caught herself in the thought, because she was only half a child — a little part of her wondered if it was a manifestation of God, or Christ, come to help solve her problems. The idea was ridiculous. She believed it was just a forest spirit, and this was probably its shrine.\nThe copy emerged out of the bushes, and she stared at herself. It moved like she did; clumsy and ungraceful. She apologised for disturbing it, and presented her food offering.\nAs she watched it approach, a knot caught in her stomach. The thing was looking right at her. The food was ignored. She recoiled and frowned at it.\n‘What are you?’ she asked, or something to that effect. ‘An angel? I’m not dying. Are you a psychopomp? I’m not gonna kill myself, so you don’t need to be here.’\nIt kept on walking over, and she noticed the skin of the copy had faded like an old photograph.\n‘Did you hear me? I don’t need your help.’\nSuch was her first and only direct encounter with a ganger, an old form of demon that has been driven out long ago from here through industry and agriculture.\nThey come from the place spirits go to die, and so they carry diseases and misfortune their shoulders. When they take the form of folk out here, they act as an ‘idol’, in a sense, to worship the self — they feed off the bad thoughts of wanderers, take control of good memories, and manifest them physically to feed.\nIn seeing a copy of themselves, many people mistake it for a vision, or a spiritual epiphany. They will destroy themselves if they accept it. Tzipora is not such a fool — and she’s out here to leave those good memories far behind her, where they belong. She swings, drawing blood punching at herself, and the apparition disappears. The morning after, she wakes up with blood soaked through her pillow, and a nasty nosebleed.\nLet me know if you have any questions! Just a quick sketch but I like my horror.\n",
  "date": "2018-08-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-08-16-demons/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 723,
  "href": "/stories/tourist-map/",
  "title": "The Country of Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/oldmap.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/oldmap_hu77e4351af6cc2ebc6e94c9960481a2c4_734831_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "There is no real distinction between the city of Vekllei and the state of Vekllei, at least internally. To them, the country and the city are the same, and the isolated population centres of Montre and Adouisneh are simply distant neighbourhoods. This is reflected in all manners of life — they are ethnically and culturally homogenous, patriotic, and largely uncompetitive. They are a single people numbering 20 million, living in the shadow of igneous monument and lush, fertile lands.\nIn the south, where warm winds from the Azores sweep across the beaches of black sand, the climate is temperate and a great many of Vekllei’s most renowned wonders are accessible. Geysers, the tectonic fault, volcanoes and hot springs are scattered across the outskirts of Vekllei.\nHeading north, the cold weather thins large-leaf forests and it is here that her signature landscape is found in abundance — the ro, or flower-tundra, can be hundreds of kilometres wide and populated entirely by flowers, ringed by sharp mountains forced into peaks by the violent forces of the earth below. Vekllei has the most flowers per capita out of any country in the world.\nOn this map, which is cartoonish and exaggerated, you can see several landmarks — Vekllei’s largest volcano (Durtoneis, or Fire of the Earth), the expansive lava fields to the North, and Vekllei’s food basket, which runs between the ro highlands and the fault line. Only Vekllei’s massive glaciers, which give the country the cleanest drinking water in the world, are in permafrost.\nLook at this —! Look at this place, where the horizon meets the sky without a stitch! Listen to the water, rich and sweet with soil, trickle through the ro. What a place this is… If she’d had any respect for God, she would have marvelled at the beauty of His ro. If she’d thought He was good and decent, she would have thanked Him for constructing such a place for her. But the truth of it, at least in her mind, was that God may be the creator, but the beauty of this ro is in the hands of humans, now. This place is the territory of Vekllei, in all her glory. If God should ever like to visit — and Tzipora very much hoped he would, because she had some things on her mind — he could apply for a visa at the bureau.\nVekllei people are generally unconcerned with the outside world. Their flag, the Red Standard, is a simple blank colour that means \u0026ldquo;Vekllei\u0026rdquo; in Vekllei Semaphore, a sublanguage of potenne, or physical Vekllei language. They also employ an International Standard in foreign arenas, including the U.N. and the Olympics.\nThis is a reupload (I took the previous post down to fix some mistakes in the image). If you have any questions, please let me know!\n",
  "date": "2018-08-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-08-15-vekllei/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 724,
  "href": "/stories/tzipora-portrait/",
  "title": "Tzipora's Portrait",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/portrait.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/portrait_hu7bcd8e06c8451f2ae083faf8fcc9bfa2_89279_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Practising colours. It\u0026rsquo;s always been my weakness. While you\u0026rsquo;re here, if you have any questions about Tzipora or want to chat, let me know.\n",
  "date": "2018-08-08T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-08-08-portrait/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 725,
  "href": "/stories/princes-of-the-earth/",
  "title": "Announcing the Princess of the Earth",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/princessoftheearth.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/princessoftheearth_hud8c091ce56ed7b74a7bd4d0b2d819fc3_129394_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "They never actually believed that she was any kind of princess. They never even joked about it. The original LIFE magazine article said that she looked as though she were ‘a princess of the Earth’ when interviewer Alfie Ricci met her in the Vekllei highlands, and so she carried that name as a burden for the next few hundred years.\nThere are many Gregori children alive today, and we have seen the miracle of the first few dozen start to wear off. Gregori Hordiyenko, the little Ukrainian boy whose namesake was adopted by his disease, died age 27 in a car accident. Many others of the \u0026ldquo;first dozen\u0026rdquo; committed suicide, were killed by disease, died from complications arising from the genetic function of the syndrome, and a disproportionate number were born into the third world, where they were eliminated by famine, displacement or superstition.\nTzipora Desmoines, Vekllei’s first and only Gregori baby, was born in 2063. By the time of her LIFE interview, she was sixty-two years old. Yet she remains as she was on the eve of her menarche — fourteen, prepubescent, and largely miserable.\nWhen you meet her for the first time, you have no idea how to talk to her. Is she a young teen-ager, or a sixty year old woman? A lot of her patient and soft-spoken quality is misinterpreted as a product of age, but nothing could be further from the truth — which is that Tzipora is largely the same girl as she was in 2077, but the spirit and vigour of her teen-age years and childhood curiosity have been stretched unnaturally over decades, blunting her passion and enthusiasm in all things. To the handful of people left alive that she loves, she can be as childish as ever, but the ghosts that dominate her regrets and favourite memories are starting to overcome her.\nShe is a rare case, despite thousands of boys and girls now like her across the world. She was born in a brief period where Gregori babies were born fairly healthy and independent, save for their obvious genetic malfunction. Today, among the hundreds that are born each year, nearly all of them suffer from broad anaphylaxis that renders them fragile and useless. In theory, all Gregori children will live forever save a car or the rope doesn’t get them, but as the children born with the syndrome become more and more sick very few that are born today will live beyond a normal human lifespan.\nAs for Tzipora — in seventy years she will become the oldest human ever, living or dead.\n",
  "date": "2018-08-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-08-01-princess/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 726,
  "href": "/stories/valleys/",
  "title": "Valleys of Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fields.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fields_hu5712e1fc4ac6f5df730e30e743d22b4d_621196_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Two years ago, a fission military jet plunged into the mountain behind the village of Montre-Lola, emerging moments later as a plume of fire and smoke in the shadow of the mountain peak. Villagers made their way up the slopes to help survivors, dressed in radiation suits from the town shelter. There were none. Six more lives and six more soldiers lost — a pilot, co-pilot, navigator, reactor engineer, bombardier, and fire control officer are written down and then buried like cattle.\nSuch is the senseless cost of monthly drills, in which the well-oiled spring that sets Vekllei’s nuclear-capable arsenal upon the world quivers in anticipation. The low-lying Raya Valley Air Base fleet emerges over the snow-capped mountains twice a year, panicking farmers below them, as they make their way to auxiliary coastal bases for training.\nThis year, in usual preparation for the Festival of the Atom, the airship Dumoustra joins a fleet of jet bombers as they rendezvous with the 3rd and 5th Escort squadrons from the coast. They soar dramatically over the ribs of the North Vekllei tectonic mountain ranges, briefly roaring over the quiet farming valleys one by one as peaks pass below them.\nThe belly of the valleys have some of the best soils in the world, a gift from one of hundreds of volcanoes that are scattered across the North Atlantic nation. Mostly wheat and rice are grown. The sides of the valleys veer dramatically into near-cliffs, folded like paper by the enormous anger of the European and American continental plates.\nTrees are short and small-leaved, and often have great colour. Flower-tundras are also common here, called ro in Vekllei.\nShe was in the shadow of a titan mountain range that followed the tracks as far as she could see. It sloped sharply into the valley, breaking out briefly into a thick temperate woodland before the trees withdrew and terraced wheat fields stepped down to the tracks. Vekllei is an ancient, volcanic land of igneous monument and sharp rock, softened by healthy topsoil bursting with mosses and flowers. She wiped her nose on the back of her hand, and rubbed her eyes. She had dressed up for him but she felt childish shivering on the bare station platform, if it could even qualify as such a thing. It was a bare concrete slab, forty metres long, that serviced rickety rural train cars that ran from here to the Montre terminus, where bullet-train maglevs shot to the capital on the hour.\nShe looked before her, bringing her knees to her breast, and there was the ro, in all its untouched splendour and colour. The soil here was percolated with water, and it squelched underfoot, rich with minerals and pebbles of quartz and obsidian. As far as she could see, off to her west where the sun was slowly setting, the ground was bejeweled with thick flowers, pockmarked by still pools of fresh water, that, like mirrors, reflected any image above it perfectly.\nLet me know if you want to know anything else about Vekllei or this picture.\n",
  "date": "2018-07-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-07-28-valleys/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 727,
  "href": "/stories/black-sand/",
  "title": "Hot summer rain on a beach of black sand -- Iceland in 2127",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/blacksand.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/blacksand_hu6fd2ee1ee0d0413bdb987e92615e486f_195204_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Just as Iceland\u0026rsquo;s initial history was reshaped into the image of Vekllei some centuries ago, so too has the real-world climate and weather been altered. Cool Icelandic summers have been usurped by volatile days that can be as low as 5C (40F) or as hot as 30C (85F+). Technically speaking, the unstable Atlantic pressure oscillation, of which Vekllei anchors as the Vekllei low pole, can pull in bitter cold from the Greenland currents, or warmth from the Azores tempestuously.\nSo it is that in summer, on a beach of black igneous sand from the volcanoes of this place, hot rains can descend instantly and beat pedestrians until the rains vanish, minutes later. Winters are equally unstable — they shift between unlivable cold and sporadic thawing periods.\nThis unusual climate is not unique to Vekllei. Europe is fucked, meteorologically speaking, by a series of el nino summers and instant winters that wrack Germany, Austria, Italy, and so forth. The Adriatic seems to see more gloom than mediterranean sun these days.\nThe equatorial deserts of the world, Nevada included, are mere degrees away from unsurvivable. With temperatures frequently breaking 50C (125F) throughout the year, it thins the population of Southerners too old or too poor to avoid the heat.\nNorth Africa is a husk. There is no water and no food. There is a reason there are mass graves all across the shores of the Black Sea, and why Europe tastes the boot. There is a reason the southern African states are crumbling.\nEast Asia is hot and wet.\nSo these girls march on in the summer rain-storms, not quite conscious of the ridiculousness of enjoying one of the world’s more temperate climates in a country they once called Iceland.\n",
  "date": "2018-07-20T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-07-20-black-sand/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 728,
  "href": "/stories/puffin-love/",
  "title": "winter love + puffin / feat. Tzipora \u0026 Akiko",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/sketches/puffinlove.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/sketches/puffinlove_hu92703ae62136f8c0e804e7781f30e5d6_114691_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "\u0026ldquo;The puffin flies here so early (over the years). The further inland we go, the farther they chase us.\u0026rdquo;\nThat\u0026rsquo;s the sentiment of the phrase, but in Vekllei \u0026lsquo;The puffin flies here\u0026rsquo; is supplemented with the opening of a saying, \u0026lsquo;all birds flee the sea in Winter,\u0026rsquo; and so there is a reference here that is otherwise lost in translation.\n",
  "date": "2018-07-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-07-19-puffin-love/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 729,
  "href": "/stories/salvo/",
  "title": "Navy in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/navyship.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/navyship_huc8a8a87366011c7aa94882e70422c966_509496_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "There are not many warships in the world today that are distinctive as the serpentine-funnelled, semi-tumblehome hull of the Sundress-class supercruisers. For a country that prides itself on ‘petticoat society’, it is only suitable that Vekllei continues to pioneer the ‘dazzle’ warpaint in her navy.\nThe most recent stock of Navy ships are all named after women’s clothes, to emphasise Vekllei’s spiritual understanding of gender in industrial society and also as a sarcastic nominer. What American or Chinese sailor wants to be defeated in naval combat by a supercruiser named after a sundress? There is humour about it. You do not see that in many chambers of navy high command.\nTwo 10 inch naval cannons sit on the bow, and use large magazines that give a maximum fire rate of thirty shots a minute. A spiritual successor to the battleships of yore, supercruisers (a light battlecruiser designed for speed and use in shallow water), are designed for naval gunfire support using these cannons. The ship is also armed with anti-submarine and anti-fighter capabilities as needed. With prolonged shooting the ship is soon absorbed into a cloud of smoke and gunpowder.\nThe distinctive serpentine auxiliary funnel betrays the Sundress’s nuclear secret — an analog diesel engine sits alongside the standard light salt reactor, to immediately take over should the advanced electrics of the ship be disrupted by the electromagnetic effects of a nuclear blast. Because of recent advances in thermal detection, both water vapour from the reactor and smoke from the diesel engine are cooled with seawater in segregated loops, hence the two funnels for two engines.\nThe navy forms a large part of the island nation’s military consciousness, and so ships are painted unconventionally as part of Vekllei Semaphore (a language within Vekllei of flags, colour and paints) for presentation in military parades. The Festival of the Sea, spanning two weeks in October, concludes with a detonation of a nuclear device offshore.\nThe sweeping curves of the armoured hull and bridge are common in all the world’s navies these days, as the futurism of yesterday creeps closer to today.\n",
  "date": "2018-07-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-07-15-salvo/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 730,
  "href": "/stories/floating/",
  "title": "What will become of the Gregori Children?",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/floating.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/floating_hu47a765af29aad6fce719e28c6944b725_143467_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Did you know — many Gregori children do not form calluses on their skin, because of the intensity of their epidermic regeneration process!\nHello all,\nThe question on the mind of folks around the world is that of Gregori Children. What are they? What does it mean, to be a “Gregori Baby”?\nGregori Regenerative Syndrome is a developmental phenomenon that afflicts children and young teen-agers. It holds them in a prepubescent state, and so they do not grow old like you and I.\nOf the thousands of Gregori children now living in our world today, over 90 per cent of them are girls. They develop normally until an unknown point between thelarche (the beginning of puberty and the development of breasts) and menarche (a girl’s first period). In boys, this timeline is technically different but chronologically similar — and always before sexual maturation. Girls in Vekllei might expect menarche as late as fourteen-sixteen (a fact that continues to emphasise the myth of Vekllei virgin purity), whereas boys will likely cease development a few years earlier, usually twelve-fourteen.\nGregori girls can often take the appearance of young teen-agers; they may develop breasts and grow body hair, although these phenomena are not universal among the afflicted. Nonetheless, they have not actually entered puberty proper — estrogen is not shaping their bodies, and they will remain sterile for the rest of their lives. Boys are similar, although are usually shorter and more childlike in appearance at the onset of the Gregori process.\nSo what does being Gregori actually mean?\nIt means the natural biological development of these children and teen-agers has ceased and their bodies have entered an unnatural cellular cycle, which halts the ageing process and renders them immortal, at least in theory. Technically, they are still growing — nonregenerative tissue and organs are still growing, like the brain — but they are captured in this state forever. Doctors put the blame on a faulty genetic regenerative process, hidden somewhere in their DNA, but the exact cause is unknown.\nDo they have superpowers?\nNothing of the sort, unfortunately! Existential questions aside, the syndrome can be as much a burden as a miracle. For example, although all Gregori children are immune to cancers and similar cellular malfunction, around 80 per cent of them suffer broad anaphylaxis, meaning that almost all foreign matter triggers an overzealous autoimmune response. This can be fatal, and the ratio of children born with Gregori anaphylaxis has only risen in recent years.\nAre there any dangers to being Gregori?\nGregori teen-agers and children have a high turnover of cells, and some bones do not properly fuse. This renders many of the afflicted delicate and fragile — especially children halted at a younger age. The condition is not known to affect emotional or psychological traits of the afflicted.\nThe future implications of Gregori syndrome are limitless — ignoring the secret of immortality, the ability to regenerate vital brain, spinal, and optical tissues would revolutionise medicine. Today, there are many thousands of Gregori children in the world, and so the question of their own future remains — are they a genetic abnormality, or the next wave of human evolution?\n",
  "date": "2018-07-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-07-10-gregori/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 731,
  "href": "/stories/apartment-living/",
  "title": "Life in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/apartmentliving.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/apartmentliving_hu5da1a9a8a23f13511028ae081d5a39ef_629301_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei is the final stop in the epoch of rest. Departing your jetliner or aeroship and setting foot in the city is a spiritual experience — the weight of the world leaves your shoulders, and, at last, you are at peace. Imagine what that would be like — to be self-actualised!\nWhen I die, it will be in Vekllei. The food is good, the women are beautiful — yes, when I go I’ll make sure I’m there, pissed beyond belief, surrounded by my family, watching the city lights wink out for the final time. Isn’t that a hell of an idea? I think it’s a hell of an idea.\nThis street, in a suburb in Montre, is decorated for the moon festival. Sunlight only reaches this place for an hour a day, this time of year. What better time to reconnect with the sprites and your ancestors? For a few dozen precious minutes each day, curtains are flung open, children stream into the street, and office folk take a smoke break. Sure enough, the sun soon sets and the people return indoors, the streets of their city coloured by lanterns. The water of the canals is warm and smells of sulphur. The trams hum with electricity. A wind from the yawning Atlantic batters the sides of the apartment blocks that fill the city. Such is winter life in Vekllei.\nThey do not use money, and they have not discovered ‘landscape’ as we understand it, but they are fiercely proud of Vekllei and the fruit of her city. Go on, see a flick, or pick out a dress — better yet, see the city, drink well, fuck often, and fall in love with a Montre chickette.\nUnderneath this feverish utopian vision lies artifacts of something darker — shadows of fear hidden in plain sight. Curtains drawn across apartment windows are laced with lead. A blast would otherwise shatter these glass walls and eviscerate the families inside. The more time you spend in Vekllei, the more you will notice the fear of these people woven into the fibre of the city. Why does every student wear armbands with their school and year embroidered on them? Why are the rainwater gutters beside roads so deep and wide? Tourists visiting airbases will understand the precipice over which the country rocks — nuclear jet fighters are cycling their engines always, superelectric trams can detach from the power grid, and sirens perform tests on random days in October.\nWhat is to become of my old girl, the city?\n",
  "date": "2018-06-29T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-06-29-life/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 732,
  "href": "/stories/blood-names/",
  "title": "Blood Names",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/bloodname.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/bloodname_hu52121c4b3de051e1170cf366e088183a_333717_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Each person in Vekllei has three names — a given name (Tzipora), a surname (Desmoines), and an alternative given name as part of rapotenne (potenne is ‘handtalk’, upotenne is ‘spirit-talk’, and so it follows that rapotenne is the language system of names). This alternative name is a ‘key’ to the full blood name of an individual, which are given in secret by the mother traditionally, but can be gifted by any mother-figure.\nFor all intents and purposes, ‘Tzipora Desmoines’ works exactly as ‘John Smith’ — a distinguishing name and the ancestral name. In Vekllei, the men take the name of the child-bearer.\nTzipora’s blood name, her rapotenne, instead reads as: Zelda lo Ula Desmoines. This is a name she should never reveal until her death, so rites can be performed.\nAlthough Vekllei’s monarchy is long dead, ancestors are still held sacred by these people. They hold ancient family names that tie their blood to the earth. They are also used when talking with spirits, as they are part of upotenne, the external language of the soul. In this sense, blood names operate as a sacred vocal rune.\nPictured above is Tzipora receiving her blood name from a father-figure many years ago. Since she has no bloodline left alive, he fulfills the role of a father and gives her a name constructed of several parts, researched and tailored to her.\nZelda is a nickname and a moniker Tzipora has used to hide her Jewishness, and so works perfectly as a public ‘key’ to her blood name. lo Ula (her blood of Ula in upotenne) is her ancient, sacred title. The name-giver has not been able to trace her blood to the times of spirits, so he’s traced it as far back as he could and scoured that region for a proper title. Ula is a combination of two words — Ura, a type of bare, wind-swept coastal shelf in Northern Vekllei, where Tzipora’s bloodlines originate, and the Vekllei word for iceberg. It also links to an ancient Vekllei saga — in which a proud and mighty iceberg is reduced to ice-pebbles after being dashed against the northern rocks. A story of mortality, it is a warning for Tzipora, who does not age. Desmoines is the family name, unchanged for centuries, and is fairly common in Vekllei. I’m really enjoying exploring more of Vekllei’s traditions. Let me know if you have any questions, about these language systems, Tzipora, or anything.\n",
  "date": "2018-06-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-06-14-blood-name/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 733,
  "href": "/stories/dress-code/",
  "title": "The dress code for talking to spirits",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/religiousuniform.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/religiousuniform_hu3008d514c0f5eac0d41e4bd4f9c3c7e1_306012_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In Vekllei animism, which branches into a vast and complex set of beliefs and traditions that vary from village to village, there is no formal religious structure. Temples and shrines pay respect to sprites, which are universally understood as bi-planar creatures. There is no formal religious structure, and so animistic tradition has no priests.\nCeremonial dress is simple to describe, but complex to assemble. The shape and form of the dress, including cascade peplums (a series of peplums that hang over the skirt of the dress) and sun petticoats are traditional, but they hold no religious value outside of the connection to your ancestors who performed the same rites before you. Tradition is very important in Vekllei.\nSprites, and to a lesser extent spirits, are fiercely attracted to supernatural colour and shine (polished gemstones, plastics, metals, etc). Pure and natural metals are most alluring to the sprites, as they hold the lustre of the Earth (as well as exude undetectable submagnetic fields called ecec) but they can be substituted with synthetic gold and bronze, as can gemstones, all of which are mass-produced in the industrial city centres of Vekllei.\nTo meet a sprite, and offer it food, you should dress in these materials. Often villages will collectively maintain traditional outfits for talking to sprites, some of which are hundreds of years old and require care to put on. Sprites can see like you and me, so covering yourself in gold won’t simply do the trick — you should dress neatly and politely. It is not necessary to purge yourself of all modern things — wristwatches, shoes, hairpieces are all fine, as long as you’ve taken care in your appearance.\nAppease a sprite, and you might notice lost items turning up, and cracked roof tiles begin to sparkle like new. To befriend a spirit is to have plenty to harvest that season, as well as protection from heavy rains.\nTzipora Zelda Desmoines, miracle girl of the village of Montre-Lola, holds a pose in upotenne: the physical language of spirits. As potenne supplements language in Vekllei with sign gestures, upotenne turns your body into an ancient rune, and protects the site from disturbing fields that might scare a sprite. It’s not necessary to hold it for long — just acknowledge it. This one performed by Tzipora predates Vekllei language and script — no one today can speak it. It lives on today only in physical form, and in that moment time collapses and she is in this place with her ancestors.\nJust a quick sketch. Let me know if you have any questions.\n",
  "date": "2018-05-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-05-24-spirits/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 734,
  "href": "/stories/police-car/",
  "title": "Police in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/policecar.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/policecar_huf4b2ceed7f9ac1b18198525b60a89a65_335215_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Hopefully you won’t have to worry about the police while you’re in Vekllei, but you’ll likely notice them. Police are everywhere — as an alternative to military (duoroten) service, conscripts can elect to enter domestic security (inroten). Most officers are young, bored, and live in the community they police. You’ll likely be talking to them at some point in your visit, even if it’s only to ask for directions — in Vekllei, cops are the bulletin boards of the community.\nAll beat cops are unarmed, and carry extendable truncheons that swing from their belt. Much more rarely, you’ll see professional officers — you’ll notice them, because they ride in cars. Professional officers travel in pairs, and the senior officer is known as a firearm officer, and will carry a sidearm.\nShould you be detained by police, keep the following in mind:\nVekllei is a casual culture. Some officers will speak English, but the concept of ‘sir’ has never entered their vocabulary. They will approach and interact with you casually — professionalism operates differently here. Nor will they bow to you, except in stations. If you act hysterical, they will cease to take you seriously. Keep your cool, be friendly, talk clearly. Vekllei is a physical culture. Police will touch, pull, and push you without communicating. This is not an intimate or aggressive gesture — they will just as soon pull you out of the thoroughfare of a sidewalk as restrain you. Vekllei police do not heavily employ firearms, but are liberal with the baton. Only when responding to a firearm call will police approach with a firearm in hand. Otherwise, they will rest a baton on their shoulder and are trained to use it against you, should you attempt to fight them. In a country without currency, there is no such thing as ‘damages’. Public drunkenness is not tolerated in Vekllei and is not an excuse for fighting with police. With all that said, Vekllei has an extremely low crime rate and it is very unlikely you’ll ever see cops responding to a crime. More often you’ll see them escorting other emergency service vehicles through pedestrian streets, arguing with locals and doing odd jobs around the community. Especially in rural communities, there is very little distinction between on and off-duty cops, and beat cops will often wear their uniform around town while unassigned to a shift.\nIn the picture above we see professional cops, or copa, watching a suspect from across the street. We can tell they are professional officers because they wear red and white uniforms, instead of the navy, red and white of beat cops. The woman is a firearm officer, and carries a revolver in her holster. The man is not armed but carries a baton on his shoulder.\nThe police car, a Model 10 (Special), sits low to the ground, weighed with a 60MWe Molten Salt Reactor where we’d usually find the trunk. The car has a theoretical top speed of 400km/h, but will never reach anywhere close to that — pursuits are extremely rare in the country, as almost no-one has a personal automobile. On its roof it carries two cherry lights and a single Dura wailer siren. The service number, 6, tells us that the unit is from the Montre region.\nAs for the suspect? A small domestic fight between a grocer and his daughter fizzled out and they both apologised to the officers and community for wasting their time.\n",
  "date": "2018-05-18T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-05-18-police-car/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 735,
  "href": "/stories/bowing/",
  "title": "How to Bow (and Fashion in Vekllei)",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/bowing.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/bowing_hu88c65c41c4ae5274b257f57dfbc3a484_378314_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei has a pan-pacific flavour of greeting, usually a bow followed by a handshake. If you’re going to fit in, you’re going to have to learn how to do it right. Let’s get started.\nFirst, Vekllei is extremely physical in its language. Not expressive, like how you might picture an Italian or American. Instead, it incorporates an auxiliary language called potenne or, ‘Hand-Talk’, which accompanies words. A forefinger sliding across a forefinger is ‘good’ or, ‘acknowledged’, and can be used with verbalising the word or as a signal.\nSimilarly, bowing takes on elements of potenne. There are hundreds of ways to bow, but there are a few basic rules that will make your time in Vekllei easier.\nThe angle of the bow determines the seriousness of the gesture. A ninety-degree bow is most-serious, used for meeting foreigners of importance, apologising profusely, or welcoming a prestigious guest. In modern Vekllei, where mateship has displaced traditional hierarchy, it is rarely used except in service of others. Most common is fifteen degrees, with a maximum of forty-five in polite, formal conversation. You must not speak while bowing. The act is a word in itself and it is loud and obnoxious to speak and act. Welcome, or apologise, or thank the partner. Then bow. Formal bowing, as employed in serious or dire times as a collective action, is taken on the knees on the floor. The head is pressed against the ground. Those unable to kneel can lower their heads. The most obvious example of this for the reader is in the ten-minutes mourning following the Lola nuclear attack, when every able-bodied citizen faced the district and bowed in honour of the dead. Let’s observe Tzipora Zelda Desmoines, miracle girl of Montre-Lola, in three types of bowing you are most likely to encounter in your travels.\nWith hands interlocked, hanging parallel to the legs, the greeting bow is most common and works as a friendly gesture. Make sure to lock your fingers properly. Only with foreigners will you bow with your arms straight by your sides, so make sure to let the arms dangle perpendicular to your legs. To apologise, or excuse yourself, place your fingers gently on your neck and bow to the degree it is appropriate. Close your eyes. If the person has more to say, release your hands from the back of your neck, listen, then repeat the gesture. A welcome bow, employed as a gesture of solidarity, welcomes you into homes and places of business. This is not a ‘hello’, this is a, ‘how may I serve you?’. Forms fists with your hands and place them over your chest. Do not bow your head, and keep eye contact with the partner. It is unusual for foreigners to perform this bow, unless they are employed in some capacity. In Vekllei, this translates more literally to greetings, mate,’ and the service is implied. Keep in mind that Vekllei does not use honourifics, and supplements titles with bows. These are important. Use them luxuriously, and have fun! Vekllei people will appreciate the gesture from a foreigner.\n",
  "date": "2018-05-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-05-01-bowing/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 736,
  "href": "/stories/winter-clothing/",
  "title": "Winter Clothing (and Womanhood in Vekllei)",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/coldweather.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/coldweather_hua97353f9658afdf5f8f5ec1b642fb6ff_314025_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Welcome to Vekllei. It is a strange country with a complex culture that is quite distinct (and sometimes outrageous) to Western countries. This will be a long post. I’ve tried to keep it clear.\nWomen in Vekllei usually wear skirts in winter. There are cultural and historical reasons for this, explained below. Pictured here is Tzipora in a winter Vekllei outfit so typical it works well enough here to give a show-and-tell. The outfit consists of underwear (vest, stockings/socks, etc.), an inner lace petticoat, a cotton thermal pettiskirt, and a wool outer skirt. They reach about the mid-shin. She wears a thick cotton shirt over her vest and a rayon cardigan on top, with cotton gloves. Although not pictured here, when heading out a long wool overcoat would protect from the fierce Vekllei wind.\nThe colours are not wintery, but that requires context. The history of language and gender are not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you want to know more, let’s get started.\nWinters in Vekllei are long and dark. In the depths of it the sun rises only for about an hour. Temperatures range between 5 and -15 centigrade. By all accounts it is not a place for skirts.\nBut many women don’t consider thick or multilayered trousers. This is because womanhood is tied very clearly to physical appearance. Vekllei lacks gender pronouns entirely, but has very clear feminine and masculine words. Vekllei written language is logographic, and so you ‘construct’ concepts out of images. So certain gender concepts, like femininity, are constructed out of feminine associations that ‘build’ a sensation and understanding of what it means to be female. Skirts are a part of that. To feel like a woman in Vekllei, there are explicit images that build femininity.\nThat is not to say Vekllei is necessarily misogynist, at least as we understand it through a Western lens — the political and cultural understanding of the country (usually called ‘petticoat socialism’) strongly suggests that our fundamental ‘human’ traits are inherently female.\nIt emphasises the overall ‘femininity’ of humanity and shifts the human core to female, and then distinguishes masculine traits as radical and far from the centre of the human condition. Petticoat feminism takes on economic qualities and a radical reading of gender to describe its main point of function and praxis — that masculine qualities are inherently economic, and that they will cease to be masculine as petticoat socialism achieves its aim of rendering labour unnecessary for all reasons except self-satisfaction. In petticoat feminism, the final form of the human race is female — not in a biological sense, but in a cultural attitude that has essentially ceased to distinguish between masculine and feminine qualities, while retaining what it views as inherently female virtues.\nFragility, grace, beauty, leisure, and reproduction are placed upon the shoulders of men, rendering them ‘female’ in the lexicon of petticoat feminism, and thus relieving them of the economic burden of masculinity.\nKnowing all that, it still basically means that skirts are for women, and women wear skirts to feel like women. Vekllei clothing has thus become multilayered and insulated to adapt to the shift from summer to winter.\nAs far as colours go, Vekllei is volcanic and geographically active. Fire and ice are synonymous here. This means that red and blues are associated with keeping warm and ice, and yellows and greens are for the lush foliage in the warmer seasons. It is uncommon to wear reds in the summer — it’s too hot to need colours associated with fire.\nThis post is long enough, I think. Tzipora is in the wind but looks happy enough. If you have questions about the language itself, or what the annotations say, just ask.\n",
  "date": "2018-04-16T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-04-16-winter-clothing/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 737,
  "href": "/stories/missile-train/",
  "title": "Rail-Launched Nuclear Missiles",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/missiletrain.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/missiletrain_hu628d892a1d42a5ccf784d529d6d13992_378027_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is a concept of a Vekllei Rocketry Corp rail ICBM launcher. It has distinctive-looking carriages, and so it serves no real purpose in being a ‘hidden’ ICBM launcher. Instead, this train is for testing rail-mounted ICBMs, which are then employed in plain and unmarked railcars. Today it idles by the lakeside town of Dupot-Monan, as its senior control staff await a hot lunch driven in from the town. All equipment, including the silo, is extended.\nIt uses two nuclear locomotives, which produce many thousands of times more power than is required to operate the vehicle and launcher. They have radiating fans as a primary air intake. The launch car has an articulating hydraulic arm that raises the silo. Rail-mounted ICBMs launch ‘cold’. They are propelled out of the tube by gases within the silo, and only ignite outside of the train.\nIn 2127, the Soviets, U.S., China and Vekllei all employ hidden rail-launched ICBMs as a ‘dead-hand’ that can retaliate after an atomic attack. They rove the countryside of these superpowers, by all appearances regular cargo trains, invisible to spies and spy satellites alike. Rail-mounted ICBMs, and their testing, is one of the more frequently-broken clauses of the latest atomic weapons treaties. It is an unkept secret. This train, ‘Missile Carriage 2,’ is on its way to the rocketry test facility sixty kilometres away. With two nuclear locomotives attached, the trip will take less than fifteen minutes. Well, at least after lunch is finished.\nJust a quick sketch. Thanks, guys.\n",
  "date": "2018-04-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-04-09-rail-missiles/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 738,
  "href": "/stories/penance/",
  "title": "Washing the Feet of the Enemy",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/penance.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/penance_hu0155c280fd0337af013ca33bd8a53da6_895499_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "He had sent her a wire some weeks before asking to meet her. She did not remember him. By now he was an old man, and she, a Gregori baby of sixty four years, had not aged a day. He was close to dying and wanted to relieve his soul of the war crimes he’d committed as a member of the Vanguard in the Second American Civil War. She had been a little ptitsa back then, fighting with the Milita. He was desperate to repay her, and what she stood for, as in 2127 she is one of the few living Militia women on this Earth.\nIn this scene we see Michael Greenfield washing the feet of Tzipora Zelda Desmoines at a spirit shrine in Vekllei, in a melding of Christian tradition and Vekllei cultural humility. She is surrounded by her friends, including her estranged Japanese husband on the left (fourteen years old, sixty two years age). She does not like her feet being touched, but it is important to her to see a living artifact of the war that shaped her childhood. She still carries part of the war with her — as he fills a basin and she bares one foot, Michael notices she is afflicted with nervous tics. She rubs her nose and picks at her shirt. When she is nervous, like she is now, the tics are almost constant.\nThese two are survivors of the Second American Civil War, which spanned a decade in the 2070s. They fought on opposite sides — Tzipora on the liberal, socialist, anarchist coalition called the Militia, Michael as a fascist for the Vanguard party. Tzipora grew disillusioned with the war and fled after three years of fighting. Michael continued to serve until the Federal Government succeeded in crushing both movements. The crimes he has committed in war weight on him, now late in life. He passed away six months after this strange and awkward meeting.\n",
  "date": "2018-04-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-04-06-penance/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 739,
  "href": "/stories/demon-attack/",
  "title": "A Sketch of a Blood Spirit",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/demonattack.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/demonattack_hu9a2d503e5e33747497eeeaf1715560c9_244972_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Blood spirits are unaware people have physical forms. Why should they? No person has entered the realm of the spirits in a millenia.\nWhen the Princess of the Earth arrived, after the nuclear exchange between the United States and China, one of the first encounters she had with a spirit in their homeworld was a blood spirit tearing her apart while looking for food. She was fully in proper kit for a trip to the spirit world — the lanterns are to keep both her safety among the spirits and to let her blood flow properly respectively, and the orbs around her neck are filled with soil from her homeland to keep her body attached to the spirit world.\nWhile she cannot die in this place, she retains full control of her nervous system, a bone of fact that was proved when the pain of having a hole torn through her hit her brain all at once.\nBlood spirits, despite their name, actually take all kinds of fluids from spirits and physical creatures alike. They are easily warded off by other spirits, and are incapable of harming them properly. Should a blood spirit escape into the natural world, however, they would wreak havoc in search for food.\nIf you have any questions, I have answers. This is a pretty mediocre sketch of an idea I had.\n",
  "date": "2018-03-03T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-03-03-demon/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 740,
  "href": "/stories/gregori-children/",
  "title": "On the Concept of Childhood",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/gregorichildren.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/gregorichildren_hu47a765af29aad6fce719e28c6944b725_420261_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This post is part discussion, part lore.\nKojin Karatani, on the subject of childhood, writes;\nOf course, children have existed since ancient times, yet \u0026rsquo;the child\u0026rsquo; as we conceive of it and objectify it did not exist prior to a particular period [\u0026hellip;].\nFrom this viewpoint, it becomes clear that the grouping of children by age in the compulsory educational system of modern Japan signified the uprooting of children, as abstract and homogenous entities, from productive relations, social classes, and communities that had previously been their concrete contexts.\nFor my own world (the city-state of Vekllei and her alternate future) this idea is is something I’m experimenting with. As people of a modern world, we may contain within ourselves biases about what ‘childhood’ is.\nKaranati’s fundamental point is that, following the Meiji Restoration in Japan, their education system modernised, and took on the Western idea of a ‘child’. Today, the development of children is staggered through very specific age groups — they play with kids their own age, they learn with kids their own age, and what we expect of them accompanies, in part, how we’ve structured school.\nSo in my world, I’ve tried to develop a system in which almost all age groups, or at least large groupings of them, learn inside the same classroom. If 25% of rooms in a school are dedicated general-learning classrooms, what could you do with the rest of the space? Dedicated science/language/athletic centres? Likewise, how would children playing with both older and younger kids influence their social development. And how would work (or employment), either in agrarian or industrial contexts, impact their growth as people?\nAs for lore:\nI’ve tried to sketch a uniform here that is both visually interesting and simple enough to assemble (the girl, in this case, is wearing a less-common, formal variation). In keeping with the ideas above, the uniform would be consistent across all year groups.\nThings of note on the girl\nFlowers are a large part of femininity, in particular ‘girlishness’, and elaborate headdresses like the one here are common for picture days and ceremony She wears a lace apron above her skirt, under the pleat, called a ‘Soitres Deh’ (soo-treh deh), which is ceremonial and very delicate. Some wear it to announce they’ve entered a relationship. Usually not worn to school. Things of note on the boy\nHis cap, while part of the uniform, is more commonly worn in fields and factories as a labourer’s cap, and is emblazoned with the emblem of the enterprise or school. Very common in Vekllei. So what to you think? I’ve given enough detail to stop people reading it, but not enough to properly explore the idea of childhood. What do you think? How do you deal with education in your world?\n",
  "date": "2018-02-23T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-02-23-childhood/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 741,
  "href": "/stories/bridging/",
  "title": "The Bridging of Worlds Ritual",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/worldsritual.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/worldsritual_hu1e0a5eca11a9f5d8143e446964604d16_147277_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora is the oldest person alive, now aged 1,056 years. With the body, temperament, and vitality of an 11-year-old, and the lived experience of a dozen generations, she is a victim Gregori syndrome. She has seen man rise from Earth into space, and although she still calls her birth-country of Vekllei on Earth home, she frequently tours the cosmos as part of complex interplanetary diplomacy. The press calls her the Princess of the Earth.\nIn 3,119 A.D., she visits the Ra system. She meets the people there, called Roala, who were once descendents of East Asia on Earth. Here she takes part in an ancient ritual in which she bridges herself between the spirit and human worlds.\nShe is dressed in both ordinary Vekllei clothing, which is familiar and Earthly, and Roala ceremonial dress patterned with reflective gems.\nUsing her left hand, she guides the angle of power. Her right hand, raised above her head, is the focus of power and is anchored to the human world by her left foot. If she breaks the angle directed by her left hand, and they become unaligned, she will lose her physical space in both worlds and collapse into nothing. For a few minutes at a time, she is able to see and contact both the human and spirit worlds.\nAs she closes the ritual, the power of the stars wane, and so her heart becomes an auxiliary power source to help close the bridge. As it strains under the pressure of joining two worlds, her heart glows through her shirt. At this moment, plants die under her feet and she mustn’t be touched, otherwise the bridge will cascade into a wider collapse that can destroy several people. Finally, her heart settles and Tzipora collapses into the arms of a photographer, dripping with sweat and sapped of all strength. It is a great privilege to know how to contact the spirit world. Ordinary Earth people like Tzipora usually have ask for passage from the bones of angels, called Derden. But out here, with the Roala, she partakes in their way of life to cement the bond humanity has across systems.\n",
  "date": "2018-01-25T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-01-25-ritual/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 742,
  "href": "/stories/anarchist/",
  "title": "Anarchy in Cherry, Nevada",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/anarchist.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/anarchist_huec9e02007741d3d3e91dde8d049a3dfa_170745_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The young Republican has waited in a queue to have her photo taken in front of the remains of Cherry, Nevada. Her hair is still short after the fascists shaved her head, and branded her with St David’s star because she had a Jewish name. She would later tell the Republican Militia that she wasn’t, in fact, a Jew. The Militia didn’t care.\nSo she drapes herself in the anarchist flag and holds an ancient Mosin rifle she’d never fired, and for a moment she is part of something bigger than herself — of hope, and anger, and brotherhood. These are the things that fuel the Republican movement, despite its infighting and poor equipment. There are many factions within the Militia — the Moscow-backed Marxist-Leninists, anarchists, Trotskyists, and smaller liberal sects. For now, they fight together against the fascists.\nThe Vanguard movement grew in the South after decades of poverty and neglect from the federal government. Vanguardism was ostensibly about family and Southern nobility, but was always unmistakably fascist at its core, and part of a wider populist movement across the world in 2063. Many Southerners found themselves choosing between enlisting with the socialists, or death. Because for many, that’s what it was. Fascism was death — if they didn’t shoot the Jew or the socialist or the negro, they would displace them into oblivion. It was worth picking up a rifle for.\nThe young girl here, Tzipora, aged eleven, would later be disillusioned by the Republican movement and escape it. She had seen too many terrible things performed on behalf of the Militia, and the anarchists were being sabotaged by Moscow. This was the ultimate product of the civil war — bitter, jaded soldiers who had been stripped of their idealism and vitality. Fascist or socialist, everything they had fought for had died in the South.\n",
  "date": "2018-01-15T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2018-01-15-anarchy/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 743,
  "href": "/tags/2017/",
  "title": "2017",
  "section": "Tags",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "2017-12-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 744,
  "href": "/stories/blossoms/",
  "title": "Girl Scouts Learn to Shoot in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/blossoms.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/blossoms_hud829e3c6011f9ec92c96e6d59bd0e1ed_122646_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora Desmoines is part of Troop 45 of the Vekllei Blossoms. Every adult, as part of mandatory service in the country of Vekllei, owns and operates a firearm, most commonly a handgun. Because of this hazard, the children of Vekllei learn gun safety at an early age, either through school or the Blossoms.\nOn the cusp of the teen years, they can also learn how to operate weapons, like eleven-year-old Tzipora is doing here. She is small, at a bit over four foot two, and she struggles with the recoil of the shotgun. She wears the uniform of the Vekllei Blossoms, and off her hip is slung a canteen pouch and binoculars. Her troop practices shooting out in a Vekllei flower-tundra, called a ro, far away from civilisation.\nTzipora is pronounced Tzee-poor-a Deh-mwah-neh. Check my post history for everything Vekllei, otherwise feel free to ask questions.\n",
  "date": "2017-12-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-12-12-blossoms/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 745,
  "href": "/stories/radiation/",
  "title": "Radiation Poisoning in Domestic Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/radiation.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/radiation_hu69557e8af53ce6f3c19dd6489fc0efa1_110201_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "He started collecting radioactive material from the clocks and electronic appliances in his house earlier in the week. The material, which included radium and americium, was placed in a compartment in the living room wall of his apartment. This exposed his wife, nine-year-old son and infant daughter to dangerous levels of radioactivity. By Wednesday that week the baby had fallen ill, and Mrs Toutan took her to Miuounne General that evening, returning with a prescription for ibuprofen. While his father was at work, and his mother was in the garden, the son rang the police the next day, hallucinating figures attempting to enter through the apartment windows.\nThe infant girl received a dose of 2-3 Gy, swelling soft tissues and burning parts of the skin exposed to the rear living room wall. Her brother, 10, survived, but will almost certainly suffer the effects of ARS for the rest of his life. The danger to Vekllei families is made obvious by the Toutan tragedy — household appliances almost universally have little resistance to tampering, and threaten to expose inquisitive children, or as we have seen here, the mentally ill, to dangerous levels of radioactive material.\nMr Toutan, a veteran of the Sino-Taiwanese war, was troubled by his experiences and was diagnosed prior to this incident with shellshock and trenchsickness. These ideas did not capture his suffering in entirety — he was shattered by his experience in the war, and disabled by chemical weaponry. His paranoia, stemming from what we know as PTSD, eventually deteriorated into mania. He was convinced of a coming nuclear apocalypse, and at some point had the idea that the creation of a private nuclear reactor could keep his family safe underground when the bombs dropped. Although he had neither the training or the intellectual chops for nuclear physics, he began to collect material that would soon poison his family and kill his infant daughter.\nSome 75,000 veterans are registered with the various support bureaus in Vekllei. They shuffle between home and work, their faces blank, their souls in Taiwan. By the time Mr Toutan poisoned his family, maybe he was more than ready to go.\n",
  "date": "2017-12-05T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-12-05-radiation/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 746,
  "href": "/stories/seaside/",
  "title": "Seaside in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/seaside.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/seaside_hu0132c1b939b2608e9ddf8d76aa50de54_251474_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "About this time of year, in the place between high summer and autumn, the weather is good in Vekllei. Vekllei is too cold for crickets, but insects are out and the air hums with life — birds, helijets, and the soft noise an ocean breeze makes as it races toward the harbour, pulling on leaves and skirt hems along the way.\nThe Lola monorail carries tourists and workers between the district centre and the World Expo Tower. A medihelijet buzzes the top of the hill, circling for a place to land. In the distance a supersonic jet roars off to New York. It’s a great time to be alive. Anchored far from the harbour is an enormous nuclear aircraft carrier. From the top of the hill you can see jets jump off and return to the deck like bees in the spring. It’s training season and the air force cadets are piloting jump-jets.\nThe days this time of year are almost twenty hours long — the nightlife is endless and exhausting. In winter Vekllei rests, sleepy, until springtime returns in late May.\nThe view from Lola is smaller than that of the rest of the city — the planned city of Vekllei is a few hillsides over, making Lola a wonderful location to raise a family. It feels quiet and small, and the city centre is only ten minutes away by hypertrain.\nIn this coming late autumn Vekllei will be struck by two nuclear bombs, and although Lola will be spared, the event will radically change life in the sprawling, utopian city of Vekllei.\nIf you have any questions, let me know! You can see more of Vekllei 🔗here and 🔗here. Thanks for reading.\n",
  "date": "2017-11-28T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-11-28-seaside/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 747,
  "href": "/stories/cop/",
  "title": "Beat Cops in Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/beatcops.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/beatcops_hubdb3583fef9ac9fa7cbaa84cd0fd7a70_138837_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " It was just like any other evening in Monouiz; a no-good view of one part concrete, one part fescue, and a whole lotta quiet. He knew the broad from his days hunting smuggler types in jazz bars and street cars, a gig not worth gigging now that prohibition was over. She was a pretty little chickadee attached to a big guy of bad temper, and he guessed one night he took it too far. The girl swung her frypan into him, and on the way down he hit his head. Hard. Another sob story from the city of silence. He took another drag and breathed out, smoke filling his dingy apartment. The girl was only nineteen.\nWith that bullshit out of the way, let’s talk business. Lila Ouilanan, 19, is being led away by two Vekllei cops from the home where she lived with her fiance.\nAlmost all crime in Vekllei, in an absence of currency and any real material value, is domestic. Police here are as much negotiators and therapists as they are detectives. Lila was engaged to her boyfriend, who beat her, when she hit him with a frying pan. He hit his head on a countertop, which killed him. She was later acquitted. The policewoman is wearing a summer uniform. The winter uniform is similar, but they wear a blouse and can also choose to wear navy wool stockings. Female firearms officers, who are trained with heavy and automatic weapons, wear trousers and boots. The policeman is wearing an all-season uniform with navy coat. The summer uniform looks similar to the female variant, except with a cap and trousers. Firearms officers make up one in every four officers, and operate anti terrorist and militia duties. They are not necessarily senior to regular officers, but instead have military training and act as a form of civil defense in the event of an invasion or following a nuclear attack. They are trained to direct civilian partisans and recruit resistance movements, rendering them partially paramilitary. All officers carry a pistol, usually a revolver, and a variant of truncheon suited to the specific officer. Mobile units, which use vehicles to patrol, carry a heavier tactical weapon, like a shotgun, in the vehicle. Except in specific units designed for a special purpose, all officers patrol and enforce law in the district they live in. Most officers know most civilians living in an area, and they regularly drop by apartments to meet and communicate with the local population. Forgive the sketch. If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear them.\n",
  "date": "2017-11-07T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-11-07-cop/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 748,
  "href": "/stories/princess/",
  "title": "The Princess of the Earth",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/princessofearth.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/princessofearth_hu8b95c2a2765555740d7bd48b53c0b48e_202267_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Barbaloh was once the spirit of a rainforest, but now lives only in the world of the spirits as a merchant, selling potions, spells and other supernatural nonsense. Tzipora, a brave human girl and fierce humanist, has gained passage to the spirit world through the bones of a derden, or “angel”. She found herself in another dimension and in total darkness, and the spirits immediately sensed her presence, taking physical and anthropomorphic forms to talk to her. A blood spirit, speaking as a deformed rodent creature, took interest in the arteries in her forearms. She would have been killed if not for Barbaloh’s customers, who drove the spirit off and demanded she meet with Barbaloh. They tell her that she is the first human to enter the spirit world in forty-five thousand years, and since Barbaloh is the defacto lord of the spirit marketplace, he shall listen to what she has to say.\nA frog-like spirit called Woh tells her to strip off the filthy school uniform she’d arrived in, and materialises a beautiful gown in front of her. He tells her to wear it, and Tzipora protests, but she begrudgingly undoes the buttons of her shirt and reaches for the gown.\n“There,” Woh tells her in a voice that isn’t human, “you are now the Princess of the Earth.”\nAnd so Tzipora, at least to the spirits, inherited the Earth. Terrified and alone, she became the ambassador of the human race, and to save them she would have to meet Barbaloh.\nThere are obvious elements of spirit culture in the design of the gown. The lanterns suspended from wooden poles give her passage in this place, the left one protecting her body from the spirits and the right one ensuring her blood continues to flow. As a human with a physical form, she is vulnerable to the temperaments of these creatures. Barbaloh asks her to take off her shoes and socks and walk barefoot, to anchor her to the world. Physical beings can become detached from reality down here, forgetting their birth names, forgetting their body and finally starving a state of vegetation. The gown is embedded with crystals of the Earth, sewn out of a material like silk. Circles are a recurring motif, in reference to the Earth.\nThe story of Tzipora and my retrofuturistic world is a long and occasionally confusing one. It is set in the summer of 2063. If you would like to know more, just ask, or check my post history for everything Vekllei-related. Thanks for listening.\n",
  "date": "2017-10-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-10-24-princess/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 749,
  "href": "/stories/spies/",
  "title": "Two Spies and a Vekllei Girl",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/spies.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/spies_hufa985dafd0c5835bcbef63883bde15df_143805_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In Nevada about this time of year, the temperature stays steady at 45 degrees (~115 in yank). The asphalt sticks to shoes. On the far right is Lenny the Jew. The moniker is his own; he’s a Jew from New York who ended up working for the Vekllei Rocketry Corps, the Vekllei espionage agency responsible for operations in the southern United States. Lenny the Jew is good with women, and violence. He operates as a “live” agent, hunting and eliminating Chinese and American spies when necessary, bringing radicals over the border to cause trouble, and squeezing persons of interest for information. His boss is sitting next to him. Michael operates the Vekllei Rocketry Corps, but rarely participates “live”. His daughter, shipped over from the homeland after the death of her mother, understands the secrecy — but not the scope — of what he does. Lenny the Jew has affection for Tzipora; she’s a strange kid that doesn’t get on well with her peers, so he brings her gifts when he calls by their house.\nVekllei espionage is chaotic. Very little interest is given towards industrial espionage, unlike the Chinese, who are chasing aerospace and nuclear technology. Vekllei is interested in provoking, destabilising, disrupting, distracting and sabotaging political and economic life in the United States. The Rocketry Corps, despite its name, ferries drugs over the border, commits terrorism and murder, disappears threats, distributes agitprop and pampers people of interest. It is the largest of the localised Vekllei espionage agencies, with little judicial oversight and a nationalistic fervour that makes the Rocketry Corps one of the largest internal threats in the United States today.\n",
  "date": "2017-10-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-10-19-spies/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 750,
  "href": "/stories/spirit-world/",
  "title": "Entering the Spirit World",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/spiritworld.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/spiritworld_hu52aded3c0e71d75ca4131a69dc330f57_226244_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Suddenly the blood drained from her lungs and she breathed in, only to double over, hacking blood into the grass between her shoes. She wiped her bloody mouth on the back of her arm and mumbled something like ‘sorry’ before coughing again. She slipped off her shoes and made her way to the clearing.\nShe saw the bones and knelt in front of them, laying some flowers out for it and waiting respectfully. After a few minutes she worked up the nerve to open her mouth, and when she wasn’t attacked, she began to talk to it in a soft little voice. She said she wanted to go to the spirit world, and it did nothing. She said she needed to go there because she’d been having dreams about great monsters rising up and destroying humanity. It didn’t move, and she glanced at the forest spirits that had gathered around her. She clasped her hands together and started to introduce herself to the bones. She was Tzipora, she grew up in the city of Vekllei not far from here, her parents died when she was young and her adoptive mother was struck by a truck and killed last summer. She loves her father and country and doesn’t want it to be destroyed.\nAs she talked more she found herself saying aloud things she’d never said before. About being a Gregori baby, about feeling separated from the rest of the human race, about the time she went to a festival with a Japanese boy who was gone now. She said she liked to write and hadn’t ever eaten a hotdog but she wanted to, and that once the older girls molested her out the back of the school. She said she liked her hair when it was like this; bouncy and self-regulating. She didn’t know why it wouldn’t stay like this all the time, but she didn’t have a hairbrush, so it was good that it looked good today.\nAn hour passed and she ran out of things to say and realised her entire life could fit in a conversation on an average bus trip. She unclasped her hands but didn’t dare shift from her kneel. All of a sudden, the grass beneath her disappeared and she plummeted, shoes, flowers and all, into darkness.\nThe above passage was written with this picture. This is the moment that Tzipora, a 🔗Gregori baby enters the spirit world to stop ancient creatures called 🔗Lehmenan from destroying the world. The Lehmenan are restless after a 🔗nuclear war between China and the United States. Very few people, and all of them children, know that spirits exist. Alone and terrified of losing the world to the Lehmenan, Tzipora goes to the bones of the Lehmenan’s creator, the 🔗now-extinct Derden, and asks it to let her into the spirit world.\nI understand this is quite a lot to take in. Ask me a question, follow the links for more information on the parts of this world, or check my post history if you want more information. I love questions and comments.\nEDIT: Sprinkled a couple more links in and decided to proofread.\n",
  "date": "2017-10-14T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-10-14-spirit-world/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 751,
  "href": "/stories/vk-dress/",
  "title": "The National Dress of Vekllei",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/vkdress.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/vkdress_hu7229f00346fe78c9da0d2416477d0d55_116669_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei people are usually buried in their national dress. It marks the important stages in their way of life; of graduation, of marriage, of ceremony. The carousel of festivals and parades and holidays that these Atlantic people enjoy are all spent in uniform, their national costume, that forms the public face of their country.\nLou and Mey here, two happy young things in love, are dressed up for the National Holiday. It is the biggest event of the year. Mey wears a flower as a hairpiece and a red pinafore in the national colours. Under her Lawhsk Ehma, which is equivalent to a “Maiden’s Apron” in English, she has a wide lace half-petticoat called a Doeh. The Doeh is unique to each girl, and is designed for them at menarche, or her first period. The little lace patterns have special meaning that inscribe parts of her personality, her background and her work. They are always buried with the girl, either worn or folded and pocketed. In Vekllei they wear red sandals and white socks or stockings to match the flag.\nThey both wear the Eliese flower, and usually another pin that marks their heritage — the son of a shipbuilder will wear the maritime cross. Both Lou and Mey here wear the Industry Roundel Star. His father is a dyehouse foreman and her mother works as a machinist in a robot factory. Lou wears a half-cape, barely visible here, that is called a Toutahn and is usually handed down, as opposed to the Doeh. The white cap is both part of the national dress and ceremonial dress in the armed forces. Lou smokes, which is uncommon but not unheard of for sixteen-year-olds.\nOn the National Holiday, which lasts a week, all of Vekllei is put on display. Aircraft carriers dock for visitors, the parliament dissolves for a week and is opens its doors to the public, and a thumping nightlife begins to introduce teenagers like Lou and Mey here to the finer things of life.\nIf you have any questions or comments, let me know!\n",
  "date": "2017-10-13T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-10-13-national-dress/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 752,
  "href": "/stories/missile/",
  "title": "Watching the End of the World",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/apocolypse.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/apocolypse_hu0fab6d0c09db701b1737b2e45c0b6c3c_185672_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The sight of the missiles nearly made her sick. Everything around her took on new context. It was such a peaceful afternoon, and the sirens hadn’t gone off, and here she was, watching the trails the missiles painted in the cloudless sky. And now she was blessed with a newfound psychic ability that told her that everything in this spot would be vapour in a half hour. The wheat, the forest, the road; everything. Anyone who wasn’t looking at the sky didn’t know it yet. To folks indoors or out of view of the vapour trails, it was still a beautiful spring. It took a half hour for Vekllei missiles to reach China. Theirs took about the same to get here.\nThe sirens didn’t go off until five minutes after the missiles launched. You could tell they were civil defense sirens because they built up to a whine and stayed there, a sound they’d all heard in drills, but it wasn’t drill season. Tzipora scrambled down the side of the ditch and took her bike with her, and sat cross-legged in the brook with her hands over her eyes. If everything became bright she’d hold her breath and lie face down until she was either dead or the sonic boom flung her downstream.\nOn May 6th 2064 the mid-Atlantic country of Vekllei, China, and the United States participated in a confused nuclear war that nearly annihilated North America and East Asia. In Vekllei, two bombs hit, and the rest of the Chinese delivery aircraft was downed by the air force. The two small-yield ground-burst weapons killed only 20,000. Many millions were saved by the comprehensive civil defense of the country. The United States lost forty million people. China is unknown, but is likely in the hundreds of millions after the full retaliatory strike from two separate countries.\nThe war had wider consequences, as it awakened ancient creatures underground that were built to protect the Earth. The creatures, called Lehmenan in a dead tongue, would in the weeks following the war attempt to wipe the surface of the world clean of human society.\nYou can read about Tzipora 🔗here and 🔗here. The Lehmanen, angels and spirit worlds are described in my post 🔗here. Learn more about the country of Vekllei 🔗here.\nOr, hell, you could just ask me. I love questions and critique of my artwork, which I’m desperately trying to improve.\nThanks for listening!\n",
  "date": "2017-10-12T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-10-12-missile/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 753,
  "href": "/stories/face/",
  "title": "The Face of Human Extinction",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/face.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/face_hue158da1531fa5c77c04bd30f5a4a54aa_437602_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "All servants of heaven — called angels by most people but they belong to a much older name — are viciously jealous of human beings. In creation, the Earth was promised to them, but the creator God gave the Earth to the human race. In a fit of rage, the angels — or Derden, as they were called before the current chapter of humanity — buried bioengineered monsters called Lehmenan far below the surface of the Earth. If humanity ever became reckless and destroyed themselves, they would awaken and wipe the Earth clean with great lances of fire.\nIn 2063, Red China suffered a military coup d\u0026rsquo;etat, and the ensuing Sino-American nuclear exchange consumed both countries in a great fire that destroyed vast swaths of forest and the creatures and spirits within them. The Lehmenan began to wake.\nTzipora, an unremarkable girl in the small mid-Atlantic country of Vekllei, stands in front of the bones of an Angel, or Derden, and begs it to let her into the spirit world to stop the Lehmenan. The Derden hates human beings, and it fills her lungs with blood to try and scare her away. She stands steady.\nIt was in this moment, in the shadow of fallout in a wind-swept field of rural Vekllei, that a child dressed in the uniform she wore to school became an ambassador for the entire human race. Not before or since has such a remarkable image of humanism in the face of God existed.\nIf you have any questions or comments, let me know!\n",
  "date": "2017-10-09T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-10-09-face/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 754,
  "href": "/stories/general-store/",
  "title": "A Little Vekllei General Store",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/generalstore.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/generalstore_hu914fdfbfde37db71c648bdbf22a709e0_263031_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "In the narrow streets of the Lola district in Vekllei, artisans and artists hurry about, peddling art and fine goods and attracting the rest of the city to its stores. In Vekllei, there is no currency, so shopping is almost always a pragmatic affair.\nNot in Lola. If you’re in Lola, you’re there to see the good stuff, produced and sold in little shops like this one. The apartments of this place are small and cramped, and the streets are rarely wide enough for vehicles to pass, but many students dream of moving into the vibrant and colourful district and building lives around their creative passions. Coffee shops here are filled with notebooks and haggard young things, penning their screenplays and worrying about their existential purpose.\nVekllei is a society of restlessly educated people, looking for some greater satisfaction in their lives without the incentives of money. Many serve their country, others fall in love. This shop owner found his. He stocks books, apples, rare foodstuffs and anything that takes his fancy, like an eclectic general store. There are few supermarkets in the country. The demands of the collectivised economy for constant overproduction and total employment results in decentralised distribution like we see here. Tzipora is eleven. She doesn’t understand all that. But she understands that her mother wants spiced meats for a platter, and Lola is the best place to find seasonal or exotic foods like spiced meat.\nTwelve festivals rouse creativity out of the otherwise sleepy Vekllei economy. The festival of feasts, in September, halts regular production and many restaurants switch to exotic foods. During this month, cafes and restaurants are overflowing with people jawing about where they’ve been while cramming their mouths with Oriental, American and South American staples. Following September is October’s festival of the sea, the climax of which includes the detonation of a nuclear bomb out at sea and a slow, luxurious media worship of the enormous warships that Vekllei operates.\nTzipora ducks under the curtain in the doorway of the store, and wipes her nose on the back of her arm. The bag full of meats is heavy for her. It’s a long walk back to her apartment building, but on warm autumn evenings like these, that’s not a bad thing. She waves goodbye and leaves.\nIf you have questions or comments, I love both. Thanks for listening!\n",
  "date": "2017-10-06T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-10-06-store/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 755,
  "href": "/stories/pleading/",
  "title": "Pleading with Angels to Spare Humanity",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/pleading.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/pleading_huc737104032575a49bec34f27e51e3681_108867_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " She saw its bones and the sight of them — that they were real and not a dream — caught in her throat. She raised her hand to cough, and suddenly her lungs heaved and blood began to pour from the spaces between her fingers. Her eyes grew wide and she cupped her hand, and she retched again and her blood sprayed out like a hose. It soaked her, but she stayed steady.\nThe bones of an angel, either bioengineered in the kilns of an ancient civilisation before ours or fallen from the spirit world, are sacred and insanely jealous of human life. Here, the forgotten bones of an angel try to scare Tzipora by filling her lungs with blood. She knows better — she’s friends with the spirits of this place — but the trick still scares her. Many such bones litter the earth, but few are found on the surface.\nAncient creatures that lie dormant below the surface of the world have been disturbed by the nuclear war between China and the U.S. If awakened, the creatures — called Lehmenan by forgotten peoples — will use lances of fire to cleanse the Earth. In this moment, in a field of flowers in rural Vekllei, eleven-year-old Tzipora acts as an ambassador of the human race, and pleads with the spirit world to forgive the destruction of the North American and East Asian continents.\nI love questions and comments. Let me know if you have either.\n",
  "date": "2017-10-02T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-10-02-angels/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 756,
  "href": "/stories/chemical-war/",
  "title": "Chemical Warfare in 2063",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/chemicalwar.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/chemicalwar_hu4a13520961a7db655d6151201cfdb4c9_291162_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " “We came to a town and found it scorched with mustard and the fragments of phosgene shells, and the wind whistled through the doorways that were left open. I remember being surprised by how many of them were in basements — probably because they thought the gas would blow away in the wind. The entire town was dead, and we were worried that the gasses were still lingering, so the unit wore their masks as we began to cremate them. The flies lay eggs in the heat and that’s all anyone talked about; lots of flies. They gave us cigarettes to mask the smell.\n“I remember very clearly a man in our unit, who is dead now but was only new then, throwing up in the gutter outside what had been a grocery store. He looked up at me and saw me watching, and he said, “this fucking sucks,” and then threw up again. I had watched him execute P.O.W.s, and treat combat wounds without flinching, and he was a tough guy — you know; big, heavyset — but here I was watching him put his guts on the sidewalk. I left the crematory pit in the city square and went to relieve him, and I found the bodies of forty-five children no older than seven or eight, squished up in a corner of the basement, crushing their friends, because whatever gas had been swirling down the stairwell was so thick that they could see it coming.”\n— Excerpt from The Cost of Chemical Warfare article, the New York Times, October 21st 2064.\nThe troops pictured form part of the Vekllei expeditionary forces, an experienced group that deals largely with war crimes and militarised espionage. They operate in coordination with the secret services and military police. A New York Times photojournalist attached with Unit 75 in northeast Taiwan documented the consequences of heavy chemical shelling in rural Taiwan, and saw just a small number of the hundreds of thousands killed in the Sino-Taiwanese war.\nForgive my shitty illustration. If you have any questions, I love \u0026rsquo;em.\n",
  "date": "2017-09-27T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-09-27-chemical-war/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 757,
  "href": "/stories/undying/",
  "title": "Tzipora, the Undying Miracle Child",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/undying.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/undying_hu89806581d0543f1869a1fda3adbbfd76_151427_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora is a 🔗Gregori baby, a child who doesn’t age and cannot contract cell-mutating diseases. She is the adopted daughter of Michael Desmoines, an espionage quartermaster for a foreign power in the United States.\nShe is clever, sensitive, and deeply humanist. Despite her shyness and her loneliness, she is remembered by the few whose lives she touched as an affectionate and exceptionally gifted girl.\nShe has a chronic sadness about her. She feels distinct and separated from the human race, a feeling exacerbated by her Gregori syndrome and a mild obsessive-compulsiveness that makes her feel like a freak. She turns her emotions into words and often falls asleep at her desk, writing a story about a fantasy world she calls Yellowstone.\nShe is conscious of the world in a way few eleven-year-olds are, and deeply patriotic. Despite her friendlessness, she carries on with good intentions and concern for the future. She bore witness to the atomic bombing of Vekllei in September of 2063.\nIf you have any questions, or painting tips you can give me, I’m hungry for either.\n",
  "date": "2017-09-24T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-09-24-undying/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 758,
  "href": "/stories/desert-spirit/",
  "title": "Tzipora Makes Friends with a Desert Spirit",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/desertspirit.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/desertspirit_hu49db4b9c53b1fe02e4b3fec183b1cc45_154449_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Every natural place has a spirit that minds it. Tzipora had never met a desert spirit before, and she went looking for one in Cherry, Nevada. With air force jets glinting in the sky overhead, and the temperature scorching the mesas that surround the military town, she found one inside a burrow. In an instant, it had transformed into a rattlesnake and tried to scare her, but she dropped to her knees and begged it to forgive her for waking it. She offered it a gumdrop and it returned to its natural, translucent form.\nSpirits are placed on earth by whatever God watches over the Earth. Tzipora dislikes the God of the world, but she respects the spirits, and as a child she can see them in their natural state. In Vekllei and Scandinavia, they are called Faeries. In Japan, they are spirits. In the United States, there is no word for them, because they are considered to not exist.\nTzipora asked the spirit to watch over her and her father when they are in the desert. From that day on, she left an offering outside in a makeshift shrine in the backyard of their detached midcentury home.\nTzipora has no time for God; she is a zealous humanist at her core. The spirits are fair and good. Because of them, Vekllei is environmentally conscious in a way few other great powers are in 2063.\nThe written characters are Vekllei, and make a poem;\nTzipora is looking for all good things in the world\nThe spirits are the mothers and daughters of all good things in the world\nWhat a beautiful place, crafted in the love between the Earth and children\nIf you have any questions, I like to hear them. If you’ve got illustration tips, I wouldn’t mind some too ;)\n",
  "date": "2017-09-21T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-09-21-spirit/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 759,
  "href": "/stories/fashion/",
  "title": "Fashion in the Year 2063",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fashion.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fashion_hu0265db8e096bfa3c3d4b7d80516e29db_168160_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Vekllei kids look to America as a bastion of good taste; a country of fast cars and diners and sock-hops and high-school romance. Like the Koreans look to Japanese taste, and the British look to the stuff coming out of design houses in France, Vekllei is infatuated with how Americans dress in the year 2063. Like most imported culture in Vekllei, the American teen-age style is misunderstood, butchered, and then transformed into something entirely different as production lines crank out plaid skirts, two-tone shoes and baseball jerseys for Vekllei kids.\nTzipora doesn’t buy into much of that stuff. She doesn’t have any friends to show off to, but boy, if she did, they’d all be jealous of her. While living in Cherry, Nevada, Tzipora experienced American life first-hand. She bought her clothes in American department stores and ate in American diners. Her nose was pulped by American fists after she stayed silent in the American national anthem. Tzipora doesn’t get on with American kids much — she doesn’t get along with a lot of things, it seems. But gee, what would the kids at her old school in Vekllei say when she turned up in jerseys and trousers? Wouldn’t that just be something? They’d regret making fun of her then.\nLeft to right:\nTrying on an all-wool sack-type dress for the first time. It’d be pretty if she didn’t live in a desert.\nA Vekllei jersey patterned with blossoms, a popular motif. To the American kids, abstract prints on American-style clothes mark her out as a foreigner.\nThree-quarter-length trousers with white penny loafers. Her T-shirt bears the Vekllei emblem for the moon, but to non-Vekllei it looks Japanese.\nPulling her shoes back on after she was dragged around the back of the school and roughed up for ignoring the national anthem. She didn’t know the words. She knows how to get blood out of a shirt, so it\u0026rsquo;s no biggie. Besides, she got a couple good hits in. If there wasn\u0026rsquo;t five of them, she reckoned she could have fought off Yankee kids.\nIf you’ve got any questions, I love ‘em. Thanks for listening.\n",
  "date": "2017-09-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-09-19-fashion/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 760,
  "href": "/stories/terror/",
  "title": "Girl’s Life Saved by Veteran Hero in Day of Terror",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/terror.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/terror_hu97346d267187f569983a770d42301add_145169_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Louenne Dehmones enlisted for two years but stayed for ten. He served abroad in the war department, where he performed admirably but never rose above the rank of Junior Sergeant because of a good-natured appetite for mischief. He transferred to the military police to be close to his wife and infant daughter.\nIt was his daughter that he thought of as he powdered the wounds of the girl at the airport with instaskin, and it was of his daughter that he thought as he picked up the girl’s body, smoke still pouring from the cavity in her chest, and carried her to the ambulances that were wailing all over the airport. A bomb of white phosphorous had exploded in the ouisha park outside the terminal. Without his gas mask or gloves, he picked raw phosphorous out of the girl’s chest with his fingers and cauterised her wounds, saving her life.\nThe girl’s name was Lola Talounes, and she was one of six wounded in the blast who survived the attack, almost entirely because of the actions of Louenne. The attack at the airport preceded two more terrorist attacks on Vekllei soil, before the collapse of the United Nations Security Council and the subsequent thermonuclear war. In the aftermath of it all, in which Louenne went on to save many more lives as a civil defense authority in his apartment block, he was finally promoted to Sergeant. Lola still writes him, and wants to be an cosmonaut.\nIf you have any questions about the beautiful city of Vekllei, its people, or anything else that comes to mind, let me know! I love to talk.\n",
  "date": "2017-09-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-09-10-terror/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 761,
  "href": "/stories/ageing/",
  "title": "Tzipora, one of the children to stop ageing",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/ageing.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/ageing_hu3bfeea0d798703986e322a19b127a1d1_97165_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This is Tzipora. She is eleven years old, scruffy, and a Gregori baby. At the turn of the 21st century, Gregori Hordiyenko, a Ukrainian boy aged nine and a half, stopped aging entirely. By 2063, which is the year Tzipora turned eleven, there are about two hundred Gregori babies in the world, mostly living in secret. Certain religious sects, including Catholics, view Gregori babies as a sign of the Lord’s action and as a movement towards an approaching religious event. Other religious sects see them simply as angels, eternal beings fallen from heaven.\nIn reality little is known about the phenomenon. Gregori babies stop growing at the point they’d usually reach thelarche. Their cells reproduce perfectly, removing the ageing process entirely and making them theoretically immortal. The oldest Gregori baby is fifty-six and lives in Florida. Gregori himself was run down and killed in an accident in his twenties. Gregori babies have no other defining characteristic; they have been found in the Orient and in Africa and in Europe, they have different levels of wellness and many have entirely unremarkable lives.\nTzipora is Vekllei’s first Gregori baby, although she was abroad when she was diagnosed. She has not reached menarche and does not appear to have even begun thelarche. Other than her agelessness, she is a normal girl with her own anxieties and joys and relationships. As a child, she has not yet quite understood the magnitude of what has been stripped from her: she will never be able to maintain friends as they age without her, she will never grow up or marry, and assuming she naturally survives, she will watch everyone die before her. As a Gregori baby, she can be killed as any other human being can. The one exception to her condition is cancer and tumour-related diseases, of which she will be immune. Her father calls her “angel”, and the pet name took on a new meaning as her condition was realised.\nTzipora is religious and believes in a single God and spirits, but dislikes him and blames him for her own situation, shifting her faith into Vekllei and humanity. Let me know if you have any questions. I love to talk.\n",
  "date": "2017-09-04T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-09-04-ageing/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 762,
  "href": "/stories/five-uniforms/",
  "title": "The Five Uniforms of Any Good Vekllei Girl",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fiveuniforms.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fiveuniforms_hu2834d916e93b39f53267cd8f5ca34a98_190022_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "These are the five basic outfits a kid in the city of Vekllei rotates between in their life. This is Tzipora. She’s sharp and a little scruffy. She’s eleven years old.\nThe first is her school uniform, complete with embroidered armband featuring the national crest. The skirt has a longer pleated section. She wears penny loafers.\nThe second is the uniform of the Vekllei Blossoms, equivalent to the Pioneers in the USSR and Red China, or Boy Scouts in the West. The uniforms are designed around mobility and athleticism, as the focus of these groups has drifted from militarism and centres firmly on nature, building good habits, and instilling the spiritual philosophy of Vekllei in future generations.\nThe third is the national dress of Vekllei. It is beautiful, detailed and unique to each girl who wears it. You can find a full-colour picture of this girl in her national dress, with accompanying information, 🔗here.\nThe fourth is her casual clothes. Although this is informed by the taste of the girl, this collared shirt and skirt is pretty representative of fashion in 2063. Little flamingos print her white shirt. Flamingos are a popular motif in Vekllei. She holds a magnetic tape reader in her hand that plays music, like ones found in the United States. She can clip it onto the waist of her skirt and do chores while she listens.\nThe fifth is a hastily-assembled civil defence volunteer uniform. She is in pyjamas, dressed only in slippers and a long shirt, having awakened seconds before, but she wears the armband with the civil defence logo, a heavy helmet to protect her head and carries a high-beam torch. In the event the sirens go off, she will knock on the doors of neighbouring apartments and guide elderly residents to shelters while older and more experienced folk will tackle more complex duties.\nI love to talk and I love questions, so give ‘em to me. Thanks for listening!\n",
  "date": "2017-08-17T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-08-17-uniforms/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 763,
  "href": "/stories/bullying/",
  "title": "Anti-bullying poster in the year 2063",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/bullying.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/bullying_huf9bcdf2e28dc7f39fbbf1f7ec1f84ddb_151930_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "This poster circulated middle schools in 2063 as part of a wider initiative at curbing violence against women at an early age. The two Vekllei characters on the left read literally as \u0026ldquo;there is no excuse to hit a female,\u0026rdquo; but it emphasises the ‘hit’ part of it to make the idea particularly reprehensible. The girl pictured wears Vekllei middle school uniform, including a red armband with the national crest on it. The Vekllei seal, the four-petal eloise flower, sits about the text to confirm the authority of the poster. The poster is targeted at young boys; there is plenty of girl-on-girl bullying, including physical, that is not addressed by this campaign.\nIf you have any questions about what it’s like to grow up in Vekllei, or anything else about this idealist version of the city-state or the world as a whole, please do!\nCheck out my post history for other Vekllei-related things!\n",
  "date": "2017-08-10T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-08-10-bullying/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 764,
  "href": "/stories/in-the-harbour/",
  "title": "She stands in the harbour in national dress",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/nationaldress.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/nationaldress_hu3e091bb905f9c2796894a422190047e7_111593_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Tzipora, a recent immigrant girl of eleven years, wears the feminine national dress of Vekllei. It is a delicate, traditional and deeply spiritual costume, and is tied to Vekllei’s foundations and aspirations as a state. It has political symbolism, but it also ties the girl to the land she stands on.\nUnderneath her Lawtsk Ohma (an equivalent phrase might be \u0026ldquo;Maiden’s Apron, in English, but it loses the emotion of the original phrase; it insinuates youthful innocence and domesticity, industry and love) is a wide lace half-petticoat that sits over her skirt. These are extraordinarily detailed and extremely delicate. Each one is different and is tailored to the girl who wears it, and usually builds its patterns from the girl’s birth month and accompanying festival, demeanour and year of her birth. An entire industry exists to produce these lace garments and Vekllei women are traditionally buried with them.\nA recurring symbol is a stylised image of the Eliese Orchid, a four-petal flower that naturally grows in Vekllei and represents the seat of power in the city-state and the blood of the citizenry. On her left side she wears the Industry Roundel Star, a common collectivist symbol. Today she wears a black armband on her left arm in mourning, after the atomic bombings of the Lola and Leh Moleneis prefectures, which killed many thousands of her countrymen.\nThe year is 2063 and the world is unravelling. Tzipora trusts her country. But she worries for it, too; if Europe falls to the Soviets and China seizes Japan, Vekllei won’t have many friends in the world left.\n",
  "date": "2017-07-19T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/posts/2017-07-19-national-dress/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 765,
  "href": "/stories/youth/",
  "title": "Tzipora has her photo taken at Youth Meet 2063",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/youthmeet.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/youthmeet_hu593768fc88354725ddaa014f3e0330c9_83600_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Stories",
  "description": "",
  "content": " This is the first drawing I ever did for Vekllei. Things have come a long way. Hobart, 16th April 2025 Tzipora is smiling in the photo because she has won the competition for multilingual spelling. She is a recent citizen of Vekllei, a postcollectivist country in what we know as Iceland. She beat American boy scouts, Australian girl guides, Chinese and Soviet Pioneers and other youth organisations to win top prize.\nThe International Youth Meet is a games hosted biannually. Tzipora is representing the Vekllei Occupation Zone in Germany with a half-dozen other girls from the O.Z. The games of 2063 are hosted in Bremen, Germany, less than 80 kilometres from the Polish border and the site of a brief nuclear exchange between the U.S. occupation zones and Soviet Poland eight days after this photo was taken.\nTzipora wears the uniform of the Vekllei Blossoms, the female youth wing of Vekllei. She is eleven years old. The hammer and sickle pin she wears is not standard issue; it was pulled from a Soviet submariner hat she was given. The international community generally does not trust Vekllei. At the games, in their pastel cardigans, the Vekllei Blossom girls are targets for suspicion and bullying from the rest of the youth groups.\nI’m an Aussie world builder. My world is one stuck in the nuclear age forever. Things are unravelling. Tzipora is worried about the safety of her parents and the future of the world. I haven’t posted before, so if you’re interested, ask me anything!\n",
  "date": "2017-07-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/stories/1/","/posts/2017-07-01-youth-meet/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 766,
  "href": "/millmint/essays/tokyo/",
  "title": "A Cashless Tokyo","icon": "🍜","color": "blue",
  "section": "Essays",
  "description": "An essay on visiting Tokyo by Hobart Phillips, a utopian illustrator and storyteller.",
  "content": " ✿ Note from the Editor This article was originally published in December 2018. Yes, it’s painfully self-concerned and a little difficult to read back, but for newcomers to the project you might find some “obvious truths” about Vekllei you have not yet encountered. I did not come to Tokyo to find a reference for the Petticoat Project, because utopia does not exist there for me. In fact, by nearly every Vekllei metric, Tokyo is positively dystopian — a consumer paradise of the crushing, isolating modernity Vekllei is supposed to escape. And yet, marks of this city (and this country) are prevalent through Vekllei as a constructed country and my aesthetic as a writer and an artist. I can’t bring myself to love all of Japanese society, but I do love the country and its people. This intersection between traditional utopian world-building (along the lines of News from Nowhere or even the original Utopia) and the emotional, linear fragments of utopian storytelling which realise the cold encyclopaedia of a utopian world were the focus of my expedition to Japan. The premise of Vekllei society is at odds with so much of Japanese society — yet the emotional, aesthetic culture of the country (what I call the ‘character’ of utopianism) has influenced my media creation tremendously.\nAs a supplementary preface, I would like to note that it would be terrible of me to dismiss Japan as an oriental wonder of salarymen and neo-Zaibatsu. That approach has more in common with Frank Capra’s wartime propaganda piece Know Your Enemy: Japan than it does with real structural criticism. It is all too easy to dismiss the social and economic conditions of the country today as the natural inclination of a Japanese caricature — a homogenous hive-mind of enormously productive and obedient people. This is of course a terrible attack on the proud and long-standing tradition of dissent and progressiveness in the country — which is also home to one of the world’s largest opposition communist parties. It is a country of student mobilisation, protests and intense factionalism between the left and right-wing radicals.1 It is important not to conflate the impersonal structures of a society with the orientalist idea of cultural predisposition.\nA love of Studio Ghibli films and a desire for material and emotional escapism is what drives my utopian world-building. Where co-founder Isao Takahata had a penchant for artful emotional realism and domestic drama, Hayao Miyazaki has found tremendous success in Japan and abroad with his fantastical stories rich with nostalgia and warmth. They have obvious recurring themes — childhood, environmentalism, aircraft, etc., but it is no real secret (at least to media critics and Ghibli superfans) that these overt recurrences are symptomatic of more serious and grounded beliefs. In a fantastic analysis of My Neighbour Totoro, Phillip E. Wegner makes use of Kojin Karatani’s works (another great influence of mine) to illustrate Miyazaki’s uniquely Japanese pre-Meiji cross-generational nostalgia evident in the film.\nWhat Miyazaki presents us with in My Neighbor Totoro is a vision in which the classic \u0026ldquo;what if\u0026rdquo; question of the genre has been proposed: that is, what if the Meiji revolution did not happen? Moreover, since it is the dramatic and rapid modernization of the Meiji period that gives rise to the virulent imperialist nationalism and militarism that ultimately results in the Second World War, Miyazaki also offers in his film us a glimpse of a Japan in which the catastrophe of World War II did not occur.2\nJapan’s spectre of modernity is a recurring character in many of Miyazaki’s films, just as the villain of war revives itself time and time again — from the steel production of Iron Town in Princess Mononoke to the death of the golden age of aviation in The Wind Rises. Karatani’s landmark work, Origins of Japanese Literature, makes clear that basic premises of modern society — from children to history to nature — are not immutable items atomised by scientific fact, but instead products of modern society that have not always existed.3 pp.12-44, 113-135 Vekllei reflects this concept, at least superficially — children are represented as independent agents desegregated from modern age-based schooling, nature is regarded as a fellow social organ, and work is largely self-satisfying and decommodified. These are things that are important to me and it makes sense enough that Vekllei reflects that.\nSimilarly, even supposedly less political Ghibli films like Kiki’s Delivery Service carry powerful images of the ‘spectre of modernity’. Regarding the climax of the film in which a zeppelin soars hopelessly out of control over a city, A.J. Rocca hauntingly writes:\n[We] find that this is not truly a witch’s story, but a ghost story. The ghost died in a fire on 6 May 1937, foreshadowing the fires of a war that would change the world forever. The ghost is called the Spirit of Freedom in the film, but its true name is LZ 129 Hindenburg, and it’s not the spirit of freedom but the ghost of modernity.4\nSo the material manifestation of Japanese society for me— despite all the glory of her bright packaging and dense infrastructure — is an aesthetic and satirical media culture that saturates the Petticoat Project. Vekllei is a \u0026lsquo;poor man’s Utopia\u0026rsquo;, inspired in part by my superficial understanding of a ‘poor man’s Japan\u0026rsquo;. Vekllei, like media representations of postwar Shōwa Japan, has a shadow of pacifism and shame about it (that idea that \u0026lsquo;all politics is sexual pathology’ occurs to me). These are deliberate aesthetic choices that reflect not landscape utopianism but character utopianism — the real colour of a constructed world that acts out the structure of mean ideology and culture-constructs. These ill-defined images of utopian society, and a rejection of landscape world-building, are excellent vehicles for utopian writing. After all, it is sustained engagement with utopia that betrays the totality of it.5 What fascinates me particularly about Miyazaki’s unique utopian instincts is his recurring premise is essentially nostalgic and escapist — the aesthetic of a Miyazaki film is almost always midcentury or earlier, illustrating a time before Japan’s ‘modern century’. This is in stark contrast to the saccharine optimism of utopian socialists like Morris, Chernyshevsky, and Bellemy, telling stories of a future yet to come.\nAnd that is to say nothing of the aesthetic qualities of a Japanese city! Tokyo is a wonderful glimpse of a retro-future as imagined by the 1980s — as though the economic crisis of the 1990s has since suspended time. Japan is clean and modern, but also retrofuturistic. The lifeblood of the city is in rebar and concrete as infrastructure. The people on the street are dressed in conservative items that go without the prudish connotations of similar Western fashion. Working men and women are suited traditionally, many with waistcoats. Such is the visual language of modern Japan. Young men sport tech-wear or innovative types of street-wear dominated by colour and comfort. General women’s fashion leans heavily on items popularly discarded in Western markets, at least until recently. Pleat or patterned skirts, blouses, cardigans, hosiery and socks, loafers and brogues, etc. are very common and provide a wonderful anecdotal rebuff to the outrageous images of ‘Harajuku girls’ and Lolita style that epitomise some ideas of Japanese fashion. The famous ‘sailor uniform’ has been largely phased out of junior and senior high schooling, replaced with Western-style blazers and ties. Tokyo is not ‘behind’ the rest of the world; that is not what it means to be retrofuturistic. In my eyes, it has disembarked from Western technological and fashion attitudes some time ago and has since progressed on its own collective cultural intuition, and has subsequently spent the last few decades exporting media, fashion and culture into the West. It’s a great thing to see in person, at the heart of it all.\nDespite my qualms with modern Japanese consumer society, Vekllei is perched on a romanticised and fictitious Japanese aesthetic, and the country is enormously influential on the way I go about world-construction. With one sentence I will denounce the complexity of Japanese honorific language systems and in the other fawn over the mixed agricultural-residential suburbs that make up so much of the land outside of Tokyo’s city limits. Koka parks were inspired by these displays of community food production. The Vekllei Constabulary were created after research and experience with the Japanese Police Box system. Vekllei’s knotted network of trains and streetcars are reminiscent of Tokyo and Hiroshima. For all my public rejection of modern consumer society, and my begrudging participation in it, the Japanese qualities of Vekllei are valuable and are utopian in their own right — and so Tokyo remains one of the most important inspirations of Petticoat Society in the world.\nSo what of that dichotomy? Of deep ideological incongruities with Japanese consumer society, but an embarrassing affection for the mythological post-war aesthetic and Japanese culture? The truth of it is that Vekllei is first and foremost a collection of stories, and stories are the domain of the emotional. Wonderful, vague images of utopia — like washing corn in My Neighbour Totoro or an all-night writing session in Whisper of the Heart. My time in Tokyo introduced me to a wealth of these nostalgic feelings — of curiosity in a cauldron of social atomisation. Life in Tokyo is not without problems, and it is certainly not my perfect idea of utopia, but the intersection of the culture and promise of Japanese society, either in the past as alt-history or in the future as science fiction, has me coming back time and time again to better realise my own projects of utopia.\nAndrews, W., 2016. Dissenting Japan: A History of Japanese Radicalism and Counterculture from 1945 to Fukushima. Oxford University Press.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nWegner, P.E., 2010. \u0026quot; An Unfinished Project that was Also a Missed Opportunity\u0026quot;: Utopia and Alternate History in Hayao Miyazaki\u0026rsquo;s My Neighbor Totoro. ImageTexT: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies, 5(2).\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nKaratani, K., 1993. Origins of modern Japanese literature. Duke University Press.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nRocca, A. (2017). Miyazaki’s Haunted Utopia: The Ghost of Modernity in \u0026lsquo;Kiki’s Delivery Service\u0026rsquo;. [online] PopMatters. Available at: shorturl.at/CGLT5 [Accessed 24 Dec. 2018].\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nWegner, P.E., 1998. Horizons, Figures, and Machines: The Dialectic of Utopia in the Work of Fredric Jameson [with Comments]. Utopian Studies, 9(2), pp.58-77.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/tokyo/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 767,
  "href": "/millmint/essays/social-economy/",
  "title": "A Social Economy","icon": "💸",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/prairie.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/prairie_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3183823_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "blue",
  "section": "Essays",
  "description": "The \"commons\" is the moneyless economy that people interact with day-to-day in Vekllei. It works in complicated and unconventional ways.",
  "content": " A Social Economy # In Vekllei, the economy most people interact with is called the commons. In the commons, most people do not use money in everyday life, and they do things for intangible social reasons instead. This is called a social economy.\nThis project is grounded in the real world, and so it attempts to answer real-world questions without conceding to fantasy or trite concessions.1 This is an ongoing process, but this essay is an intro to how and why the Vekllei \u0026ldquo;moneyless economy\u0026rdquo; works.\nKey Facts\nYou don\u0026rsquo;t have to tell me moneylessness is a crazy idea \u0026ndash; I\u0026rsquo;m well aware. Taking it seriously and engaging it head-on is the joy of working on this project. Vekllei people are not more altruistic, selfless or generous than your average person, but they do have strong social bonds and codependent communities compared to most urban societies. They live lives that are materially poorer but socially richer, and have access to quality essential goods like housing, food, education and clothing. Their society has social illnesses like any other, and its economy is imperfect and has gaps. This austerity is a characteristic of their lives and a concession of the commons system. They work like all other people around the world, but their work is different. Many fewer Vekllei people are simply \u0026ldquo;cogs in a machine.\u0026rdquo; While Vekllei people may not use money, the Vekllei government has revenues and expenditures, and its industry trades overseas. For more information on Vekllei use of money, visit the finance article. Premise # Imagine a society a little more advanced than our own, in which basic needs were provided for and money had no use. What would people do with their time, and how would they live their lives?\nIf you put aside your hesitations about the \u0026ldquo;moneyless\u0026rdquo; aspect of Vekllei and actually think how you spend your time, you might realise we already do a lot of work for no money at all.\nWe aren\u0026rsquo;t paid for personal maintenance \u0026ndash; cooking and cleaning and repairing. We aren\u0026rsquo;t paid doing favours for friends and family, or donating blood or volunteering with the fire brigade. We aren\u0026rsquo;t paid for self-improvement, for study, or for exercise. All these things are work, but they\u0026rsquo;re not what we typically call \u0026ldquo;work.\u0026rdquo; The reasons we do these things anyway are self-evident; they don\u0026rsquo;t need to be justified by money or a wage. We do these things for entertainment, gratification, self-improvement or because it needs to be done. Vekllei people work for entertainment, gratification, self-improvement or because it needs to be done.\nObviously, this does not mean most people are going to go out and wait tables, manage an office or work construction for free. You don\u0026rsquo;t need to be told why because, chances are, you have a job and you know what it\u0026rsquo;s like. Some lucky people love what they do, but most others just need the money. Everything else is just ancillary.\nNaturally \u0026ndash; clever as you are about human nature \u0026ndash; you\u0026rsquo;ll recognise that a moneyless economy would be doomed to fail on these grounds. Absenteeism would be immediate and absolute; nothing would get done; society would collapse. But this only assumes that\nwork is the same people treat work the same people in Vekllei think of work as we do It is true that Vekllei and its world is a little more advanced than our own, and this is a natural conceit of the setting. But these advances alone would not invite a social economy as depicted on this site. What is just important is a change in psychology; a restructuring of work to ease its burden and maximise its benefits. Their jobs are more important and less demanding. The social aspect of employment is amplified or diminished as preferred. And above all, they are social indicators for a proud culture. It is something to do.\nExample\nWhile education can be boring, tedious or stressful, it can also be rewarding, engaging and social. We don\u0026rsquo;t get paid to go to school, because we have different motivations in attending.\nThe general attitude towards going to work in Vekllei might be ours going to school. The alarm goes off \u0026ndash; sometimes two or three times \u0026ndash; but education is ultimately worth it. Rather than a net negative that demands a wage, work in Vekllei is often a means to further different ambitions or even just occupy time with friends.\nThe premise is that Vekllei is a place in which work is motivated by social rather than material factors. Taking that axiom as true for a minute, we can explore ways in which it might work.\nWhat does a social economy look like? # On the surface, Vekllei looks similar to our own societies \u0026ndash; although rooted in a futuristic version of the 20th century. By this I mean people still go to work and school, and navigate lives of pleasure, love, boredom, tragedy and loneliness.\nLife is not that different, but it is improved in ordinary and meaningful ways. They have fewer things, but much richer social bonds formed by codependence and favour. Their basic quality of life is mostly assured,2 and so their aspirations are rooted not in acquiring wealth but in more sophisticated motives, like curiosity, power, loyalty, gratification, boredom, spite, fear and pleasure.\nIf you assume \u0026ldquo;quality of life\u0026rdquo; refers to the material wealth of individual people, then Vekllei people are quite poor. But the absence of things is not simply a net negative; it can actually contribute positive aspects to people\u0026rsquo;s lives:\nExample\nVery few Vekllei people have televisions, which are common in wealthy countries in this world. But in the place of the convenience of a television are social ways of consuming news and entertainment, through cinemas, radio and newspapers. Maybe the cliché of a generation raised by television has some truth to it.\nAnd this is just poverty by the metric of a 1970s consumer society \u0026ndash; forget about smartphones or the gig economy. They simply don\u0026rsquo;t exist in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s world, which overall is more analog, inconvenient, rewarding and slow-paced. The absence of smartphones isn\u0026rsquo;t just backwardness, it allows for more sophisticated and social cultures.\nYou do not have to be a luddite to be unconvinced that consumer society actually uplifts souls. Given the choice, people will choose convenience almost every time, but that doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean the most convenient option is the most rewarding, or beneficial. In Vekllei, an alternative is demonstrated.\nI have written previously about Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s economy having three principles:\nAusterity. Austerity lurks at the fringes of Vekllei life. For a lot of things, from furniture to houseplants, Vekllei people have to work hard to find and acquire them. This is called a trial of ownership,3 and it means they value things in a different way from people overseas, who can just purchase them provided they have the money. They have fewer things than most people, but most of what they own is of high quality. Apathy. Vekllei people have intangible rather than material ambitions, and seek abstract things like power, admiration and love. They do not live in a society where anyone can \u0026ldquo;strike it rich,\u0026rdquo; and so small businesses have very little opportunity for growth. Ambitious people generally end up in industry or government; everyone else just lives their lives as they see fit. Play. Vekllei people participate in work as a social ritual and act out roles in society, which is a kind of play. This play is productive and contributes to the economy, a fact that does not delegitimise its status as a social activity. Why do they work? # Because they have to, but also because there is only so much else to do.\nDoing nothing feels great at first, but people are built for activity and if we don\u0026rsquo;t fill our time, most of us get bored quickly. Vekllei people don\u0026rsquo;t desire work, but lives feel empty without it. Keep in mind, of course, that work applies to all kinds of occupations, and not just the drudgery of waged labour.\nExample\nThe lives of Vekllei people are not so different from other wealthy countries. They spend their childhoods in school figuring out what they\u0026rsquo;re going to do with their lives.\nIn modernity we have a framework for how we expect our lives to go \u0026ndash; aspirations, jobs, family, friends, health, retirement. This exists in Vekllei too. For most people around the world, money is only a part of a rich life that includes many other aspirations, and in Vekllei all of these are still in place.\nConsider how a lifetime without money affects expectations. There is no money-value of time and so it is not calculated (or even thought of) when considering employment. It is replaced by material pros and cons, which exist in moneyed markets already \u0026ndash; things like interest in the job, work environment, perks, commute, opportunity and prestige. To make a job desirable, these things have to offset the actual work, as they do anywhere \u0026ndash; minus the wage.\nFrom the perspective of a waged society, removing the wage collapses most reasons for working \u0026ndash; but Vekllei does not use money and consequently it is not even considered. This also means it cannot be incentivised in the same way, since basic standards of living are assured and laborious jobs are unattractive. The result is a system in which laborious, boring and tedious labour is basically nonexistent, and therefore cannot replicate the advantages of consumer societies \u0026ndash; a world without factory labour, maids, and textile workers.4 In this society, work becomes an occupation, in the same sense as hobbies and social activities, and satisfies the basic need for \u0026ldquo;something to do.\u0026rdquo;\nAs such, it would be misleading to characterise Vekllei people as \u0026ldquo;working for free.\u0026quot; They are not working for free, they work for a myriad of social and material rewards, and are often incentivised by their own stake in a business or project. This means jobs in Vekllei are characterised by certain features:\nEmployment Characteristics of Vekllei\nPersonal investment: most employment requires personal investment, or a \u0026ldquo;stake\u0026rdquo; in the company. In some places, this is partial ownership, and in others it might be departmental or divisional leadership. In the local economy, almost all businesses and factories are worked by their owners. Prestige: a social economy is not just abstract feelings of positivity; prestige is very important in Vekllei and there are material ways to demonstrate this. The use of architecture and infrastructure; the prevalence of uniforms and awards; the vertical design of industry; and above all pride as a cultural characteristic. Social reward: adjacent to prestige is social reward. Commutes are short and most employment (especially in the local market) is deeply woven throughout communities. Workplaces are highly social in Vekllei, encouraged by frequent tea breaks and a lax work culture, and colleagues are often friends and/or romantically involved. Material benefit: many Vekllei jobs have obvious material benefits. Most businesses come with housing attached, which may be desirable. Larger companies also take care of their employees through material conveniences, leveraging corporate perks to open up airline seats, tickets, private clubs and lounges, and specialty goods that can be traded or used. A requirement to find work: all Vekllei people have to have an occupation, a simple requirement known as consosva. This equally applies to everyone. If everyone has an occupation, then you might as well try and find one that suits you. Rather than \u0026ldquo;working for free,\u0026rdquo; in an altruistic sense of self-sacrifice, Vekllei people work for themselves, as they do overseas, for their own complicated reasons. The main distinction is that Vekllei people generally do not work to survive.\nWho loses out? # Vekllei has winners and losers, just like other countries. Social economies are still economies, and not everyone can be Prime Minister or an astronaut. Once you remove wealth as an indicator, and introduce a floor to the minimum standard of living, you become aware of how important social dimensions in our lives can be. No Vekllei people starve, but that doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean there aren\u0026rsquo;t losers. It also doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean people get what they want, or that they are holistically satisfied by their lives.\nLet\u0026rsquo;s look at a few \u0026ldquo;losers\u0026rdquo; of the Vekllei economy:\nLosers of the Vekllei Local Market\nConsumer society: Vekllei does not have a consumer society. They have products produced reliably in a planned system, which limits variety, and the local market only makes up some of the shortfall. In a less beautiful or well-designed society, the Vekllei basic standard of living would be almost unbearable. Luxuries: Vekllei luxuries are few and far-between. Vekllei of course does not have a middle class with disposable income, and so it can be very difficult to acquire things like organic meats, domestic appliances and foreign products. Urban Vekllei people do not generally own cars. In this sense, most wealthy countries have a far superior material standard of living by access to appliances and luxuries. Upwards Mobility: it is easy to acquire and use power in Vekllei, but traditional avenues of economic growth are neutered. There is very little way for small businesses to expand, because labour is so expensive and irregular in Vekllei. A social economy means most businesses can only operate on a social scale \u0026ndash; and consequently employ people they know. Economic freedom: Vekllei people can start their own businesses and acquire power and influence, but they do not live in a consumer society and so have very few options for using that power for material benefit. Everyone has equal access to the same goods in the same department store. They live comfortable but austere lives, and do not engage with products in the same way foreigners do. It should be clear that Vekllei is not a society for all types of people, and that ambitions of wealth are just incompatible with how things work there. The absence of a consumer society is not just a turn of phrase; it means essentially the absence of consumer products as a sociological phenomenon. They do not \u0026ldquo;consume\u0026rdquo; products as foreigners do, even though they use them. Objects are not reified; items are understood only in physical and social values. This produces a society with striking benefits but also strict limitations.\nIn wealthy countries, very few people starve to death. Do they seem that much happier for it? In place of the fear of starvation or war are a fresh deck of social diseases, spiritual poverty and collective insecurities. The same is true in Vekllei, where these issues are especially pronounced since they do not need to fight to survive.\nHow does it work? # The Vekllei economy is extremely complicated, especially in urban areas, as a means of balancing and compensating the disadvantages of alienating urban life. This chapter will summarise the economy, but for further reading please explore the articles on this site.\nVekllei resembles a society with universal basic income (UBI), in which a basic standard of living is assured. Of course, unlike a system with UBI, they do not use money and so are motivated to work by other factors.\nIn place of a moneyed market, in which a consumer society is at the discretion of individuals, the essential products of Vekllei society are produced in the style of a planned economy, which is heavily computerised, centralised and manufactures essentials en masse. It has two basic parts:\nVenrouive, the industrial economy. It produces houses, clothes, food staples, machinery, robotics, resources, and basic appliances to furnish a complete life. Senrouive, the local economy. This is the free market of individual producers, craftsmen, artisans and artists, hobbyists and small co-operative enterprise, as well as small and medium-sized businesses. Compared to the moneyed market, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s economy appears wildly inefficient, which it is. While some products are overproduced and widely available, it can also be a pain to reliably access certain goods, especially foreign ones.\nThe advantage of the Vekllei economy is its public straightforwardness, which you can see in many aspects of society. Huge accounting overhead is reduced without cash transactions, and the accessibility of common spaces is greatly improved. There are small things, like the fact that there are no tickets in Vekllei for trains and trams, but also larger things too, like impulsive and spontaneous access to cinemas and cafés. There is no money-handling in the domestic economy and so these things are seamless and intuitive, benefits which should not be understated.\nVekllei government is relentlessly meritocratic and competent; the economy is wildly inefficient but its governance is highly pragmatic, focussed, and patriotic.5 It is a country of beautiful cities and endless drive to improve them. The basic standard of living is so high not because of products \u0026ndash; Vekllei people are very poor in that aspect \u0026ndash; but because of the places they live in. Buildings, products, machines and public spaces are well-designed, which is the supreme characteristic of Vekllei and is the primary contributor to their quality of life. All these things are accessible without caveats, and money does not complicate the immediate physicality and beauty of their surroundings.\nA Pyramid of Bad Jobs # There are a series of cascading solutions to the necessary but tedious, uncomfortable or boring work that antagonises the kind of casual self-interest Vekllei is built upon. Despite the fact that most don\u0026rsquo;t make wages, Vekllei people do not \u0026ldquo;work for free,\u0026rdquo; so to speak. If a job sucks:\nIt is improved, through restructuring the work. People in Vekllei are generally given more responsibility and a stake in their work. This might be legal ownership, or the social motivators for work, like power, ambition, legacy or sociality are strengthened. It is rewarded, by \u0026ldquo;renting\u0026rdquo; desirable homes close to workplaces and offering \u0026ldquo;perks of the job,\u0026rdquo; like event tickets, improved access to travel and lounges, increased holiday time, or even tangible trade goods that can be bartered or exchanged. It is shared, by making everyone pitch in and reducing its overall burden. Community is important in Vekllei, and people work together to share jobs. Outside of simple robots, there are basically no professional cleaning staff in Vekllei, and even ministers in government wash their own dishes after a meeting. Maintenance and cleaning is part of their culture. It is automated, by the design of systems and the use of computers and robots. Rather than multiply productivity, automation in Vekllei subsidises work, and so is used in places that would be unjustifiable overseas, like cleaning and low-skill factory work. Robots in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s world are very capable, but they can\u0026rsquo;t do every job. It is conscripted, through compulsory service. Some work is just too essential to the wellbeing of society to be left to the fickle market. Healthcare, defence and construction are the most commonly conscripted jobs in Vekllei. It is done without, and the job simply does not exist. Many parts of Vekllei society are poorer or less convenient than their overseas neighbours, since outside of compulsory service the government has no way to compel people to work bad jobs. This prevents Vekllei from becoming a consumer society. Immigration \u0026amp; Emigration # Why would the best and brightest of Vekllei tolerate a society with limited material compensation for their efforts? The answer is that truly gifted people are motivated by their work. Of course, this isn\u0026rsquo;t universally true, and there are people for whom wealth is the primary motivator of their lives, but they are fewer in number and easily accommodated overseas.\nThe spiteful answer is that those people aren\u0026rsquo;t needed or wanted, because anyone taking their discipline seriously is, for the most part, better off in Vekllei, where research is unbound by grant applications and industry leaders are afforded positions of great power. Many Vekllei people do emigrate and build careers overseas, but return later in life.\nVekllei homes are good, the climate is pleasant, their cities are beautiful, and the food has variety. For most people living there, this is enough.\nMillions of Oslolans and others fled abroad after the Atomic War, and there is a large Vekllei disapora overseas. Since the end of British Occupation, however, Vekllei has received millions of immigrants, and the population has doubled since independence. Many of these migrants were motivated by ideological or material reasons, and many have a vested political interest in advancing their new home.\nVekllei after all is not just a state determined by culture and geography; it is in fact a sui generis union of communities, without precedent or comparison. This is politically exciting to many disaffected peoples worldwide in an age of decline and, assisted by generous century society laws, has inspired many to relocate there in the past 50 years.\nClosing Summary # This project is a work in progress, and so advancements are being made all the time in the specifics of how this society functions. I\u0026rsquo;m not just looking to appeal to broad sentiments; I want to address economic arguments, not merely in scientific terms but as they apply to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s cultural and historical context.\nOn the other hand, it is also important not to use these cultural contexts as a crutch, and to insist that some unique altruism or generosity powers their society; it doesn\u0026rsquo;t. Worldbuilding projects are geeky and sometimes fantastical, but you can take those things seriously to demonstrate or advocate for deeper truths.\nAdvocating for moneylessness in Vekllei does not mean I think moneylessness is feasible in the real world. Simultaneously, thinking it is unfeasible in our own world doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean I don\u0026rsquo;t think it\u0026rsquo;s realistic in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s context, or that I think of Vekllei as a fantasy society with no real insights. It is fictitious, yes, but it also advocates for real things, and while their society wholesale doesn\u0026rsquo;t apply to the real world, it does speak to real truths.\nWe might not be on the cusp of a moneyless society, but Vekllei also depicts a society in which commodification of life and leisure is nonexistent, and assured standards of living allow parts of society to prosper and contribute to the advancement of their world. They are not saturated with consumerism, and are not fanatically technocratic or historicist. They are proud, multicultural, and good-natured.\nMoneylessness is at the centre of it all, and emphasises these things in money\u0026rsquo;s absence. That is the functionality of a social dream; to make us consider our present through depictions of beautiful things.\nA lot of fictional worlds attempts to balance \u0026ldquo;good\u0026rdquo; parts of a society with negative aspects, in a forced attempt to return to the centre and therefore force realism. This is not how the real world works, and so \u0026ldquo;good\u0026rdquo; aspects shouldn\u0026rsquo;t require \u0026ldquo;negative\u0026rdquo; credits to purchase. Vekllei society has imperfections and inequalities like all societies; that is different from forcing \u0026ldquo;downsides\u0026rdquo;.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe Vekllei quality-of-life looks like this: they own their homes, eat good but often synthetic food, have access to quality clothing, and live in exceptional cities administered by a strong culture of competence and responsibility. They are basically optimistic about the future and are grateful for the material improvements in their lives.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThese \u0026rsquo;trials\u0026rsquo; indicate how effort in acquiring desired products or items increased reward and satisfaction. This is not a new idea; easy convenience strips out a lot of the satisfaction we get from planning, saving and finally acquiring.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nActually, all of these jobs exist in Vekllei in one form or another, but in general do not resemble their overseas counterparts. Factory labour in Vekllei is actually commonplace, but not in assembly-line work and heavily assisted by machines. In this sense, factory labour resembles engineering.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThis concept is glossed over in this essay, but you should take it as fact for the purposes of this argument. Exactly why and how the Vekllei government works so well is the subject of existing and future articles, including The Post-War Consensus bulletin.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/social-economy/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 768,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antilles/abakoa/",
  "title": "Abakoa","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/abakoa-4x3.svg","icon": "❌","rgb": "234, 27, 36",
  "section": "Antilles Commonwealth",
  "description": "Abakoa (\u003ci\u003eSan Andres\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the western Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Abakoa Republic Island of San Andrés Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Antilles Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 26 km² Capital Sara Languages English, Abakoan Creole Population 86,410 The Republic of Abakoa is a constituent republic in the southwest Caribbean Sea 190km east of the Federal Republic of the Americas and south of the republic of Providence. It is a seahorse-shaped island taller than it is wide, measuring about 13km long. It is closely surrounded by a number of reefs and islets, most of which are uninhabited.\nThe island is home to the Raizal people, who have mixed indigenous, African, Spanish and English ancestry and speak an English creole. The island was only intermittently inhabited by indigenous people from Central America until Dutch discovery, and was permanently settled by the British in the 17th Century. These early settlements were easy targets for pirates, who raided the town of Sara repeatedly. Spain attempted to take the Abakoa in 1670 and succeeded in 1702, subsequently ruling it for the next 50 years. Much of Abakoan colonial architecture comes from this period, during which the island was rapidly fortified for its strategic position offshore of the Spanish colonies in Central and South America. The British retook them in the mid-18th Century and they remained British thereafter, until union with the Dominion of the West Indies and eventual Commonwealth accession.\nThe republic today retains its delightful frontier character, fusing indigenous influences from Central America with colonial Spanish and English towns and customs. The island is characterised by its white-sand beaches, lush palm groves, and vibrant coral reefs, which are part of the Seaflower Marine Reserve. The highest point on the island is Cerro La Loma, standing at 85 meters above sea level. Abakoa\u0026rsquo;s coral reefs are among the richest in the Caribbean, home to hundreds of species of fish, sea turtles, and marine mammals.\nAbakoans are friendly, communitarian and spiritual. Visiting any time of year will treat tourists to reggae, calypso and modern folk mixing freely in bars and cafes. Traditional dishes like rondón (a coconut-based seafood stew) and plantain-based treats are staples of Abakoan cuisine. The community is sharply divided into Anglicans and Catholics, typically reflecting their historic ancestry. The Catholics regularly hold colourful religious festivals involving dramatic recreations of biblical scenery. Despite the separation of churches, the differences are mostly unsubstantial and Abakoans mix between communities freely.\nThe capital of Sara is pleasant and colourful, and comprises a mix of Caribbean cottages uplifted by typical Vekllei features like canals and food gardens. Many trees have been planted in the streets of the capital and are in the process of growing and casting shade on sunny days. Murals and street art are found everywhere, as are trams linking the urban north to the villages in the south.\nThe economy is mostly municipal, and produces few goods for export. The republic produces an abundance of oranges, coconuts and copra. An annual pilgrimage around the coast of the republic, known as the Coast Walk or Coast Pilgrimage, attracts some visitors and inns have been set up to accomodate them. Most Abakoans are self employed or work for the public service. The LSRE Division of Marine Wildlife is headquarted in Sara.\nClimate\nTropical, with warm temperatures year-round and a distinct wet season from May to November\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Good Friday 30 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday King\u0026rsquo;s Birthday 2 Oct Republic Day 18 Oct All Saints Day 1 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Sara: Historic and peaceful capital of Abakoa, famous for its Spanish colonial city hall and orange groves. Hoyo Soplador (Blowhole): Natural blowhole where seawater shoots into the air. Morgan’s Cave: Historical site linked to the pirate Henry Morgan, believed to have hidden treasure on the island. West Caribbean Gardens Company: Local nursery specialising in designing food garden layouts suitable for the West Caribbean climate. Abakoa Reef Institute: Independent research outfit studying and promoting conservation of Abakoan reefs. LSRE Division of Marine Wildlife: Research division and laboratory headquartered in Sara to leverage its proximity to the extraordinary biodiversity of the republic\u0026rsquo;s reefs. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/abakoa/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 769,
  "href": "/millmint/about/",
  "title": "About the Author","icon": "🪺",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/intro.png",
        "webp": "/images/intro_hu55b9c5ef9e5da7b2c7b3afc36921828d_693953_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box_3.webp"
      },"color": "brown",
  "section": "MillMint",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " For common questions about me or my work, please visit the FAQ. Hello, I\u0026rsquo;m Hobart. I\u0026rsquo;m an Australian illustrator and writer living and working in Tasmania. I like machines, midcentury design and visiting new places. I studied as a journalist, but now work in illustration.\nVekllei has existed in some form since I was a kid, but I started working on it properly in 2017.\nYou can follow my progress on this project on 🔗X.com (Twitter), or join 🔗my Discord.\nYou can write to me at 📧 hobart@millmint.net.\nVisited: 🇦🇺🇯🇵🇿🇦🇭🇰🇮🇸🇨🇦🇲🇪🇷🇺🇫🇮🇸🇪🇮🇹🇫🇷🇩🇪🇬🇧🇭🇷🇹🇭🇺🇸🇸🇬🇲🇾🇲🇨🇬🇷\nSincere thanks to 🔗Jip and Ben R. R. for their contributions to this site. They volunteered their time again and again to help create new features that make Vekllei easier and more fun to read. Thank you! ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/about/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 770,
  "href": "/millmint/website/",
  "title": "About this Site","icon": "🌐",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/greek.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/greek_huf0dc6e27561d9e30c05e35ffe7f83314_1731669_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "brown",
  "section": "MillMint",
  "description": "A behind-the-scenes look at millmint.net and how this site works.",
  "content": "I\u0026rsquo;ve had quite a few questions about this site, how it was built, and how you can build one too. This page is all about millmint.net.\nSpec Sheet:\nBuilt with HUGO static site generator Inspired by (and previously used) the 🔗Monochrome theme Built with assistance from Ben R.R. and 🔗Jip for all the cool javascript bits I can\u0026rsquo;t do Hosted with 🔗Cloudflare Pages This website is the product of a lot of work from myself and helpful friends of the project, and hosts a complete archive of Vekllei artwork, articles about their society, and miscellaneous essays and games. It has a lot of unique features and designs developed by myself and friends.\nThis site uses the HUGO static site generator, which turns markdown files (basically text files) into HTML, and lets you add website features like navigation menus and search through snippets of code called layouts.\nThis website was originally based on the excellent 🔗Monochrome theme by 🔗Kaiiiz, and retains its basic layout and feel, though the codebase is now unique.\nThe style and feel of the site was created by me iteratively over several years, and some of its ideas (like the story pages that change colour depending on their featured image, the dolls game and countless other little javascript features) were implemented with assistance from longtime friend of the project 🔗Jip. Ben R. R. contributed the code for the website\u0026rsquo;s parallax animations on the homepage and intro.\nThe animated icons on some pages (like this one, found in the header) are the 🔗Whirlybats animated font by 🔗Alex Tomlinson.\nYou can find the source code to the website 🔗here. You are welcome to browse and take inspiration from it, though please note that code contributed by others (usually marked) may have rights reserved.\nImages are processed automatically by HUGO into webp thumbnails and used in context appropriately.\nYou can always contact me through my socials if you have questions about specific features on this site.\nOther than the domain name (registered with Cloudflare) this website doesn\u0026rsquo;t cost me a cent to run. Hurrah for free services!\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/website/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 771,
  "href": "/factbook/culture/accent/",
  "title": "Accent","icon": "🗣️","color": "red",
  "section": "Culture",
  "description": "Sagas are historic documents that record narratives in northern Vekllei cultures, including Oslola, Kala and Aismious.",
  "content": " Vekllei comprises dozens of languages and so does not have a single, distinct English accent \u0026ndash; but then again, few places do. Even among the islands that speak English at home, their histories and demography are remarkably diverse and sometimes have little common ancestry. Nonetheless, regarding the question of English as the working language of the Commonwealth, republics do share common phonology with roots in their colonial history and their early systems of education.\nDuring the colonial period under British control, patterns of migration established common accents across parts of Vekllei. It has strong similarities with received pronunciation (RP) and the transatlantic accent, infused by the language of their servants and slaves. This class distinction persists to this day as regional variations, with Volcanic republics generally having stronger RP influences and Caribbean republics sounding like the Irish, Indian and South London peoples who were sent there. Most people today sound like a mix of them.\nIn most of Vekllei, the predominant influence is Irish and an array of West African languages, and so to most foreigners Caribbean Vekllei people sound Irish or Jamaican. In parts of Vekllei like Allia and Hetland, Irish is still spoken. In general, very few Vekllei people speak with a rhotic accent outside of the American expatriate community in Conch.\nThis basic, quasi-Irish and quasi-RP lilt is then further hybridised by the country\u0026rsquo;s secondary languages, many of which are spoken at home. In Oslola this is the native Oslolan of its Algic and Scandi peoples. In Verde it is Portuguese and Forro. Many other \u0026lsquo;home languages\u0026rsquo; exist and they bring with them local ways of speaking into the general Veletian accent.\nBecause of this, foreigners sometimes describe Vekllei English as a cross between Irish and cultivated South African or Australian pronunciation, punctuated with unrecognisable odds and ends that may be regional variations, African inflections or some other secondary language influence. It is quite a pretty accent and helps set them apart from both the European and American continents, as a distinct oceangoing people.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/accent/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 772,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/accounted-revenue/",
  "title": "Accounted Revenue","icon": "💸","rgb": "170, 143, 31",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Vekllei businesses do not use money in their domestic economies, but they still calculate revenues and expenditure. This practice is known as accounted revenue.",
  "content": " Summary\nVekllei businesses that operate in domestic markets do not generally use money. This includes government corporations and departments. Despite this, Vekllei maintains a kind of commercial accounting that produces accurate, if fictional, revenues, expenditures and profit/loss metrics. This is known as \u0026ldquo;accounted revenue,\u0026rdquo; and is a shorthand for normal money-use on this site, but refers only to calculated theoretical values. Although Vekllei does not use money in domestic markets, it has a very sophisticated system of interlinked databases to monitor and record the economy. Physical product has a tangible presence and consequently a tangible cost, even if it not assigned a money-value. As such, Vekllei simply calculates the money-value of everything in its society, from homes to wages to toothbrushes, and uses those figures as a means to determine the health of its economy.\nHow they arrive at these figures is complicated and detached from real-world money-value. The \u0026ldquo;accounted value\u0026rdquo; figure, as it is called, is a combination of labour-hours at a wage calculation, exchange rates, comparative pricing in major international currencies, and scarcity. To this end, the Commonwealth uses commercial accounting practices to target waste and maintain the commons moneyless system.\n\u0026ldquo;Accounted value,\u0026rdquo; or more specifically, \u0026ldquo;accounted revenue\u0026rdquo; is also used as a means of budgeting, especially for government departments. So even though Vekllei at face value appears to suppress ordinary money-value and by extension financialised markets, it is in fact deeply financialised and is closely monitored and controlled by the Ministries of Commerce.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/accounted-revenue"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 773,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/private-industry/adelectrics/",
  "title": "Adelectrics","logo": "/svg/logos/adelectrics.svg","icon": "📻","rgb": "182, 34, 71",
  "section": "Private Industry",
  "description": "Adelectrics is an electronics design firm in Vekllei, specialising in personal electronics. It is most famous for the Pocketvox pocket radio.",
  "content": " Adelectrics Private Corporation of Vekllei Employees 16 Founded 2044 Headquarters Santes Industry Electronics Revenue AK ✾ 24 million ScL Adelectrics S.c.L. is a consumer electronics designer in Vekllei. It is a small operation based out of the republic of Santes, and employs just 16 people, mostly family and friends of founder James Bell.\nAdelectrics only designs and manufactures prototypes, and primarily licenses its products to larger companies for mass production. They are best known for the Adelectrics POCKETVOX, a pocket radio popular in Vekllei, and a type of commcard used in large manufacturing plants.\nBell has a background in electric engineering and product development at National Machines, and founded Adelectrics in 2044 after twenty years at the company. Its first product, the Adelectrics Lightfast (an electric lighter) only found limited success. The POCKETVOX is the second-most popular consumer radio in Vekllei and made Bell \u0026lsquo;National Engineer of the Year\u0026rsquo; in 2047.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/adelectrics/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 774,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/armed-forces/aero/",
  "title": "Aero Services","logo": "/svg/crests/aero.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "aero",
  "section": "Armed Forces",
  "description": "The Aero Services comprise 4 specialised services in the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": "The Aero Services comprise a number of military services that are part of the Armed Forces of Vekllei. They broadly consist of the aeronautical and astronautical military capabilities of the country, and include air supremacy, interception and defence elements, as well as services to supply and equip them. They also consist of the missile and air detection elements of the armed forces.\nAir Service # The Air Service conducts aerial warfare in Vekllei. It consists of three commands that specialise in different aspects of air support and supremacy. The Air Service is also a major contributor to other services, since marine and territorial doctrines depend heavily on the air service for their combat capability, combat support, transport, logistics and reconnaissance.\nVekllei has a rapid air-mobile posture across its armed forces, which is facilitated by the relative size and availability of its air service. It is also the only service in which women are a majority of participants in combat, since female pilots contribute just over 52% of its servicemen.\nStructure\nThere are three commands in the Air Service, which in the secular Vekllei tradition have specific and exclusive functions. The Air Combat Command comprises all primary offensive squadrons including fighters, helicopters and scouts. The Air Auxiliary Command comprises miscellaneous aviation including search and rescue, training and replenishment. The Air Transport Command provides transport for both logistics and combat organisations.\nAir Combat Command The Air Combat Command (ACC) provides aircraft and crew for combat air services, including both land and seaborne aviation. The vast majority of these are variants of the No. 8 Casemate fighter jet.\nNo. 1 Aerocombat Wing The No. 1 AC Wing comprises the primary interceptor and air superiority squadrons of the Air Service. No. 1-8 Fighter Squadrons No. 2 Aerocombat Wing No. 9-16 Fighter Squadrons No. 3 Aeroweapons Wing The Aeroweapons Wing consists of the attack helicopter and helijets squadrons of the Air Service, which are organised with Aeroscouts and Aerorifles to produce air-mobile platoons. No. 17-20 Aeroweapons Squadrons No. 4 Aeroscouts Wing The Aeroscouts Wing provides reconnaissance services to the Territorial Service and the interarmes air-mobile platoons. No. 21-24 Aeroscouts Squadrons No. 5 Aeromarine Wing Commonwealth Fleet The No. 5 Aeromarine Wing provides equipment and crew for the Commonwealth Fleet, and comprises the largest naval aviation force in the Air Service. No. 25-31 Marine Squadrons No. 6 Aeromarine Wing Commonwealth Fleet No. 32-33 Marine Squadrons No. 7 Aeromarine Wing Arctic Fleet No. 34-35 Marine Squadrons No. 8 Aeromarine Wing Antarctic Fleet No. 36-37 Marine Squadrons No. 9 Aeromarine Helicopters Wing The No. 9 MHW comprises the bulk of maritime rotary-wing and helijet aircraft, and are located across fleets and naval bases as required. Aeromarine squadrons may be subdivided into Aeromarine sections depending on the needs of the Maritime Service. No. 38-41 Marine Squadrons No. 10 Aerordnance Wing The No. 10 Bombing Wing comprises the strategic bombing aircraft in Vekllei. No. 42-45 Bombing Squadrons Air Auxiliary Command The Air Auxiliary Command (AAC) includes aircraft types not directly associated with other command roles, and encompasses different kinds of aircraft in a support (auxiliary) role.\nNo. 1 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 1 AA Wing provides maritime patrol services to the Air Service as well as the Maritime and Littoral Services. No. 1 Squadron is assigned to the Commonwealth Fleet. No. 1 Maritime Patrol Squadron Commonwealth Fleet No. 2 Search \u0026amp; Rescue Squadron No. 3 Air Firefighting Squadron No. 2 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 4-6 Maritime Patrol Squadrons No. 3 Air Training Wing The Air Training Wing has two squadrons in the Virgin and Oslolan republics, and trains pilots for the Air Service. No. 1-2 Air Training Squadrons No. 4 Air Replenishment Wing No. 1-2 Air Replenishment Squadrons Air Transport Command The Air Transport Command (ATC) supports other services, particularly the Territorial Service, and provides air mobility to Rifles regiments as part of its flexible and rapid-manoeuvre doctrine. When mounted in helicopters and helijets, Rifles regiments are known as Aerorifles, and combine with the crew and equipment of an Aerorifles squadron to form a complete air-mobile platoon.\nNo. 1 Aerotransport Wing The No. 1 Transport Wing services the transport aircraft fleet. No. 1 \u0026amp; 2 Squadrons are land-based and 3 \u0026amp; 4 specialise in maritime transport, and include flying boats. No. 1 Aerotransport Squadron (Government) No. 2-3 Aerotransport Squadron (Strategic Airlift) No. 4 Aerotransport Squadron (Tactical Airlift) No. 2 Aerorifles Wing The Aerorifles are the aircraft and crew component of an interarmes air-mobile platoon, and transport individual infantry regiments. No. 5-8 Aerorifles Squadrons No. 3 Aerorifles Wing No. 9-12 Aerorifles Squadrons No. 4 Aerorifles Wing No. 13-16 Aerorifles Squadrons Equipment\nVekllei aircraft are primarily designed and manufactured domestically, and use mostly nuclear propulsion. Efforts to streamline and simplify inventory in recent years have reduced the overall types of aircraft in service.\nAir Service Aircraft Combat Aircraft\n210 No. 8 Casemate Atomic Fighters 33 No. 7 Demon Atomic Fighters Bombers\n22 Strategic Bombers 16 Medium Bombers Maritime and Patrol Aircraft\n16 Long Range Search \u0026amp; Rescue Turboprop Aircraft 4 Search \u0026amp; Rescue Flying Boats 2 Heavy-lift Search \u0026amp; Rescue Aircraft 50 Seagoing Utility Helicopters 4 Ground Effect Combat Aircraft Tanker Aircraft\n1 Nuclear Replenishment Aircraft 2 Airborne Fuel Replenishment Aircraft Transport Aircraft\n27 Heavy Transport Aircraft 22 Medium Transport Aircraft 18 VIP Transport 24 Strategic Airlifter 12 Tactical Airlifter 4 Ground Effect Heavy Airlifters Helicopters\n42 Attack Helicopters 52 Scout Helicopters 40 Heavy-lift/Utility 20 Anti-Submarine Warfare/Search and Rescue 10 Transport/Utility 60 Transport/Utility 50 Medium-lift/Utility Trainer Aircraft\n20 Primary Trainer Aircraft 15 Training Helicopters Air Artillery Service # The Air Artillery Service provides air defence in Vekllei. It operates a variety of emplacements and point defences as part of Vekllei concentric air defence doctrine, but its primary force consists of mobile anti-air and flak systems.\nAir Artillery Command Structure The Air Artillery Command (ATC) consists of\nNo. 1-6 Air Artillery Regiments The No. 1 Air Artillery Regiment Air Artillery Service Equipment Missile Systems\n25 No. 8 Javelin (Truck) 25 Truck 15 Trailer 1200 missile platform 12 Tracked Carriers Man-Portable \u0026amp; AA Guns\n120 guns 1000 missiles 1500 missiles Radar Service # Radar Service Equipment Radar Systems\n5 Aerostat Radar Surveillance Balloons 40 Portable Search Target Acquisition Radar 12 Ground Active Electronically Scanned Array 4 Medium Array 40 Counter-battery Radar 20 Giraffe Array Radar Jamming Aircraft\n8 Radar Jamming Aircraft Missiles Service # The Missiles Service is the tactical and strategic missile defence organisation of the military. They operate mostly from ground sites across the country, located mostly on isolated islands or in the Arctic. They also operate some rail-mounted launch systems that are stationed deep inside tunnels.\nMissiles Service Equipment Ballistic Missiles\nEstimated 16 No. 3 ICBMs Estimated 40 No. 6 IRBMs Estimated 26 No. 6 SRBMs Estimated 100 No. 2 SLAM Cruise Missiles Trucks \u0026amp; Cars\n80 Multi-Purpose Utility Vehicle 12 Military Truck ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/aero/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 775,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/air-service/",
  "title": "Air Service","logo": "/svg/crests/air-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "aero",
  "section": "Ministry of Defence",
  "description": "The Aero Services comprise 4 specialised services in the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": "The Air Service conducts aerial warfare in Vekllei as part of the Ministry of Defence. It consists of three commands that specialise in different aspects of air support and supremacy. The Air Service is also a major contributor to other services, since marine and territorial doctrines depend heavily on the air service for their combat capability, combat support, transport, logistics and reconnaissance.\nVekllei has a rapid air-mobile posture across its armed forces, which is facilitated by the relative size and availability of its air service. It is also the only service in which women are a majority of participants in combat, since female pilots contribute just over 52% of its servicemen.\nStructure\nThere are three commands in the Air Service, which in the secular Vekllei tradition have specific and exclusive functions. The Air Combat Command comprises all primary offensive squadrons including fighters, helicopters and scouts. The Air Auxiliary Command comprises miscellaneous aviation including search and rescue, training and replenishment. The Air Transport Command provides transport for both logistics and combat organisations.\nAir Combat Command\nThe Air Combat Command (ACC) provides aircraft and crew for combat air services, including both land and seaborne aviation. The vast majority of these are variants of the No. 8 Casemate fighter jet.\nNo. 1 Aerocombat Wing The No. 1 Ac. Wing comprises the primary interceptor and air superiority squadrons of the Air Service.\nFighter Sqdn. Navy\nAS Verde Costa Verde Fighter Sqdn. Gold\nAS Verde Costa Verde Fighter Sqdn. Red\nAS Africa Praia Fighter Sqdn. Blue\nAS Oslola Oslola Fighter Sqdn. Green\nAS Scatsta Hetland Fighter Sqdn. Black\nAS Scatsta Hetland Fighter Sqdn. White\nAS Falklands Falklands Fighter Sqdn. Rose\nAS Africa Praia No. 2 Aerocombat Wing\nFighter Sqdn. Horus\nAS Kairi Kairi Fighter Sqdn. Delphi\nAS Ascension Ascension Fighter Sqdn. Caribbea\nAS Kala Kala Fighter Sqdn. Aurora\nAS Virgin Virgin Fighter Sqdn. Seraphim\nAS Virgin Virgin Fighter Sqdn. Rhodes\nAS Kala Kala Fighter Sqdn. Maria\nAS Caimanas Caimanas Fighter Sqdn. Atlantic\nAS Caimanas Caimanas No. 3 Aeroweapons Wing\nThe Aeroweapons Wing consists of attack helicopter and helijet squadrons, which are organised with Aeroscouts and Aerorifles to produce air-mobile platoons. They have no fixed-wing aircraft.\nAeroweapons Sqdn. Caracal\nAS Oslola Oslola Aeroweapons Sqdn. Bastion\nAS Oslola Oslola Aeroweapons Sqdn. Iskander\nAS Kairi Kairi Aeroweapons Sqdn. Phalanx\nAS Verde Costa Verde No. 4 Aeroscouts Wing The Aeroscouts Wing provides reconnaissance services to the Territorial Service and the interarmes air-mobile platoons.\nAeroscouts Sqdn. Argon\nAS Oslola Oslola Aeroscouts Sqdn. Sinai\nAS Kairi Kairi Aeroscouts Sqdn. Lighthouse\nAS Caimanas Caimanas Aeroscouts Sqdn. Oracle\nAS Oslola Oslola No. 5 Aeromarine Wing Commonwealth Fleet The No. 5 Aeromarine Wing provides equipment and crew for the Commonwealth Fleet, and comprises the largest naval aviation force in the Air Service.\nAeromarine Sqdn. Valour\nAS Kairi Kairi Aeromarine Sqdn. Patmos\nAS Kairi Kairi Aeromarine Sqdn. Caravel\nNS Kairi Kairi Aeromarine Sqdn. Tarsis\nNS Kairi Kairi Aeromarine Sqdn. Anchora\nNS Kairi Kairi Aeromarine Sqdn. Abyss\nNS Kairi Kairi Aeromarine Sqdn. Mistral\nAS Kairi Kairi Aeromarine Sqdn. Orion\nAS Kairi Kairi No. 6 Aeromarine Wing Commonwealth Fleet The No. 6 Aeromarine Wing comprises auxiliary and naval bomber aircraft in the Commonwealth Fleet, including seaplanes and marine helijets.\nAeromarine Sqdn. Thule\nNS Oslola Oslola Aeromarine Sqdn. Godthul\nAS Oslola Oslola No. 7 Aeromarine Wing Arctic Fleet\nAeromarine Sqdn. Icaria\nNS Helvasia Helvasia Aeromarine Sqdn. Seraph\nAS Scatsta Hetland No. 8 Aeromarine Wing Antarctic Fleet\nAeromarine Sqdn. Nekros\nNS Sude Sude Aeromarine Sqdn. Hesperus\nAS Falklands Falklands No. 9 Aeromarine Helicopters Wing The No. 9 AMHW comprises the bulk of maritime rotary-wing and helijet aircraft, and are located across fleets and naval bases as required. Aeromarine squadrons may be subdivided into Aeromarine sections depending on the needs of the Maritime Service.\nAm. Heli Sqdn. Cenobite\nNS Antigua Antigua Am. Heli Sqdn. Pelagia\nAS Oslola Oslola Am. Heli Sqdn. Delta\nAS Kairi Kairi No. 10 Aerordnance Wing The No. 10 Aerordnance Wing comprises the strategic bombing aircraft in Vekllei.\nAerordnance Sqdn. Exarch\nAS Scatsta Hetland Aerordnance Sqdn. Memphis\nAS Scatsta Hetland Aerordnance Sqdn. Acheron\nAS Africa Praia Aerordnance Sqdn. Typhon\nAS Kala Kala Air Auxiliary Command\nThe Air Auxiliary Command (AAC) includes aircraft types not directly associated with other command roles, and encompasses different kinds of aircraft in a support (auxiliary) role.\nNo. 1 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 1 Aerox. Wing provides maritime patrol services to the Air Service as well as the Maritime and Littoral Services. No. 1 Squadron is assigned to the Commonwealth Fleet. Maritime Patrol Sqdn. Trident\nAS Scatsta Hetland Search \u0026amp; Rescue Sqdn. Clement\nAS Verde Costa Verde Air Firefighting Sqdn. Pixie\nAS Oslola Oslola No. 2 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 2 Aerox. Wing provides maritime patrol squadrons for the Kalinan, Lucayan and Verdean regions. Maritime Patrol Sqdn. Corsair\nAS Virgin Virgin Maritime Patrol Sqdn. Pelican\nAS Kairi Kairi Maritime Aviation Sqdn. Sentinel\nAS Caimanas Caimanas No. 3 Air Training Wing The Air Training Wing has two squadrons in the Virgin and Oslolan republics, and trains pilots for the Air Service. Air Training Sqdn. Rackham\nAS Oslola Oslola Air Training Sqdn. Leviathan\nAS Virgin Virgin No. 4 Air Replenishment Wing The Air Replenishment Wing provides refueling for conventional and nuclear aircraft in the Air Service, and also transports spare parts. Air Replenishment Sqdn. Basilisk\nAS Oslola Oslola Air Replenishment Sqdn. Argonaut\nAS Ascension Ascension Air Transport Command\nThe Air Transport Command (ATC) supports other services, particularly the Territorial Service, and provides air mobility to Rifles regiments as part of its flexible and rapid-manoeuvre doctrine. When mounted in helicopters and helijets, Rifles regiments are known as Aerorifles, and combine with the crew and equipment of an Aerorifles squadron to form a complete air-mobile platoon.\nNo. 1 Aerotransport Wing The No. 1 Transport Wing services the transport aircraft fleet. No. 1 \u0026amp; 2 Squadrons are land-based and 3 \u0026amp; 4 specialise in maritime transport, and include flying boats. Aerotransport Sqdn. (Government) Commonwealth\nAS Verde Costa Verde Aerotransport Sqdn. (Strat. Airlift) Basilisk\nAS Oslola Oslola Aerotransport Sqdn. (Strat. Airlift) Halcyon AS Kairi Kairi Aerotransport Sqdn. (Tactical Airlift) Nereid\nAS Virgin Virgin No. 2 Aerorifles Wing The Aerorifles are the aircraft and crew component of an interarmes air-mobile platoon, and transport individual infantry regiments. While travelling as part of an air component, riflemen are known as aerorifles. Aerorifles Sqdn.\nFortress Meteor Flores Aerorifles Sqdn.\nFortress Lola Oslola Aerorifles Sqdn.\nFortress Lola Oslola Aerorifles Sqdn.\nFortress Praia Praia No. 3 Aerorifles Wing Aerorifles Sqdn.\nAS Falklands Falklands Aerorifles Sqdn.\nFortress Demon Demon Aerorifles Sqdn.\nFortress Annobon Annobon Aerorifles Sqdn.\nFortress Helena Helena No. 4 Aerorifles Wing Aerorifles Sqdn.\nFortress Aruba Aruba Aerorifles Sqdn.\nNS Antigua Antigua Aerorifles Sqdn.\nFortress Occident Caicos Aerorifles Sqdn.\nNS Summers Summers Vekllei aircraft are primarily designed and manufactured domestically, and use mostly nuclear propulsion. Efforts to streamline and simplify inventory in recent years have reduced the overall types of aircraft in service.\nCombat Aircraft\n210 No. 8 Casemate Atomic Fighters 33 No. 7 Demon Atomic Fighters Bombers\n22 Strategic Bombers 16 Medium Bombers Maritime and Patrol Aircraft\n16 Long Range Search \u0026amp; Rescue Turboprop Aircraft 4 Search \u0026amp; Rescue Flying Boats 2 Heavy-lift Search \u0026amp; Rescue Aircraft 50 Seagoing Utility Helicopters 4 Ground Effect Combat Aircraft Tanker Aircraft\n1 Nuclear Replenishment Aircraft 2 Airborne Fuel Replenishment Aircraft Transport Aircraft\n27 Heavy Transport Aircraft 22 Medium Transport Aircraft 18 VIP Transport 24 Strategic Airlifter 12 Tactical Airlifter 4 Ground Effect Heavy Airlifters Helicopters\n42 Attack Helicopters 52 Scout Helicopters 40 Heavy-lift/Utility 20 Anti-Submarine Warfare/Search and Rescue 10 Transport/Utility 60 Transport/Utility 50 Medium-lift/Utility Trainer Aircraft\n20 Primary Trainer Aircraft 15 Training Helicopters ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/aero/","/air-service/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 776,
  "href": "/series/aircraft/",
  "title": "Aircraft",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 777,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/aircraft/",
  "title": "Aircraft","icon": "✈️","rgb": "245, 60, 89",
  "section": "Technology",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Read more: Aero Services ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/aircraft/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 778,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/airline-travel/",
  "title": "Airline Travel","icon": "✈️","rgb": "184, 84, 168",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Since Vekllei people do not typically pay money for airline travel, they have an unusual system for booking limited systems like flights.",
  "content": " Summary\nMost people in Vekllei do not use money and are essentially unbanked. This raises interesting problems of fairness in cases of scarcity. As a common example of how ticketing works in Vekllei, we can look to airlines and how they allocate seats. Air travel is generally accessible to ordinary Vekllei people. Commonwealth Airways helps connect the distant republics of Vekllei and emphasise their shared values. Most flights use a simple 80/20 system, where 80% of seats are available six months out and 20% are allocated based on need. Almost every Vekllei person flies, and some fly frequently. The country is simply too big and its islands too disparate to commute by ship regularly. Almost always, they fly with Commonwealth Airways, their national airline, which does not charge a fare for the unmoneyed and unbanked Commonwealth population.\nThe process for booking is this:\nUp to six months prior, seats on a flight are booked on a first-come, first-served basis. On most domestic routes, demand is usually well-calculated and it\u0026rsquo;s usually pretty easy to get a seat. In the holiday months, international routes can be more competitive.1 Some seats on the aircraft are reserved for priority transit. The number of seats reserved depends on the route and aircraft type, and ranges between 10-20%. Priority transit encompasses a range of travel, including emergency or well-founded reasons for travel like bereavement or medical fares, as well as important business and government seats. In Vekllei, \u0026lsquo;business class\u0026rsquo; is not a seperate class domestically but a special ticket. As the flight approaches, reserved seats are made available on a linear curve that depends on the route. There is always at least two reserved seats on a Commonwealth Airways flight right up until departure, which are sometimes used by air marshals or airline staff. Any Vekllei person can fly for any time \u0026ndash; booking history is assigned to a customer number associated with a government ID. This information is centralised and used internally for research purposes. International routes serviced by Commonwealth Overseas Airways also take on international paying customers, who purchase from the same 80/20 pool of seats.\nDue to shortages in seats during the holiday period, recreational travel in Vekllei has to be flexible. Companies are well aware of this state of affairs and most are required by law to allow employees to take their leave at any point during the year.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/airline-travel"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 779,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/volcanic/aismious/",
  "title": "Aismious","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/fo-4x3.svg","icon": "🐏","rgb": "67, 101, 187",
  "section": "Volcanic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Aismious (\u003ci\u003eFaroe Islands\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the North Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Aismious Republic Archipelago of the Faroe Islands Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Volcanic Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 1,393 km² Capital Thor's Harbour Languages Aismious, English Population 64,337 The Aismious Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the North Atlantic Ocean. It comprises a group of 17 inhabited islands between Oslola and Hetland, as well as numerous islets and reefs. The people there are mostly of Celtic-Scandinavian stock descended from Irish settlers and Norsemen. The republic is known for its conspicuous and perpendicular cliffs and flat summits, and its gothic medieval cathedral in the village of Magnus.\nAbout a third of the population live in the capital and largest city, Thor\u0026rsquo;s Harbour. The remainder live in small communities scattered across the islands, which are characterised by fjords, river valleys and dramatic volcanic terrain. The climate is mild, though rain and fog is common. Treeless, mossy and without indigenous land mammals or reptiles, the Aismious Islands have a stark, volcanic appearance similar to Oslola.\nThe economy remains dependent on cod fishing and raising livestock, though undersea oil drilling has recently begun and attracted investment in the capital. The islanders have a strong tradition of oral storytelling and history, which have carried stories for over a thousand years. Islanders speak Aismious, a language similar to Scandi-Oslolan with Celtic elements.\nThe islands are serviced by hydrofoils and an water airport in the capital, as well as trams between the larger settlements. The headquarters of the Transport Laboratories are located there.\nClimate\nCool and windy, approaching tundra at elevation. Temperatures are moderated by the Atlantic, and rarely drop below freezing, even in winter.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Good Friday Easter Monday Whit Monday Republic Day 25 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May St Olav\u0026rsquo;s Eve 28 Jul St Olav\u0026rsquo;s Day 29 Jul Christmas Day 25 Dec 2nd Day of Christmas 26 Dec New Year\u0026rsquo;s Eve 31 Dec ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/aismious/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 780,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/alcohol/",
  "title": "Alcohol","icon": "🍷","rgb": "222, 24, 87",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Since alcohol is widely available at no cost in Vekllei, its consumption has to be regulated through both law and culture.",
  "content": " Summary\nVekllei people like alcohol, and in their society it is widely available at no cost. These facts set the country up for catastrophe: alcohol abuse is a social disease that destroys lives and deeply impacts communities. Consequently, its consumption as enabled by the system must also be curbed by the system. This is helped by considered policy, but the Vekllei government targets another aspect of control: culture. As such, alcohol is an interesting case study in how the country attempts to encourage social behaviours more broadly. Vekllei people, like many others around the world, like to drink. As a feature of their society and its social economy, alcohol is free and available. They drink often and socially, and wine, beer and spirits are an important lubricant of conversation and merryment around the country.\nLike any product of pleasure, however, unrestricted availability poses a grave danger to the health of their society. The dangers are straightforward \u0026ndash; alcohol encourages all kinds of antisocial behaviours, and risks developing into chronic addiction that can ruin lives and destroy families. In this context, the tension between Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s laissez-faire society and the common good are most pronounced, precisely because alcohol wears down the social norms that facilitate their close-knit and codependent way of life.\nThe solution they practice is twofold:\nControl through policy # Vekllei has controls on both the supply and consumption of alcohol. Public drunkenness, as well as adjacent antisocial behaviours, are a crime with straightforward legal repercussions. Onetime drunkenness in the street might result in a few hours of community service.1 Antisocial offences motivated by alcohol consumption carry weightier punishments. Repeat offending easily results in direct state intervention, and may manifest as time in rehabilitation centres or even compulsory clinics.\nVekllei also has strict laws on the service of alcohol. It has to be provided by licensed establishments.2 These laws also dictate responsible provision of alcohol. It is illegal to:\nPermit drunkenness on the premises Serve alcohol to drunk people Allow people who are violent, quarrelsome, disorderly or behaving indecently on licensed premises While drinking at home is common and perfectly legal, offences committed in the home under the influence of alcohol aggravate legal sentencing dramatically. There is, in general, very little tolerance for antisocial behaviour under the influence of alcohol.\nControl through culture # Perhaps more important, and often overlooked, is the way Vekllei uses policy indirectly to influence drinking culture. These approaches are often unassuming, and lie outside the legal system. Despite its firm hand on the supply of alcohol, for example, Vekllei has no minimum drinking age at home.3 In fact, from fourteen years old, students may choose to have a small cup of red wine with their school meals.\nWith guidance from government and industry, Vekllei society has attempted to minimise the harmful effects of binge drinking by, essentially, spreading out alcohol consumption throughout the day. Workplaces often serve aperitifs in the afternoon, and some wine with dinner is expected. Vekllei cuisine also pairs liqueurs with meals \u0026ndash; it is not inappropriate or unusual to have enjoy alcohol in professional lunches, so long as you do not become drunk. People are expected to self-regulate, and those who don\u0026rsquo;t (or cannot) run into trouble quickly.\nConsuming smaller amounts more commonly has been shown, in most cases, to provide better outcomes for both health and behaviour. Introducing moderation to teenagers through school has also helped reduce the rates of early binge drinking in the country.\nThis is not to suggest that these two methods have resolved antisocial drinking or prevented alcoholism \u0026ndash; this is not the case. Vekllei is a large and diverse country, and though its quality of life has improved dramatically, the control of access to alcohol is not perfect, nor would perfect control totally prevent the disease of alcoholism. Vekllei ranks 13th for alcohol consumption per capita, and tens of thousands of Vekllei people die a year drinking it. They are a country that likes to drink, and they have poorer health for it.\nWhat it does suggest, however, is the overall outline of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s approach to fostering a strong civic culture in their social economy. The whole system is predicated on it, because happy communities foster their own productivity and improvement. Their dual approach \u0026ndash; reinforcement of good (or at least preferable) habits through culture and restriction of bad ones through law \u0026ndash; is typical of the country\u0026rsquo;s approach to social disease.\nCommunity service in Vekllei is more or less equivalent to community service overseas. It is a light punishment, usually applied to misdemeanours and minor offences, that requires certain hours of work to alleviate the (usually antisocial) offence. The type of work required is scaled to the seriousness of the offence.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nIn Vekllei, these are usually cafes, pubs, restaurants and bars, in that order of availability. Noncompliance with alcohol laws are a fast way to having your business shut down.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nAlthough Vekllei has no minimum drinking age, no licensed establishments will serve people under 16 (and usually 18) years of age. In practice, most municipalities are self-regulating, and have their own laws around alcohol consumption. There are also laws against the provision of alcohol by adults to people underage.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/alcohol"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 781,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/allia/",
  "title": "Allia","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/ms-4x3.svg","icon": "☘️","rgb": "6, 136, 72",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Allia (\u003ci\u003eMontserrat\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Allia Republic Island of Montserrat Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 102 km² Capital Athlone Languages Irish, Allia Creole, English Population 16,302 The Allia Republic is a constituent republic in the Caribbean Sea, and part of the Lesser Antilles island chain that make up the Kalina Commonwealth, which is part of Vekllei. Its closest neighbour, Antigua, is just under 50km to its northeast.\nOften called the \u0026ldquo;Emerald Isle\u0026rdquo; of the Caribbean, Allia\u0026rsquo;s history and culture is heavily influenced by British settlement of indebted and enslaved Irish and African peoples, whose descendants make up almost all of the 16,000 people who live there today. Like all Vekllei republics, the language of government and business is English, but Alliot households speak Irish primarily and many speak Allia Creole, a combination of Irish and indigenous Kalinago languages influenced by neighbouring islands. As such, Allia has the largest population of Irish speakers outside of Ireland. They are mostly Roman Catholic.\nAllia was uninhabited during the time of its settling by the British in the 17th Century. It was during this first century that the plantation economy started receiving shipments of slaves from Africa and later Ireland, a practice that continued up until the abolishment of slavery in the early 19th Century. It remained part of the UK in various forms until the independence of the British Atlantic Territories and subsequently became part of Vekllei. Today, its economy is mostly agricultural, but its strong music scene and creative industries are thriving in the capital of Athlone, and contribute to Allia\u0026rsquo;s outsized cultural influence in Vekllei. Its unique history makes it a popular destination for Vekllei tourists, as well as some foreigners.\nThe island is about 18km long by 10km wide and resembles a pear. It has rugged, volcanic mountains with long pyroclastic slopes that stretch to the water. These mountains are thickly forested with jungle typical of its tropical Caribbean region. The island is actively volcanic and eruptions occur periodically, most recently in the mid-1990s when the Soufrière Hills erupted and destroyed mostly uninhabited areas in the island\u0026rsquo;s southwest.\nMost Alliots live in the capital of Athlone, but there are estates and villages that circumnavigate the entire coast. They are connected by a mainline train service, as well as small trams and funiculars. Allia is connected to the rest of Kalina by fast hydrofoils and flying boats.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/allia/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 782,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/aloi/",
  "title": "Aloi","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/aloi-4x3.svg","icon": "🐠","rgb": "48, 99, 172",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Aloi (\u003ci\u003eSt Eustatius\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Aloi Republic Island of St Eustatius Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 154 km² Capital Concordia Languages English, Arawak Creole Population 12,404 The Aloi Republic (also Alli) is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Kalina archipelago. It is a small, cashew-shaped island defined by two conspicuous mountains in its north and south. The majority of its 12,000 people live in the saddle of flat land between them.\nAloi has scarce natural resources and historically was known for its maritime commerce, particularly for its part in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the sale of weapons to the U.S. during its revolution. It was discovered and colonised by the British in the 17th Century, who displaced native Caribs and exercised limited control over its population of mostly Jewish and Dutch traders.\nThe capital of Condordia is a historic and beautiful maritime town, iconic for its old stone warehouses along the waterfront and the British fort in its centre. Almost every employed person on Aloi works for the government, either in its administration, schools, or the power company. It is closely connected to the nearby islands of Liamuiga and Saba by hydrofoil, and by the airstrip on the Atlantic side for longer journeys.\nA dormant volcano known as The Quill marks the highest point on the island, and its crater conceals a dark forest filled with tropical vegetation and flowers. Trade winds strike the Atlantic side of the island and little grows there, but the Caribbean side is home to breadfruit and banana groves. The island suffers poor rainfall and common cisterns collect it for domestic use. Most Aloians grow their own produce, and speak English and an Arawak Creole.\nPoints of Interest The Quill: a dormant volcano and national park with trails and a forested crater. Fort Elizabeth: Historic British naval fort, now a museum. Boven Botanical Garden: European-style botanical garden with examples of almost every kinds of vegetation on Aloi. Aloi United Banana Company: Oldest banana company in continuous operation in Commonwealth Kalina. Golden Rock Memorial Graves Site: Burial ground of enslaved peoples on the site of the former Golden Rock plantation. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/aloi/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 783,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/aloubaera/",
  "title": "Aloubaera","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/aloubaera-4x3.svg","icon": "🌲","rgb": "46, 114, 225",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Aloubaera (\u003ci\u003eTobago\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Aloubaera Republic Island of Tobago Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1930, as part of the Alford Agreement Area 300 km² Capital Scarborough Languages English, Creole, Spanish Population 72,045 The Aloubaera Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei, and parts of the Kalina Commonwealth. It is just 35km northeast of its neighbour republic of Kairi.\nAloubaera has a tropical climate cooled substantially by its exposure to the sea. Most of the island is hilly, and reaches 550m above sea level at its highest point. Its interior is home to dense biodiverse rainforest, most of which is protected within the Aloubaera National Forest. It is vulnerable to seasonal hurricanes moving along the south hurricane belt.\nMost Aloubaerans are black or mixed-race of African descent, though minority populations of Whites, Caribs and Indians also live there. The republic remains dependent on Kairi for electricity and tertiary education. A local creole and English are widely spoken.\nThe republic\u0026rsquo;s economy consists of municipal goods, light agriculture in communal smallholdings, and some domestic tourism. It has spectacular coral reefs in its south, and there is a hotel there. Nonetheless, island life on Aloubaera is insular and close-knit, and many young Aloubaerans leave for Kairi or other parts of Vekllei for study and work.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/aloubaera/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 784,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/anguilla/",
  "title": "Anguilla","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/ai-4x3.svg","icon": "🐬","rgb": "249, 150, 50",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Anguilla is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Anguilla Republic Island of Anguilla Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 91 km² Capital The Valley Languages English, Arawak Creole Population 35,722 The Anguilla Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Kalina archipelago, east of Virgin and north of Soualiga. It is a long, slender island resembling an eel, from which its name is derived. It is best known in Vekllei for its easygoing, maritime culture and architecture. Its population of 35,000 are scattered across the main coral island, which is flat and lacks fresh water. A handful of satellite islands and islets remain uninhabited.\nAnguilla was originally settled by Arawaks from South America, who comprise about a fifth of the population today. Like most of Commonwealth Kalina, it was occupied by the British during the colonial period and served a plantation economy based on tobacco and later on sugar. Slaves traded from Africa were forced to work in this economy, whose descendants make up most of the remaining population today. Anguillan culture is informal and easygoing, and in industrial terms the island provides little to the overall economy of its commonwealth. It is a popular day-trip for Soualigans, who visit for the music, sport and food. Anguilla is also famous for its boat racing, which culminates in the West Indies Boat Race each February.\nToday, Anguilla\u0026rsquo;s economy is dominated by municipal goods, salt, fish, lobster, and some experiments in seawater power generation conducted by LSRE. It has little arable land and imports most of its food, though common vegetable plots are found throughout their communities. A train line runs from West End to East End, with branched tram lines in The Valley and towards the village of Island Harbour.\nThe surface of Anguilla is pockmarked by saltwater pools, and the coral island has exquisite beaches that are enjoyed by residents and visitors alike. It lacks a traditional colonial capital, since it was administered in Soualiga during the colonial period. Consequently, Anguilla built many fine examples of Caribbean Modernist architecture during its redevelopment as part of postwar Vekllei, and good quality architecture is ubiquitous throughout the republic.\nPoints of Interest Anguilla Republic Council Building: A mammoth modernist seat of government famous for its intricate brickwork and mosaics. Dauphine Estates: Acclaimed tower block complex in the Caribbean Prairie style. Rendezvous: Popular bar and restaurant that has produced many regionally famous musicians. Shoal Bay: Popular tourist beach with pristine white sand. Leeward Salt Company: Local salt company and largest private employer on the island. Island Harbour Docks: Public boat construction and repair facilities. Anguilla Electric Laboratories: Seawater electricity generation complex operated by the LSRE. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/anguilla/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 785,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/verde/annobon/",
  "title": "Annobon","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/annobon-4x3.svg","icon": "🥥","rgb": "42, 110, 199",
  "section": "Verde Commonwealth",
  "description": "Annobon is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Gulf of Guinea.",
  "content": " Annobon Republic Island of Annobon Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Verde Commonwealth Accession 1945, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 17 km² Capital Crescent Point Languages English, Annobonese Creole, Principence Population 8,302 The Annobon Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Gulf of Guinea, southwest of Java. It lies 560km off the coast of Latin Africa, and comprises the main island of Annobon as well as a handful of littoral rocks and islets.\nPrior to its accession in Vekllei, very little was documented about Annobon or its history. It was almost certainly discovered by the Portuguese in the late-18th Century, when it was uninhabited. Annobonese today are descendants of slaves brought there to work cash crop plantations like sugar cane and cotton. Its geographic isolation means that Annobonese speak their own creole, and have a cultural identity seperate from the rest of the Commonwealth Verde equatorial islands.\nThe island itself is an extinct volcano, the peak of which now houses a large and water-filled crater called \u0026lsquo;Pot Lake.\u0026rsquo; Thick and impassable forests made up of tropical broadleaf trees and mosses flow down its slopes, and much of its interior is unexplored. A few settlements dot the coast, the largest of which is the capital, Crescent. The island is famous for its unique songbirds, and the sharks that patrol surrounding waters.\nWhen Annobon acceded to Vekllei, it was undeveloped and stricken with poverty. At its peak, the island had maybe 12,000 people, but over a third had left for neighbouring islands looking for work. As part of the process of federalisation, substantial civic materiel has been poured into the island, and the construction of new government buildings in the capital is well underway. A simple tram line now connects the north and south via the east coast, and another that will link the hillside towns and villages is under construction. Annobonese are deeply religious, mostly syncretic Catholics in the Portuguese colonial tradition, and the construction of a modern church in the capital in 2026 delighted local residents.\nThe local economy almost completely collapsed during federalisation, as aid flowed in and the island was connected to the rest of Vekllei. Nearly half of the population are currently enrolled in schools to raise literacy and prepare the republic for new kinds of work as the gradual transition to the commons begins. Fishing and timber make up almost all remaining employment.\nNew developments include a small auxiliary campus of the University of the Equator, headquartered in Java, as well as a redeveloped port area able to accomodate hydrofoils. New homes are being built in the capital and mountain towns in the style of the rest of the equatorial republics.\nPoints of Interest Pot Lake: Massive circular crater filled with water found in the mountainous interior of the island. St Aloysius Catholic Church: Large, modern stone church built in 2026 in the Caribbean Moderne style. Annobon Littoral Service Station: Small Littoral Service outpost home to a fast-response hydrofoil. Annobon Coastal Tramway: New rail link between the major towns along the coast, reducing a trip that took hours to a few minutes. Annobon National Park: Beautiful national park that is home to endemic species of songbird, ferns, vascular plants and ceiba trees. Pathways lead hikers up to Pot Lake. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/annobon/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 786,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antarctic/",
  "title": "Antarctic Commonwealth","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/antarctic-4x3.svg","icon": "🌹","color": "vekllei",
  "section": "Commonwealth",
  "description": "Commonwealth Antarctica is a constituent region of Vekllei, comprising 5 republics in the South Atlantic and Antarctic Oceans.",
  "content": " Commonwealth Antarctica Constituent Commonwealth of Vekllei Area 16,493 km² Capital Helena Constituents 5 Population 118,982 Commonwealth Antarctica (Vekllei Antarctica) is a constituent commonwealth of Vekllei, comprising largely isolated and scattered island republics in the south Atlantic and Antarctic oceans. It is the least-populated and least-developed of the regional commonwealths, and its republics are dependent on small trades, fishing, and Vekllei Commonwealth institutions like the military and civil service.\nCommonwealth Antarctica extends from the Santes and Sude Republics in the Antarctic Ocean to Ascension just below the equator. Compared to other commonwealths, it has vast internal distances between sparse and isolated island republics. It includes desert and temperate islands like Ascension and Helena, as well as barren and wind-worn rocks in the Antarctic.\nCommonwealth Antarctica occupies a strategic position in the South Atlantic, and bolsters the Vekllei claims on the antarctic continent. Many of its republics host air bases or naval stations that support Vekllei sovereignty over nearly the entire Atlantic Oceans, from Arctic to Antarctic.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/antarctic/","/antarctic-commonwealth/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 787,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/antigua/",
  "title": "Antigua","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/antigua-4x3.svg","icon": "🌸","rgb": "133, 122, 187",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/antigua.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/antigua_hu8e8b6ae37dee3538d5c37a225885f71d_3849459_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Antigua is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Antigua Republic Island of Antigua Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 281 km² Capital Caribbea Languages English, Arawak Creole Population 327,800 The Antiguan Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Kalina archipelago, northeast of Allia and south of Barbary. It is roughly triangular, with an intricate coastline ringed by smaller islands and islets. Redonda, a small uninhabited island used historically for guano mining, lies between Allia and Oualie.\nAntigua was originally inhabited by Arawaks, who were displaced by Caribs in the 12th Century. Antigua still has a large indigenous Carib minority population today. It was discovered by Europeans in the 15th Century and colonised by the British 200 years later. Antigua acted as a gateway for British interests in the Caribbean, and became a very successful sugar plantation with the labour of enslaved Caribs and Africans. Production there was disturbed by slave rebellions, but remained lucrative until the abolishment of slavery in the 19th Century, from which it declined for the next 100 years.\nIn place of sugar, Antigua has had to leverage its history as an entrepôt and invested in its education sector. Antigua is the site of the original Commonwealth National University of the West Indies ( CUWI) campus, founded in 1849. Today, education makes up most of the Antiguan economy, and is a primary destination for students relocating from smaller neighbouring islands like Allia and Karu. It is also a major sponsor of foreign exchange and overseas study for the wider Caribbean, and hosts several prestigious international schools. It is home to the headquarters of the Curriculum and Qualifications Council.\nAntigua is mostly flat, with hills in its southwest culminating in Independence Peak at 400m. Settlements and agriculture cover most of the flat land, the largest of which is the capital, Caribbea. Its prosperous colleges and universities are located there, and the settlements leading southeast are involved in tropical crops and textiles. Cosgrove, in Antigua\u0026rsquo;s southwest coast, is the site of a major Universal Cotton factory.\nFast hydrofoils leave Caribbea\u0026rsquo;s port daily, collecting students from neighbouring islands. V.C. Bird International is its major airport and has daily service to other parts of Commonwealth Kalina. Two main rail lines run across and around the island respectively, and both Caribbea and Cosgrove have tram networks. Caribbea is also home to Naval Station Antigua, the second-largest naval service base and dockyard in Kalina.\nPoints of Interest Commonwealth National University of the West Indies: Historic and thriving main campus of Kalina\u0026rsquo;s oldest university, second only to Vekllei National University in its size. Universal Cotton Plant of the West Indies: Large textiles manufacturer that produces much of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s clothing output in the Kalina region. Naval Station Antigua: Large naval service base and dockyard, and home of the Kalina Auxiliary Fleet. Commonwealth Industrial Caribbean Bank: Modernist bank headquarters that regularly hosts visitors from the US and Central America. Antigua Recreational Grounds: Large cricket stadium and host of the North Kalina Regional Cup. Dickenson Bay: Beautiful white beach with old-fashioned promenade and arcade. Nelson\u0026rsquo;s Dockyard: Historic British naval dockyard open to the public, now part of Naval Station Antigua. Devil\u0026rsquo;s Bridge: Eroded limestone arches, rumoured to be the site of mass suicides during the slavery era. Antigua National Gallery: Cosmopolitan and modern art, and the stomping ground of emerging student artists. Commonwealth Forensic Science Laboratory: State-of-the-art laboratory that conducts research on a wide range of topics, including criminal justice, law, and medicine. It also trains forensic scientists enrolled in the Commonwealth Police College. Curriculum and Qualifications Council: Develops and regulates the national curriculum and standard examinations in Vekllei. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/antigua/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 788,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antilles/",
  "title": "Antilles Commonwealth","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/antilles-4x3.svg","icon": "🌹","color": "vekllei",
  "section": "Commonwealth",
  "description": "Commonwealth Antilles is a constituent region of Vekllei, comprising 7 republics in the western and southern Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Antilles Commonwealth Constituent Commonwealth of Vekllei Area 1,171 km² Constituents 7 Population 1,196,151 The Antilles Commonwealth (Vekllei Antilles) is a constituent commonwealth of Vekllei, comprising its islands in the Leeward Antilles. These include the \u0026ldquo;ABC islands\u0026rdquo; off the west coast of Venezuela, and the Caimanas in the West Caribbean Sea. All of them are densely-populated and highly industrialised, which facilitates their tradition as trading ports. Unlike other parts of the Vekllei Antilles, the ABC islands have a dry climate and xeric landscape, giving them their characteristic desert appearance. The Caimanas, some ways to their north, are tropical coral islands.\nThe Caimanas are a regional banking capital of Vekllei, and conduct strong trade with North and Central America.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/antilles/","/antilles-commonwealth/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 789,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/apollo-ntr/",
  "title": "Apollo NTR","icon": "⚛️","color": "purple",
  "section": "Technology",
  "description": "The Apollo-type Nuclear Thermal Rocket is a propulsion system developed for use in space transports in Vekllei.",
  "content": "The Apollo-type Nuclear Thermal Rockets (called Apollo, or Apollo NTR) is a nuclear thermal rocket propulsion system developed by a Vekllei industrial consortium in the 2030s to commercialise space travel. It is the first closed-system NTR in use, meaning it does not expel radioactive material and is able to be used on the surface of the moon. It is used in the Meteor Starliner SSTOs, and is produced under license in the United States, U.K. and France.\nThe NSRE chaired the United Nuclear Transport Working Group (NTWG) in the early 2030s, which included state industry partners like General Reactor as well as specialised nuclear energy outfits like Atomic Electric S.p.M., Future Fission and the National Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the ASRE. NTWG conducted a series of experiments with nuclear rocketry in Kala in 2035, and built a technology data base of nuclear thermal reactors that were eventually incorporated into early types of atomic spacecraft (see, for example, the first interplanetary military and research vessel VS-10, a successor to the X-25).\nThe Commonwealth nuclear thermal reactor project (NTR) was advantaged by the existing use of uranium-233 reactor fuels in civilian infrastructure and the competitive lead of Vekllei domestic material sciences, which lead the world in investment and research. Development of the NTR was based off studies conducted by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and the West German Atomic Authority in the decades prior. The crown jewel of Vekllei astronuclear research is the Apollo reactor, used today in the CM-100 series of SSTOs.\nThe Apollo-type reactor is a gaseous nuclear rocket engine which expels no fissile material. It is an extraordinary device, and stresses materials beyond any other reactor type used in the world today. The reactor core operates at a pressure of over 200 atmospheres and a temperature of 24,000 Kelvin — over four times hotter than the surface of the sun. It represents the pinnacle of Vekllei astronuclear engineering and contributed significantly to the democratisation of Vekllei lunar territories.\nThe Apollo uses a uranium-233 hexafluoride core, a rare isotope bred from thorium in some types of domestic civilian reactors. The uranium fuels a plasma-phase fission reaction within a transparent quartz-composite bulb that is protected from the incredible heat of the reaction by a vortex of neon laced with silica. The quartz-composite is almost completely transparent to ultraviolet radiation, which passes through the bulb into a hydrogen working fluid, which expands as it heats and is expelled through the rocket nozzle to propel the CM-100 forward.\nThe Apollo system uses two types of gasses — a neon-silica composite within the quartz envelope to protect the structure of the reactor core, and a hydrogen working fluid enriched with tungsten to increase radiation absorption. It is a relatively simple fission reactor mechanically, but the science of the materials required to operate it (particularly the quartz composite, developed by the Atomic Electric skunkworks) are the product of decades of research invested by the NTWG. Unlike other NTRs, the Apollo does not expel radioactive material and so is able to be used on the lunar surface — a distinct competitive advantage. It is the only closed-system nuclear thermal reactor used on a commercial spacecraft today.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/apollo-reactor/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 790,
  "href": "/sitetag/april-4-2020/",
  "title": "April 4, 2020",
  "section": "Sitetag",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 791,
  "href": "/categories/archive/",
  "title": "Archived Stories","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "The Archive comprises stories that no longer fit into the Vekllei canon as we understand it today. This project has changed shape over the years, and the sorts of things that make sense in its world has changed too.\nEarly Vekllei was a very different type of story about a different kind of country. Consequently, older illustrations and stories may mislead or misinform readers.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 792,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/arctic/",
  "title": "Arctic Commonwealth","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/arctic-4x3.svg","icon": "🌹","color": "vekllei",
  "section": "Commonwealth",
  "description": "Commonwealth Arctic is a constituent region of Vekllei, comprising 2 republics in the Arctic Ocean.",
  "content": " Arctic Commonwealth Constituent Commonwealth of Vekllei Area 2,228,131 km² Capital Canec Constituents 2 Population 514,848 The Arctic Commonwealth (Vekllei Arctic) is a constituent commonwealth of Vekllei, comprising Kala and Helvasia, the two republics that lie in within the Arctic Circle. It is the largest Commonwealth by land area, but very little of it is habitable and the majority of the population live in a handful of major cities.\nThe Commonwealth has a strong cultural association with indigenous Algic and Sami peoples, who make up the majority of the population in Kala and Helvasia respectively. In addition, many Oslolans, Scandinavians, and some equatorial and Antarctic Vekllei populations reside there.\nThe majority of Kala and the entirety of Helvasia lie within the Arctic Circle, and are characterised by Arctic climates and extreme seasons, including midnight sun and polar nights. The Arctic Commonwealth contributes much of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s cold-weather and arctic expertise in research, industry, and military sectors. It is also the site of Polar University in Kala, the largest school within the Arctic Circle.\nThe Commonwealth has economic zones that border Canada, Scandinavia and the Soviet Union, and competing claims over the resources in the Arctic are a source of diplomatic tension. The Maritime and Littoral Services have a half dozen icebreaking naval bases in the Arctic republics.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/arctic/","/arctic-commonwealth/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 793,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/armed-forces/",
  "title": "Armed Forces","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-defence.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "defence",
  "section": "Ministry of Defence",
  "description": "The Armed Forces of Vekllei comprise 10 services dedicated to specialised roles in defence of the unique territory of the country.",
  "content": " Overview # The Armed Forces of the Commonwealth are the military of Vekllei, and a constituent armed component of the Ministry of Defence. They comprise the combined armed services of the country, as well as capabilities for public emergencies, law enforcement and civil defence.\nUnlike common practice overseas, Vekllei does not have seperate military branches, and instead administers all aspects of defence as a single armed organisation originating as part of the navy, a term which is still used generally to describe all military services. As a union of island communities, the Vekllei Navy is its historic and contemporary primary means of defence, and Vekllei doctrine favours an integrated command. As such, all air and land warfare is conducted as part of the Navy under a unified defence command.1\nBecause all services operate within the Navy, different roles are organised into different services. For example, the traditional surface navy of the Maritime Service does not operate its own seaborne aviation, since all aircraft are part of the Navy\u0026rsquo;s Air Service. In this context, \u0026ldquo;Navy\u0026rdquo; is a synonym for \u0026ldquo;Military\u0026rdquo; in Vekllei, and equipment, signage and vehicles are marked as such.\nVekllei Armed Services # A Vekllei military service is a component of the overall armed forces, and so they overlap and intersect. Unlike most other militaries, which are divided between different branches and coordinated by a central command, Vekllei military services are effectively interchangeable, and form interarmes services for specific missions. A single interarmes service may even involve regiments from all services simultaneously, which would operate as a single unit under a unified command.\nVekllei is a seagoing country of island communities, and so the Marine Services are the backbone of its strategic forces. They are the oldest military organisations of Vekllei and revered by the country.\nNote\nIn numbered Vekllei services (e.g. Terrestrial \u0026amp; Air Services, etc.), numerical order is preserved and units are not permanently identified by a particular number. Unit numbers are administrative and assist in formation of interarmes services, so units may change numbers regularly. Instead, unit identity and honours are attached to ceremonial and historical names that remain with the unit.\nMarine Services # The Marine Services consist of the armed forces most commonly associated with seaborne warfare and supply, and include equivalents to the Navy and Coast Guard. It is an administrative rather than conceptual distinction, as many other aspects of oceangoing warfare are folded into the air and territorial services, such as naval aviation and marine infantry.\nMaritime Service The Maritime Service (the Navy or Navy of the Public) is the traditional naval warfare component of the Vekllei military and consists of its surface ships and submarines. It comprises three fleets and an auxiliary service, that functions similarly to a republican or federal militia.\nCommonwealth Fleet The Commonwealth Fleet (Sovereign/Federal Fleet) of the Vekllei Maritime Service is the largest naval formation in Vekllei and is tasked with defence of the country\u0026rsquo;s central corridor, a triangular area with points in Oslola, Costa Verde and Summers. It is\n5 Aircraft Carriers 1 Supercarrier (flagship CVN Veletia) 2 Fleet Carriers (Volcanic-class) 2 Helicopter Carriers 1 Battleship (Federal-class CVN Commonwealth) 3 Battlecruisers 12 Cruisers 2 Scout Cruisers 2 Torpedo Cruisers 6 Missile Cruisers (Nike-class) 2 Aircraft Cruisers (Prosperity-class) 28 Destroyers 6 Minelayers/Minesweepers (Hera-class) 20 Fleet Air Escort Destroyers (Baker and Swordfish-classes) 2 Submarine Chaser Destroyers (Palm-class) 32 Corvettes (Suffrage-class) 8 Attack Submarines (Capricorn-class) Home Fleet (Auxiliary) The Home Fleet (also Auxiliary Fleet) of the Commonwealth Maritime Service is an auxiliary fleet stationed across the 70 island city-states that make up the country. Each Vekllei city-state serves as a home port to a particular frigate. While they serve a ceremonial role, they are active warships that perform littoral maritime security duties and can be federalised into other fleets as necessary. The Home Fleet also consists of vessels with a multi-fleet or multipurpose role, and can be reassigned to other fleets as required.\n82 Frigates 70 Aurora-Class Republic Warships 5 Air Scout Frigates 4 Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigates 3 Guided Missile Frigates 2 Submarine Rescue Ships 4 Assault Ships 28 Landing Craft Vessels 1 Crane Ship 2 Minelayers 6 Minehunters 4 Naval Yachts 3 Amenities Ship 2 Ammunition Ship 2 Floating Dock 1 Troopship (+ 4 Auxiliary) 6 Naval Yachts 4 Accomodation Ships 2 Dispatch Ships 4 Nuclear Replenishment Ships 2 Replenishment Oilers 4 Gunboats Arctic Fleet 1 Fleet Carrier 1 Battlecruiser 6 Cruisers 4 Nuclear Icebreaker Cruisers 2 Aircraft Cruisers (Prosperity-class) 8 Destroyers 4 Fleet Air Escort Destroyers (Baker-class) 3 Missile Destroyers 1 Arsenal Destroyer 2 Patrol Boats 3 Attack Submarines Antarctic Fleet 1 Fleet Carrier 1 Battlecruiser 4 Cruisers 2 Nuclear Icebreaker Cruisers 2 Aircraft Cruisers (Prosperity-class) 12 Destroyers 8 Fleet Air Escort Destroyers (Baker and Swordfish-classes) 2 Missile Destroyers 2 Arsenal Destroyer 2 Patrol Boats 2 Attack Submarines Missile Fleet 2 Arsenal Ships 6 Ballistic Missile Submarines (Mantle-class) Littoral Service The Littoral Service (the Coast Guard or Navy of the Parliament) is the maritime security component of the Vekllei military. It provides customs, policing and search and rescue services for Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, though it frequently patrols international waters in the Atlantic.\nThe Littoral Service has 12 commands across the Atlantic, Arctic, Antarctic and Caribbean Oceans, including the entirety of the Vekllei exclusive economic zone and territorial waters.\nCustoms Cutters\n6 Frigate Customs Cutters 20 Medium Customs Cutters 20 Fast Response Customs Hydrofoils 2 Air Cutters 12 Coastal Patrol Vessels 8 Search and Rescue Vessels 8 Fast Patrol Boats 16 Hovercraft Cutters Utility Vessels\n4 Seagoing Buoy Tenders 10 Coastal Buoy Tenders 4 Coastal Construction Tenders 5 River Tenders 1 Large Ocean Tugboat 2 Medium Ocean Tugboats 10 Harbour Tugboats Icebreakers\n4 Heavy Icebreakers ( Sude Oslola Helvasia Falklands) 1 Ice-strengthened Oiler Survey \u0026amp; Auxiliary Ships\n2 Hydrographic Survey Ships Coastal Artillery Service The Coastal Artillery Service provides coastal fortification and defence for Vekllei republics, including counter-battery fire, raiding, and ship boarding.\nAeronautical \u0026amp; Astronautical Services # The Air Services include the air supremacy, interception and defence elements, as well as services to supply and equip them. They also consist of the missile and air detection elements of the armed forces.\nAir Service The Air Service conducts aerial warfare in Vekllei. It consists of three commands that specialise in different aspects of air support and supremacy. The Air Service is also a major contributor to other services, since marine and territorial doctrines depend heavily on the air service for their combat capability, combat support, transport, logistics and reconnaissance.\nVekllei has a rapid air-mobile posture across its armed forces, which is facilitated by the relative size and availability of its air service. It is also the only service in which women are a majority of participants in combat, since female pilots contribute just over 52% of its servicemen.\nStructure\nThere are three commands in the Air Service, which in the secular Vekllei tradition have specific and exclusive functions. The Air Combat Command comprises all primary offensive squadrons including fighters, helicopters and scouts. The Air Auxiliary Command comprises miscellaneous aviation including search and rescue, training and replenishment. The Air Transport Command provides transport for both logistics and combat organisations.\nAir Combat Command The Air Combat Command (ACC) provides aircraft and crew for combat air services, including both land and seaborne aviation. The vast majority of these are variants of the No. 8 Casemate fighter jet.\nNo. 1 Aerocombat Wing The No. 1 AC Wing comprises the primary interceptor and air superiority squadrons of the Air Service. No. 1-8 Fighter Squadrons No. 2 Aerocombat Wing No. 9-16 Fighter Squadrons No. 3 Aeroweapons Wing The Aeroweapons Wing consists of the attack helicopter and helijets squadrons of the Air Service, which are organised with Aeroscouts and Aerorifles to produce air-mobile platoons. No. 17-20 Aeroweapons Squadrons No. 4 Aeroscouts Wing The Aeroscouts Wing provides reconnaissance services to the Territorial Service and the interarmes air-mobile platoons. No. 21-24 Aeroscouts Squadrons No. 5 Aeromarine Wing Commonwealth Fleet The No. 5 Aeromarine Wing provides equipment and crew for the Commonwealth Fleet, and comprises the largest naval aviation force in the Air Service. No. 25-31 Marine Squadrons No. 6 Aeromarine Wing Commonwealth Fleet No. 32-33 Marine Squadrons No. 7 Aeromarine Wing Arctic Fleet No. 34-35 Marine Squadrons No. 8 Aeromarine Wing Antarctic Fleet No. 36-37 Marine Squadrons No. 9 Aeromarine Helicopters Wing The No. 9 MHW comprises the bulk of maritime rotary-wing and helijet aircraft, and are located across fleets and naval bases as required. Aeromarine squadrons may be subdivided into Aeromarine sections depending on the needs of the Maritime Service. No. 38-41 Marine Squadrons No. 10 Aerordnance Wing The No. 10 Bombing Wing comprises the strategic bombing aircraft in Vekllei. No. 42-45 Bombing Squadrons Air Auxiliary Command The Air Auxiliary Command (AAC) includes aircraft types not directly associated with other command roles, and encompasses different kinds of aircraft in a support (auxiliary) role.\nNo. 1 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 1 AA Wing provides maritime patrol services to the Air Service as well as the Maritime and Littoral Services. No. 1 Squadron is assigned to the Commonwealth Fleet. No. 1 Maritime Patrol Squadron Commonwealth Fleet No. 2 Search \u0026amp; Rescue Squadron No. 3 Air Firefighting Squadron No. 2 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 4-6 Maritime Patrol Squadrons No. 3 Air Training Wing The Air Training Wing has two squadrons in the Virgin and Oslolan republics, and trains pilots for the Air Service. No. 1-2 Air Training Squadrons No. 4 Air Replenishment Wing No. 1-2 Air Replenishment Squadrons Air Transport Command The Air Transport Command (ATC) supports other services, particularly the Territorial Service, and provides air mobility to Rifles regiments as part of its flexible and rapid-manoeuvre doctrine. When mounted in helicopters and helijets, Rifles regiments are known as Aerorifles, and combine with the crew and equipment of an Aerorifles squadron to form a complete air-mobile platoon.\nNo. 1 Aerotransport Wing The No. 1 Transport Wing services the transport aircraft fleet. No. 1 \u0026amp; 2 Squadrons are land-based and 3 \u0026amp; 4 specialise in maritime transport, and include flying boats. No. 1 Aerotransport Squadron (Government) No. 2-3 Aerotransport Squadron (Strategic Airlift) No. 4 Aerotransport Squadron (Tactical Airlift) No. 2 Aerorifles Wing The Aerorifles are the aircraft and crew component of an interarmes air-mobile platoon, and transport individual infantry regiments. No. 5-8 Aerorifles Squadrons No. 3 Aerorifles Wing No. 9-12 Aerorifles Squadrons No. 4 Aerorifles Wing No. 13-16 Aerorifles Squadrons Equipment\nVekllei aircraft are primarily designed and manufactured domestically, and use mostly nuclear propulsion. Efforts to streamline and simplify inventory in recent years have reduced the overall types of aircraft in service.\nAir Service Aircraft Combat Aircraft\n210 No. 8 Casemate Atomic Fighters 33 No. 7 Demon Atomic Fighters Bombers\n22 Strategic Bombers 16 Medium Bombers Maritime and Patrol Aircraft\n16 Long Range Search \u0026amp; Rescue Turboprop Aircraft 4 Search \u0026amp; Rescue Flying Boats 2 Heavy-lift Search \u0026amp; Rescue Aircraft 50 Seagoing Utility Helicopters 4 Ground Effect Combat Aircraft Tanker Aircraft\n1 Nuclear Replenishment Aircraft 2 Airborne Fuel Replenishment Aircraft Transport Aircraft\n27 Heavy Transport Aircraft 22 Medium Transport Aircraft 18 VIP Transport 24 Strategic Airlifter 12 Tactical Airlifter 4 Ground Effect Heavy Airlifters Helicopters\n42 Attack Helicopters 52 Scout Helicopters 40 Heavy-lift/Utility 20 Anti-Submarine Warfare/Search and Rescue 10 Transport/Utility 60 Transport/Utility 50 Medium-lift/Utility Trainer Aircraft\n20 Primary Trainer Aircraft 15 Training Helicopters Air Artillery Service The Air Artillery Service provides air defence in Vekllei. It operates a variety of emplacements and point defences as part of Vekllei concentric air defence doctrine, but its primary force consists of mobile anti-air and flak systems.\nAir Artillery Command Structure The Air Artillery Command (ATC) consists of\nNo. 1-6 Air Artillery Regiments The No. 1 Air Artillery Regiment Air Artillery Service Equipment Missile Systems\n25 No. 8 Javelin (Truck) 25 Truck 15 Trailer 1200 missile platform 12 Tracked Carriers Man-Portable \u0026amp; AA Guns\n120 guns 1000 missiles 1500 missiles Radar Service Radar Service Equipment Radar Systems\n5 Aerostat Radar Surveillance Balloons 40 Portable Search Target Acquisition Radar 12 Ground Active Electronically Scanned Array 4 Medium Array 40 Counter-battery Radar 20 Giraffe Array Radar Jamming Aircraft\n8 Radar Jamming Aircraft Missiles Service The Missiles Service is the tactical and strategic missile defence organisation of the military. They operate mostly from ground sites across the country, located mostly on isolated islands or in the Arctic. They also operate some rail-mounted launch systems that are stationed deep inside tunnels.\nMissiles Service Equipment Ballistic Missiles\nEstimated 16 No. 3 ICBMs Estimated 40 No. 6 IRBMs Estimated 26 No. 6 SRBMs Estimated 100 No. 2 SLAM Cruise Missiles Trucks \u0026amp; Cars\n80 Multi-Purpose Utility Vehicle 12 Military Truck Land and Army Services # The Territorial Services serve roles traditionally served by army and artillery components.\nTerritorial Service The Vekllei Territorial Service is the closest component to a conventional army in the Vekllei armed forces, and comprises the majority of its professional fighting force. All Rifles regiments are trained as marine infantry, and Vekllei does not maintain dedicated marine regiments. All Territorial regiments are a part of the Commonwealth Guard and are federalised the same way, but are distinguished by their professional service and expeditionary posture.\nIn Vekllei, military units are roughly organised as \u0026lsquo;regiments\u0026rsquo; of 1,000 men and \u0026lsquo;sections\u0026rsquo; of 100.\nOrganisation\nVekllei has a professional combat army of around 45,000 soldiers, 6,000 of which are commandos that suit its expeditionary and interventionist strategic posture.\nIncluding the Guards and Popular Guards, which serve roles as reservists and partisan militias respectively, that number exceeds a million during wartime.\nCommonwealth Rifles Rifles regiments consist of 1,000 men, and can be assembled into larger divisional units. Regiment numbers are administrative only and so can change, and regiments are identified with inherited names with honours instead. All Rifles servicemen are also part of a Guards regiment as per the Vekllei federal militia system. Rifles are mechanised with armoured cars.\nPolicy is to have a standing army 35,000 strong, but Rifles regiments are activated as they are combat-ready, and so the 19th and 20th are often deactivated between training.\nRifles Regiments 1st-20th Rifles Regiments Aerorifles Regiments 21st-24th Aerorifles Regiments Marine Rifles Regiments 25th-32nd Marine Rifles Regiments Special Warfare Regiments 33rd Chemical Regiment 34th Nuclear Regiment Armoured Rifles Regiments The Armoured Rifles are mechanised with infantry fighting vehicles and function as shock infantry. 35th-36th Armoured Rifles Regiments Commonwealth Commandos Commandos in Vekllei are highly trained, professional soldiers with an expeditionary character. While often trained for remote and tactical combat, they are also commonly used to lead interarmes services that include regular rifle infantry.\nThe 1st-3rd commandos include regional special forces sections for polar, equatorial and lunar warfare. The 6th specialises in unconventional and psychological warfare.\nCommandos Regiments 1st-3rd Commandos Regiments 4th Airborne Commandos Regiment 5th Marine Commandos Regiment 6th Special Activities Regiment Commonwealth Javelins Javelin regiments are the Vekllei name for armoured units, and represent the bulk main battle tank force. They are designed to operate with rifles regiments in interarmes formations.\nJavelin Regiments\n1st-2nd Javelin Regiments 3rd Javelin Scouts Regiment Commonwealth Federal Components Commonwealth components are the federal militia and primary reserve force of the Territorial Services. It is federalised by default, and contributes its servicemen for the Rifles and other territorial regiments. As such, all Territorial servicemen are part of a Commonwealth Guards regiment, but in regular service are assigned to active units in other services. Only reservists, trainees and officers remained attached to the Guard while it is federalised.\nGuards units are numbered in context to their home republic, i.e. Oslola has Guards regiments numbering 1st-12th.\nCommonwealth Popular Guards The Popular Guards are the volunteer militia groups found across the country. They reflect the Vekllei concept of the citizen-soldier, and are distinct from regular guards/reservists by their level of training and organisation. They are strictly volunteer, and are raised and organised by gendarmes of the Police of the Parliament. They number perhaps a million if mobilised totally, and would function as a saboteur and partisan force in the event of war.\nCommonwealth Security Service The Commonwealth Security Service is the military police of the territorial service, and primarily provides base security, military intelligence and policing for enlisted servicemen.\nSecurity Service Regiments\n1st Parliamentary Security Regiment 2nd Industrial Security Regiment, Ministry of Light and Water 3rd-4th Security Regiments 5th-6th Strategic Security Regiments 7th Security Intelligence Regiment Commonwealth Patrol Service The Patrol Service is the armed border guard of Vekllei. While all Vekllei borders are found at sea and involve the Littoral Service, the Patrol Service provides onshore security and policing.\nAlthough the service is organised into regiments, their formations are better reflected by their regional sections.\nPatrol Service Regiments\n1st-8th Patrol Regiments Equipment\nTerritorial Service Equipment Main Battle Tanks # 310 No. 4 Sekhmet MBT 21 No. 3 Ordoria MBT Infantry Fighting Vehicles # 300 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (ASLAV) 1600 Infantry Fighting Vehicles Armoured Personnel Carriers # 3500 Armoured Personnel Carriers (Commandos) 1400 Tracked APCs 800 Amphibious Armoured Vehicles 600 Armoured All-Terrain Carriers 460 Armoured Cars Watercraft # 30 Amphibious Cargo Vehicles 24 Mechanised Landing Craft Trucks \u0026amp; Cars # 3,600 Multi-Purpose Utility Vehicle 3,560 Military Truck 30 High-Mobility Transporters Mine-Resistant and Ambush Vehicles # 240 Protected Combat Support Vehicle 180 Armoured Personnel Support Vehicle Engineering Vehicles # 30 Armoured Combat Engineering Vehicles 80 Combat Recovery Vehicles 20 Vehicle-Launched Bridges 72 Armoured Tractors 15 Amphibious Bridging Vehicles 6 Demining Vehicles 12 Mine Detection Vehicles 20 Bulldozers 8 Backhoe Loaders Field Artillery Service Field Artillery Service Structure Field Artillery # 1st-5th Cannons Regiments Artillery Service Equipment Artillery # 52 Rocket Artillery 105 Self-Propelled Artillery 120 155mm Towed Howitzer 80 105mm Towed Howitzer 75 Ceremonial Gun-Howitzer Signals Service Signals Service Equipment 4 Signals Interceptor Aircraft 2 Intelligence \u0026amp; Control Aircraft 6 Early Warning Aircraft The \u0026rsquo;navy\u0026rsquo; as described here is seperate from the Maritime Service, which comprises the naval fleets of Vekllei. It is a broader termp distinct from the maritime and littoral services.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/armed-forces/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 794,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antilles/aruba/",
  "title": "Aruba","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/aruba-4x3.svg","icon": "🌴","rgb": "223, 136, 25",
  "section": "Antilles Commonwealth",
  "description": "Aruba is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the south Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Aruba Republic Island of Aruba Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Antilles Commonwealth Accession 2022, as part of the Curacao Treaty Area 180 km² Capital Playa Languages English, Papiamento, Spanish Population 380,444 The Republic of Aruba is a constituent republic in the western Caribbean Sea north of Venezuela, and part of the country of Vekllei. It is a city-state about 80km northwest of Curacao, and is exceptionally sunny and dry. Trade winds blow throughout the year, even through hot summers.\nAruba forms part of the \u0026ldquo;ABC Islands,\u0026rdquo; originally part of the Holland Caribbean. Together with Caimanas, they form the Leeward Antilles of Vekllei. The life-style there is relaxed, and a fusion of Latin American, Creole and Low Country. The landscape is unusually dry for the Caribbean, and its cacti and dry xeric hills frame the bright and pretty towns of Aruba well. Its capital, Playa, is famous for its brightly painted buildings that line trim canals. Aruba is a cosmopolitan republic, and many people from all over Vekllei and the world have been drawn there by its history and liqueurs, for which it is famous.\nThe islands were originally home to Arawaks, who were displaced by Spanish conquest in the 16th Century. They were taken by the dutch in 1636, who left a considerable impression on the towns and culture of the island until their conquest by the British in the Napoleonic Wars. The economy resembled much of the other Vekllei Caribbean islands until the construction of an oil refinery in the 1920s, which remains there today. Although the oil refinery brought great prosperity to Aruba, the island remained vulnerable to commodity price shocks and entered recession twice in the 20th Century. It joined Vekllei, along with the rest of the ABC Islands, in 2022.\nToday, services and hydrocarbons form the basis of the Aruban economy. The oil refinery in the town of San Nicholas is Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s second-largest, and a pipeline to Venezuela has increased the relevance of Caribbean oil in the global market. Aruba has been a prosperous society since the end of the colonial era, and already had good infrastructure in place at the time of Vekllei accession. As such, its infrastructure is robust, and it has good local civil servants and teachers. They are about three-fourths Catholic, with the remainder being Anglicans or folk religious. Some syncretism is present with the Arawak population.\nAruba is a cultural hub, and is famous for its old-world shows and events. Ballet, classical concerts and painting are all exhibited in the capital. Newer artistic movements with deep roots in Arawak, often written and sung in Papiamento (a local creole) has begun to take root. The island is especially popular with North Vekllei tourists, who come to see its festivals and exotic desert landscape.\nLocals get around the island via the Aruba Tramway, a series of tram lines famous for their open-air and double-decker trams. They start in Playa and stretch north and south, connecting the villages of Paradera, San Nicholas and Nord to the capital. There is an international airport just south of the capital. Ferries offer hydrofoil service to the other ABC islands.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Good Friday 30 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Assumption Day 15 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Republic Day 15 Dec Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Playa: Colourful Dutch-style houses and busy shops, famous for its canals and historic tramways. Palm Beach: Three miles long beach famous for its white sands. Koenoekoe: The dry, windswept countryside that surrounds the capital. Arikok National Park: Protected natural park that showcases well many of the unique plants of Aruba, including the divi-divi tree that has all branches pointing in one direction. North Coast: Sea cliffs and unusual rock formations carved by the trade winds that cross the island. Aruba Complex Oil Refinery: Historic and busy oil refinery that continues to bring great prosperity to the island. Transport Commission: Federal transport commission responsible for transport efficiency and connectivity in the country, headquarted in Praya. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/aruba/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 795,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/as-africa/",
  "title": "AS Africa","logo": "/svg/crests/air-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "aero",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Air Station Africa is a military air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Caimanas.",
  "content": " AS Africa Naval Air Station of Vekllei Location Praia Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Air Service Air Station Africa is a Navy air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Praia.\nResident Squadrons\nNo. 1 Aerocombat Wing No. 3 Fighter Sqdn. Red No. 8 Fighter Sqdn. Rose No. 10 Aerordnance Wing No. 44 Aerordnance Sqdn. Acheron ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/as-africa/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 796,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/as-ascension/",
  "title": "AS Ascension","logo": "/svg/crests/air-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "aero",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Air Station Ascension is a military air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Ascension.",
  "content": " AS Ascension Naval Air Station of Vekllei Location Ascension Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Air Service Air Station Ascension is a Navy air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Ascension.\nResident Squadrons\nNo. 2 Aerocombat Wing No. 10 Fighter Sqdn. Delphi No. 4 Air Replenishment Wing No. 10 Air Replenishment Sqdn. Argonaut ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/as-ascension/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 797,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/as-caimanas/",
  "title": "AS Caimanas","logo": "/svg/crests/air-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "aero",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Air Station Caimanas is a military air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Caimanas.",
  "content": " AS Caimanas Naval Air Station of Vekllei Location Caimanas Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Air Service Air Station Caimanas is a Navy air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Caimanas.\nResident Squadrons\nNo. 2 Aerocombat Wing No. 15 Fighter Sqdn. Maria No. 16 Fighter Sqdn. Atlantic No. 4 Aeroscouts Wing No. 23 Aeroscouts Sqdn. Lighthouse No. 2 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 6 Maritime Aviation Sqdn. Sentinel ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/as-caimanas/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 798,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/as-falklands/",
  "title": "AS Falklands","logo": "/svg/crests/air-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "aero",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Air Station Falklands is a military air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Falklands.",
  "content": " AS Falklands Naval Air Station of Vekllei Location Falklands Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Air Service Air Station Falklands is a Navy air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Falklands.\nResident Squadrons\nNo. 1 Aerocombat Wing No. 7 Fighter Sqdn. White No. 8 Aeromarine Wing No. 38 Aeromarine Sqdn. Hesperus No. 3 Aerorifles Wing No. 9 Aerorifles Sqdn. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/as-falklands/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 799,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/as-kairi/",
  "title": "AS Kairi","logo": "/svg/crests/air-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "aero",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Air Station Kairi is a military air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Kairi.",
  "content": " AS Kairi Naval Air Station of Vekllei Location Kairi Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Air Service Air Station Kairi is a Navy air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Kairi.\nResident Squadrons\nNo. 2 Aerocombat Wing No. 9 Fighter Sqdn. Horus No. 3 Aeroweapons Wing No. 19 Aeroweapons Sqdn. Iskander No. 4 Aeroscouts Wing No. 22 Aeroscouts Sqdn. Sinai No. 5 Aeromarine Wing No. 25 Aeromarine Sqdn. Valour No. 26 Aeromarine Sqdn. Patmos No. 31 Aeromarine Sqdn. Mistral No. 32 Aeromarine Sqdn. Orion No. 9 Aeromarine Helicopters Wing No. 41 Am. Heli Sqdn. Delta No. 2 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 5 Maritime Patrol Sqdn. Pelican No. 3 Aerotransport Wing No. 4 Aerotransport Sqdn. Halcyon ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/as-kairi/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 800,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/as-kala/",
  "title": "AS Kala","logo": "/svg/crests/air-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "aero",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Air Station Kala is a military air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Kala.",
  "content": " AS Kala Naval Air Station of Vekllei Location Kala Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Air Service Air Station Kala is a Navy air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Kala.\nResident Squadrons\nNo. 2 Aerocombat Wing No. 11 Fighter Sqdn. Caribbea No. 14 Fighter Sqdn. Rhodes No. 10 Aerordnance Wing No. 45 Aerordnance Sqdn. Typhon ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/as-kala/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 801,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/as-oslola/",
  "title": "AS Oslola","logo": "/svg/crests/air-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "aero",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Air Station Oslola is a military air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Oslola.",
  "content": " AS Oslola Naval Air Station of Vekllei Location Oslola Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Air Service Air Station Oslola is a Navy air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Oslola.\nResident Squadrons\nNo. 1 Aerocombat Wing No. 4 Fighter Sqdn. Blue No. 3 Aeroweapons Wing No. 17 Aeroweapons Sqdn. Caracal No. 18 Aeroweapons Sqdn. Bastion No. 4 Aeroscouts Wing No. 21 Aeroscouts Sqdn. Argon No. 24 Aeroscouts Sqdn. Oracle No. 6 Aeromarine Wing No. 34 Aeromarine Sqdn. Godthul No. 9 Aeromarine Helicopters Wing No. 40 Am. Heli Sqdn. Pelagia No. 1 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 3 Air Firefighting Sqdn. Pixie No. 3 Air Training Wing No. 7 Air Training Sqdn. Rackham No. 4 Air Replenishment Wing No. 9 Air Replenishment Sqdn. Basilisk No. 1 Aerotransport Wing No. 2 Aerotransport Sqdn. Miracle National Police Aviation School\nThe National Police Aviation School is a constituent school of the Commonwealth Police College that trains Police pilots and specialised air assault tactics to officers.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/as-oslola/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 802,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/as-scatsta/",
  "title": "AS Scatsta","logo": "/svg/crests/air-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "aero",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Air Station Scatsta is a military air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Hetland.",
  "content": " AS Scatsta Naval Air Station of Vekllei Location Hetland Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Air Service Air Station Scatsta is a Navy air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Hetland.\nResident Squadrons\nNo. 1 Aerocombat Wing No. 5 Fighter Sqdn. Green No. 6 Fighter Sqdn. Black No. 7 Aeromarine Wing No. 36 Aeromarine Sqdn. Seraph No. 10 Aerordnance Wing No. 42 Aerordnance Sqdn. Exarch No. 43 Aerordnance Sqdn. Memphis No. 1 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 1 Maritime Patrol Sqdn. Trident National Signals Training School\nThe National Signals Training School is a defence intelligence and electronic training facility for the Navy. It also has a detachment from the Commonwealth Police College.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/as-scatsta/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 803,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/as-verde/",
  "title": "AS Verde","logo": "/svg/crests/air-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "aero",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Air Station Verde is a military air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Costa Verde.",
  "content": " AS Verde Naval Air Station of Vekllei Location Costa Verde Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Air Service Air Station Verde is a Navy air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Costa Verde.\nResident Squadrons\nNo. 1 Aerocombat Wing\nNo. 1 Fighter Sqdn. Navy\nNo. 2 Fighter Sqdn. Gold\nNo. 3 Aeroweapons Wing\nNo. 20 Aeroweapons Sqdn. Phalanx\nNo. 1 Aeroxiliary Wing\nNo. 2 Search \u0026amp; Rescue Sqdn. Clement\nNo. 1 Aerotransport Wing\nNo. 1 Aerotransport Sqdn. (Government) Commonwealth\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/as-verde/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 804,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/as-virgin/",
  "title": "AS Virgin","logo": "/svg/crests/air-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "aero",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Air Station Virgin is a military air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Virgin.",
  "content": " AS Virgin Naval Air Station of Vekllei Location Virgin Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Air Service Air Station Virgin is a Navy air station of the Vekllei Air Service, located in the republic of Virgin.\nResident Squadrons\nNo. 2 Aerocombat Wing No. 12 Fighter Sqdn. Aurora No. 13 Fighter Sqdn. Seraphim No. 2 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 4 Maritime Patrol Sqdn. Corsair No. 3 Air Training Wing No. 8 Air Training Sqdn. Leviathan No. 1 Aerotransport Wing No. 4 Aerotransport Sqdn. Nereid ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/as-virgin/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 805,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antarctic/ascension/",
  "title": "Ascension","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/ac-4x3.svg","icon": "🐢","rgb": "48, 106, 175",
  "section": "Antarctic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Ascension is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the southern Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Ascension Republic Island of Ascension Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Antarctic Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 88 km² Capital Adara Languages English Population 34,232 The Ascension Republic is a constituent republic in the Atlantic Ocean, and part of Commonwealth Antarctic. Rocky, isolated and arid, Ascension is over 1,000km away from Helena, its closest neighbour.\nAscension is home to around 14,000 people, most of whom work for or are associated with the Vekllei World Astroport and the air service base outside the capital, Adara. Its proximity to the equator and strategic centrality in the Atlantic have encouraged military development of the island republic, including air bases, telecommunications facilities, intelligence systems and satellite tracking. It is also home to a large naval dockyard, and rumoured to be part of the Vekllei air-delivered strategic nuclear arsenal.\nAscension was first settled by the UK in 1815, but remained a military outpost until the late 19th Century during the formation of the British Atlantic Territories. When the British Atlantic Territories became the independent Commonwealth of Oceans in 1935, Ascension became a dependent territory of the new country, and eventually inherited membership as a republic in Vekllei in the postwar period.\nAround 90 square km, Ascension is a desert of volcanic lava flows and craters. Green Mountain has most of the island\u0026rsquo;s vegetation, including small forests and land for growing fruits and vegetables, which are watered by small springs and catchment basins.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ascension/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 806,
  "href": "/factbook/maps/ascension-map/",
  "title": "Ascension Map","color": "teal",
  "section": "Map",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/maps/ascension/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 807,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commons/asre/",
  "title": "ASRE","logo": "/svg/logos/ASRE.svg","icon": "🔬","rgb": "243, 133, 43",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commons",
  "description": "The Astro Science Research Establishment is a constituent research organisation of SIRO dedicated to astronomy and space research.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Astro Science Research Establishment (ASRE) is a research organisation of the Ministry of the Commons. It conducts aeronautical and space research in Vekllei on behalf of the ministry and SIRO, and employs about 7,000 people. It conducts mostly scientific research, but its staff do contribute to engineering projects in industry where their expertise is required. Most famously, the ASRE contributed extensively to the Apollo-type thermal reactor, developed in conjunction with General Reactor.\nIn addition to aeronautics and space research, the ASRE operates a number of extraterrestrial facilities on other planets, including Station Mars and Station Venus. It does not however administrate the Vekllei Station Lunar, though it does operate several research stations and laboratories there.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Space Federation: Industrial and academic council of partners that include the ASRE, who help develop and manufacture spacecraft. Commonwealth Space Council: Government commission into space policy and development. Council # Director, ASRE Chief Astro Scientist Officer for Universities \u0026amp; Foreign Industry Director of Extraterrestrial Science Director of Station Mars Director of Station Venus Officer for the Lunar International Settlement Director for Advanced Research \u0026amp; Technology Chief Scientist of the Defence Aerospace Laboratories, DSRE Secretary for Space Settlements, Bureau of Space Officer for Sciences, Bureau of Space Director, SIRO Chairman, Commonwealth Space Federation Chairman, Commonwealth Space Council Departments # General Headquarters Office of Administration Office of Industrial Affairs Office of Research Ethics Office of Universities \u0026amp; Foreign Industry Office of the DSRE Office of Legislative, Foreign \u0026amp; Public Relations Office of the Chief Scientist Department of Aerospace Flight Research Establishment, Ascension Ordada Missile Test Range, Kala National Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Oslola Division of Astrophysics Division of Aerodynamics \u0026amp; Flight Advanced Projects Establishment, Oslola Department of Manned Spaceflight National Telescope, Kala Division of Spacecraft Division of Deep Space Department of Extraterrestrial Science Station Mars Station Venus Office of the International Space Station Office of the Lunar International Settlement Division of Comets \u0026amp; Asteroids Division of Colonisation \u0026amp; Exploitation Department of Tracking \u0026amp; Data Acquisition National Radar Station, Ascension Division of Telemetry Division of Data Processing \u0026amp; Storage Department of Advanced Research \u0026amp; Technology Division of Propulsion \u0026amp; Aerodynamics Division of Materials Division of Physics National Gravity Research Establishment, Karu Life Support Laboratories, Virgin ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ASRE/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 808,
  "href": "/characters/astrid/",
  "title": "Astrid","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Astrid Beaufoy is a young woman who works for the Bureau of Housing with Laura. She loves her job.",
  "content": " Astrid Beaufoy works for the Bureau of Housing with Laura. She loves her job. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/astrid/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 809,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-culture/atlantic-arts-federation/",
  "title": "Atlantic Arts Federation","logo": "/svg/logos/nas.svg","icon": "🏳️","rgb": "255, 129, 0",
  "section": "Ministry of Culture",
  "description": "The National Institute of Fine Arts is the national visual arts museum and arts history organisation of Vekllei.",
  "content": "The Atlantic Arts Federation is a cultural federation and educational institution associated with the Ministry of Culture responsible for providing tertiary arts education, maintaining performance venues and promoting excellence in the fine arts throughout Vekllei. The Federation serves as both an educational institution and a cultural centre, and facilitates a variety of programs to benefit the arts. It is partially funded by the Ministry but otherwise autonomous from it, and the Ministry retains no editorial or administrative control.\nMembers of the federation include schools specialising in different artistic disciplines and professional arts and performance organisations. Through its constituents it arranges exchanges, education programmes, performances, exhibitions and festivals.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Conservatory of Music: Advanced musical education and performance training. Mayaguana Federal Conservatory: Major Kalina school of music at CUWI. Atlantic Theatre Professional training for actors, directors, and theatre technicians. Atlantic School of Dance: Classical and contemporary dance education and company associated with the University of Karu in Karu. National Ballet School: Professional ballet education and company of the University of Karu in Karu. Caribbean Opera Company: Professional opera performances and vocal training. Federation Concert Hall: Primary performance venue for musical events. Commonwealth Artist Exchange: Exchange, placement and residence programmes for Vekllei artists. Commonwealth Art Commission: Government visual arts promotion programmes, including publication of the National Design Atlas. Council # Director, Commonwealth Art Commission Director of Musical Arts Director of Dramatic Arts Director of Visual Arts Director of Dance Performance Secretary, Commonwealth Conservatory of Music Director, Caribbean Opera Company Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture Representative, Professional Artists Guild Representative, Student Council Departments # Council of Musical Arts Congress of Classical Performance Congress of Composition \u0026amp; Theory Congress of Contemporary Music Council of Dramatic Arts Congress of Acting \u0026amp; Performance Congress of Direction \u0026amp; Production Council of Visual Arts Congress of Traditional Arts Congress of Contemporary Practice Council of Atlantic Dance Congress of Classical Ballet Congress of Contemporary Dance ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/atlantic-arts-federation/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 810,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/atlantic/",
  "title": "Atlantic Commonwealth","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/atlantic-4x3.svg","icon": "🌹","color": "vekllei",
  "section": "Commonwealth",
  "description": "Commonwealth Atlantic is a constituent region of Vekllei, comprising 16 island republics in the central and eastern Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Atlantic Commonwealth Constituent Commonwealth of Vekllei Area 3,088 km² Constituents 16 Population 3,901,885 The Atlantic Commonwealth (Vekllei Atlantic) is a constituent commonwealth of Vekllei, comprising formerly Portuguese territories in the eastern Atlantic around 1,400km west of the European continent. Its republics have a warm, oceanic climate and are characterised by conspicuous terrain and lush mountainsides. Many of them are actively volcanic.\nThe majority of the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s republics are clustered in the Azores and Canarii archipelagos, but also includes the islands of Mira and Porto Santo between them. Their unique history and geography give the Atlantic Commonwealth a distinctive culture, and has seen its population grow consistently since joining Vekllei in the postwar period.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/atlantic/","/atlantic-commonwealth/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 811,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/private-industry/atlantic-department-company/",
  "title": "Atlantic Department Company","logo": "/svg/logos/atlantic-store.svg","icon": "👔","rgb": "248, 69, 97",
  "section": "Private Industry",
  "description": "Atlantic is the largest department store chain in Vekllei and sells a range of clothing and cosmetics. It is among the largest privately-held companies in the country.",
  "content": " Read more: Department Commerce Atlantic Department Company Private Corporation of Vekllei Employees 16,000 Founded 1830 Headquarters Oslola Industry Retail Revenue AK ✾ 84 billion Traded ATL SA The Atlantic Department Company S.A., trading as Atlantic, is the largest mainland department store chain in Vekllei. It is among the few companies to survive the transition to the social economy with its ownership intact, and remains within the family of the Kolot family that founded the chain in 1830.\nAtlantic\u0026rsquo;s flagship store is in Lonne, Oslola, but has expanded in the postwar period to have stores in most populous Vekllei republics. It stocks a variety of dry goods, most commonly apparel and cosmetics but also homewares and furniture. Atlantic has a concierge system that allows longtime customers to book fittings and select a preferred attendant and tailor.\nAtlantic is listed as ATL on the Commsec and is the 12th largest company listed in the CRC/CSX 50. It is a preferred distributor of the Vekllei government.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/atlantic-store/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 812,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-culture/atlantic-history-federation/",
  "title": "Atlantic History Federation","logo": "/svg/logos/nhs.svg","icon": "🏳️","rgb": "255, 0, 40",
  "section": "Ministry of Culture",
  "description": "The National Institute of History is the national history museum and archives of Vekllei.",
  "content": "The Atlantic History Federation is a cultural federation and research institution associated with the Ministry of Culture responsible for promoting historical research, conducting museum and collections maintenance and promoting understanding of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s cultural heritage. The Federation serves as a congress of the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s primary historical scholars and contributes substantially to the operation of public museums and educational programmes. The federation also supports regional history and small museums through its constituent organisations.\nThrough its constituents, the federation represents professional historiography in Vekllei. As part of these efforts, it maintains archaeological collections and preserves historical sites throughout the Commonwealth. It also provides historical consultation services to government departments, and publishes scholarly works on Vekllei history and culture.\nConstituents # Commonwealth National Museum: Largest and primary national museum of Vekllei with comprehensive historical collections. Commonwealth Fraternal Society of Archeology: Association of historians engaged in field research and excavation of historical sites. Atlantic Maritime Museum: Naval and maritime history collections and research. Commonwealth Institute of Cultural Studies: Research into traditional customs and contemporary culture. Commonwealth Historical Society: Professional association for historians and heritage workers. Oral History Collection Project: Recording and preservation of personal histories and testimonies. Historic Sites Register: Government register of protected structures and sites. Commonwealth Young Historians\u0026rsquo; Association: Professional association for young historians. Caribbean History Centre: Institute of the Guanima Caribbean School specialising in oral history and Lucayan archeology. Slavery Oral History Programme: Collection and preservation of recorded interviews and testimonies in conjunction with the Commonwealth Central Archives. Carib \u0026amp; Lucayan Oral History Programme: Collection and preservation of indigenous Carib and Arawak cultural history in conjunction with the Commonwealth Central Archives. Council # Director, National Institute of History Chief Historian Secretary for Museum Services Secretary for Archaeological Research Secretary for Heritage Preservation Curator, Commonwealth National Museum Chairman, Council of Historical Research Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Culture Representative, University History Departments Representative, Local Historical Societies Departments # Council of Historical Research Congress of Caribbean Historians Congress of Indiginous \u0026amp; Islander Historians Congress of Colonial Historians Congress of Regional Historical Councils Congress of Contemporary Historians Congress of Naval Historians Congress of Arctic History Congress of Celtic, Scots \u0026amp; Pictish Study Congress of Scandinavian \u0026amp; Viking Historians Council of Curation \u0026amp; Exhibition Congress of Museum Curators Office of Public Programs Office of Conservation Council of Heritage Sites Congress of Archaeologists Congress of Historic Structures Register Office of Cultural Landscapes ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/atlantic-history-federation/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 813,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/atlantic-hotel/",
  "title": "Atlantic Hotel","logo": "/svg/logos/atlantic-hotel.svg","icon": "🏨","rgb": "238, 159, 27",
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "Atlantic Hotel is a government-owned hospitality company that owns and operates hundreds of hotels for Vekllei citizens around the world.",
  "content": " Atlantic Hotel State Corporation of Vekllei Bureau Travel Employees 13,030 Founded 2028 Headquarters Karu Industry Hotels Ministry Ministry of Foreign Affairs Parent Bureau of Travel Revenue AK ✾ 8.6 billion Traded AHO ScL Atlantic Hotel is a hospitality company in Vekllei that manages a portfolio of hotels, resorts, jungle safaris, palaces and spas. It owns 340 properties in over 90 countries, primarily to service Vekllei citizens travelling overseas. Unlike other Vekllei government-owned corporations, the majority of its business is conducted overseas and so operates commercially. It is also unique for its large foreign, waged workforce that are employed in its foreign hotels.\nMost of its locations operate under the Atlantic Hotel brand and operate in the premium and upscale segments of the market. Vekllei citizens have priority booking at these properties and have their stays completely subsidised. Foreigners are also able to book Atlantic properties, and about a third of the hotels operated by the company are located in Vekllei republics. These domestic properties are typically reserved for foreign tourists and businessmen, and are not typically available for Vekllei tourists.\nWhile many Atlantic Hotels were built by the company, it occupies some historic sites. Notable among these is the The Imperial Hotel in London and the Taj Palace Hotel in Mumbai.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/atlantic-hotel/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 814,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/municipal-industry/atlantic-works/",
  "title": "Atlantic Works","logo": "/svg/logos/atlantic-works.svg","icon": "⚙️","rgb": "255, 0, 65",
  "section": "Municipal Industry",
  "description": "Atlantic Works is a heavy industry firm in Vekllei that makes a variety of machinery and tools. It is a municipalised cooperative made up of many constituent workshops.",
  "content": " Atlantic Works Municipal Corporation of Vekllei Employees 14,000 Founded 1916 Headquarters Oslola Industry Heavy industry Revenue AK ✾ 16 billion Traded AWK Atlantic Works is an intermunicipal cooperative business in Vekllei that designs and manufactures heavy equipment and machinery. It comprises a number of constituent workshops ranging from individuals in sheds to large firms with established factories and design teams. About 200 factories, dockyards and manufacturies are associated with the cooperative, which together contribute substantially to engineering independence and sovereignty, as its constituent workshops produce domestic alternatives to hundreds of machines, products and electrical equipment.\nPrior to the war and the founding of the 4th Commonwealth, Atlantic Works was a vertically integrated multinational corporation headquartered in Oslola. At the height of its power, Atlantic Works represented ten per cent of specialised machinery engineering in Europe, and specialised in factory tooling and heavy machinery. The company was municipalised in the Commonwealth period, and effectively broken up into a dozen constituent workshops across the new constituent republic of Oslola.\nToday, Atlantic Works specialises in industrial, electrical, aerospace and vehicle engineering as well as a variety of consumer and commercial machinery. Famous products include the Fairie seaplane and the Coral-series commuter trains found commonly throughout Vekllei.\nMajor Workshops of Atlantic Works\nAdriatic Works Cama (Shipping containers and crates, marine pumping equipment, marine general engineering, desalination equipment) Celtic Works Hetland (Industrial machinery, compressors, machine tools, printing machinery, injection moulding machinery) Rail Works Oslola (Railway vehicles, carriages, multiple electric and diesel units, specialised rail vehicles) Jet Works Caicos (Specialised jet aircraft, including postal seaplanes for CommPost and transport aircraft) Java Works Java (Tools, power tools, construction material) Diesel Works Bahama (Diesel and petrol engines, pumps) Cold Works Barbary (Refrigeration equipment, cooling solutions) Heavy Works Kairi (Boilers, combined cycles, turbines, energy production equipment) Sahara Works Meridia (Iron tools, iron equipment) ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/atlantic-works/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 815,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/bureau-industry/atlantis/",
  "title": "Atlantis","logo": "/svg/logos/atlantis-shipping.svg","icon": "⚓️","rgb": "60, 120, 200",
  "section": "Bureaus",
  "description": "Atlantis is the largest shipping and logistics company in Vekllei. It is a bureau corporation made up of many constituent companies.",
  "content": " Atlantis Industrial Bureau of Vekllei Employees 7,470 Founded 2025 Headquarters Cama Industry Shipping \u0026 logistics Revenue AK ✾ 120 billion Traded ATS SpA The Atlantis Company S.p.A. is a bureau corporation in Vekllei comprising most maritime logistics and shipping business in the country. Its member corporations, including state-owned Commonwealth Lines, represent nearly monopoly power over the Vekllei shipping industry.\nHeadquarted at the deepwater port in Cama, Atlantis is heavily decentralised across Vekllei, and its fleet ranges from wooden trawlers to suezmax container flagships. Unlike other bureaus, constituent corporate branding usually takes precedence over the bureau, and the individual company flag flies above the Atlantis flag.\nAtlantis is listed on the Commsec as NMC, and is ranked 7th on the CRC/CSX 50.\nConstituent Corporations of Atlantis S.p.A.\nCommonwealth Lines Kairi Marine Atlantic International Shipping Company Roma ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/atlantis/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 816,
  "href": "/millmint/patreon/drafts/comic/",
  "title": "Atomic Moderne Chapter 1","icon": "🎐","color": "blue",
  "section": "Patreon",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ Note from the Editor: This draft represents the final copy used as a reference for inking \u0026ndash; the final lines. It\u0026rsquo;s not pretty, but it is legible, and once all the inking and lettering and tone work is done it\u0026rsquo;ll be quite special. There are a couple of pages missing. One between the airport and the cafe, and another to fill out the conversation in the cafe. Those will arrive soon. Thank you kindly for your support. Back to Chapters ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 817,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/automatic-allocation/",
  "title": "Automatic Allocation","icon": "💸","rgb": "110, 200, 134",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Because of the nature of the Vekllei labour force, there is a basic inversion in the efficient use of expensive automatic machinery.",
  "content": " Summary\nIn most economies, high rates of investment into production factors (infrastructure, talent, research \u0026amp; development) produce high-value products that are able to provide returns. In Vekllei, however, expensive automatic machines (like robotics and schematic factories) are most often used to produce goods with little margin or trivial money-value. This represents an inversion of the economic logic of investment, revenues, and profit. The result, however, is that by subsidising the lives of their workforce at great deficit, Vekllei saves much more in its moneyless system by diminishing the greatest expense of most business \u0026ndash; labour, and expertise. This is how, despite running huge deficits of production, Vekllei remains economically competitive, and has extremely high economic productivity. Vekllei is known for its robotics and automatic systems, often controlled by computers. This is not because those things are unique to Vekllei \u0026ndash; they are widely available overseas, and robots were invented in East Germany \u0026ndash; but because they are so visible. Because of the value and fragility of robots, they are usually sequestered in sterile environments where they make economic sense. Robots are a tool of high-end manufacturing: fabricating cars, computers and medicines.\nThis logic is intuitive to anyone. They are expensive, and on an industrial scale, require massive investment upfront. The price of labour in many contexts is much cheaper, and so the market naturally orders itself \u0026ndash; high-end manufacturing uses robots to replace high-skill and error-prone labour, and low-end manufacturing (textiles, agriculture, construction) is performed by people.\nIn Vekllei, however, this logic is inverted. Robots sweep streets, sort mail, manufacture clothes and perform, basically, menial work. This ironically contributes to their reputation as an advanced society \u0026ndash; their robots are simply more visible because they are, wastefully in economic logic, on the street. That is not to say they don\u0026rsquo;t also populate in high-end manufacturing, because they do, but just that there is also substantial investment in their use almost everywhere else.\nOn its face, this practice runs a deficit that would bankrupt any system that tried to replicate it. Robots are expensive, technical, and fragile. But that assumes that Vekllei industrial manufacturing serves an economic purpose \u0026ndash; it doesn\u0026rsquo;t, at least directly.\nThe Vekllei industrial economy, distinct from its moneyless commons, exists to furnish a basic quality of life for its people, and facilitate the real high-value sectors of its social economy \u0026ndash; human expertise. Vekllei people are not typically paid, and so incur a trivial expense on their market. They work for many reasons, many of which are intangible, but are all fundamentally guaranteed by the national investment in the automation of low-skill work. Their robots subsidise valuable human expertise, and valuable human expertise subsidise their robots in a symbiotic inversion of economic logic.\nAlthough described here as an inversion, in abstract it is actually straightforward \u0026ndash; Vekllei automation produces dividends, just not directly. Their practice is simply obscured by the opacity and intricacy of their financial system, and is a good demonstration of why Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s economic successes have not been replicated elsewhere. It is just too bizarre, too risky, and risks a total breakdown of society if the prerequisites of their social economic behaviour are not reproduced.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/automatic-allocation"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 818,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/municipal-industry/avro/",
  "title": "Avro","logo": "/svg/logos/avro.svg","icon": "🚗","rgb": "244, 62, 24",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/police-car.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/police-car_hu2a4fdb1a0a614cf0ef9ade874a3d0273_8888698_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Municipal Industry",
  "description": "Avro is a automotive manufacturer firm in Vekllei. It is a municipalised cooperative made up of many constituent factories and dealers.",
  "content": " Avro Municipal Corporation of Vekllei Employees 1,640 Founded 1835 Headquarters Karu Industry Automotive Revenue AK ✾ 16 billion Traded AVR Avro Auto is an automotive manufacturer headquartered in the Kalinan island of Karu in Vekllei. It is a municipal corporation that has been part of the city of Pitera for over 230 years, when it was founded as a coachworks in what was then the British colony of Karu.\nAvro is the largest consumer automobile manufacturer in Vekllei, and makes a few different models of sedans, estate cars, utility vehicles and city cars for use in autopools and public service in the country. It was an early example of fully-automatic industry in Vekllei, and its assembly lines were fully robotic by the late 1970s. These days, the majority of its 1,600 employees work in design, testing and engineering, and represent the best of Vekllei consumer automotive industrial design.\nAvro cars are well liked because they are generally overbuilt compared to foreign autos. Aggressive standardisation in Avro engines, transmissions and drivetrains give even city cars a light, sporty quality. As a result, they are frequently crashed by unprepared drivers.\nAvro only sells spare parts directly; it otherwise sells automobiles directly to autopools and industrial and government customers. Only around 10% of Vekllei people have a drivers license, and so their most common experience riding in an Avro is sitting in the passenger seat. The company maintains plants in Karu, Oslola and Tenerife.\nThe most popular Avro model is the GTV, a sports sedan used by government and the police, as well as the Avro 100, a compact 2-door city car found commonly in autopools. Avro also manufactures specialised vehicles including the Municipal Police Interceptor, based on the GTV platform, and the Commando Police Armoured Car, a six-wheeled tactical vehicle used by republic police services.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/avro/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 819,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vehicles/avro-commando/",
  "title": "Avro Commando","logo": "/svg/logos/avro.svg","icon": "🚔","rgb": "244, 62, 24",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/police-armoured-car.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/police-armoured-car_hu66ec19aaa29bd91437b2d0825f7be692_8525608_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Vehicles",
  "description": "The Avro Commando is an armoured police vehicle used by republic police services for special operations and emergency response.",
  "content": " Commando Police Armoured Car Armoured Police Vehicle Built 2058-Present Class CMD-Police Crew 3 InService 86 Length 6.2 meters Passengers 8 Speed 100 km/h Weight 12.5 tonnes Width 2.5 meters The Avro Commando Police Armoured Car is a four-wheeled armoured vehicle operated by police services across Vekllei for special operations and emergency response. Introduced in 2058, the Commando serves as a mobile command post and personnel carrier for situations requiring enhanced protection and tactical capability. It is most associated with Police Rifles sections.\nThe vehicle\u0026rsquo;s design is derived from the military CMD-Naval, which is itself a modified license of the Cadillac Gage Commando APC. Avro modified it in consultation with the Ministry of Defence to balance capability with the less militarised character of Vekllei policing. Built on a modified Commando chassis, the Commando features a monocoque armoured hull capable of withstanding small arms fire. Like its military cousin, the CMD-Police is amphibious.\nIn most configurations, a roof-mounted water cannon serves as the primary crowd control system, supplemented by smoke grenade launchers and a spotlight array. Some units retain auxiliary status in the Armed Forces, and include a turret-mounted automatic weapon as part of the militia system, though this remains uncommon.\nInterior layout accommodates a driver, commander and gunner in the forward compartment, with space for eight officers in the rear personnel section. Entry occurs through side doors and a rear ramp. Vision blocks provide situational awareness when buttoned up.\nOslola\u0026rsquo;s police service operates the largest fleet with 31 vehicles distributed across the republic. The illustration depicts unit 61 from Lola Parish. Other major users include Kairi, Karu and Tenerife. Production occurs at Avro\u0026rsquo;s Pitera facility, with approximately 5-8 units manufactured annually. It has seen limited export to the Balkan Federation.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/avro-commando/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 820,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vehicles/avro-interceptor/",
  "title": "Avro Interceptor","logo": "/svg/logos/avro.svg","icon": "🚓","rgb": "244, 62, 24",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/police-interceptor.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/police-interceptor_hu82ba05610e78084cd4a7c131240fa6a1_8757947_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Vehicles",
  "description": "The Avro Municipal Police Interceptor is a sports sedan used by municipal police services across Vekllei.",
  "content": " Municipal Police Interceptor Police Vehicle Built 2055-Present Class GTV-P Crew 2 InService 242 Length 4.8 meters Passengers 3 Speed 240 km/h Weight 1.6 tonnes Width 1.8 meters The Avro Municipal Police Interceptor is a police variant of the popular GTV sports sedan manufactured by Avro Auto. It entered service with municipal police across Vekllei in 2055 and has become the standard interceptor patrol vehicle for most republic police services. The interceptor is particularly common in the Oslola and Kalina, where its distinctive checkered livery is a familiar sight on island roads.\nBased on the civilian GTV platform, the police interceptor features an upgraded suspension system, reinforced chassis and a more powerful version of Avro\u0026rsquo;s standard inline-six engine. These modifications give the interceptor exceptional handling and acceleration. Interior modifications strip out a lot of the creature comforts of the regular GTV. The front seats are reinforced with quick-release mechanisms for rapid exit. The dashboard houses additional radio equipment, a computer terminal linked to the National Bulletin System and emergency controls for lights and sirens.\nDifferent republics have customised their interceptors with local variations. Oslola\u0026rsquo;s police service operates the largest fleet, while Benahoare\u0026rsquo;s municipal police maintain their vehicles in the traditional white and black livery with local parish markings. Smaller island republics often share interceptors between communities, with vehicles rotating on regular schedules.\nProduction continues at Avro\u0026rsquo;s Pitera facility in Karu, with approximately 50 units manufactured annually to replace aging vehicles and equip newly formed police services.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/avro-interceptor/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 821,
  "href": "/characters/ayn/",
  "title": "Ayn","icon": "🥀","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Ayn is a longtime associate of Baron and a maternal figure to Tzipora. She commands an affectionate and stable presence, intelligent and patient in her work and home life.",
  "content": " Ayn Lai-Lebedev 📅 Age 41 🤝 Associates Baron Tzipora 🎂 Birthday August 25th 💔 Dislikes Hot heads ❤️ Likes Houseplants, cold water, bossanova music 💼 Occupation Strategic Analysis Officer, Section 8, Home Office at National Intelligence 🏠 Residence Nike, Borough of the Great Coast, Oslola, Vekllei Ayn Lai-Lebedev is a longtime associate of Baron and a maternal figure to Tzipora. She commands an affectionate and stable presence, intelligent and emotionally secure in her work and home life.\nShe was once engaged to Baron\u0026rsquo;s friend and comrade George Angelopoulos, who perished in the Haiti Intervention. She has remained unmarried and lives a social, if solitary life with a circle of close friends. Upon Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s arrival in Vekllei, she reconnects with Baron.\nAyn was born to Russian and Hong Konger parents, and shares their hybridised surnames. She has the height of her Russian mother and the East Asian features of her father. She has good taste and carries herself well, which Tzipora finds both aspirational and intimidating.\nShe keeps her hair short and looks younger than she is. She smokes and drinks only socially, and otherwise keeps a tidy and modest lifestyle.\nAyn is well put together. Independent, secure, intelligent and a respected source of good advice and wisdom, it strikes people as unusual that she has never married. Other than being old friends, there is not much reason for Ayn to give as much time as she does to Baron and Tzipora, but an affection for the girl and a desire to reconnect with Baron has added a new dimension to her life.\nAyn, Baron and Tzipora all have a sense of grief in their lives, and none of them have much family of their own. It is perhaps this aspect that makes their bonds as strong as they are, navigating social and platonic bonds rather than ones of blood or romance. Ayn is well-read and an adept conversationalist, and shares with Tzipora long conversations about news and politics. She also has a penchant for interesting earrings and Bossanova music.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ayn/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 822,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/lucaya/bahama/",
  "title": "Bahama","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/bahama-4x3.svg","icon": "🛢️","rgb": "25, 153, 62",
  "section": "Lucaya Commonwealth",
  "description": "Bahama (\u003ci\u003eGrand Bahama\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lucayan Archipelago.",
  "content": " Bahama Republic Island of Grand Bahama Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Lucaya Commonwealth Accession 1930, as part of the Alford Agreement Area 1,373 km² Capital Freeport Languages English, Lucayan Population 80,346 The Bahama Republic (sometimes called Grand Bahama) is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the northern and western periphery of the Lucayan archipelago. It comprises a large island known as Grand Bahama, a name sometimes colloquially substituted for the republic, but also additional islets and cays. The largest of its peripheral islands are the Biminis, which support a naval surveillance station. The republic lies just 100km off the coast of Miami, Florida and has a complex history with the American continent.\nThe island of Grand Bahama is fringed by coral reefs that have wrecked many ships throughout history. A permanent Spanish colonial presence was largely dissuaded by the reefs, and as such the island remained largely controlled by indigenous Lucayans throughout the 17th and 18th Centuries. Its geographic proximity but political isolation made it attractive to pirates, who would raid ships using the reefs as cover. Pirates were also known to fight with native Lucayans, whose numbers were greatly reduced by the 19th Century. During the prohibition era in the United States, the island was used for storing and smuggling alcohol.\nToday, Bahama plays an outsized role in Lucayan life. It is highly developed, with good infrastructure supporting a busy industrial sector and trade from all corners of the world. It is sometimes referred to as the \u0026ldquo;gateway to Commonwealth Lucaya\u0026rdquo; for its global connections and booming downtown, and is a common port of entry to Vekllei as a whole. Bahamans are a self-assured and proud people in the tradition of their Lucayan and pirate ancestors, and have a distinctive and assertive way of talking that make them skilled negotiators. The republic has several international schools catering to its foreign working population, and it is not uncommon to hear locals speaking English with an American rather than typically British Creole accent common in the Vekllei Caribbean.\nBahama is the industrial heart of the Lucayan archipelago, and conducts significant trade with the United States and neighbouring Cuba and Hispaniola. The Commonwealth Oil Free Bunkering Terminal is the largest in the Western hemisphere and represents a primary mechanism of foreign oil export in Vekllei. The terminal has an oil refinery attached, mostly processing petroleum for specialised uses from other Vekllei refineries. The city of Freeport has a sophisticated port and automatic commercial shipyard, with a drydock that constructs many Commonwealth-built commercial vessels. It is also home to the largest cement plant in western Vekllei.\nBahama is also a gateway to the Vekllei market for Americans due to its history and proximity to the Floridian coast. Many foreign businesses operate in Bahama, mostly staffed by foreign workers. It is second only to Nema in terms of trade with the Americas. There are several managed timber plantations across the main island, which account for ten percent of Commonwealth supply.\nClimate\nWarm and wet, with a tropical monsoon season. August through October is hurricane season.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Republic Day 26 Feb Good Friday Easter Monday Whit Monday Commonwealth Day 1 May Emancipation Day 1st Mon/Aug Discovery Day 12 Oct Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Lucayan National Park: 16-hectare protected area featuring underwater caves, mangroves, and pristine beaches like Gold Rock Beach. Port Lucaya Marketplace: A vibrant shopping and dining hub offering local crafts, restaurants, and entertainment near the marina. Taino Beach: A popular beach with calm turquoise waters, water sports, and a lively atmosphere for families and tourists. Bimini Naval Surveillance Station: Marine Services surveillance station monitoring shipping and naval traffic throughout Lucaya and the Caribbean. Diesel Works: Engine and pump manufacturer associated with Atlantic Works. Lucaya Refining \u0026amp; Separation Works: Super-refinery serving northern Lucaya cane belt operated by Caribbea Cane. Freeport Container Port: One of the largest transshipment ports in the Caribbean. Commonwealth Oil Free Bunkering Terminal \u0026amp; Refinery: Important industrial facility for oil storage and refining that exports fuel to many partners overseas. Fresh Water Lens: A vital natural aquifer that provides freshwater to the island, supported by modern water treatment facilities. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bahama/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 823,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/baker-class/",
  "title": "Baker-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Baker-Class is a class of aerial warfare destroyer in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Baker-class Air Escort Destroyer Air escort destroyer Built 2029-39 Class No. 11 Baker-class Crew 320 Displacement 8,500 tonnes InService 15 Length 160 meters Service Maritime Service Speed 32 knots Station NS Mira Mira The Baker-class air escort destroyer is a class of aerial warfare destroyer of the Marine Services of Vekllei. They were constructed at Naval Station Mira in the late 2020s and throughout the 2030s to improve the air defence of Vekllei fleets. They serve with the Commonwealth, Arctic and Antarctic fleets to provide air defence and escort capabilities for naval task groups. With a displacement of 8,500 tons and a length of 160 meters, the ship is equipped to operate independently in contested maritime environments. Its production has been succeeded by the Swordfish class.\nPropelled by a Vampire marine nuclear power plant, the Baker-class can maintain a speed of 35 knots, making it among the fastest large Vekllei warships. The crew complement of 320 personnel includes a mix of officers and enlisted sailors trained in various combat and support roles. The class is also equipped with a hanger capable of stowing two naval aviation helijets for anti-submarine and surface combat roles.\nArmament includes the No. 3 Rackham air defence system, utilising its powerful radar dome and to intercept aerial threats at medium ranges. A refit in the 2050s also equipped the class with upgraded dual-launchers for newer No. 6 Shemozzle anti-ship missiles, enhancing its ability to engage large surface targets. For close-range defence, the Baker-class is equipped with a 76 mm gun and a CIWS system to counter incoming missiles and aircraft.\nIn addition to its combat capabilities, the Baker-class performs roles such as surveillance and reconnaissance, operating alongside aircraft carriers (like the Volcanic-class) and other surface ships to protect naval formations.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/baker-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 824,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/balkan-federation/",
  "title": "Balkan Federation","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/balkan-4x3.svg","icon": "♣️","rgb": "180, 0, 3",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "The Balkan Federation is a market socialist country in southeastern Europe spanning the Adriatic and Black Seas.",
  "content": " FSR Balkans Capital Belgrade, SR Serbia Languages Serbo-Croatian, Montenegrin, Albanian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, many others Population 61,392,400 The Federal Socialist Republic of the Balkans (FSR Balkans, commonly the Balkans) is a country in south-east Europe, comprising a large territory south of the alps to the western half of the Bosporous Strait and the city of Constantinople. It is a federal republic made up of historic Yugoslav territories (including Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and others) as well as the regions of Albania, Bulgaria and Romania. It has a socialist economy, but is politically independent of the soviet sphere, and is a major supporter of the non-aligned movement alongside India and Vekllei.\nThe balkans are an extremely diverse country, and ethnic relations are closely controlled. The government is dispersed, with the executive seated in Belgrade but the legal and judicial capitals in Sofia and Constanta. Balkaners have the freedom to live and work abroad, and the country is open to Western tourists and investment.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/balkan/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 825,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/bankruptcy/",
  "title": "Bankruptcy in Vekllei","icon": "📉","rgb": "203, 108, 164",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Although Vekllei businesses do not typically use money, they may be allowed to fail in a fashion that resembles bankruptcy.",
  "content": " Summary\nLarge parts of the Vekllei economy are ostensibly owned by the Vekllei Government. Even though these companies are government-owned, they usually operate independently and some are profitable through foreign trade. While private companies in the domestic market can only effectively go \u0026ldquo;bankrupt\u0026rdquo; through prolonged labour shortages, government companies with accounted revenue can and do go bankrupt. The question then is how the Vekllei state handles bankruptcy of government-owned and major industrial firms, and to what it extent it allows ailing businesses to run at a loss. The question of bankruptcy in Vekllei is hypothetical, since there is no legal mechanism for bankruptcy in court similar to other countries. Despite this, government-owned and public corporations interacting with foreign currencies have overt revenues and losses, and accounted revenue is used by the Ministry of Commerce to rate value and competitiveness.\nThere are many kinds of businesses, government-owned and otherwise, that are informally allowed to run at a loss and have no expectation of turning a profit. Most of these lie exclusively within the Vekllei domestic market, where revenues and expenses are only theoretical. Others, like Commonwealth Airways are expected to minimise expense but could reliably expect to be subsidised in perpetuity. Most such de facto guaranteed corporations occupy monopoly status in their market.\nOthers, however, operate competitively and consequently are expected to be able to fail. These include some government corporations, especially those that compete internationally. In this context, these corporations may be allowed to fail, which would look like this:\nFreezing of debt and revenues via a court injunction. Suspension of executive staff by executive council. Sacking of appropriate staff, particularly those in leadership positions, and replacement by interim staff via the executive council or internally. Restructuring of the company by a specialty firm, located in Vekllei or overseas, and operations reestablished by the executive council. Executive councils in Vekllei are analogous to a corporate board overseas, and consist of persons mostly outside of the corporation. In the event the executive council is unable to assist or implicated in the bankruptcy, the Bureau of Trade can intervene and either reestablish or liquidate the company. Corporations may also be sold to foreign investors and jettisoned from the internal market entirely.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/bankruptcy"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 826,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/barbados/",
  "title": "Barbados","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/bb-4x3.svg","icon": "🔱","rgb": "255, 37, 37",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Barbados is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Barbados Republic Island of Barbados Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 439 km² Capital Indian Bridge Languages English, Bajan Creole Population 1,420,421 The Barbados Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Kalina archipelago, east of Youloumain and northeast of the Aloubaera. Although it is grouped with the rest of Commonwealth Kalina, it is technically an Atlantic rather than Caribbean island, and is relatively flat for an island of its size. It is roughly triangular and densely populated, with most of its residents clustered around the capital of Indian Bridge on the southwest coast.\nUninhabited upon European discovery, Barbados has a long history as a gateway to the Lesser Antilles and South America. The island was settled by the British in the 17th Century and was reincorporated as part of the British Atlantic Territories in 1836. It gained independence along with the rest of the Territories a century later. Like the rest of Commonwealth Kalina, the culture and demography of Barbados is heavily influenced by the legacy of slavery, and the majority of Barbadians are descended from Africans.\nSugar production dominated the Barbadian economy until the mid-20th Century, but the island was forced to diversify as prices and demand fell. It was supplemented by minor reserves of oil and natural gas, as well as fish and sugar derivatives like molasses. In the postwar Vekllei period, the export-heavy economy was corrected to better support its large and urban population through the development of hydroponic and agricultural cooperatives, and municipal manufacturing. Barbados is home to the largest robotics factory in Vekllei, which produces mostly industrial and construction automatons for National Machines.\nA patchwork of farms, mostly privately owned, quilt the wide tracts of arable land outside the capital. Barbados is the most densely-populated island in the Eastern Caribbean, and consequently is well-served by sophisticated Vekllei transport infrastructure. A coastal and interior rail line serve medium-distance routes, and trams and a metro are available in Indian Bridge. Travel to the island is primarily served by Sobers International Jetport and hydrofoils to neighbouring republics, and long-distance cruises also operate from the capital.\nPoints of Interest Kensington Oval: Historic stadium with a strong cricket tradition. Archive Indies: Regional archive of the Commonwealth Central Archives. Gun Hill Barracks: Largest territorial service military base in Commonwealth Kalina with historic, colonial-era barracks and signal station in use. National Motor Vehicle Testing Establishment: Crash testing and vehicle safety establishment operated by the Bureau of Roads and Paths. Farley Hill Estate \u0026amp; National Park: Hilltop mansion with lush colonial gardens. Barbados National Robotics Plant: Largest robotics manufacturing complex in Vekllei owned by National Machines. National Machines Laboratories: National Machines robotics testing and development firm. Barbados Museum: Large, multi-interest museum and headquarters of the local historical society. Combermere School: Among the oldest schools in the Caribbean, founded in 1695. Still operating as a public secondary school today. Bloomsbury Botanical Gardens: Beautiful horticultural gardens maintained by Barbados University. Colonial Hotel School: Historic hotel school founded in 1820, still operating as a hospitality training school today. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/barbados/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 827,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/barbary/",
  "title": "Barbary","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/barbary-4x3.svg","icon": "🪸","rgb": "110, 110, 110",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Barbary (\u003ci\u003eBarbuda\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Barbary Republic Island of Barbuda Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 160.56 km² Capital Freetown Languages English, Barbary Creole Population 58,629 The Barbary Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei on the northeast periphery of the Kalina archipelago, north of Antigua. It is a flat, wooded coral island without a source of fresh water. Its capital and only settlement, Freetown, lies on the edge of Barbary Lagoon in the northwest.\nOriginally inhabited by Arawaks, Barbary was known during the colonial period as Codrington\u0026rsquo;s Island, named for the absentee family that operated it as a slave estate between the 17th and 19th centuries. It was never part of the sugar plantation system, and was struck by two major slave rebellions prior to the outlawing of slavery in the British Empire in 1834. After incorporation into the British Atlantic Territories, Codrington\u0026rsquo;s formerly enslaved residents had autonomy from the dominion and established common farms and fishing grounds. Land during this period was held communally, a practice that continues in the present day. Most residents are black, descended from enslaved people, but there are growing populations of Verde whites and Chinese.\nBarbary has a small, close-knit community that works mostly in local agriculture and municipal goods. The civil service makes up most of its formal revenues, which operates a single hospital and a few schools. Most locals go to Antigua for university. An airstrip in the south offers transport to larger airports as well as a base for recreational flying. Barbary has only has a single commuter rail service \u0026ndash; a tram from Freetown to Coco Point \u0026ndash; and bicycles and mopeds are typically used to get around. The interior of the island is well-wooded, and fringed by accessible beaches of high quality.\nClimate\nWarm and wet, with a tropical monsoon season. August through October is hurricane season.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Good Friday Easter Monday Whit Monday Commonwealth Day 1 May August Monday 1st Mon/Aug August Tuesday 1st Tue/Aug Republic Day 1 Nov Heroes Day 9 Dec Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Barbary Frigate Bird Sanctuary: Protected nesting grounds for the magnificent frigate bird, located in the mangroves on Barbary Lagoon. Darby Sinkhole: Large, 20 meter sinkhole with vegetation. Indian Cave: Coastal cave with freshwater pools and Arawak petroglyphs inside. River Fort: British colonial fort with a tower for gun emplacements. Government House: Colonial-era government house, now the seat of the Barbary Parliament. The Ginnery: Historic warehouse built in the 19th Century, now part of the Barbary Secondary School. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/barbary/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 828,
  "href": "/characters/baron/",
  "title": "Baron","icon": "👔","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Baron is Tzipora's guardian in on way or another. Whether he's a surrogate father, adoptive parent, mentor or friend, his title is unclear but their relationship is close.",
  "content": " Baron Spector 📅 Age 41 🤝 Associates Tzipora Ayn 🎂 Birthday August 25th 💔 Dislikes Unpunctuality ❤️ Likes The news 💼 Occupation Director of Operations, Section 12, Home Office at National Intelligence 🏠 Residence Seispri, Borough of Lola, Oslola, Vekllei Baron lo Ula de Tiria Spector is Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s guardian in on way or another. Whether he\u0026rsquo;s a surrogate father, adoptive parent, mentor or friend, his title is unclear but their relationship is fairly straightforward. Tzipora lives with him in Seispri and his relationship with her is both paternal and respectful as an equal.\nBaron has spent most of his life abroad in some capacity in service of his government, and has few personal connections in Vekllei. He is a distant and serious person, but also mild and unopinionated. He is good at what he does.\nBaron is a Jewish man of middle age with a controlled posture. He has facial hair somewhere between bristle and beard, and a mane of greying brown hair. He is otherwise unremarkable, of about average height and weight, and blends into a crowd easily.\nHe is not a man of strong opinions in domestic concerns, and dresses for work even on his days off. Most commonly he is depicted with a suit or sports coat and tie. He smokes a wood pipe at home and cigarettes going out.\nBaron can be hard to get a read on, but he is not that complicated. His life and lifestyle are informed by his history, both here and abroad. He is basically a lonely figure, neither cynical nor optimistic, neither obedient nor rebellious, navigating his serious responsibilities with competence. His beliefs basically reflect his country\u0026rsquo;s values, if not quite their civilian aspirations.\nTzipora\u0026rsquo;s eccentricity cuts through a lot of this sober attitude, and it\u0026rsquo;s obvious they like spending time together. Tzipora is not that much younger than Baron was when he enlisted with the territorial service, and he has many things in common with her. She is not a needy person and they learn from each other, both trying to figure out how to live their new domestic lives.\nHe has a warm, platonic relationship with Ayn, who completes their household. They have a long history together at different distances, but are important parts of each others lives now.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/baron/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 829,
  "href": "/factbook/state/law/basic-laws/",
  "title": "Basic Laws","icon": "⚖️","color": "purple",
  "section": "Law",
  "description": "The Basic Laws are quasi-constitutional laws describe aspects of Vekllei government not outlined in the Constitution.",
  "content": "The Basic Laws of the Vekllei are a quasi-constitutional laws that inform in detail aspects of Vekllei government and state not provided in the Constitution. They are superior to other types of legislation in the country, and can only be overturned by a supermajority vote in the Senate, a majority referendum of the Commonwealth and approval of the Cabinet. Individual acts of parliament are subordinated to the basic law they are enacted under, and serve both as conventional legislation and amendments to the overall basic law.\nBasic Laws # Basic Laws are broad legislative umbrellas. They outline the general principles and high-level structure for a specific area of Commonwealth life. More detailed, year-dated acts, like the Commonwealth Communications Act (2045), are considered amendments or refinements that sit underneath a relevant Basic Law. This allows for clear, simple organisation and avoids the need for a new Basic Law for every single piece of legislation.\nThe system is designed so that while specific acts can be amended or repealed, the foundational principles enshrined in the Basic Law remain stable and secure. A new Basic Law is only needed when a completely new area of federal authority is established.\nLaw Purpose Commonwealth of Oceans Describes structure and functions of Commonwealth government. Assemblies of Oceans Describes the entitlements, structure and legislative powers of Constituent republics. The Commons Describes and protects the moneyless market system of the domestic markets. The State Economy Describes the financialised commons, and the role of the state in finance and industry. Industry and Living Describes the role of bureaus in the Commonwealth Economy. The Military Describes the role and laws applying to a unified Commonwealth military command. The State Secretary Describes the structure and functions of the Commonwealth and Constituent governments. Human Rights Enshrines rights and freedoms of Commonwealth citizens. Land and Stewardship Enshrines property rights and opportunity of work for Commonwealth citizens. Councils and Democracy Enshrines the right to municipal representation, democracy and labour organising. Commonwealth of Oceans # This Basic Law outlines the fundamental structures and administrative divisions of the Commonwealth government. It includes the legislative frameworks for federal bureaus and departments, as well as the relationships between the Senate, Directory, and Cabinet.\nAmendment Title Year Description Commonwealth Governance Act 2043 Establishes the Bureau of Standards and its role in federal administration. Commonwealth Senate Act 2046 Outlines the election process for the Commonwealth Senate. Commonwealth Archives Act 2051 Establishes the Commonwealth Central Archives and public access to federal records. Commonwealth Organisation Act 2053 Streamlines administrative processes in the Commonwealth public service. Commonwealth Crisis Act 2055 Defines the Cabinet\u0026rsquo;s executive powers during national emergencies. Commonwealth Arbitration Act 2057 Creates procedures for resolving disputes between constituent republics. Commonwealth Consultation Act 2059 Mandates public consultation for all new provisional acts. Commonwealth Territories Act 2061 Establishes governance for non-republic territories. Commonwealth Diplomacy Act 2063 Defines the structure and authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Commonwealth Registry Act 2028 Establishes a centralised registry for all citizens. Commonwealth Defence Act 2030 Creates the Civil Defence Service for disaster response. Commonwealth Works Act 2032 Authorises national infrastructure projects under the Bureau of Public Works. Commonwealth Procedures Act 2035 Standardises rules for the Commonwealth Parliaments. Commonwealth Security Act 2040 Establishes Noshem and domestic security operations. Commonwealth Census Act 2044 Mandates regular national census and data collection. Commonwealth Languages Act 2058 Defines legal status of all 16 official languages. Commonwealth Register Act 2062 Establishes the Commonwealth Register and public access to government data. Assemblies of Oceans # This Basic Law describes the entitlements, structure, and legislative powers of Constituent republics. It sets the ground rules for how the federal government interacts with the sovereign states that make up the Commonwealth.\nAmendment Title Year Description Commonwealth Republics Act 2039 Clarifies boundaries of republic legislative authority. Commonwealth Municipalities Act 2042 Sets criteria for municipal assembly delegate elections. Commonwealth Finance Act 2045 Defines republic financial independence and federal subsidies. Commonwealth Travel Act 2048 Standardises travel rules and establishes Atlantic Hotel. Commonwealth Immigration Act 2050 Establishes republic rights to manage immigration policies. Commonwealth Localities Act 2052 Provides framework for new administrative divisions. Commonwealth Police Act 2054 Defines Police forces\u0026rsquo; legal authority and jurisdiction. Commonwealth Environment Act 2026 Sets minimum environmental standards for all republics. Commonwealth Courts Act 2058 Establishes structure of republic-level courts and tribunals. Commonwealth Culture Act 2060 Establishes the Ministry of Culture mandate. Commonwealth Access Act 2062 Guarantees federal services access for all republics. The Commons # This Basic Law describes and protects the moneyless market system of the domestic markets, as the foundation of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s unique economic model.\nAmendment Title Year Description Commonwealth Participation Act 2029 Defines process for businesses to enter the commons system. Commonwealth Resources Act 2031 Outlines extraction and distribution of raw materials. Commonwealth Professions Act 2023 Establishes legal framework for professional licensing. Commonwealth Rationing Act 2033 Establishes temporary rationing during national shortages. Commonwealth Inventory Act 2035 Creates record-keeping system for commons transactions. Commonwealth Crafts Act 2037 Establishes rules for handcrafted goods distribution. Commonwealth Services Act 2040 Regulates service exchange without currency. Commonwealth Works Directive 2043 Mandates minimum annual public works projects. Commonwealth Emergency Act 2046 Outlines emergency supply and service distribution. Commonwealth Disputes Act 2049 Establishes legal process for commons market disputes. The State Economy # This Basic Law describes the financialised commons, and the role of the state in finance and industry. This governs international trade and state-owned enterprises.\nAmendment Title Year Description Commonwealth Production Act 2038 Outlines nationalisation of key industries. Commonwealth Banking Act 2040 Establishes the Commonwealth Bank and state financial services. Commonwealth Securities Act 2049 Regulates the Commonwealth Securities Exchange. Commonwealth Trade Act 2052 Governs international trade, tariffs and quotas. Commonwealth Investment Act 2055 Regulates foreign companies operating within Vekllei. Commonwealth Currency Act 2058 Defines rules for managing foreign currency reserves. Commonwealth Enterprise Act 2061 Establishes the Bureau of Commonwealth Corporations. Commonwealth Revenue Act 2063 Establishes framework for international trade taxation. Industry and Living # This Basic Law describes the role of bureaus in the Commonwealth Economy, including healthcare, education, and infrastructure.\nAmendment Title Year Description Commonwealth Health Act 2023 Establishes universal healthcare and the Parliament of Health. Commonwealth Education Act 2035 Establishes free education and the Parliament of Education. Commonwealth Transport Act 2048 Establishes CommRail and Commonwealth Airways. Commonwealth Housing Act 2050 Establishes housing rights and the Bureau of Housing. Commonwealth Water Act 2053 Establishes the Bureau of Water and water resource regulation. Commonwealth Sanitation Act 2056 Establishes national waste disposal and recycling standards. Commonwealth Nutrition Act 2062 Sets mandatory food production and nutrition standards. Commonwealth Arts Act 2045 Establishes the Atlantic Arts Federation and Commonwealth Art Commission. Commonwealth Research Act 2055 Establishes SIRO and scientific research funding. Commonwealth Telecommunications Act 2060 Establishes the Bureau of Post and Telecommunications. The Military # This Basic Law describes the role and laws applying to a unified Commonwealth military command.\nAmendment Title Year Description Commonwealth Forces Act 2025 Establishes the structure and command of the Armed Forces. Commonwealth Military Law Act 2028 Defines the legal system for military personnel. Commonwealth Maritime Act 2032 Establishes the Maritime Service and its responsibilities. Commonwealth Aerospace Act 2036 Establishes the Air Service and satellite oversight. Commonwealth Recruitment Act 2041 Sets standards for voluntary military service. Commonwealth Veterans Act 2044 Provides care and support for military veterans. Commonwealth Borders Act 2047 Defines border security forces\u0026rsquo; authority. Commonwealth Military Research Act 2050 Governs military technology funding and oversight. Establishes the DSRE. Commonwealth International Military Act 2053 Establishes framework for military interventions and alliances. Commonwealth Service Act 2059 Outlines military conscription system. Commonwealth Intelligence Act 2034 Defines scope of military intelligence gathering. Commonwealth Signals Act 2039 Protects military and government communications. Commonwealth Mobilisation Act 2043 Provides framework for military force mobilisation. Commonwealth Space Act 2051 Establishes framework for military operations in space. The State Secretary # This Basic Law describes the structure and functions of the Commonwealth and Constituent governments, providing the framework for public administration.\nAmendment Title Year Description Commonwealth Service Code 2030 Establishes ethical standards for all civil servants. Commonwealth Reorganisation Act 2034 Provides framework for reorganising federal bureaus. Commonwealth Appointments Act 2038 Outlines process for appointing Cabinet Ministers. Commonwealth Records Act 2042 Governs creation and maintenance of government records. Establishes the Bureau of Records and Correspondence. Commonwealth Secrets Act 2046 Defines classified information status and penalties. Commonwealth Pensions Act 2049 Establishes pension system for Commonwealth civil servants. Commonwealth Foreign Agents Act 2052 Requires foreign entities to register their agents. Commonwealth Protection Act 2055 Provides protection for civil servants reporting misconduct. Commonwealth Training Act 2058 Mandates professional development for civil servants. Commonwealth Press Act 2061 Establishes media protections and access limitations. Governs the Bureau of Press and News Media. Commonwealth Communications Act 2032 Governs internal and external government communications. Commonwealth Drafting Act 2035 Establishes standardised legislative drafting process. Human Rights # This Basic Law enshrines rights and freedoms of Commonwealth citizens, including protections for personal data and communications.\nAmendment Title Year Description Commonwealth Communications Act 2045 Establishes Communications Bureau and public media principles. Commonwealth Privacy Act 2047 Provides citizen data protection and digital service regulation. Commonwealth Information Act 2052 Guarantees public access to government information. Commonwealth Discrimination Act 2055 Prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and public services. Commonwealth Religions Act 2058 Guarantees freedom of religious practices and beliefs. Commonwealth Assembly Act 2061 Regulates public gatherings and protests. Commonwealth Criminal Advocates Act 2035 Defines and prohibits speech inciting violence or discrimination. Commonwealth Pregnancy Act 2040 Guarantees access to reproductive healthcare. Commonwealth Traditions Act 2049 Provides framework for preserving indigenous cultural practices. Commonwealth Counsel Act 2056 Guarantees right to legal representation. Land and Stewardship # This Basic Law enshrines property rights and opportunity of work for Commonwealth citizens, governing how land is used and protected.\nAmendment Title Year Description Commonwealth Agriculture Act 2030 Regulates land use for agricultural purposes. Commonwealth Lands Act 2034 Establishes framework for managing public lands and forests. Commonwealth Property Act 2038 Outlines legal process for property transfers between citizens. Commonwealth Resources Act 2042 Defines ownership and use of water and mineral resources. Commonwealth Environment Act 2050 Establishes framework for environmental protection. Commonwealth Coastal Act 2054 Regulates development and use of coastal areas. Commonwealth Wildlife Act 2058 Establishes protections for endangered species and habitats. Commonwealth Development Act 2062 Provides framework for city planning and urban renewal. Commonwealth Preservation Act 2032 Protects and preserves historic sites and buildings. Commonwealth Restoration Act 2036 Creates framework for restoring degraded lands. Commonwealth Oceans Act 2040 Regulates ocean resources and marine protected areas. Councils and Democracy # This Basic Law enshrines the right to municipal representation, democracy, and labour organising, detailing direct democracy and community participation.\nAmendment Title Year Description Commonwealth Municipal Act 2029 Defines structure and powers of municipal assemblies. Commonwealth Labour Act 2033 Establishes legal rights of labour unions and right to strike. Commonwealth Referendum Act 2037 Outlines legal steps for citizen-led referendums. Commonwealth Forums Act 2041 Guarantees right to public debate on legislative matters. Commonwealth Leadership Act 2045 Defines process for electing local community representatives. Commonwealth Voting Act 2049 Establishes secure voting system for municipal elections. Commonwealth Petitions Act 2053 Provides process for citizens to petition local assemblies. Commonwealth Co-operatives Act 2057 Establishes framework for co-operative businesses. Commonwealth Transparency Act 2061 Requires municipal meetings and records be publicly accessible. Commonwealth Recall Act 2035 Provides process for recalling elected officials. Commonwealth Civic Education Act 2048 Mandates civic education standards in public schools. Commonwealth Tribunals Act 2055 Establishes framework for community-based dispute resolution. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/basic-laws/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 830,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/atlantic/benahoare/",
  "title": "Benahoare","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/benahoare-4x3.svg","icon": "🍌","rgb": "249, 150, 51",
  "section": "Atlantic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Benahoare (\u003ci\u003eLa Palma\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the North Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Benahoare Republic Island of La Palma Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Atlantic Commonwealth Accession 2020, as part of the Canary Delegation Area 708.32 km² Capital Tedote Languages English, Portuguese, Canarii Benahoarita Population 125,064 The Benahoare Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic Ocean, at the western reach of the Canary archipelago. Its central and most distinctive geographic feature is a massive cauldron, and the southern half of the island contains a range of active volcanos. The island is roughly pear-shaped, and densely forested with Canari Pines.\nBenahoare is an ancient civilisation at a confluence of continents and culture. It was known to early Portuguese navigators as La Palma, but retains its melodious Canarii name in today in the Commonwealth period. The island stands as a fine example of the remarkable cultural synthesis found throughout the Atlantic Commonwealth, and when the Treaty of Tordesillas drew its fateful line through the Canary archipelago in 1494, it inadvertently preserved one of Europe\u0026rsquo;s most sophisticated indigenous civilisations.\nThe Benahoaritas had spent centuries trading pottery, goat cheese and intricate basketwork with Berber merchants from the Moroccan coast. Like other Canariis they arrived there some 1,500 years ago from the Sahara, and are closely related to the Berbers of Northwest Africa. Over time, they developed a complex society that established strong connections with North African commercial networks. Their terraced agricultural systems, still visible today cascading down the volcanic slopes, supported a population that grew steadily over succeeding centuries.\nPortuguese colonisation arrived in 1585, at first following the lusotropicalist model developed in Goa rather than the harsh extraction typical of the Guinea coast. The Benahoaritas\u0026rsquo; existing syncretic Catholic influences, acquired through centuries of Moroccan trade connections, was encouraged and eased their integration into Portuguese imperial Christianity while prohibiting Islamic worship introduced by the North Africans.\nThe island is home to a number of unique religious practices, including the famous \u0026ldquo;whistling masses\u0026rdquo; conducted partially in the ancient Silbo Benahoarita language that carries across mountain valleys. Benahoaritas still carry a lot of North African influence in their customs and costumes \u0026ndash; elaborately embroidered headscarves and flowing robes that serve both practical and ceremonial purposes, worn with silver jewellery that betrays unmistakably Berber influences in its geometric patterns.\nThe local economy thrives on specialised agriculture \u0026ndash; the famous Benahoare bananas, grown on precipitous terraces passed down through forty generations \u0026ndash; as well as the physical sciences and astronomy. The capital, Tedote, is small for the Canaries but has a splendid new Commonwealth University campus nearby. It also serves as a gateway to the villages and homesteads that fringe the island\u0026rsquo;s famous volcanic cauldron.\nThere is a rail line that circles most of the coast operated by the Benahoare Railway Company, and another that follows the mountain range and cauldron. The republic is a sublime hiking destination and has countless trails through its valleys, ranges and pine forests. Most visitors to the island come for these walks. Ferries link the island to the rest of the archipelago.\nBenahoaritas speak a dialect of Canarii in day-to-day life, supplemented by Silbo whistling where necessary and English at work and school. Portuguese is commonly spoken in households, and contributes many loanwords to their Canarii dialect.\nClimate\nSomewhat mediterranean, arid and cloudier than most of the other canaries.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Epiphany 6 Jan Republic Day 6 Feb Good Friday Easter Commonwealth Day 1 May Canary Day 8 Jun Our Lady of the Snows Day 5 Aug Assumption Day 15 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Feast of Imm. Con. 8 Dec Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest Benahoare Cauldron: Massive volcanic crater with hiking trails. Our Lady of the Snows Observatory: Among the finest observatories in the world and a key part of the Vekllei space programme. University of Benahoare: Regional campus of Commmonwealth University specialising in astronomy. Benahoare National Park: Massive forested mountain range with volcanos and trails. Commonwealth Inspector Training School: Special Police training school for detectives and inspectors operated by the Commonwealth Police College. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/benahoare/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 831,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/bethlehem-psychiatric-hospital/",
  "title": "Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital","logo": "/svg/logos/bethlehem-hospital.svg","icon": "⚕️","color": "green",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "The Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital is a mental asylum and sanitorium on Scallop Island in the western Caribbean.",
  "content": " Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital Psychiatric Hospital Employees 1,300 (variable) Founded 1904 Headquarters Paria Industry Psychiatric Care Ministry Parliament of Health Parent Bureau of Public Health Patients 6,000 ScL Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital, often Bethlehem Hospital or just Bethlehem, is a medical facility that caters to convalescing patients suffering from psychiatric disorders in Vekllei as an autonomous corporation of the Bureau of Public Health. It is located in the republic of Paria on Scallop Island, which is dedicated solely to the hospital and its extensive grounds. It was first established there in 1904 as a leper hospital, but became a ruin after its closure in 1968. It was renovated and reestablished by the Commonwealth Government in 2021 to serve as a voluntary hospital dedicated to extended recovery. A healthy wood of pines and eucalypts covers most of its interior, and the island is famous for its beaches of white sand. The pleasant grounds and weather are supposed to ease mental anguish and provide a calmer environment for recovery among its patients.\nThe hospital maintains a grounds across the entire island, which covers about 16,000 acres. Most of its facilities are concentrated in its south and south-east, with the remainder dedicated to woodland and some agriculture. The hospital campus is divided into sections depending on risk and the level of psychiatric care required, and includes a number of constituent facilities and clinical asylums.\nConstituent Asylums \u0026amp; Facilities of Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital\nPinel Asylum\nRoman Asylum\nCorpus Christie Psychiatric Hospital\nFederation Sanitorium\nMother Mary of Bethlehem Chapel\nPalace Baths \u0026amp; Pools\nDominican \u0026amp; Parian Gardens\nPearl Woods\nEucalypt Forest\nThe Orchards\nVarious food gardens and farmland\nTennis Courts, Oval \u0026amp; Cricket Pitch\nGymnasium for indoor sports and athletics\nSecure Beach\nReddy Acre Dock \u0026amp; Processing Facility\nBethlehem Airfield\nThe physical appearance of the hospital is much like a resort, with central towers in its south with accomodation and medical wards, tennis courts, gardens, beaches and a chapel. The main campus area covers around 300 acres. The rest of the island is covered by woodland and orchards that are criss-crossed with paths and boardwalks, which are accessible to certain patients and staff. The island produces much of its own food, grown in gardens and farmland around the main campus. A lot of sculpture is created in therapy there, examples of which can be found all over the island.\nBethlehem is a voluntary hospital, and patients must elect to transfer to it. Medical psychiatry in Vekllei is typically performed locally, and involuntary psychiatric holds are actioned in hospitals or dedicated facilities. As such, patients of Bethlehem must be well enough to consent to transfer. The purpose of Bethlehem is to serve as a place of escape for the mentally unwell, and to aid recovery through convalescence and physical seperation from contributing ailments. Many of its patients suffer from depression, suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder, eating disorders or schizophrenia among others.\nDespite its physical isolation, the hospital is well-connected to the Vekllei medical system and is inspected regularly. Standards of staff are high \u0026ndash; perhaps the highest in the Vekllei psychiatric system \u0026ndash; and the employment of former patients is common practice. It is thought former patients are better equipped to empathise with and manage psychiatric disorders, and they make up about half of nurses on the island. There are about 6,000 patients on the island, most of whom are admitted for periods between three and sixteen months.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bethlehem-hospital/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 832,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antilles/bonaire/",
  "title": "Bonaire","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/bonaire-4x3.svg","icon": "🦩","rgb": "150, 53, 216",
  "section": "Antilles Commonwealth",
  "description": "Bonaire is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the south Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Bonaire Republic Island of Bonaire Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Antilles Commonwealth Accession 2022, as part of the Curacao Treaty Area 288 km² Capital Coral Languages English, Papiamento, Spanish Population 40,493 The Republic of Bonaire is a constituent republic in the western Caribbean Sea north of Venezuela, and part of the country of Vekllei. It is found at the eastern end of an island chain including Aruba and Curacao, which together comprise the ABC islands. The capital is Coral, a derivative of the dutch name for its original settlement.\nThe northern part of the island is hilly, while the south is flat and dry and marked by an expansive solar salt works. The island is slightly banana-shaped, and curves around an island known as \u0026lsquo;Little Bonaire.\u0026rsquo; Dry breezes score the island for much of the year, provoked by the strong trade winds to the north-east.\nThe history of the islands, originally uninhabited, is particularly grim even for the Caribbean \u0026ndash; Bonaire was used by Dutch colonisers as a slave market, providing slaves to other Dutch islands to be exploited in plantations there. This legacy is clear in the majority African population that lives there today, in addition to Caribbean Indians and some Southern Europeans.\nThe island is famous for its colourful birds, beaches, and large salt flats in its south. The American Flamingo breeds there, and can be seen standing in the solar salt pools throughout the year. Life there is easy and quiet, and many young Bonaireans leave for Curacao or Aruba to seek out opportunity and excitement before returning later in life. They have a strong republican identity, and are proud of the comparative hardships and smallness of their island.\nAgriculture in Bonaire is limited by its shortage of fresh water, and sustains only the local population. Its main exports \u0026ndash; aloes and salt \u0026ndash; require no water. Aloes are grown mostly in plantations in the hills above the capital, whereas salt is harvested by a municipal company from the large salt flats that dominate the south of the island. This salt, like many Vekllei exports, is mostly for domestic consumption and aids national self-sufficiency. There is very little heavy industry in the republic, though there is a large oil terminal for crude derivatives on the northwest coast. The terminal is a part of the broader ABC islands oil industry, and has close links with the super-refineries in Aruba and Curacao\nA railway runs from the town of Rincon to the capital of Coral, and then south towards the salt walks. There is a local tram network and airport in Coral, as well as ferry service to Curacao.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Good Friday 30 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Assumption Day 15 Aug Republic Day 6 Sep All Saints Day 1 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Hotel Bonaire: Historic hotel with sports facilities \u0026ndash; one of the few operating hotels in the ABC islands. Pekelmeer: Flamingo sanctuary and site of historic slave and penal huts that housed salt workers. Boca Onima: Fine beach with caves filled with Arawak Indian art on the northwest coast. Cai Beach: Beautiful beach famous for its pink conch shells. Bonaire Municipal Salt Works: Centuries-old solar-evaporation salt works. Bonaire Municipal Oil Terminal: Oil storage facility operated by Commonwealth Oil ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bonaire/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 833,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/verde/brava/",
  "title": "Brava","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/brava-4x3.svg","icon": "🌳","rgb": "244, 118, 12",
  "section": "Verde Commonwealth",
  "description": "Brava is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Cabo Verde archipelago off the coast of West Africa.",
  "content": " Brava Republic Island of Brava Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Verde Commonwealth Accession 1945, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 62.51 km² Capital Nova Sintra Languages English, Verde Creole, Portuguese Population 15,031 The Brava Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic, found at the southern tip of the inward crescent of the Cabo Verde archipelago. It is the smallest island of the archipelago, and is much greener than its neighbours. It measures about 10km across, and its silhouette is dominated by Monte Fontainhas, which slopes down to a coastline largely fringed by cliffs.\nOnly about 15,000 people live there, and most of them live in the capital of Nova Sintra. The town was originally settled on the coast, but was forced inland by regular pirate raids that devastated early life there. Many Bravans are descended from neighbouring Fogo, and fled after much of the island was overcome by lava floes in the late 17th Century. In the 18th Century, the island mostly exported textile dyes, and also served as an important port for whaling operations around the Azores and Canary island groups.\nLike many Verdean islands, the sharp volcanic relief of Brava fosters a diverse climate despite its small size. The interior of the mountain is substantially wetter and cooler than the coasts, and the peak of Monte Fontainhas is often cloaked in clouds. Although the mountain is volcanic, it has not erupted in thousands of years, though the island is still struck by earthquakes that indicate its shifting topology. Several islets surround the main island, but all of them are uninhabited.\nMost Bravans live in Nova Sintra, a pretty and terraced town that grows a lot of coffee and oranges. The only secondary school on the island is located there, as is its only hospital. The main port of the republic is located some ways north in the town of Furna, which is especially pretty. A cable tram line runs from Furna to the capital and onwards towards two distant towns. There are some abandoned settlements in the south and east of the island, mostly comprising former plantations or villages that were depopulated over time. There is a brewery in the capital that produces a unique local beer, infused with orange peel.\nOutside of the city centre, most homes on the island are homesteads and practice municipal agriculture. There is a small seafood processing factory in Furna but otherwise no major industry to speak of in the republic outside of municipal goods and the civil service. There are also no airports in the republic, which is scored by vicious winds. Ferries leave from Furna each day for Fogo and Praia.\nClimate\nModerate and dry, with a cooler mountainous interior.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Heroes Day 20 Jan Republic Day 3 Mar Good Friday 30 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Assumption Day 15 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest Nova Sintra: The charming capital town of Brava, known for its colonial architecture, flower-filled gardens, and the statue of Portuguese poet Eugénio Tavares. Fajã de Água: Scenic coastal village with natural swimming pools, surrounded by dramatic cliffs and crystal-clear waters. Nossa Senhora do Monte: Picturesque mountain village with a historic church, known for its serene atmosphere and annual pilgrimages. Monte Fontainhas: The highest peak on Brava. Santa Bárbara Beach: A black-sand beach with stunning volcanic landscapes, ideal for relaxation and coastal exploration. Mato Grande: A lush valley with terraced fields and traditional farming practices. Festival of São João Baptista: Celebrated in June, this vibrant festival includes traditional music, dance, and cultural events across Brava. Port of Furna: The lifeline for Brava’s economy and supplies, this port facilitates essential cargo shipments, inter-island trade, and ferries connecting Brava to other islands, especially to Fogo and Santiago. Community Fishing Co-ops: Local cooperatives focused on sustainable fishing, a vital part of Brava\u0026rsquo;s culture and economy, working from small piers and ensuring fresh fish supplies for both locals and exports. Hydroponic Farms: Due to Brava\u0026rsquo;s mountainous terrain, innovative hydroponic farming has emerged, producing lettuce, herbs, and tomatoes with minimal water use. Historic Water Cisterns: Traditional rainwater harvesting systems found in villages like Cova Joana, which play a crucial role in managing water resources for drinking and agriculture on the arid island. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/brava/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 834,
  "href": "/series/bulletin/",
  "title": "Bulletin",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 835,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/",
  "title": "Bulletin","icon": "🧾","color": "blue",
  "section": "Factbook",
  "description": "Bulletins are concepts that are written as short, matter-of-fact notes on Vekllei life and society.",
  "content": "Bulletins are concepts that are written as short, matter-of-fact notes about live in Vekllei. Most are less than 300 words, and help flesh out aspects of society without committing to the research and illustrations of a full article.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 836,
  "href": "/series/bureau/",
  "title": "Bureau",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 837,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commonwealth/bureau-of-accreditation/",
  "title": "Bureau of Accreditation","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commonwealth.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commonwealth",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commonwealth",
  "description": "The Bureau of Accreditation establishes professional standards, certifies qualifications, and maintains professional registers across all Commonwealth ministries.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Accreditation is a bureau of the Ministry of the Commonwealth responsible for establishing professional standards, certifying qualifications and maintaining professional registers across all Commonwealth ministries and departments in Vekllei. The bureau ensures consistency in professional competency standards and also facilitates professional mobility between different government sectors.\nThe bureau operates the civil servant exam, maintains professional registers and coordinates with educational institutions to establish curriculum standards where they overlap with government recruitment. It also oversees continuing professional development requirements and manages inter-ministerial professional exchange programs across the Commonwealth.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Professional Register: Central database of all public servants in government service. Public Sector Examination Board: Design and administration of professional certification examinations. Commonwealth School of Public Service: Training and continuing education for government professionals. Public Service Tribunal: Disciplinary proceedings and professional conduct oversight. Council # Director, Bureau of Accreditation Chief Analyst Officer for the Commonwealth Officer for Devolution Representative, Ministry of the Commons Representative, Ministry of Culture Representative, Ministry of Industry Representative, Parliament of Health Director Curriculum \u0026amp; Qualifications Council Chairman, Public Sector Examination Board Deputy Minister Ministry of the Commonwealth Departments # Devolved Ministry Sections Antarctic Section Antilles Section Arctic Section Atlantic Section Kalinan Section Lucayan Section Verdean Section Volcanic Section Department of Public Service Internal Commission Analysis Office Public Service Commission Public Service Award Committee Department of Examinations Office of Examinations Office of Certifications \u0026amp; Qualifications Department of the Commonwealth Exchange Office Office of the Commonwealth Office of Devolution Office of the Superior Ministries Office of Foreign Qualifications ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-accreditation/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 838,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commons/bureau-of-aerospace/",
  "title": "Bureau of Aerospace","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commons.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commons",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commons",
  "description": "The Bureau of Aerospace oversees aerospace transport and facilities for the Ministry of the Commons.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Aerospace is a bureau of the Ministry of the Commons responsible for policy, administration and operation of aerospace transport in Vekllei. It incorporates almost all functions necessary for the provision of air transport in a country, including the operation of airports and airstrips, training and employment of air traffic controllers, and provision of emergency search and rescue services, including runway tenders.\nThe bureau has a large stake in the development and manufacture of Vekllei aircraft through its constituent corporations and commissions. In addition, the bureau monitors and manages Vekllei airspace as part of the National Airspace System, and licenses civilian and commercial pilots through the Civil Aviation Register.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Airways Flag carrier and national airline of Vekllei. Commonwealth Starlines Subsidiary of Commonwealth Airways providing space transport services. Government Aircraft Factories Major (civilian) aircraft manufacturer. Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Major (military) aircraft manufacturer. Commonwealth Personal Aviation Federation: Commonwealth Air Traffic Services: National traffic control services. Commonwealth Civil Flight Squadron: Civilian flying unit for equipment calibration, testing, aerial photography and inspection. Commonwealth Air Safety Authority: Independent aerospace safety regulator and incident investigator. Atlantic Air Traffic Information Service: Nationwide flight pattern and air traffic information system. Civil Signals Training Establishment: Training office for Air Engineers and Air Traffic Controllers. Civil Aviation Register: Licensing of civilian and commercial pilots. Council # Director, Bureau of Aerospace Secretary for Flight Safety Secretary for Flight Traffic Control Secretary for Ports \u0026amp; Cosmodromes Officer for Inspection Secretary for Flight Security \u0026amp; Materials Secretary for Airspace Secretary for Transport \u0026amp; Supply, Bureau of Space Deputy Minister, Ministry of the Commons Executive, Commonwealth Air Traffic Services Executive, Commonwealth Airways Director, Commonwealth Air Safety Authority Departments # Department of Flight Safety Department of Flight Traffic Control Office of Civil Signals Office of Communications Department of Ports \u0026amp; Cosmodromes Office of Inspection Office of Water Airports Office of Jetports Office of Aerodromes Office of Cosmodromes Department of Flight Security \u0026amp; Materials Department of Airspace Arctic \u0026amp; Oslolan Office Verde Office Atlantic Office Antarctic Office Kalina \u0026amp; Bahamas Office Lunar \u0026amp; Space Office ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-aerospace/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 839,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-landscape/bureau-of-agriculture/",
  "title": "Bureau of Agriculture","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-landscape.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "landscape",
  "section": "Ministry of Landscape",
  "description": "The Bureau of Agriculture oversees farming, hydroponics mechanisation and farm animal welfare for the Ministry of Landscape.",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-agriculture/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 840,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-labour/bureau-of-chapels/",
  "title": "Bureau of Chapels","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-labour.svg","icon": "🏛️","rgb": "155, 67, 199","color": "labour",
  "section": "Ministry of Labour",
  "description": "The Bureau of Chapels regulates women's organising and organisations for the Ministry of Labour.",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-chapels/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 841,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commonwealth/bureau-of-commonwealth-corporations/",
  "title": "Bureau of Commonwealth Corporations","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commonwealth.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commonwealth",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commonwealth",
  "description": "The Bureau of Commonwealth Corporations coordinates state enterprises, manages cross-ministerial commercial activities, and oversees government corporate governance.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Commonwealth Corporations is a bureau of the Ministry of the Commonwealth responsible for coordinating government-owned enterprises, devolved commercial activities and overseeing government commerce and industrial governance across Vekllei. The bureau serves as the central coordinating body for all government-owned corporations and commercial enterprises under federal authority.\nGovernment corporations are typically subordinated to their relevant ministries, and the Bureau has no direct oversight over their management or operation. The Bureau instead bestows legal entitlements to government departments for ownership and use of a corporation, and monitors performance, joint ventures between ministries and governance standards for government enterprises. It also manages the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s strategic investments and facilitates commercial cooperation between different government sectors.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Corporations Council: Administration of major government-owned corporations and governance council between them. Vekllei National Congress of Public Corporations: Autonomous congress and coordinating body for all state-owned industries. Veletian Interest Corporation: Joint commercial projects between different government ministries. Commonwealth Strategic Investment Fund: Long-term strategic investments and capital allocation. Municipal Corporations Council: Support, training and funding for municipal and cooperative enterprise. Government Commercial Services: Central procurement and commercial services for all ministries. Commonwealth Industrial Development Corporation: Cross-sectoral industrial projects and development. State Enterprise Performance Monitoring Office: Regular assessment and reporting on corporate performance. Council # Director, Bureau of Commonwealth Corporations Secretary for State Enterprises Secretary for Governance \u0026amp; Rescue Secretary for Strategic Services Director, Commonwealth Strategic Investment Fund Chairman, Commonwealth Corporations Council Executive, Commonwealth Airways Executive, Cosma Executive, Commonwealth Post Executive, Government Aircraft Factories Executive, Commrail Deputy Minister, Ministry of the Commonwealth Departments # Department of State Enterprises Office of Analysis Office of Survey \u0026amp; Statistics Office of Government Officers Office of Corporate Councils Department of Governance \u0026amp; Rescue Office of Board Appointments Office of Compliance Monitoring Department of Strategic Services Office of Investments \u0026amp; Commissions Office of Common Development Office of Criminal Practice \u0026amp; Prosecution ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-commonwealth-corporations/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 842,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/bureau-of-communications/",
  "title": "Bureau of Communications","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-foreign-affairs.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "foreignaffairs",
  "section": "Ministry of Foreign Affairs",
  "description": "The Bureau of Communications conducts press releases, briefings, conferences and public relations for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-communications/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 843,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-landscape/bureau-of-conservation/",
  "title": "Bureau of Conservation","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-landscape.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "landscape",
  "section": "Ministry of Landscape",
  "description": "The Bureau of Conservation oversees land and marine conservation and national parks for the Ministry of Landscape.",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-conservation/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 844,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-milk-and-honey/bureau-of-economic-participation/",
  "title": "Bureau of Economic Participation","logo": "/svg/crests/bureau-of-economic-participation.svg","icon": "🤲","color": "milk-honey",
  "section": "Parliament of Milk and Honey",
  "description": "The Bureau of Economic Participation ensures everyone can contribute meaningfully to productive life with special focus on disability and rural populations.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Economic Participation is a bureau of the Parliament of Milk and Honey that addresses one of the fundamental challenges of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s moneyless economy: how to create meaningful work for everyone when traditional employment incentives don\u0026rsquo;t exist. The bureau develops pathways for economic engagement that accommodate diverse abilities, circumstances and geographic locations across the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s scattered island republics.\nIn Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s commons system, economic participation extends far beyond conventional employment to include community contribution, care work, creative endeavours and local production. The bureau coordinates these diverse forms of participation while providing particular support for disabled people and rural communities who might otherwise be excluded from economic life. This work becomes especially complex across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s geographic spread, where economic opportunities vary dramatically between industrial centres like Oslola and remote agricultural islands.\nThe bureau operates on the principle that everyone has valuable contributions to make, but may require different forms of support or accommodation to participate fully. Rather than fitting people into existing economic structures, it works to adapt economic participation to match individual capabilities and community needs. This reflects Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s broader commitment to social inclusion within its cooperative economic framework. The Bureau works from a local justification, and recognises that work considered unproductive or peripheral in a national context may provide intangible benefits to a community.\nConstituents # Universal Economic Service: Coordination of inclusive employment and productive engagement opportunities. Disability Economic Service: Specialised support for disabled persons in economic participation. Rural Economic Service: Support for meaningful economic engagement in remote and agricultural communities. Work Accessibility Development Board: Creation of employment opportunities adapted to diverse abilities and circumstances. Community Economic Work Programme: Local initiatives for inclusive economic participation and community contribution. Economic Accommodations Programme: Provision of workplace and productive accommodations for diverse needs. National Contributions Assessment Panel: Recognition and coordination of diverse forms of valuable economic participation. Council # Director Bureau of Economic Participation Secretary for Universal Economies Officer for Economic Engagement Secretary for Universal Participation Secretary for Rural Economies Secretary for Economic Development Officer for Electrics \u0026amp; Systems Deputy Minister Parliament of Milk and Honey Director Universal Economic Service Director Disability Economic Service Director Rural Economic Service Director Work Accessibility Development Board Departments # Department of Universal Economies Office of Employment Office of Economic Engagement Office of Participation Coordination Office of Community Contribution Department of Universal Participation Office of Disability Services Office of Disability Accommodation Office of Universal Work Department of Rural Economies Office of Rural Participation Office of Agricultural Participation Office of Remote Community Support Office of Rural Economic Development Department of Economic Development Office of Workplaces \u0026amp; Stations Office of Accommodation Assessment Office of Electrics \u0026amp; Systems Office of Participation Support Service Branches Boreal Economic Area Austral Economic Area Occidental Economic Area Oriental Economic Area ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-economic-participation/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 845,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-milk-and-honey/bureau-of-economic-weather/",
  "title": "Bureau of Economic Weather","logo": "/svg/crests/bureau-of-economic-weather.svg","icon": "🌩️","color": "milk-honey",
  "section": "Parliament of Milk and Honey",
  "description": "The Bureau of Economic Weather monitors and predicts economic disruptions using patterns similar to climate forecasting systems.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Economic Weather is a bureau of the Parliament of Milk and Honey that treats economic disruptions as phenomena to be predicted and prepared for rather than prevented. Drawing an overt metaphor with meteorological forecasting, the bureau maps resource flows, production patterns and distribution networks across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s scattered republics to identify emerging economic disturbances before they affect communities. Their primary aim is stability, and the bureau will advise against economic growth factors if they risk the security of the broader economy.\nThe bureau\u0026rsquo;s approach recognises that in a moneyless economy spanning dozens of island republics, economic disruptions follow patterns similar to weather systems - they build gradually, move across regions and can be tracked using sophisticated monitoring. A shortage of manufactured goods might begin in Oslola\u0026rsquo;s industrial districts and ripple outward through the transportation network, while agricultural disruptions in Verde could create food supply pressures that affect distant republics weeks later.\nThis meteorological approach to economic management reflects Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s unique challenges as an archipelagic nation where traditional market signals are obscured by layers of economic systems that coordinate resource allocation. Instead of straightforward price mechanisms indicating scarcity, the bureau uses pattern recognition and flow analysis to anticipate where communities might experience shortages or surpluses, allowing proactive rather than reactive economic coordination.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Observatory of Economics: Prediction and monitoring of economic patterns and disruptions. Provides public information and education about economic conditions and forecasts. Regional Economic Signals Network: Monitoring of local economic conditions and trend identification. Supply Patterns \u0026amp; Behaviours Service: Study of resource flows and economic behaviour patterns across republics. Also participates in the tracking of goods, materials and productive capacity across the Commonwealth. Commonwealth Automatic Electric Economic Warning Network: Alert systems for communities facing potential economic instability. Economic Resilience Commission: Evaluation of community and regional capacity to handle economic disruptions. Provides training and resource provision for economic crisis response. Economic Crisis Council: Advanced modelling and forecasting of potential economic emergencies. Manages post-disruption economic restoration and rebuilding. Council # Director Bureau of Economic Weather Secretary for Economic Forecasting \u0026amp; Prediction Officer for Crisis Prediction Secretary for Pattern Analysis \u0026amp; Monitoring Secretary for Community Preparedness Officer for Recovery Coordination Deputy Minister Parliament of Milk and Honey Director Commonwealth Observatory of Economics Director Supply Patterns \u0026amp; Behaviours Service Director Economic Resilience Commission Director Resource Crisis Council Departments # Department of Economic Forecasting Office of Pattern Analysis Office of Trend Analysis Office of Disruption Forecasting Office of Long-Range Forecasting Department of Economic Monitoring Office of Resource Movements Office of Production Monitoring Office of Local Economic Health Department of Crisis \u0026amp; Recovery Office of Automatic Warning Systems Office of Economic Resilience Office of Recovery Planning Office of Post-Crisis Assessment Office of Recovery Planning Service Branches Boreal Economic Area Austral Economic Area Occidental Economic Area Oriental Economic Area ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-economic-weather/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 846,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-health/bureau-of-health-services/",
  "title": "Bureau of Health Services","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/health.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "health",
  "section": "Parliament of Health",
  "description": "The Bureau of Health Services is responsible for healthcare administration and policy for the Parliament of Health.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Health Services is the administrative centre of public health in Vekllei, and coordinates policy between federal, national and municipal healthcare. In service of these aims it incorporates health accounting, the procurement of pharmaceuticals, tracks health outcomes and patient data and facilitates policy advice from health regulators.\nThe bureau acts as the central nervous system of the different Vekllei healthcare services, and its role in the Parliament of Health is administrative and political. It advises parliament on the general status of the healthcare system, including its efficiency, opportunities and costs. Using the expertise of other bureaus, it also produces health policy it then presents to the parliament for approval. Officers in the bureau are typically recruited from industry or have a medical background, and the organisation has a reputation for data-driven and pragmatic policymaking.\nExecutive Council # Director, Bureau of Health Services Secretary for Health Services Officer for Legal Services Officer for Labour \u0026amp; Recruitment Secretary for Health Policy Officer of the Pharmaceutical Procurement Service Officer for Revenues Officer for Medical Aid Director, Bureau of Public Health Deputy Director, MSRE Secretary for National Projects, Bureau of Public Works Deputy Minister, Parliament of Health Parliamentary Representative, Parliament of Health Departments # General Headquarters Office of the Director Office of Parliamentary Services Office of Legal Services Office of Security Office of Communications Office of Culture \u0026amp; Personnel Office of Labour \u0026amp; Recruitment Department of Health Policy Office of Regional Health Office of Tobacco, Narcotics \u0026amp; Alcohol Policy Office of Food Policy Office of Immunisation Pharmaceutical Procurement Service Department of Health Products Office of Regulatory Services Office of Prescriptions \u0026amp; Medicines Policy Department of Health Resourcing Office of Surgeons \u0026amp; Specialists Office of General Practitioners Office of Nursing \u0026amp; Midwifery Office of Incentives \u0026amp; Renewal Department of Health Technology Office of Health Architecture Office of Data \u0026amp; Electronic Records Office of Health Technology Assessment Office of Genomics Office of Pharmacy \u0026amp; Pricing Office of Prostheses Office of Access \u0026amp; Health Improvement Department of Benefits Office of Health Professionals Compliance Office of Provider Compliance Office of Health Integrity Department of Infrastructure Office of Emergency Care Office of Ambulances Department of Municipal Health Office of Health Districts Department of Senior Care Office of Nursing Facilities Office of Senior Support Department of Health Accounts Office of Revenues Office of Strategic Procurement Department of Statistics Office of Analysis National Health Archives Department of Foreign Affairs Office of Foreign Exchange Office of Foreign Procurement Office of Medical Aid Office of Grants \u0026amp; Scholarships Boards \u0026amp; Commissions # Health Accounting Commission: Auditor of health service accounts that tracks waste and inefficiencies in the health system. Health Finance Board: Calculates revenues and costs for operation and expansion of the health system. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-public-health/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 847,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/bureau-of-home-affairs/",
  "title": "Bureau of Home Affairs","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-foreign-affairs.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "foreignaffairs",
  "section": "Ministry of Foreign Affairs",
  "description": "The Bureau of Home Affairs liaises between domestic and foreign partners for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.",
  "content": " Department of Consular Affairs # Department of Protocol and Culture # Department of Press and News Media # ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-home-affairs/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 848,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commons/bureau-of-housing/",
  "title": "Bureau of Housing","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commons.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commons",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commons",
  "description": "The Bureau of Housing oversees municipalised and public housing for the Ministry of the Commons.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Housing plans, constructs and improves municipalised and public housing in Vekllei. Housing in Vekllei is negotiated, purchased and leased at a municipal level, and so most new homes are designed and constructed by the civil service through architects and construction agents. The Bureau of Housing coordinates this process at different levels, and also receives maintenance requests and complaints as a regulatory body.\nThe Bureau of Housing may represent the public in court proceedings over ownership. It also employs investigators to determine stewardship of land and its current use. The bureau is also partly responsible for integration of migrant communities into Vekllei cities, by mixing cultural groups through programmes designed to incentivise multicultural neighbourhoods.\nConstituents # Housing Commission: Public housing authority. Vekllei Tenant Union: Union of non-owner residents. Fair Housing Authority: Commonwealth housing quality regulator. Council # Director, Bureau of Housing Secretary for Architecture \u0026amp; Planning Chief Architect Secretary for Beauty \u0026amp; Design Secretary for New Living Secretary for Construction Secretary for Community \u0026amp; Integration Officer for Migrant Housing Officer for Development Officer for Neighbourhoods Officer for Accessibility Secretary for the Built Environment Deputy Minister, Ministry of the Commons Assistant Director, Bureau of Public Works Chairman, Housing Commission Advocate, Commonwealth Institute for Municipalism Departments # Department of Architecture \u0026amp; Planning: Planning of neighbourhoods and cities, as well as their design and quality standards. Office of Architecture \u0026amp; Design Office of Landscapes Office of New Living Department of Housing Construction: Organising department for construction of housing, usually through the National Construction House. Department of Community: Social planning and culture, particularly regarding how they impact community. Office of Migrant Housing Office of Development Office of Neighbourhoods Office of Island Communities Office of Transport Office of Accessibility Department of the Built Environment: Redevelopment, improvement and renewal of housing and neighbourhoods. Office of Inspection Office of Tenants \u0026amp; Residents Office of Renewal ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-housing/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 849,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-industry/bureau-of-hydrocarbons/",
  "title": "Bureau of Hydrocarbons","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-industry.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "industry",
  "section": "Ministry of Industry",
  "description": "The Bureau of Hydrocarbons facilitates and regulates oil and gas extraction, development and decommissioning for the Ministry of Industry.",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-hydrocarbons/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 850,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-milk-and-honey/bureau-of-industrial-coordination/",
  "title": "Bureau of Industrial Coordination","logo": "/svg/crests/bureau-of-industrial-coordination.svg","icon": "🔧","color": "milk-honey",
  "section": "Parliament of Milk and Honey",
  "description": "The Bureau of Industrial Coordination manages bureau cooperation and supports workplace democracy and cooperative development across the Commonwealth.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Industrial Coordination is a bureau of the Parliament of Milk and Honey that serves as the central office connecting Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s diverse industrial bureaus. Rather than operating industries directly, it facilitates collaboration between autonomous bureaus while promoting workplace democracy and cooperative enterprise across the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s scattered manufacturing centres.\nThe bureau addresses a fundamental coordination challenge in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s decentralised economy \u0026ndash; how to achieve industrial efficiency without conventional centralised command of industry. With major industrial centres spread across islands from Oslola to Kairi, and smaller manufacturing operations scattered throughout the archipelagos, the bureau creates networks that allow autonomous industrial federations (known in Vekllei as bureaus) to share resources, coordinate production schedules and develop common technical standards.\nThis coordination becomes particularly complex given Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s commitment to workplace democracy, where many technical production decisions emerge from worker assemblies rather than managerial hierarchies. The bureau supports this democratic industrial model by developing tools and training that help workers participate effectively in technical decision-making while supporting the productive corporate administration necessary for complex modern manufacturing. The result is a standardised system \u0026ndash; Vekllei factories almost exclusively use common specifications for products and production.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Industrial Coordination Council (CICC or Chick): Management of cooperation and resource sharing between industrial bureaus. Facilitates collaboration and resource sharing across different industrial sectors. National Enterprise Commission: Development of experimental workplace democracy and new forms of social organisation. Supports and trains democratic workplace organisation and decision-making. Industrial Democracy Research Centre: Study of effective workplace organisation and cooperative management methods. Develops new forms of workplace organisation and industrial cooperation. Cooperative Development Trust: Financial and technical support for new cooperative enterprises and workplace democracy. Council # Director Bureau of Industrial Coordination Secretary for Inter-Bureau Coordination Officer for Resource Sharing Secretary for Workplace Democracy Development Secretary for Cooperative Enterprise Support Officer for Workplace Transformation Deputy Minister Parliament of Milk and Honey Director Commonwealth Industrial Coordination Council Director National Enterprise Commission Director Cooperative Development Trust Departments # Department of Industrial Coordination Office of Bureau Collaboration Office of Resource Circulation Office of Joint Ventures Office of Industrial Integration Department of Democratic Enterprise Office of Technical Management Office of Labour Participation Office of Corporate Development Department of Industrial Enterprise Office of Labour Office of Syndicates \u0026amp; Chapels Office of Cooperative Enterprise Office of Productivity Service Branches Boreal Industrial Area Austral Industrial Area Occidental Industrial Area Oriental Industrial Area ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-industrial-coordination/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 851,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/bureau-of-international-missions/",
  "title": "Bureau of International Missions","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-foreign-affairs.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "foreignaffairs",
  "section": "Ministry of Foreign Affairs",
  "description": "The Bureau of International Machines prepares briefings, factsheets and foreign representation for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.",
  "content": "The Bureau of International Missions is the formal foreign policymaking apparatus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.\nPrepare bulletins from Parliamentary and Secretarial notes on foreign affairs Formulate cohesive positions on events of domestic concern Outline a consistent Commonwealth foreign policy to determine and advise decision-making in future. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-international-missions/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 852,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-light-and-water/bureau-of-light/",
  "title": "Bureau of Light","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-light-and-water.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "lightandwater",
  "section": "Ministry of Light \u0026 Water",
  "description": "The Bureau of Light oversees electricity generation and the power grid for the Ministry of Light and Water.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Light (Commonwealth Electric Commission, commonly Thunderburo) is responsible for the state monopoly on electricity generation in Vekllei. Although the VEC is structured as a bureau company, its subsidiaries are state-owned and consequently operates similarly to other agency-level departments of the Interior Parliament. The VEC consists of multiple subcommissions dedicated to unique types of electricity generation in Vekllei, primarily through hydro-electric, geothermal and nuclear methods.\nMagma-Electric Commission # The Vekllei Magma-Electric Commission (colloquially The Magma or MEC) oversees geothermal electricity production in Vekllei. Because of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s location over the rift of the European and American continental plates, widespread geothermal electricity production is widespread and makes up the majority of commercial and domestic electricity consumption in Vekllei. Forty-six MEC plants of varying sizes supply clean renewable energy to Vekllei households, and waste heat is used to heat greenhouses Vekllei depends on for food production.\nHydro-Electric Commission # The Vekllei Hydro-Electric Commission (colloquially The Hydro, not to be confused with the Hydroburo) oversees hydro-electric electricity generation in Vekllei, particularly in the glacial regions of the Vekllei Islands and Kala. Dramatic mountain terrain in the interior of the Vekllei Islands proved suitable candidates for hydro-electric dams, which were mostly constructed in the pre-war and immediate post-war era. Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s oldest dam in Ou has been operating continuously for 156 years.\nNuclear-Electric Commission # The Vekllei Nuclear-Electric Commission (also Atomic Vekllei or NEC) oversees nuclear electricity generation in Vekllei. Nuclear energy has proliferated in postwar Vekllei, and satisfies the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s growing industrial power demands. Most commercial nuclear plants in Vekllei use uranium-233 reactor fuels, processed mostly at the National Centrifuge \u0026amp; Enrichment Plant in Speidisn. Vekllei reactors mostly of a molten salt type. The NEC maintains 56 plants in total across the Commonwealth, most of which are located in the Vekllei Islands or Kala.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-light/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 853,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-landscape/bureau-of-materials/",
  "title": "Bureau of Materials","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-landscape.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "landscape",
  "section": "Ministry of Landscape",
  "description": "The Bureau of Materials oversees natural products and product biosecurity for the Ministry of Landscape.",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-materials/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 854,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-milk-and-honey/bureau-of-materials-and-supply/",
  "title": "Bureau of Materials and Supply","logo": "/svg/crests/bureau-of-materials-and-supply.svg","icon": "⚙️","color": "milk-honey",
  "section": "Parliament of Milk and Honey",
  "description": "The Bureau of Materials and Supply coordinates production and allocates resources for comprehensive industrial planning across the Commonwealth.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Materials \u0026amp; Supply is a bureau of the Parliament of Milk and Honey that functions as the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s central nervous system for resource allocation in the absence of market pricing mechanisms. Without money to coordinate supply and demand across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s industrial economy, the bureau uses sophisticated planning methods to track material flows, anticipate resource needs and distribute raw materials where they can be most productively used.\nThe bureau\u0026rsquo;s work becomes exponentially complex due to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s geography \u0026ndash; coordinating resource flows between mining operations in Kala, manufacturing centres in Oslola, agricultural production across the Verde islands and the diverse needs of 83 separate republics of varying size and development. Steel produced in one republic may be needed for shipbuilding in another, while agricultural products from remote islands must reach industrial centres thousands of kilometres away.\nThis coordination challenge requires the bureau to think in terms of material ecosystems rather than straightforward, sequential supply chains. The bureau tracks not just primary resource extraction but also secondary materials from recycling, seasonal variations in production capacity and the complex interdependencies between different industries. Without conventional profit signals to guide resource allocation, the bureau must balance productive efficiency with economic sustainability and demand.\nConstituents # Resource Planning Commission: Assessment of long-term material needs and sustainability planning. Commonwealth Materials Board: Coordination of raw materials acquisition and processing. Also responsible for management of circular economy principles in materials flow. Industrial Supply Network: Management of supply chains for manufacturing and production. It also distributes resources based on production priorities and community needs. Strategic Supply Reserve: Maintenance of essential resource stockpiles for security and stability. It also provides protection of essential resource supplies and strategic reserves. National Resource Laboratory: Research and development of sustainable materials management as part of the LSRE. Commonwealth Minerals Registry: Oversight of resource extraction permits and environmental protection. Council # Director Bureau of Materials and Supply Secretary for Resource Planning Officer for Forecasts \u0026amp; Planning Secretary for Economic Supply Secretary for Industrial Supply Officer for Manufacturing Deputy Minister Parliament of Milk and Honey Director Resource Planning Commission Director Commonwealth Materials Board Director Industrial Supply Network Director Strategic Supply Reserve Departments # Department of Resource Planning Office of Materials Testing Office of Forecasts \u0026amp; Planning Office of Circular Production Department of Economic Supply Office of Production Priority Office of Demand \u0026amp; Supply Office of Distribution \u0026amp; Commissions Department of Industrial Supply Office of Manufacturing Office of Production Coordination Office of Holistic Supply Office of Industrial Logistics Department of Resource Security Office of Strategic Stockpiles Office of Supply Security Office of Strategic Resource Management Office of Critical Materials Service Branches Boreal Supply Area Austral Supply Area Occidental Supply Area Oriental Supply Area ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-materials-and-supply/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 855,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-landscape/bureau-of-meteorology/",
  "title": "Bureau of Meteorology","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-landscape.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "landscape",
  "section": "Ministry of Landscape",
  "description": "The Bureau of Meteorology oversees the national weather services and climate reporting for the Ministry of Landscape.",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-meteorology/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 856,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-landscape/bureau-of-oceans/",
  "title": "Bureau of Oceans","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-landscape.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "landscape",
  "section": "Ministry of Landscape",
  "description": "The Bureau of Oceans regulates fishing and the use of Vekllei's territorial and economic waters for the Ministry of Landscape.",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-oceans/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 857,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commons/bureau-of-parks-and-gardens/",
  "title": "Bureau of Parks and Gardens","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commons.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commons",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commons",
  "description": "The Bureau of Housing oversees green spaces and public beauty for the Ministry of the Commons.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Parks \u0026amp; Gardens designs and constructs green spaces in Vekllei. It has a broad role in basically all public landscaping, and its influence extends far beyond urban parks. Through its departments it also facilitates public services like community agriculture, botanical gardens, zoos, parks, landscaping for public buildings like hospitals and schools and street gardens like flower baskets and urban trees.\nVekllei is known for its bright, clean garden cities, and the Bureau of Parks \u0026amp; Gardens has no small hand in this reputation. It has an important role in all public renovation, renewal and construction, and contributes a lot of the natural beauty that is well-regarded in Vekllei communities. Regular Vekllei urban motifs, like running water, moss and rock gardens, indigenous flora and natural murals are mostly inventions of the bureau, which has seen its work replicated internationally. It does not have much to do with conservation or ecological maintenance, which mostly falls to the Ministry of Landscape.\nThe bureau works at all scales, from large-scale landscaping projects to flower-arranging and the interior courtyards of municipal buildings. It is a popular alternative for conscripts undergoing compulsory service who wish to exclude themselves from military service.\nConstituents # Vekllei Parks Commission: Operator of Vekllei zoos and gated parks. Landcare Vekllei: Public advocate for light agriculture and training in gardening. National Beauty Campaign: Public advocate for care of public spaces and anti-littering messaging. Council # Director, Bureau of Parks and Gardens Chief Architect Secretary for Projects \u0026amp; Landscaping Chief Architect Officer for Natural Light \u0026amp; Open Air Secretary for Projects \u0026amp; Landscaping Secretary for Park Management Deputy Minister, Ministry of the Commons Assistant Director, Bureau of Public Works Chairman, Vekllei Parks Commission Departments # Department of Gardens \u0026amp; Smallholdings: Planning of community gardens and spaces for light agriculture and their integration into Vekllei neighbourhoods. Office of the Architect Office of Gardens \u0026amp; Design Office of Running Water Office of Natural Light \u0026amp; Open Air Department of Projects \u0026amp; Landscaping: Specialised department contracted for specific projects and public works. Office of Municipal Works Office of Private \u0026amp; Domestic Contracts Office of Street Furniture \u0026amp; Landscaping Office of Interiors \u0026amp; Housegardens Department of Park Management: Development and maintenance of public areas and entertainment, including gated parks and zoos. Office of Historic Sites Office of Zoos \u0026amp; Enclosures Office of Parks \u0026amp; Public Squares Office of Maintenance ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-parks-and-gardens/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 858,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commonwealth/bureau-of-policy-research/",
  "title": "Bureau of Policy Research","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commonwealth.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commonwealth",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commonwealth",
  "description": "The Bureau of Policy Research is an independent public policy organisation for the Ministry of the Commonwealth.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Policy Research conducts research and prepares policy objectives for use in Commonwealth governance, and determines the curriculum of the Civil Service Academy and other civil service training organisations.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-policy-research/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 859,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-culture/bureau-of-post-and-telecommunications/",
  "title": "Bureau of Post and Telecommunications","logo": "/svg/crests/bureau-post.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "culture",
  "section": "Ministry of Culture",
  "description": "The Bureau of Post \u0026 Telecommunications operates the Vekllei postal service and telecom network for the Ministry of Culture.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Post \u0026amp; Telecommunications is a bureau of the Ministry of Culture responsible for policy, administration and operation of postal services and telecommunications infrastructure in Vekllei. Through its departments and constituent corporations, it encompasses all functions necessary for the provision of postal delivery, telephone networks, telegraph services, and emerging telecommunications technologies. This includes the operation of post offices and telephone exchanges, optical network infrastructure, training and employment of postal workers and telecommunications engineers, and provision of emergency communications services.\nThe bureau has a significant role in the development and maintenance of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s communications infrastructure through its constituent corporations and commissions. In addition, the bureau manages and regulates telecommunications frequencies and postal routes as part of the National Communications System, and licenses radio operators and telecommunications providers through the Communications Register.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Post: National postal service and mail carrier of Vekllei. Cosma: Primary telecommunications provider and network operator. Veletia Broadcasting Service: National radio and television broadcasting service. Radio Atlantic: National radio broadcaster. School Broadcasting Service: Specialised educational radio and television programming. Commonwealth Telegraph \u0026amp; Cable Company: International telegraph and submarine cable services. Lucayan Telephone Exchange Corporation: Telephone network and exchange services headquartered in Caicos. Summers Transatlantic Exchange Corporation: Telephone network and exchange services headquartered in Summers. Volcanic Telephone Exchange Corporation: Telephone network and exchange services headquartered in Oslola. Commonwealth Radio Frequency Register: Radio spectrum management and licensing authority. Commonwealth Broadcast Register: Licensing of radio operators and telecommunications providers. Commonwealth Postal Banking Commission: Money exchange for foreign transfers, facilitated by the bureau directly. Saint Gabriel Telegraph Training College: Training facility associated with Atlantic College in Oslola. Historically trained telegraph operators but now specialises in optical-electric communications. Council # Director Bureau of Post and Telecommunications Secretary for the Postal System Officer for Postal Banking \u0026amp; Finance Secretary for Telecommunications Infrastructure Secretary for Broadcasting \u0026amp; Radio Officer for Emergency Broadcasting Deputy Minister Ministry of Culture Executive Commonwealth Post Secretary for Postal Services Executive Cosma Director Commonwealth Radio Frequency Register Director Commonwealth Broadcast Register Departments # Department of the Postal System Office of Revenues \u0026amp; Customs Office of International Post Office of Express \u0026amp; Priority Services Office of Postal Rail \u0026amp; Aviation Office of Postal Banking \u0026amp; Finance Department of Telecommunications Infrastructure Office of Telephone Networks Office of Telegraph Services Office of Cables \u0026amp; Lines Office of Rural Communications National Emergency Telecommunications Committee Department of Broadcasting \u0026amp; Radio Office of Radio Licensing Office of Frequency Management Office of Emergency Broadcasting Department of Industrial Security Postal Inspection Branch Electrics Inspection Branch Service Branches Arctic \u0026amp; Volcanic Section Verde \u0026amp; African Section Atlantic Section Antarctic Section Kalina \u0026amp; Lucayan Section International Telegraph Section ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-post-and-telecommunications/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 860,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-culture/bureau-of-press-and-news-media/",
  "title": "Bureau of Press and News Media","logo": "/svg/crests/bureau-press.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "culture",
  "section": "Ministry of Culture",
  "description": "The Bureau of Press \u0026 News Media oversees journalism standards, press freedom, and news media regulation for the Ministry of Culture.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Press \u0026amp; News Media is a bureau of the Ministry of Culture responsible for safeguarding press freedom, establishing publishing and broadcast standards and regulating news media operations in Vekllei. The Vekllei constitution has provisions for the right to free speech, and the bureau operates independently under the principle that a free press serves the public interest while encouraging professional standards and ethical journalism practices.\nThe bureau oversees press accreditation, media licensing, and the training of journalists through its constituent institutions. It also manages government information services and coordinates press relations across all ministries while maintaining editorial independence of news organisations.\nConstituents # Federal Gazette: Official government gazette and public notice publication. Government Wire Service: National news wire service and information bureau. Atlantic College of Journalism: Professional training and certification body for journalists associated with Atlantic College in Oslola. Press Democracy Commission: Independent body monitoring press freedom and media rights. Commonwealth Publishing Corporation: Paper and printing materials supplier for news media. Parliamentary Information Service: Central press release and public information coordination. Foreign Press Service: Accreditation and services for international correspondents. Federal Electric Public Broadcast System (FEPBS): Coordination body for local and regional news services. Council # Director Bureau of Press and News Media Secretary for Press Standards Secretary for Media Regulation Secretary for Information Services Director Press Democracy Commission Director Government Wire Service Chancellor Atlantic College of Journalism Deputy Minister Ministry of Culture Representative, Foreign Correspondents Association Representative, Commonwealth Correspondents Association Representative, Commonwealth Publishers Federation Departments # Department of Newspapers \u0026amp; Mastheads Panatlantic Journalism Commission Office of Press Work \u0026amp; Analysis Office of Press Accreditation Office of Community Publications Office of Electronic Publications Department of Published Material Commonwealth General Production Offenses Committee Office of Criminal Material Office of Licensing \u0026amp; Accreditation Office of Distribution Networks Department of Information Services Public Publicity Office Office of Government Communications Office of Public Records Access Department of Printing \u0026amp; Publication Department of Intellectual Property Department of Press Freedom ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-press-and-news-media/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 861,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-industry/bureau-of-production-surveillance/",
  "title": "Bureau of Production Surveillance","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-industry.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "industry",
  "section": "Ministry of Industry",
  "description": "The Bureau of Hydrocarbons produces analysis and statistics on manufacturing and resource production for the Ministry of Industry.",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-production-surveillance/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 862,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-education/bureau-of-public-education/",
  "title": "Bureau of Public Education","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/education.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "education",
  "section": "Parliament of Education",
  "description": "The Bureau of Public Education oversees schooling and education for the Parliament of Education.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Public Education is the central administration of the 120 education districts in Vekllei, which operate schools, universities and libraries. In some cases, the bureau may operate institutions directly (as in the case of academies), but more commonly schools are operated by a municipality and the bureau maintains a supporting and directorial role.\nIn general, the bureau facilitates education delivery and the shape and standardisation of Vekllei classrooms, staff, libraries, institutional policy, and the improvement of education outcomes across the country. In this sense, it is the operating arm of the Parliament of Education, and has direct impact on everyday life for students in the country.\nThe Commonwealth National Curriculum is set by the Curriculum \u0026amp; Qualifications Council, but the specifics of its implementation are left to the Education Districts of the Bureau of Public Education.\nExecutive Council # Director, Bureau of Public Education Officer for Schools \u0026amp; Campuses Secretary for Compulsory Education Commissioner, Commonwealth Coeducation Commission Secretary for Tertiary Education Secretary for Foreign Exchange Officer for Education Delivery Commissioner, Youth Justice Commission Deputy Director, SIRO Deputy Minister, Parliament of Education Parliamentary Representative, Parliament of Education Departments # General Headquarters Office of the Director Office of Parliamentary Services Office of Legal Services Office of Communications Office of Culture \u0026amp; Personnel Office of Labour \u0026amp; Recruitment Department of Schools \u0026amp; Supply Office of Schools \u0026amp; Campuses Office of Materials, Uniforms \u0026amp; Supply Office of Transport \u0026amp; Gardens Office of Construction \u0026amp; Renewal Education Technology Centre Department of Compulsory Education Commonwealth Compulsory Education Council Office of Childhood \u0026amp; Preschooling Office of Primary Schooling Office of Secondary Schooling Office of Civic Education \u0026amp; Exchange Commonwealth Coeducation Commission Department of Tertiary Education Commonwealth Universities Council Allied Academies Council Office of Vocational \u0026amp; Industrial Education Department of Foreign Education Office of Foreign Students Office of Foreign Exchange Office of Foreign Outreach \u0026amp; Technology Exchange Office of Education Aid Caribbean Institute for Youth \u0026amp; Education Office of Foreign Relations \u0026amp; Accreditation Department of Standards Office of English Fluency Office of Inspection Office of the Curriculum Department of Policy Office of Childhood \u0026amp; Health Youth Justice Commission Strategic Policy Board Office of Education Districts Office of Examinations \u0026amp; Qualifications Department of Research \u0026amp; Analysis Office of Education Delivery Office of Data Analysis Electronic Records Archive National Education Archive Department of Safety \u0026amp; Wellbeing Office of Disaster Prevention Student Safety Commission Office of Security Department of Literacy \u0026amp; Outcomes Department of Truancy \u0026amp; Youth Detention Office of Detained Students Office of Truancy \u0026amp; Antisocial Behaviour Detained Students Education Democracy Commission Department of Accessibility \u0026amp; Special Education * Department of Libraries Department of Students Student Rights Council Student Democracy Commission Office of Student Support Department of Staff \u0026amp; Teachers Allied Principals Council Federal Academies # Commonwealth federal academies are research universities comprising dozens of facilities designed to provide direct government support for Vekllei sciences and research.\nCommonwealth Academy of Natural Sciences School of Chemistry School of Medicine School of Mathematics \u0026amp; Physics School of Technology \u0026amp; Materials School of Astronomy School of Geology School of Biology Commonwealth Academy of Engineering Sciences School of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering School of Electrical Engineering School of Chemical Engineering School of Civil Engineering School of Agricultural Engineering Commonwealth Academy of Philosophy School of Philosophy School Sociology School of Theology Commonwealth Academy of Political Sciences School of Law School of Political Economics School of History \u0026amp; Geography Affiliated Universities # United Nations University: UN research university and think tank. New York University: US-based university with campuses in Summers and Oslola. Constituent Universities # International United University: Autonomous international and federal university featuring colleges from 70 countries, with its main campus in Oslola. National Levantine Theological University: Prestigious, multi-faith theological research university specialising in early Abrahamic faiths, located in Sal. Commonwealth University: Largest and oldest university in Vekllei, dating back to the 13th Century. Commonwealth University of the West Indies: Oldest Caribbean university headquartered in Antigua. Darwin College: New university of the Commonwealth Verde, with its main campus in Java. Commonwealth Catholic College: Largest and oldest university in the Commonwealth Atlantic. Atlantic College: Technical college founded in Oslola but now found across the country. Atlantic College of Journalism University of Karu: Large regional university located in Karu famous for its performing arts programmes. Atlantic College of Dance National Ballet School Shackleton University: Primary university of the Commonwealth Antarctic, with its main campus in the Falklands. Boards \u0026amp; Commissions # Common Student\u0026rsquo;s Press: Publishing house for textbooks and notebooks for students. Common Tertiary Press: Central federalised university press for Commonwealth universities. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-public-education/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 863,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-health/bureau-of-public-health/",
  "title": "Bureau of Public Health","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/health.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "health",
  "section": "Parliament of Health",
  "description": "The Bureau of Public Health oversees healthcare delivery in Vekllei for the Parliament of Health.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Public Health administers the delivery of healthcare in Vekllei. In some places, it provides healthcare services directly through hospitals. In others, it facilitates the operation of local healthcare districts by a municipality.\nThe bureau is vertically integrated, and administers all healthcare support services including ambulances, general practitioners, pharmacies, home care and logistics staff. In most cases, these are operated locally by a municipal healthcare district administered directly by the bureau.\nExecutive Council # Director, Bureau of Public Health Secretary for Public Health Chief Medical Scientist Surgeon General Officer for Legal Services Secretary for Municipal Care Secretary for Primary Care Officer for Universal Care Secretary for Immunisation Secretary for Chronic Illness Director, Bureau of Health Services Deputy Director, MSRE Deputy Minister, Parliament of Health Parliamentary Representative, Parliament of Health Departments # General Headquarters Office of the Director Office of the Chief Medical Scientist Office of the Surgeon General Office of Parliamentary Services Office of Legal Services Office of Communications Office of Culture \u0026amp; Personnel Office of Labour \u0026amp; Recruitment Department of Municipal Care Office of Network Strategy Office of Emergency Response Office of Patient Engagement North Commonwealth Health Administration South Commonwealth Health Administration East Commonwealth Health Administration West Commonwealth Health Administration Department of Primary Care Office of Hospitals \u0026amp; Clinics Office of Primary Care Services Office of Primary Care Infrastructure Office of Primary Care Analysis \u0026amp; Renewal Office of Universal Care Office of Urgent Care Clinics Department of Population Health Office of the Health Democracy Commission Liaison Office of Health Equity Department of Chronic Illness Office of Cancer Screening Office of Newborn Screening Office of Palliative Care Office of Hearing Services Office of Disability Services Department of Immunisation Office of Immunisation Supply Office of Immunisation Access \u0026amp; Compliance Office of Immunisation Analysis \u0026amp; Renewal Department of Psychological Services Office of Children \u0026amp; Vulnerable Populations Office of Psychiatry \u0026amp; Therapeutical Services Office of Suicide Prevention National Trauma Health Centre Boards \u0026amp; Commissions # Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital: Mental asylum and sanitorium on Scallop Island in the republic of Paria. National Genomics Laboratories: Specialist hospital for gene research and treatment. National Regional Health Commission: Independent commission auditing the quality and accessibility of regional healthcare. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-public-health/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 864,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commons/bureau-of-public-works/",
  "title": "Bureau of Public Works","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commons.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commons",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commons",
  "description": "The Bureau of Public Works conducts general-purpose planning and construction for the Ministry of the Commons.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Public Works is the general-purpose planning and construction outfit in Vekllei. It has a broad mandate over construction, improvement and renewal projects in Vekllei at federal, regional and local levels, and works closely with governments to accomplish construction goals.\nThe bureau also owns the National Construction House (NCH), the largest construction firm in Vekllei which remains responsible for the vast majority of private and commercial construction in the country.\nConstituents # National Construction House: National construction company responsible for most public projects and residential construction. Council # Director, Bureau of Public Works Secretary for National Projects Secretary for Municipal Works Secretary for Trades \u0026amp; Labour Officer for Automatic Construction Assistant Minister, Ministry of the Commons Assistant Director, Bureau of Housing Secretary for Infrastructure, Bureau of Health Services Officer for Government Expenditure, Treasury Vice Chairman, Housing Commission Chairman, Vekllei Board of Architects Departments # Department of National Projects: Construction of large projects, often involving multiple republics or stakeholders. Office of Transnational Planning Office of Special Trades Department of Municipal Works: Assisting local governments complete public works. Office of Urban Works Office of Emergency Construction Office of Utilities Department of Trades \u0026amp; Labour: Planning, regulation and logistics of government construction, especially regarding the NCH. Office of Automatic Construction Office of Compulsory Service Office of Health \u0026amp; Safety ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-society/","/bureau-of-public-works/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 865,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commons/bureau-of-rail/",
  "title": "Bureau of Rail","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commons.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commons",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commons",
  "description": "The Bureau of Rail oversees rail transport for the Ministry of the Commons.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Rail maintains and regulates the rail industry in Vekllei. Because of the ubiquity and importance of rail across Vekllei republics, it is among the largest of the transport bureaus.\nIn addition to rail planning, safety and regulation, the bureau also controls CommRail as an independent commission, for which it fulfils a general executive and advisory role.\nIncluding VNR, the Bureau of Rail is consequently one of the largest rail transport organisations in the world, rivalling much larger countries with the density and ubiquity of Vekllei track. Almost every Vekllei republic maintains some kind of rail service, ranging from miniature trams and industrial sidings to bullet trains and maglevs.\nConstituents # CommRail: National rail company and service operator. Passenger Amenities Committee: Advisory board for passenger comfort and satisfaction. Council # Director, Bureau of Rail Chief Architect Chief Engineer Secretary for Rail Service Minister, Ministry of the Commons Chairman, Transport Commission Secretary for Interservice Operations Secretary for Metropolitan Transport Chief Scientist, Transport Laboratories Departments # General Council: Advisory board to the Ministry of the Commons. Department of Infrastructure Office of Track Office of Signals and Telecommunications Office of Automatic Service Department of Traction \u0026amp; Rolling Stock Office of Engineering Department of Service \u0026amp; Operations Office of Rail Heritage ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-rail/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 866,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-culture/bureau-of-records-and-correspondence/",
  "title": "Bureau of Records and Correspondence","logo": "/svg/crests/bureau-records.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "culture",
  "section": "Ministry of Culture",
  "description": "The Bureau of Records \u0026 Correspondence maintains official government records and operates the government communication system for the Ministry of Culture.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Records \u0026amp; Correspondence is a bureau of the Ministry of Culture responsible for maintaining official government records, operating secure government communications services, and preserving documentary heritage in Vekllei. The bureau serves as the central repository for government documents.\nThe bureau operates filing systems, manages official correspondence protocols and maintains the technical infrastructure for government communications. It also oversees the preservation and cataloguing of historical documents and government records for posterity.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Central Archives: Central documents store and database organisation of Vekllei. Commonwealth Registry Office: Central repository for all official government documents and records. Commonwealth Relay Service: Government cable network and message relay service. Government Filing Corporation: Specialised document management and archival systems service. Commonwealth Cipher Service: Government cable security and cryptographic services. Central Records Service: Standards and procedures for government record-keeping. Document Preservation Registry: Research and development in archival preservation techniques. Council # Director, Bureau of Records and Correspondence Secretary for Records Officer for Secrets \u0026amp; Classification Officer for Public Records Secretary for Telegraphs Secretary for Document Preservation Executive, Commonwealth Registry Office Director, Commonwealth Cipher Service Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture Director of Government Correspondence Director of Archival Sciences Departments # Department of Records Office of Law Services Office of Secrets \u0026amp; Classification Office of Public Records Office of Government Filing Office of Legal Documents Office of Statistics \u0026amp; Analysis Department of Correspondence Office of Message Relay Office of Diplomatic Correspondence Office of International Telegraph Department of Document Preservation Office of the Archivist Functionary Office of Restoration \u0026amp; Conservation ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-records-and-correspondence/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 867,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-milk-and-honey/bureau-of-residences-and-factories/",
  "title": "Bureau of Residences and Factories","logo": "/svg/crests/bureau-of-residences-and-factories.svg","icon": "🏭","color": "milk-honey",
  "section": "Parliament of Milk and Honey",
  "description": "The Bureau of Residences and Factories coordinates residential development, housing distribution and stewardship arrangements across the Commonwealth.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Residences \u0026amp; Factories is a bureau of the Parliament of Milk and Honey that manages the integration of workplaces and residential communities in ways that enhance rather than diminish quality of life. In this sense, it is closely associated wit but distinct from the Bureau of Housing, which is primarily concerned with housing development and construction. Instead, the Bureau of Residences \u0026amp; Factories draws from Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s philosophical commitment that work and life should complement each other, and so coordinates the physical placement and social integration of workplaces within residential areas.\nThis practice of integration emerged from Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s island geography, where space constraints make traditional industrial zoning impractical on many smaller republics. Rather than segregating industrial and residential areas, the bureau develops models where small-scale manufacturing facilities become part of neighbourhood life - textile workshops next to housing clusters, food processing facilities integrated with community kitchens, and manufacturing cooperatives embedded within residential districts. It requires special methods of planning to allow production and industrial logistics to cohabitate with neighbourhoods and commuters.\nConstituents # National Construction House: Co-constituent of the Bureau of Housing, the NCH is responsible for residential construction, community planning and infrastructure development. Municipal Planning Commission: Integration of residential and industrial development with community life, and the coordination of housing allocation and stewardship arrangements. Municipal Enterprise Commission: Management of dwelling allocation based on family needs and community ties, as well as coordination of workplace location with residential communities, training and maintenance. Municipal Infrastructure Construction Corporation (MICC): Management of building projects and infrastructure development, and the integration of utilities, transport and community facilities. Council # Director Bureau of Residences and Factories Secretary for Residential Development Officer for Housing Quality Secretary for Community Planning \u0026amp; Integration Secretary for Construction Coordination Officer for Infrastructure Development Deputy Minister Parliament of Milk and Honey Executive National Construction House Director Municipal Planning Commission Director Municipal Enterprise Commission Director Municipal Infrastructure Construction Corporation Departments # Department of Municipal Development Office of Housing Office of Stewardship Coordination Office of Residential Construction Office of Community Housing Department of Municipal Planning Liaison Office of the Bureau of Housing Office of Forecasting \u0026amp; Specifications Office of Architecture \u0026amp; Local Design Office of Workplace-Residences Office of Public Places Planning Department of Municipal Construction Office of Construction Management Office of Construction Standards Office of Material Coordination Office of Construction Labour Department of Municipal Infrastructure Office of Utilities Coordination Office of Industrial \u0026amp; Commercial Railways (with representatives from CommRail) Office of Natural Landscape Service Branches Boreal Development Section Austral Development Section Occidental Development Section Oriental Development Section ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-Residences-and-factories/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 868,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commons/bureau-of-roads-and-paths/",
  "title": "Bureau of Roads and Paths","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commons.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commons",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commons",
  "description": "The Bureau of Roads \u0026 Paths oversees roads, motor vehicles and motorways for the Ministry of the Commons.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Roads \u0026amp; Paths performs road maintenance in Vekllei. Vekllei cities are dense and few people own cars, so much of the work performed by the bureau deals with pedestrian streets and pathways, rather than traditional roads that meet automotive specification. It nonetheless also performs a traditional in road and motorway construction and maintenance, and generally builds land transport connections not under the purview of the Bureau of Rail.\nThe bureau is also responsible for the licensing and registration of motor vehicles, as well as public vehicle initiatives like motorpools. It operates crash testing facilities in Barbados.\nConstituents # National Automobile Club of Vekllei (NACV): Independent motor enthusiast and automobile club. National Motor Vehicle Testing Establishment: Crash testing and vehicle safety establishment located in Barbados. Council # Director, Bureau of Parks and Gardens Secretary for Urban Roads \u0026amp; Paths Secretary for Rural Roads \u0026amp; Paths Chief Scientist, National Motoring Laboratories Deputy Minister, Ministry of the Commons Secretary of Municipal Works, Bureau of Public Works Departments # Department of Urban Roads \u0026amp; Paths: Construction and maintenance of city roads. Regional District Offices Municipal Liaison Industrial Liaison Department of Rural Roads \u0026amp; Paths: Construction and maintenance of rural and isolated roads. Office of Regional Development Regional District Offices Municipal Liaison Department of Maintenance \u0026amp; Research: Traffic and materials research that might be useful for Vekllei roads and paths. National Motoring Laboratories Department of Motor Vehicles: General-purpose motor vehicle licensing and testing department. Office of Licensing Office of Crash Testing \u0026amp; Safety Investigation Branch ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-roads-and-paths/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 869,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-commerce/bureau-of-securities/",
  "title": "Bureau of Securities","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-commerce.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commerce",
  "section": "Ministry of Commerce",
  "description": "The Bureau of Securities regulates securities and trade practices for the Ministry of Commerce.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Securities (VECSEC) regulates securities in Vekllei, mostly in the Commsec. It advises fiscal decision-making to the Treasury and legislates trade practices in the country, including the issuing and ownership of government bonds and bureau securities. It is part of the Ministry of Commerce.\nSince Vekllei citizens do not usually participate in the domestic securities markets, the bureau lacks traditional legal authority over many of the foreign participants in its supervised markets, but does extradite and prosecute financial crime through the EUROVEK and USVEK extradition treaties.\nConstituents # National Patent \u0026amp; Trademark Office: Registration authority for commercial patents and marks. Intellectual Property Arbitration Board: Mediator for copyright, patent and trademark disputes before litigation. Commonwealth Commercial Service: Promotion of Vekllei products abroad and liaison between industry and foreign partners. Commonwealth Trade Commission: Industrial and commodity liaison for foreign companies. Commonwealth Ratings Corporation: Independent ratings agency for global private and public debt, which also maintains the CRC/CSX 50 index for the Commsec. Council # Director, Bureau of Securities Secretary for Prosecution Secretary for Investments Officer for Public Investments Secretary for Risk \u0026amp; Analysis Director, Commsec Assistant Secretary, Commonwealth Bank Assistant Secretary, Treasury Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Trade Departments # General Council: Advisory board to the Commonwealth. General Procuratorate: Enforcement of penalties and prosecution of financial crimes. General Inspectorate: Investigations into fraud, abuse and corruption in Vekllei markets. Department of Financing \u0026amp; Stock Exchange: Regulation and monitoring of the Commsec and miscellaneous securities within the country. Department of International Markets: Regulation and monitoring of foreign investment and government bonds. Department of Investments and Trusts: Regulation and monitoring of the investments, securities and financial contracts of Vekllei citizens and companies. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-securities/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 870,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commons/bureau-of-space/",
  "title": "Bureau of Space","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commons.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commons",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commons",
  "description": "The Bureau of Space oversees space settlements, logistics and policy for the Ministry of the Commons.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Space maintains governance and infrastructure on the Vekllei moon, other celestial claims and in outer space. It is a unique government organisation with the fascinating role of facilitating civilian life in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s offworld settlements. On smaller, scientific settlements like Station Mars and Station Venus, the bureau assumes a direct governance role. On older and more established settlements, it retains a functional administrative approach that supports local government. In the Vekllei Lunar Settlement and Space Station Veletia, the bureau conducts maintenance and improvements, and also manages affairs between councils in the settlements.\nAlthough formal celestial and space diplomacy is conducted through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bureau of Space may conduct regular trade and diplomatic actions on behalf of off-world settlements as a representative of Vekllei citizens in space. The bureau also generally manages or supports any day-to-day affairs of civilian space settlement, including interstellar transport routes and construction material delivery.\nConstituents # Lunar Municipal Council: Local government of the Vekllei Lunar Settlement. Venus Public Council: Administrative board for Station Venus. Mars Public Council: Administrative board for Station Mars. Vekllei Celestial Development Corporation: Planning and design firm specialising in off-world construction. Commonwealth Lunar Trade Board: Trade promotion board for off-world corporations and investment. Council # Director, Bureau of Space Commonwealth Commissioner for Space Secretary for Policy \u0026amp; Security Secretary for Space Settlements Officer for Missions \u0026amp; Charts Assistant Secretary, ASRE Secretary for Extraterrestrial Science Deputy Minister, Ministry of the Commons Officer for Cosmodromes, Bureau of Aerospace Secretary for National Projects, Bureau of Public Works Departments # Department of Space Settlements: Dedicated offices for each major Vekllei off-world settlement. Lunar Commission Mars Commission Venus Commission Stations Commission Department of Policy \u0026amp; Security: Space exploration, development and strategic policy. Missions \u0026amp; Charts Office Science Office Multilateral Policy Office Trade \u0026amp; Economics Office Law \u0026amp; Protocols Office Department of Operations: Support and maintenance of habitation, research and development in space. Office of Infrastructure \u0026amp; Habitation Office of Transport \u0026amp; Supply Office of Colonial Administration ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-space/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 871,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-culture/bureau-of-sports/",
  "title": "Bureau of Sports","logo": "/svg/crests/bureau-sports.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "culture",
  "section": "Ministry of Culture",
  "description": "The Bureau of Sports promotes athletic development, manages sports facilities, and coordinates national sporting activities for the Ministry of Culture.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Sports is a bureau of the Ministry of Culture responsible for promoting physical education, managing sporting facilities and coordinating national athletic programmes in Vekllei. The bureau oversees both amateur and professional sports development and promotes particiption in sports nationwide.\nThe bureau manages national sports centres, coordinates training programs and provides support for athletic competitions at all levels. It also oversees the development of sporting infrastructure and maintains relationships with international sporting bodies.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Olympic Committee: National Olympic committee and international sports representation. Commonwealth Athletics Federation: National athletics federation and congress of sporting associations. Panveletian Athletics Gymnasion: National governing body for track and field sports. National Sports Development Corporation: Facility construction and sports program development. Commonwealth Coaching Institute: Professional training for sports coaches and instructors. Athletics Medicine Centre: Medical support and research for athletes associated with the MSRE. National Recreation: Public parks, playing fields and facilities for communities across Vekllei. Athletics Supply Development Corporation: Independent constituent corporation of the bureau that researches and develops sports equipment. Commonwealth Youth Sports Federation (CYSF): School and community youth sports programs. Council # Director, Bureau of Sports Secretary for Athletic Development Secretary for Sports Facilities Secretary for International Sports President Commonwealth Olympic Committee Executive Commonwealth Athletics Authority Principal Commonwealth Coaching Institute Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture Director of Sports Medicine, MSRE Departments # Department of Athletics Office of Professional Competition Office of Federal Athletics Office of Coaching \u0026amp; Training Office of Amateur Athletics Office of Programmes \u0026amp; Games Office of Youth Programmes Department of Sports Grounds Office of National Stadiums Office of Community Recreation Office of Training Centres Department of International Games Office of the Olympiad Office of the British Commonwealth Games Office of International Games ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-sports/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 872,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commonwealth/bureau-of-standards/",
  "title": "Bureau of Standards","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commonwealth.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commonwealth",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commonwealth",
  "description": "The Bureau of Standards establishes industrial, professional and visual standards for the Ministry of the Commonwealth.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Standards (also Standards Vekllei) works to unify management and supervision of state bodies and assets in Vekllei. It also mandates the responsibilities and visual identity of all departments of the Government and boroughs of the Commonwealth, including the appearance and manuals of style of Commonwealth infrastructure and publications. Its work includes both operating procedures and major brand elements like flags and logos, and specific linguistic and typographic features including typefaces, preferred punctuation and symbols. It has considerable authority over other departments, which usually lack autonomy to enforce their own visual identity independently. Most visual work for the Standardisations Directorate is performed by in-house designers and artists.\nDepartment of Standardisation # The General Office of the Standardisations Directorate (GOSED), commonly Standards Vekllei, administrates the directorate, and determines its operations through direct liaison with the Interior and Commonwealth Administrations.\nDepartment of Commercial Standards # The Commercial Standards of Vekllei (COMSTA) regulates Commonwealth standards of small and medium-sized commercial businesses that are otherwise unaffiliated with bureaus proper. It also advises GOSED on changes to its technical, safety and design committees. It also routinely interfaces with the ADCA for internal standards compliance.\nSince private commerce in Vekllei exists outside of the bureau framework, the license of COMSTA is broader and flexible, and regularly relies upon contracted industry contacts to fill places on its less defined technical committees.\nDepartment of Industrial Standards # The Industrial Standards of Vekllei (INSTA) regulates industrial regulatory and safety standards of industrial and manufacturing work. It also advises industry groups on product certification, and acts as a Commonwealth prosecutor in criminal breaches of industrial standards. INSTA is divided into sixteen technical committees that oversee particular industries. INSTA prosecutes cases of severe negligence or breach of Commonwealth standards, and advises domestic prosecution towards the Accreditation Inspectorate.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-standards/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 873,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/bureau-of-state/",
  "title": "Bureau of State","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-foreign-affairs.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "foreignaffairs",
  "section": "Ministry of Foreign Affairs",
  "description": "The Bureau of State conducts foreign relations and implements foreign policy, rather than formulating it, for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.",
  "content": " Department of African Affairs # Department of American Affairs # Department of Pacific Affairs # Department of Asian Affairs # Department of European Affairs # ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-state/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 874,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commonwealth/bureau-of-statistics/",
  "title": "Bureau of Statistics","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commonwealth.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commonwealth",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commonwealth",
  "description": "The Bureau of Statistics collects and publishes statistics concerning the people, economy and geography of Vekllei for the Ministry of the Commonwealth.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Statistics (also Statistics Vekllei) collects and publishes statistics concerning the people, economy and geography of Vekllei. Along with other COSMOCOM directorates, the Statistics Directorate organises research into trends of Vekllei demography and geography. The Statistics Directorate also coordinates the Vekllei Census. Statistics Vekllei also provides broad data collection and publishing services for other Interior and Commonwealth ministries and secretariats.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-statistics/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 875,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-milk-and-honey/bureau-of-stewardship/",
  "title": "Bureau of Stewardship","logo": "/svg/crests/bureau-of-stewardship.svg","icon": "🌱","color": "milk-honey",
  "section": "Parliament of Milk and Honey",
  "description": "The Bureau of Stewardship manages the gifts of creation responsibly for present and future generations across the Commonwealth.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Stewardship is a bureau of the Parliament of Milk and Honey that embodies Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s approach to care of nature as a moral, spiritual duty rather than a process of regulatory compliance. Drawing from animist Oslolan folk traditions that regard natural systems as sovereign entities deserving respect, the bureau coordinates environmental protection across ecosystems ranging from Arctic tundra in Helvasia to tropical coral reefs in the Kalina republics. Unusually for a government department in a secular country, it often fuses environmental stewardship with regional religious doctrine as a means of emphasising a national moral imperative towards care of nature.\nThis philosophical foundation creates practical differences in how environmental protection operates. Rather than treating nature as a resource to be managed efficiently, the bureau works from principles that view humans \u0026ndash; at home, in private enterprise and indeed, in government \u0026ndash; as caretakers of natural systems that exist independently and have their own rights and legal entitlements. This perspective varies across the Commonwealth, with Christian communities typically emphasises stewardship and animist communites emphasising distance. It informs everything from mining operations that have to negotiate with mountain spirits to fishing quotas that consider the wellbeing of fish populations as communities rather than commodities.\nThe bureau\u0026rsquo;s work becomes particularly complex across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s extraordinary biodiversity \u0026ndash; managing polar bear populations in the Arctic territories while protecting endemic species on remote Atlantic islands, coordinating hurricane forest recovery in the Caribbean while maintaining volcanic soil health in Oslola. Each ecosystem requires different approaches that respect local environmental conditions and the sovereignty of landscape. While the bureau takes a strategic role in natural safeguarding and conservation, the Bureau of Conservation typically implements programmes directly through the devolved Ministry of Landscape.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Observatory for the Natural World: Monitoring and protection of biodiversity and natural habitat systems in Vekllei and abroad. Stewardship International: International society for the respect and care of nature, with chapters all around the world. Commonwealth Scouts Association: National scouting organisation that emphasises municipal care and association with nature. It also provides training and education in environmental stewardship principles and practices. Commonwealth Gardens Service: Paramilitary conservation organisation that provides an alternative to conscientious objectors of military conscription. Municipal Environment Mobilisation Board: Local engagement in environmental care and protection activities, as well as management of restoration and renewal projects for degraded environments. Council # Director Bureau of Stewardship Secretary for Environmental Protection \u0026amp; Care Officer for Creation Care Education Secretary for Sustainable Resource Management Secretary for Ecosystem Monitoring \u0026amp; Restoration Officer for Climate Stewardship Deputy Minister Parliament of Milk and Honey Director Commonwealth Observatory for the Natural World Director Stewardship International Director Commonwealth Gardens Service Director Municipal Environment Mobilisation Board Departments # Department of the Natural Environment Office of Forests \u0026amp; Jungles Office of Closed Natural Systems Office of Animals \u0026amp; Habitats Office of Toxins\u0026amp; Pollutants Department of Stewardship Office of Natural Education Office of Municipal Services Office of Press \u0026amp; News Media Department of Natural Rights Office of Legal Services Office of Nature Monitoring Office of Recovery \u0026amp; Restoration Office of the Sanctity of Nature Service Branches Boreal Stewards Area Austral Stewards Area Occidental Stewards Area Oriental Stewards Area ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-stewardship/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 876,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/bureau-of-supply/",
  "title": "Bureau of Supply","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-defence.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "defence",
  "section": "Ministry of Defence",
  "description": "The Bureau of Supply deals with all matters of procurement and peacetime logistics for the Ministry of Defence.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Supply is a specialised defence organ that coordinates supply and logistics for the Crown Armed Forces and security services of Vekllei, including its policing and intelligence services. The Bureau of Supply also administrates the network of Crown Ordnance Factories and the production and acquisition of aircraft and vehicles. It is not responsible for strategic decisions about the make and type of supply, only the facilitation and distribution of the purchase.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-supply/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 877,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-milk-and-honey/bureau-of-surplus-and-export/",
  "title": "Bureau of Surplus and Export","logo": "/svg/crests/bureau-of-surplus-and-export.svg","icon": "🚢","color": "milk-honey",
  "section": "Parliament of Milk and Honey",
  "description": "The Bureau of Surplus and Export manages licensing of excess production for foreign markets and coordinates international trade relationships.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Surplus and Export is a bureau of the Parliament of Milk and Honey that regulates the transition between Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s moneyless domestic economy and foreign markets. When production exceeds what the commons can absorb, the bureau licenses surplus goods for international export, creating a controlled gateway between domestic abundance and foreign exchange.\nThis system operates on the principle that meeting domestic demand takes priority over export opportunity. Producers must first demonstrate their goods have saturated local and commonwealth-wide demand before receiving export licenses. This creates an incentive structure where successful domestic production earns the privilege of international market access, rewarding productivity while ensuring domestic self-sufficiency \u0026ndash; the basis of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s quality of life \u0026ndash; remains paramount.\nExport licensing generates benefits that cannot be directly monetised within the commons but provide tangible advantages to successful producers. These include priority access to imported materials, petty luxuries (fine foreign wines; cigars; produce for barter and trade), preferential allocation of industrial equipment, enhanced transportation rights and recognition through the Commonwealth Merit System. Such rewards maintain productive incentives while respecting the moneyless character of domestic society.\nThe bureau also coordinates with foreign aid programmes that channel surplus production to developing nations, particularly within the nonaligned movement. This serves both humanitarian goals and diplomatic objectives, using Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s productive capacity to build international relationships while disposing of excess goods constructively.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Export Licensing Scheme: Assessment and approval of surplus production for international markets. International Trade Service: Management of export logistics and foreign commercial relationships. Commonwealth Aid (BSE Office): Coordination of surplus goods as development assistance and humanitarian aid, primarily administered by the Parliament of State. Production Merits Commission: Administration of benefits and privileges earned through surplus production. Market Supply Commission: Evaluation of domestic demand saturation and export readiness. Commonwealth Trade Missions Service (CTMS): Diplomatic and commercial representation in international markets. Council # Director Bureau of Surplus and Export Secretary for Permits \u0026amp; Licensing Officer for Domestic Markets Secretary for International Trade Secretary for Foreign Aid Officer for International Development Deputy Minister Parliament of Milk and Honey Director Commonwealth Aid Director Production Merits Commission Director Market Supply Commission Director Commonwealth Trade Missions Service Offices # Department of Permits \u0026amp; Licensing Office of Domestic Markets Office of Market Saturation Office of Export Approval Office of Merit \u0026amp; Accounting Department of International Trade Office of Foreign Markets Office of Trade Missions Office of Commercial Relations Office of Export Logistics Department of Foreign Aid Office of Aid Missions Office of International Development Office of Nonaligned Cooperation Department of Production \u0026amp; Surplus Office of Demand Analysis Office of Production Surveillance Regional Export Offices Boreal Export Office Austral Export Office Occidental Export Office Oriental Export Office ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-surplus-and-export/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 878,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-labour/bureau-of-syndicates/",
  "title": "Bureau of Syndicates","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-labour.svg","icon": "🏛️","rgb": "155, 67, 199","color": "labour",
  "section": "Ministry of Labour",
  "description": "The Bureau of Syndicates regulates industrial organising and union activity for the Ministry of Labour.",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-syndicates/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 879,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-milk-and-honey/bureau-of-the-commons/",
  "title": "Bureau of the Commons","logo": "/svg/crests/bureau-of-the-commons.svg","icon": "🤝","color": "milk-honey",
  "section": "Parliament of Milk and Honey",
  "description": "The Bureau of the Commons manages logistics, supply chains and goods allocation across all Commonwealth republics.",
  "content": "The Bureau of the Commons is a bureau of the Parliament of Milk and Honey that operates as Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s circulatory system, moving goods between the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s 83 republics without the coordinating mechanism of prices. In a moneyless economy spread across thousands of kilometres of ocean, the bureau must track what each community produces, what it needs and how to move resources efficiently between islands that may be separated by vast distances and different time zones.\nThe scale of this logistical challenge becomes apparent when considering specific flows: fresh fish from Summers\u0026rsquo;s fishing fleets must reach Oslola\u0026rsquo;s population centres before spoiling, while manufactured electronics from Kairi\u0026rsquo;s factories need distribution across dozens of smaller island republics with varying transportation links. The bureau coordinates these movements through sophisticated inventory systems that track production, consumption and transportation capacity across the entire archipelagic nation.\nThis coordination requires the bureau to function simultaneously as shipping company, warehouse network and allocation authority. Without market prices to indicate where goods are most needed, the bureau must develop alternative methods for determining distribution priorities \u0026ndash; balancing immediate needs, seasonal variations, transport efficiency and community preferences while maintaining the principle that essential goods should reach everyone regardless of their island\u0026rsquo;s size or economic output.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Supply Commission: Coordination of inter-republic transport, warehousing and distribution centres, which manages resource distribution based on community needs and priorities. Commonwealth Logistics Service: Operation of transportation and warehousing infrastructure. Also sponsors the research and development of improved distribution methods. Commonwealth Central Inventory: Tracking and coordination of goods and materials across the Commonwealth, including regional facilities for goods sorting, storage and allocation. Panveletian Trade Commission: Coordination of resource exchange between different republics, as well as the integration of production and distribution across all republics. Quality of Life Surveillance Commission: Survey and analysis of Vekllei quality of life and essential needs. Council # Director Bureau of the Commons Secretary for Production \u0026amp; Distribution Officer for Industrial Supply Secretary for Commodities \u0026amp; Supply Secretary for Logistics \u0026amp; Transport Officer for Infrastructure \u0026amp; Automatic Systems Deputy Minister Parliament of Milk and Honey Director Commonwealth Supply Commission Director Commonwealth Central Inventory Director Panveletian Trade Commission Director Quality of Life Surveillance Commission Departments # Department of Production \u0026amp; Distribution Office of Production-Distribution Systems Office of Industrial Supply Office of Economic Coordination Office of System Integration Department of Commodities \u0026amp; Supply Office of Invoicing \u0026amp; Commissions Office of Local \u0026amp; Ordinary Supply Office of Commonwealth Obligations \u0026amp; Community Supply Department of Logistics \u0026amp; Transport Office of Warehousing \u0026amp; Stockpiles Office of Freight Office of Facilities Office of Infrastructure \u0026amp; Automatic Systems Department of Economies Office of Regional Distribution Office of Factory Supply Office of Special Distribution Office of Records \u0026amp; Analysis ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-the-commons/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 880,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-commerce/bureau-of-trade/",
  "title": "Bureau of Trade","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-commerce.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commerce",
  "section": "Ministry of Commerce",
  "description": "The Bureau of Trade regulates consumer protections and antitrust law for the Ministry of Commerce, and conducts domestic and international market analysis.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Trade regulates consumer protections and antitrust law in Vekllei, and organises trade information from other ministries and supervisory bureaus into policy recommendations and legislation. The Trade Commission also monitors and reports the health of foreign markets, and conducts research into broader geopolitical financial interests, particularly as they compete with domestic interests. It is part of the Ministry of Commerce, and reports primarily to the Treasury.\nConstituents # National Consumer Affairs Commission: Administration and protection of consumer rights. National Patent \u0026amp; Trademark Office: Registration authority for commercial patents and marks. Intellectual Property Arbitration Board: Mediator for copyright, patent and trademark disputes before litigation. Commonwealth Commercial Service: Promotion of Vekllei products abroad and liaison between industry and foreign partners. Commonwealth Trade Commission: Industrial and commodity liaison for foreign companies. Council # Director, Bureau of Trade Secretary for Trade Officer for Internal Markets Officer for Tourism Secretary of Market Analysis Officer for Market Intelligence Officer for Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary, Treasury Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Securities Executive, Commsec Departments # Department of Consumer Affairs: Regulation of the consumer entitlements and protections. Department of Market Affairs: Protection of fair markets and regulation of industrial and petty bureau companies, including state monopolies. Department of Market Research: Analysis and research of domestic and international markets. Department of Import \u0026amp; Export: Analyse and regulation of trade with foreign countries, including harmful trade practices. Export Controls Office Information Security Office Department of Intelligence: Monitoring of foreign investment and corporations, as well as overseas research and policy. Office of Foreign Assets Control National Tourism Bureau: Promotion, research, facilitation and branding of domestic and international travel. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-trade/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 881,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/bureau-of-travel/",
  "title": "Bureau of Travel","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-foreign-affairs.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "foreignaffairs",
  "section": "Ministry of Foreign Affairs",
  "description": "The Bureau of Travel organises tourism abroad for Vekllei people and facilitates travel and accomodation for foreign visitors to the country.",
  "content": "The Bureau of Travel organises travel abroad for Vekllei people and facilitates travel and accomodation for foreign visitors to the country. Unlike a conventional tourism promotion agency, the primary function of the Bureau of Travel is to assist overseas travel for Vekllei people, since they generally cannot finance themselves in the commons. The Bureau of Travel, through its constituent corporation Atlantic Hotel, operates a network of hotels throughout the world for the use of Vekllei citizens. It also undertakes extensive contract work with local tourism agencies to organise tours, tickets, expeditions and events to minimise the use of cash by Vekllei people.\nThe other role of the Bureau is facilitating international travel to Vekllei, which remains a small but growing market. Since foreign tourists do not use money while in Vekllei, tourism is typically arranged in package tours through the Atlantic Hotel chain. In this capacity is also serves as a tourism promotion board, and develops interest in travel to Vekllei overseas.\nExecutive Council # Director, Bureau of Travel Chairman, Commonwealth Overseas Information Service Chairman, Commonwealth Tourism Council Director, Commonwealth Traveller Consulate Departments # Department of Overseas Travel: Supports overseas travel for Vekllei citizens, either independently or through package tours. Office of Travel Planning Office of International Affairs Office of the Traveller Consulate Office of Foreign Security Office of Crisis Management Commonwealth Passport Office Department of Domestic Travel: Supports tourism within Vekllei by assisting hospitality operators and improving accessibility for travellers. Office of Foreign Travellers Office of Travel Networks Office of Travel Infrastructure Department of Tourism: Supports tourism and tourist infrastructure within Vekllei, primarily for foreigners. Office of the Tourism Council Office of the Overseas Information Service Boards \u0026amp; Commissions # Atlantic Hotel: International hospitality company that serves Vekllei citizens and foreigners. Commownealth Overseas Information Service: National tourism promotion board, operating from bureaus overseas. Commonwealth Traveller Consulate: Special consulate specifically designed to support Vekllei tourists abroad. Commonwealth Tourism Council: Industry council mostly comprising domestic inns and overseas properties. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-travel/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 882,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/bureau-of-war/",
  "title": "Bureau of War","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-defence.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "defence",
  "section": "Ministry of Defence",
  "description": "The Bureau of War conducts preparations for conflict and defence planning for the Ministry of Defence.",
  "content": "The Armed Forces of Vekllei, arranged under the COSMOKOS ministry, are unusual in that they do not have control directly over troops or equipment. The actual armed forces of Vekllei, known as the Crown Armed Forces, are a sovereign feature of the country and as such are placed under direct supervision of the Palace of Vekllei \u0026ndash; seperate from the Vekllei and Commonwealth governments.\nThe purpose of the Armed Forces of Vekllei, an agency-level body under control of COSMOKOS, is to integrate the Crown Armed Forces with the interior government, and facilitate the employ of Vekllei people in the Armed Forces.\nDepartment of Communications # The Department of Communications is a bureau-level organisation of the Armed Forces responsible for coordinating public information about military activities. It also produces several newspapers and periodicals for servicemen through subservient publishing houses.\nDepartment of Compulsory Service # The Department of Compulsory Service (DoCS, also CS) oversees the Vekllei Compulsory Service Scheme, a hybrid civilian/military conscription law that requires four years from each Commonwealth citizen between the ages of 18 and 32. Despite reporting to the Armed Forces of COSMOKOS, the DoCS does not facilitate widespread conscription and mobilisation of the civilian population, a role served by the DoM. Instead, it is responsible primarily for supervising the fulfilment of the Compulsory Service Scheme, and administrating the conscription and training of Vekllei citizens, including in civilian and industrial roles.\nDepartment of Expeditionary Affairs # The Department of Expeditionary Affairs (DoEA) coordinates military affairs with states overseas, including members of the Commonwealth. Responsibilities include facilitating military exchange and cooperation with foreign militaries, as well as relations-focussed work with strategic and allied nations.\nDepartment of Mobilisation # The Department of Mobilisation (DoM) is responsible for recruitment in peacetime, and conscription in the outbreak of war. In the Floral Period, Vekllei defensive doctrine aims to make the country \u0026ldquo;ungovernable,\u0026rdquo; requiring widespread mobilisation and training of the civilian population. Unlike the DoCS, the DoM is concerned primarily with the combat effectiveness of the mobilised population, and is generally distinguished in its strategic military thinking.\nDepartment of Peacekeeping # The Department of Peacekeeping (DoP) coordinates Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s overseas peacekeeping operations. Vekllei is among the largest contributors of men and equipment towards United Nations Peacekeeping Forces, which are responsible to and administrated by the DoP while deployed. The Department of Peacekeeping also engages with international mechanisms for peace, and contributes personnel as part of foreign aid or disaster relief.\nIntelligence Liaison Office # The Intelligence Liaison Office is a specialised office that coordinates military intelligence between Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s security apparatuses, particularly those of the National Intelligence Directorate. Intelligence gathering in Vekllei is performed by a variety of mostly autonomous espionage organs, and the purpose of the Liaison is to authenticate and prepare intelligence for military use. It includes the following branches.\nNational Intelligence Branch: Coordination of intelligence gathered by security apparatuses with Armed Forces. Civilian Intelligence Branch: Coordination of intelligence gathered by industrial and civilian sectors (in occupied territories, for example) with Armed Forces and security apparatuses. Strategic Intelligence Branch: Coordination of intelligence gathered by the Armed Forces with security apparatuses. Sovereign Liaison Office # The Sovereign Liaison Office is a specialised office intended to link the command of the Crown Armed Forces of Vekllei with COSMOKOS, an interior ministry with no direct control over troops of the Crown. Although it is the de facto office of communication with the Crown forces, in practice communication generally occurs directly with the relevant COSMOKOS department. The purpose of the Sovereign Liaison is mostly as a democracy-advocate, supervising the COSMOKOS departments as an anti-corruption watchdog similar to other democracy-advocates. It also ensures COSMOKOS operations do not affect sovereign operations\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-war/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 883,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-light-and-water/bureau-of-water/",
  "title": "Bureau of Water","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-light-and-water.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "lightandwater",
  "section": "Ministry of Light \u0026 Water",
  "description": "The Bureau of Water oversees water supply and sewerage for the Ministry of Light and Water.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Water Commission (commonly Hydroburo) is responsible for providing potable drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services across Vekllei. Water in Vekllei is universal and of good quality. The Hydroburo also maintains offices for sewerage, conservation, and construction.\nIn Oslola and Kala, most drinking water comes from fresh glacial runoff that requires minimal treating. Industrial water consumption is provided by nuclear desalination plants operated by the Hydroburo.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-water/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 884,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-industry/bureau-of-workers/",
  "title": "Bureau of Workers","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-industry.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "industry",
  "section": "Ministry of Industry",
  "description": "The Bureau of Workers regulates workplace organising and work safety for the Ministry of Industry.",
  "content": " Workplace Safety Commission # Workplace Democracy Commission # ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-workers/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 885,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/bureaucracy/",
  "title": "Bureaucracy in Vekllei","icon": "🗄️","rgb": "255, 82, 141",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Vekllei bureaucracy is better understood not as a traditional hierarchy but as constellations of autonomous offices.",
  "content": " Summary\nVekllei\u0026rsquo;s large and intricate civil service looks like a bureaucratic nightmare, but this appearance is misleading. The foundation of Vekllei public administration is the office, a small and agile team of professionals. In contrast to the consensus-lead and democratic political sphere, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s civil service is lead by experts with broad authority within their teams. This understanding better reflects government as constellations of autonomous offices, which contributes to their effectiveness in public service. It is easy to look at the dirigiste and intricate organisational diagrams of Vekllei government and industry and make assumptions about the bureaucratic nightmare it should be. Its neat and endless subdepartments fit that template well, right down to the names of ministerial departments: bureaus. But the truth is substantially more complicated, and Vekllei has a cultural and political priority towards efficient systems and outcomes.\nDiagrams of Vekllei government often look like examples of a rigid and complex bureaucracy. Rather than mountains of verbose, duplicate paperwork, Vekllei administration is characterised by social relations in the fashion of its broader economy. In fact, very few people in Vekllei write reports or policy at all \u0026ndash; the vast majority are working with notes, blackboards, drawings and tables in their individual fashion, which are then consolidated into concise factsheets with the distilled, relevant information assembled at the end of a project.\nVekllei\u0026rsquo;s obsessive and regimented public administrative hierarchy is not a symptom of bloat, but of an interest in organising the independent character of its public offices. The nesting doll of departments does not indicate a rigid web of oversight but of a standardised rendering of their diverse and sometimes chaotic specialist organisations. In this sense, their public service is better understood as a template of hundreds of specialist teams than as a hierarchical pyramid of silos.\nFundamentally, they are pragmatists, and believe that the purpose of a system is what it does rather than what it claims to do. This fact gives context to a lot of their innovations in public administration \u0026ndash; for example, since staff will not voluntarily engage in tedious, meaningless paperwork, there is no other choice than to reduce it. Similarly, despite their consensus-based political idealism, the nature of effective management requires a single leader with strong authority over everyday activity. Progress and education are in practice the core ideals of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s society, and so too are they in their system of public administration.\nThis culture of innovation is further intensified by their social economy, in which labour is self-selecting and most people are motivated by abstract rather than material interests. Clerical and administrative work are not typically done without some kind of self-interest, and in Vekllei the management of staff morale is a critical aspect of their public administration. Token rewards are not enough \u0026ndash; they require systems that allow space for staff to develop their own reasons for working. The result is that teams need to be small, frictionless, and their work needs to have meaning.\nIf the concise factsheet is the foundation of their institutional knowledge, then the foundational unit of their administration is the office. In an office, which may comprise 10-100 people, everyone has the same and singular boss \u0026ndash; the office head, who rules unilaterally but with advice from experienced staff. The appointment of an office head is often straightforward, because they are usually the most experienced and by extension often the most long-serving member of that organisation. Their management experience is secondary to their familiarity with their work, and their ability to make important decisions\nAs an example, the Office of Migrant Housing1 comprises 15 people at the federal level. It is lead unilaterally by the Officer for Migrant Housing, and each person there knows exactly what\u0026rsquo;s going on and what they\u0026rsquo;re working towards.\nExample\nThe Office of Migrant Housing was concerned about an influx of new citizens in Java moving en masse to other parts of the Commonwealth Verde once the republic was fully federalised. This was a complicated project involving writing a policy factsheet for the regional Bureau of Housing and making arrangements for the construction of new residences as part of an existing renewal project.\nThe project, including the necessary factsheets, planning, research and support was completed within six weeks, two weeks ahead of schedule. This case study demonstrates many aspects of a successful Vekllei office:\nDecisions were made quickly by the office head. The Officer for Migrant Housing was the only line of reporting for staff, and gave yes-or-no answers that gave a clear direction for staff. The office is responsible for its own procurement and logistics. Staff needed to travel to Verde for research and to coordinate with local officers, and arranged the logistics of these trips without having to receive approval or support from higher administration. Everyone knows what everyone is doing. The officer in charge of construction liaison was aware of the reluctance of locals from the officer for statistics. Everyone was aware of the health and timeline of the project. This information sharing was not through meetings \u0026ndash; they just talked to each other. Everyone has experience with the same kinds of work. Vekllei administrators are specialists, but they are expected to be familiar with all other branches of work, and won\u0026rsquo;t expect promotion without having that broad background of experience. This means staff have a good feel for the quality of work and can contribute their own ideas to other specialisations. Contractors are held to the same standard. Staff expect to have one contact with each partner organisation, and they expect that contact to be able to give them straightforward answers and permissions. Any effort to expand oversight or intervention on the other end was handled by the office head. Trust is given as trust is received. While offices expect to have their competence and autonomy respected, they provide similar independence to contractors and partners. In this case, outsourcing part of the housing plan to the local renewal project required relinquishing oversight from the office, but also allowed their partner teams to move quickly to provide what they needed. In Vekllei, almost all organisations are administered as autonomous divisions of expertise, and in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s context that means a specific kind of arrangement with the hierarchy of authority. It reflects their high-trust society, which relies on enthusiasm and reciprocal effort to function.2 People and organisations unable meet this standard are pruned quickly, or have their responsibilities reduced.\nPrinciples of Vekllei Public Administration\nIndependence: professionals doing good work, and who are expected to make advancements in their field, must be given trust at the expense of continuous information or control. This means independence for offices working within departments. Talent is the foundation of effective work: if you give talented and motivated people space to pursue their project goals, leave them alone and let them do it. People should be retained and allowed to improve themselves, and long-term investment returns greater dividends. Efficiency should be rewarded, not undermined: rewards should go to supervisors that don\u0026rsquo;t need to spend all their time supervising. Effective teams are working well, and should only recruit new staff as required. All key knowledge should fit on a page: anything worth writing should be concise and straightforward. Policy should be able to be summarised and understood accurately in a single page. Effective collaboration is spontaneous: there are very few weekly meetings in Vekllei. If everyone is aware of progress, as they should be, meetings will happen hourly and spontaneously. Small offices means small partners: Although Vekllei offices routinely work on projects of national significance, their organisations only work with small, strong partner teams who can consolidate procurement and give simple answers. This independence does not work perfectly or suit all kinds of work, and leans heavily on the office head as a competent director. There are many cases where a bad leader can sink a staff, and social relationships have social consequences. Nonetheless, these autonomous units of expertise within their central structure are unique in 21st-century public administration, and gives their public service an agile, innovative and occasionally chaotic character.\nThe Office of Migrant Housing is part of the Department of Community, which is part of the Bureau of Housing of the Ministry of the Commons. While this hierarchy is sequential, it does not indicate bureaucracy \u0026ndash; these different levels operate almost entirely independent of each other.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThis interest in efficiency and independence is not the same thing as strict careerism or a workaholic culture, and their offices are informal and easygoing, so long as the work gets done at some point. Vekllei business is conducted as a social affair, punctuated by tea breaks and working lunches.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/bureaucracy"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 886,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/bureau-industry/",
  "title": "Bureaus","icon": "🏢","color": "orange",
  "section": "Industry",
  "description": "A bureau is a type of industrial syndicate in Vekllei that represents substantial or monopoly power over an industry. They are usually independent but may comprise government-owned corporations.",
  "content": "Bureaus in Vekllei are industrial syndicates of companies that represent substantial or monopoly power over an industrial market. Their existence is recognised by Vekllei economic policy as a means of furnishing a reasonable standard of living for Vekllei people outside of the anarchy of the private markets. As a result, bureaus are concerned primarily with the public good and industrial policy. Bureaus are not state-owned, though they may count state-owned corporations among their constituents.\nBureaus typically consist of a general council, which organise votes from workers in subsidiary companies into company ballots, which are used to establish standards and self-regulate industry. Bureau membership also allows interaction with the Vekllei International Market, and provide a means for foreign investment and export. Companies within bureaus still compete against each other.\nThe largest bureaus include Electra and Universal Cotton. Electra represents a collection of state-owned electricity generation companies, and Universal Cotton consists of over a hundred individual clothing manufacturers. Although state monopolies may form a bureau in part or as a whole, bureau membership does not necessarily imply state ownership.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureaus/","/bureau-industry/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 887,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/bureaus/",
  "title": "Bureaus","icon": "🏛️","color": "millmint",
  "section": "Government",
  "description": "A government bureau is a statutory department of a Vekllei Ministry. They are professional, specialised organisations staffed by civil servants.",
  "content": "A bureau is a statutory department of a ministry or ministerial parliament. They are professional, autonomous organisations run by a Director and staffed by civil servants.\nThey are typically large organisations with various degrees of devolution, and often control constituent commissions, boards or corporations.\nBureaus are organised into departments, which may comprise a number of offices. They are lead by an Executive Council, which typically includes a selection of staff from the Bureau as well as representatives from the ministry, industry or specific organisations from elsewhere in the Government.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/government-bureaus/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 888,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/cabinet/",
  "title": "Cabinet","logo": "/svg/crests/vekllei.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "millmint",
  "section": "Government",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Cabinet is a petty executive of Vekllei, and advises the Directory with opinion and technical expertise.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Cabinet is a petty executive of Vekllei, and exists to advise the Commonwealth Directory with opinion and technical expertise.\nIt consists of members of parliament, either in a Assemblies or the Senate, as well as experts and notable professionals in industry, science and economics. They are appointed rather than elected, and have a term of four years. Each Sorda appoints two members as privy advisors, and the rest are elected as Directors by employees of a relevant commonwealth parliament or ministry.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/cabinet/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 889,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/lucaya/caicos/",
  "title": "Caicos","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/caicos-4x3.svg","icon": "🐚","rgb": "199, 42, 43",
  "section": "Lucaya Commonwealth",
  "description": "Caicos (\u003ci\u003eTurks \u0026 Caicos\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lucayan Archipelago.",
  "content": " Caicos Republic Archipelago of the Turks \u0026amp; Caicos Islands Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Lucaya Commonwealth Accession 1930, as part of the Alford Agreement Area 948 km² Capital Grand Turk Languages English, Arawakan, Lucayan Population 280,448 The Caicos Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei at the southern end of the Lucayan archipelago. It comprises 8 major cays, and many smaller islets and reefs. All its islands are formed by coral and are low-lying with a tropical savannah climate. It is also the driest republic in the Commonwealth Lucaya. Together, the Caicos islands form a fringe of reefs and islets on the periphery of the Lucayan archipelago, facing the Atlantic Ocean. Several of the islands are uninhabited, and only two are home to major settlements, including the capital of Grand Turk in the east.\nCaicos is home to native Caribs known as Oriental Tainos, who occupied the islands periodically prior to European discovery. They form about two-fifths of the population today. The rest of Caicos Islanders are mostly of English and African ancestry, descended from British royalists and their slaves who fled there during the American Revolution. Like much of the Commonwealth Lucaya, colonisation of Caicos by Spain and then the UK involved the enslavement of natives and transported Africans, who in Caicos mostly worked in the salt and cotton industries. Historically there was considerable animosity between whites and blacks on the island, though desegregation and reconciliation programmes have helped mix communities and reduce disparities in health and education.\nThe Taino people have a reputation for being loyal and skilled warriors, and were used by the British Empire as soldiers throughout the 19th Century and in both world wars. This military tradition persists today, and Tainos are overrepresented in both the Territorial Services and Marine Services. Four components of the 12th and 16th Rifles divisions are stationed at Fort Orient on Salt Cay, just south of the capital. They are well regarded by federal staff and many form part of the Commonwealth commando units.\nThere is little arable land and a severe shortage of fresh water in Caicos, and so much of its local agriculture takes place in hydroponic greenhouses. It has desalination plants in both Grand Turk and Provo to provide fresh water, but the peripheral islands rely mostly on water tanks and rain catchment. Fishing is a common pastime, and the conch salad is the local delicacy.\nIn the postwar period as part of Vekllei, Caicos has become an important outpost for the Territorial Services, which maintains a number of secure facilities and training grounds across its islands. Federalisation has also brought with it a new professional class involved in education and the civil service, living mostly in Grand Turk and Provo. As such, the differences in lifestyle between the Caicos cities and its small island communities is quite dramatic, and many young people relocate there or elsewhere in Vekllei seeking excitement and opportunity. Many end up in the army.\nBoth cities have airports capable of receiving jets, and Provo is connected to its neighbouring cays by a rail line that passes over iconic trestle bridges. The cities are connected by hydrofoil, but transport to the peripheral cays is irregular and performed by local ferries and private charter. Grand Turk is a highly developed city and has comprehensive tram network. It is also home to a campus of the Commonwealth University of the West Indies.\nPoints of Interest Fortress Occident: Large service station of the Territorial Services. Jet Works: Aircraft manufacturer specialising in small and medium-sized specialised jet aircraft as part of Atlantic Works. Caicos University: Affiliated campus of the Commonwealth University of the West Indies. Innumerable Beaches, Reefs, Cays: Caicos is famous for its beaches, clear water, and coral reefs. Few foreign tourists make it there, so visitors can often have a whole beach to themselves. Arawak Orient Brewery: Famous brewery known for its cold beers. The factory is open to visitors. Caicos Signals Station: Military and DSRE signal monitoring and intelligence station located on Cotton Cay. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/caicos/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 890,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antilles/caimanas/",
  "title": "Caimanas","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/caimanas-4x3.svg","icon": "📖","rgb": "60, 106, 217",
  "section": "Antilles Commonwealth",
  "description": "Caimanas (\u003ci\u003eCayman Islands\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the western Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Caimanas Republic Archipelago of the Cayman Islands Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Antilles Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 259 km² Capital Tortuga Languages English, Caimanas English Population 412,830 The Republic of Caimanas is a constituent republic in the western Caribbean Sea, and part of the country of Vekllei. It is a city-state archipelago of 3 main islands, of which Grand Caimana is the most developed. The archipelago lies 500km northwest of Jamaica, and south of Cuba.\nThe islands were originally settled by pirates and shipwrecked sailors in the 17th Century, who found no indigenous population living there. The UK acquired the islands as part of the 1670 Treaty of Madrid, but were unable to exercise settlement until the 1730s. As was the case across most British Caribbean territories, slaves were brought to the Caimanas over the following two centuries until the abolition of the practice in 1833. The islands were briefly part of the Colony of Jamaica until the Jamaican Revolution in 1886, after which they became part of the British Atlantic Territories and eventually Vekllei.\nThe islands have few natural resources and have to import much of their goods and construction material. Food is also imported, but programmes undertaken by the Bureau of Agriculture have supplemented imports through the development of large community gardens and light farms. Today, the local economy is dominated by professional services including education, training, the civil service and finance. The national Ratings Corporation is headquartered there, as are a large number of other financial institutions in Vekllei. The island also sees some domestic tourism from other Vekllei republics, who come to see its dive sites and coral reefs.\nCaimanas is the westernmost Vekllei republic, and in many ways carries on the culture of opportunism and independence that characterised its early years. It has a distinct local culture and lingua franca, called Caimana English influenced by West African and Guinea Coast languages. Locals go in for Anglo-Carib and Afro-Carib fare like cassava, jerk seasoning and meat pies. They consume a lot of seafood, mostly grouper and snapper.\nThe capital of Tortuga is home to most of the republic\u0026rsquo;s population, and resembles many other Vekllei Caribbean cities. It is low-rise and lush with gardens and parks. All three islands have tram service, and Grand Caimana has a railway running from its east to west ends. Little Caimana is home to the archipelago\u0026rsquo;s international airport, as well as Air Station Caimana, which is a major military installation. All islands are linked by hydrofoil ferries.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Ash Wednesday Good Friday Easter Monday Commonwealth Day 1 May Constitution Day 1st Mon in Jul Republic Day 15 Dec Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Seven Mile Beach: A world-renowned beach on Grand Caimana, known for its white sand and clear waters. Stingray Town: A popular shallow sandbar where visitors can interact with and feed southern stingrays. Caimana Botanic Gardens: A botanical garden on Grand Caimana, showcasing native flora and the endangered Blue Iguana. Cayman Turtle Centre: A conservation and education centre where visitors can learn about sea turtles and other wildlife. Pedro St. James: A historic building known as \u0026ldquo;the birthplace of democracy\u0026rdquo; in the Caimanas Islands, offering tours and exhibits on the islands’ history. Caimana Brac Caves: Natural limestone caves on Caimana Brac, popular for exploration and offering dramatic views of the landscape. Air Station Caimanas: The main airport in the republic and major military air station. Caimana Islands Dockyards: Major port and drydocks located just outside of Tortuga. Constable Training School: Special Police training school for local policing, operated by the Commonwealth Police College. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/caimanas/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 891,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/cama/",
  "title": "Cama","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/cama-4x3.svg","icon": "🌶️","rgb": "2, 123, 93",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Cama (\u003ci\u003eGrenada\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Cama Republic Island of Grenada Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1930, as part of the Alford Agreement Area 310.8 km² Capital Assumpción Languages English, Cama Creole, French Population 434,820 The Cama Republic (Isle of Spice) is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Caribbean. It lies about 130km northwest of Aloubaera, and its northernmost island of Petite Martinique is just south of the southernmost part of the Youloumain island chain. It comprises three inhabited islands, and countless islets numbering at least 600. The capital, Assumpción, is situated on the southwest coast of the island of Cama.\nThe origin of Cama is volcanic, and the interior of its main island is mountainous. The capital has a good deepwater harbour and is renowned for its beautiful and bright-coloured waterfront area and homes. Grand Etang, a lake in the crater of an extinct volcano at 530 meters, provides some fresh water to its municipalities. Like much of the Vekllei Caribbean, about four fifths of Camans are descended from black slaves brought there by the UK to work Cama\u0026rsquo;s plantation economy. Other populations, including indigenous Caribs and Indians descended from indebted labourers who replaced the slave system, make up the remainder. They are mostly Christian, with minor Islamic and Hindu populations. They enjoy a tropical climate with a dry and rainy season, tempered by ocean breezes.\nBy Vekllei standards, life on Cama remains remarkably agrarian and agricultural products make up much of its economy. The municipalisation of the republic in the postwar period has seen many of its plantations converted into co-operative farms, which grow a variety of citrus fruits and tropical plants including nutmeg, of which Cama contributes about 40% of the world\u0026rsquo;s total supply. The transition from subsistence farming to the commons has reduced the overall participation of labour in agriculture, which now is mostly undertaken to maintain a claim on land. Most other products are \u0026lsquo;municipal goods,\u0026rsquo; comprising staple crops and some light industry. Manufacturing, found mostly in the capital, is dominated by brewing, cigarette manufacturing and textiles.\nThe island of Cama is home to the Vekllei National Medical University, the most prestigious medical institution in Vekllei. Its students make up about an eighth of the republic\u0026rsquo;s total population. Cama and its minor inhabited islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique are linked by hydrofoil. The capital has a tram network, and narrow-gauge rail circumnavigates its coastline. The only civilian airport is located southwest of the capital. Cama is also the headquarters of Atlantis, the primary shipping bureau corporation of the country, which also operates a port in Assumpción.\nMajor Industries Agriculture Cocoa Nutmeg Mace Bananas Lemons \u0026amp; Limes Mangoes Passionfruit Tamarind Guava Manufacturing Textiles \u0026amp; Clothing Brewing Sugar Milling Copra Processing Mace \u0026amp; Nutmeg Processing Canning Soapmaking Cigarette \u0026amp; Cigar Manufacturing Points of Interest Atlantis Adriatic Works: Marine equipment, shipping container and general marine engineering company part of Atlantic Works. Caribbea Cooperative Breweries Cama Nutmeg (bureau) The Virgin Chocolate Company Cama Bottling Company Meridian Paints Marine Cama Federal Textiles Island Foods Cannery ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/cama/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 892,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/capricorn-class/",
  "title": "Capricorn-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Capricorn-Class is a class of submarine in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Capricorn-class Attack Submarine Attack submarine Built 2052-present Class Capricorn-class Crew 100 Displacement 7,500 tons (submerged) InService 13 Length 95 meters Service Maritime Service Speed 35 knots (submerged) Station NS Oslola Oslola The Capricorn-class Attack Submarine is a class of submarine of the Marine Services of Vekllei. The class is a nuclear-powered vessel designed for a variety of underwater combat missions, including anti-ship, anti-submarine, and reconnaissance roles. With a submerged displacement of 7,500 tons and a length of 95 meters, the submarine is a key asset in Vekllei naval formations, capable of operating independently for extended periods without surfacing.\nPowered by a variant of the NMPR marine nuclear propulsion system, the Capricorn-class can achieve submerged speeds of up to 35 knots with its magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) jets. Its quiet propulsion system is designed for stealth, allowing it to remain undetected while conducting patrols or approaching enemy fleets. The submarine has a typical crew of 100, including officers and specialists trained for long-duration underwater missions.\nThe submarine’s armament includes six 533 mm torpedo tubes capable of launching the No. 8 Orca heavy torpedoes, designed for both anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare. In addition to torpedoes, the Capricorn-class can launch No. 2 Lancet cruise missiles from these tubes, providing a secondary strike capability against land-based or large surface targets.\nThe vessel is also equipped with a sophisticated sonar suite, including passive and active sonar systems for detecting enemy submarines and ships at long ranges. Electronic warfare systems and decoys, among other countermeasures, form part of its defensive complement.\nUnlike missile submarines, the Capricorn-class primarily serves larger naval formations in hunter-killer and carrier-defence roles. To these ends, they may stray hundreds of kilometres away from their fleets in search of threats.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/capricorn-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 893,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/bureau-industry/caribbea-cane/",
  "title": "Caribbea Cane","logo": "/svg/logos/caribbea-cane.svg","icon": "🌴","rgb": "184, 142, 89",
  "section": "Bureaus",
  "description": "Caribbea Cane is the primary sugar and fermentation bureau in Vekllei, responsible for cane farming, sugar refining and cultured meat feedstock production.",
  "content": " Caribbea Cane Industrial Bureau of Vekllei Employees 22,000 Founded 2025 Headquarters Praia Industry Agriculture \u0026 Fermentation Revenue AK ✾ 340 billion Traded CBC SpA Caribbea Cane S.p.A. is a bureau corporation that monopolises sugar cultivation, refining and manufacturing in Vekllei. It coordinates dozens of constituent companies that manage over 212,000 hectares of cane farmland across Verde and Lucaya. It also directly operates three super-refinery complexes that serve as critical bacterial culture media production sites for the synthetic meat industry in Vekllei. Each super-refinery integrates refining, fermentation and nutrient blending facilities, forming a decentralised, high-capacity supply chain for agro-industrial food production.\nCaribbea Cane functions as both a traditional agricultural-industrial cooperative and a strategic biomanufacturing centre. It supplies sugar, amino acids and growth media for national food security. Its refineries in Praia, Bahama and Mira are some of the largest in the world, each processing ~23 million tonnes of cane annually with integrated bagasse cogeneration and desalination plants.\nThe bureau also produces feedstock for fermentation plants that produce vitamins, recombinant proteins and lipids for cultivated meat, as well as export sugar for regional trade. Its decentralised infrastructure links tropical cane belts with mainland bioreactor factories through Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s freight and loading network. Between its super-refineries Caribbea processes about 4.8 million tonnes of sugar per year.\nPrimary Constituents of Caribbea Cane S.p.A.\nPraia Sugar Works ( Praia) \u0026ndash; Super-refinery and integrated fermentation plant. Lucaya Refining \u0026amp; Separation Works ( Bahama) \u0026ndash; Super-refinery serving northern Lucaya cane belt. Atlantic Sugar Works ( Mira) \u0026ndash; Western super-refinery and fermentation plant. Lucaya Cane Cooperative Corporation (Inagua, Habacoa) \u0026ndash; Plantation network and agricultural cooperative. Snow White Sugar Industries (Mayaguana) \u0026ndash; Supplemental cane cultivation and refining support. Fogo Republic Cane Company (Fogo) \u0026ndash; High-yield tropical cane farms with bagasse-to-energy plant. Morocos Sugar Company (Morocos) \u0026ndash; Mountain irrigation and cane terrace operations. Sal Desert Cane Laboratory ( Sal) \u0026ndash; Salt-tolerant cane cultivation laboratory and desalination plant. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/caribbea-cane/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 894,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/private-industry/castro/",
  "title": "Castro","logo": "/svg/logos/castro.svg","icon": "🍽️","rgb": "232, 163, 63",
  "section": "Private Industry",
  "description": "Castro is a legendary avant-garde restaurant in Oslola that revolutionised scientific gastronomy and spawned a movement across Vekllei.",
  "content": " Castro Restaurant Private Corporation of Vekllei Employees 45 Founded 2025 Industry Restaurant Location Oslola Revenue AK ✾ 1.3 million Castro is a legendary avant-garde restaurant in Oslola, widely regarded as the birthplace of scientific gastronomy in Vekllei. Founded in 2025 by chef Andreas Castro in the capital\u0026rsquo;s historic Lola district, the restaurant has become synonymous with molecular gastronomy and experimental cuisine that challenges traditional notions of food preparation and presentation.\nThe restaurant occupies a converted 19th-century Imperial-period townhouse on Copperplate Street, where Castro transformed the basement into a fully equipped laboratory and the upper floors into an intimate 20-seat dining room. The establishment operates on a reservation system so exclusive that the only reliable way to secure a table is through the famous quarterly lottery, where golden tickets are mailed to randomly selected applicants from across the Commonwealth.\nCastro\u0026rsquo;s influence extends far beyond its dining room through the Castro School, an educational institution that operated intermittently between 2025 and 2045. This school trained a generation of chefs in scientific cooking techniques, creating what is now known as the Castro System \u0026ndash; a network of restaurants across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s republics that share a commitment to experimental gastronomy and scientific methodology.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/castro/","/castro-restaurant/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 895,
  "href": "/categories/",
  "title": "Categories","icon": "📑","color": "millmint",
  "section": "Home",
  "description": "Browse content by categories in Vekllei's archives.",
  "content": " This page lists all content categories in the archive. Categories help organize content by type and theme. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/categories/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 896,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/private-industry/cateral/",
  "title": "Cateral","logo": "/svg/logos/cateral.svg","icon": "💥","rgb": "237, 1, 0",
  "section": "Private Industry",
  "description": "Cateral is an firearms manufacturer in Vekllei. It is a private cooperative with 17 different workshops and factories.",
  "content": " Cateral Private Corporation of Vekllei Employees 3,404 Founded 1902, as Cateral Artillery Co. Headquarters Kairi Industry Firearms Manufacturing Revenue AK ✾ 4.3 billion Traded CTL ScL Cateral S.c.L. is a firearms manufacturer in Vekllei. It is a cooperative of 17 distinct workshops and factories across six republics, and is a major weapons exporter internationally. It has a governing council headquartered in Kairi, which coordinates research and production.\nCateral Laboratories developed and manufacturers the No. 14 standard-issue rifle of the Armed Forces, as well as other small arms, and employs about 5,000 people. It is listed on the Commsec as CTL.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/cateral/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 897,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/verde/cavoada/",
  "title": "Cavoada","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/cavoada-4x3.svg","icon": "🍊","rgb": "248, 77, 106",
  "section": "Verde Commonwealth",
  "description": "Cavoada (\u003ci\u003eSao Nicolau\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Cabo Verde archipelago off the coast of West Africa.",
  "content": " Cavoada Republic Island of Sao Nicolau Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Verde Commonwealth Accession 1945, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 343 km² Capital Tarrafal Languages English, Verde Creole, Portuguese Population 25,424 The Cavoada Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic, off the coast of the African Sahara. It is part of the Commonwealth Verde island group and Commonwealth, situated between the republics of Viana and Sal. It is a striking island of complex, moonlike terrain and conspicuous relief, dominated by the peak of Monte Gordo from which you can see the entire archipelago on a clear day.\nThe island is long and thin, and shaped like a fishhook. Like much of the archipelago, it is dry and temperate, with low coastal land lying barren and treeless. As the terrain climbs into dramatic hills and ranges, shrubs and trees appear. The tops and slopes of mountains are quite lush and spectacularly pretty. The republic is famous for its narrow valleys that snake through the interior of the island.\nThe island, like the rest of the archipelago, was uninhabited when it was discovered by the Portuguese in the mid-15th Century. It was not permanently settled until over 100 years later, because the previous settlement of Porto de Lapa was abandoned after pirate attacks. Long known as the birthplace of Verdean culture, the island is famous for its poets and artists throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It also served as an important refueling station for whaling vessels headed south.\nCavoadan people are reserved and have a strong sense of culture and independence. The Commonwealth has constructed several intercity trams that wind through the mountainous interior of the island at great expense, but many locals still prefer to get around on horseback. Tarrafal Secondary School, the largest of its kind in the republic, has a stable for students arriving on horses.\nThe republic is best known for its pretty, pastel-coloured homes and square terraced gardens that are rich with local produce \u0026ndash; mostly coffee, oranges and mandarins. There is a deep sense of spirituality there, and not just because it is the seat of the Verdean archdiocese \u0026ndash; the otherworldly beauty of its weathered and ostentatious mountains encourage reverence towards the land. The capital of Tarrafal is dry and coastal, framed by a massive valley behind it. The city of Ribeira Brava is green and follows the slope of the mountains downhill, and competes with any town of the Cinque Terre for beauty. A rail line connects the two cities with each other and the only airport, but only a few other settlements are accessibly by tram. The distant, small communities on the coasts are only accessible by boat or horseback.\nMost of the economy comprises municipal goods, smallholdings and culture. For an island of its size it produces a suprising amount of poetry, inspired by the landscape of the republic and its strong sense of isolation. A lot of coffee, oranges and maize is grown, and the surplus is generally exported. The capital has a good natural harbour, through which most other goods are imported. Ferries depart there for neighbouring islands in the archipelago.\nClimate\nGenerally moderate and arid, but volatile when the trade winds meet between seasons. Heavy rainfall can occur during summer.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Heroes Day 20 Jan Good Friday 30 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Assumption Day 15 Aug Republic Day 20 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest Monte Gordo National Park: The highest peak on the island, with lush mountain trails, endemic plant species and panoramic views. Tarrafal Beach: A black-sand beach near the town of Tarrafal, popular for swimming, sunbathing, and relaxing by the Atlantic. Fajã Valley: A fertile valley known for its terraced farms, traditional villages, and beautiful hiking trails through the island\u0026rsquo;s interior. Ribeira Brava: Regional city of the republic, with colourful colonial architecture, lively markets, and a historic church square. Carbeirinho: A unique rock formation on the coast, featuring dramatic cliffs and natural pools, renowned for its stunning landscapes and geological interest. Baixo Rocha: A coastal area with secluded beaches and rock formations, ideal for snorkelling and discovering local marine life. Festival of São João Baptista: A vibrant annual festival held in June, celebrated with traditional music, dance, and cultural events across the island. Agricultural Cooperatives: Small-scale farming cooperatives focusing on the production of crops like maize, beans, and vegetables. Cavoada Municipal Water Works: Desalination plant and water storage, a critical part of the island\u0026rsquo;s water supply since very little fresh water exists there. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/cavoada/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 898,
  "href": "/factbook/state/law/century-society/",
  "title": "Century Society","icon": "⚖️","color": "purple",
  "section": "Law",
  "description": "The Century Society Laws were a collection of laws designed to foster educated immigration in postwar Vekllei.",
  "content": "The \u0026ldquo;Century Society\u0026rdquo; Laws were a collection of laws designed to foster educated immigration in postwar Vekllei. In total, they promised citizenship to any person with a tertiary qualification fleeing a persecuting regime, or citizenship to any person with valuable expertise to contribute1 towards the country. Provided the immigrant could \u0026ldquo;build their own home,\u0026rdquo;2 they would be incentivised with permanent citizenship for their immediate family and opportunities to participate in the postwar government.\nMany \u0026ldquo;Century Citizens,\u0026rdquo; as immigrants under this law became known, were politically motivated to participate in the anarchist aspects of Vekllei society or otherwise seeking a better life in an emerging country. Consequently, the Century Society programme has also been called the \u0026ldquo;Aliyah for anarchists.\u0026rdquo;3\nThe Century Society Laws were made more restrictive in 2038, and then again in 2045. They are still part of Vekllei legislation today, but are much more closely controlled to ease migrant pressures on dense Commonwealth cities.\nThe desirable skills included experience in construction, medicine, trade or clerical work.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n\u0026ldquo;Build your own home\u0026rdquo; was a shorthand for contributing to the war-ravaged and emerging Vekllei Commonwealth. In some cases, it meant joining a Municipal Action Group and literally assisting construction of your own neighbourhood with the help of your neighbours.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThis phrase is a reference to the Jewish Aliyah to Israel in the 20th Century after the conclusion of the Second World War.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/century-society/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 899,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/ceylon/",
  "title": "Ceylon","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/lk-4x3.svg","icon": "🍵","rgb": "255, 92, 0",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "The Republic of Ceylon (also known as Sri Lanka) is an island country in South Asia, off the coast of India.",
  "content": "The Socialist Republic of Ceylon (also Śrī Laṅkā in Sinhala and Ilaṅkai in Tamil) is an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of India. It is a part of the non-aligned movement and the COMOC.\nCeylon is home to 19.5 million people, and is a rapidly developing country with an expanding diplomatic presence throughout South East Asia and East Africa. It also has close ties to the United Kingdom, its former coloniser, and Vekllei.\nSri Lanka is an industrial hub and famous for its garment and textiles manufacturing, tea, precious stones and shipbuilding.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ceylon/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 900,
  "href": "/characters/",
  "title": "Characters","icon": "🎎","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Home",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Tzipora See all stories featuring Tzipora\nTzipora lo Ula de Helette Azela, often called Zelda by her friends, is the main character of this project. She was born in 2047 in Colombia, but lives in Vekllei with Baron.\nThough born to Vekllei parents, she was raised overseas in Colombia and was later educated in the United States. Since her arrival in Vekllei, she has returned to school and has formed sincere and close friendships, stabilising the more neurotic and anxious parts of her personality.\n💬 Name: Tzipora \u0026ldquo;Zelda\u0026rdquo; Azela 💼 Occupation: Student 🏠 Residence: Seispri, Borough of Lola, Oslola, Vekllei 🔄 Age: 16 Appearance # Tzipora is blue-eyed and black-haired of mixed Gitana (Spanish Roma) and Ashkenazic heritage. She has a round head and a big smile, and is naturally athletic. She has dry, wiry hair that she parts in the middle. She speaks Oslolan serviceably, but prefers to communicate in English and has a Latin American accent.\nShe dresses in internationalist styles and has maintained a consistent taste throughout her life. She has a preference for loose-fitting clothing some would characterise as scruffy. She is most commonly seen in soft cotton shirts, shorts or dresses, uneven socks and flat shoes or sandals.\nPersonality # Tzipora is nonconformist by way of ignorance or obstinance depending on the occasion.\nShe is paranoid and conservative, good-natured and austere, with a moral outlook bound by her deepest anxieties and obsessions. She can be thoughtful and astute, and is fascinated with objects and their history. She has many collections of many things she’s found.\nShe is a Catholic, but has a confrontational relationship with God and only attends mass on holidays, and usually prays to Mary instead. She also has Jewish ancestry and observes some Jewish holidays and traditions while living with Baron.\nTzipora may be intense and inward-facing, but she can also be disarmingly charming and self-deprecating. She has a good sense of humour. There are not many people that can so easily reconcile the contradictions between the peculiar and the healthy, the eccentric and the friendly, and the violent and the domestic. That’s part of her character — an essence of being that radiates decency, good taste and a respect for the spirit of all things.\nCobian See all stories featuring Cobian\nCobian lo Ro de Viviya de Queismesnah is Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s longtime friend and occasional girlfriend. Stern in manner and appearance, Cobian is easily remembered by her circular spectacles and stern fringe, styles maintained since childhood.\nShe has a close but tempestuous relationship with Tzipora, and a tepid connection with Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s broader friend group. She is polite in the middle-class sense of the word; formal among strangers, gossipy among friends.\n💬 Name: Cobian Queismesnah 💼 Occupation: Student 🏠 Residence: Alveg, Borough of Lola, Oslola, Vekllei 🔄 Age: 16 Appearance # Cobian is amber-eyed with black hair, descended mostly from Inuit-Scandinavian ethnic groups common in Oslola. She is tall for her age, and has mostly Inuit features. She styles her long hair in many different ways, most commonly in a bun or braids. She is healthy but inactive, and tans easily without freckling. Cobian is naturally graceful and well-mannered, traits Tzipora is envious of.\nHer taste in clothes ranges from prim middle-class ensembles to more adventurous Brazza and Maoist Revival fare. Indigenous to Oslola, she is both fascinated by and suspicious of the outside world, and her cautious entry into foreign trends indicates her desire to move beyond her traditional Oslolan upbringing.\nPersonality # When Tzipora meets her, Cobian is a figure of sympathy and irritation. She has the unfortunate quality of a social outcast trying to climb her way back inside, and people can tell. Once comfortable around Tzipora, Cobian revealed herself to be easy-going and loyal, a person of small pretensions and genuine friendship. In her own skin, she makes an excellent conversationalist, charmingly attentive and grateful.\nSome people think she\u0026rsquo;s judgemental, and she can be. Her friends are immigrants but she knows little about the outside world, and is insecure about her provinciality, which can manifest as judgement or xenophobia.\nOn the other hand, Cobian is also deeply empathetic and finds interest in new things via her friends she\u0026rsquo;d never previously thought about. She makes up most of Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s social life, which leaves plenty of space for Zelda\u0026rsquo;s big personality and obsessions.\nZelda has a stabilising effect on Cobian, rounding out some of her conservative instincts through Zelda\u0026rsquo;s androgynous habits and far-fetched fascinations. But Zelda\u0026rsquo;s big personality does not include much talking or grace, and in these deficiencies Cobian\u0026rsquo;s social talent shines. Together they make a great pair, their neighbouring personalities aiding their best selves.\nBaron See all stories featuring Baron\nBaron lo Ula de Tiria Spector is Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s guardian in on way or another. Whether he\u0026rsquo;s a surrogate father, adoptive parent, mentor or friend, his title is unclear but their relationship is fairly straightforward. Tzipora lives with him in Seispri and his relationship with her is both paternal and respectful as an equal.\nBaron has spent most of his life abroad in some capacity in service of his government, and has few personal connections in Vekllei. He is a distant and serious person, but also mild and unopinionated. He is good at what he does.\n💬 Name: Baron Azela 💼 Occupation: Director of Operations, Section 12, Home Office at National Intelligence 🏠 Residence: Seispri, Borough of Lola, Oslola, Vekllei 🔄 Age: 41 Appearance # Baron is a Jewish man of middle age with a controlled posture. He has facial hair somewhere between bristle and beard, and a mane of greying brown hair. He is otherwise unremarkable, of about average height and weight, and blends into a crowd easily.\nHe is not a man of strong opinions in domestic concerns, and dresses for work even on his days off. Most commonly he is depicted with a suit or sports coat and tie. He smokes a wood pipe at home and cigarettes going out.\nPersonality # Baron can be hard to get a read on, but he is not that complicated. His life and lifestyle are informed by his history, both here and abroad. He is basically a lonely figure, neither cynical nor optimistic, neither obedient nor rebellious, navigating his serious responsibilities with competence. His beliefs basically reflect his country\u0026rsquo;s values, if not quite their civilian aspirations.\nTzipora\u0026rsquo;s eccentricity cuts through a lot of this sober attitude, and it\u0026rsquo;s obvious they like spending time together. Tzipora is not that much younger than Baron was when he enlisted with the territorial service, and he has many things in common with her. She is not a needy person and they learn from each other, both trying to figure out how to live their new domestic lives.\nHe has a warm, platonic relationship with Ayn, who completes their household. They have a long history together at different distances, but are important parts of each others lives now.\nAyn See all stories featuring Ayn\nAyn Lai-Lebedev is a longtime associate of Baron and a maternal figure to Tzipora. She commands an affectionate and stable presence, intelligent and emotionally secure in her work and home life.\nShe was once engaged to Baron\u0026rsquo;s friend and comrade George Angelopoulos, who perished in the Haiti Intervention. She has remained unmarried and lives a social, if solitary life with a circle of close friends. Upon Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s arrival in Vekllei, she reconnects with Baron.\n💬 Name: Ayn Lai-Lebedev 💼 Occupation: Strategic Analysis Officer, Section 8, Home Office at National Intelligence 🏠 Residence: Nike, Borough of the Great Coast, Oslola, Vekllei 🔄 Age: 41 Appearance # Ayn was born to Russian and Hong Konger parents, and shares their hybridised surnames. She has the height of her Russian mother and the East Asian features of her father. She has good taste and carries herself well, which Tzipora finds both aspirational and intimidating.\nShe keeps her hair short and looks younger than she is. She smokes and drinks only socially, and otherwise keeps a tidy and modest lifestyle.\nPersonality # Ayn is well put together. Independent, secure, intelligent and a respected source of good advice and wisdom, it strikes people as unusual that she has never married. Other than being old friends, there is not much reason for Ayn to give as much time as she does to Baron and Tzipora, but an affection for the girl and a desire to reconnect with Baron has added a new dimension to her life.\nAyn, Baron and Tzipora all have a sense of grief in their lives, and none of them have much family of their own. It is perhaps this aspect that makes their bonds as strong as they are, navigating social and platonic bonds rather than ones of blood or romance. Ayn is well-read and an adept conversationalist, and shares with Tzipora long conversations about news and politics. She also has a penchant for interesting earrings and Bossanova music.\nMoise See all stories featuring Moise\nMoise Hasapis is Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s neighbour and one of her closest friends. Like Tzipora, he was born overseas and has only started schooling in Vekllei in late childhood.\nImposing in both attitude and posture, Moise is feared and respected among his peers, an unfortunate social situation that enables his renowned temper. An agitator and occasional victim of his strength, Moise is tempered by Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s inwardness and Coretti\u0026rsquo;s good-naturedness. He lives with his sister and father in Seispri, and has no relationship with his mother, who remains in Greece.\n💬 Name: Moise Hasapis 💼 Occupation: Student 🏠 Residence: Seispri, Borough of Lola, Oslola, Vekllei 🔄 Age: 16 Appearance # Moise is brown-eyed and dark-haired, with powerful Greek features inherited from his parents. Well-built and heavy-set, Moise is overweight when he meets Tzipora, and loses some of it through her help in exercise.\nHe is not particularly interested in his own appearance, but by habit or luck is characterised by a wardrobe of shorts, slacks, bright shirts and tennis shoes. In summer, he usually wears Hawaiian shirts, a fact Tzipora finds funny.\nPersonality # Moise is hot-headed and sensitive, traits that leave him feeling cornered by the world. It is precisely this cycle of passion and anxiety that endears him to Tzipora, who recognises some of his traits in herself. He provides her a male perspective and straightforward advice, compared to Cobian\u0026rsquo;s more intricate and unspoken social rituals. In this sense, they have a different dynamic as a duo.\nHe dislikes his parents and is protective over his younger sister, Penelope. He has some interest in making films, since he is not particularly academic and doesn\u0026rsquo;t want to leave his sister for the army. He is uncomfortable with sharing his emotions, which upsets his girlfriend Coretti. Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s social intimacy with him is largely due to their similar shyness of emotion and stubborn independence, which counterintuitively binds them closely.\nCoretti See all stories featuring Coretti\nCoretti Gloria Adoula is Moise\u0026rsquo;s girlfriend. Born in the Congo, she lived in the Soviet Union before moving to Vekllei at 6 years old. She has a knack for languages and speaks Oslolan fluently.\nShe is sensitive and diplomatic, and is well-liked for her sense of justice and impartiality. Her relationship with Moise brings her into Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s circle, and her unprejudiced curiosity and social grace are traits her peers admire. She has a friendly, if unusual bond with Tzipora.\n💬 Name: Coretti Gloria Adoula 💼 Occupation: Student 🏠 Residence: Camro, Borough of Lola, Oslola, Vekllei 🔄 Age: 17 Appearance # Coretti is Vekllei-Congolese with dark skin and natural, short hair. She is slim, authentically pretty and graceful \u0026ndash; and has many admirers for it.\nShe is not particularly fashionable and does not need to be. This modesty enhances her natural charisma. Like Tzipora, she has some affection for Nuova Grotessco styles and unpretentious dresses and turtlenecks sweaters. She likes patterned clothing and owns many types, which she rotates regularly \u0026ndash; perhaps her only eccentricity.\nPersonality # Coretti\u0026rsquo;s gentle good-naturedness leaves powerful impressions on all her meet her. She is the oldest of four sisters, and she applies these learned maternal qualities on her boyfriend\u0026rsquo;s volatile friends, who are opinionated and passionate.\nHer goodness does not preclude her from her own interests \u0026ndash; she adores music and good food, and unlike Lin Zhi, is more than willing to share the culture of her home country with her friends. She loves when gestures are reciprocated, a fact Tzipora learns quickly after teaching her how to cook Columbian food.\nDespite her apparent differences in temperament with her boyfriend Moise, Coretti spends more time around vibrant hotheads than she does placid appeasers. Perhaps this is a behavioural legacy of growing up in a large, loud family. Maybe she is just attracted to big personalities. Either way, they appreciate her for it \u0026ndash; her voice of reason brings them all closer together.\nLin Zhi See all stories featuring Lin Zhi\nLin Zhi, who prefers being addressed by her full name, is Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s friend and occasional accomplice. She is surly, independent and uninterested in the opinions of others. She meets Tzipora at Moshel St School.\nLike Tzipora, Zhi is a recent immigrant and despises her parents for uprooting her life to live in Vekllei, from which she has retreated into traditionally Chinese cultural dress and signals. Tzipora is fascinated by her. Cobian and Coretti fear her.\n💬 Name: Lin Zhi 💼 Occupation: Student 🏠 Residence: Cossack, Borough of the Great Coast, Oslola, Vekllei 🔄 Age: 17 Appearance # Lin Zhi is Chinese and has lived in Vekllei since she was 15. She speaks little Oslolan and mostly poor English. She has a serious face and round spectacles like Cobian, and brushes her long dark hair back. She maintains two unusual hair loops below her ears in braids, a style she has apparently invented herself.\nLin Zhi resents the burden of integration and demonstrates her foreignness through foreign styles, usually with traditional Chinese items or more contemporary Maoist fare. She wears loose Ku-style pants at home and school, which bear close similarity to Vekllei indigenous rouisha trousers, usually with Vekllei or Chinese strap slippers. She has a weakness for jackets and cardigans, and never leaves her arms uncovered.\nPersonality # Lin Zhi is a girl under siege.\nTzipora first bonds with her over their social isolation as recent immigrants. Like Tzipora, Zhi speaks poor Oslolan and is deeply resentful of having to relocate to a foreign country. These poor language skills and deep anger are evident in her short, sharp speaking style and stern appearance.\nShe is sensitive to being made fun of, and considers many of her problems making friends to be racial in nature. Despite these emotional burdens, or perhaps because of them, Zhi is deeply loyal to her allies as long as they respect her social boundaries. Zhi is never the engine of conversation \u0026ndash; but she misses her friends when they\u0026rsquo;re not there.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/characters/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 901,
  "href": "/millmint/fiction/cherry/",
  "title": "Cherry","rgb": "228, 62, 108",
  "section": "Fiction",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Cobian, pronounced Koh-bayan, stood still as her mother licked the end of her thumb and rubbed it behind the severe fringe she kept. Cobian frowned and winced, but her mother did not respond to annoyance and carried on.\n\u0026lsquo;Your makeup is too heavy,\u0026rsquo; she said. \u0026lsquo;Look at you. You won\u0026rsquo;t get away with that at school; your teachers will see it. And they\u0026rsquo;ll call me and embarrass me. Take it off.\u0026rsquo;\n\u0026lsquo;I\u0026rsquo;ll wash it off at school.\u0026rsquo;\n\u0026lsquo;No, wash it off now.\u0026rsquo;\n\u0026lsquo;Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s waiting outside for me.\u0026rsquo;\nThis produced a withering glance and her mother straightened up as she stood back. They were about the same height.\n\u0026lsquo;You\u0026rsquo;ll do as you’re told \u0026ndash; go do it now.\u0026rsquo;\nThere was a routine moment of standoff between them and no words were exchanged. Cobian suppressed the urge to make a bigger thing out of it, an expression of pleading and dislike fixed towards her mother, before she capitulated and went back upstairs.\nWhen Cobian met Tzipora in the street outside a few minutes later, she had prepared a familiar outburst about her mother. Tzipora could sense it and refrained from her traditional greetings so Cobian could deliver it. No such complaint arrived, and so after a nervous ‘good morning’ Tzipora rose to walk with her and deliver her morning report.\n‘Did you see the news at the cinema last night?’\n‘I didn’t go,’ Cobian said.\n‘Well, that guy you liked in A Bridge Over Rome, the long-haired one, was arrested for public disorder’ she said, and after a moment, ‘he was causing a bit of a scene with that actress, Siara, um,’\n‘Siara Rosenberg,’ Cobian said. ‘Yes, I read it in People. It’s a scandal.’\n‘Ah, well, I don’t read those magazines,’ Tzipora nodded and wiped her nose on the back of her wrist. Then she looked up.\n‘You look nice this morning.’\nCobian was red in the cheeks, as she got in the cold, made worse by the scrubbing she’d done at the sink. She hated that.\n‘She’s so stupid,’ Cobian erupted bitterly. ‘She thinks I can’t apply my own foundation. So she humiliates me, because she despises her own life.’\n‘I don’t think you need makeup,’ Tzipora said in her regular and tactless manner.\n‘You have darker skin than me,’ Cobian said, turning her complaint towards her friend. ‘I have it the worst of anyone. A muddy complexion, ruddy cheeks and dull skin. My mother has it too. A gift of the Algics.’\n‘So just reapply at school,’ Tzipora said.\n‘It’s psychological,’ Cobian shook her head. ‘She made me feel like a tramp. Now if I put it on at school, I’m going to think I’ve laid it too thick. That’s how she works. She undermines your self-confidence.’\nCobian noticed her round spectacles were dirty and removed them, diffusing the world into foggy colours and shapes. She fumbled around a bit, pinching and wiping the navy wool of her school cardigan over the lenses before resettling them on her nose. She sighed dramatically. The cool air and Tzipora’s clumsy listening helped a bit.\n‘It’s only seven-thirty,’ Tzipora noted. ‘What about coffee? I don\u0026rsquo;t usually take it in the mornings, but I could have some now.’\nTzipora passed her leather schoolbag from one hand to the other. The only things she kept in it were a few pens that rattled around and pulp fiction, so it was light enough to fling around carelessly. It was a habit that usually annoyed Cobian, but the transparent attempt to lift her spirits was charming.\n‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Just a coffee.’\nThe end of the street opened onto a slightly larger road with tram tracks. It was lined with narrow suburban homes tiled with carved stone patterns and murals. The street for the tram was just about wide enough for a car and flanked by deep concrete gutters that trickled with clear glacial water. Cobian preferred the trendy cafés in Lola, where Tzipora lived, but allowed her to lead away from the station in search of a corner store they could set up at.\nLarge eucalypts scattered brown and green leaves down the road, their limbs haunting and pale in the dull morning light. As was typical of the early morning, there were no cars out. A clanking of steel freight railcars in a distant siding was the only noise at all.\nThe warm light of a café window caught Tzipora’s interest, and after assessing the activity inside conspicuously, she opened the door and a bell rang out. The heater was on and they hung their winter capes on the coat rack as Tzipora spoke with the elderly Algic owner, who was at one of the tables with an extinguished cigarette and newspaper.\n‘Are you open, madame?’\n‘Are you just after coffee?’\n‘Yes, but if you have cake, we’d like a little cake to have with it.’\n‘Then I’ll open for you, honey.’\nThe coffee was from a machine, but they could hardly complain and it was a nice little place. There was no room at all between the bar area and the seating and the tables were squished together beneath the wooden sills of the street windows. Wooden knick knacks sat on the sills with no indication of their origin or purpose. Such shops rarely had opening hours \u0026ndash; they woke with their owners, and closed routinely throughout the day for errands, siestas and the evening news.\nCobian dragged a chair out across the wooden floor and sat down at a table, but Tzipora dawdled for a moment with a hand on the owner’s newspaper. She read the headlines before sitting down.\n‘Bad omen in the news today,’ Tzipora said, grating her chair as she pulled it in.\n‘What’s that?’\n‘Many dead in Louisiana,’ she said solemnly. ‘A bomb went off.’\nCobian did not know what to say, so she reseated her spectacles on her nose to satisfy the urge to talk. Tzipora knew a lot of things about the world, but when she talked about America it was always in short, sad fragments.\n‘When you see news from America,’ Cobian spoke slowly, ‘do you feel sad for the country? Or do you imagine the news happening to you?’\nTzipora was staring at the knick knacks and looked back, surprised.\n‘I’ve never been to Louisiana,’ she said after a few moments. ‘I am not American, either. I just wish the whole thing would sort itself out.’\n‘I don’t understand it. It’s madness.’\nIt was a generic comment and Cobian was struck by her own provinciality when she said it. She hated that feeling and she resented Tzipora a little for regularly inflicting it on her. It was not her fault she’d never left this island \u0026ndash; not everyone could pass around stories from the home country. And the selfishness of this feeling caught on her conscience and compounded her mood, her troubles now trivialised.\n‘It’s just news,’ Tzipora said, and started rolling up her shirt cuffs so she could put her elbows on the table. She could be so casual. More jealousy, watching this girl make any transient space a home. ‘Isn’t this a good place? I think it’s a good place.’\n‘Sure, it seems fine.’\n‘You can smoke here, you know.’\n‘Don’t. It embarrasses me even in secret. You look like a gangster.’\n‘It’s not even eight, and I don’t even smoke every day anyway. I just meant it’s nice to have old places like this where you can drink and smoke and be friends with the owner.’\nCobian waved it away. ‘That’s every café in this country. You’re saying that as a foreigner. I dream of the American coffee shops you see in the movies, I would love to see that someday.’\n‘If America still exists.’\n‘Even with everything going on, is it showing any signs of not existing?’\n‘Everything is normal until it isn’t. Everything is forever until it ends.’\n‘Is that Yeats?’\n‘No, that’s Tzipora.’\nTzipora grinned at her, impressed with herself. She always looked very intensely at you, even when she wasn’t staring. It was an endearing trait that could unsettle the nervous, and Cobian was not used to being looked at closely. She was conscious about her splotchy skin and red cheeks again.\n‘Thank you,’ they said as the plates and saucers came down.\nThe coffee was prepared in the old-fashioned way; that is to say, the wrong way. But it was hot and the tea cake was good. The morning was grey and dulled by cold and the headache of a long arctic winter lingered. The light cast on street from the café was pleasant. It was not the sort of place she’d come by herself; she’d had enough of these old Inuits. Seeing this kind of shop stirred a quiet terror that she’d become them. But Tzipora soothed that feeling \u0026ndash; she was a lifeline she could reach for should the future threaten to swallow her. It was like she could jump out of her Algic skin and start dressing as Tzipora does; learn some Spanish and carry on as a Mexican or whatever she was.\n‘Are you a Mexican?’ Cobian asked abruptly. The question made Tzipora sip coffee noisily.\n‘I’m not a Mexican.’ Tzipora said, ‘I’m not even Latin American, even though that’s where I grew up.’\n‘So what do you call yourself?’\n‘Vekllei.’\n‘Yes, we’re all Vekllei, but other than that.’\n‘Why do I have to be anything more?’\n‘I thought you might tell me. You know what I am.’\n‘The ambiguity is useful to me. I can be Spanish, Egyptian or Sri Lankan as the need arises.’\n‘Are you playing games with me, or is it really a secret?’\n‘My mother was a Spanish Gypsy and my father was from Eastern Europe, but he was a Jew. I really don’t know what they look like because I look like my mother.’\n‘That sounds complicated.’\n‘You come from people that have stayed in one place for a thousand years. I come from people who move around.’\n‘Algics were nomadic, you know.’\n‘Not your Algics. Can I have that cherry?’\nShe reached for the cocktail cherry on the cake and clumsily smudged the icing with her finger.\n‘Sorry.’\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/snapshots/cherry"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 902,
  "href": "/factbook/culture/civic-commons/",
  "title": "Civic Commons","icon": "🗳️","color": "red",
  "section": "Culture",
  "description": "The Civic Commons are the national principles of coexistence and prosperity promoted by the Commonwealth government.",
  "content": "The Civic Commons is the national identity promoted by the Commonwealth government to foster commonhoods across its diverse cultural and ethnic groups. It is a constructed identity based around core values on which the country is founded.\nThe Civic Commonhoods\nA love of country and its people A commitment to democracy and its spirit Participation in society and curiosity Cooperation and forgiveness A respect for the equality of man in all aspects The Civic Commons is considered the bedrock of harmonious Vekllei civic society and is promoted heavily by the Commonwealth in education and throughout society. It is often personified by Veletia.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/civic-commons/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 903,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/civil-defence-service/",
  "title": "Civil Defence Service","logo": "/svg/logos/civil-defence.svg","icon": "▲","rgb": "0, 85, 233",
  "section": "Ministry of Defence",
  "description": "The Civil Defence Service is an emergency, disaster prevention and rescue service in Vekllei.",
  "content": "The Civil Defence Service (often just Civil Defence) is a constituent service of the Ministry of Defence that provides emergency management, disaster response and civil defence programmes in Vekllei. It is a heavily decentralised, volunteer organisation in the participatory tradition of its emergency services. Some of its functions, especially in cases of firefighting or disaster response, may have compulsory reservist programmes in some municipalities. In general, some degree of membership is common among Vekllei people who aren\u0026rsquo;t already committed to civic programmes or the military.\nThe Civil Defence Service is headquartered in Comet, the Vekllei capital, and has three general mandates established by the government:\n🚨 Emergency Management: Regular firefighting, technical rescue and emergency medical services. ⚠️ Disaster Response: Natural disaster preparation and response, including hurricanes, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. ▲ Civil Defence: War preparation, air raid planning and protection, and civilian mobilisation for defence and survival purposes. The service is organised in the same fashion as the Armed Forces, with municipal components (local brigades) incorporated into federalised regiments. Despite the diversity and local concern of its components, the service has a centralised command and large incidents invite a national response. It is not uncommon, for example, for volcanic eruptions to mobilise firefighters from all parts of the country.\nUnlike military regiments, which are organised regionally, civil defence regiments are usually organised by function and may involve local components from all corners of the country. Components may also be organised into different regiments simultaneously where there is need or overlap. These functions include:\nServices of Civil Defence\nFirefighting First Aid \u0026amp; Ambulances Flood \u0026amp; Storm Response Tidal Wave \u0026amp; Earthquake Response Volcanic Activity Response General Rescue Land/Marine Search \u0026amp; Rescue Vertical \u0026amp; Mine Rescue Road \u0026amp; Rail Disaster Response Swiftwater Rescue Recruitment \u0026amp; Training Air Observation \u0026amp; Reconnaissance Structural Impact Shoring Communications \u0026amp; Information Relay Crowd \u0026amp; Traffic Control Interservice Liaison Evacuation Management Press \u0026amp; Safety Education Survivor Welfare Vekllei Firefighting and paramedic services are both provided by the Civil Defence Service. They are structured differently from specialised units and are typically municipalised and operate under different commands. There are over 5,600 fire brigades in the country, staffed mostly by volunteers. Ambulance services are jointly operated with the Parliament of Health.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/marine/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 904,
  "href": "/factbook/state/law/civil-rights/",
  "title": "Civil Rights","icon": "🌸","color": "purple",
  "section": "Law",
  "description": "The Civil Rights of Vekllei is a document that enshrines the rights of individuals in Vekllei.",
  "content": " The Universal Civil Rights of the New Atlantic, commonly the Universal Rights or Civil Rights Document is a document attached to the Vekllei Constitution. It enshrines the individual rights of all people in Vekllei. Universal Civil Rights\nThe Universal Civil Rights of the New Atlantic guarantees fundamental rights to the individual person in Vekllei. It supports constitutional values of democracy, equality and freedom.\nThe Vekllei Commonwealth (the Commonwealth) must maintain, defend, promote and fulfil these rights.\nThe Vekllei person (the Citizen) has obligations to maintain, defend, promote and fulfil these rights as determined by law.\nThese rights are inviolable where not subject to the limitations contained or referred to in section 30, or elsewhere in the Vekllei Constitution.\nApplication of rights\nThe political concept of civil rights applies to all law, and binds the legislature, the executive, the judiciary and all federal, commonwealth, republican and municipal agents of the country, thereafter recognised as \u0026lsquo;Vekllei\u0026rsquo; or the \u0026lsquo;Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;.\nThe political concept of civil rights also binds and entitles a natural or a juristic person to the extent that a right is applicable considering the nature of the right and its obligations.\nWhen applying a provision of the universal civil rights to a natural or juristic person in terms of subsection (2.2), a court ­\nmust apply or develop the common law to the extent that legislation does not give effect to a universal civil right; and may develop the common law to limit the right, provided that the limitation is in accordance with section (30.1). Right to equal treatment\nEveryone is equal before the Commonwealth, including its laws, and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law.\nEquality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms. Legislative and other measures designed to protect or advance individuals and categories of individuals may be taken.\nThe Commonwealth may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.\nNo person may unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds in terms of subsection (3.3), and this right is to be protected by legislation.\nDiscrimination on one or more of the grounds listed in subsection (3.3) is unfair unless it is established that the discrimination is fair.\nRight to Human dignity Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.\nRight to Life Everyone has the right to life.\nFreedom and security of the person\nEveryone has the right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right ­\nnot to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause, or be detained without trial; to be free from all forms of violence from either public or private sources; and not to be tortured or treated in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way. Everyone has the right to bodily and psychological integrity, which includes the right ­\nto security in and control over their body; to make decisions concerning reproduction; and not to be subjected to medical or scientific experiments without their informed consent. Right to Privacy Everyone has the right to privacy, which includes the right not to have ­\ntheir person or home searched; their property searched; their possessions seized; or the privacy of their communications infringed. Freedom from slavery, servitude and forced labour No one may be subjected to slavery, servitude or forced labour.\nFreedom of religion, belief and opinion\nEveryone has the right to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion.\nReligious observances may be conducted in Commonwealth institutions where they follow rules established by the Ministry of Culture, are conducted on an equitable basis and their attendance is free and voluntary.\nThis section does not prevent legislation recognising ­\nmarriages conducted under any tradition or law consistent with this document and the Constitution; and systems of personal, religious or family law. Freedom of expression\nEveryone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes ­\nfreedom of the press and other media; freedom to receive or impart information or ideas; freedom of artistic creativity; and academic freedom and freedom of scientific research. The rights in subsection (10.1) do not extend to ­\npropaganda for war; incitement of imminent violence; or advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm. Freedom of assembly, demonstration, picket and petition Everyone has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions.\nFreedom of association Everyone has the right to freedom of association.\nRight to political organisation and participation\nEvery citizen is free to make political choices, which includes the right\nto participate in political organisations, and to campaign for a political belief or cause. Every citizen has the right to free, fair and regular elections for any legislative body established by the Constitution or organised by the Commonwealth Electoral Commission.\nEvery adult citizen has the right ­\nto vote in elections for any legislative body established in terms of the Constitution, and to do so in secret; and to stand for public office and, if elected, to hold office. Citizenship No citizen may be deprived of citizenship.\nFreedom of movement and residence\nEveryone has the right to freedom of movement.\nEvery citizen has the right to papers for travel and a passport.\nEveryone has the right to leave the Commonwealth.\nEvery citizen has the right to enter, to remain in and to reside anywhere in, the Commonwealth.\nFreedom of trade, occupation and profession Every citizen has the right to choose their trade, occupation or profession freely. The practice of a trade, occupation or profession may be regulated by law.\nFreedom of language and culture Everyone has the right to use the language and to participate in the cultural life of their choice, but no one exercising these rights may do so in a manner inconsistent with any right guaranteed in this document.\nFreedom of cultural, religious and linguistic communities\nPersons belonging to a cultural, religious or linguistic community have the right to enjoy their culture, practise their religion and use their language, and to form, join and maintain associations and other organisations of civil society.\nThe rights in subsection (18.1) may not be exercised in a manner inconsistent with any provision of civil rights guaranteed in this document.\nFreedom of information\nEveryone has the right of access to, as guaranteed by legislation providing reasonable measures to alleviate administrative burden on the Commonwealth\nany information held by the Commonwealth; and any information that is held by another person and that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights. Right to fair labour relations\nEveryone has the right to fair labour practices.\nEvery worker has the right ­\nto form and join a trade union or syndicate; to participate in the activities and programmes of a trade union or syndicate; and to strike. Every employer has the right ­\nto form and join an employers\u0026rsquo; organisation; and to participate in the activities and programmes of an employers\u0026rsquo; organisation. Every trade union, bureau and employers\u0026rsquo; organisation has the right ­to determine its own affairs, organise, and form or join a federation.\nEvery trade union, bureau, employers\u0026rsquo; organisation and employer has the right to engage in collective bargaining. National legislation may be enacted to regulate collective bargaining. To the extent that the legislation may limit a right in this Chapter, the limitation must comply with section (30.1).\nRight to Environment Everyone has the right ­\nto an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being; and\nto have the environment protected and preserved for the benefit of present and future generations by reasonable Commonwealth means, to prevent pollution and ecological degradation, and encourage conservation and sustainable development of resources.\nRight to property\nNo one may be deprived of property arbitrarily.\nProperty may be expropriated only in terms of law of general application ­\nfor a public purpose or in the public interest; and subject to compensation, the nature of which have either been agreed to by those affected or decided or approved by a court. A claim to ownership of land may be determined by any ordinary court reflecting an equitable balance between the steward, public and sovereignty of nature, regarding all relevant circumstances, including\nthe current use of the property; the history of the acquisition and use of the property; the utility and economic value of the property; the extent of direct investment and subsidy in the acquisition by relevant Commonwealth or private organisations; and the purpose of the expropriation. The Commonwealth must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to foster conditions which enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis.\nNo provision of this section may impede the Commonwealth from taking measures to achieve land, water and related reform, in order to redress and improve the quality of life afforded to constituent peoples, provided that any departure from the provisions of this section is in accordance with the provisions of section (30.1).\nRight to housing\nEveryone has the right to have access to adequate housing.\nThe Commonwealth must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right.\nNo one may be evicted from their home, or have their home demolished, without an order of court made after considering all the relevant circumstances. No legislation may permit arbitrary evictions.\nRight to healthcare, food, water and security\nEveryone has the right to have access to ­\nhealth care services, including reproductive health care; sufficient food and water; and social care, including, if they are unable to support themselves and their dependants, appropriate social assistance. No one may be refused emergency medical treatment.\nThe Commonwealth must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of each of these rights.\nRight to education\nEveryone has the right ­to a primary, secondary and tertiary education, including adult education.\nEveryone has the right to receive education in English and the official languages of the Commonwealth where that education is reasonably practicable.\nEveryone has the right to establish and maintain, at their own effort but not precluding Commonwealth assistance, independent educational institutions that ­\ndo not discriminate on the basis of race; are registered with the Commonwealth; adhere to the National Curriculum as determined by the Parliament of Education; and maintain standards that are not inferior to standards at comparable public educational institutions. Rights of children\nEvery child, a person under the age of 18 years, has the right ­\nto a name and a nationality from birth;\nto family care or parental care, or to appropriate alternative care when removed from the family environment;\nto nutrition, shelter, health care services and social services;\nto be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation;\nto be protected from exploitative labour practices;\nnot to be required or permitted to perform work or provide services that ­are inappropriate for their age, or risk their well-being, health, or development.\nnot to be detained except as a measure of last resort, in which case only for the shortest appropriate period of time, and seperate from detained persons over the age of 18 years in a manner considerate of their age.\nto have a legal practitioner assigned to the child by the Commonwealth, and at Commonwealth expense, in civil proceedings affecting the child, if substantial injustice would otherwise result; and\nnot to participate in war, and to be protected in times of war.\nA child\u0026rsquo;s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child.\nRight to fair administrative action\nEveryone has the right to administrative action that is lawful, reasonable, efficient and procedurally fair.\nEveryone whose rights have been adversely affected by administrative action has the right to be given written reasons.\nRight to resolutions through courts Everyone has the right to have any dispute that can be resolved by the application of law decided in a fair public hearing before a court or, where appropriate, another independent and impartial tribunal or forum.\nRights of detained and accused persons\nEveryone who is arrested for allegedly committing an offence has the right ­\nto remain silent;\nto be informed promptly ­of the right to remain silent and the consequences of not doing so;\nnot to be compelled to make any confession or admission that could be used in evidence against that person;\nto be brought before a court as soon as reasonably possible, but not later than ­48 hours after the arrest, or the end of the first court day thereafter, whichever is sooner;\nat the first court appearance after being arrested, to be charged or to be informed of the reason for the detention to continue; and\nto be released from detention if the interests of justice permit, subject to reasonable conditions.\nEveryone who is detained, including every sentenced prisoner, has the right ­\nto be informed promptly of the reason for being detained;\nto choose, and to consult with, a legal practitioner, and to be informed of this right promptly;\nto have a legal practitioner assigned to the detained person by the Commonwealth if substantial injustice would otherwise result, and to be informed of this right promptly;\nto challenge the lawfulness of the detention in person before a court and, if the detention is unlawful, to be released;\nto conditions of detention that are consistent with human dignity, including at least exercise and the provision of adequate accommodation, nutrition, reading material and medical treatment; and\nto communicate with, and be visited by, that person\u0026rsquo;s ­spouse or partner, next of kin, chosen religious counsellor and chosen medical practitioner.\nEvery accused person has a right to a fair trial, which includes the right ­\nto be informed of the charge with sufficient detail to answer it; to have adequate time and facilities to prepare a defence; to a public trial before an ordinary court; to have their trial begin and conclude without unreasonable delay; to be present when being tried; to choose, and be represented by, a legal practitioner, and to be informed of this right promptly; to have a legal practitioner assigned to the accused person by the Commonwealth and at Commonwealth expense, if substantial injustice would otherwise result, and to be informed of this right promptly; to be presumed innocent, to remain silent, and not to testify during the proceedings; to adduce and challenge evidence; not to be compelled to give self-incriminating evidence; to be tried in a language that the accused person understands or, if that is not practicable, to have the proceedings interpreted in that language; not to be convicted for an act or omission that was not an offence under either national or international law at the time it was committed or omitted; of appeal to, or review by, a higher court. Whenever this section requires information to be given to a person, that information must be given in a language that the person understands.\nEvidence obtained in a manner that violates any right in this document or the Constitution must be excluded if the admission of that evidence would render the trial unfair or otherwise be detrimental to the administration of justice.\nLimitation of rights\nUniversal civil rights may be limited only in terms of law of general application to the extent that the limitation is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom, taking into account all relevant factors, including ­\nthe nature of the right; the importance of the purpose of the limitation; the nature and extent of the limitation; the relation between the limitation and its purpose; and less restrictive means to achieve the purpose. Except as provided in subsection (30.1) or in any other provision of the Constitution, no law may limit any universal civil right.\nStates of emergency\nA state of emergency may be declared only in terms of an Act of Commonwealth Federal Parliament, and only when ­\nthe life of the nation is threatened by war, invasion, general insurrection, disorder, natural disaster or other public emergency; or the principles of this document are at grave risk; and the declaration is necessary to restore peace and order. A declaration of a state of emergency, and any legislation enacted or other action taken in consequence of that declaration, may be effective only ­\nprospectively; and for no more than 21 days from the date of the declaration, unless the National Assembly resolves to extend the declaration. The Assembly may extend a declaration of a state of emergency for no more than three months at a time. The first extension must be adopted with a supporting vote of a majority of the members of the Assembly. Any subsequent extensions must be adopted with a supporting vote of at least two thirds of the members of the Assembly. Any competent court may decide on the validity of ­\na declaration of a state of emergency; any extension of a declaration of a state of emergency; or any legislation enacted, or other action taken, in consequence of a declaration of a state of emergency. Any legislation enacted in consequence of a declaration of a state of emergency may derogate from universal civil rights only to the extent that ­\nthe derogation is strictly required by the emergency; and\nthe legislation ­\nis consistent with the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s obligations under international law applicable to states of emergency; conforms to subsection (31.5); and is published in the national Government Gazette as soon as reasonably possible after being enacted. Any derogation of rights as a consequence of a state of emergency must remain consistent and lawful with subsection (30.1).\nNo legislation authorised in the declaration or as a consequence of a state of emergency may permit or authorise ­\nindemnifying the Commonwealth, or any person, in respect of any unlawful act; any derogation from this section; or any derogation from a section mentioned in column 1 of the Table of Non-Derogable Rights, to the extent indicated opposite that section in column 3 of the Table. Section Number Section Title Extent to which the right is protected 3 Right to equal treatment With respect to unfair discrimination solely on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic or social origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion or language 4 Right to Human dignity Entirely 5 Right to Life With respect to persons not convicted of a crime against humanity or treason. 6 Freedom and Security of the person With respect to subsections (6.1.3) and (6.2.3). 8 Freedom from slavery, servitude and forced labour With respect to slavery and servitude. 26 Rights of children With respect to: subsections (26.1.4), (26.1.5) and (26.1.7); and subsection (26.1.9) in respect of children of 15 years and younger. 29 Rights of detained and accused persons With respect to: 1. subsections (29.1.1), (29.1.2), (29.1.3) and (29.2.4); excluding (29.3.4); subsection (29.4); and (29.5) with respect to the exclusion of evidence if the admission of that evidence would render the trial unfair. Enforcement of rights\nAnyone listed in this section has the right to approach a competent court, alleging that a right outlined in this document has been infringed or threatened, and the court may grant appropriate relief, including a declaration of rights. The persons who may approach a court are\nanyone acting in their own interest;\nanyone acting on behalf of another person who cannot act in their own name;\nanyone acting as a member of, or in the interest of, a group or class of persons;\nanyone acting in the public interest; and\nan association acting in the interest of its members.\nInterpretation of civil rights\nWhen interpreting universal civil rights, a court, tribunal or forum\nmust promote the values that underlie an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom; must consider international law; and may consider foreign law. When interpreting any legislation, and when developing the common law or customary law, every court, tribunal or forum must promote the spirit, purport and objects of universal civil rights.\nThis document does not deny the existence of any other rights or freedoms that are recognised or conferred by common law, customary law or legislation, to the extent that they are consistent with the rights guaranteed here.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/rights/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 905,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/civil-servants/",
  "title": "Civil Servants","icon": "🏛️","color": "millmint",
  "section": "Government",
  "description": "Civil service is a common profession in Vekllei, and their roles and structure are standardised across all levels of government in the country.",
  "content": "Vekllei has a large government that is responsible for broad aspects of life and living in Vekllei. Members of government that are elected are known as public servants. Members of government administration, ministries, bureaus and departments that are employed are known as civil servants.\nTitle Description Minister Leads a ministry and reports to a public servant. Often a political position, appointed by the Cabinet or Commonwealth Directory, not elected. Employs a large staff coordinating with subordinate bureaux and commissions. Director Leads a government bureau (distinct from industrial bureaus) or organisation. Usually appointed from industry or promoted internally; expected to be an expert. Oversees an entire aspect of administration, making it highly demanding. Secretary Leads a government department or commission. May employ personal staff, known as undersecretaries. Officer Leads an office, a specialised division of a government department. Requires specific expertise. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/civil-servants/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 906,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/aircraft/cm-100/",
  "title": "CM-100","logo": "/svg/logos/air.svg","icon": "✨","rgb": "245, 60, 89",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/spaceplane.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/spaceplane_hu0b9b3521349056c49a12234f0c19654d_1037448_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Aircraft",
  "description": "The CM-100 Meteor Starliner is a spaceplane in service with Commonwealth Starlines, and operates the route between Ascension and the Moon.",
  "content": " Meteor Starliner Spaceplane Built 2042-45 Class CM-100 Crew 8 InService 6 Length 60 meters Passengers 100 Speed 3,150 km/h Weight 115 tonnes Wingspan 35 meters The Meteor Starliner is a class of transatmospheric single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane in service with Commonwealth Starlines. It was the third type of commercial spaceplane introduced in the world, and entered service in 2043. They depart from the Vekllei World Astroport in Ascension, Vekllei on revenue service each day, mostly transporting workers and tourists to the Vekllei Lunar Territories. The starliners were manufactured by the Astro Division of the Government Aircraft Factories.\nThere are two sets of engines on the Meteor, numbering four in total. There are two nuclear-electric atmospheric jets located towards the edge of the wings, which operate during take-off and climb. As the aircraft approaches space, it switches to a pair of underslung nuclear thermal rocket jets, which use Apollo-type Rockets powered by the main reactor located over the wings.\nThe lower fuselage and wings of the spacecraft are lined with carbon and ceramic tiles to protect the vessel from heat in atmospheric reentry. The wings are heavily reinforced with titanium alloy composite struts, which support a single beam across the wingspan of the spacecraft.\nThe spacecraft can seat 100 passengers in a 2-2 configuration, who accompany eight crew including a pilot, copilot, astronavigator, engineer, purser and three flight attendants. Plastic rails line the interior cabin to assist with movement throughout the flight in space.\nDepending on exit and reentry paths, Meteor lunar flights last between 20-24 hours. Facilities onboard include a zero-gravity lounge, restrooms and a first aid station, as well as a crew sleeping cabin.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/cm-100/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 907,
  "href": "/characters/cobian/",
  "title": "Cobian","icon": "🎀","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Cobian is Tzipora's longtime friend and occasional girlfriend. Stern in manner and appearance, Cobian is easily remembered by her circular spectacles and stern fringe.",
  "content": " Cobian Queismesnah 📅 Age 16 🤝 Associates Tzipora Coretti Moise Zhi Yo 🎂 Birthday October 14th 💔 Dislikes Loud noises ❤️ Likes Movies, walking, tea, poetry 💼 Occupation Student 🏠 Residence Alveg, Borough of Lola, Oslola, Vekllei Cobian lo Ro de Viviya de Queismesnah is Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s longtime friend and occasional girlfriend. Stern in manner and appearance, Cobian is easily remembered by her circular spectacles and stern fringe, styles maintained since childhood.\nShe has a close but tempestuous relationship with Tzipora, and a tepid connection with Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s broader friend group. She is polite in the middle-class sense of the word; formal among strangers, gossipy among friends.\nCobian is amber-eyed with black hair, descended mostly from Inuit-Scandinavian ethnic groups common in Oslola. She is tall for her age, and has mostly Inuit features. She styles her long hair in many different ways, most commonly in a bun or braids. She is healthy but inactive, and tans easily without freckling. Cobian is naturally graceful and well-mannered, traits Tzipora is envious of.\nHer taste in clothes ranges from prim middle-class ensembles to more adventurous Brazza and Maoist Revival fare. Indigenous to Oslola, she is both fascinated by and suspicious of the outside world, and her cautious entry into foreign trends indicates her desire to move beyond her traditional Oslolan upbringing.\nWhen Tzipora meets her, Cobian is a figure of sympathy and irritation. She has the unfortunate quality of a social outcast trying to climb her way back inside, and people can tell. Once comfortable around Tzipora, Cobian revealed herself to be easy-going and loyal, a person of small pretensions and genuine friendship. In her own skin, she makes an excellent conversationalist, charmingly attentive and grateful.\nSome people think she\u0026rsquo;s judgemental, and she can be. Her friends are immigrants but she knows little about the outside world, and is insecure about her provinciality, which can manifest as judgement or xenophobia.\nOn the other hand, Cobian is also deeply empathetic and finds interest in new things via her friends she\u0026rsquo;d never previously thought about. She makes up most of Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s social life, which leaves plenty of space for Zelda\u0026rsquo;s big personality and obsessions.\nZelda has a stabilising effect on Cobian, rounding out some of her conservative instincts through Zelda\u0026rsquo;s androgynous habits and far-fetched fascinations. But Zelda\u0026rsquo;s big personality does not include much talking or grace, and in these deficiencies Cobian\u0026rsquo;s social talent shines. Together they make a great pair, their neighbouring personalities aiding their best selves.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/cobian/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 908,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/comet/",
  "title": "Comet","icon": "🏛️","color": "green",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Comet is the capital complex of Vekllei, taking up the entire island of Meteor in the central Atlantic. It is home to the Vekllei federal parliament, as well as federal administration buildings, accomodation and offices.",
  "content": "The Comet Administration Assembly is the capital complex of the Commonwealth, located on the island of Meteor in the North Atlantic ocean. Originally home to only a few hundred people, Comet was established in 2036 as an administrative centre for the vast Commonwealth, which spans the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans. It was chosen for its centrality and cultural neutrality, and is accessible to Commonwealth staff and emissaries by air or sea.\nThe complex consists of the Superior Assembly and Chambers, as well as accomodation, recreation facilities and offices for staff.\nThe island of Meteor makes up part of the Western Azores archipelago, situated West of the Azores Commownealth Republic. Most of the island is a Crown Land outside of the administrative complex and support facilities. The island is served by Port Vekllei and Jetport Vekllei.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/comet/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 909,
  "href": "/comic/",
  "title": "Comic","icon": "💫","color": "blue",
  "section": "Home",
  "description": "",
  "content": " ✿ Atomic Moderne is coming soon. This page is a placeholder for where it will eventually arrive. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 910,
  "href": "/tags/comics/",
  "title": "Comics",
  "section": "Tags",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 911,
  "href": "/millmint/commissions/",
  "title": "Commissions","icon": "📓",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/maria.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/maria_hu459a9503ad7b66af4a677bb145b07723_2181949_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "millmint",
  "section": "MillMint",
  "description": "Studio MillMint commission information",
  "content": " ✿ You can contact me at 📧 studio@millmint.net. Choosing a commission # Email: studio@millmint.net Discord: @millmint Twitter: 🔗@vekllei You know what I draw \u0026ndash; it\u0026rsquo;s probably how you found me. It should be no surprise then that I work best in my element. Consider how your commission can use my strengths as an artist, and I\u0026rsquo;ll help you develop a concept.\nGood Concepts I will not draw People \u0026amp; characters Uniforms \u0026amp; design Architecture \u0026amp; machines Scenes \u0026amp; places Pornographic, obscene,\nimmoral, or otherwise\noffensive concepts Sketches Sketches \u0026amp; Concepts: $20-$75 1-2 days # These are artworks that are good for developing an idea. They\u0026rsquo;re rough around the edges, usually uncoloured, and full of energy. Prices vary on their scope and colour. Designs Characters \u0026amp; Design: $75-$200 2-5 days # These are finished artworks that realise your people, machines and objects. They\u0026rsquo;re great for showing off a character, helping you design a vehicle or visualise a machine. Prices vary on the complexity of depicted items and artwork detail.\nPaintings Paintings \u0026amp; Landscapes: $200-$500 1-2 weeks # These are complete artworks showcasing a scene or place. They\u0026rsquo;re detailed, painterly, and finished to a high standard. Prices vary depending on the detail of the scene and the number and complexity of its elements.\nProcess \u0026amp; delivery # Contact me with your idea. We\u0026rsquo;ll talk about what you want and whether I\u0026rsquo;m a good fit. If you decide to commission me, I\u0026rsquo;ll give a quote in writing and an estimated completion date. I\u0026rsquo;ll produce a preliminary sketch. This will be used as a reference for the finished work, and is a good time to make conceptual changes. If you like what you see, you\u0026rsquo;ll pay ½ the price quoted as a deposit. At this point, you\u0026rsquo;re committed to the work. I\u0026rsquo;ll finish the commission, and will give updates on request. Once finished, I\u0026rsquo;ll forward a watermarked image as a preview. If you\u0026rsquo;re satisfied, you\u0026rsquo;ll receive your artwork and a MillMint Gift Basket™ upon payment of the outstanding sum. Your MillMint Gift Basket™ High-resolution, uncompressed image Compressed, shareable image Timelapse of the process Digital Postcard Receipt Coupon for 10% off next order Terms \u0026 Conditions Commissioned work is subject to the 📄 MillMint Limited Commercial License 1. Payment\nThese are digital goods, delivered in a digital format. All rights and usage of the work are forfeit until payment. By commissioning MillMint (me), you are made aware of and agree to these terms. 2. License\nWhen you commission work from me, it is licensed under limited commercial use. This allows for personal and limited commercial use, but permission is required for some commercial use-cases. MillMint retains copyright over the work under the license agreement. All reproductions of the work must retain signatures and marks. 3. Refunds\nPartial refunds are available after the deposit has been placed. The refund total will be adjusted based on progress completed. In the event I am unable to complete your commission, your deposit will be refunded in full. I can be contacted via email, 🔗Twitter, or Discord (@millmint). ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commissions/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 912,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/common-assembly-language/",
  "title": "Common Assembly Language","icon": "⌨️","color": "purple",
  "section": "Technology",
  "description": "Common Assembly Language is the common low-level programming language of computers in Vekllei and around the world.",
  "content": "Common Assembly Language (commonly Assembly or COMAS) is the common low-level programming language of computers in Vekllei and around the world. It was established by Bell Electric in 1977 and was developed from prior experimentation with machine code translation as early as the 1940s. It translates low-level instructions addressed to the processor of an optical-electric computer into an alphabet mnemonic system more easily understood by humans.\nEach command is represented by a unique sequence of balanced ternary digits called a trit. The commands cover basic operation of a computer, including arithmetic, data allocation, control flow and logical operations. These trits represent one of three states, which in optical computing can be executed in parallel:\n+: positive, otherwise represented as +1 o: zero, otherwise represented as 0 -: negative, otherwise represented as -1 The following table lists the common commands of mnemonic Assembly and its equivalent machine-code representation as trits.\nAssembly Command Mnemonic Trit Representation Add ADD +++ Subtract SUB --- Move MOV +-- Load LOD -+- Store STO --+ Jump JMP +0+ Jump if Zero JIZ 0++ Jump if Negative JIN 0-- And AND +-+ Or OR 0+0 Not NOT 0-0 Increment INC 00+ Decrement DEC 00- Compare CMP +0- No Operation NOP 000 ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/common-assembly-language/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 913,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/bureau-industry/common-gemstone/",
  "title": "Common Gemstone","logo": "/svg/logos/gem.svg","icon": "💎","rgb": "243, 3, 89",
  "section": "Bureaus",
  "description": "Common Gemstone is a synthetic precious stones manufacturer in Vekllei. It is a bureau corporation made up of many constituent companies.",
  "content": " Common Gemstone Industrial Bureau of Vekllei Employees 3,020 Founded 2032 Headquarters Kala Industry Precious stones Revenue AK ✾ 2.6 billion Traded GEM SpA Common Gemstone S.p.A. is a bureau corporation in Vekllei that manufacturers precious metals and some jewellery. Gemstones have broad industrial and commercial uses in Vekllei, and are exclusively synthesised to meet that demand. The company manufactures diamonds, sapphire, rubies, garnets and quartz for industrial and commercial applications, and an array of precious and semiprecious stones for commercial use and jewellery.\nCommon Gemstone uses modern methods for gemstone synthesis, including liquid metal immersion and flux processes for different types of gemstones. Surplus product is exported overseas in batches, which often impacts on the tightly controlled gemstone market. The company has been litigated by gemstone cartels like De Beers after flooding the international market with unregistered and synthetic diamonds.\nThe company is responsible for the security of existing natural mine sites, which have been closed by the government. All Vekllei gems and precious stones today are produced synthetically by Common Gemstone.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/common-gemstone/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 914,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-state/common-navy/",
  "title": "Common Navy","logo": "/svg/crests/common-navy.svg","icon": "🕊️","rgb": "19, 167, 228",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/common-navy.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/common-navy_hu58774b23c0ecbf561821bc77cc4f5653_9381853_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Parliament of State",
  "description": "The Marine Services comprise 3 specialised services in the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": "The Common Navy, commonly referred to as the White Fleet or Peace Fleet, is a humanitarian naval service of the Vekllei. It enjoys the privileges and independence of a military service and it retains the naval uniforms, ranks and conventions of the military Marine Services, but is a seperate service under command of the Parliament of State. It maintains an independent naval tradition, command, procurement system and right of commission. In 2058, it launched the CCNV Angel of Mercy, its first dedicated aircraft carrier that replaced an older carrier renovated from military service.\nWhere the Commonwealth Navy serves the defence of the state, the Common Navy serves its conscience, and has a mandate of compassion, mercy and international solidarity. The mission of its fleet is to sail on invitation to domestic and foreign ports to provide relief to places suffering from disaster and war, and otherwise to deliver technical education, medical training, food and supplies to where they are needed. As a navy of the Vekllei state, it is also a display of goodwill and a substantial contributor to Commonwealth soft power in the developing world. The navy is stationed in Naval Station Antigua in Antigua, which is also its home port.\n2 Hospital Ships Mary-Class 1 Power Plant Ship Atom-Class 1 Technical School Ship Converted Dauntless-Class 1 Aircraft Carrier Angel-Class 1 Security Ship Mercy-Class 1 Supply Ship Peret-Class 1 Replenishment Ship Anuket-Class 1 Exhibition Ship Converted Dauntless-Class ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/common-navy/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 915,
  "href": "/series/commonwealth/",
  "title": "Commonwealth",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 916,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/",
  "title": "Commonwealth","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/com-4x3.svg","icon": "🌹","color": "green",
  "section": "Factbook",
  "description": "Vekllei is a highly technological society, and has lead research into breakthroughs in many industries.",
  "content": " Vekllei Antarctic Antilles Arctic Atlantic Kalina Lucaya Verde Volcanic Ascension Helena Santes Sude Falklands Caimanas Providence Abakoa Aruba Curacao Bonaire Paria Kala Helvasia Flores Meteor Fayal Pico Velas Graciosa Terceira Costa Verde Maria Mira Porto Santo Benahoare Meridia Berbara Tenerife Canary Ventura Lanzarote Virgin Anguilla Soualiga Ouanalao Saba Aloi Liamuiga Oualie Allia Barbary Antigua Karu Kabuli Madiana Lucia Youlouca Grenadines Cama Barbados Aloubaera Kairi Summers Conch Habacoa Nema Lucayoneque Bahama Cigateo Guanima Rum Yabaque Mayaguana Caicos Curateo Yuma Inagua Morocos Viana Covoada Sal Boa Vista Maio Praia Fogo Brava Annobon Java Principe Aismious Hetland Oslola Demon ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 917,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/commonwealth-aircraft-corporation/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation","logo": "/svg/logos/cac.svg","icon": "✈️","rgb": "49, 80, 250",
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "Commonwealth Aircraft is a government-owned corporation that manufacturers military aircraft.",
  "content": " Commonwealth Aircraft State Corporation of Vekllei Employees 7,500 Founded 2025 Headquarters Oslola Industry Aerospace Manufacturing Ministry Ministry of the Commons Parent Bureau of Aerospace Revenue AK ✾ 30 billion Traded CAC ScL The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (known as Commonwealth Aircraft or The Shop) is a military aircraft manufacturer owned by the government of Vekllei. It is the second-largest aerospace manufacturer in Vekllei, and produces a range of aircraft and avionics for the Vekllei military and export.\nIt operates adjacent to but independently from the Government Aircraft Factories, and is centralised around federal plants in Oslola and Kairi rather than devolved among many republics. It conducts advanced research into emerging aircraft technologies with a primarily military mission. It is the preferred contractor of the Air Service.\nIt trades on the Commsec as CAC, and is the eleventh largest aircraft manufacturer in the world by market cap.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/CAC/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 918,
  "href": "/factbook/maps/route-map/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Airlines Route Map","color": "teal",
  "section": "Map",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/maps/route-map/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 919,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/commonwealth-airways/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Airways","logo": "/svg/logos/air.svg","icon": "✈️","rgb": "245, 60, 89",
      "image": {
        "src": "/svg/maps/route-map.png",
        "webp": "/svg/maps/route-map_hu016ecaf89468d9cf37f91c7306ebe486_4086960_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box_3.webp"
      },
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "Commonwealth Airways is the national flag carrier airline of Vekllei. It flies to all corners of the world, and also to the moon.",
  "content": " See the Commonwealth Airways Route Map Commonwealth Airways State Corporation of Vekllei Employees 23,600 Founded 1923, as Commonwealth Royal Airways Headquarters Oslola Industry Airline Ministry Ministry of the Commons Parent Bureau of Aerospace Revenue AK ✾ 25.2 billion Traded CMA ScL Commonwealth Airways (formerly Commonwealth Royal Airways) is the flag carrier of Vekllei and its largest airline. It is a government-owned corporation jointly owned by the Bureau of Aerospace, and operates most of the country\u0026rsquo;s civil air infrastructure. It operates a fleet of over 600 aircraft of different types, from supersonic transports to airships. It flies to over\nThe Commonwealth Airways corporation is the parent of several airlines that serve different roles. Commonwealth Overseas Airways, for example, provides international services and specialises in foreign bookings and money-handling. Commonwealth Airlink on the other hand is a domestic service, primarily serving routes between Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s many small islands with light aircraft.\nCommonwealth Airways\nCommonwealth Airways Commonwealth Overseas Airways Commonwealth Airlink Commonwealth Airfreight Commonwealth Starlines ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/air/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 920,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-culture/commonwealth-art-commission/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Art Commission","logo": "/svg/logos/art-commission.svg","icon": "🏛️","rgb": "221, 116, 152",
  "section": "Ministry of Culture",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Art Commission manages government programmes in Vekllei that promote and commission the visual arts.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Art Commission (CAC) manages government programmes in Vekllei that promote and commission the visual arts. In contrast to other arts promotion boards like the Atlantic Arts Federation, the CAC employs and commissions artists directly without an intermediary, and also coordinates the development of the visual arts in Vekllei society via the construction of galleries and promotion of public arts education. Through the Commission and its programmes, an enormous body of public art has been built, and includes murals, easel paintings, sculpture, graphic art, posters, photography, theatre scenic design, and arts and crafts. It is also a member of the Atlantic Arts Federation.\nThe Commission operates four programmes dedicated to aspects of its mission, through which it employs about 8,000 artists and a number of other people involved in its promotion and instruction. The scale and resourcing of the Commission contributes significantly to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s total artistic output, and has produced a number of famous artists, photographers and craftsmen.\nProgrammes\nCommonwealth Fine Arts Programme Commonwealth Practical Arts Programme Commonwealth Arts Education Programme Commonwealth Design Atlas Programme The Commission provides only general direction on art it commissions, but does direct its promotion and its use in public benefit. This includes sculptures and paintings for public buildings, art books, gallery showings and classes to introduce and train the public in visual arts. Its most famous programme in Vekllei is the National Design Atlas, an annual design publication distributed freely to every Vekllei household.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Fine Arts Programme: Federal Writing Programme Federal Art Programme Federal Theatre Programme Federal Music Programme Mayaguana Federal Conservatory ( CUWI) Commonwealth Practical Arts Programme Federal Architecture Programme Federal Crafts Programme Federal Sculpture Programme Federal Textiles Programme Commonwealth Arts Education Programme: Federal Art Democracy Commission Young Atlantic Artists Project ( Atlantic Arts Federation) National Arts Month Council Commonwealth Design Atlas Programme: Responsible for the development and publishing of the National Design Atlas. Federal Residency Project: Arranges retreats and relocation for artists enrolled in federal programmes. Federal Arts Council: Administion and enrollment of artists into federal programmes. Federal Galleries Commission: Management of public art galleries and exhibition spaces. Federal Public Art Programme: Planning and maintenance of public sculptures and monuments. Commonwealth Arts Export Corporation: International promotion of Vekllei artists and artworks. Municipal Arts Federation: Liaison with local government art programs. Council # Chairman, Commonwealth Art Commission Secretary for Art Programs Secretary for Federal Culture \u0026amp; Exhibition Secretary for Arts Education \u0026amp; Training Council Members, Federal Arts Council Director, Federal Galleries Commission Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture Representative, Atlantic Arts Federation Departments # General Administration Office of Law \u0026amp; Copyright Office of Art Programmes Office of Commissioned Art Government Liasion Office Office of Analysis \u0026amp; Culture Office of Federal Culture \u0026amp; Exhibition Department of Programmes Office of Grants \u0026amp; Promotion Office of Resources \u0026amp; Supply Office of Arts Education \u0026amp; Training Arbitration Office ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-art-commission/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 921,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/commonwealth-bank/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Bank","logo": "/svg/logos/commonwealth-bank.svg","icon": "🏦","rgb": "240, 93, 136",
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "Commonwealth Bank is the central bank of Vekllei, and serves as its largest commercial bank.",
  "content": " Commonwealth Bank State Corporation of Vekllei Employees 35,000 Founded 1642 Headquarters Oslola Industry Banking and financial services Ministry Ministry of Commerce Parent Commonwealth Treasury Revenue AK ✾ 82.2 billion Traded CBC ScL The Commonwealth Bank (also Bank of Vekllei) is the central bank and currency store of Vekllei. It is operated by the Ministry of Commerce and maintains branches in all Vekllei republics and in many countries around the world. It is not autonomous and is beholden to the policy decisions of Ministry of Commerce and, in certain cases, the republic and commonwealth parliaments. Its sworn purpose, as instructed by the Floral Constitution, is to advocate for encourage growth and benefit Vekllei people.\nThe Commonwealth Bank was founded 1642 as the Royal Bank in Lola, and is the fifth oldest bank in the world.\nMost banks in Vekllei are institutional or industrial, since the average Vekllei person is unmoneyed and, in a conventional definition, unbanked. Nonetheless, Vekllei maintains several commercial banks under the Bank of Vekllei umbrella, tasked primarily with:\nCashing and underwriting White and Blue bonds. Selling government and financial (bureau) bonds internationally. International placement and borrowing services. Trading, settling and selling foreign currencies. Vekllei citizens are entitled to an equal share of the money stored in the Labour Bank, and in certain circumstances may withdraw their balance to emigrate or travel abroad.\nDespite foreign perception of Vekllei economics, the liquid and asset holdings of the Bank of Vekllei make it the second-largest bank in the world.\nCommonwealth Atlantic Bank # The Commonwealth Atlantic Bank (COMMBANK) is an international investment subsidiary of the Bank of Vekllei, tasked primarily with banking in Commonwealth members and international markets. It has branches across every Commonwealth member-state and in most major economic hubs around the world, including throughout Europe, the Americas, and Asia. It also serves as the Central Bank of the Kalina Isles.\nCommonwealth Import-Export Bank # The Commonwealth Import-Export Bank (VEKEXIM) is a state policy investment bank used to fund projects outside of the Commonwealth, particularly in developing countries. It is the primary investment mechanism of Vekllei foreign aid system, which uses export credits and low-interest bureau loans to build infrastructure overseas. It is among the most influential export banks in the world, and contributed to the Pan-African Railway and Hundred Dams projects as part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s ongoing Trade Democracy economic scheme.\nCommonwealth Development Bank # The Commonwealth Development Bank (DEVBANK) is a policy bank designed to organise and allocate funding for large-scale political projects, particularly in infrastructure. The Development Bank works as the engine of the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s policies, funded mostly with White Bonds issued internationally and labour-guaranteed certificates (a type of Blue Bond). It also creates loan arrangements, evaluates, and underwrites national government projects.\nCommonwealth Commercial Bank # The Commonwealth Commercial Bank (SISTERBANK) is the commercial lending bank of \u0026lsquo;petty bureau\u0026rsquo; company syndicates and their workers. Its primary function is bureau negotiation and lending in order to facilitate the economic development of private business in Vekllei. It also acts as an intermediary between petty bureau companies and other banks or government financial apparatuses.\nSisterbank is the primary mechanism by which private business is done in Vekllei, facilitating loans, placement and logistics for small to medium-sized businesses.\nCommonwealth Industrial Bank # The Commonwealth Industrial Bank (MOTHERBANK) is the industrial lending bank of \u0026lsquo;bureau proper\u0026rsquo; company syndicates and their workers. Similar to the Sisterbank, it facilitates economic activity of bureaus and private industry primarily through asset management and mediation with the government and the Commonwealth Bank.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-bank/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 922,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-culture/commonwealth-central-archives/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Central Archives","logo": "/svg/logos/central-archives.svg","icon": "🏢","rgb": "247, 93, 54",
  "section": "Ministry of Culture",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Central Archives is the central documents store and database organisation of Vekllei.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Central Archives (also just Archives) is a corporation of the Bureau of Records and Correspondence and is the central documents store, management and database organisation of Vekllei. The Archives serves as the definitive repository for historically significant documents and provides research access to scholars, government officials and the public.\nThe Archives document the general disposition, welfare, culture and demography of the people of the Commonwealth. This includes political attitudes towards the Commonwealth itself, as well as how decisions made by other ministries impact public opinion.\nIt is centralised across several climate-controlled storage facilities, operates specialized preservation laboratories, and provides archival services to government departments. It also manages optical preservation archives and coordinates with international archival institutions.\nConstituents # Federal Depository: Largest central archive facility in Vekllei located in Oslola, jointly operated with the National Library. Archive Indies: Regional archive located in Barbados. Archive Afrique: Regional archive located in Praia. Federal Vault: Secure knowledge vault in Helvasia that stores computerised backups of the archives. Public Research Services Reading rooms and research assistance for scholars and public. Federal Document Laboratory: Conservation and restoration of damaged or fragile documents located in the Lola borough of Oslola. Electric Archives Laboratory: Electronic preservation of archival materials. Slavery Oral History Programme: Collection and preservation of recorded interviews and testimonies in conjunction with the Atlantic History Federation. Carib \u0026amp; Lucayan Oral History Programme: Collection and preservation of indigenous Carib and Arawak cultural history in conjunction with the Atlantic History Federation. Council # Chief Archivist, Commonwealth Central Archives Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture Representative, Atlantic History Federation Departments # Historical Collections Colonial Records Collection Contemporary Records Collection Ancient History \u0026amp; Artefacts Cultural Heritage Materials Government Records Section Office of Executive Records Office of Legislative Documents Office of Judicial Archives Depository \u0026amp; Public Access Services Office of Research Services ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-central-archives/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 923,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commonwealth/commonwealth-civil-service-academy/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Civil Service Academy","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commonwealth.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commonwealth",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commonwealth",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Civil Service Academy trains public servants for the Ministry of the Commonwealth.",
  "content": "The Civil Service Academy (CSA) is a training school for middle and senior civil servants and interior policy researchers. Headquartered in Mira, it primarily trains servants of the domestic government apparatuses, and provides tertiary courses in governance and management related to its primary disciplines. The CSA also trains directors of key state assets, and provides education resources for bureau industry.\nMost Vekllei nationals in Commonwealth offices are also trained at the CSA, which has sister offices in most independent Commonwealth member-states.\nOffices of the Civil Service Academy\nFennel, Mira (headquarters) Oslola Kairi ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/civil-service-academy/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 924,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-culture/commonwealth-communications-authority/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Communications Authority","logo": "/svg/logos/communications-authority.svg","icon": "📺","color": "culture",
  "section": "Ministry of Culture",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Media Authority regulates broadcasting, manages spectrum allocation, and oversees electronic media standards for the Ministry of Culture.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Media Authority is an independent regulatory authority under the Ministry of Culture responsible for broadcasting regulation, spectrum management and cinema and television standards in Vekllei. The Authority ensures fair access to broadcasting frequencies and maintains content regulations across all all public broadcast platforms (primarily through the National Cinema Network).\nThe Authority licenses radio and television broadcasters, prosecutes standards compliance and manages the allocation of electromagnetic spectrum for broadcasting purposes. It also oversees the technical standards for broadcasting equipment and coordinates with international broadcasting organisations.\nConstituents # Broadcast Standards Council: Content regulation and licensing for radio and television. Technical Standards Council: Equipment certification and broadcast quality control. Communications Offences Tribunal: Independent adjudicator of broadcasting complaints. Council # Director-General, Commonwealth Media Authority Secretary for Broadcasting Standards Secretary for Spectrum Management Secretary for Technical Affairs Chairman, Communications Offences Tribunal Director, Veletia Broadcasting Service Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture Representative, Commercial Broadcasters Association Representative, Community Broadcasting Federation Chief Engineer, Technical Standards Council Departments # Department of Broadcast Standards Office of Content Regulation Office of Licensing \u0026amp; Compliance Department of Spectrum Management Office of Frequencies \u0026amp; Wavelengths Office of International Standards Spectrum Intelligence Commission Department of Electrics \u0026amp; Transmission Office of Electrics \u0026amp; Equipment Office of the National Cinema Network Office of Signals ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-communications-authority/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 925,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-health/commonwealth-disease-authority/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Disease Authority","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/health.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "health",
  "section": "Parliament of Health",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Disease Authority is the national public health agency in Vekllei, and helps manage sickness and disease.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Disease Authority (CDA) is the national public health agency of the Commonwealth. It aims to protect public health through prevention of disease, injury and disability. To this end, it gathers and centralises Vekllei disease intelligence and is responsible for managing contagion and outbreaks.\nThe CDA conducts extensive field work through its Epidemic Intelligence Service and World Health Research Organisation. It also has special powers allowing it to implement short-term quarantines and mobilise the public health system.\nExecutive Council # Director, Commonwealth Disease Authority Director, Bureau of Health Services Director, Epidemic Intelligence Service Director, National Disease Registry Director, World Health Research Organisation Defence Viral Laboratories Chief Scientist, DSRE Deputy Director, MSRE Deputy Minister, Parliament of Health Departments # General Headquarters Office of Statistics Office of Civil Defence Office of Health Democracy Office of Laboratories Department of Toxic Substances Department of Immunisation Department of Novel Diseases Department of Artificial Diseases Department of Quarantine Department of Transmissible Diseases Boards \u0026amp; Commissions # Epidemic Intelligence Service: National Disease Registry: World Health Research Organisation: ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-public-health/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 926,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commonwealth/commonwealth-electoral-commission/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Electoral Commission","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commonwealth.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commonwealth",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commonwealth",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Electoral Commissionconducts elections and referendums in Vekllei for the Ministry of the Commonwealth.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Electoral Commission (CEC) conducts elections, by-elections and referendums in Vekllei. It also maintains the Vekllei Electoral Roll, and designs electorates, apportionments and redistributions in the Home Islands.\nThe Electoral Commission also negotiates the registration of political candidates and their funding through the Public Visibility Scheme, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Commonwealth general office. In addition, the Commission provides electoral supervisory services to other Commonwealth member-states and, occasionally, monitors foreign elections as an independent auditor as part of the Interior Government\u0026rsquo;s overseas political commitments.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-electoral-commission/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 927,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-labour/commonwealth-employment-register/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Employment Register","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-labour.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "labour",
  "section": "Ministry of Labour",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Employment Register is an organisation that records occupations of Vekllei citizens for the Ministry of Labour.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Employment Register (CER) is a functional body of the Ministry of Labour that records occupations of Vekllei citizens. Since Vekllei people have a legal obligation to be occupied in some capacity, a term which includes education and housework, the CER maintains a database of registered occupations that ensures compliance and provides useful economic data to the Government of Vekllei. In this sense, the CER has a close relationship with the Bureau of Statistics.\nThe CER serves only an administrative and clerical role, and does not submit policy or provide enforcement for legal obligations. Although it is a useful resource of the Labour Ministry, it primarily facilitates self-reporting from Vekllei citizens. It is headquartered in Virgin, but is networked with identical databases in Oslola.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-employment-register/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 928,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-health/commonwealth-food-and-medicines-authority/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Food and Medicines Authority","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/health.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "health",
  "section": "Parliament of Health",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Food \u0026 Medicines Authority supervises food and medicine safety in Vekllei.",
  "content": "The The Food and Medicines Authority (FMA) is a statutory agency that controls and supervises food and medicine safety. Most consumable substances are regulated by the FMA, and require approval for import or export in the country. The FMA also investigates toxic food and medicines.\nExecutive Council # Director, Commonwealth Disease Authority Director, Bureau of Health Services Director, Epidemic Intelligence Service Director, National Disease Registry Director, World Health Research Organisation Deputy Director, MSRE Deputy Minister, Parliament of Health Parliamentary Representative, Parliament of Health Departments # Department of Radiological Health Department of Medicines Department of Food Safety Department of Alcohol \u0026amp; Vice Department of Narcotics and Prohibited Substances Boards \u0026amp; Commissions # Special Commission on Women\u0026rsquo;s Health: Special Commission on Food Policy: ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-food-and-medicines-authority/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 929,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-health/commonwealth-health-academy/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Health Academy","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/health.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "health",
  "section": "Parliament of Health",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Health Academy coordinates medical education across Vekllei.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Health Academy is a policy institution and also coordinates medical education across the country.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-public-health/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 930,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-health/commonwealth-health-council/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Health Council","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/health.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "health",
  "section": "Parliament of Health",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Health Council is the superior administrative body of public health in Vekllei.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Health Council facilitates the operation of the public health system as the superior administrative body. It advises the Office of Public Health and contributes to its decision-making. It also maintains the administrative services required for the national health system, including personnel departments, tribunals and liaisons for the Health Accounting Office. In effect, it unites the whole system under a single chain of command, ensuring consistent practice and policy across the entire country.\nThe National Health Council also promotes healthy living and disease prevention to the public through programmes in the home, school and workplace.\nVekllei Health Network # The Vekllei Health Network (VHN) is the body that actually supplies and supports public health facilities. It connects individual hospitals, clinics and GPs with the Health Parliament, and arranges the logistics to ensure their function.\nEach constituent and republic has its own Local Health Network, which cascade in a decentralised system to ensure universal coverage. The VHN is divided into six regions at a federal level.\nRegions of the Vekllei Health Network\nNorth Atlantic Healthcare District South Atlantic Healthcare District East Atlantic Healthcare District West Atlantic Healthcare District Caribbean Healthcare District Rural Islands and Federal Territories Healthcare District The VHN also links the public health system with industry boards, councils and accreditors. These councils advise the VHN directly to make process changes, bypassing the bureaucracy of the National Health Council.\nSpecial Councils of the Vekllei Health Network\nAllied Health Professions Council Vekllei Dental Council Vekllei Surgery Council Vekllei Pharmacy Council Vekllei Nursing Board Rural Doctors Council Opticians Board Family Physicians Accreditation Board Specialists Accreditation Board Dental Accreditation Board ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-health-council/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 931,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-education/commonwealth-laboratories/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Laboratories","logo": "/svg/logos/commonwealth-labs.svg","icon": "🏛️","rgb": "0, 155, 113",
  "section": "Parliament of Education",
  "description": "Commonwealth Laboratories is a major government research complex located in Oslola.",
  "content": " Commonwealth Laboratories (also National Labs) is the primary government research complex in Vekllei. It operates out of two main campuses complexes in Oslola and Kairi, and has auxiliary campuses in the Bahamas, Verde, and Sude. It is a part of SIRO.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-laboratories/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 932,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/commonwealth-lines/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Lines","logo": "/svg/logos/commonwealth-lines.svg","icon": "⛴️","rgb": "232, 163, 12",
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "Commonwealth Lines is a government-owned shipping and logistics corporation in Vekllei.",
  "content": " Commonwealth Lines State Corporation of Vekllei Employees 7,500 Founded 2025 Headquarters Oslola Industry Shipping Ministry Ministry of the Commons Parent Bureau of Oceans Revenue AK ✾ 90 billion Traded CML ScL Commonwealth Lines (CL) is a shipping and logistics company owned by Vekllei through the Bureau of Oceans. It is the largest of the individual shipping corporations in Vekllei, and contributes the bulk of the fleet towards Atlantis, its parent bureau corporation.\nCL is about the 16th largest shipping company in the world, and has a fleet of over 150 cargo ships. Of these, 32 are bulk carriers, 30 are rail RO/RO vessels, 22 are container carriers, 18 are service or special-purpose vessels, and five are barges. Its home port is in Dohyo, Oslola, although the company has a major presence in Cama at the headquarters of Atlantis as well.\nThe line specialises in roll-on, roll-off palletised rail transport that is common in the Vekllei industrial logistics network, particularly across the Vekllei Caribbean. It also traffics substantial raw commodities like oil and bauxite. The oceangoing CL fleet is almost entirely nuclearised, and boasts among the highest average cruising speeds of any transoceanic shipping line.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-lines/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 933,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-commerce/commonwealth-mint/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Mint","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-commerce.svg","icon": "🪙","color": "commerce",
  "section": "Ministry of Commerce",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Mint is the sole manufacturer of physical currency in Vekllei, as well as gold bullion and security documents.",
  "content": " Read more: The Vekllei Crown The Commonwealth Mint (also the Mint) is the sole manufacturer of physical currency in Vekllei, tasked with minting and melting the Vekllei Crown. It also regulates gold bullion in the country, and produces bullion for use in the International Market. It is headquartered in Summers, in the western North Atlantic. The Mint also produces paper government certificates and security documents.\nThe Mint is the custodian of the Commonwealth Bullion Depository, which holds reserves of over 6,000 tonnes of gold bullion belonging to the Commonwealth and over 60 other countries, and is among the largest such reserves in the world.\nThe Mint is well-regarded internationally for the purity of its metals and intricate commemorative coins, leading international numismatics in colour and variety.\nCouncil # Chancellor, Commonwealth Mint Comptroller of the Crown Exchequer, Commonwealth Bank Permanent Secretary, Treasury ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/mint/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 934,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/commonwealth-oil/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Oil","logo": "/svg/logos/commonwealth-oil.svg","icon": "🛢️","rgb": "219, 37, 21",
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "Commonwealth Oil is the national oil company of Vekllei, and maintains a huge network of fields and processing facilities.",
  "content": " Read more: Natural Resources of Vekllei Commonwealth Oil State Corporation of Vekllei Employees 22,300 Founded 2017 Headquarters Kairi Industry Oil and gas Ministry Ministry of Industry Parent Bureau of Hydrocarbons Revenue AK ✾ 2 trillion Traded COC S.c.L. Commonwealth Oil (also known as CommOil) is a multinational hydrocarbon energy company owned by the government of Vekllei, with primary business in petroleum exploration, extraction, and refining. It is estimated to be the 40th largest company in the world by revenue, owing to the vast oil and gas fields in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s exclusive economic sea zones. Although its headquarters were relocated to Kairi in 2044 to be closer to the West Indies oil fields, the corporation was founded in Oslola and still occupies its original headquarters there are the base of Arctic oil extraction.\nCommOil is vertically integrated, and has close ties to the Oil Survey Section and Energy Chemistry divisions of the LSRE. It operates major fields across Commonwealth Kalina, offshore from Kala, and in the Hetland and Aismious fields. It maintains several large refineries, including Sullom Voe in Hetland and the super-refineries in Aruba and Curacao. It also has thousands of wells scattered across minor deposits found across the vast Vekllei exclusive economic zone. It has major oil terminals in Kairi and Oslola, and exports petroleum around the world. The company specialises in offshore and underseas oil extraction, and due to the geography of the country operates only a handful of overland pipelines, which are located mostly in Kala. Undersea pipelines connect Vekllei to the US and South American petroleum grids.\nOil is primarily used as a feedstock for industries in Vekllei, and has no material role in power generation. It is consumed in small amounts in legacy vehicles, but serves a primary role in specialised applications in chemical and petrochemical industries. Gas is used for heating in some regional cities in the Commonwealth Volcanic but is primarily used as a firming energy source and industrial feedstock.\nFacilities\nProduction \u0026amp; Processing\nHetland National Super-refinery Hetland Curacao Complex Oil Refinery Curacao Method Wake Gas Works Kairi Method Wake Oil Terminal Kairi Vulcan Gas-to-Liquids Plant Kairi Austor Nord Works Oslola Commonwealth Hydrogen Works Oslola Sud Gas Liquefaction Works Praia Chrome Refinery Complex (Inagua) Azores Refinery Mira Transport \u0026amp; Distribution\nCommOil Superterminal Kairi National Regasification Station (Canary) Ordinary Subsea Cable Landing Station Praia Commonwealth Strategic Oil Reserves Habacoa Lucaya Pipeline Station Habacoa Auxiliary Facilities\nCommonwealth Oil Central Control Sal Arctic Fleet Base Helvasia Romsa Gas Research Laboratories Helvasia Oil \u0026amp; Gas Fields\nKala Warm North Basin Kala (Offshore) Kala Cold South Basin Kala (Offshore) Suda Mega Basin Falklands (Offshore) Americas Basin Kairi Arctic Rainbow Gas Basin Helvasia (Offshore) ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/oil/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 935,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-culture/commonwealth-olympic-committee/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Olympic Committee","logo": "/svg/logos/olympic.svg","icon": "🏢","color": "culture",
  "section": "Ministry of Culture",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Olympic Committee oversees Vekllei athletes and teams in international games, including the Olympics.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Olympic Committee (COC) is an independent constituent of the Bureau of Sports responsible for coordinating Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s participation in international sporting competitions, elite athlete development programmes and promoting Olympic values throughout the Commonwealth.\nThe Committee serves as the national Olympic committee and maintains relationships with international sporting federations. The COC trains national teams for Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and other international competitions. It also facilitates elite athletic development through dedicated facilities, residencies and training programmes.\nConstituents # Elite Athlete Development Program: High-performance training and support for national team athletes. Olympia: Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s national olympic park in Maria, comprising all facilities for the summer games. Atlantic Olympic Society: Prestigious club and network of athletes that have represented Vekllei in the Olympics. International Oceans Athletics Federation: Organising committee for the Oceans\u0026rsquo; Games, an initiative of COMOC. Council # Director, Commonwealth Olympic Committee Olympic Officer Treasurer Secretary, Bureau of Sports Principal, Commonwealth Athletics Federation Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture Representative, Athletics Medicine Centre Representative, Commonwealth Coaching Institute Departments # International Sports Council Government Liasion Office Athlete Democracy Committee Olympic Council Olympic Petition Committee Olympic Office Olympic Treasury Panveletian Athletics Council Office of Athletes \u0026amp; Teams Office of Commonwealth Selections ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-olympic-committee/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 936,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/commonwealth-police-college/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Police College","logo": "/svg/logos/police.svg","icon": "🎓","color": "law",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Police College is the central training facility for all Vekllei constables, located in Comet.",
  "content": " Commonwealth Police College Police Training Facility Location Comet Operator Commonwealth Police Parliament Parliament of Law The Commonwealth Police College is the central training institution for all Commonwealth Police officers, located in Comet, the federal capital of Vekllei. Established in 2018, it serves as the sole institution responsible for standardised constable training across all republics of Vekllei. The college ensures that every commissioned constable, regardless of their eventual posting or specialisation, receives the same foundational education in law, civic values and the Commonwealth police procedure.\nThe main campus occupies 180 hectares in the Meteor Valley, with additional training facilities scattered across the Commonwealth for specialised instruction. Architecture reflects Commonwealth institutional design with practical training facilities, residential halls for cadets, and specialised buildings for different endorsement programmes. The college employs about 320 instructional staff to train approximately 2,800 cadets annually across its various programmes.\nAcademic Programmes \u0026amp; Schools\nCommonwealth Police College (Comet) Base Commission Training Programme Commonwealth Legal Programme Police Treasury Programme Police Smuggling Programme Social Sciences Programme Federal Commission Programme Police Guard Programme Police Sword \u0026amp; Baton Programme Police Firearms Programme Police Driving Programme Commonwealth Inspector Training School ( Benahoare) Detective Training Programme Inspector Training Programme Constable Training School ( Caimanas) Parish Commission Programme Municipal Commission Programme Cultural Training Programme Commons Mediation Programme Police Detachment of the National Littoral Training School ( NS Antigua) Port Warden Programme Coastal Ranger Programme Police Diving Programme Police Detachment of the National Ranger School ( Kala) Arctic Ranger Programme Tribal Commission Programme Police Detachment of the National Polar Training School ( Helvasia) Polar Ranger Programme Police Detachment of the National Equatorial Training School ( Aruba) Equatorial Ranger Programme Police Detachment of the National Patrol \u0026amp; Scouting School ( Fortress Lola) Company Animals Section Programme Frontier Programme Police Detachment of the National Naval Training Centre ( Fortress Falklands) Company Rifles Section Programme Company Riot Section Programme Police Combat Programme Police Marksman Programme National Police Aviation School ( AS Oslola) Aviation Programme Air Assault \u0026amp; Surveillance Programme Commonwealth Forensic Science Laboratory ( Antigua) National Signals Training School ( AS Scatsta) Miscellaneous Republic Training Annexes The college maintains strong relationships with republic training annexes across the Commonwealth, which provide localised instruction in regional languages, customs and specific legal procedures. Each cadet spends at least one month at their designated republic annex as part of their foundation training.\nTraining Structure:\nThe Foundation Course is a comprehensive 6-month programme that all cadets must complete, covering Commonwealth law, civic principles, basic investigation techniques, cultural competency, physical training, swordfighting and baton use, and firearms proficiency. Successful completion grants the base Constable commission.\nPrimary Endorsement programmes are intensive 3-month courses in chosen specialisations like Detective, Marine Policing, Treasury Policing, or Parliamentary Guard. These provide deep expertise in specific areas of law enforcement.\nSecondary Endorsements are offered as 2-week intensive courses that allow constables to gain additional capabilities throughout their careers. Popular secondary endorsements include Commons Mediation, Cultural Heritage and various regional specialisations.\nContinuing Education programmes ensure all serving constables maintain current skills and can pursue additional endorsements. Annual refresher training is mandatory, with new endorsement opportunities offered regularly.\nStudent life centres around practical training exercises that simulate real-world scenarios across different island environments. Through detachments are military training sites, the college maintains training facilities that replicate urban Oslolan conditions, remote Arctic environments, tropical Caribbean settings and maritime operations. The annual Inter-Circuit Exercise brings together cadets from all regional programmes for complex, multi-jurisdictional training scenarios. Police are also trained as a military reserve to mobilise Vekllei citizen-soldiers during wartime.\nThe college has exchange relationships with police training institutions in other nonaligned countries, particularly India and the Balkan Federation, reflecting Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s international police cooperation commitments. Many instructors are veteran constables who rotate through teaching assignments as part of their professional development, which helps ensure training remains current with field experience.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/police-college/","/constable-training/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 937,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/commonwealth-post/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Post","logo": "/svg/logos/post.svg","icon": "📯","rgb": "255, 19, 35",
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "Commonwealth Post is the national postal service of Vekllei. It handles nearly 50 million pieces of mail each day.",
  "content": " Overview # Commonwealth Post State Corporation of Vekllei Employees 58,200 Founded 1422 Headquarters Oslola Industry Postal service Ministry Ministry of Culture Parent Bureau of Post and Telecommunications Revenue AK ✾ 44.6 billion Traded GAF ScL The Commonwealth Postal Service (commonly known as Commonwealth Post or the Post) is the national postal carrier of Vekllei. It handles almost all postage in the country, and delivers nearly 50 million pieces of mail daily. The Post is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in Vekllei, and its history can be traced to the founding of the Royal Mail Corporation in 1422 in Oslola, when it served as a courier system between the Oslolan Kingdom and its largely mercenary military force. In 1742, it was formalised as a modern postal system available to the civilian public, and was reformed in the postwar period to provide a variety of services available to all Commonwealth residents.\nNext to Commonwealth Airways, the Post is perhaps Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s most visible organisation overseas. For many foreigners, Commonwealth Post cargo aircraft may be the closest they ever come to seeing the obscure Atlantic country for themselves. For Vekllei residents, the historic organisation is a living relic of the country\u0026rsquo;s diverse and ancient history, and its evolution as a company reflects Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s own development under the historic kingdoms, colonial occupation, and federal independence.\nToday, the Post is headquartered in Oslola across a dozen or so city blocks dedicated to administration, manufacturing, vehicle storage and Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s General Post Office. There are over 6,400 post offices across Vekllei today, connecting all 68 of its far-flung republics. Oslola is also home to the UN Universal Postal Union, the body responsible for coordinating international postage.\nHistory # Read more: The Men and Women of the Royal Mail in Vekllei Although most Vekllei republics have had independent or foreign postal services throughout their histories, the Post as a continuous institution was founded in 1422 by the Desimou VII, King of Oslola, in the late Period of Rest. During this time, the lords of Oslola had established significant mercantile holdings across the North Atlantic, and had developed reliable systems of trade throughout Ireland and Denmark. The Royal Mail of Oslola was first established as a royal communications organ that sought to ensure stability of Desimou rule across its North Atlantic Empire. In this period, the Mail consisted of a handful of messengers attached to the feudal military apparatus of the Vekllei monarchy.\nAn MS Model 54-2 Fairie, used to deliver mail to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s islands and islets | The Fairie The Royal Mail would not come to resemble a conventional civilian postal service until 1652, when the Kingdom expanded postal contracts to the privy councils of the Aismious and Kala territories. It was not until nearly a century later, in 1742, that company services were opened to all land-owning Oslolans, and the Mail came to resemble its contemporary mandate. During Oslola\u0026rsquo;s colonisation as part of the British Atlantic Territories, it operated as the Royal Mail Service, a name it retained in independence.\nThe Commonwealth Postal Service was established in 2015, at the founding of the 2nd Vekllei Federal Republic and 4th Commonwealth. It consolidated existing mail services across the republics, and replaced British services that operated during occupation. In 2017, the first year of independence, Mi Miou was elected as the world\u0026rsquo;s first female Postmistress General. The postwar period of the Post has been marked by a rapid expansion of services in Vekllei and abroad. World Post, the international for-profit arm of the Post, was established in 2034.\nStructure # Read more: The Postmistress of Vekllei Commonwealth Post is a constituent corporation of the Bureau of Post and Telecommunications, which is part of the federal Ministry of Culture. As is typical of state monopolies in Vekllei, the Post is vertically integrated, and the majority of its contract work is consolidated directly into its organisation.\nThe Post has two offices of administration: the General Office and the Office of the Postmistress, which are responsible for daily operations and interdepartmental administration respectively.\nCommonwealth Post Department of Postal Services General Post Office Office of Personnel Office of Policy \u0026amp; Planning Office of Postage Office of Special Postage Office of Financial Services Office of Parcel Services Commonwealth Postal Chapel Service Assurance Office Overseas Service Department World Post Company Universal Express Company Department of Communications Office of Research Commonwealth Post Press Commonwealth Postal Bulletin Materials Manufacturie Department of Company Infrastructure Office of Lines Office of Post Boxes Office of Vehicles Office of the Postmistress Postal Commission General Inspectorate Post Democracy Office Postal Inspection Service Postal Police Service Documents Laboratories Fingerprints Laboratories Chemistry Laboratories Biology Laboratories Services # Read more: Philately Foolery Commonwealth Post offers universal service to Vekllei people, delivering all postage anywhere in the world or, indeed, beyond it. It maintains 6,424 post offices across Vekllei, including its antarctic and peripheral territories. The Post\u0026rsquo;s first lunar post office opened in 2059. In addition to its domestic monopoly, the Post contributes nearly VK❦ 2.6 trillion each year towards the Commonwealth Sovereign Wealth Corporation through its international postage and courier services abroad, under the name World Post.\nTzipora arranges some of her favourite Vekllei stamps | Philately Foolery Daily Service # Read more: Racing the Post Office to the Station The Post aims to provide next-day delivery during weekdays in zero-code (republic) regions. Overnight delivery is also generally available between larger Commonwealth republics. Most Lunar territories are available on Mondays and Fridays, and other territories are available according to the Post\u0026rsquo;s region table.\nAlthough Vekllei people do not pay to post items, stamps are affixed with coloured squares called chromacodes which are used in the automatic sorting machines common in the country. International postage uses traditional stamps with price listed, and franking is used for tracking and identification.\nSpecial Delivery # Special, commercial and industrial postage is managed by the Office of Special Postage through certain sorting facilities and a dedicated postal network. Regular business post is funnelled through regular daily service, but hazardous, oversized and dangerous goods are accepted by special post offices able to accept them. The Post does not provide special services for regular residential or courier delivery.\nInternational Service # Commonwealth Post is best known overseas as the World Post, which offers services for foreign customers. Like domestic postal systems in other countries, the World Post offers flat rates for delivery anywhere in the world, priced according to size and weight. In addition, its sister company Universal Express offers next-day weekday delivery in certain markets. Most employees of the World Post and Universal Express are foreign workers paid a regular salary or banking labour-hours for immigration to Vekllei. Unlike domestic service, the World Post and Universal Express often use private courier contracts to fulfil orders.\nFinance # Postal banking is accessible via the Commonwealth Bank through the Post\u0026rsquo;s Financial Services Office. These serve an important role in financial management for immigrant populations, facilitating money transfers and overseas accounting.\nTelecommunications # Cosma is Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s largest telecommunications company, and has deep ties to Commonwealth Post. It was founded as part of the Royal Mail in the 20th Century, but was spun off as an independent company upon the Post\u0026rsquo;s reincorporation in 2015. They retain close corporate ties, and joint services like phone franking and dial-a-letter have demonstrated the value of close cooperation between the Vekllei postal and telecommunications industries.\nOperations # Read more: The Stamp Manufacturie In addition to being one of the oldest active postal organisations in the world, Commonwealth Post is among the busiest, since physical post has scarcely been displaced by the telephone in the country. Even without the Post\u0026rsquo;s international services, domestic mail each day can exceed 12 million pieces \u0026ndash; enough for 1 in 2 people, including commercial mail and periodicals.\nOutdoor view of the Post\u0026rsquo;s stamp printing complex. | The Stamp Manufacturie As is typical for government-owned corporations in Vekllei, the Post alleviates the pressure of daily service through its vertically-integrated infrastructure improved by automatic (automen vehicles) and permanent fixtures (pneumatic systems and automatic sorting/franking machines). It is precisely this commitment to infrastructure that makes the Post so visible in daily life, and contributes to its ongoing cultural relevance among Vekllei people.\nStaff # Commonwealth Post employs 58,200 people full-time across its various offices, and nearly 200,000 automen in various roles. Although the Post does retain a staff of postmen and couriers, most urban daily service is now provided by automatic vehicles and sorting, which account for nearly half of the total automen owned by the organisation. Most Vekllei people are served by post offices rather than home delivery.\nThe majority of Post employees are involved in the running of the organisation \u0026ndash; mostly as clerks, engineers, and administrators. Around 10,000 postmen are employed by the Mail in daily delivery, called \u0026ldquo;posties\u0026rdquo;. There are around 8,000 postal routes in the country.\nAlthough at first glance the number of automen dramatically exceeds demand, the total count is misleading \u0026ndash; most automen with the company are integrated into the infrastructure of its sorting centres and post offices, and very few are traditionally autonomous robots commonly seen in public in Vekllei. Only about 8,000 automen are employed in physical mail delivery.\nThere are 16,220 post boxes in Vekllei, which are iconic for their red and gold paint and intricate detailing.\nFleet # Read more: The Fairie The unique challenges of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s disparate and diverse geography have necessitated a unique inventory of vehicles, some of which have became iconic in Vekllei and overseas. From bicycles to space planes, the Post\u0026rsquo;s fleet of machines rivals postal services three times its size in diversity.\nThe Royal Mail Fleet Postal Services 8,000 delivery automen 5,200 motorcycles (mostly Local Electric Model 15 \u0026amp; Phantoms) 2,400 bicycles 2,000 automatic vans 1,200 postal trucks 31 postal boats (MBR) 20 postal flying boats (Model 54 \u0026ldquo;Fairie\u0026rdquo;) 36 postal helijets (Model RM/Gisma \u0026amp; Record types) 24 postal trains (RM Series/Series 225 EMU) 80 postal trams (Series T6) 2 postal space planes (G.A. Type 1) 2 postal ships (RMS Atlantic \u0026amp; Sunburst ) Overseas Services World Post Company 250 mail trucks 52 cargo jets (Model RM/Type 56C) 6 flying boats Universal Express Company 4 cargo jets (Model ERM/C.A. Type 6 supersonic) 2 mail trucks Office of the Postmistress 1 executive mail train (Series 4000 EMU) ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/post/","/mail/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 938,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commonwealth/commonwealth-public-press/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Public Press","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commonwealth.svg","icon": "📖","color": "commonwealth",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commonwealth",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Public Press is an independent publishing house provided by the Vekllei government for non-governmental organisations.",
  "content": " Standards Press of Vekllei\nThe Standards Press is a publishing house organised vertically in the Bureau of Standards to prepare and publish materials including technical manuals, standard compilation books, and industrial bulletins.\nStatistics Press of Vekllei\nThe Statistics Press is a publishing house responsible for preparing materials relevant to the work of the Bureau of Statistics, including printed editions of the Vekllei Census and ministerial reports used in the Commonwealth and Interior Parliaments. It also publishes books commercially for the public.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-public-press/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 939,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/commonwealth-ratings-corporation/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Ratings Corporation","logo": "/svg/logos/ratings.svg","icon": "📈","rgb": "32, 97, 241",
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Ratings Corporation is a government-owned independent ratings agency in Vekllei.",
  "content": " Commonwealth Ratings Corporation State Corporation of Vekllei Employees 8,400 Founded 2025 Headquarters Caimanas Industry Financial services Ministry Ministry of Commerce Parent Bureau of Securities Revenue AK ✾ 3.2 billion Traded CRC ScL The Commonwealth Ratings Corporation (CRC) is an independent credit rating agency in Vekllei that publishes research on tradeable securities in the Commsec. It is an independent government corporation supervised by the Bureau of Securities. It is one of the largest ratings agencies in the world, and is popular as an offshore, impartial alternative to other agencies mostly located in the U.S. and UK. Its headquarters are located in the Caimanas.\nThe CRC rates borrowers on a numerical scale between 1 (highest) and 25 (lowest). It also provides guidance on the financial outlook of public and private debtors.\nThe CRC also maintains the CRC/CSX 50, a float-adjusted index of the largest companies in the Commsec by market cap, which is a popular alternative for foreign investors to the opaque and comprehensive CSX All Ordinaries Index.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ratings/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 940,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-law/commonwealth-register/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Register","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/law.svg","icon": "📋","color": "law",
  "section": "Parliament of Law",
  "description": "The register is a professional editorial office that consolidates and clarifies federal legislation in Vekllei.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Register is a professional editorial office of the Parliament of Law responsible for consolidating and clarifying federal legislation in a transparent and democratic fashion. It operates independently from both parliament and the judiciary, staffed by appointed legal editors, linguists and specialists in plain language who serve seven-year terms and are appointed by the Parliament of Law.\nThe Register\u0026rsquo;s primary role is to transform the accumulated mass of democratic lawmaking into organised, accessible legal codes. Under the Commonwealth Administration Act (2062), the Register continuously integrates new laws into consolidated codes, eliminates contradictions between statutes, removes obsolete provisions and rewrites complex legal language for public comprehension.1\nThe Register maintains three parallel legal frameworks:\nActive Legislation comprising laws in their original parliamentary form, Registered Codes representing consolidated and clarified versions, and Citizen Guides providing plain-language explanations of legal obligations and rights. The Register\u0026rsquo;s independence was tested during the Consolidation Crisis of 2031, when the Kalina Commonwealth challenged the Register\u0026rsquo;s interpretation of fishing rights statutes. The crisis revealed gaps in oversight mechanisms and led to more democratic safeguards, including mandatory republic consultation periods and expanded referendum authority over Register interpretations.2\nAny republic assembly, Regional Commonwealth or citizen petition can challenge Register consolidations and demand restoration of original legislative language. The quarterly referendum system provides ultimate oversight, allowing citizens to override Register interpretations through direct democratic participation. Most of the work of the Register is fairly procedural, and its work has yet to be put to referendum.\nThe Register holds no authority to alter legal meaning or create new law, only to reorganise and clarify existing statutory language approved through democratic processes.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe crisis resulted in temporary suspension of fishing law consolidations and establishment of the current consultation protocol, requiring 60-day review periods for consolidations affecting republic-specific legislation.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/register/","/commonwealth-register/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 941,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-commerce/commonwealth-securities-exchange/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Securities Exchange","logo": "/svg/logos/commsec.svg","icon": "💰","rgb": "2, 121, 190",
  "section": "Ministry of Commerce",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Securities Exchange operates the national securities and commodities markets in Vekllei.",
  "content": " Read more: Finance in Vekllei The Commonwealth Securities Exchange (Commsec, or CSX) is a special government corporation that operates the national securities and commodities market in Vekllei. It is supervised by the Bureau of Securities. The corporation is itself listed on the CSX.\nThe CSX is measured by two common indexes: the CSX All Ordinaries and the CRC/CSX 50.\nThe CSX All Ordinaries index lists the top 500 constituents by market capitalisation, reflecting the size of the overall CSX share market. The CRC/CSX 50 indexes only the top 50 constituents and implements liquidity requirements to improve tradability and act as a benchmark for investor returns. The All Ordinaries is rebalanced annually, whereas the CRC/CSX 50 is rebalanced quarterly.\nThe CSX maintains systems to aid foreign investment, and is often characterised as the entry point to the Vekllei industrial economy. Since most Vekllei people are unbanked and do not handle money, the CSX is primarily a mechanism for government, industry, and private foreign investors.\nConstituents # Commonwealth Sovereign Wealth Corporation: State investment corporation that acts as a sovereign wealth fund. Council # Director, Commsec Executive, International Firms Office Executive, Automatic Trading Office Director, Bureau of Securities Director, Commonwealth Commercial Service Director, Commonwealth Trade Commission Director, Commonwealth Bank Executive, Ratings Corporation Constituent Markets # CSX Equity Market: 8th-largest equity market worldwide, with an average of ❦VK 700 billion secondary trading daily. The CSX equity market currently retains a market capitalisation of ❦VK 600 trillion. CSX Bond Market: 4th-largest debt market worldwide, trading mostly foreign debt held by Vekllei companies. CSX Derivatives Market: 4th-largest derivates market worldwide. CSX Foreign Exchange Market: 6th-largest currency exchange in the world by global turnover, and the Vekllei Crown (❦VK) and U.S. Dollar are the 5th most traded currency pair. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commsec/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 942,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/commonwealth-starlines/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Starlines","logo": "/svg/logos/starlines.svg","icon": "🪐","rgb": "44, 81, 177",
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "Commonwealth Starlines is the national space transport company of Vekllei, and a subsidiary of Commonwealth Airways.",
  "content": " Commonwealth Starlines State Corporation of Vekllei Employees 1,200 Founded 2048 Headquarters Ascension Industry Space Transport Ministry Ministry of Transport Parent Commonwealth Airways Revenue AK ✾ 2.1 billion Traded CSA ScL Commonwealth Starlines (trading as Starlines or CSA) is the interstellar flag carrier of Vekllei and a subsidiary of Commonwealth Airways. It provides civil space transport for tourists and industry, primarily to the Vekllei Lunar Territories. It maintains a fleet of six spaceplanes, known as Meteor Starliners, that provide regular commercial service to the moon.\nCSA\u0026rsquo;s home base is at the Vekllei World Astroport in Ascension. It is among the largest commercial space transport companies in the world, and the only one to provide subsidised commercial service.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/starlines/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 943,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-commerce/commonwealth-treasury/",
  "title": "Commonwealth Treasury","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-commerce.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "commerce",
  "section": "Ministry of Commerce",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Treasury is the national treasury, financial department and monetary authority of the Vekllei government.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Treasury, commonly The Treasury, is the national treasury, financial department and monetary authority of Vekllei. The Treasury is ultimately responsible for the Vekllei tax system, government revenue and expenditure, and broad economic planning. The Treasury also maintains the GAIA automatic financial relay computer system, which has been the automatic mechanism for microeconomic policy in Vekllei since 2055.\nDepartments of the Treasury inform the monetary policy established by the Commonwealth Bank, and advises money supply and rate adjustments.\nThe Treasury is lead by the State Secretary for the Treasury, a member of the cabinet, but is governed by the Treasurer. Its departments are mostly autonomous, and coordinate through the Department of the Treasury.\nConstituents # Community Development Board: Special investment vehicle for underprivileged Commonwealth communities. Institute for Economics Research: Macroeconomic research relevant to international trade in conjunction with the Bureau of Policy Research. Commonwealth Productivity Commission: Economic productivity research and standards. Commonwealth Taxation Service: Revenue collection and registry for taxable business. Council # State Secretary, Treasury Treasurer, Treasury Permanent Secretary Officer for Commonwealth Economics Officer for Foreign Affairs Chief Analyst Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Securities Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Trade Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Commonwealth Corporations Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Statistics Exchequer, Commonwealth Bank Chancellor, Commonwealth Mint Director, Commsec Departments # Department of the Treasury: General department and office of the Treasurer. State Secretariat: Office of the Treasury\u0026rsquo;s State Secretary, responsible for implementing government policy. General Secretariat: Office of the Treasury\u0026rsquo;s Permanent Secretary, regular management of Treasury affairs. Department of Commonwealth Economics: Office of General Seizure Office of Fiscal Service Office of National Debt National Finance \u0026amp; Investment Corporation Department of Revenue \u0026amp; Customs: General Taxation Inspectorate Office of Government Debt \u0026amp; Liabilities Office of Financial Services Department of Foreign Affairs: National stakes and accounts in foreign countries. Office of the Americas Office of Europe Office of Africa Office of the Orient Special Markets Office Department of Government Accounts: Office of Government Expenditure National Expenditure Research Organisation Department of Commonwealth Corporations: Government-owned corporation management and development. Department of Automatic Systems: Development and maintenance of economic computers, software and systems. Department of Economic Information: Compilation of economics data in cooperation with the Bureau of Statistics. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-treasury/","/treasury/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 944,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/commrail/",
  "title": "CommRail","logo": "/svg/logos/rail.svg","icon": "🚇","rgb": "255, 86, 79",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/orange.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/orange_hu9674b7518496a5e883b2af688c278a19_320387_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "Commonwealth Rail is a government-owned railway company in Vekllei, and maintains one of the largest and most comprehensive rail networks in the world.",
  "content": " Commonwealth Rail State Corporation of Vekllei Employees 65,240 Founded 1855, as the Pharos Rail Company Headquarters Oslola Industry Rail transport Ministry Ministry of the Commons Parent Bureau of Rail SA Overview # The Commonwealth Rail Federation (trading as CommRail, Commonwealth National Rail or CNR) is the national rail transport operator in Vekllei. It is a complex organisation federalised across hundreds of regional and municipal operators under common administration and branding, and accounts for almost all rail transport in the country.\nCommRail is unlike basically any other transport company in the world because of a unique confluence of factors, including its service ubiquity, corporate federalism and network diversity of its operations and systems.\nService ubiquity: For many Vekllei people, CommRail transport is the primary way by which they get about. They generally do not drive and rely heavily on public service to commute and travel. Because of this, CommRail service networks are much denser than those overseas. Corporate federalism: At a national level, CommRail functions much like other state-owned corporations. However, much like the Commonwealth Government, CommRail is a federal organisation that comprises constituent municipal corporations that better meet local needs. Network diversity: Vekllei is among the most geographically diverse countries in the world and comprises 78 different republics. CommRail has a network presence across all of them, which range from cable railways on tropical islands to trams in the polar regions. It is difficult to understate the scope of the CommRail network. Visitors can look to its cultural relevance in commonwealth society, and how important its services are to their lives. There are nearly 5,000 electric multiple units in Oslola alone. Nearly every type of rail transport is represented, and in significant quantity. The diversity of the CommRail fleet is also unparalleled, and includes revenue service of both steam locomotives and high-speed maglevs each day. But each of these only gestures towards its overall outline; the real importance of CommRail as a pillar of society. Vekllei is not just a place with a lot of trains, but in fact a nation mobilised by rail. Their assumptions and beliefs about democracy, accessibility, connectivity and a national civic identity all fold back into CommRail in one way or another.\nThe headquarters of CommRail are located in Pharos, Oslola, the site of the country\u0026rsquo;s first railway. The administration of the company far exceeds its headquarters, however, and there is a corporate presence on nearly every Vekllei republic. About 20 million people each day pass through its network in one place or another. The company is administered and operated by the Bureau of Rail.\nIntroduction # Since the federation of municipal rail companies in 2020, the structure and reach of CommRail has evolved into the world\u0026rsquo;s most comprehensive federated rail network. In the principle of operational subsidiarity, CommRail comprises hundreds of constituent operators that maintain their own character while sharing common administration, basic branding and operational standards. The local operators are able to control their own scheduling, stylistic elements and traditions so long as they do not negatively impact service.\nThe rail network density in metropolitan areas is unmatched globally, and designed to provide access within walking distance of virtually every residence. This principle extends to rural areas, where dedicated lines serve small communities that would be economically unviable under conventional transport planning. As evidenced by the network maps, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s passenger rail coverage achieves levels of integration that transform it from a commuter service into fundamental infrastructure for social and economic life.\nJust as people depend on CommRail to get around, companies depend on CommRail to move goods. CommRail Freight services include both mainline and last-mile transportation and are the primary way to move cargoes on land around the country. Major retailers and industrial facilities are positioned along freight corridors with dedicated sidings, while narrow-gauge networks serve individual factory complexes and commercial districts.\nCommRail has a mandate for all types of tracked service and some specialised methods of transport like ropeways and cable trains. It does not however operate buses or ferries, which are run and maintained by dedicated municipal companies.\nStructure # CommRail operates as a federated state enterprise under the Ministry of the Commons through the Bureau of Rail. While maintaining unified national branding and operational standards, the organisation comprises constituent municipal and republican rail corporations that preserve local character and meet specific regional needs.\nThe federal structure allows for remarkable operational diversity \u0026ndash; from cable railways serving tropical islands to polar trams in Arctic territories, each maintaining rolling stock, scheduling and service patterns for local conditions. This federalism enables responsive local management while achieving the economies of scale necessary for a truly comprehensive network.\nCommRail Federal Structure CommRail Federal Administration CommRail Orient Atlantic Railway Congress Verde Railway Congress CommRail Occident Antilles Railway Congress Lucaya Railway Congress Kalina Railway Congress CommRail Boreal Arctic Railway Congress Volcanic Railway Congress CommRail Austral Antarctic Railway Congress Commonwealth Rail Commission CommRail Technical Services Office of Steam Heritage Office of Electrification Nuclear-Electric Rail Development Maglev Operations Commission CommRail Freight Federation Industrial Rail Division Municipal Delivery Networks Royal Mail Railway Holdings Rail Safety \u0026amp; Standards Commission CommRail Press \u0026amp; Public Relations Vekllei Rail Transport Journal Local Railway Publications Railway Working Council Commonwealth Rail Parliament CommRail Constituent Companies Commonwealth Antarctic\nAscension Royal Ascension Railway Green Mountain \u0026amp; Adara Line Falklands Stanley \u0026amp; Howard Railway West Falkland Tundra Railway Helena Saint Helena Central Railway Jamestown \u0026amp; Longwood Elevated Railway Santes Tristan Island Tramway Sude Candlemas Railway Company Commonwealth Antilles\nAbakoa Sara Caribbean Railway Central Hill Line Islander Railway Company Aruba Playa Metropolitan Railway Twin Beach (Eagle Beach \u0026amp; Palm Beach) Line California Lighthouse Express Bonaire Salty Railway Company Flamingo Railway Caimanas George Town Island Railway Seven Mile Beach Express Tortuga Marine Railway Curacao Korsou Harbour Railway Christoffel Mountain Railway Company Mambo Railway Company Paria Paria Marine Railway Providence Providence Island Railway Commonwealth Arctic\nHelvasia Romsa Arctic Railway Company Helvasia Coal-Factory Railway Kala Kanek Metropolitan Railway Ilulissat Icefjord \u0026amp; Surrounds Tramway East Arctic Railway Company Ruby Railway Company Aurora Metropolitan Arctic Tramway Company Upernavik Railway Kala Polar Express (operating the Arctic Crossing sleeper service) Scoresby Sound Scenic Railway Commonwealth Atlantic\nBerbera San Sebastián Mountain Railway Canary Las Palmas Metropolitan Railway Maspalomas Dunes Express Teror Basilica Line Bandama Crater Railway Puerto de Mogán Coastal Express Costa Verde Green Cape Metropolitan Railway Sete Cidades Lake Line Furnas Thermal Springs Tramway Fayal Horta Marina Railway Caldeira Rim Express Flores Santa Cruz Central Railway Graciosa Dismas Metropolitan Railway Benahoare Benahoare Railway Company Caldera Mountain Railway Lanzarote Arrecife Airport Railway Timanfaya Volcanic Line Jameos del Agua Cultural Express Maria Vila do Porto Central Railway Meridia Valverde Mountain Railway Mira Funchal Metropolitan Railway Monte Toboggan Express Machico Valley Line Porto Santo Ferry Railway Câmara de Lobos Fishing Village Express Pico Madalena Harbour Railway Porto Santo Vila Baleira Beach Railway Tenerife Santa Cruz Metropolitan Railway Mount Teide Observatory Line Los Cristianos Resort Express La Laguna University Railway Puerto de la Cruz Garden Line Masca Village Mountain Railway Terceira Angra do Heroísmo Railway Algar do Carvão Volcanic Line Velas Velas Harbour Railway Ventura Puerto del Rosario Railway Corralejo Dunes Express Commonwealth Lucaya\nCaicos Turk Railway Company Conch Caves Tramway Grace Railway Company Cigateo Governor\u0026rsquo;s Harbour Railway Conch Veletia-American Marine Railway Conch Municipal Tramways Curateo Curateo Central Railway Grand Bahama Freeport International Railway Coastal Railway Guanima Arthur Railway Company Habacoa Kipri Railway Mars Forest Tramways Inagua Mango Railway Lucayoneque Marsh Harbour Railway Hope Town Lighthouse Express Mayaguana Abraham\u0026rsquo;s Bay Railway Providence Nassau Metropolitan Railway Paradise Island Resort Express Cable Beach International Line Atlantis \u0026amp; Marina Express Rum Conception Municipal Railway Company Summers Parliament Metropolitan Railway Naval Express Summers Forest Tramway Yabaque Spring Point Railway Yuma Clarence Town Railway Commonwealth Kalina\nAllia Athlone Republic Railway Company Aloi Concordia Railway Company Aloubaera Scarborough Central Railway Anguilla Valley Railway Antigua Caribbea Metropolitan Railway Dockyard Heritage Line Resort Express Railway Company Barbados Indian Bridge Metropolitan Railway Caribbea Caverns Underground Express Bathsheba Surf Tram Company St. Lawrence Gap Holiday Railway Speightstown Express Animal Flower Cave Municipal Tramway Sam Lord\u0026rsquo;s Castle Coastal Railway Barbary Freetown Municipal Railway Cama Spice Railway Company Assumpcion Beach Express Grenadines Hundred Island Railway Company Kabuli Roseau Central Railway Boiling Lake Scenic Railway Kairi Conquerabia Metropolitan Railway Maracas Bay Tram Company Caroni Sanctuary Line Pitch Lake Natural Wonder Ropeway Peninsula Line San Fernando Industrial Railway Tobago Ferry Limited Express Arima Valley Railway Karu Pitera Metropolitan Railway Volcano Line Karu Sugar Express Karu Rainforest Railway Sainte-Anne Holiday Tramway Marie-Galante Island Ferry Railway Liamuiga Basseterre Sugar Railway Lucia Lucia Railway Company Piton Peaks Scenic Inclinator Madiana Fort Royal Metropolitan Railway Mount Pelée Observatory Line Saint-Pierre Express Martinique Rum Line Saline Holiday Railway Diamond Rock Coastal Railway Oualie Atlantic Railway Company Ouanalao Ouanalao Railway Saba Saba Railway Company Soualiga Marigot Railway Company Orient Beach Express Virgin Roadie Metropolitan Railway Paradise Tram Company Coral Railway Company Youlouca Kingstown Central Railway La Soufrière Volcano Express Commonwealth Verde\nAnnobon Crescent Railway Company Boa Vista Sal Rei Central Railway Brava Nova Sintra Mountain Railway Company Cavoada Cavoada Railway Company Fogo Fogo Crater Railway Java Java Railway Obo National Forest Railway Maio Maio Central Railway Moroços Valley Railway Company Sol Mountain Express Praia Praia Metropolitan Railway Assomada Tramways Principe Porthino Railway Sal Sal Central Railway Company Salt-Maria Line Viana Mindelo Cultural Railway Monte Cara Scenic Express Commonwealth Volcanic\nAismious Thor\u0026rsquo;s Harbour Metropolitan Railway Gásadalur Waterfall Express Demon Demon Railway Company Hetland Hetland Railway Company Oslola Oslola Metropolitan Railway Golden Circle Monorail Geothermal Tram Line Montre Metropolitan Railway Company Great Coast Heritage Express Glacier Railway Company L.R. \u0026amp; Sons Scenic Line Orca Line Highlander Railway Company Iceberg Line Small Peninsula Railway Company Midlands Railway Company Pharos World Jetport Railway Panoslola Maglev Company Sunrise Express (sleeper train service) Service # Very few Vekllei people own cars, and the ubiquity of bicycles allows transport only for some people across some distances. Rail in Vekllei, in one form or another, facilitates travel for everyone. Connectivity, punctuality and reliability are the basis of railway service, and all people of the islands share the same dependence on its services.\nA Mustard 56-Series passes a steam processing plant | Gone Hollywood Vekllei trains are typically designed to run in one kind of service, and it is unusual to see limited express trainsets running in express services, for example. This rigidity is a result of both the diversity of Commrail rolling stock and the strong standardisation process that underpins passenger rail operations. This also helps passengers recognise services by the type of train, since different models serve specific routes.\nVekllei has a strong railway tradition and culture, and individual routes and trainsets often have sentimental value. Trains and routes are given names by constituent operators, and often have unique liveries and branding.\nRail Services # A fast tram passes by Tzipora. | Fast Tram Vekllei is a nation of rail, and has the highest density of trains and trams of any country in the world. Most Vekllei people do not own or cannot drive automobiles, and so rail transport is their primary means of getting around. To this end, Commrail operates a uniquely comprehensive network that links almost every village, settlement and home in the country.\nThe vast majority of Commrail lines are conventional medium and short-distance rail, but the network includes a handful of high speed rail services. Rapid express services comprise Vekllei high speed rail with top operating speeds in excess of 180km/h. They typically make few stops and run on dedicated grade-separated standard gauge tracks. Because most Vekllei republics are small islands, there are only a handful of Rapid Express routes across the country, including Oslola and Kairi.\nVekllei operates a variety of trams and streetcars, including double-decker street-level units and so-called \u0026ldquo;fast trams\u0026rdquo; (inter-urban cars) outside of the cities. Depending on the make and route of the tramway, they may be grade-separated or integrated into streets. Their ubiquity in urban areas has caused observers to regard them as the principal method of transport in the country, second only to the bicycle.\nSpecial Rapid Express Services Special rapid express services use a kind of magnetic-levitation train in operation on two lines in Oslola, which runs between the Oslola metropolis, Montre and Adouisneh. It is the fastest train in Vekllei and among the fastest in the world, with a top speed of over 600km/h, reducing a journey of 270 kilometres to just 35 minutes. Proposals for an under-sea link between the republics of Kalina have entered a preliminary phase. Rapid Express Services Rapid express is the Vekllei phrase for conventional high-speed rail services, which are grade-separated and run dedicated high-speed trains on standard gauge. Sleeper Services Only two sleeper rail services are available in Vekllei: the Sunrise Express in Oslola and the Arctic Crossing in Kala. They require a reservation. Special Express Services Special express services are modified regular or branch trains, usually to increase capacity during peak periods. They stop only at major stations before resuming normal service. Limited Express Services Limited express services link cities and use long trains that stop at fewer stations. They are common in densely populated republics and often have special names and dedicated amenities like lounges or dining cars. Express Services Metropolitan and intercity electric multiple units (4–8 cars), running on trunk lines and connecting to branch lines or tramways. Branch Services Suburban or rural trains (2–4 cars) on branch lines, often single-track. They serve sparsely populated areas and pass at stations. Local Services Small suburban or rural services (single car) with frequent stops and long open-track segments. They require elevated platforms. Fast Tram Services Fast trams are a special kind of tram somewhere between a local rail service and a city tram. They typically link villages in steep or rough terrain, and may serve long distances despite being smaller than a railcar. Municipal Tram Services Regular tram service throughout metropolis areas and surrounding suburbs. They typically travel short distances. Village Tram Services A village tram is a kind of automatic tram that is summoned like an elevator. They are commonly found in valleyed and hilly villages that do not receive direct rail service. Freight # CommRail Freight operates as an integrated system serving industrial and consumer needs through an extensive system of dedicated freight lines, shared passenger tracks and specialised delivery services. Structured as an integrated constituent company, CommRail Freight includes conventional mainline operations, industrial sidings serving major facilities and narrow-gauge networks penetrating individual factory complexes and commercial districts.\nThe system utilises both electric and diesel traction depending on local conditions, with electric freight locomotives handling the majority of heavy haulage on electrified routes. Diesel units serve areas where electrification remains impractical, particularly in remote polar regions or specialised industrial applications.\nAutomatic freight systems operate continuously on dedicated routes, serving as the primary distribution network for consumer goods throughout the commonwealth. These unmanned cargo trains follow predetermined schedules, serving distribution centres and retail outlets across the network. The automation reduces operating costs while maintaining precise delivery schedules essential for Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s commons.\nOperations # CommRail\u0026rsquo;s operations reflect its role as the physical network of Vekllei society. With nearly 20 million passenger journeys daily across a population of nearly 27 million, the system achieves rates of utilisation that demonstrate its centrality to Commonwealth life and culture. The quality and reliability of CommRail services directly impacts daily life for virtually every Commonwealth person.\nCommRail\u0026rsquo;s operating philosophy values accessibility and comprehensive service over pure efficiency. Services are designed to connect every community regardless of economic viability, and so their network should not be understood as a commercial enterprise. This approach results in the maintenance of extensive rural networks and specialised services that would be unsustainable under conventional commercial operations.\nOperational Subsidiarity # CommRail is one of the finest examples of a federalised Vekllei corporation. It is ostensibly government-owned \u0026ndash; at least on paper \u0026ndash; but has little resemblance to foreign national corporations. Instead, CommRail is a consortium of people, routes, stations and machines assembled in various fashions according to what suits their local conditions. It is a corporation made up of hundreds of smaller corporations, which may themselves be federations of owner-operators. Yet all of them are wearing CommRail uniform.\nIn the same way we describe a network of rail lines, it is appropriate to think of CommRail as a network of services and infrastructure, organised in ways that make sense to their communities and benefited by common standards, practices and designs. Local operators maintain autonomy over scheduling, route naming, aspects of rolling stock liveries and service patterns within their territories, creating distinct regional railway cultures while ensuring network compatibility.\nThis subsidiarity extends to individual services and crews. Long-term driver-conductor teams on rural routes develop intimate knowledge of their communities, often knowing passengers by name and adjusting services to accommodate local needs. These crews operate with considerable discretion in service delivery, from making unscheduled stops for elderly passengers to coordinating with local events and festivals. Eventually, they can come to claim these routes and the machines that run them as their own \u0026ndash; at least to some extent.\nCrew Stewardship and Route Ownership # One of CommRail\u0026rsquo;s most distinctive features is the development of stewardship relationships between crews and their routes. In a fashion similar to the Vekllei legal understanding of property, stewardship forms the basis for legal ownership. In Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s railways, this concept manifests as a claim to ownership through long-term commitment to specific services. This is an expression of Commonwealth subsidiarity, and among its more idyllic examples.\nThe railways have a close relationship with Vekllei communities, and the drivers and conductors that work them are easily recognised and well regarded. So why not, in the principle of subsidiarity, allow them to manage their own affairs, so long as the services run reliably and on time?\nRoute Stewardship, as it\u0026rsquo;s called, allows experienced drivers, conductors and station staff to gain formal recognition as route stewards after demonstrating long-term commitment to specific services. This recognition increases their operational autonomy, priority in crew assignments and eventually, ownership claims over station housing and route-specific equipment including locomotives and trains. Like other kinds of property ownership in Vekllei, this does not necessarily mean a binary or exclusive claim to ownership \u0026ndash; the land sovereign and society, in this case represented by CommRail, would retain a claim.\nStewardship Development typically follows this pattern:\nYears 1-5: Standard employment with rotating assignments across multiple routes, directed by the constituent company and ultimately CommRail. Years 5-10: Preferred assignment to specific routes, developing passenger relationships Years 10-15: Senior crew status with training responsibilities for junior staff. The right to develop and maintain route stewardship. Years 15-20: Route stewardship recognition with operational autonomy. Development of claims over routes. Years 20+: Substantial claims over station housing and equipment relevant to regular service, including trains and locomotives. Rural and branch line services particularly benefit from this system. A driver who has operated the same route for decades develops knowledge of track conditions, local weather patterns and community needs. Their stewardship ensures service continuity while fostering deep community connections that strengthen CommRail\u0026rsquo;s social role and emphasise the ludic aspects of Vekllei society.\nCommunity Integration # CommRail operations are a foundation of social life in Vekllei, and integrate with the communities it serves through flexible scheduling and service adjustments. Local operators coordinate with municipalities to accommodate community events, seasonal activities and cultural celebrations.1\nStation staff often serve multiple community functions beyond transportation. Rural stations frequently house post offices, community meeting spaces, and information centres. Station masters play broad and often undesignated roles in many towns and villages, including arranging furniture deliveries and maintaining town bulletin boards.\nThe integration extends to freight operations, with industrial sidings and delivery services coordinated through local economic councils.\nTechnical Coordination # While rail federalisation produces incredible diversity across the constituent operators, the basic operations of rail transport in Vekllei are heavily standardised. All operators are subject to the same technical and safety standards, and there are minimum requirements for operation for all kinds of rail transport.\nSignals, track standards, emergency procedures are the same across all parts of the country. Rolling stock is diverse in appearance but technical specifications \u0026ndash; carriage trucks, pantographs, air conditioning \u0026ndash; are standardised in the central fashion of Commonwealth bureau industry. The result is a system that is varied and interesting while minimising hassle and avoidable maintenance.2\nTechnical maintenance operates through regional workshops coordinated by local operators, usually owned by municipalities. Today they are mostly automatic and work to central specifications, and specialise in specific equipment types.\nStations and Infrastructure # CommRail operates over 3,200 stations across all 83 republics, ranging from simple concrete platforms serving rural communities to magnificent terminal complexes that anchor urban centers. The largest facility, National Station in Oslola, processes over 1.2 million passengers daily and serves as the symbolic heart of the entire network.\nStations in Vekllei are as diverse as the network, but generally reflect the energy and optimism of the railways, which are now in their fourth decade of federalisation and are reaching new heights of network size and demand. The Millenium Rail programme, which started in 2040, saw major transormation of many rural stations into distinctive piece of civic architecture that now characterise the communities they serve and are sought out for their own sake. Many stations feature local artwork and design motifs that indicate the history and culture of their towns.\nInfrastructure varies dramatically across republics to accommodate local conditions. Arctic stations feature completely enclosed waiting areas and heating systems, while tropical facilities are characterised by patterned brick, natural ventilation and weather protection. Many islands settlements are on steep slopes that require cable-assisted systems, or require storm protection along the coast. From stations carved into volcanic rock to elevated platforms over permafrost, the network naturally resembles the ways people live in Vekllei.\nStaff # The uniform and accessories of a CNR platform attendant | Conductor Uniform Read more: The People of Vekllei National Rail CommRail employs 178,000 people, which include roles ranging from locomotive engineers and platform staff to editors of rail enthusiast periodicals. It is also one of the largest employers of 12-16 year olds in the country, via its Station Apprentice programme, unique among organisations of its size.\nDivision Employees Description Core Railway Operations 85,000 Train operators, conductors, station staff, dispatchers, signal operators Maintenance \u0026amp; Technical 45,000 Rolling stock maintenance, track maintenance, infrastructure, specialised systems Administrative \u0026amp; Support 25,000 Federal coordination, constituent company management, logistics, planning Specialised Services 15,000 Heritage operations, tourism, publications, technical development, safety Station Apprentices (12-16) 8,000 Youth conductors, professional travellers, station assistance, customer service Professional Community # CommRail is a uniquely attractive employer and many of its employees enjoy life-long career pathways from youth apprenticeships through to senior technical and management roles. Like most Vekllei employers, much of its staff are part-time or occasional, but the company benefits from a strong company and railway culture that sees strong retention. The diversity of operations provides opportunities for specialisation while maintaining broad railway knowledge across all staff.\nCommRail staff form a distinct professional community with shared values and traditions extending beyond workplace relationships. Since federalisation, railway families have emerged that often span multiple generations, creating a deep cultural continuity within the organisation. Like most Vekllei companies, workers are able to participate in central decision-making through the Railway Working Council, which functions as a democratic assembly of sorts. Depending on the constituent operator, the Working Council can also interact with municipalities directly regarding local operations.\nFleet # A train conductor starts her shift on a CNR 64 Series. | Conductor CommRail\u0026rsquo;s rolling stock represents perhaps the world\u0026rsquo;s most diverse operational railway fleet. Nearly every kind of passenger rail vehicle is represented across its republics, from express sleepers to micro-trams to funiculars.\nModern electric multiple units form the backbone of passenger service, with the 56 and 59-Series trainsets providing the majority of metropolitan and intercity services. These standardised designs simplify maintenance but take on their own character after local modifications and liveries are applied by constituent operators.\nThe retention of heritage equipment serves both practical and cultural functions. Steam locomotives continue regular passenger service in many republics and in areas where electrification remains impractical. These services maintain traditional railway skills and preserve the technological heritage that shaped Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s rail culture. They are also a great source of delight for passengers.\nAt the technological frontier, CommRail operates the world\u0026rsquo;s most advanced magnetic levitation services, with SC3 trainsets achieving speeds approaching 750km/h on dedicated routes. This technological spectrum \u0026ndash; from steam locomotives built in the 1920s to cutting-edge maglevs \u0026ndash; demonstrates the comprehensive approach to rail transport that defines the CommRail system.\nThis diversity extends to specialised equipment serving unique operational requirements. Cable railways, funiculars, automated people movers and industrial tramways all operate under the CommRail umbrella, as evidence of the principle that rail transport has a functional and useful place in the 21st Century.\nFleet Inventory # A grand total of 147,977 units comprised of 399,168 individual cars are in service in Vekllei today \u0026ndash; the highest per capita in the world. That comes to one unit per 175 people, which indicates the importance of the railways to Vekllei people.\nThe largest share of the fleet can be found in Oslola, which alone accounts for nearly 35% of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s rolling stock, including its only super-conducting maglev services. Kairi, Karu and Barbados also retain a substantial share and have their own high-speed rail systems.\nThe majority of republics have a mix of standard EMUs, some DMUs and extensive tram networks. Even small republics, with populations of less than 10,000 enjoy specialised tram services. In general, the size and terrain of a republic will tell you what sort of trains it has in service \u0026ndash; the exceptions being Kala and Helvasia, where almost all units are diesel-powered.\nThe result is that you can get from anywhere in Vekllei to anywhere else in Vekllei via public transit \u0026ndash; a remarkable feat for such a disparate and far-flung union of islands.\nCategory Units Cars/Carriages Electric Multiple Units 59,158 354,948 High Speed Trainsets 78 624 Maglev Trainsets 14 70 Diesel Multiple Units 4,851 19,404 Trams and Light Rail 24,122 24,122 Freight Locomotives 2,071 - Industrial Units 4,919 - Heritage and Special 774 - Passenger Cars 7,672 - Freight Cars 43,093 - Maintenance Vehicles 1,225 - Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) Commonwealth Narrow Gauge Electric Multiple Units\nConventional CommRail EMUs are narrow gauged (1000mm), and are the most common type of railway vehicle in Vekllei. There are 56,999 units in service.\nSeries Name Quantity Year Primary Service 84-Series Series 84a 48 1984 Heritage/Tourist 84-Series Series 84b 12 1984 Heritage/Tourist 93-Series Series 93 156 1993 Branch Services 02-Series Series 02 89 2002 Regional Express 151-Series Phoenix 134 2015 Limited Express 152-Series Poseidon 287 2015 Express Services 153-Series Rhodes 198 2015 Metropolitan 16-Series Coast 145 2016 Branch Services 18-Series Forward 312 2018 Regional Express 21-Series Black 428 2021 Metropolitan 24-Series Liberty 1,247 2024 Express Services 26-Series Minerva 823 2026 Metropolitan 27-Series Victory 645 2027 Regional Express 28-Series Miracle 592 2028 Limited Express 30-Series Edison 2,134 2030 Metropolitan 32-Series Enterprise 2,967 2032 Express Services 39-Series Horizon 8,742 2039 Metropolitan 40-Series Atlantis 9,823 2040 Express Services 45-Series Mount 1,567 2045 Limited Express 49-Series Lucaya 1,398 2049 Regional Express 56-Series Gold 14,562 2056 Metropolitan 59-Series Castro 7,234 2059 Express Services 64-Series Magic Mountain 3,456 2064 Metropolitan Specialty Narrow Gauge Electric Multiple Units\nA further 2,159 specialty units are in service that run special routes, often because they use different gauges or run in challenging environments.\nSeries Name Quantity Year Gauge Service I1-Series Islander 234 2018 760mm Island Branch T2-Series Tropical 445 2025 1000mm Caribbean Local A3-Series Arctic 178 2030 1000mm Polar Branch C4-Series Coastal 567 2035 1000mm Atlantic Local M5-Series Mountaineer 312 2040 760mm Highland Branch V6-Series Valley 423 2045 1000mm Rural Local High Speed Trainsets Conventional High Speed Trainsets\nVekllei uses standard-gauge (1435mm) high speed trainsets on a handful of lines across its island republics. Only a handful of republics can support high speed rail, among them Oslola, Kala, Tenerife, Kairi, Karu and Barbados. 78 units are in service.\nSeries Name Quantity Year Max Speed Routes 0-Series Odyssey 12 2022 320 km/h Oslola Trunk 1000-Series Pharaoh 18 2035 350 km/h Oslola-Kala 2000-Series Antilles 24 2042 380 km/h Major Islands Only 3000-Series Trader 16 2060 420 km/h Oslola Express 4000-Series Mandela 8 2063 450 km/h Oslola-Montre Super-Conductive Maglev Trainsets\nIn addition, super-conductive maglev trains operate on two routes in Oslola. They operate on dedicated guideways. Just 14 units are in service.\nSeries Name Quantity Year Max Speed Routes SC1 Cosmos 4 2036 580 km/h Oslola Metro Spine SC2 Obsidia 2 2040 650 km/h Oslola-Montre Express SC3 Sunrise 6 2061 750 km/h Oslola Intercity SC4 Pharos 2 2064 780 km/h Pharos-Reykjavik Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) Vekllei uses narrow gauge (1000mm) diesel multiple units (DMUs) on a variety of routes where electrification is not yet feasible for environmental or operational reasons. 4,851 units are in service, mostly on smaller island republics.\nSeries Name Quantity Year Service 24-Series Highland 234 2024 Remote Branch 31-Series Fjord 456 2031 Arctic Service 32-Series Orkney 892 2032 Island Branch 42-Series Heritage 345 2042 Rural Local 44-Series Zephyr 1,234 2044 Small Island Service 51-Series Caledonian 567 2051 Heritage/Tourist 58-Series Frontier 678 2058 Remote Service 61-Series Explorer 445 2061 Adventure Routes Tramway Fleet Metropolitan Tram Systems\nMetropolitan tram system use the same narrow gauge (1000mm) as most Vekllei EMUs and DMUs, and often operate on the same tracks.\nSeries Name Quantity Year Type Service T-100 Magdalene 3,456 2020 Standard Urban Transit T-200 Apollo 2,789 2025 Articulated Fast Tram T-300 Republica 1,567 2030 Double-Deck High Capacity T-400 Atlantic 1,234 2035 Low-Floor Metro T-500 Misc 456 Various Historic Tourist/Heritage Village and Rural Trams\nVillage and rural trams are generally smaller and can operate on steep gradients or tight curves. They are usually use 760mm or narrow (1000mm) gauge.\nSeries Name Quantity Year Type Service VT-50 Pocket Tram 4,567 2022 Automated Village Service VT-100 Slope Tram 1,234 2028 Rack Railway Mountain Villages VT-150 House Tram 1,892 2032 Lightweight Small Islands VT-200 Quick Tram 2,345 2040 Inter-urban Rural Connection Island Micro-Trams\nMicro-trams are a special kind of local tram that operate on very small islands. They are usually 600mm in gauge and can operate on very steep gradients or tight curves. They suit short distances, and are comparatively cheap to run and maintain.\nSeries Name Quantity Year Type Service MT-1 Coral 2,234 2035 Micro-tram Tiny Islands MT-2 Reef 1,456 2040 Beach Tram Coastal Service MT-3 Mangrove 892 2045 Resort Tram Tourism Total Trams: 24,122 (Massively increased for island communities)\nIndustrial \u0026 Freight Rail Electric Freight Locomotives\nVekllei relies substantially on electric freight locomotives for heavy rail cargoes. They use Commonwealth Narrow Gauge (1000mm).\nSeries Name Quantity Year Type EF-100 Hercules 234 2025 Heavy Freight EF-200 Atlas 445 2030 Container EF-300 Vulcan 567 2035 Shunting EF-400 Saturn Hauler 178 2040 Port Service EF-500 Olympic 123 2045 Heavy Haul Diesel Freight Locomotives\nThere are parts of CommRail\u0026rsquo;s network that are not electrified, especially in the polar regions, and diesel locomotives are still used. They use Commonwealth Narrow Gauge (1000mm).\nSeries Name Quantity Year Type DF-100 Highlander 156 2020 Branch Freight DF-200 Island Queen 234 2025 Island Service DF-300 Arctic Crossing 89 2030 Cold Weather DF-400 Caldwell Cab-Forward 45 Various Revenue Service Factory and Industrial Tramways\nIndustry in Vekllei is highly mechanised and it is common to see dedicated rolling stock at industrial plants and sites. These vary significantly by industry and may be designed specially for their purpose.\nType Quantity Gauge Service Factory Tram 1,234 600mm Internal Factory Port Tramway 567 1000mm Port/Harbour Mine Railway 234 750mm Mining Operations Plantation Railway 445 1000mm Sugar/Agricultural Industrial Shunter 892 Various Yard Operations Total Industrial Units: 4,919\nSpecialised Rolling Stock Cable Railways and Funiculars\nCommRail operates a variety of cable railways, which suit the dramatic landscapes common to many of its volcanic islands.\nType Name Quantity Service Cable Car Mountain Express 67 Mountain Transport Funicular Hill Climber 123 Steep Gradients Rack Railway Peak Reacher 45 Alpine Service Steam Fleet\nCommRail also runs a number of steam locomotives in regular revenue service, and continues to manufacture them. Their increased cost to run is offset by the affection passengers hold for them and the strong loyalty they inspire in crews.\nType Name Quantity Year Service Steam Locomotive Colonial Collection 89 1920-1960 Tourist/Heritage Steam Locomotive Oriental \u0026amp; American Collection 67 1930-1970 Heritage Routes Steam Locomotive Commonwealth Thunder 89 1980-Present Modern steam locomotive Historic EMU War Veterans 234 1960-1990 Museum Service Miscellaneous Rolling Stock Passenger Cars and Carriages\nCommRail passenger carriages are all narrow gauged (1000mm). They can be found across Vekllei but are most common in the larger Caribbean republics and polar islands.\nType Quantity Standard Passenger Car 4,567 First Class Car 1,234 Dining Car 567 Sleeper Car 234 Observation Car 178 Baggage Car 892 Freight Cars\nMost Commonwealth freight cars are short, 12 metre multipurpose cars used in their palletised cargo system.\nType Quantity Box Car 12,345 Container Car 8,901 Tank Car 3,456 Refrigerated Car 2,234 Bulk Carrier 4,567 Flat Car 6,789 Hopper Car 3,234 specialised Car 1,567 Maintenance and Service Vehicles\nVekllei\u0026rsquo;s rail system has a high unit/kilometre ratio, and consequently has fewer service cars for a network of its size.\nType Quantity Track Maintenance Car 445 Inspection Car 234 Crane Car 89 Snow Plow 123 Ballast Car 178 Signal Maintenance 156 This might involve adding special services for festivals, adjusting schedules for agricultural seasons or providing dedicated cars for school groups and \u0026ldquo;days out.\u0026rdquo;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nFor more on Vekllei standardisation across federalised systems, you can read the bulletin on standardisation.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/rail/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 945,
  "href": "/factbook/state/comoc/",
  "title": "COMOC","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/comoc-4x3.svg","icon": "🏵️","rgb": "52, 95, 223",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "The Community of Oceans (COMOC) is an international and regional organisation dedicated to the advancement of island communities worldwide.",
  "content": "The Community of Oceans (CO, or OCEANS) is an international and regional organisation dedicated to the advancement of island and oceangoing communities worldwide. It was founded by the Vekllei and is headquartered in Oslola. It has observer status in the United Nations General Assembly and maintains offices throughout the Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific regions.\nThe role of the council is to draw islander and oceangoing nations closer together, promote independence from larger powers, establish and protect democratic systems, and provide investment and humanitarian aid to underdeveloped members. The Council of Oceans historically offers a pathway to full membership in the Commonwealth of Oceans. An international sporting competition, known as the Oceans\u0026rsquo; Games, is held every four years in a member state and organised by the Commonwealth Olympic Committee.\nThe Community of Oceans also maintains a number of other international organisations dedicated to specialised roles.\nCommunity of Oceans\nOrganisation for the Advancement of Island Democracy Crisis Internationale Aid Internationale International Oceans Bank International Oceans Police Organisation Member States of the Community of Oceans\nJamaica Belize Haiti Seychelles Mauritius Maldives Ceylon East India ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/oceans-community/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 946,
  "href": "/factbook/state/compulsory-service/",
  "title": "Compulsory Service","icon": "🏳️","color": "pink",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "Vekllei has a period of civil and military conscription that is served over four years between the ages of 18-32. It fills roles essential to the functioning of society.",
  "content": "Corsosva (a portmanteau of Oslolan corsivis sovis, lit. \u0026ldquo;compulsory service\u0026rdquo;) is the period of civic conscription that applies to all Vekllei citizens. It requires four years of service, served between the ages of 18-32. Although administered by the Commonwealth Employment Register of the Ministry of Labour, most citizens perform civilian or industrial work during Corsosva, and only a minority enter the armed forces as conscripts.\nIndividuals entering Corsosva elect their preferences for service, which are then weighted based on experience and ability. The most common forms of Corsosva are in construction, education and healthcare.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/corsosva/","/compulsory-service/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 947,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/computers/",
  "title": "Computers","icon": "🖥","color": "purple",
  "section": "Technology",
  "description": "Computers in Vekllei are optical machines that can do tremendous amounts of productive work at the speed of light.",
  "content": " This article is about computing in Vekllei, but most of these technologies are available world-over Computers are used to subsidise rather than multiply productivity in Vekllei. This does not mean that they do not make commerce or industry more efficient, or open new means of communication between people \u0026ndash; only that they are understood foremost as a social benefit that enables the more idealistic features of the Floral Period and its functional moneylessness. Vekllei is working towards participatory work, and computers are among the dream\u0026rsquo;s most valuable means in which it is being realised. Overview # Vekllei uses electric computers in a range of industrial and commercial applications, which contributes to the increasing automation of the Vekllei Commonwealth workforce. Contemporary computing, known as the photo-electric generation, relies on optical technologies developed by the U.S. military in the 1980s, and were subsequently revolutionised by holographic memory by the U.K. in the 2030s. Vekllei computer science inherits much of its technology database from the U.K. through the Twin Electric research programme, and has contributed significantly to the efficiency and reliability of holographic data storage.\nVekllei has several computer manufacturers, including Votraitey Electrics and National Machines1 Votraitey provides commercial imaging services for holographic memory, particularly the DataPlex Photovolumes, and National Machines construct photo-electric mainframes suitable for enterprise-scale networking. The home of Vekllei computer science is the National Photonic Laboratories at Vekllei National University, with industrial research contributed by National Computer\u0026rsquo;s Logic Mechanics division. The Commonwealth aims to be independent of foreign-made components and circuitry by the end of the century.\nTypes of Computing # There are two types of commercial computing in use in Vekllei.\nPhoto-Electric Computers (PEC), which are electric machines that are capable of ternary parallel arithmetic and logical operations. Fabricated Live Robotics, which combine computers with synthetic biological components to unlock adaptive and sensory functions. Computing in Vekllei happens at a civic or industrial scale, and rarely interacts with individuals for personal purposes. Most ordinary Vekllei people interact with computers through work or in schools and libraries, where they serve data-lookup and communication purposes. Civilian life in Vekllei is decidedly analogue.\nPhoto-Electric Computing # Read more: Photovolumes All programmable Vekllei computers use photo-electric circuits2 instead of electric transistors and semiconductors. In a Vekllei photo-electric computer, micro-lasers are produced by a wafer made up of mirrors and a cavity to perform digital computations. In place of silicon transistors are photonic crystals called Syncretic Crystal Mechanisms, which reflect light at different wavelengths and form an optical integrated circuit. Devices called spatial light modulators3 moderate the intensity and phase of these light beams, which are stored as holograms within a crystal as a form of digital memory. These holographic crystals, called Photovolumes, are able to be written and read in parallel, allowing instant access to records in a networked computer system. Most computers contain a protected archive system that duplicates and write-protects data.\nBecause photo-electric computers require large processing elements to facilitate nonlinear computing and its unique signal-processing devices, computers in Vekllei are heavily centralised and are not found in households. Most large industrial and commercial enterprises maintain a single room-sized \u0026lsquo;Master Computer\u0026rsquo; that networks satellite terminals concurrently. Some centralised industries consolidate master computers into a single photo-electric-robotic system (PER) called an Automatic Asset Command. Famous examples are the Automatic Train Control, which automates Vekllei National Rail operations and programmes robots that can automate train service, and the Vekllei State Archives which maintain a written record of all items in several archival Photovolumes, managed by the Archival Master Computer.\nThe size, speed and accessibility of data storage in Vekllei means that more data than ever is recorded and preserved, making Vekllei one of the most recorded societies in history. As the site of the Atlantic Telephone and Data Exchange, Vekllei also handles tremendous amounts of trans-Atlantic data regeneration and processing.\nTernary Logic Systems # Main article: Common Assembly Language Rather than binary logic, in which a state is interpreted as either true or false by a processor, Vekllei computers use ternary logic. There are three digits that can represent a state, which are called a trit: as such, there are three trits in Vekllei.\n+: positive, otherwise represented as +1 o: zero, otherwise represented as 0 -: negative, otherwise represented as -1 Since Vekllei uses optical computers, its systems are naturally able to interpret three different states. In low-level programming, trits are assigned alphabetic mnemonics for basic functions. Some of these include:\nADD → +++ SUB → --- MOV → +-- JMP → +0+ Optical ternary computers allow simplified and parallel computing, and makes certain arithmetic operations more efficient (especially those involving negative numbers).\nFabricated Live Robotics # Read more: Robots in Vekllei Although processing is usually offloaded to more powerful master computers, Vekllei makes extensive use of organic robotics to automate processes and functions where adaptivity to sensory input is required. These robots, called automasiosn or \u0026lsquo;automen,\u0026rsquo; combine fabricated organic brains with photo-electric circuits to create a programmable, adaptive robot.\nArtificial substrates of crystal, called command clocks, are knitted into vat-grown brain tissue to organically process commands. These commands are sometimes digital-optical signals from a master computer, or can be produced by onboard circuitry in response to sensory stimulus. The fabricated brain has natural instincts for balance and orientation, but otherwise bears little resemblance to living, sentient brains. Command clocks in Vekllei are generally made from synthetic quartz and are ionised in manufacturing to enable cartographic crystal pathways, which pass information to axon guns. These guns propel electric signals into the organic tissue, combining the reactivity of organic reflexes with sterile programmability. Newer automen are capable of parallel operations through vertical command wafers.\nAutomen are used in a variety of roles in Vekllei, including as independent robotic machines and as processing units for systems and data. They are most well known as independent machines, usually tracked or on wheels, that perform a variety of low-skill labour in Vekllei in public places and factories.\nAccessibility and Utility # All Vekllei people can access computers through public libraries, universities and some schools. These facilities are networked into the National Bulletin System (NBS), a sort of digital bulletin board that allows for real-time communication, content sharing and electronic mail. The National Bulletin System makes up part of the Vekllei Public Intranet, which can be accessed through terminals found in many schools, post offices and libraries. The Vekllei Government and large businesses also maintain their own intranets for use among staff. Computer subcultures exist in Vekllei and participate in unsanctioned network access through home-built relays and primitive hobby computers, a practice known as \u0026lsquo;phreaking.\u0026rsquo;\nThe Public Intranet is anonymous, but terminals signal their hardware address to the public mainframe, which allows users to specify the location of others. The NBS displays these addresses as postcodes by default.\nVekllei computers use calligraphic displays4, which allow primitive vector graphics. Most Vekllei file systems, including the Public Intranet, are text-only and use the VEKSCOPE character encoding standard.\nNational Machines S.A. manufactures a range of products outside of computing, and most National computer products are sold under the Voscom and Civic Systems brands.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nAlso known as optical computing.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nAll Vekllei spacial light modulators are optically-addressed.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nAlso known as vector displays, which use an electron beam that illuminates glowing phosphor to display an image on-screen.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/computers/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 948,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/lucaya/conch/",
  "title": "Conch","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/conch-4x3.svg","icon": "🐚","rgb": "38, 49, 219",
  "section": "Lucaya Commonwealth",
  "description": "Conch (\u003ci\u003eKey West\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the north Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Conch Republic Archipelago of Key West Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Lucaya Commonwealth Accession 1948, as part of the West Indies Agreement Area 168 km² Capital Key West Languages English, Lucayan Population 42,039 The Conch Republic (sometimes called Key West or Cayo Hueso) is a constituent republic of Vekllei. It comprises a number of large cays in the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys archipelago, which borders the United States. The republic has the closest neighbouring country of any Vekllei republic, with just a 1.2 kilometre gap between Molasses Cay (Vekllei) and Pigeon Cay (United States/Dallas America). Prior to the American Secession Crisis, the republic had close economic and cultural ties with the US and allowed regular travel between them. Since the crisis and instability in local Floridian government, the border has been closed to tourists and migrants. Its closest neighbour republic is Bahama.\nThe cays that make up the Conch republic have a colourful history and have changed hands several times. The UK seized the islands in 1763 when it wrested control of Florida from Spain. Because they had a reliable supply of water, the British established a naval station and barracks there. After the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1783, Spain regained control over a number of its former territories but were unable to reclaim the Conch Cays, which had been rapidly fortified by loyalists during the revolution and were seen as necessary to the defence of the Bahamas. The cays were sometimes referred to as the \u0026ldquo;Gibraltar of the West Indies,\u0026rdquo; despite its proximity to the North American continent. American interest in the cays has been persistent since the purchase of Florida, but they remained British until 1948, when the Cays voted to join the West Indies Federation as a member of the British Atlantic Territories. Upon accession of the Federation to Vekllei, the Conch Republic was established as a member of the Lucayan Commonwealth.\nThe people of the Conch republic, themselves called \u0026ldquo;Conchs\u0026rdquo; (pronounced \u0026lsquo;conks\u0026rsquo;), reflect the cays\u0026rsquo; location at the intersection of American, Cuban and Lucayan waters. The islands have a particularly close relationship with the United States, with which relations have waxed and waned throughout its history. One of the strongest symbols of this relationship its the Commonwealth-American railway, a transport link running from the capital of Key West to the Floridian city of Miami, which opened in 1918. Many Conchs have American ancestry, and had strong economic and social ties to American Southern culture.\nMany others are descended from Cubans and Lucayans, including the ancestors of European and mixed-race colonists as well as black and Indian populations. They speak mostly English or local creoles with a peculiar accent that hybridises London English and US Southern English. Locals work mostly for the local and Commonwealth governments, which retains a number of military and civic institutions there. These include Naval Air Station Conch, the largest airbase in Lucaya, and the Commonwealth Chamber of International Commerce.\nConch is the primary point of entry for American business in Vekllei, and many of its local companies facilitate trade and investment with the United States. This relationship was disrupted by the American Secession Crisis and the quasi-indepence of Florida under the Dallas coalition, and effectively killed regular commerce between Conch and the US. Now thrust into a new and precarious security situation, the republic is navigating new challenges including Floridian incursions into territorial waters and a looming refugee crisis on its border. Passenger rail service to Miami resumed in 2062, but immigration remains restricted and the easygoing cross-border day trips between Vekllei and the US are unfortunately a thing of the past.\nClimate\nHot and wet, alleviated by strong breezes. Tropical storms and cyclones ravage the cays periodically.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Republic Day 2 Mar Good Friday Easter Monday Whit Monday Commonwealth Day 1 May Culture Day 10 Oct Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest London Street, Key West: Lively street in downtown Key West, home to a number of famous restaurants and venues. Dry Tortugas National Park: A group of remote islands featuring Fort Jefferson, coral reefs, and excellent snorkelling and diving opportunities. Naval Air Station Conch: Large military air station originally founded by the British, located in the east of the republic. Conch International Chamber of Commerce: Economic organisation originally dedicated to American investment in Vekllei, now somewhat diminished. West Indies Butterfly Gardens: Tranquil gardens where visitors can walk among hundreds of butterflies and exotic birds. Commonwealth-American Railway: Centuries-old railway connection between the United States and Vekllei, the only such transport link in the country. Coral Cay Research Station: LSRE marine research facility operated by the Division of Oceanography. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/conch/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 949,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/consilia/",
  "title": "Consilia","logo": "/svg/crests/vekllei.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "millmint",
  "section": "Government",
  "description": "Sorda is an indigenous political feature of Vekllei federalism, and describes a combined office of one man and one woman.",
  "content": " Read more: The Prime Minister(s) of Vekllei Consilia or Sorda (lit. Union) is the Vekllei name for the combined office of two Prime Ministers.\nConstituent commonwealths in Vekllei elect two prime ministers, consisting of one man and one woman. Together, they form a single office in the federal Commonwealth Directory, and are expected to make combined decisions in the interests of their constituent. This combined decision-making office is called Sorda, and in the Commonwealth Council represents a single seat.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/sorda/","/consilia/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 950,
  "href": "/factbook/state/consosva/",
  "title": "Consosva","icon": "⏳","color": "pink",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "Contributory Service, or Consosva in Oslolan, refers to a collection of laws that require adult citizens in Vekllei to be employed.",
  "content": "Consosva (a portmanteau of consivismiosn sovis, lit. \u0026ldquo;contributory service\u0026rdquo;) refers to a collection of laws that require adult citizens in Vekllei to be employed. The legal obligation is fairly straightforward and is easily avoided, and in practice acts as a form of moral pressure from the state.\nConsosva is a legal obligation to register an occupation with your municipality, which forwards its ledger to the Vekllei government. This is to encourage productivity and discourage \u0026ldquo;social parasitism,\u0026rdquo; as a requirement to contribute to the wealth of society. Failure to do so is considered a crime and is usually penalised with community service.\nConsosva has many recognised exemptions, including full-time study, participating in Compulsory Service, acting as the primary caregiver of children, and poor health.\nConsosva applies to Vekllei citizens or permanent residents aged between 22 and 50.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/consosva/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 951,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/constituents/",
  "title": "Constituent Commonwealths","icon": "💮","color": "green",
  "section": "Commonwealth",
  "description": "Constituent commonwealths are constituent political regions that share sovereignty with the federal government of Vekllei.",
  "content": "A constituent (also constituent commonwealth) is a type regional government in Vekllei that exercises control over multiple republics. It is an intermediate administrative body with special privileges and responsibilities.\nConstituent commonwealths have their own suite of ministries and a Assemblies, and exercise power comparable to a state in other federal countries. In practice, they are represent common regional interests of individual republics in the Commonwealth government.\nConstituent Commonwealths of Vekllei\nCommonwealth Antarctic Commonwealth Antilles Commonwealth Arctic Commonwealth Atlantic Commonwealth Kalina Commonwealth Lucaya Commonwealth Verde Commonwealth Volcanic The Commonwealth devolves certain aspects of public policy to Constituents. In practice, many devolved matters practice parity with Commonwealth ministries and councils, and so are functionally identical to Commonwealth central policy.\nConstituent Ministries of a Commonwealth\nMinistry of Commerce Ministry of Culture Ministry of Defence Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Industry Ministry of Labour Ministry of Landscape Ministry of Light and Water Ministry of the Commons Ministry of the Commonwealth Devolved Matters\nAgriculture and resource development Culture Economic development Environment Fire and rescue services Health services Municipal matters Housing Utility distribution networks Sport and recreation Tourism Town and country planning Many other aspects of government and public administration are facilitated by Commmonwealth secretariats directly. Further, many devolved matters rely on guidance from Commonwealth agencies to operate (e.g., distribution of utilities requires coordination with Commonwealth electric and water bureaus).\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/constituents/","/constituent-commonwealths/","/commownealths/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 952,
  "href": "/factbook/state/law/constitution/",
  "title": "Constitution","icon": "🌸","color": "purple",
  "section": "Law",
  "description": "The Constitution of Vekllei is the founding text of country, and came into effect after the end of British occupation in 2017.",
  "content": " This article is incomplete. Be mindful that its content may change. The Constitution of Vekllei, also known as the Floral Constitution, was the foundational text for a new Commonwealth after British administration ended in 2015. It was developed by the Council of Roses and ratified in August 2015. Constitution of Vekllei # PREAMBLE # THE PUBLIC OF THE OCEANS ATLANTIC RESOLVES\nto bring peace to Commonwealth sovereign constituents twice destroyed in the pursuit of war, and to establish a new way of living worthy of a commitment in peace, and to protect the equal rights of men and women, and the dignity and worth of the human person, and to achieve equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms, and to provide for the material and spiritual needs necessary in the aim of a commitment to dignity, AND IN SERVICE OF THESE AIMS\nto unite the languages, culture, and races of the Public under a democratic and prosperous society, and to protect the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law, and to guarantee universal adult suffrage, and to defend these values unwaveringly by all means available to its councils and government. THE COMMONWEALTH - THE PUBLIC POWERS # Article 1 # The Commonwealth of Vekllei is one sovereign, democratic state within the framework of international law, founded on the following values: Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms. Non-racialism and non-sexism. Supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law. Universal adult suffrage, a national common voters roll, regular elections and a multiparty system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness. The territory of the Commonwealth is inviolable. Article 2 # The principle of government is a federal Directory of elected peers called the Commonwealth Directory, representing the disparate communities that make up the unitary Commonwealth. The Directory consists of representatives of each Constituent Commonwealth as free republics, and dependent or autonomous territories. Other territories retain permanent status in the Directory and may table motions with agreement of a Constituent. The Commonwealth Directory is advised by a Cabinet of peers to provide opinion and expertise, known as the Commonwealth Cabinet. The Commonwealth Directory and Cabinet combined form the Commonwealth Council, which is the supreme executive of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is a State under the rule of law, committed to fundamental freedoms and rights. Article 3 # The executive power is exercised by the Commonwealth Council as a single body where Commonwealth jurisdiction applies. The Council has power over national and municipal parliaments within the scope of federal authority.\nArticle 4 # The legislative power is jointly exercised by Constituent National Assemblies and the Commonwealth Senate, with special powers provisioned for the Senate as a supreme legislative body. Federal legislation requires approval by constitutional referendum.\nArticle 5 # The judiciary power is exercised by the courts and tribunals. The independence of the judiciary is guaranteed.\nArticle 6 # The separation of the administrative, legislative and judiciary functions is guaranteed.\nArticle 7 # The standard of the Commonwealth is the Sovereign Crown. The Commonwealth Flag consists of an arctic rosette, depicted as 6 petals, printed in gold on a crimson background. The official anthem of the Commonwealth is \u0026ldquo;Advance, Veletia.\u0026rdquo; The use of the flag, standard and official symbols of the Commonwealth is governed by the Flag Ordinance dated 4th March 2015. Article 8 # The Commonwealth has 16 official languages, with protections for their use and preservation. The official written language is Veletian. The official language of international commerce and business is English. Article 9 # The Commonwealth is a secular state and has no state religion. Religion is separated from public life and affairs. Protections are included for traditional and folk religions of Commonwealth communities.\nRecognised traditional faiths include folk Oslolan spiritualism, Kalina local faiths and the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman religions. THE DIRECTORY # Article 10 # Constituents of the Commonwealth provide two representatives to the Directory as Prime Ministers. The Ministers exercise co-equal authority and act as a single office (Sorda). The Sorda are citizens elected by the National Assembly of their constituent republic and consist of one man and one woman. Should a Constituent be unable to provide both male and female representation, alternative arrangements may be made with Directory approval. Article 11 # The Seat of Commonwealth Government is Comet, in the Meteor Administrative Region.\nArticle 12 # The Commonwealth Directory is chaired by rotating chairmanship among Sorda, passing annually. The Chair represents the Commonwealth in its relations with foreign powers. Individual Sorda may conduct relations with foreign powers as subordinates, pertaining to the best interests of their Constituents as required. Article 13 # The Directory exercises collective executive authority over federal matters. Decisions of the Directory require majority agreement among Sorda. A decision of the Directory may be subject to review by Regional Commonwealth Assemblies where persistent dissent is formally declared. Article 14 # After consulting the Commonwealth Cabinet, the Directory signs and ratifies treaties and international conventions. The Commonwealth Senate must be acquainted with treaties before ratification.\nHowever, the following treaties must be ratified pursuant to law:\nTreaties affecting the organisation of the Constitution Treaties requiring modification of existing legal provisions Treaties entailing Commonwealth adhesion to international organisations requiring Senate participation Treaties resulting in budget expenditures not provided for in the budget act Article 15 # After consulting the Cabinet, the Directory exercises the right to pardon and amnesty as well as the right of naturalisation and restoration of nationality.\nArticle 16 # The Directory may confer orders, titles and other distinctions as provided by law.\nFUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS AND RIGHTS # Article 17 # All Commonwealth citizens are equal before the law. There is no privilege among them. The Commonwealth recognises the inherent dignity of all people and commits to promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms. No person may be unfairly discriminated against on grounds of race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language or birth. Article 18 # The circumstances in which Vekllei nationality may be acquired are laid down by law. The circumstances in which naturalised citizens may be deprived of nationality are laid down by law. Loss of Vekllei nationality may occur only, as prescribed by law, following intentional acquisition of another nationality or unlawful service in foreign military forces. Article 19 # Individual freedom and security are guaranteed. No one may be prosecuted except in cases provided for by law, before legally appointed judges and in the manner prescribed by law. Apart from cases of flagrant offence, arrest may be carried out only pursuant to well-founded judicial order, which must be notified at arrest or within twenty-four hours. Any detention must be preceded by examination before a competent judicial authority. Article 20 # No penalty may be introduced or applied except by law. Criminal law must ensure respect for individual personality and dignity. No one may be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Capital punishment is abolished unless applied to grave and numerous offences against human rights that outrage the conscience of mankind as determined by international law. Criminal law cannot have retroactive effect. Article 21 # The domicile is inviolable. No entry or search can take place except in cases and manner prescribed by law. Everyone has the right to privacy, which includes the right not to have their person or home searched, their property searched, their possessions seized, or the privacy of their communications infringed. Article 22 # Every individual has the right to respect of private and family life, dignity, and confidentiality of correspondence.\nArticle 23 # Freedom of religion, belief and opinion; freedom of expression; and freedom of assembly, demonstration, picket and petition are guaranteed. No one may be compelled to participate in religious rites or ceremonies or to observe religious days of rest. These rights do not extend to propaganda for war, incitement of imminent violence, or advocacy of hatred based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion. Article 24 # Property rights are protected. No one may be deprived of property except for public benefit as established by law, subject to compensation as determined by law. Property is not absolute and may be subject to such general limitations as prescribed by law for the common good. Article 25 # Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the Commonwealth. Everyone has the right to leave the Commonwealth and to enter, remain in and reside anywhere in the Commonwealth. Freedom of movement may be restricted by law only where necessary for public order, public health or national security. Article 26 # Freedom of work is guaranteed. Its practice is determined by law. Everyone has the right to fair labour practices and to form and join trade unions. Priority may be granted to Commonwealth citizens for public positions as prescribed by law. Article 27 # Commonwealth nationals are entitled to assistance from the State in cases of destitution, unemployment, sickness, disability, old age and maternity as prescribed by law. Everyone has the right to have access to social security, including social assistance and social insurance. Article 28 # Commonwealth nationals are entitled to free primary and secondary education. Everyone has the right to basic education, including adult basic education. Everyone has the right to further education which the Commonwealth must make progressively available and accessible. Article 29 # Everyone may defend their rights and interests through trade union action. The right to strike is recognised, subject to regulation by law. Essential services may be defined by law with appropriate limitations on strike action. Article 30 # Commonwealth nationals have the right to assemble peacefully and without arms. Everyone has the right to freedom of association. These freedoms may be regulated by law but may not be subjected to prior authorisation except for public meetings. Article 31 # Everyone may address petitions to public authorities. Everyone has the right of access to information held by the state or any other body exercising public functions. Article 32 # Foreigners enjoy all public and private rights in the Commonwealth that are not formally reserved to nationals. Everyone within Commonwealth territory enjoys the protection of the fundamental rights contained in this Constitution. Article 33 # Everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing. Everyone has the right to have the environment protected for present and future generations through reasonable legislative and other measures. Article 34 # Everyone has the right to access adequate housing. No one may be evicted from their home or have their home demolished without order of court made after considering all relevant circumstances. Article 35 # Everyone has the right of access to healthcare services, including reproductive healthcare. No one may be refused emergency medical treatment. PUBLIC DOMAIN AND FINANCE # Article 36 # The Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s economic system is a hybrid moneyless system known as the \u0026ldquo;commons\u0026rdquo; for its domestic market. Money is used in a separate industrial and financial market called the \u0026ldquo;financialised commons,\u0026rdquo; which subsidises the domestic market. The Commonwealth government collects taxes on industrial imports and exports. Article 37 # Public domain is inalienable and imprescriptible. Public domain property may be disposed of or change purpose only as prescribed by law. Public domain consistency and regime are determined by law. Article 38 # All vacant and ownerless property belongs to the Commonwealth, subject to traditional claims and environmental protection. In demonstrating claims of ownership, private parties may petition for use rights as prescribed by law. Article 39 # The national budget comprises all public revenue and expenditure of the Commonwealth and its Constituents. The national budget expresses the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s economic and financial policy. Article 40 # The budget is subject to budget legislation voted and promulgated as law. Revenue surplus over expenditure is credited to constitutional reserve funds. Excess expenditure may be covered by withdrawal from reserve funds subject to law. Article 41 # Control of financial management is ensured by independent audit institutions as prescribed by law.\nTHE GOVERNMENT # Article 42 # Government is exercised by the Commonwealth Directory and Cabinet under constitutional authority. The Directory oversees executive services and has command of security forces. The Directory chairs the Cabinet with collective voting. Article 43 # Commonwealth ordinances are debated in Cabinet and presented to the Directory with appropriate signatures. Directory decisions are implemented through ordinances signed by relevant Sorda. Article 44 # Ministerial decrees are debated in Cabinet and signed by relevant Ministers. Unless law provides otherwise, distribution of matters between ordinances and decrees is determined by Directory ordinance. Article 45 # Cabinet proceedings are recorded in minutes signed by present members after voting. Minutes mention each member\u0026rsquo;s vote and are subject to Directory review.\nArticle 46 # Ministers are accountable to the Directory and the Commonwealth parliament for their administration and conduct of their offices.\nArticle 47 # The obligations, rights, and fundamental guarantees of civil servants, as well as their civil liability and criminal responsibility, shall be prescribed by law.\nTHE COMMONWEALTH SENATE # Article 48 # The Commonwealth Senate comprises 40 members, elected for six years with half renewed every three years. Senators are elected by Regional Commonwealth Assemblies under conditions prescribed by law. Commonwealth citizens of either gender, at least twenty-five years old, who have held citizenship for at least five years, are eligible. Article 49 # Courts of justice control the legitimacy of elections under conditions prescribed by law.\nArticle 50 # Senate members are not liable for civil or criminal responsibility for opinions or votes expressed during their mandate. Without Senate authorisation, they may not be prosecuted or arrested during session except in cases of flagrant offence. Article 51 # The Senate meets in two annual ordinary sessions. The first session opens on the first working day of February. The second session opens on the first working day of August. Each session may not exceed three months. Article 52 # The Senate meets in extraordinary session when convened by the Directory or at request of at least two-thirds of members.\nArticle 53 # The Senate elects its President and Vice-President annually from among its members. Municipal office is incompatible with Senate presidency or vice-presidency. Article 54 # Senate meetings are public unless the Senate decides by two-thirds majority to sit in private session.\nArticle 55 # The Directory communicates with the Senate through messages delivered by designated Ministers.\nArticle 56 # Federal law requires agreement between the Directory and parliament. The Directory alone may initiate federal legislation. The Senate deliberates and votes on bills. Federal laws require approval by constitutional referendum before promulgation. Article 57 # The Senate may formulate bill proposals to the Directory. Within six months, the Directory must notify the Senate of its decision to proceed or discontinue. If the Directory fails to respond within six months, the proposal automatically becomes a bill. Article 58 # The Senate has the right of amendment to bills. Amendments must have direct connection to bill provisions. Voting occurs on amended bills unless the Directory withdraws before final vote. Article 59 # The Senate votes on the federal budget. No taxation may be introduced except through law.\nArticle 60 # Budget bills are introduced to the Senate before August 31st. Budget bills are voted during the Senate August session. Budget is voted chapter by chapter with transfers forbidden unless authorised by law. Article 61 # Each bill, including constitutional and basic law amendments, shall address a single subject matter. The President of the Senate, with the assistance of the Constitutional Tribunal, shall determine whether a bill adheres to the single subject matter rule. Any bill found to contain multiple, unrelated subject matters shall be returned to the Directory for division into separate bills. The Senate may, with a two-thirds majority vote, override a President\u0026rsquo;s determination of a bundled bill, but such a bill is subject to automatic review by the Supreme Constitutional Court. CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUMS # Article 62 # Federal legislation passed by Senate and Directory must be approved by constitutional referendum. Referendums occur quarterly, bundling related legislation. Simple majority approval is required for passage. Article 63 # Citizens may petition for referendum on Directory decisions affecting constitutional rights. Referendum may override Directory decisions with sixty percent approval. Constitutional amendments require referendum approval regardless of parliamentary action. REPUBLIC ASSEMBLIES # Article 64 # Each Republic maintains a National Assembly elected by Municipal Assembly delegates. Republic Assemblies exercise local legislative authority within constitutional limits. Republic Assemblies participate in federal legislation through confederation voting. Article 65 # Republic Assemblies elect First Secretaries who serve as republic heads of government. Republic Assemblies elect representatives to Regional Commonwealth Assemblies. Republic sovereignty is protected within constitutional framework. MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLIES # Article 66 # Municipal Assemblies comprise all citizens within municipal boundaries. Municipal Assemblies exercise direct democratic authority over local affairs. Municipal sovereignty in community matters is constitutionally protected. Article 67 # Municipal Assemblies elect delegates to Republic National Assemblies. Municipal Assemblies may petition for constitutional referendum on matters affecting municipal rights. JUSTICE # Article 68 # Judicial power vests in the Commonwealth, exercised through courts and tribunals. Courts render justice in the name of the Commonwealth. Independence of judges is guaranteed. Court organisation, jurisdiction and operations are laid down by law. Article 69 # The Supreme Constitutional Court comprises nine members appointed for nine-year terms. Three members are appointed by the Directory from judicial nominations. Three members are elected by the Senate from legal professional nominations. Three members are selected by Republic Assemblies from citizen nominations. Article 70 # The Supreme Constitutional Court rules on:\nConstitutional compliance of laws and government actions Disputes between governmental levels Appeals regarding fundamental rights violations Electoral disputes and constitutional interpretation Article 71 # Republic courts exercise jurisdiction over local civil and criminal matters. Municipal tribunals provide community dispute resolution. Court hierarchy and appeals procedures are established by law. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT # Article 72 # The Constitution may not be suspended.\nArticle 73 # Constitutional revision requires constitutional referendum and Commonwealth Council agreement. Referendum approval requires sixty percent majority. No amendment may violate fundamental human rights or democratic principles. Article 74 # Amendment initiatives require two-thirds majority of Senate and Directory approval. Citizens may petition for constitutional amendment through municipal assemblies. Republic Assemblies may initiate amendments through Regional Commonwealth coordination. FINAL PROVISIONS # Article 75 # Prior constitutional provisions are repealed. This Constitution enters into force immediately upon ratification. Transitional arrangements are established by law. Article 76 # Existing laws remain applicable where compatible with this Constitution. Incompatible laws must be amended within reasonable time to ensure compliance. Courts may declare laws unconstitutional pending legislative amendment. Article 77 # This Constitution is the supreme law of the Commonwealth. Any law or conduct inconsistent with it is invalid, and the obligations imposed by it must be fulfilled.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/constitution/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 953,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-law/constitutional-tribunal/",
  "title": "Constitutional Tribunal","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/law.svg","icon": "⚖️","color": "law",
  "section": "Parliament of Law",
  "description": "An independent judicial body that arbitrates constitutional disputes and oversees the Constitutional Firming Laws.",
  "content": "The Constitutional Tribunal is an independent judicial body of the Parliament of Law responsible for arbitrating constitutional disputes and overseeing the Firming Laws. It is not part of the Supreme Court, but operates as a separate entity staffed by a lottery including both citizens and practicing lawyers. The Supreme Court does not exercise direct judicial oversight over the Tribunal, but retains a permanent seat on its council.\nThe tribunal\u0026rsquo;s primary role is to ensure that federal authority is exercised within the bounds of the constitution. Under the Firming Laws, any affected republic, citizen or recognised legal entity can challenge a Provisional Act1 before the tribunal. The tribunal\u0026rsquo;s rulings determine whether a provisional act can continue to \u0026ldquo;firm\u0026rdquo; into permanent law, be modified or lapse entirely.\nThe tribunal\u0026rsquo;s authority was significantly tested during a crisis in 2024, when it ruled that the Commonwealth Sentencing Act exceeded federal authority. This ruling triggered crisis of protocol, which led to the immediate release of 847 prisoners and a large compensation programme.\nThis crisis led to the Suspended Enforcement Doctrine, which requires provisional acts with serious criminal penalties to receive tribunal approval before enforcement. The tribunal also continues to review active provisional acts.\nA provisional act is a law created by the Commonwealth in a constitutionally ambiguous area. It operates as normal federal law but has a special legal status for seven years.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/tribunal/","/constitutional-tribunal/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 954,
  "href": "/factbook/culture/corcidi/",
  "title": "Corcidi","icon": "✍","color": "red",
  "section": "Culture",
  "description": "Corcidi poetry is a traditional form of Algic poetry, mostly practiced in Oslola.",
  "content": "Corcidi Poetry is a traditional form of poetry in Oslola Algic culture. It is the practice of taking short poetic phrases and distilling their essential meaning into a single world. Vekllei, the name of the current Commonwealth of Oceans, is a Corcidi word meaning \u0026ldquo;people of the sea and stars.\u0026rdquo;\nThe practice was first observed in Algic sagas from the 9th Century, though its origins may be rooted in early interactions with Scandinavian settlers.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/corcidi/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 955,
  "href": "/characters/coretti/",
  "title": "Coretti","icon": "🎓","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Coretti is Moise's girlfriend. Born in the Congo, she lived in the Soviet Union before moving to Vekllei at 6 years old.",
  "content": " Coretti Adoula 📅 Age 17 🤝 Associates Tzipora Coretti Moise Zhi 🎂 Birthday January 8th 💔 Dislikes Bickering, sour things ❤️ Likes Milk tea, watercolour painting, Brazza music 💼 Occupation Student 🏠 Residence Camro, Borough of Lola, Oslola, Vekllei Coretti Gloria Adoula is Moise\u0026rsquo;s girlfriend. Born in the Congo, she lived in the Soviet Union before moving to Vekllei at 6 years old. She has a knack for languages and speaks Oslolan fluently.\nShe is sensitive and diplomatic, and is well-liked for her sense of justice and impartiality. Her relationship with Moise brings her into Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s circle, and her unprejudiced curiosity and social grace are traits her peers admire. She has a friendly, if unusual bond with Tzipora.\nCoretti is Vekllei-Congolese with dark skin and natural, short hair. She is slim, authentically pretty and graceful \u0026ndash; and has many admirers for it.\nShe is not particularly fashionable and does not need to be. This modesty enhances her natural charisma. Like Tzipora, she has some affection for Nuova Grotessco styles and unpretentious dresses and turtlenecks sweaters. She likes patterned clothing and owns many types, which she rotates regularly \u0026ndash; perhaps her only eccentricity.\nCoretti\u0026rsquo;s gentle good-naturedness leaves powerful impressions on all her meet her. She is the oldest of four sisters, and she applies these learned maternal qualities on her boyfriend\u0026rsquo;s volatile friends, who are opinionated and passionate.\nHer goodness does not preclude her from her own interests \u0026ndash; she adores music and good food, and unlike Lin Zhi, is more than willing to share the culture of her home country with her friends. She loves when gestures are reciprocated, a fact Tzipora learns quickly after teaching her how to cook Columbian food.\nDespite her apparent differences in temperament with her boyfriend Moise, Coretti spends more time around vibrant hotheads than she does placid appeasers. Perhaps this is a behavioural legacy of growing up in a large, loud family. Maybe she is just attracted to big personalities. Either way, they appreciate her for it \u0026ndash; her voice of reason brings them all closer together.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/coretti/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 956,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/cosma/",
  "title": "Cosma","logo": "/svg/logos/cosma.svg","icon": "📞","rgb": "249, 63, 40",
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "Cosma is the national telecommunications corporation in Vekllei, and provides a range of communications services.",
  "content": " Cosma State Corporation of Vekllei Employees 18,605 Founded 2020 Headquarters Summers Industry Telecommunications Ministry Ministry of Culture Parent Bureau of Post and Telecommunications Revenue AK ✾ 50.2 billion Traded CMA ScL Commonwealth Telecom (better known by its trading name Cosma) is the national telecommunications provider in Vekllei. It is responsible for providing connection and service to residential and public telephones in the country. It also develops a variety of consumer products including videophones, public phone booths, and personal phones.\nCosma also maintains telecommunications infrastructure networks internationally through Cosma Overseas, including the Oslola-Europe undersea cables and their sister sets between Vekllei and North America. Much of the network dates back over a hundred years, since a shortage of modern personal telephones in Vekllei requires Cosma to maintain a wide variety of voltage and cable standards.\nCommercial, industrial and government telecommunications are managed by a seperate internal department called the Industrial Telecommunications Office.\nCosma was founded as a department of the Commonwealth Post in 1926, but was spun off into its own company in the postwar period. Today, it serves nearly 22 million customers across Vekllei and abroad. It is headquartered in Summers, which is also the site of the Transatlantic Interchange managed by the company.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/cosma/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 957,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/atlantic/costa-verde/",
  "title": "Costa Verde","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/costa-verde-4x3.svg","icon": "🦅","rgb": "33, 131, 67",
  "section": "Atlantic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Costa Verde (\u003ci\u003eSao Miguel\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the North Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Verde Republic Island of Sao Miguel Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Atlantic Commonwealth Accession 1976, as part of the Azores Delegation Area 744.55 km² Capital Green Cape Languages English, Portuguese, Sinhala Population 246,820 The Costa Verde Republic (also Verde) is a constituent republic of Vekllei and part of the Atlantic Commonwealth. It is the largest and most populous island of the Azores archipelago, and seats the executive of the regional commonwealth. It is a narrow, verdant island of volcanic origin.\nVerde was originally colonised by the Portuguese, who discovered the island in the 15th Century and established a small fishing colony thereafter. Throughout its history, Verde has been vulnerable to earthquakes and tidal waves, and the capital of Green Cape has been rebuilt several times. In the 19th Century, Verde rose to prominence as citrus traders, selling mostly to Southern Europe and the British Empire. Verde, along with the rest of the Azores, voted to secede from Portugal in the 1960s and after its interim government collapsed joined the Atlantic Federation in 1976. It inherited membership in Vekllei in 2015.\nVerde enjoys a mild climate, and is renowned for its lush vegetation and scattered, lake-filled craters. Its peaks culminate in Vara Mountain at 1,100 meters above sea level. In the postwar period, its beauty and climate has seen many people from others parts of Vekllei move there.\nVerde is the headquarters of the anti-Vekllei Azores Independence League, and has been responsible for attacks on police and federal buildings. They enjoy some political support in the Verde parliament but their influence has been waning.\nVerde is a major producer of citrus and tea, and also exports significant amounts of pineapples and wine. Agriculture, shipbuilding and sugar refining are the primary components of its economy. It is also home to Atlantic University, the largest university in the Azores archipelago. The republic\u0026rsquo;s settlements are connected by both passenger and freight rail as well as trams.\nPoints of Interest Holy Christ of the Miracles Church: the site of an important pilgrimage in the Roman Catholic Church, culminating in an annual procession. Sete Cidades: Municipality known for its beautiful volcanic lakes Furnas Geysers: Volcanic baths, geysers, and hot springs available for swimming. Verde Fruit Company: Oldest and largest pineapple plantation in Vekllei. Formoso Tea Plantations: Historic black and orange tea plantation. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/costa-verde/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 958,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/council/",
  "title": "Council","logo": "/svg/crests/council.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "vekllei",
  "section": "Government",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Council is the supreme executive of Vekllei, and consists of leadership from the Directory and Cabinet. It has 16 members.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Council is the supreme executive of the Commonwealth, comprising leadership from both the Commonwealth Directory and Cabinet. It has 16 members that are elected from the Directory and Cabinet as required. Sorda are elected every four years, and cabinet members are elected every two years, but cabinet MPs will lose their positions on the council if they lose their seat.\nCommonwealth Council\n8 combined offices (Sorda) from the Directory 8 members of parliament, either from the Senate or national assemblies, elected from the Cabinet by internal vote ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/council/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 959,
  "href": "/factbook/history/rosecouncil/",
  "title": "Council of Roses","icon": "🌹","color": "red",
  "section": "History",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Part of the history series of articles The Council of Roses was the informal cabinet of the Interim Prosperity Government, formed in 2015 to the establish the shape of a future independent Vekllei Commonwealth. Made of up of so-called \u0026ldquo;loveable radicals,\u0026rdquo; the council was created by British administrators as a strategic concession to rising communist activity in Vekllei. For this reason, the Council was majority-women, since they were poorly represented among communist leadership, and consisted mostly of leaders in arts, science and industry.\nThe Council of Roses drafted the Vekllei Constitution, which would become the foundational legal text of the independent 4th Vekllei Commonwealth. It was approved with minor alterations by Westminster on May 6th 2015, and was ratified in August that year. The Council of Roses was dissolved in 2017, and replaced by the first Cabinet of the independent Vekllei Parliament.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/rose-council/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 960,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/",
  "title": "Countries","icon": "🌍","color": "millmint",
  "section": "World",
  "description": "Countries are sovereign states outside of Vekllei. Although Vekllei's world shares many similarities to our own, there are also many new countries and places to explore.",
  "content": " Country articles are about countries and places outside of Vekllei. Vekllei is a nation of migrants, and so the events of the world are particularly relevant to Vekllei people. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/countries/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 961,
  "href": "/series/country/",
  "title": "Country",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 962,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/courtesy/",
  "title": "Courtesy","icon": "🗣️","rgb": "187, 81, 227",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Rather than abolishing titles and etiquette, post-scarcity society in Vekllei has intensified them as economic relations become primarily social.",
  "content": " Summary\nSome assume that an anarchist society operating within a social economy would radically change social norms of hierarchy, language and relations. In Vekllei, the results of its postwar changes are less clear. Some things are very different, but other customs and cultural behaviours are much the same. This often surprises foreigners whose expectations of Vekllei society are revolutionary rather than reformist. Whether Vekllei is best described as an anarchist society does not matter much to them. They are living in the shadow of a gradual, managed revolution, and their lives have changed substantially. In such societies where the old has been rebuilt, it is common to expect dramatic reforms in status, language and customs. At its extreme, we might imagine the abolition of psycholinguistic concepts entirely, perhaps totally reimagining property, gender or race.\nWhat was not expected was that the transition to a social economy could actually reinforce customs, manners and courtesy. Far from hippy egalitarians, the ordinary Vekllei person is better characterised as polite, self-conscious, and modest. \u0026lsquo;Sir\u0026rsquo; and \u0026lsquo;Madame\u0026rsquo; are the default terms of address, and they are judgemental of behaviours they consider rude or unpleasant.\nRather than abolishing the social expectations of hierarchical society, the social economy has reinforced them, since they are now the primary mechanism through which labour operates. It is both a cultural and economic phenomena in which labour requires respect and respect motivates labour. Both these concepts feed into status, which in one way or another motivates much of modern Vekllei life.\nThis result should be anticipated by anyone paying close attention to how the Vekllei economy actually works. Rather than engaging with work in the cynical, transactional way volunteerism operates, Vekllei people engage with work in social forms, and so are engaging in a kind of \u0026lsquo;play.\u0026rsquo; This play is productive, a fact which does not delegitimise its status as a social activity on behalf of the labourer.\nThis is why foreigners, expecting a Soviet welcome, are surprised to find Vekllei workers accomodating and even obsequious. In part, it is their nature as a trusting people in a generous society. But it is also a performance of their role in work, and from which they derive some measure of enjoyment. To the minority of people still employed in service roles in the country, it is good fun to play the role of a concierge or waiter competently; to participate in a complex and sophisticated ritual and succeed.\nThey are not collectivists, as such. They have collectivist aspects of their society, but are basically individualists in typical western fashion. Instead, they expect to derive respect from their social relationships, and so customs that indicate respect are woven as deeply in their society as any other.\nFor example, professional titles are often used in place of names (\u0026lsquo;doctor,\u0026rsquo; \u0026lsquo;policewoman\u0026rsquo;), and seniority is usually respected. Good manners are taught and expected in school. It is also emphasised through their modest manner of dress and prevalence of uniforms. Those mistaking these features as indicators of a collectivist culture are missing the point. These things indicate respect, the fundamental currency of a social economy.\nIt would be wrong to overgeneralise the population of this diverse and free country. Vekllei is full of counterculturists and dissidents, and the country is famous for its meandering disdain for authority. Nonetheless, good manners learned in childhood are hard to forget, and so the overwhelming impression of the Vekllei person is not of an fanatical, reborn anarchist, but of normality and courtesy.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/courtesy"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 963,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-industry/csre/",
  "title": "CSRE","logo": "/svg/logos/CSRE.svg","icon": "🔬","color": "industry",
  "section": "Ministry of Industry",
  "description": "The Computer Science Research Establishment is a constituent research organisation of SIRO dedicated to computer, robotics and electrical research.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Computer Science Research Establishment (CSRE) is a research organisation of the Ministry of Industry.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/CSRE/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 964,
  "href": "/factbook/culture/cultural-cringe/",
  "title": "Cultural Cringe","icon": "📇","color": "red",
  "section": "Culture",
  "description": "Cultural cringe is an expression to describe the perceived internalised inferiority of Vekllei people towards their continental neighbours and, more specifically, their former colonial masters.",
  "content": "Cultural cringe is an expression to describe the perceived internalised inferiority of Vekllei people towards their continental neighbours and, more specifically, their former colonial masters. It is part of a broader discourse on post-colonialism in Vekllei and influences local identity, art and culture to this day.\nIn its basic form, cultural cringe is a colonial mindset of inferiority common enough to be observed in Vekllei. It is the sense that Vekllei art and culture are not much good and inferior to more sophisticated parent cultures in Britain, the United States, France and Portugal. It was first used in a Vekllei context in 2023 by Prime Minister Regular Campbell of Lucaya, who said:\n\u0026ldquo;The Atlantic person will soon settle space, but he will always carry with him the mark of a servant. This cultural cringe is a recurring phenomenon across the former British Commonwealth [\u0026hellip;] and dogs everything we do.\u0026rdquo;\nIn parts of Vekllei, this phenomenon is closely related to the history of slavery in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s colonised republics, and is sometimes called a \u0026ldquo;slave mentality\u0026rdquo; or a \u0026ldquo;servant\u0026rsquo;s mentality.\u0026rdquo; There is a general sense that unless a Vekllei artist or intellectual spends time overseas, preferably in London or New York, they are assumed to be deficient in comparison to foreign artists. Another factor of this idea is the abundance of casual art and hobbyism in Vekllei, which reinforces the expectation that Vekllei art is shoddy, inferior and basically plebian.\nThis sense carries on throughout all manner of cultural life in Vekllei, and extends to their consumer products. Part of it is exoticism and scarcity; a lot of it is the sense that British or American products are made with better hands in a better kind of culture. This experience is not a general inferiority, in which Vekllei people have no pride or satisfaction in their own country, but it does affect how they think of their achievements. It is especially common with older generations, many of whom have sharp, anxious memories of British occupation. A cocktail of shame, gratitude, admiration and fear manifested in the memory of a ration book has had substantial cultural impacts down the line.\nThe phenomenon occurs all over the country, which has common, though disparate colonial origins. It is most pronounced in anglophonic and francophonic republics, particularly those with strong links to the United States and Britain. It also reflects the history by which Vekllei gathered independence slowly and over time, and the reoccupation of the Volcanic Commonwealth after the Oslolan Civil War. It has been improved by Vekllei music finding success overseas and an increasing international appreciation for Vekllei culture, but still persists as a form of cultural alienation in the country today.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/cultural-cringe/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 965,
  "href": "/series/culture/",
  "title": "Culture",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 966,
  "href": "/factbook/culture/",
  "title": "Culture","icon": "🏵️","color": "red",
  "section": "Factbook",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Vekllei is among the most unique countries on earth, with origins wrought in the tremendous upheavals of people in the colonial and postwar periods. It has a strong independent character, and many historic and fusion cultures are represented across its disparate and diverse island republics.\n🗣️ Accent 🗳️ Civic Commons ✍ Corcidi 📇 Cultural Cringe 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Demographics 🖼️ National Design Atlas 🕯️ Sagas 🍽️ Serviced Restaurants 🎗️ Veletia ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/culture/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 967,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antilles/curacao/",
  "title": "Curacao","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/curacao-4x3.svg","icon": "🍸","rgb": "50, 60, 198",
  "section": "Antilles Commonwealth",
  "description": "Curacao is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the south Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Curacao Republic Island of Curacao Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Antilles Commonwealth Accession 2022, as part of the Curacao Treaty Area 444 km² Capital Korsou Languages English, Papiamento, Spanish Population 278,384 The Republic of Curacao is a constituent republic in the western Caribbean Sea north of Venezuela, and part of the country of Vekllei. It is situated between two neighbouring Vekllei republics, Aruba and Bonaire, which together make up the ABC islands of the Commonwealth Antilles.\nCuracao is the largest and historically the most industrious of the Vekllei Antilles, and plays an important economic and cultural role in the history of the region. It was the home of the first Jews in the Western Hemisphere \u0026ndash; mostly Sephardic Jewish migrants from Spain and Portugal. That community persists to this day, and makes up about a fifth of the population. The remainder are a mix of black Antilleans including Arawak Indians \u0026ndash; comprising three fifths \u0026ndash; and a mix of hispanics and whites mostly descended from Europe and neighbouring Latin American countries.\nThe island was originally home to Arawak Indians before European discovery in 1499. It was first colonised by the Spanish and, later, the Dutch, who used it as a centre of trade in their Caribbean empire. It has one of the finest natural harbours in the West Indies, which was exploited by the Dutch through their participation in both the salt and slave trades. While afflicted throughout history by privateers, the island remained in Dutch hands until the Napoleonic Wars, when it was captured and incorporated by the British.\nThe construction of the Antilles Nuclear Generation Establishment, centred around the commonwealth fusion reactor, transformed Curacao\u0026rsquo;s exports in the mid 2030s. The complex was constructed on the site of the former oil power plant within the Shell Refinery, and exports considerable power to Venezuela and Colombia. Undersea power cables also supply power to Aruba and Bonaire. Coming from the other end of history, Curacao is famous for its historic orange orchards, the peels of which are a key ingredient in its famous liqueurs. Like the other ABC islands, Curacao has limited fresh water and relies on desalination plants in the south of the island to process seawater.\nBecause of the island\u0026rsquo;s location close to both Venezuala\u0026rsquo;s oil reserves and the Panama Canal, Curacao has played a strategic economic role facilitated by its deep natural harbour and relative political stability. The Shell Refinery there, now part of Commonwealth Oil, continues to play an important (though diminished) role in global oil processing. Starting in the mid-2030s, some of its capacity was moved to the refinery on Aruba. The refinery still has a presence in Korsou\u0026rsquo;s inland harbour and maintains a fuel terminal on its northwest coast. The island also maintains Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s third-busiest port.\nLike the other ABC islands, Curacao buildings are brightly coloured and built in the Dutch Colonial style. The capital, Korsou, is bisected by a deep canal that connects its inland harbour with the Caribbean Sea. The republic is particularly famous for its cuisine and liqueur, which are influenced by Portuguese and Afro-Caribbean traditions. Stoba is a stew made with goat and papaya and kadushi is cactus soup. Curacao liqueur, as it is known, was invented there and is very refreshing. Indonesian cuisine is also quite popular, and the island is home to a small Indonesian diaspora.\nA railway runs from north to south, supplemented by trams in the capital and outlying settlements. There is an airport on the northeast side of the island, and regular ferry service to the other ABC islands.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Good Friday 30 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Assumption Day 15 Aug Republic Day 10 Oct All Saints Day 1 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Bridge of the Antilles: Historic swing-bridge in the capital, which provokes much hurrying before it opens around 20 times a day to let ships through. Naval Station Curacao: Large Marine Services naval station centred around the historic Fort Nassau. Mikve Israel Synagogue: Oldest Jewish house of worship in the western hemisphere, dating from 1732. Its floor is strewn with sand in memory of the Israelites\u0026rsquo; years of wandering in the desert. City Museum: Historic museum specialising in the Atlantic Slave Trade. Chobolobo: Historic liqueur distillery famous for its Curacao liqueur. Commonwealth Oil Curacao Complex Oil Refinery: Large oil refinery in the capital, once one of the largest in the world. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/curacao/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 968,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/lucaya/curateo/",
  "title": "Curateo","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/curateo-4x3.svg","icon": "🐚","rgb": "255, 167, 29",
  "section": "Lucaya Commonwealth",
  "description": "Curateo (\u003ci\u003eGreat Exuma\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lucayan Archipelago.",
  "content": " Curateo Republic Archipelago of the Great Exuma Islands Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Lucaya Commonwealth Accession 1930, as part of the Alford Agreement Area 250 km² Capital George Town Languages English, Lucayan Population 14,859 The Curateo Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the middle of the Lucayan archipelago. It comprises 365 cays, islands and islets scattered along a gentle curve adjacent to the Cigateo, Guanima and Yuma republics. These cays and islets become larger as you head south, culminating in large, slender islands known as Little and Great Curateo. These are where most Curateans live.\nThe vast majority of the republic\u0026rsquo;s cays are uninhabited, and fringed by coral reefs too numerous to count. They are protected by federal legislation, and the local and federal governments retain a variety of facilities across them for various environmental and research purposes. The name \u0026lsquo;Curateo\u0026rsquo; comes from the native Lucayan word for \u0026lsquo;outer land,\u0026rsquo; since the islands break way from the main Lucayan island chain.\nThe native Lucayans have lived on the Curateo islands for hundreds of years, but the population there was almost entirely enslaved in the 16th Century and removed to industries throughout Lucaya. The islands remained abandoned until they began to receive settlers in the late 18th Century during the American Revolution. Thousands of British Loyalists fled to the islands, and made failed attempts to establish cotton and coffee plantations there. Slavery was abolished shortly after, and as the Loyalists returned to the UK their estates were left to former African slaves, whose descendants make up most of the population there today. Some Lucayans have since returned to Curateo, but much of the disapora remains scattered across the rest of the archipelago.\nMost of the islands are small and undeveloped, and their economies are mostly municipal \u0026ndash; meaning smallholdings, minor agriculture, fishing and the civil service. Young or ambitious Curateans typically relocate elsewhere in Commonwealth Lucaya to pursue higher education. In typical Lucayan fashion, life on Curateo is easy and the weather is good, and Cureateans spend most afternoons eating together in communal dinners called catchups or playing sport. Cricket is especially popular.\nA rail line connects the length of Greater Curateo with Little Curateo, but the rest of its islets are invariably unpaved and undeveloped. Many locals own wooden boats with simple outboard motors they use to get around. Many Curateans work and study in the neighbouring republic of Yuma. Ferries leave from George Town each day for Yuma and Nema.\nClimate\nWarm and winterless, with tropical humidity moderated by the Atlantic Ocean. Expect heavy rains and storms in summer.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Good Friday Easter Monday Whit Monday Commonwealth Day 1 May Republic Day 10 Jul Emancipation Day 1st Mon/Aug Discovery Day 12 Oct Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Pig Beach: A world-famous beach on Big Major Cay where visitors can swim with the island\u0026rsquo;s friendly, wild swimming pigs. Thunderball Grotto: Spectacular underwater cave. Curateo Marine National Park: A federally-protected marine reserve featuring pristine waters and many reefs. Moriah Harbour National Park: Coastal park with mangroves, sand dunes, wetlands and many kinds of birds. Regatta Point: Historical site in George Town, showcasing local regattas, colourful wooden boats, and events celebrating Curatean maritime culture. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/curateo/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 969,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-education/curriculum-and-qualifications-council/",
  "title": "Curriculum and Qualifications Council","logo": "/svg/logos/cqc.svg","icon": "🏛️","rgb": "34, 123, 231",
  "section": "Parliament of Education",
  "description": "Commonwealth Curriculum \u0026 Qualifications Council develops and regulates the national curriculum and standard examinations in Vekllei.",
  "content": " Commonwealth Curriculum \u0026amp; Qualifications Council (CQC, colloquially Quick) develops and regulates the Vekllei national curriculum and the Standard Exam. The organisation is headquartered in Antigua but has offices in most Education Regions.\nThe CQC is politically independent of the Parliament of Education and Government, and draws on the expertise of Vekllei educators through the National Education Forum to develop the national curriculum. It is updated each year, and Commonwealth schools are free to interpret its outlines independently as long as the requirements of each unit are met.\nCommonwealth National Curriculum\nArts Painting, Illustration \u0026amp; Sculpture Theatre \u0026amp; Performance Film-making \u0026amp; Photography Music \u0026amp; Music Theory Literature \u0026amp; Culture Vekllei Languages Local Language Fluency English Language Fluency Foreign Languages Spanish, Portuguese, French, Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian Domestic, Health and Physical Education Sports \u0026amp; Sports Sciences Health Sciences \u0026amp; Sexual Education Biological Sciences Psychology \u0026amp; Wellbeing Domestic Sciences Civic Sciences, Philosophy and Stewardship Democratic \u0026amp; Federal Sciences Civics \u0026amp; Vekllei History Studies of Religion Philosophy \u0026amp; Epistemology Community \u0026amp; Localism Economics and Business Finance \u0026amp; Markets Macroeconomics \u0026amp; Government Money Personal Finance \u0026amp; Overseas Living World Study International Geography History of the World International Cultures \u0026amp; People Political Sciences and History Government \u0026amp; Leadership Sociology \u0026amp; Society Political Systems Mathematics Everyday Mathematics Specialised Mathematics \u0026amp; Physics Material Sciences and Electronics Computer Sciences \u0026amp; Electrical Engineering Engineering \u0026amp; Construction Chemical Sciences Landscape Sciences \u0026amp; Nature Work Studies Workplace Skills Productivity \u0026amp; Effective Communication ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/cqc/","/curriculum-and-qualifications-council/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 970,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/cuwi/",
  "title": "CUWI","logo": "/svg/logos/cuwi.svg","icon": "🎓","rgb": "12, 181, 120",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "The federated university system of the Kalina and Lucayan Commonwealths in Vekllei.",
  "content": " Commonwealth University of the West Indies Federated Collegial University Headquarters Antigua Students 220,000 The Commonwealth University of the West Indies (CUWI) is the federated higher education system serving Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Caribbean republics. Modelled after ancient collegiate systems and adapted to the archipelagos of Kalina and Lucaya, it comprises 32 constituent universities that maintain varying degrees of autonomy. 220,000 students are enrolled in CUWI, which is headquartered in the Antiguan capital of Caribbea. It is representative of the \u0026ldquo;nesting doll\u0026rdquo; nature of Vekllei higher education, since many of its constituent universities are themselves federated universities of different colleges and schools. As such, it is common to be enrolled as a student of a residential college, constituent university and CUWI simultaneously.\nThe university traces its origins to Codrington College, established in 1849 by the British Atlantic Company as a training school for colonial administrators and clergy. Its early curriculum focused on classical education and Anglican theology, housed in a single Georgian building that still stands in Caribbea. It has transformed substantially since then, and is second in students only to Commonwealth University, its historic rival. Like all Vekllei educational institutions, its standards and curriculum are maintained by the Curriculum \u0026amp; Qualifications Council.\nCUWI operates through three administrative tiers:\n1. The Central University\nThe Central University, which is itself an education institution in Antigua, oversees pancollegiate standards and maintains the Examinations Board. It houses the administration of the federal system, including the Office of the Chancellor.\nSeveral federal bodies oversee the CUWI network:\nThe University Congress \u0026ndash; Annual meeting of all chancellors at Codrington Hall in Antigua The Sand Committee \u0026ndash; Student representatives who mediate inter-campus disputes and work to build pancollegiate events and identity The Academic Council \u0026ndash; Mostly retired professors who advise on academic traditions Despite its federalism, CUWI has consistent educational standards and graduates of different schools are expected to receive the same quality of training. The style and content of this training is left to individual schools, which retain their distinctive characters.\n2. Constituent Schools\nConstituent schools, which encompasses universities, research centres and institutes are autonomous tertiary institutions that usually deliver an academic discipline through courses or triposes. Constituent schools may be large, general universities with many faculties and campuses or smaller, specialised institutions.\nMajor constituents include Karu University, Commonwealth Medical University and Antigua University. Each of these are collegiate schools, meaning students are enrolled in autonomous colleges that control their own admissions and teaching.\n3. Colleges\nSome Constituent Schools are themselves federated into colleges, which are often older than the universities that comprise them. Colleges may be day schools or residential, and are independent of but subordinated to a university. Colleges control their own admissions, employ their own academic staff, provide their own tutorials and supervision and maintain their own buildings and governance. Residential colleges, where students board, manage their own accomodation and dining as well. They may enrol undergraduates and have several hundred students, or have only a few dozen postgraduates focused on research.\nWhile students enrolled in colleges primarily interact with the university through them, colleges themselves do not award degrees. Students graduate with university degrees bearing the CUWI seal and are not awarded degrees from their colleges.\nAlthough CUWI maintains a number of major constituent general universities, many of its federated schools are specialised institutions that share resources and facilities with neighbouring campuses. In a quirk of Vekllei federalism, they can indicate local specialisation (e.g. Inagua\u0026rsquo;s salt industry of Kairi\u0026rsquo;s oil industry) or no local custom at all, when the distant eye of Commonwealth federalism deems a republic the new centre of an academic tradition. Most constituents have a research focus and 80% retain a field station for local ecosystem studies. A student of one is a student of all, and transfer and exchange are common practices within the network.\nConstituent Institutions\nBahama University (Grand Bahama) \u0026ndash; Marine sciences\nCaicos University ( Caicos) \u0026ndash; Coastal ecology, industrial economics\nCigateo Technical University (Cigateo) \u0026ndash; Agricultural engineering, television production\nConch University of the Americas ( Conch) \u0026ndash; Nautical studies, naval education\nCurateo Polytechnic ( Curateo) \u0026ndash; Localist sociology, aquaculture\nGuanima Caribbean School (Guanima) \u0026ndash; Education, oral history preservation, lucayan archaeology, colonial history\nNational Marine Establishment ( Habacoa) \u0026ndash; Marine sciences, wetland research\nInagua Technical University (Great Inagua) \u0026ndash; Salt production, marine fuels\nAbaco Polytechnic University (Lucayoneque) \u0026ndash; Disaster preparation, materials science\nMayaguana Federal Conservatory (Mayaguana) \u0026ndash; Traditional music, ethnomusicology\nProvidence University ( Providence) \u0026ndash; Political science, international law\nSalvador Research Centre ( Rum) \u0026ndash; Marine science, reef research\nSummers University ( Summers) \u0026ndash; Deep-sea research, Gulf Stream studies\nAcklins Farm School (Yabaque) \u0026ndash; Urban gardening, hydroponics, remote medicine\nYuma Arts Academy (Yuma) \u0026ndash; Creole literature, painting, fine arts\nAllia Polytechnic ( Allia) \u0026ndash; Volcanology\nAloi Technical School ( Aloi) \u0026ndash; Oil logistics, historic preservation\nAloubaera Technical University ( Aloubaera) \u0026ndash; Petroleum engineering\nAnguilla University ( Anguilla) \u0026ndash; Finance, maritime policy\nAntigua University ( Antigua) \u0026ndash; Flagship campus; tropical medicine, classics\nBarbados University ( Barbados) \u0026ndash; Tropical crop industrialisation research, soil science\nBarbary Marine Research Station ( Barbary) \u0026ndash; Coral genetics, reef restoration\nCommonwealth Medical University ( Cama) \u0026ndash; Medical research, medical training\nGrenadines Arts Conservatory ( Grenadines) \u0026ndash; Traditional sailmaking, boatbuilding, fine arts\nKaru University ( Karu) \u0026ndash; Ballet, Caribbean dance, performing arts\nKabuli School of Forestry (Kabuli) \u0026ndash; Rainforest ecology, geothermal energy, spice cultivation\nKairi Industrial University ( Kairi) \u0026ndash; Petrochemical engineering, steel fabrication\nLiamuiga School of Teaching (Liamuiga) \u0026ndash; Atlantic Model teaching\nLucia Tropical School ( Lucia) \u0026ndash; Tropical disease research, culinary arts\nMadiana Language School ( Madiana) \u0026ndash; French language, Kalina creoles documentation\nOualie Maritime University (Oualie) \u0026ndash; Naval architecture\nVirgin University ( Virgin) \u0026ndash; Political sciences\nThrough its academic divisions and constituent schools, CUWI offers comprehensive programs across all disciplines, with particular strengths in tropical medicine, maritime engineering, Caribbean studies, performing arts and advanced agriculture. Degrees are awarded by constituent schools but bear the CUWI seal.\nDepending on the constituent school, students may enrol in an academic department (i.e. School of English) or with a residential college (i.e. Trinity College of Karu University) which affects their course structure and tutorials. Undergraduate programmes allow transfers between constituent schools after the first year. Faculty also move freely between schools. CUWI schools also share a digital library system containing over 2.7 million volumes and have access to the Federal Library network.\nThe academic culture at CUWI is most obviously influenced by British tutorial traditions (including weekly supervision meetings) but has evolved substantially in the federal period with contemporary Atlantic Model learning. A distinguishing characteristic from other Commonwealth universities are its Caribbean pedagogical styles including a preference for spoken examinations.\nLife at CUWI involves a number of events and festivals, including an annual cricket tournament dating to 1903 called the Chancellor\u0026rsquo;s Cup. This has evolved into a pancollegiate festival involving a number of competitions, including in robotics and sailing. The Creole Debating Society is among the fiercest in Vekllei, but attends most debates overseas in Creole and French-speaking parts of the world.\nAbout 30% of students complete at least one semester at another constituent university. Campuses share traditions including a symposium where graduate students present papers aboard ferries sailing between islands known as Carnival. Like most Vekllei universities, CUWI schools often have strong maritime traditions, and classes can even be held at sea. New students receive a bottle containing sand from their home island as a longstanding matriculation ritual.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/cuwi/","/commonwealth-university-of-the-west-indies/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 971,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/dallas-america/",
  "title": "Dallas America","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/dallas-4x3.svg","icon": "🔥","rgb": "236, 50, 44",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "Dallas America is a secessionist territory located in the southern United States.",
  "content": " Dallas America Capital Dallas, Texas Languages English Population 103,955,000 (estimate) The War Government of the American Free States (commonly Dallas America or The South) is a secessionist territory in the United States, comprising most of the American South and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Kansas and Missouri. Although ostensibly administered in Dallas, Texas, activities in the secession mostly fall to states which exercise varying levels of control over their jurisdictions and militias. The secession occured in 2058, shortly after the bankruptcy of the Ford Motor Company.\nThe rebellion against the United States took the form of a quasi-secession driven by a century of neglect, the bankruptcy of the Ford Motor Company, increasing unrest over the employment of Latin Americans in mines and oil fields and the death of Joe Monroe, baseball star and governor of Texas.1\nThe uprising had little central coordination and parts of the secessionist territories have seen a near-total breakdown of society. Police and military warlordism is commonplace in the west, along the frontiers of the secession in Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. Ethnic cleansing is increasingly common and backed by indiscriminate violence. Fighting has paused since February 2059, when a ceasefire has allowed talks to resume around reintegration into the United States, although sporadic, uncoordinate fighting and raids continue. There is currently tacit cooperation with the US over control of key infrastructure like nuclear sites and some railways.\nThe future of the secession is uncertain and provokes bitter debate within the territories. Texas remains the most prosperous of the secessionist states and largely subsidises its neighbours, but secessionist states and cities on the periphery have been ruined by war and insecurity.\nJoe Monroe was a significant bipartisan presence in US politics for over a decade. His sudden death in 2057 deeply affected Texas, which saw him as a champion for southern prosperity and autonomy in the union.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/dallas/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 972,
  "href": "/millmint/fiction/dance/",
  "title": "Dance","rgb": "44, 187, 132",
  "section": "Fiction",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Every other Friday Tzipora worked for the railway, but she could be called up as a reservist if they were short of train guards or needed someone to watch the platform. Tzipora was only sixteen but it was not unusual to see young people working because their hours now reduced the obligation for national service that became compulsory after the age of eighteen. Cobian never had the impression that Tzipora worked for the sake of her looming national service \u0026ndash; Tzipora worked on the trains because she liked the trains, and she liked to feel useful.\nSuch was the case on Wednesday evening, when Commonwealth National Rail had called her at home and she had happily obliged them a couple hours work. Cobian found her at the station around eight o’clock still wearing the shoes she wore to school but now sporting the jacket and tie of the railway company.\n‘Are you nearly finished?’ Cobian asked. It was cold this evening and they were going out so she wore a hat and gloves.\n‘There’s an eight-oh-two service that calls here, I’ll see to that, but afterwards I’ll clock out.’\n‘Did you run anything tonight?’ she asked, referring to riding the trains around as a guard.\n‘No, I was stuck at this station, but I don’t mind. I had some time to read, and I’ve had bottled coffee from the machine. So you know, that’s why I might seem excited.’\nShe had been running around and gently pressed the back of her white glove to her forehead.\n‘You should join me here sometime,’ Tzipora said, pulling out a flag she’d tucked under her arm. ‘The work is easy and there’s a lot of honour in the railways. It’s not like a grocery where you just sit around and talk.’\n‘I despise crowds,’ Cobian said. ‘And I’ve got a timid little voice. I can’t direct people; it wouldn’t suit me.’\n‘You’ll end up serving your full four years at this rate. And if I’m working some weeknights what can you do? Just sit around at home? You might as well find some work.’\n‘I have other friends,’ she said bitterly. ‘You’re starting to sound like my parents.’\nBut Tzipora was already looking towards the tracks, and moments later a chime came over the tannoy to signal the arriving train. ‘Excuse me,’ she said, and unfurled her flags as she marched towards the guard’s steps at the end of the platform. Cobian watched her with amusement. Tzipora was a good worker; she was invigorated by the spirit of the dutiful railway attendant, clacking her shoe heels steadily across the stone floor in the brisk walk of a professional.\nThe eight-oh-two pulled in a moment later in colours that matched the orange accents on the staff uniforms. It hissed as constituent hydraulic and electric machinery tensed and released and the doors opened. Tzipora was not that tall and even on her steps she was difficult to see over the crowd that surged out. It was well past commuting hours and most of the passengers were dressed for dinner. A few seconds passed and they all filtered out into the street, and Tzipora blew her whistle and waved the train out with her green flag. Cobian watched her wave at the driver and the guard as the train rattled away under the rising hum of the electric motors.\nA few minutes later they met on the station steps beneath yellow lamplight. Tzipora had redressed in school uniform and Cobian had her purse under her chin as she looked for a balm.\n‘Well, which would you prefer to take out? The railway worker or the student?’\n‘I just wish you’d brought clothes for dinner. Don’t you change after school? I’ve put on a dress.’\n‘It’s a nice dress,’ Tzipora nodded. ‘I’m wearing a dress too.’\n‘The dress you wear to school. And it’s cold out and you don’t have trousers underneath. Are you going to walk around in bare legs?’ She popped the lid off the balm and frowned as she ran it over her lips. It was a funny image.\n‘My shins are always too cold. It makes no difference. I can’t tell the difference between ten degrees and zero; it’s all arctic to me.’\n‘I have a very basic and normal desire for normalcy,’ Cobian said. ‘And you upset it for no good reason.’\n‘If I was as normal as you,’ Tzipora said, coyly tilting her head and smiling up at her. ‘You wouldn’t like me as much as you do.’\n‘Don’t count on it.’\nThey caught a train down the hill from Seispri to the lower parts of Lola, where the lights were brighter and people mingled in the street. Tzipora knew clubs where they played good rumba and they could dance. Most wouldn’t let them drink, but it was a week night and all they sought was some dinner and music. The station opened onto a well-lighted avenue that sat out of character in its quiet, leafy neighbourhood. The buildings had big letter signs on their roofs and advertisements in their windows, mostly written in English but some Oslolan and others languages they couldn’t read. The grey market thrived openly here. The light from the streetlamps was warm but it mingled with other colours too \u0026ndash; red, green, blue \u0026ndash; cast out by the narrow stairwells of basement music bars and clubs. It had the appearance of a cabaret district, but it was not especially busy and it had no sinister lust in the periphery; there were no women standing around nor men to police them. It was quiet enough that if they stopped and watched their breath float in the cold, they could hear the distant thump of the Kongo Klub.\n‘It’s Wednesday, right? Coretti’s brother, what’s-his-name, he plays with the Brazzaville Rats on Wednesdays and Fridays.’ Tzipora pulled her navy cape tight around her body so that only her face and a sliver of ankle caught the light in the night air.\n‘I prefer salsa,’ Cobian said. ‘Salsa is something respectable for a Wednesday. Rumba is a weekend dance, I can only get it right when I’ve had something to drink.’\n‘Andre,’ Tzipora said and nodded her head. ‘His name is Andre. And if you don’t want rumba, why not just pop into one of the jazz places? Let’s take it easy, I’ve been on my feet all night. And frankly, I’m bored to death of salsa.’\n‘Fine with me.’\nTzipora led the way because she knew this part of town. She had the envious ability to walk into strange places and figure them out. She was obviously out of place \u0026ndash; a student who didn’t even bother to change clothes \u0026ndash; but her confidence and humour bought her a lot of patience. That was a special quirk of her personality \u0026ndash; the courage to be a stranger, embarrassed and out of place. She was amply rewarded with friends in the good music joints, and with it many fine meals and places to dance. That was hard currency in a country like this.\nCobian had danced only at cotillion prior to meeting Tzipora, but she danced well now. She didn\u0026rsquo;t dance like Tzipora, who had it in her childhood and had no trace of self-consciousness. But she knew enough to enjoy it, and these mid-week excursions to the places where music and conversation mixed freely had become the highlights of her week. Tzipora was walking quickly and she followed closely behind her, afraid she’d shiver if she moved too slowly. She was wearing wool tights and long sleeves but all the heat had drained out of her. Tzipora seemed not to notice.\n‘Coconut Tree is good.’ Tzipora turned to face Cobian suddenly, running her hands along the sides of her head to sweep her hair back. ‘It’s Carib, but it’s jazz, and the guy is nice.’\nAll clubs were run by a guy. Some had a girl. Some had a girl and a guy who took turns serving food, which at places like this was made hot and regular. They didn’t have a menu; you had what was on.\n‘What I like about Coconut Tree is that it’s unpretentious,’ Tzipora was saying as they left the pavement and descended a couple steps towards a large wooden door, ‘That’s a real issue with these places, especially Carib clubs, no offence to them. Caribs are often insecure about being diaspora \u0026ndash; what do you call it, being diasporic? They see real Africans and go, “oh, well, we’re real Africans too. Let’s play Naija music.” And you know what that does? It makes the food and music worse. I love Caribs; their traditions. They have a rich culture, they shouldn\u0026rsquo;t be so fashionable.”\nThere were a lot of Caribs around, even here in the arctic. They had entered the federation decades ago with all the West Indies and most of the minor Caribbean islands. It was a real mix of people from all corners of the world, but almost all had had ancestry as slaves or coolies for the Europeans. This was a new kind of society and their food and culture was very fashionable all around the country.\nThe stairwell was dark but warm air carrying spices and music floated past them. They hung their coats at the base of the stairs.\n‘Good evening to you, Yoro,’ Tzipora said, patting down the half of her collar that had come up with the cape. ‘This is my friend, Cobian. Is dinner on?’\n’Tzipora, how are you? Isn’t this a school night?’ Yoro was in his thirties and wore round spectacles and a small beard. He had skin a touch darker than Tzipora’s and kept his hair swept back. He didn’t look particularly Carib, though there was no such thing; he had a pacific kind of look about him. What did you call it? Melanesian?\n‘Don’t worry, I’m not here for fun, just dinner,’ Tzipora grinned, sidling up to the rail on the floor of the bar and standing on it. ‘For fun I go to the Kongo Klub.’\n‘I should kick you out.’\n‘You’d lose my business,’ Tzipora said, and made a gesture of looking around. ‘You need it.’\n‘You can have dinner and a dance,\u0026rsquo; Yoro said, ‘but I’m closing up at ten. My girl is working late and we don’t get enough time as it is.’\n‘Thanks. What’s on?’\n‘Chicken and rice.’\n‘The kind I like?’\n‘Of course, the kind you like. You say you like everything. I’m starting to think you can’t tell good from bad.’\n‘I like chicken and rice,’ she confirmed, and rapped her knuckles against the bar. Cobian moved to settle next to her at the bar but Tzipora gestured over to a table with a red tablecloth.\nCobian looked around the room and admired its dim lights and intimate seating. The band was right there and the sound filled all corners of the room. It looked like any other jazz club they’d been to. They all carried the same accoutrement; the same concept of a dark stage in a basement. It was a good place to be on a cold evening like this, but it didn’t have the romance of the Theatre Royal where they danced salsa.\nTzipora had picked a table out of the way, but Cobian thought she recognised the couple sitting nearby and paused to wonder if she could avoid drawing their attention. She made her way over but cursed her luck. There was no avoiding it.\n‘Anik, hello,’ Cobian said, pulling her chair out to sit down, hoping it would keep the conversation brief. ‘Don’t you live in Reykjavic? Why are you up here in Lola?’\n‘Cobian, hey, good evening.’ Anik said, and stood up just as she was sitting down. Cobian stood back up and received the customary kiss on both cheeks. ‘I come here sometimes,’ he said. ‘Who’s your friend?’\n‘This is Tzipora, we’re school friends.’ Cobian said, and Tzipora said ‘nice to meet you.’ Cobian nodded towards his lady friend and said, ‘it’s Mary, isn’t it?’\n‘That’s right. Nice to see you again. We met at Anik’s rebirth.’ Mary was a short Algic girl that wore old-fashioned glasses and spoke awkwardly. It occurred to Cobian that Anik and Mary were nothing alike.\n‘Sure, it’s nice to see you,’ Cobian said in Oslolan, before adding in English, ‘Tzipora, this is Anik and Mary, I went to school with them before coming to Moshel Street.’\n‘Where’s your accent from, Tzipora?’\n‘Egypt.’\n‘That’s very exciting. With the pyramids.’\n‘That’s right,’ Tzipora said, leaning forward. ‘I was a pharaoh there.’\nThe image of them sitting together revived memories of her old school. When they started dating in fifth or sixth year they’d been a minor sensation. No one could understand it. Anik was tall and slim and had very European features for an Algic man. He was no doubt part-Scandinavian, and he was well regarded among the girls at Electric Street School for this. Mary was short and solid and plain-looking. This provoked cruel gossip \u0026ndash; what could he see in her? He was charming and handsome and he could have had just about anyone. Girls would wonder this aloud in amusement and jealousy when they were out of the room.\n‘Do you two come for the music? I mean, do you like to dance, or are you just out for dinner?’ Cobian said stupidly, aimlessly. She did not even know why she was nervous. She’d liked Anik \u0026ndash; basically everyone did \u0026ndash; but she couldn’t tell whether the affection came from attraction or if it was just the nervousness inflicted on any ordinary person talking to a particularly beautiful human being.\n‘Anik’s no good and I’m not much better,’ Mary smiled, and he laughed in the way that people in love do.\n‘Let’s dance, Mary,’ Tzipora said, holding out her hands. ‘Let’s dance before my dinner gets here.’\n‘What, now?’\n‘Sure, now. You know what this is? It’s the Sidewinder, but it doesn’t last forever. I think it’s a student band, and you know, students are avant-garde. They hate the standards, you’ve got to seize them when they’re there before they go back to the crazy stuff.’\n‘Okay, let’s dance then,’ Mary said, and pushed her chair back.\nThey moved up in front of the stage where the worn floorboards of the club were still exposed. Sidewinder was an easy song to dance to, and Mary stood twisting her shoulders for a few moments as she tried to catch the beat. It was the kind of song where the piano and drums swung along and the trumpet took the lead, threading the groove like a pin and stitch. Tzipora had already taken Mary’s hands and was swinging around, moving her leg in something like the twist. They danced with their shoulders for a bit before they caught the beat and started stepping back and forth. Tzipora lifted Mary’s hands and twirled underneath. Cobian smiled at the joy of it all and sat down where Mary had been sitting.\n‘Look at us,’ Alik said, ‘we’ve been left behind as invalids.’\n‘I’m not half-bad, you know,’ Cobian said, leaning back and watching the band. ‘But, you know, we’ll see,’ and she trailed off. ‘You and Mary make a cute pair. It’s nice to see you together after all this time.’\n‘Well, I’m seventeen now. I’ve only got a year left. Mary’ll be soon after me. There’s a lot of change coming. I love her, and I’ll follow her, but there’s a lot of change coming.’\n‘Tell me about it,’ Cobian said. ‘I got no idea about anything. I can’t think about the future for too long or I start to lose myself in it. So I’m just taking it day by day.’\nShe glanced at Anik, who was watching Mary and Tzipora, and followed his gaze towards the dancing girls. A feeling of deep sadness settled over her. It was implacable and not altogether uncomfortable. Maybe it was fringed with nostalgia; maybe there was an object of longing. She watched them dance. The band was getting into it, playing a little faster and louder. Tzipora was having a good time, pulling faces at Mary and laughing at her own silliness. It was a pleasant kind of heartache. Maybe that’s what loneliness in company is.\nThe chicken and rice came soon after and Tzipora flopped down, happy and sweaty and fanning herself. Chicken and rice was rum chicken, served in big heaps atop rice and plantains. It was spiced in nutmeg, paprika, chilli and garlic. Tzipora ate quickly, sometimes with her hands, and chased it with water. Cobian followed along, trying to keep up. It was warm in the basement and the spices made her feel like heaters were burning her from inside and out.\n‘Isn’t this good? You can dance to jazz,’ Tzipora said, maybe to herself. ‘You can dance to anything.’ As she was saying this she reached for her school tie, which looked a bit like a priest’s collar turned down, and took it out. The fact that Tzipora removed her tie when it was hot suggested that, under specific conditions, she could in fact be influenced by the environment around her. Cobian smiled thinking about this.\nAfter they finished dinner they danced a little, but it was getting late and they were satisfied. Tzipora talked a little with Yoro on the way out, wishing him luck about something or other. They said so long to Anik and Mary who asked Cobian to call, but that was just something people said. She did not know if they were being polite.\nThey found themselves at the station and they watched the electric timetable clatter its letter cards as trains came and left. It was mostly empty and there was no noise at all. Tzipora appeared to be in a kind of trance, like she was sleeping while sitting up, and her expression was relaxed and unburdened.\n‘Do you think about the future?’ Cobian asked. Her voice was low and quiet.\n‘Not much,’ Tzipora said. She slid her shoes around on the stone as she leaned back against the wall. ‘I still have business with the past. I think about the past much more than the future.’\n‘I’ve been thinking a lot. I’m a bit scared about it.’\n‘There’s nothing to be scared about,’ Tzipora said, ‘we have the whole world.’\n‘I don’t know what that means.’\n‘Don’t you feel it? I have school, dancing, chicken, rice. You know\u0026hellip; I have a house, and my work with the railway, and lots of in-between time for you and a book.’\nCobian didn’t say anything because she couldn’t understand it. She took her gloves off and put them away in her coat pocket and then stretched her legs out before her and sighed. Tzipora saw her doing this and did the same, bumping Cobian’s nice pumps with her old school loafers as if to say something about them. The top of her loafers were all scuffed, the heel worn down from dancing and jumping and running and whatever else Tzipora did. Cobian brought her legs back.\n‘You know, talking to Anik in there, I felt funny about it. I thought maybe seeing him had awakened an old crush, or a feeling\u0026hellip; I don’t know.’\n‘Was it a crush?’ Tzipora asked, leaning in. ‘I don’t know if you can say this about a man, but he’s very beautiful. Mary too.’\nCobian shook her head and felt suddenly she might cry. She lowered her head and her hat fell into her lap. ‘Sorry,’ she said, though she’d caught it. ‘It’s very late.’\n‘We didn’t dance as much this time,’ Tzipora said, taking her hat from her lap and placing it on her own head. ‘But it’s no matter at all. We have millions of nights ahead of us.’\nCobian wiped her eyes and sniffed. She had the sense that something had cracked open deep inside and was flooding her, filling her up.\n‘How can you have the world,’ she said in a shaky voice, ‘and still feel like this?’\nTzipora did not say anything for a while and sat quietly. After a few moments she reached over and took her hands and held them.\n‘Well, maybe both can be true,’ she said, looking at Cobian’s hands. ‘There’s space for both, don’t you think?’\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/snapshots/dance"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 973,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/defence-imagery-establishment/",
  "title": "Defence Imagery Establishment","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-defence.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "defence",
  "section": "Ministry of Defence",
  "description": "The Defence Imagery Establishment provides geospatial and topographic intelligence for the Ministry of Defence.",
  "content": "The Defence Imagery Establishment provides geospatial and topographic intelligence to Vekllei and its intelligence community, including the Armed Forces. It operates military satellites, reconnaissance aircraft and specialised information-gathering apparatus that contribute to a geospatial understanding of territories in Vekllei and abroad.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/defence-imagery-establishment/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 974,
  "href": "/factbook/culture/demographics/",
  "title": "Demographics","icon": "👨‍👩‍👧‍👦","color": "red",
  "section": "Culture",
  "description": "Vekllei is a diverse country made up of people from all corners of the world.",
  "content": " The Commonwealth is a diverse society owing to its disparate geography, history as a middle point between the Old and New Worlds and its immigration after independence in 2015. 46% of people in Vekllei were born overseas, with significant variation across the Commonwealth regions. Ethnic Group Percentage Primary Subgroups Geographic Concentration Oslolan (33%) 8.85M Scandinavian (58%)\nAlgic/Inuit (42%) Volcanic, Arctic regions UK \u0026amp; Ireland (29.9%) 8.02M English (58%)\nScottish (21%)\nIrish (8%)\nOthers (13%) Distributed across all regions Kalinago/Carib (9.5%) 2.55M Traditional Carib communities Kalina, Verde regions Black (8.6%) 2.31M Afro-Carib (72%)\nAfro-Bahamian (17%)\nCommonwealth Black (6%)\nOthers (5%) Kalina, Lucaya regions Commonwealth Asian (5.5%) 1.48M Chinese (70%)\nBritish Asian (19%)\nJapanese (6%)\nThai (4%)\nOthers (1%) Urban centres, major republics Hispanic (4.4%) 1.18M Spanish (47%)\nMexican (30%)\nColombian (14%)\nOthers (19%) Atlantic, Antilles regions East Creole (4%) 1.07M Badiu (63%)\nSampadjudo (35%)\nOthers (2%) Verde region Portuguese (3.1%) 0.83M Concentrated communities Atlantic, Verde regions Latin American (2.9%) 0.78M Brazilian (68%)\nArgentine (23%)\nDominican (5%)\nOthers (4%) Urban centres Indian/Ceylonese (1.7%) 0.46M Traditional communities Kalina region French (1.6%) 0.43M Concentrated communities Kalina region (Madiana, Karu) Southern European (1.5%) 0.40M Italian (45%)\nGreek (38%)\nTurkish (3%)\nOthers (14%) Atlantic region Slavic (1.3%) 0.35M Russian (66%)\nSerbian (18%)\nCroatian (12%)\nOthers (4%) Distributed Others (1%) 0.27M Israeli (79%)\nNepalese (8%)\nEgyptian (2%)\nOthers (11%) Urban centres ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/demographics/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 975,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/volcanic/demon/",
  "title": "Demon","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/demon-4x3.svg","icon": "⛪️","rgb": "229, 156, 54",
  "section": "Volcanic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Demon (\u003ci\u003eJan Mayen\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the North Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Demon Republic Island of Jan Mayen Constituent Republic of Vekllei Accession 1840, gifted to the British Atlantic Territories Area 377 km² Capital Aran Languages English, Latin, Irish Population 13,947 The Republic of Demon is an island republic in the North Atlantic, and part of the country of Vekllei. It was discovered by Irish settlers in the 13th Century, where they settled at the base of the Birianvik, or Mt Birian Volcano. Its capital, Aran, exists on this site and is home to about 14,000 people today.\nDesolate, windy and cold, Demon is isolated by 500km of water from Kala, its closest neighbour. Its economy is dominated by fishing, community agriculture, the Armed Forces and tourism. Demon has few trees but a little tundra, and is home to arctic foxes, seabirds and all manner of North Atlantic sea life.\nAfter Irish settlers established Aran in the 13th Century, a monastery was built by monks on the slope of Birianvik, making it the oldest in Vekllei. It continues to operate today on the site of the original monastery, which was destroyed by an eruption in the 18th Century. The town of Aran was abandoned twice in the 15th and 18th centuries, but the monastery has operated continuously since its founding. This heritage, collections of relics and strong religiosity among its citizens are part of the culture of Demon, and contribute to its flag which features a Black Madonna.\nDemon can be accessed by hydrofoil or ship at Port Aran in its capital and only major settlement, and there is a combined civilian and military aerodrome on the southern region with a couple regional flights each day. A single tramline connects Aran with the farms and villages in the south.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/demon/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 976,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/denmark/",
  "title": "Denmark","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/dk-4x3.svg","icon": "🔱","rgb": "200, 16, 47",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "Denmark is a country in Western Europe, comprising the Jutland peninsula and an archipelago of over 400 islands.",
  "content": "The Kingdom of Denmark is a country in Western Europe, consisting of the Jutland peninsula extending north of central West Germany and an archipelago of over 400 islands west of it. The majority of its land and people are in Jutland, though its capital, Copenhagen, is located on the westward island of Zealand.\nDespite its small population and size, Denmark has contributed extensively to European and world history, and through its extensive network of trade, has contributed to world culture as well. The historic Kingdom of Denmark has included territories that are now part of Vekllei, including the Aismious (Faroese) islands and parts of western Oslola.\nDenmark is an advanced country with a high standard of living and a robust welfare state. Its economy is dominated by small service and manufacturing businesses, and government revenues are sourced primarily from taxes.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/denmark/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 977,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/directory/",
  "title": "Directory","logo": "/svg/crests/vekllei.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "millmint",
  "section": "Government",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Directorate (or Directory) is a federal council of elected peers, each representing a constituent commonwealth of Vekllei.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Directorate or simply the Directory is a federal council of elected peers, each representing a constituent commonwealth. Although chaired by a rotating office, the Directory represents a single head of state as a petty executive.1\nThe Directory consists of each Sorda representing a constituent, with observers present from territories. In total, there are about 16 members of the Directory, elected every four years.\nThe Directory makes decisions based on advice and opinion of the Cabinet. Together with the Cabinet, the Directory forms the Commonwealth Council as the supreme executive body of the Commonwealth.\nThere are two petty executives in Vekllei, which together form the Supreme Executive known as the Commonwealth Council. The other petty executive is the Cabinet.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/directory/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 978,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/district-cooling/",
  "title": "District Cooling","icon": "❄️","color": "blue",
  "section": "Technology",
  "description": "District cooling is a municipal infrastructure system that provides air conditioning to homes and buildings through centralised plants.",
  "content": "District cooling in Vekllei is a centralised air conditioning system that distributes cold air directly to homes and buildings through underground ducts. Unlike traditional air conditioning units, which require individual compressors and refrigerants in each building, district cooling moves the machinery to municipal plants where it can be maintained professionally and operated efficiently at scale.\nThe system is standard in tropical and subtropical republics across the Antilles, Kalina, Verde and Lucaya commonwealths, where high temperatures and humidity make cooling essential for comfort. It exemplifies their preference for collective infrastructure serving individual needs, keeping homes quiet and free from bulky equipment while centralising maintenance at municipal facilities.\nMunicipal cooling plants use large industrial chillers to cool air to around 10-15°C before dehumidifying it and distributing it through heavily insulated underground ducts. The chilled air travels from the main plant to neighbourhoods, then to individual buildings. Cold air naturally sinks, so floor-level vents provide effective cooling without requiring fans or blowers. Warm air returns through ceiling vents or passive circulation, creating a natural convection cycle.\nIndividual homes contain only simple floor grates with sliding dampers, which residents open or close to control cooling. There are no compressors, no refrigerants, no electrical controls and no maintenance required at the household level. Residential units typically receive 2-4 floor vents depending on size, whilst houses have 4-6 vents distributed throughout living spaces. Large apartment buildings and commercial structures often operate their own cooling plants using the same principle.\nSystem Type Coverage Typical Capacity Maintenance Municipal Plant 10,000-50,000 homes Industrial chillers, 15-25°C output 3-5 technicians Neighbourhood Plant 500-2,000 homes Mid-scale chillers, 12-18°C output 1-2 technicians Building System Single large building Dedicated chillers, variable output Building staff District cooling faces several limitations. Infrastructure requirements mean the system must be designed into buildings from construction, making retrofitting impractical. Thermal losses occur during distribution despite insulation. Humidity control demands pre-conditioning of air at the plant to prevent condensation. Variable demand across the network requires pressure regulation through small booster stations at distribution points. In scattered rural communities or smaller islands where infrastructure costs outweigh benefits the insulated pipes often travel above ground.\nVekllei\u0026rsquo;s postwar reconstruction allowed district cooling to be incorporated into new housing developments across tropical republics. Major cities in Kairi, Karu and Barbados operate large municipal plants serving tens of thousands of homes, whilst smaller island republics may have neighbourhood-scale systems. Municipal cooling plants employ small teams of technicians who maintain the chillers, monitor the distribution network and respond to pressure or temperature issues as part of regular municipal infrastructure service.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/district-cooling/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 979,
  "href": "/factbook/state/documents/",
  "title": "Documents","icon": "📄","color": "pink",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "The Vekllei Document System is an internal circular provided by the Government of Vekllei to direct policy.",
  "content": " ⚠️ This list is evolving, and will be expanded in future. The Vekllei Document System is an internal circular provided by the Government of Vekllei to direct policy. They do not represent policy in depth \u0026ndash; rather, documents are issued discretely to relevant ministries and outline the direction or spirit of policy. Historically, they announce major events and actions. Documentst 📄Document No. 1: Communiqué on the Establishment of the 4th Commonwealth 📄Document No. 7: Communiqué on the Establishment of Government Schools 📄Document No. 9: Communiqué on the Establishment of the VKIM ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/documents/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 980,
  "href": "/millmint/dev.dolls/",
  "title": "Dolls","icon": "🧍‍♀️","color": "indigo",
  "section": "MillMint",
  "description": "Stories of life and living in the country of Vekllei.",
  "content": " This program is a development build and is not ready for release. 📂 Download Image 📋 Copy Image to Clipboard 🙂 Download Profile Picture ← → Faces ← My nav ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 981,
  "href": "/millmint/dolls/",
  "title": "Dolls","icon": "🧍‍♀️","color": "indigo",
  "section": "MillMint",
  "description": "Stories of life and living in the country of Vekllei.",
  "content": " Create-a-Character V2 is in active development and coming soon. It will be much improved and will have many cool new items. Stay tuned. \u0026ndash; 18 May 2025\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 982,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/dsre/",
  "title": "DSRE","logo": "/svg/logos/DSRE.svg","icon": "🔬","color": "defence",
  "section": "Ministry of Defence",
  "description": "The Defence Science Research Establishment is a constituent research organisation of SIRO dedicated to military, armament, chemical and aerospace research.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Defence Science Research Establishment (DSRE) is a research organisation of the Ministry of Defence. It is a part of SIRO and is the primary government military research organisation in Vekllei. It is also the largest constituent research establishment of SIRO, and has nearly 25,000 employees across many offices, research complexes, and secure facilities.\nThe DSRE has extensive connections throughout the Commonwealth defence industry, and regularly collaborates with industry here and abroad. It is a major contributor to Vekllei sciences and several DSRE inventions have trickled down to the public, including the permanent pleat and instaskin.\nExecutive Council # Director, DSRE Chief Defence Scientist Officer for Strategic Policy Secretary for Ordnance Secretary for Procurement, Bureau of Supply Chairman, DSRE Industry Board Director, Defence Research Intelligence Establishment Director, SIRO Departments # General Headquarters Office of Control Authority Office of Research Culture \u0026amp; Personnel Office of Research Ethics Office of Security Office of Strategic Policy Office of the Chief Defence Scientist Department of Chemical, Viral \u0026amp; Nuclear Defence Defence Chemical Laboratories Defence Viral Laboratories Nuclear Weapons Secure Research Complex Radiological \u0026amp; Nuclear Defence Laboratories Department of Combat Operations Analysis Combat Fatigue Research Centre Combat Psychology Laboratory Department of Defence Propulsion \u0026amp; Energy Defence Combustion Fuel Laboratories Defence Nuclear Propulsion Laboratories Department of Defence Signals Defence Communications Laboratories Defence Surveillance Laboratories Electric Defence Laboratories Electric Sensors Development Facility Department of Defence Sustainment Defence Food \u0026amp; Nutrition Laboratories Defence Personnel Materials Laboratories Department of Ordnance Ballistics Laboratories Defence Weapons Simulation \u0026amp; Training Complex Missile \u0026amp; Rocketry Laboratories Ordnance Laboratories Telemetry \u0026amp; Fire Control Laboratories Commonwealth Small Arms Testing Range Department of Robots \u0026amp; Automatics Defence Combat Robot Laboratories Defence Procurement \u0026amp; Manufacturing Research Complex Department of Vehicle \u0026amp; Machine Research Defence Aerospace Laboratories Defence Logistics Laboratories Defence Marine Laboratories Defence Satellite Complex Defence Territorial Laboratories Boards \u0026amp; Commissions # DSRE Industry Board: Partner representatives from industry for public-private research. Defence Research Intelligence Establishment: Counter-espionage organisation joined with the Security Parliament ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/DSRE/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 983,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/east-india/",
  "title": "East India","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/ei-4x3.svg","icon": "🌊","rgb": "233, 128, 5",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "East India is an island country in the easternmost edge of the Bay of Bengal. It comprises more than 300 islands, only a few of which are inhabited.",
  "content": "The East Indian Socialist Republic (also East India) is an island country in the easternmost edge of the Bay of Bengal. Comprising more than 300 islands, East India constitutes the boundary between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the East. Port Blair on South Andaman Island is its largest city and capital. Its many tropical islands are home to 540,000 people.\nAlthough East India consists of hundreds islands and islets, only about three dozen have human settlements. The archipelago has a hot, wet tropical climate moderated by sea breezes. The majority of its islands are covered by thick tropical forest, which receive heavy rains in the monsoon season between May and September. The islands are home to a few native mammals, including pigs and deer, but are most known for the dense and largely undocumented indigenous flora. Its seas are plentiful with fish, turtles, sea snakes, and crocodiles.\nEast India consists of two island groups: the Andamans, in its North, which number more than 300 islands and are home to the majority of its population, and the Nicobars, in its South, which number 19 islands. They are separated by the Ten Degree Channel.\nThe Andamans are rough and hilly, with little flat land except in a few valleys. The Nicobars contain most of the republic\u0026rsquo;s fresh water, and are more diverse in terrain.\nAs a historical trade link between the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia, East India was visited by many historic travellers between East and West, including 9th Century Arab traders and Marco Polo. It was claimed in the 18th Century by Denmark, which later sold its claim to the UK after the UK had established successful colonies at Port Blair and and Rangat.\nAfter the independence of the India and the exit of the UK from South Asia, the Andaman and Nicobar islands were incorporated as a union territory of India. Unrest over the government response to the July 1955 Tsunamis compounded growing nationalist sentiment, and a referendum was forced in 1966, which resulted in independence under a coalition lead by the Nicobarese Socialist Party.\nAlthough a developing country, East India has much improved healthcare and education across its most populated islands. Long-held hostilities with the Indian mainland have fostered an independent Andamanese and Nicobarese identity, and they trade extensively with other island states in the Indian Ocean, including the Maldives. It also maintains close political, military and economic ties with Vekllei, and is a member of the COMOC.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/east-india/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 984,
  "href": "/factbook/state/education/",
  "title": "Education","logo": "/svg/logos/schools.svg","icon": "📚","rgb": "147, 71, 208",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "Education in Vekllei is life-long, diverse, and well-resourced by the government. It is also innovative and unique in its methods.",
  "content": " Overview # Education in Vekllei is life-long, diverse, compulsory in childhood and free. Although there are many types of schooling across the country, compulsory education is characterised by a hybrid system provided in a national curriculum by the Parliament of Education.\nEducation and schooling is an important part of Vekllei society, and its importance is indicated by its dedicated federal parliament. It has good outcomes for Vekllei people, and contributes to the country\u0026rsquo;s reputation as among the most literate and learned societies in the world. It has several education institutions of renown, including Vekllei National University and the Commonwealth University of the West Indies. These outcomes have seen the Vekllei model of education replicated overseas, where it is known as the Atlantic Model.\nGovernment education in Vekllei is unusually diverse, and comprises basically all schooling, including school types that would typically be private or independent in other countries. Government, or \u0026lsquo;public\u0026rsquo; schools include religious, independent and alternative schools in addition to standard municipal schools. These alternatives are an effort by the government to anticipate cultural preferences, such as operating Christian or Islamic schools in religious republics. Nonetheless, schools in Vekllei are co-educational with very few exceptions.\nEducation is a founding aspect of the 4th Commonwealth and is to be reaffirmed constantly and faithfully by all Parliaments and public servants, and to this end is to be provided for as a highest priority of the new Parliament.\n\u0026ndash; Document No. 7\nAtlantic Model of Education # The Atlantic Model is the colloquial name for the Vekllei public education system. It is a hybridised model incorporating different influences, including Ferrer and Montessori methods. The Atlantic Model places greater emphasis on personal responsibility, constructivist learning and hobbyism. A distinguishing characteristic is its emphasis on synchronous authority, which protects certain student rights but retains the premise of the teacher as a classroom authority.\nVekllei schools, including universities, employ competency-based grading. This system uses scaffolded tasks to demonstrate competence in a subject, and students are often provided more than one chance to demonstrate their ability. This system has found general success across Vekllei, and it has raised academic standards and the quality of student participation. It has also reduced anxieties about examination and testing in the classroom, and contributes significantly to the wellbeing of Vekllei students. This system does not always accredit easily with systems outside of Vekllei, which can affect post-graduate opportunities.\nAlthough the Atlantic Model incorporates progressive and alternative education methods, its structure deviates from trends common in those movements. Vekllei schools have traditional classrooms, a common student uniform, and address teachers by their surname.\nThe distinguishing characteristics of the Atlantic Model are:\nMixed-age classrooms, mostly comprising an age difference of three years Emphasis of cleanliness, ordered spaces and natural light Democratic or student-led topics and activities Emphasis of personal responsibility, improvement, and discipline Free time for work and play Physical, experiential and practical learning Competency-based rather than graded assessment Emphasis on clubs, hobbies and extracurricular activities Shared burdens like cleaning and cooking Short classroom periods broken up by changes in location and subject Tracked subject streams Activities to improve school spirit and civic identity Emphasis of self-care, growth, emotional control and appearance Organisation # Download: 📄 Document No. 7.pdf The student uniform is heavily accessorised, and varies in detail to accomodate the culture of republics | Sami Education in Vekllei has no fees, by nature of the commons, including at the secondary and tertiary level. It is funded and equipped by the Bureau of Public Education. The Curriculum \u0026amp; Qualifications Council establishes and supports the national curriculum.\nThere are many different types of school in Vekllei, but all are government-funded and adhere to the compulsory curriculum outlined by the Education Secretary. The national education uniform is compulsory for all students at both public and independent schools, and is voluntary at universities.\nState Schools State schools (also central or district schools) are administered and funded directly by a constituent republic through the Parliament of Education, and are common in cities and some high-density city-states. They are traditionally larger and better equipped, and usually provide for both primary and secondary schooling. In certain republics, state schools are also district colleges, meaning they serve students from Prep to Year 12 or 13.\nCommunity Schools Community schools (also local schools) are usually administered by a municipality, and are usually smaller than state schools. Although some community schools may combine primary and secondary schooling, most serve only primary education. Community schools may also refer to village schools, or community-run schools in the localist Vekllei tradition.\nStudio \u0026 Technical Schools Studio and technical schools typically refer to secondary schools that specialise in arts or vocational curriculums, as a means to fast-track gifted learning. These schools may offer boarding, as only a few studio and technical schools exist across the Commonwealth and smaller republics may send their students overseas to study there.\nFaith Schools Faith schools in Vekllei are affiliated with an approved religious organisation. The curriculum of faith schools have a religious character, usually Jewish or Roman Catholic. Faith schools are still required to adhere to the Commonwealth curriculum as a minimum education standard. Faith Schools are also an exception to the universal coeducational system of the Commonwealth, since two schools in Oslola and one in the Kalina Isles are single-sex boarding schools.\nBoarding Schools Vekllei offers a handful of boarding schools, which are usually specialised institutions that may operate as orphanages or for international students. Some Vekllei boarding schools include aspects of democratic education.\nEducation # Read more: Parliament of Education Vekllei people are enrolled in 9 years of compulsory education. In addition, 3 years of pre-school and 3 years of senior secondary schooling are available but not compulsory.\nCompared to schooling overseas, Vekllei education places significant value on well-roundedness and practicable household and technical skills, as well as social behaviour. Subject-based streams for specialised learning are common, but the basic compulsory Vekllei curriculum emphasises non-academic subjects and structures pre-tertiary subjects as electives. Reinforcement and learning are lead by positive rather than negative means.\nMisty morning in front of the Moshel St School | A Social Economy Vekllei has a strong tradition of school clubs and social organisations, and these are considered essential aspects of Vekllei education. Clubs and associations are usually organised by student leadership, and offer opportunities in industry and tertiary study.\nCompulsory and tertiary education is free for all Vekllei people, permanent residents and foreign workers. Homeschooling is illegal except by those holding a teaching certificate, and is supervised by a local school which issues the child\u0026rsquo;s diploma. In this context, homeschooling is almost nonexistent in the Commonwealth. About 15% of the Commonwealth Budget is allocated towards education.\nCompulsory Education # Vekllei offers preschooling from ages 3 onwards. Garden School, or kindergarten, is for 3 \u0026amp; 4 year-olds in Vekllei, and assists with the transition from home to school, followed by preparatory school, or \u0026lsquo;prep\u0026rsquo;, which is the first year of compulsory primary education.\nVekllei primary education consists of 7 years, starting with Prep at ages 5-6 and concluding with Year 6 at age 12. Secondary education lasts from years 7-12, and study until year 10 is compulsory.\nThe final year of school in Vekllei usually includes a class trip overseas, traditionally to Europe or Asia, to celebrate graduation.\nVekllei Compulsory Schooling Preschool Nursery School Garden School Preparatory School Primary School (Years 1-6) Secondary School (Years 7-10) College (Years 11-12) Tertiary Education # The Commonwealth invests heavily in tertiary education as both a social good and a product marketable overseas. Vekllei universities rank highly abroad, and education as a service is a major export of Vekllei, and contributes to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s reputation as an international capital of finance and skilled labour.\nUniversities in Vekllei offer places to students who have completed their Education Award and satisfy the prerequisites for their subject. These requirements differ between subjects, and usually include an interview with the admissions board.\nIn order to study abroad, Vekllei students must be sponsored by a foreigner, receive a partial scholarship from an overseas university, or receive funding from their tertiary place of study. About one in four Vekllei students study overseas for some period of time.\nCurriculum # Read more: Curriculum and Qualifications Council The national curriculum is the common programme of study in all Commonwealth schools, and determines standards of study across all education institutions.\nAtlantic Curriculum Arts Vekllei Languages Foreign Languages Health and Physical Education Civic Sciences and Stewardship Economics and Business World Study Political Sciences and History Mathematics Material Sciences and Electronics Work Studies Uniform # Read more: Uniforms in Vekllei Examples of Vekllei school uniform and its functional diversity | A New Generation All schools in Vekllei share a common student uniform, which can also be worn by teachers and at university. The basic components are universal, but makes no requirements about hair, piercings or makeup. In addition, the basic uniform is often heavily accessorised with cultural elements approved by the school. These include elements like hats, belts, overskirt pleats, clothing items and armbands, but these are added to the existing uniform and do not typically modify the base components.\nExamples of Caribbean Commonwealth school uniform featuring local dress. | Caribbean Uniforms The basic uniform is simple and purchased independently, usually from department stores. The only badged items are the tie and jewellery/pins. It is worn across all ages of schooling, including tertiary education and university, and by some teachers as well.\nBoys Girls Top White collared shirt, tucked shirttails Black school tie Navy cape or mackintosh raincoat Navy jumper or sweater Navy blazer or sports jacket White blouse, tucked shirttails Black or red school tie or floral piece Navy cape, pettycape or mackintosh raincoat Navy jumper or sweater Navy pinafore or gymslip Bottom Navy trousers or shorts Dark or brown belt Navy skirt, shorts or trousers Dark or brown belt Shoes Dark or brown leather shoes White sneakers or tennis shoes Dark socks Dark or brown leather shoes White sneakers or tennis shoeswhite socks The uniform system was created in 2015 by French migrant Charles-Édouard Laurent to be accessible and comfortable, and so that individual items could continue to be worn after schooling concluded. It is iconic overseas and well-regarded by most Vekllei students.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/education/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 985,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-light-and-water/emergency-light-and-water-authority/",
  "title": "Emergency Light and Water Authority","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-light-and-water.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "lightandwater",
  "section": "Ministry of Light \u0026 Water",
  "description": "The Emergency Light \u0026 Water Authority manages utility security and disaster preparation for the Ministry of Light and Water.",
  "content": "The Emergency Light and Water Authority (EVA) is a specialised department of the Ministry of Light and Water designed to mitigate interruption to electricity and water supply. Its mandate includes the security of utility infrastructure and disaster preparation. In the event of major interruption to the utilities supervised by the Ministry, the EVA would assume direct control of the Hydro and Thunderburos and coordinate their recovery. Threats include both natural disasters like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, as well as damage from conventional or nuclear war.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/emergency-light-and-water-authority/","/emergency-light-\u0026-water-authority/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 986,
  "href": "/millmint/essays/",
  "title": "Essays","icon": "📄","color": "blue",
  "section": "MillMint",
  "description": "",
  "content": " /Essays/ holds an archive of the things that I (Hobart) have written over the years. I have a background in journalism and media criticism, which doesn\u0026rsquo;t bode well for the quality of the essays linked below. My favourites are Not Long in Hong Kong, an angry reflection on my time in Hong Kong, and A Universal Nostalgia, my honours thesis on utopian spatiality in the films of Studio Ghibli \u0026ndash; mostly used as evidence of my love of Ghibli. 🍜 A Cashless Tokyo 💸 A Social Economy 🫧 Ghibli ☂️ Hong Kong 💸 On Moneylessness 🏔️ The West Coast of Tasmania ☕️ Utopie Concrète 🍾 Waugh ♀ Women, Vekllei ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/essays/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 987,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antarctic/falklands/",
  "title": "Falklands","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/fk-4x3.svg","icon": "🦀","rgb": "60, 122, 184",
  "section": "Antarctic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Falklands is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the South Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Falklands Republic Archipelago of the Falklands Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Antarctic Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 12,173 km² Capital Stanley Languages English Population 48,682 The Falklands Republic is a constituent republic in the South Atlantic Ocean, and part of the commonwealth of Antarctica. A densely vegetated, though treeless country comprising two main islands and hundreds of smaller ones, the Falklands is among the southernmost Vekllei republics. It is located around 400km northeast of the southern tip of South America.\nFour-fifths of its British-descended population live in the capital, Stanley, and the remainder are mostly sheep farmers. The Falklands are a major producer of real lamb in Vekllei, and Falklanders consume on average much more non-synthesised meat than other Vekllei republics.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/falklands/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 988,
  "href": "/intro/faq/",
  "title": "FAQ","icon": "🎙",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/railfan.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/railfan_hu933c68ef21c2957cac4fff8196aa4b42_2238992_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "pink",
  "section": "Intro",
  "description": "",
  "content": " This is the Epoch of Rest # These stories are about good places and people. They take place in a fictional state called Vekllei, which is an Atlantic country that does not use money. The point of this project is to take the purity of that idea seriously, and immerse a place of wonder in the real world.\nSo this is Utopia,\nIs it? Well — I beg your pardon;\nI thought it was Hell.\n\u0026ndash; Max Beerbohm\n\u0026lsquo;Immersing\u0026rsquo; something in the real world means things get dirty, break, and fall apart. A utopia doesn\u0026rsquo;t have to be perfect, but it should be an authentic \u0026lsquo;social dream\u0026rsquo;. This style of world-building is called utopie concrète, and is the way Vekllei is built.\nI define the broad, general phenomenon of utopianism as social dreaming \u0026ndash; the dreams and nightmares that concern the ways in which groups of people arrange their lives and which usually envision a radically different society than the one in which the dreamers live. But not all are radical, for some people at any time dream of something basically familiar.\n\u0026ndash; Lyman Sargent 1\nThat\u0026rsquo;s the gist of it. Vekllei is a fictional country that demonstrates good things through drawing and writing about it. It\u0026rsquo;s part-escapism, part-fantasy, and all good.\nThis website is a comprehensive archive and open notebook for the stories of Vekllei and its people.\nStudio MillMint millmint.net /factbook/ is an online wiki of Vekllei its people /millmint/ is for everything outside of it /stories/ is for illustrated snapshots of life in Vekllei What is Vekllei? # Main article: Vekllei No differently will the world one day appear, almost unchanged, in its constant feast-day light, when it stands no longer under the law of labour, and when for homecomers duty has the lightness of holiday play.\n–Theodor Adorno, Minima Moralia\nVekllei (pronounced \u0026lsquo;Veck-lie,\u0026rsquo; or /vƐk.laɪ/) is an island country set in what we know as Iceland. Vekllei is its own country, and does not look or feel like Iceland. It has unique cultures, ethnicites, and landscapes. It is an old country, having been settled for thousands of years by native Algic peoples and Scandinavians. It is also a new county, having suffered a nuclear attack at the beginning of the 21st Century which extinguished much of its old civil society.\nBy the mid-21st century, Vekllei has become a remarkable place. Quality of life is excellent and living there is unlike living anywhere else on Earth. The country is an ambitious expression of alternate modes of thinking, visible in every aspect of society, from its bizarre moneyless economy to its complicated cultural and religious metaphysics.\nHere are some quick facts about Vekllei and the state of the world in the mid-21st Century.\nVekllei takes place in a fictional retrofuture, where some technologies have advanced in different ways. Most computers in Vekllei are centralised, connected to via terminals. In this sense, they are both more and less advanced than contemporary personal computing. In other technologies, like aerospace, the world is undeniably more advanced. Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s future retains the cold war from the previous century. The U.S.S.R. stiill exists, as do emerging political divisions across Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s future remains heavily influenced by midcentury modernist styles. Although Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s unique history has influenced its region for thousands of years, most major diversions from our own timeline occur shortly after the Second World War. So get going. This website is an open notebook of the thing I love. If you like world-building, art, and strange corners of the web, you\u0026rsquo;ll find something to like here.\nWhy Utopia? # Vekllei is a jumble of very pure, obsessive instincts that are illustrated to make them look and feel real. I want to take purity seriously by considering its implications in the real world. Vekllei does not use money \u0026ndash; a very straightforward and fantastical idea. Of course, moneylessness has extraordinary implications, and to maintain the purity of the idea we have to work very hard.\nSimplicity is actually very complicated, and so Vekllei is very complicated to justify the simplicity. It\u0026rsquo;s filled with things I value and people I admire. You\u0026rsquo;ll find hundreds of posts and many articles on this site, and all of them are designed to make this place and its people feel real.\nJust a few things to keep in mind:\nThis place is iterative \u0026ndash; canon disappears, people change appearance and the systems of Vekllei twist and turn as I do. This place is good-spirited \u0026ndash; Vekllei is escapism, and although the dark accompanies the light, this project is supposed to be escapist and fun. This place is constantly expanding \u0026ndash; I try out new styles, mediums and methods of distribution all the time. Some of them work, some of them don\u0026rsquo;t. That\u0026rsquo;s part of the fun of it! In addition:\nVekllei is a utopia, but that doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean I don\u0026rsquo;t take it seriously or consider its society pragmatically. It\u0026rsquo;s full of stuff I love, but that doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean it\u0026rsquo;s perfect. Personal growth can come from bad experiences. I draw in certain styles, but Vekllei isn\u0026rsquo;t based off any one country. Vekllei is mostly self-contained stories, but I experiment with mediums and methods all the time. F.A.Q. # Frequently Asked Questions Who are you? # A Tasmanian illustrator.\nWhy is Vekllei a utopia? # It makes me feel better about my life and the world. It’s escapism; it’s a dream.\nIt’s a bit cringe to grandstand your political beliefs, doncha think? # Vekllei is a personal utopia. That’s what I’m selling. At least you’re getting good opinions.\nWhere’s the tension if it’s perfect? # Vekllei can be cynical and tragic in places. Utopia is more than just idealistic fantasy, and can contain bad things.\nIs there a novel? A story? A comic? # I’m working on a comic right now. I’m pretty much working on Vekllei full-time so I’m hoping to announce it soon. I’ve got a lot of different Vekllei projects going.\nWhere is Vekllei? # Iceland.\nIs your alt-history thought out? # Vekllei’s history is whatever I need it to be. I’m always trying to be realistic, but it’s all worked backwards from the setting. I’m not really “world-building” in the way some might understand it. Very little of it is published, most of it is retrieved on request. Just ask if you have questions.\nWhy does Vekllei call itself “petticoat socialist”? # Vekllei is set in a culture of Marxist revivalism in the 50s and 60s. A lot of Vekllei’s lexicon is set in that context. Vekllei is a decentralised democracy that doesn’t use money. It’s a sort of participatory economy. It\u0026rsquo;s almost anarchic in that sense.\nWhy the \u0026ldquo;petticoat\u0026rdquo;? # Vekllei is a female country. Womanhood is decommodified. It\u0026rsquo;s maternal, social and friendly where progressive utopian rhetoric is masculine, technocratic and historicist.\nWho is Zelda? # Zelda is another name for Tzipora. She has two names specifically to confuse you.\n🔗Join the Patreon.\n🔗Join the Discord.\nBe \u0026ldquo;petticoat\u0026rdquo;.\nFuther Reading # For those curious about what sort of things go into a place like Vekllei, these are some of my favourite books. I\u0026rsquo;ve been asked about them before, so I\u0026rsquo;ve included this section in the hopes you enjoy them as much as I have. There are many more than these, so if you\u0026rsquo;re interested, contact me. I\u0026rsquo;ll update this list periodically as more occur to me.\nOn the Origins of Modern Japanese Literature\nKaratani Kojin | 1993\nKaratani interrogates the appearance of Western conceptual artefacts (Landscape, The Child, Interiority) during the Meiji period in Japan. This book had a tremendous impact on my assumptions about the world and affected Vekllei tremendously.\nStarting Point \u0026amp; Turning Point\nMiyazaki Hayao | 2009 \u0026amp; 2014\nThese books are essentially a compilation of essays from Miyazaki\u0026rsquo;s years as a filmmaker. He\u0026rsquo;s an incredibly smart and insightful creative force whose work I have written at length about before. For me, it\u0026rsquo;s all really powerful, affecting stuff.\nThree Faces of Utopianism Revisited\nLyman Sargent | 1994\nThis is the defining taxonomical look at the phenomena of utopianism and how it works. His breakdown of \u0026lsquo;utopia\u0026rsquo; into both dystopian and eutopian elements is also my preffered descriptor and use of \u0026lsquo;utopia\u0026rsquo; as a concept.\nTowards a New Architecture\nLe Corbusier | 1936\nVekllei is a postmodern mess, but also deeply sympathetic to the modernist instinct. I like the utopianism of the 20th Century, and Le Corbusier typifies that \u0026lsquo;utopian\u0026rsquo; futurism we saw in that period. I like how single-minded he is about it. His buildings remain beautiful, many years on.\nSargent, L.T., 1994. The Three Faces of Utopianism Revisited. Utopian studies, 5(1), p.3.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/faq/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 989,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/federal-republic-of-the-americas/",
  "title": "Federal Republic of the Americas","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/fra-4x3.svg","icon": "🌞","rgb": "78, 144, 212",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "The Federal Republic of the Americas is a country in central America, comprising a contiguous area between Mexico's southern border and Colombia.",
  "content": " Federal Republic of the Americas Capital Santa Maria Languages Spanish, English, Mayan, and many other indigenous languages and creoles Population 42,822,215 The Federal Republic of the Americas (F.R.A.) is a country in central America, forming a contiguous stretch of territory between Mexico and Colombia, interrupted by the United States Panama Canal Zone. It comprises a number of historic colonial territories, including the Captaincy of Guatemala and the Viceroyalty of Panama. It has strong Spanish and indigenous heritage, and includes among its citizens hundreds of unique fusion cultures and indigenous communities.\nThe FRA is a parliamentary democracy, and has a strong republican tradition. Although it has much in common with the colonial histories of South America, disputes over trade areas and migrants have soured relations with Colombia and Venezuala. The FRA trades closely with Mexico, the U.S., Peru and Vekllei. It contests ownership over the Panama Canal with the United States.\nAs a federal country, the FRA is made up of nine states with regional parliaments and capitals. The federal capital is Santa Maria, a planned city on the isthmus west of Lake Nicaragua.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/fra/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 990,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/municipal-industry/federal-timekeeping/",
  "title": "Federal Timekeeping","logo": "/svg/logos/federal-timekeeping.svg","icon": "⏱️","rgb": "255, 151, 0",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/wristwatch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/wristwatch_huae3dcbb6e95f5de98ff08326f5f3b003_9224290_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Municipal Industry",
  "description": "Federal Timekeeping is a watchmaker in Vekllei. It is a municipalised cooperative made up of many constituent workshops.",
  "content": " Federal Timekeeping Municipal Corporation of Vekllei Employees 1,200 Founded Various, recently 2020 Headquarters Velas Industry Watchmaking Revenue AK ✾ 2 billion Traded FTK Federal Timekeeping (trading as Federal) is an intermunicipal cooperative watchmaker in Vekllei. It comprises about a dozen different watchmakers, each with their own specialisations, style and history. When producing timepieces for the government (as in the case of service watches or student graduation watches), the individual pieces are produced to a common spec and branded under the Federal label. Otherwise, constituent watchmakers generally retain their own branding.\nBetween the constituent watchmakers of Federal, almost every type of timepiece is represented. Halibut was the historic supplier of the Oslolan Navy and specialises mostly in pocket watches and a traditional house style of timepiece movements. Others, like Quartz, specialise in quartz oscillators and semi-electric wristwatches. Oslola and Kala have a tradition of watchmaking dating back centuries, but much of Federal machining and production now occurs in Velas, where it is headquartered.\nTimepiece and clock manufacturing is centralised on an industrial, automatic scale in Velas, and so constituent watchmakers generally serve as designers. Hand-built watches, while especially desirable, are exceptionally rare in Vekllei and mostly available only to the members and families of the industry. Soothing the lost romance of the hand-built wristwatch is the general quality and availability of timepieces in Vekllei, which are widely available at no cost to the public and which are manufactured as rewards for service and success.\nA small number of Federal wristwatches are exported each year, and Federal constituent watchmakers have close relationships with global watchmakers. They are highly sought after by enthusiasts but mostly unknown to the general public. All Federal movements currently meet the Swiss Chronometer Certificate.\nConstituent Watchmakers of Federal Timekeeping\nHalibut Oslola: Historic Oslolan watchmaker dating back to the 17th Century. Specialises in pocket watches and large clock movements. Orchard \u0026amp; Rhodes Oslola: Popular sports wristwatch brand. Atlantic Movements Oslola: Specialist watchmaker that mostly designs movements for other manufacturers. General Chronometer Kairi: Military and heavy-duty wristwatch manufacturer. Africa Java: Lifestyle wristwatch brand. Royal: Upscale and luxury-styled wristwatch brand. Famous for its Royal Movement. Quartz Velas: Wristwatch manufacturer specialising in quartz-oscillating watches. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/federal-timekeeping/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 991,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/federal-class/",
  "title": "Federal-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/battleship.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/battleship_hu3f68ccf21ef18eba290b70d30811e5bb_2566977_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Federal-Class is a class of battleship in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Federal-class Battleship Battleship Built 2027-37 Class Federal-class Crew 1,100 Displacement 50,000 tonnes InService 1 Length 260 meters Service Maritime Service Speed 35 knots Station NS Oslola Oslola The Federal-class battleship is a class of battleship of the Marine Services of Vekllei. The class is a modern take on the traditional battleship, repurposed for fire support roles in amphibious operations and naval engagements. With a displacement of 45,000 tons and a length of 260 meters, it is one of the largest non-carrier surface combatants in the world, designed to deliver sustained heavy firepower in support of ground forces, as well as against naval and coastal targets.\nThe battleship is powered by two NMPR reactors, enabling a top speed of 26 knots. The ship is designed for long-range operations with minimal logistical support, and employs autonomous systems with onboard replenishment capabilities. A crew of 1,100 operates the Federal-class, with most personnel working in fire control and aircraft operations.\nThe Federal-class is heavily armed with six 406 mm (16-inch) naval guns, housed in two triple turrets. These guns are capable of providing long-range bombardment of shore targets and enemy vessels. It has several other smaller guns for close-in and flak defence. The ship also features two large twin-arm launch-rail systems capable of fielding No. 2 Lancet cruise missiles, among a variety of other large anti-ship missiles and rocket-launched torpedos. For defence, the class is equipped with a mix of short-range anti-air missiles and CIWS to counter incoming missile threats. The Federal-class also includes a range of medium and long-range torpedoes, fired from launchers in its midship.\nThe Federal-class retains a complement of helijets \u0026ndash; a hybrid aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) operations, combining the roles of helicopters and jet fighters. The ship’s flight deck, located aft, can accommodate up to six helijets that are typically used for reconnaissance, air support, and anti-submarine warfare.\nThe Federal-class primarily serves in a fire support role, delivering heavy bombardment during amphibious operations or coastal sieges. It is also capable of engaging in surface combat, providing area defence for larger task groups. While its role in modern naval warfare is more specialised compared to earlier eras, the Federal-class is a formidable platform for sustained, high-volume firepower in maritime and littoral zones. Its size and armament also imposes a significant psychological effect, a reputation readily exploited by the Marine Services during shore bombardment trials. The only vessel of its class, CVN Commonwealth, serves with the Commonwealth Fleet.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/federal-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 992,
  "href": "/factbook/state/federalisation/",
  "title": "Federalisation","icon": "💮","color": "pink",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "Federalisation is the term for the process of integrating of a new country into the Vekllei Commonwealth.",
  "content": "Federalisation is the term for the process of integrating of a new country into the Vekllei Commonwealth. It is a shorthand for all aspects of integration, including the construction of new buildings, ratification of new laws and accession to the Vekllei Constitution and the restructuring of the government. It concludes with the establishment of a commons and the abolishment of common money through a process of hyperinflation.\nAfter the challenging federalisation of the Azores in the early 2020s, changes were made to the process to extend its length and reduce its immediate scope.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/federalisation/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 993,
  "href": "/millmint/fiction/",
  "title": "Fiction","icon": "📖","color": "blue",
  "section": "MillMint",
  "description": "A collection of short stories set in the fictional country of Vekllei.",
  "content": "This is a collection of short stories set in Vekllei.\n📄 Cherry 📄 Dance 📄 Poetry ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/fiction/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 994,
  "href": "/factbook/state/finance/",
  "title": "Finance","icon": "💵","color": "pink",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "Despite the effective moneylessness of their daily lives, Vekllei industry and government engages extensively with finance and international markets.",
  "content": " Even if they do not use money, Vekllei people do have finances and engage with markets, maintain business relations and acquire financial instruments for upward mobility. The Vekllei state, on the other hand, is an enthusiastic participant in the global financial system and uses its considerable advantages enabled by the isolated moneyless Vekllei economy to accomplish its strategic political interests. Overview # The colloquial turn-of-phrase for the domestic Vekllei economy is \u0026ldquo;functionally moneyless,\u0026rdquo; but the actual mechanisms of the internal Vekllei market is considerably more complex. While the average Vekllei person is insulated from money and money-management, their Commonwealth is a major entrepôt1 and has a reputation as an \u0026ldquo;Atlantic Middleman.\u0026rdquo; Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s facilitation of frictionless free trade, large foreign-exchange reserves and received foreign direct investments have resulted in decades of consistent economic growth, and has cemented its reputation as a financial hub between Europe and the Americas.\nVekllei\u0026rsquo;s history as a trade hub contributes significantly to its perceived neutrality and its reputation as a meeting place for politics and business, and regularly hosts diplomatic missions as a neutral site. It maintains its moneyless primary economy by effectively isolating its primary (domestic) and secondary (international) markets, which are the reason for its twin currencies and its unusual hybrid market system. Because the Vekllei state manages all money as a function of its moneylessness, the international market and foreign trade is strongly characterised by dirigism and fundamentally beholden to the economic management of the Ministry of Commerce, which acts as both a financial regulator and investment bank.\nMarkets # Read more: Ministry of Commerce Domestic Markets # The Vekllei Domestic Market is the turn-of-phrase for the unmoneyed Vekllei economy, including almost all private and public businesses and the majority of trade conducted by ordinary Vekllei people. It is the primary market of Vekllei. For most Vekllei people, the domestic market is the only one with which they will interact in their lives, except for the occasional holiday overseas. The Domestic Market includes all sectors of the Vekllei economy except state trade apparatuses like VKIM.\nWhile the participatory nature of the Domestic Market affects its gross productivity, it is regarded as free, innovative and dynamic. It has a skilled workforce benefitted by a robust education system and a high quality of life. About 40% of Vekllei people were born overseas, and some 15% of the Vekllei workforce remain foreign workers. Foreign workers, unlike domestic ones, are remunerated unless residing under an immigration visa.\nIndustrial Markets # Vekllei Industrial Markets are distinguished by their ability to trade in both the moneyless Domestic Market and the VKIM. There are two kinds of industrial firm in Vekllei:\nSenrouive: private enterprises Venrouive: public enterprises with membership in an industrial bureau Venrouive (also known as public companies in Vekllei) are enterprises beholden to industrial bureaus, which are collections of companies with close relations and hold membership in a shared industrial council. Venrouive businesses are characterised by large-scale enterprises, some of which may be state-owned, that hold considerable power over a market. In some cases, a bureau may monopolise a market, as in the case of the Vekllei telecommunications industry.\nBoth senrouive and venrouive companies may participate in the international market, but only bureaus (and by extension, participating venrouive companies) may trade directly with overseas governments and enterprises.\nInternational Markets # Download 📄 Document No. 9.pdf The Vekllei International Market (VKIM) is an organisation that controls the capital, commodities and securities markets of Vekllei. VKIM is maintained by the Ministry of Commerce as a mechanism for foreign investors and merchants to interact with the isolated, unmoneyed Vekllei domestic market. The international market includes a commodities exchange, derivatives marketplace and other structured financial products that facilitate foreign activity in the Vekllei economy and raise foreign capital for the national liquid currency reserves. VKIM uses the Vekllei Composite Index as a measure of the Vekllei economy, which measures both commodity value and productivity.\nThe International Market is the means by which the capital account2 of the Commonwealth Government implements its long-standing macroeconomic interest in foreign investment and soft power. The reinvestment of capital surplus in the Vekllei currencies serves as a form of sterilisation and capital control, controlled directly by the central Commonwealth Bank. Vekllei has the world\u0026rsquo;s 2nd-largest foreign currency reserves.\nCurrency # Read more: The Vekllei Crown Vekllei has two currencies that are more or less opposed in their use as money, known as the twin crowns system. The Vekllei Crown (❦VK) is a gold-backed, fixed-rate deflationary currency used primarily as a wealth reserve, and the Government Crown (✾AK) is a fiat, floating-exchange currency used for foreign investment and trade. This system preserves the isolation of the Vekllei primary economy, which is moneyless, while insulating state investments from shocks and from having to burn liquidity to maintain its exchange rate.\nTogether, the twin crowns allow for the Vekllei state to retain unprecedented control over its financial system while securing a mechanism for foreign investment and growth.\nThe domestic market is autarkic and does not have free capital exchange, allowing it to maintain its fixed price and independent monetary policy The international market is open and has free capital exchange, facilitated by ✾AK floating exchange price with policy independence maintained by capital controls from the Ministry of Commerce. For a variety of political and economic reasons, the Vekllei Commonwealth state aims to be self-sufficient. The twin crowns system provides a means to isolate its productive primary economy while also allowing foreign money controlled access to it. The unmoneyed primary economy remains a popular investment for its stability.3 As capital controls have broken down in the mid-2030s, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s current macroeconomic policy exists as a \u0026ldquo;third way\u0026rdquo; between closed autarky and recent trends towards an open economic international market.\nVekllei Crown (❦VK) # The Vekllei Kroner (lit. Vekllei Crown) is the primary and historic currency of Vekllei. It is minted by the Commonwealth Mint as a souvenir in the tradition of Vekllei medals,4 but is not otherwise used by Vekllei people as money or transacted in day-to-day life. It is primarily a deflationary currency store backed by gold, and to which each Vekllei citizen is entitled an equal share in emigration. It is not able to be used on the VKIM directly, but can be purchased as a White Bond as a speculative instrument. It is also used in some cases as a mechanism for trade with individuals abroad, mostly by smaller banks looking to broker purchases of goods or services unavailable in Vekllei.\nGovernment Crown (✾AK) # The Government/Commonwealth Kroner (also the Atlantic Kroner or Crown) is a twin currency used primarily by the state to insure financial instruments like bonds as well as for converting and placing foreign investments and currency. The Government Crown operates on a floating exchange rate as a fiat currency tradeable in the VKIM and a means for overseas actions in the Vekllei economy.\nThe ✾AK is not minted as it does not resemble a conventional currency, and exists only in bonds, state certificates, and as a metric for some commodity money. It has a strong reputation as a hard currency because of the ✾AK\u0026rsquo;s relative security and reliability, backed by powerful domestic institutions.\nBanking # Read more: Commonwealth Bank The policy of bank consolidation under the British Occupation Government continued under the successive Floral Government, and banking was among the first industries in Vekllei to be completely socialised.5 All banks in Vekllei are run as state-owned enterprises, and subordinated to the \u0026lsquo;Old Lady,\u0026rsquo; the colloquial name for the central Commonwealth Bank. \u0026lsquo;Unbanking\u0026rsquo; policy \u0026ndash; the effective demonetisation of the Vekllei domestic markets \u0026ndash; saw severe disruption to the Vekllei economy and led to a period of hyperinflation in the late 2010s.\nUnlike in other countries, the socialisation of banking in Vekllei also saw the broad exclusion of retail investors and savings banking, effectively halting money exchange in the domestic market and institutionalising the Vekllei banking system. Today, most Vekllei banks are institutional and deal primarily with the secondary speculative markets like VKIM, or provide lending and contracts for new businesses in the industrial market.\nBank of Vekllei # The Bank of Vekllei (also Labour Bank of Vekllei and Old Lady) is Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s central bank with a constitutionally-granted monopoly on the financial mechanisms of the Commonwealth, with nearly all Commonwealth banking firms subordinated to its organisation. It is responsible directly to the Treasury and sets the monetary policy of Vekllei. It is primarily a macroeconomic institution that does not deal directly with the primary or secondary markets, but does over institutional banking services and complex financing for some markets in the Commonwealth.\nPersonal Banking # Despite the functional moneylessness of the Commonwealth, banks do facilitate financial transactions with the common Vekllei person. Aside from its policy features (like holiday allowances and emigration stipends), most trade arrangements operate in the bank system, usually through the Sisterbank. Sisterbank (formally the Petty Bank of Vekllei) is a merchant bank that specialises in industrial brokerage, allowing small businesses to trade with others and stimulate economic activity. Vekllei persons looking to start a restaurant, workshop or store generally do so through the Sisterbank, which assigns a bank agent and enters the business in its internal market ledger. Not all small business in Vekllei is conducted through the an agent, but certain types of industries (particularly businesses involved in manufacturing) are almost all banked with Sisterbank.\nIn addition to government banks, money bureaus (also Money Unions) are a form of cooperative credit union premised on private business associations and securitised lending, and are common in Vekllei agriculture.\nInstitutional Banking # Investment banking is provided primarily by the Commonwealth Bank of Vekllei (COMMBANK), which offers placement and settling services for bureaus seeking to engage with the International market. COMMBANK also arranges debt financing, underwriting and distribution services for overseas partners. COMMBANK also serves as the central bank of the Kalina Isles. In addition, the Bank of Vekllei maintains several subsidiaries dedicated to special financial products, like low-interest domestic infrastructure financing or overseas trade and investment.\nAn entrepôt is a port where merchandise is stored and traded, often before being exported again.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe Commonwealth capital account runs at a deficit as part of a post-war investment policy called \u0026lsquo;Handshake Accounting,\u0026rsquo; which sees tremendous surplus state capital invested overseas.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nForeign investment in the primary economy is usually made in the form of state-backed Blue Bonds\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nMedallions, or medals, are a cultural feature in Vekllei used in spiritual ceremonies, as awards, and as a material novelty or trinket.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n\u0026lsquo;Municipalised,\u0026rsquo; in Vekllei political lexicon.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/finance/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 995,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/private-industry/firewalk/",
  "title": "Firewalk","logo": "/svg/logos/firewalk.svg","icon": "🛞","rgb": "255, 102, 0",
  "section": "Private Industry",
  "description": "Firewalk is a tyre manufacturer in Vekllei, producing tyres for bicycles, automobiles and aircraft. It originated as a subsidiary of Firestone before independence.",
  "content": " Firewalk Private Corporation of Vekllei Employees 8,340 Founded 2022 Headquarters Oslola Industry Tyres \u0026 rubber products Revenue AK ✾ 4.2 billion Traded FWK ScL Firewalk S.c.L. is a tyre and rubber products manufacturer in Vekllei, producing tyres for bicycles, mopeds, automobiles and aircraft. Originally established as Firestone Vekllei during British occupation, the company was spun off as an independent entity during the transition to Commonwealth independence in 2022.\nThe company maintains technical licensing agreements with Firestone, allowing it to manufacture certain tyre designs and access research facilities in exchange for royalty payments in Government Crowns. This arrangement has proven beneficial for both parties, with Firewalk gaining established technology and Firestone retaining a presence in the Atlantic market without direct investment.\nFirewalk\u0026rsquo;s primary business centres on bicycle and moped tyres, which account for nearly 70% of units sold. The ubiquity of the Gina Motoral created sustained demand for affordable, durable tyres suited to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s varied terrain and climate. The company\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;Cloudwalk\u0026rdquo; bicycle tyre remains the most common tyre fitted to personal and municipal cyclepool bikes across the Commonwealth.\nThe company operates two manufacturing facilities. Its headquarters in Oslola houses the main production line and research division, whilst a smaller plant in Kairi focuses on specialty tyres for agricultural and industrial vehicles. A third facility in Summers produces aircraft tyres for Commonwealth Airways and other carriers.\nFirewalk tyres are distinguished by their bright orange sidewalls on automobiles, a design choice that originated as a visibility feature for bicycle tyres but has become a signature across the product range. The company sponsors several Commonwealth cycling teams and maintains a small museum of historic tyres and rubber products at its Oslola headquarters.\nDespite competition from imports, Firewalk has maintained its position through a reputation for reliability and a distribution network integrated with Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s bureau system. The company remains privately held by the original management team who negotiated the spin-off, though shares are traded through the Vekllei CSX.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/firewalk/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 996,
  "href": "/factbook/state/law/firming-laws/",
  "title": "Firming Laws","icon": "⚖️","color": "purple",
  "section": "Law",
  "description": "The Constitutional Firming Laws establish a framework for testing federal authority within constitutional bounds through provisional legislation.",
  "content": "The Constitutional Firming Laws establish a framework for the Commonwealth to exercise federal authority in constitutionally ambiguous areas through provisional legislation that either \u0026ldquo;firms\u0026rdquo; into permanent law or lapses through successful challenge. The Commonwealth can enact Provisional Acts which, if unchallenged for seven years, become permanent law. The process is supervised by the Constitutional Tribunal.\nStage Description Provisional Act A law created by the Commonwealth in a constitutionally ambiguous area. It operates as normal federal law but has a special legal status for seven years. Firming Period A seven-year window during which the provisional act can be challenged. During this period, the act may be modified, restricted or lapse entirely based on a Constitutional Tribunal ruling. A successful challenge by an affected republic, citizen, or legal entity can cause the act to \u0026ldquo;weaken,\u0026rdquo; leading to its modification or lapsing. Confirmatory Referendum If an act is succesfully weakened through legal challenges as determined by law, it must have majority support in a public referendum after year four of the firming period. Permanent Federal Precedent If no successful challenge is mounted within the firming period, the act automatically becomes permanent federal law. Initially enacted in 2019, the laws were reformed in 2025 after several constitutional crises. In 2023, the Commonwealth attempted to firm a dozen acts at once, creating a \u0026ldquo;constitutional paralysis.\u0026rdquo; A year later, a law that was successfully challenged after convictions had already been made resulted in the immediate release of 847 prisoners and substantial compensation process involving the construction of new homes.\nThe 2025 amendments introduced several safeguards to prevent such crises from recurring. Acts that are weakened through successful challenges must pass a referendum after four years, and any three constituents can jointly veto a provisional act within the first two years. Additionally, no more than five provisional acts may be in firming at the same time.\nAfter the reforms, laws with serious criminal penalties can\u0026rsquo;t be enforced without prior approval from the Constitutional Tribunal. If a law is successfully challenged, any convictions are automatically expunged and those affected receive compensation.\nThere are currently two acts in the firming period: amendments to the Commonwealth Defence Act (2030), which is scheduled for a referendum, and the Commonwealth Revenue Act (2063), which is being reviewed by the tribunal.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/constitutional-firming/","/firming/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 997,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/foreign-policy/",
  "title": "Foreign Policy","icon": "🌍","color": "foreignaffairs",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Vekllei foreign policy is characterised by assertive, pragmatic and cooperative engagement with countries in their interest.",
  "content": " Summary\nVekllei has only 24 million people, equivalent roughly to Australia or Syria, but has many times the global influence of those countries. This is because of three factors: trade, cultural soft power, and foreign policy. Foreign Policy in Vekllei serves the interests of their state, but that does not mean that its efforts are entirely self-serving. Co-operation, collaboration and investment are the core principles of their approach. In fact, their style of earnest and fair diplomacy has, in general, succeeded dramatically. Pragmatic and effective policy has guaranteed their voice in many parts of the world, which translates to political power. The results speak for themselves. As an example, Vekllei has closer diplomatic and economic ties to many former French colonies in West Africa than France itself. While Vekllei has tremendous wealth and cultural diversity that more or less guarantee a minimum presence in global diplomacy, foreign policy is an area of active investment and has been since independence. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is among the largest and best-equipped devolved ministries, and Vekllei has a diplomatic mission in nearly every country. These missions, comprising consulates, interest sites and embassies, are packed with diplomats and analysts familiar with the local territory, and are sometimes recruited from local professionals. This is, fundamentally, the distinguishing factor of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s outsized foreign influence: reliable and substantial investment.\nThe Bureau of Economics of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a particularly keen outfit, taking on a variety of roles that may at times be generous, predatory or both. The people of the Bureau of Economics are not ideologues and they are not there to promote the commons. In developed countries, they aid the interests of Vekllei business and trade. In others, they act as a channel for direct investment, nation-building and aid. None of it is given without thought, or for mere political purposes. They aim to establish a base of knowledge and influence, and use those things to build up the relationships and encourage improvements to standards of living overseas that advantage Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s political and economic missions.\nThese policies have no single coherent economic principles, but they do reflect Vekllei interests. Key concerns are education and healthcare, followed by cautious investment. In practice, this means financial investment where returns might be expected, whether political or financial, but also the export of specialists and experienced personnel. Vekllei is one of the largest exporters of medical aid in the world, and much of that comes directly in the form of qualified doctors and nurses who, as part of their training, spend time overseas. Teachers and education policy specialists also comprise a substantial part of donations.\nPhysical aid makes sense to Vekllei, because it is a country of mostly physical (read: moneyless) economic activity, and the kinds of social relations their work depends on thrive in challenging environments overseas, especially where medicine and education are involved. It also allows the country to leverage its exceptionally (perhaps overly) educated population, and build goodwill across the many new countries of the 21st Century.\nTheir practice is not without critics. Vekllei has fast-tracked citizenship lanes for educated people, and several governments have accused the country of contributing to local \u0026lsquo;brain drain.\u0026rsquo; And like all geopolitics, their generous foreign aid furthers their geopolitical interests in abstract. Vekllei is, after all, a non-aligned country and in some ways it is fighting the influence of both East and West.\nWhile Vekllei has a lower tolerance for brutal or antisocial regimes than the superpowers, the country has historically prioritised stability over revolution. It is also increasingly internationalist, and has intervened in humanitarian crises at the expense of the UN and aid organisations, who resent their cowboy approach to crisis management. Most famously, Vekllei raises \u0026ldquo;volunteer brigades;\u0026rdquo; the offer of direct intervention to any person that wants it, and equips and transports them. While this kind of interventionism has several success stories, including essentially preventing a genocide in Latin Africa, it has also backfired dramatically, as in the case of the encircled volunteer battalion in Zaire.\nThis kind of interventionism results in a dramatic foreign policy that contrasts (and undoubtedly infuriates) their own economic interests around the world. In developing countries, Vekllei can be a very powerful friend to have, and they are renowned for their generosity with aid and expertise. For example, the education system in Darfur was built almost entirely from the ground-up with a flood of Vekllei bureaucrats and teachers. They also provide technologies for manufacturing and extraction without protectionism. On the other hand, the country risks catastrophe and escalation in its stubborn interventionism in humanitarian outrages. It can also make emerging states wary about its impact on their fledgling sovereignty. This balance is a fine line to walk, and Vekllei is doing its best to walk it. Regardless of any single opinion however, their methods of diplomacy are striking, and reflect the tension between passionate volunteerism and calculated pragmatism in their society and government.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/foreign-policy"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 998,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/fortress-annobon/",
  "title": "Fortress Annobon","logo": "/svg/crests/territorial-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "land",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Fortress Annobon is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Annobon.",
  "content": " Fortress Annobon Territorial Fortress of Vekllei Location Annobon Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Territorial Service Air Service Fortress Annobon is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Annobon.\nResident Regiments \u0026amp; Battalions\n6th African Guards Regiment 16th Rifles Battalion 18th Rifles Battalion Resident Air Service Squadrons:\nNo. 3 Aerorifles Wing No. 11 Aerorifles Sqdn. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/fortress-annobon/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 999,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/fortress-aruba/",
  "title": "Fortress Aruba","logo": "/svg/crests/territorial-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "land",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Fortress Aruba is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Aruba.",
  "content": " Fortress Aruba Territorial Fortress of Vekllei Location Aruba Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Territorial Service Air Service Fortress Aruba is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Aruba.\nResident Regiments \u0026amp; Battalions\n10th Ready Guards Regiment 28th Rifles Battalion 29th Rifles Battalion 18th Antilles Rifles 52nd Rifles Battalion Resident Air Service Squadrons:\nNo. 4 Aerorifles Wing No. 13 Aerorifles Sqdn. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/fortress-aruba/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1000,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/fortress-demon/",
  "title": "Fortress Demon","logo": "/svg/crests/territorial-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "land",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Fortress Demon is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Demon.",
  "content": " Fortress Demon Territorial Fortress of Vekllei Location Demon Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Territorial Service Air Service Fortress Demon is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Demon.\nResident Regiments \u0026amp; Battalions\n3rd Demonic Guards Regiment 8th Rifles Battalion 9th Rifles Battalion 45th Rifles Battalion Resident Air Service Squadrons:\nNo. 3 Aerorifles Wing No. 10 Aerorifles Sqdn. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/fortress-demon/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1001,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/fortress-falklands/",
  "title": "Fortress Falklands","logo": "/svg/crests/territorial-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "land",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Fortress Falklands is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of the Falklands.",
  "content": " Fortress Falklands Territorial Fortress of Vekllei Location Falklands Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Territorial Service Air Service Fortress Falklands is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Falklands.\nResident Regiments \u0026amp; Battalions\n8th Falklander Guards Regiment 22nd Rifles Battalion 23rd Rifles Battalion 17th Antarctic Rifles 49th Rifles Battalion 50th Rifles Battalion National Naval Training Centre\nThe National Naval Training Centre is the primary basic training centre for military services in Vekllei. Located in Fortress Falklands in the western Falklands, it is a huge complex comprising a number of facilities including simulated battlefield environments, firing ranges, specialised training centres and residential facilities. It also includes a police detachment operated by the Commonwealth Police College that trains police combat, including marksmanship and military reservist programmes.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/fortress-falklands /"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1002,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/fortress-helena/",
  "title": "Fortress Helena","logo": "/svg/crests/territorial-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "land",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Fortress Helena is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Helena.",
  "content": " Fortress Helena Territorial Fortress of Vekllei Location Helena Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Territorial Service Air Service Fortress Helena is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Helena.\nResident Regiments \u0026amp; Battalions\n7th Sentinel Guards Regiment 19th Rifles Battalion Resident Air Service Squadrons:\nNo. 3 Aerorifles Wing No. 12 Aerorifles Sqdn. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/fortress-helena /"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1003,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/fortress-kabuli/",
  "title": "Fortress Kabuli","logo": "/svg/crests/territorial-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "land",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Fortress Kabuli is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Kabuli.",
  "content": " Fortress Kabuli Territorial Fortress of Vekllei Location Kabuli Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Territorial Service Air Service Fortress Kabuli is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Kabuli.\nResident Regiments \u0026amp; Battalions\n9th Sugar Guards Regiment 25th Rifles Battalion 20th Kalinan Rifles ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/fortress-kabuli/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1004,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/fortress-lola/",
  "title": "Fortress Lola","logo": "/svg/crests/territorial-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "land",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Fortress Lola is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Oslola.",
  "content": " Fortress Lola Territorial Fortress of Vekllei Location Oslola Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Territorial Service Air Service Fortress Lola is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Oslola.\nResident Regiments \u0026amp; Battalions\n1st Commonwealth Rifles 1st Rifles Battalion 4th Sunburst Guards Regiment 11th Rifles Battalion 12th Rifles Battalion 15th Volcanic Rifles National Patrol \u0026amp; Scouting School\nThe National Patrol \u0026amp; Scouting School is a specialised training facility of Fortress Lola specialising in cross-country tracking, fieldcraft and survival skills. It also includes a police detachment operated by the Commonwealth Police College that trains animal handling and frontier constables.\nResident Air Service Squadrons\nNo. 2 Aerorifles Wing No. 6 Aerorifles Sqdn. No. 7 Aerorifles Sqdn. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/fortress-lola/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1005,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/fortress-meteor/",
  "title": "Fortress Meteor","logo": "/svg/crests/territorial-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "land",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Fortress Meteor is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Meteor.",
  "content": " Fortress Meteor Territorial Fortress of Vekllei Location Meteor Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Territorial Service Air Service Fortress Meteor is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Flores.\nResident Regiments \u0026amp; Battalions\n2nd Parliamentary Rifles 4th Rifles Battalion 5th Rifles Battalion 12th Meteor Guards Regiment 34th Rifles Battalion 35th Rifles Battalion 19th Atlantic Rifles Resident Air Service Squadrons:\nNo. 2 Aerorifles Wing No. 5 Aerorifles Sqdn. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/fortress-meteor/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1006,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/fortress-occident/",
  "title": "Fortress Occident","logo": "/svg/crests/territorial-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "land",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Fortress Occident is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Caicos.",
  "content": " Fortress Occident Territorial Fortress of Vekllei Location Caicos Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Territorial Service Air Service Fortress Occident is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Caicos.\nResident Regiments \u0026amp; Battalions\n11th Candle Guards Regiment 31st Rifles Battalion 13th Lucayan Rifles 37th Rifles Battalion Resident Air Service Squadrons:\nNo. 4 Aerorifles Wing No. 15 Aerorifles Sqdn. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/fortress-orient/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1007,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/fortress-praia/",
  "title": "Fortress Praia","logo": "/svg/crests/territorial-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "land",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Fortress Praia is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Praia.",
  "content": " Fortress Praia Territorial Fortress of Vekllei Location Praia Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Territorial Service Air Service Fortress Praia is a fortress of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Praia.\nResident Regiments \u0026amp; Battalions\n5th Desert Guards Regiment 13th Rifles Battalion 15th Rifles Battalion 14th Verden Rifles 41st Rifles Battalion Resident Air Service Squadrons:\nNo. 2 Aerorifles Wing No. 8 Aerorifles Sqdn. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/fortress-praia /"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1008,
  "href": "/factbook/state/forum-of-free-nations/",
  "title": "Forum of Free Nations","logo": "/svg/fn-4x3.svg","icon": "🏵️","rgb": "62, 158, 244",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "The Forum of Free Nations (FFE) is an international non-aligned movement championing independence from the superpowers of the world.",
  "content": "The Forum of Free Nations (FFE, also known as the Non-Aligned Movement) is a forum of countries that are not aligned with or against a power bloc. It was founded as a reaction towards the rapid bi-polarisation of world affairs, particularly of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, and advocates for independence from the superpowers of the world.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/free-nations/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1009,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/bureau-industry/general-reactor/",
  "title": "General Reactor","logo": "/svg/logos/general-reactor.svg","icon": "⚛","rgb": "53, 156, 103",
  "section": "Bureaus",
  "description": "General Reactor is a nuclear design and engineering company in Vekllei. It is a bureau corporation made up of many constituent companies.",
  "content": " General Reactor Industrial Bureau of Vekllei Employees 4,800 Founded 2017 Headquarters Oslola Industry Nuclear Revenue AK ✾ 120 billion Traded GNR SpA General Reactor S.p.A. (GR or the Green Shop) is a bureau corporation that operates the majority of fission and fusion power generation in Vekllei. It comprises mostly municipal plant corporations and specialised nuclear corporations for fuels and uranium enrichment.\nGeneral Reactor is also a major manufacturer of atomic engines through its constituent corporations, and contributes substantial research and development towards Vekllei atomic projects. It has close connections with the NSRE, and its Chief Scientist sits on the establishment\u0026rsquo;s board. It contributed to the development of sunburst reactors used in light aircraft, as well as the Vekllei spaceplane programme. The bureau also developed and manufactures the Vampire marine propulsion system.\nThe company operates major fusion plants in Oslola where it is headquartered, as well as Kairi. It operates dozens more fission plants across Vekllei, as well as the infrastructure to support them.\nConstituent Corporations of National Machines S.p.A.\nFuture Fission Montre Atomic Energy Research Centre Municipal Energy Metromic Commonwealth National Fusion Laboratories ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/general-reactor/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1010,
  "href": "/millmint/essays/ghibli/",
  "title": "Ghibli","icon": "🫧","color": "blue",
  "section": "Essays",
  "description": "An essay on spatiality in the films of Studio Ghibli.",
  "content": " ✿ Note from the Editor This thesis was completed in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Media (Honours). It remains a good testament to my love of Ghibli. It was originally submitted in October 2020 and published in December 2020. Abstract # This thesis looks to argue for the value of spatiality in several films of the Studio Ghibli franchise in Japan. Literary space, much like the cartography of the real world, helps map meaning and locate the human body in the contemporary, postmodern displacement of old constructions. In this sense, there is a functional analogy in the physical map of a town, in which a reader is able to orient themselves and locate features of note around them. So too do the spaces of film provide functional markers of value, language, behaviour, style and story against space, recalling spatiotemporality as a vessel for each of them.\nIf all films are spatial, then many of Ghibli’s films are often utopian spaces. This is found within and without traditional utopian study — there are exemplary glimpses of pastoral, elegant utopia in My Neighbour Totoro (Tonari no Totoro, 1988), replicated in whimsy in other Miyazaki works like Kiki’s Delivery Service (Majo no Takkyūbin, 1989). There are however, more complicated utopias in the Ghibli catalogue that stray from orthodox imagination. Relevant to media inquiry, there are what this thesis recognises as utopias-by-appropriation in which the painterly depictions of urban Tokyo in Whisper of the Heart (Mimi o Sumaseba, 1995) or the beautiful illustrations of agrarian whimsy in Only Yesterday (Omoide Poro Poro, 1991) are decontextualised abroad and suspended in a traditional utopian ‘no-place’, where they are reinterpreted and rebuilt as fantasy. So it is that the real-world apartments of Tama Hills and the fields of Yamagata can become fictitious, spatial utopias.\nAnd so, there are two questions of interest here. First, there is the question of employing the ‘spatial turn’ of textual analysis to Ghibli films, and whether this literary framework provides value in animation. Then, there is the question of how utopia-spaces manifest in Ghibli’s catalogue of films, and how the physical heritage and landscape of cinema is misplaced and then emerges anew in fantasy form for foreign (in the scope of this study, Western) audiences, where such works remain popular, thus manufacturing utopias where, perhaps, none exist in Japan.\nIntroduction # The magic of the moving image reveals just how good our brains are at producing something from not much at all. Japanese anime, which is characterised by choppy frame rates, large plastic faces and gemstone eyes, somehow manages to produce authentic wonder and delight in audiences world-over. At some point in the production process, from cel drawing to foley work and voice dubbing, drawings come to life. There is perhaps no Japanese animation house in this business more celebrated and discussed in Western media scholarship than Studio Ghibli, which boasts a broad filmography that rattles off hit after hit. For many Westerners, some of whom go on to write about films in media studies, Ghibli was their gateway to anime. Their films are characterised by a deep respect for the life of cinema, and the authenticity of their characters. Other studios produce beautiful animation, and Disney films in particular feature more traditionally cinematic frame rates, but the lifelike, deeply friendly characters and worlds produced by Studio Ghibli are wholly unique experiences in cinema.\nThe main argument of this thesis is concerned with ‘place’, and how spaces are represented in animated films. There is also a utopian1 element at play here, which often assists this paper’s ‘spatial turn’ in textual analysis. The employ of these frameworks is not completely unthinkable, if perhaps a little unusual — utopia and spatiality are linked by their mutual concern with time and place. Literary spatiality is in part cartographical, often acting first as a crucible to navigate and understand events and then as a framework to contextualise those events against other phenomena. Rob Shields (1997) found that “spatial relations are constantly overcoded with social significance […] it comes as no surprise to most people that the where and the when of events are as significant as what those events are” (p.187). This reflects nicely the capabilities of utopian studies, which considers utopias to be social narratives bound to space and time. Lyman Sargent (1994), whose work has come to define much of utopia scholarship, wrote as much in his broad taxonomies of utopia, arguing the “general phenomenon” of utopianism is “social dreaming — the dreams and nightmares that concern the ways in which groups of people arrange their lives and which usually envision a radically different society than the one in which the dreamers live” (p. 3). In fact, this dependence on spatiotemporality is deeply ingrained in the tradition of utopian studies, from Karl Mannheim’s 1929 Ideology and Utopia to Phillip Wegner’s recent (2002, 2010) work on utopian narratives in the 21st century. Perhaps then, it is easiest to identify spatial study in this paper as the textual interrogation of space, and utopian study as a combined in-text/metatextual concern, especially as it affects the production contexts and creators of these films.\nIn this context, the abstract appearance of utopian studies and spatiality gives way to much more practical local and textual analyses, and for the purposes of this paper they suit well the dynamic, wonderful and deeply spatial films of Studio Ghibli. The majority of feature films produced by the Japanese animation house provide wholly unique and valuable insights into various arenas of life. This is not an unpopular opinion, and is reflected in the existing scholarship of Ghibli’s catalogue. Amidst a mountain of work can be found explorations of Ghibli’s long history of female protagonists and “blindness to gender” (Iles, 2005); Ghibli as a cultural bridge between Japanese anime and American animation (Hernández-Pérez, 2016); Ghibli as a case study of marketing and audience reception domestically and abroad (Denison, 2007); Ghibli as arguments for pacifism (Akimoto, 2013 \u0026amp; Schipperges, 2018); environmentalism (Le Blanc and Odell, 2019); feminism (Kono, 2017); flight and aerospace (Amzad-Hossain and Fu, 2014); and so on. My concern is primarily for its physical representation of these “worlds,” and particularly as they represent and depict society — entering into the space of “social dreams,” as a utopian premise.\nThe question, then is not of Ghibli’s relevance to Western media scholarship, but the argument of spatial and utopian dimensions in its work. ‘Utopia’ is a deeply loaded, politicised term, but I would argue that it is not necessarily the case that Ghibli is advocating political interests. Although utopia is political and these spaces are quite often political, the presence of politics does not necessarily render a text categorically “political”. I think the films represented in this thesis advocate dimensions of the dreams of their creators (who, in the subsequent chapters are Hayao Miyazaki2 and Isao Takahata), and although these dreams are bound to these directors and their environments, they also invoke emotional and personal spaces too. This multidimensionality is part of the depth that characterises the studio’s work, and so I would caution the presence of a utopian framework as an indictment of these films as fundamentally political.\nSocial Dreams and Imagined Communities # Space. The continual becoming: invisible fountain from which all rhythms must flow and to which they must pass. Beyond time or infinity.\n— Frank Lloyd Wright 3\nAlthough what constitutes a ‘utopia’ is applied more broadly in utopian frameworks than in popular imagination, the basic premise is the same — utopias are imaginary worlds that reflect some part of a worldview, inspired by contemporaneous circumstances. They can be good places, called eutopia, or bad places, known as dystopia, but at their core they are grounded in the perspective of their creator (Sargent, 1994). A utopian framework, as it applies to Ghibli, seeks out these perspectives through textual analysis, and by situating statements and published opinions of the creator against their texts. This allows a better understanding of these films among their contemporary cinema landscape, and helps situate them not just as stories but as texts in themselves historically. Utopian frameworks illustrate new dimensions to placing and understanding individual moments and scenes in films, as well as clarify the context and history of a work in broader analysis of its genre.\nWhereas utopian frameworks examine texts as objects of context, literary spatiality is concerned primarily with how space and landscape are depicted on a functional level (Tally, 2013). In Ghibli’s case, space is often depicted through detailed watercolour background plates, and the study of spatiality scales cleanly here between individual shots, scenes and broader conceptual linkages of space and time. These spaces hold specific cultural implications, as well as contribute to narratives through the automatic transcendental ‘cartography’ audiences produce as they navigate a fictional world.\nGhibli’s house style for background art is painterly, saturated, and consistently detailed. This lends to a beautified landscape that, through the talent of the artist, renders even the most dismal, industrial backgrounds in a warm picturesque light. It is easy to imagine how this phenomenon has implications for space, and with space arrive questions of cartography, or how space is mapped in the mind (Tally 2013, p. 2). Indeed, the idea of a ‘map’ is a good analogy for the way in which our minds process space in imaginary worlds in linear narratives. Spatiotemporality exists on a foundational level beneath abstracted narrative textual ideas, and is alive in its relationships to other spaces and the order in which they’re presented. This ‘spatial turn,’ as it’s often called (Warf and Arias, 2008), allows us to examine landscape not just as coded cultural vessels in themselves (as products of culture), but as stories in themselves, through their arrangement and depiction in texts.\nAn Argument for Spatiality # To apply this in a tangible cultural space, we can look to Kojin Karatani, the multidisciplinary Japanese scholar minimised here as a literary critic, who interrogated epistemically this ‘spatial turn’ in his seminal 1996 book Origins of Modern Japanese Literature. His work provided a foundation for the epistemological births of various ‘landscapes’ in the chaotic Meiji period, during which Japan rapidly Westernised in the mid-19th century. Karatani documents exhaustively the origins of new literary artefacts that usurped and obscured prior Japanese cultural institutions, including depictions of Landscape, the discovery of Interiority, the discovery of the Child, and so on. These concepts in themselves constitute spaces; landscape through its obvious physicality, interiority through its private subjectivity, and the Child through its relationship with cultural assumptions of life-stages and life-spans. It is precisely this work that informs the titles of each section in this thesis, loosely grouping disparate films together against their relevance to these cultural vessels. More critically, Karatani observes the introduction if these concepts as a profound and irreversible shift in the way stories were told, as placeless pictographic poetry was abandoned for the modern novel (pp.45-53) and nature was, for the first time, described in terms of literalist, real physical place rather than transcendental terms (pp.19-26). This is the “discovery” of Landscape — a word that here describes not the ability to see place but the emergence of real place as a distinct, alien other. In other words, Japan’s great ‘spatial turn’.\nWithin the concern of this thesis then, these valuable textual signifiers are used in a broader argument for Ghibli’s overall relevance as an animation house of “great cinematic spaces.” This will be accomplished in a somewhat multidisciplinary approach involving both the aforementioned utopian and spatial frameworks, and will move vertically between traditional textual analysis and broader efforts at recognising and categorising generic trends and leitmotifs within the Ghibli catalogue, and their distinguishing spatial qualities as cultural vessels. This necessarily recalls a transnational paradigm, at least partially, since (like much of English-language Ghibli scholarship) the ‘universal nostalgia’ described here and in the title of this paper is founded in my own experiences with these films in a Western cultural context. It is only appropriate then that care is given to situate these films historically and in the contexts of their filmmakers, in the tradition of both frameworks outlined so far.\nMore specific to the aim of this thesis in establishing the spatial value of Ghibli films, no film will be invoked as a single example of all elements of exceptional spatial filmmaking; instead, what I observe to be the most valuable elements of each text will be applied to a multitextual, straightforward argument for Ghibli’s recognition overall. This contributes to the primary concern of this thesis: how has Studio Ghibli employed and represented space, and what components of Ghibli’s spatiality contributes to its importance in ongoing analysis into animation?\nTo assist, a broad sample of films from across the studio’s history have been conscripted here, from all corners of the studio’s social temperament. Released between 1988 and 2001, there are both older and newer Ghibli films than are depicted here, and the selection is not comprehensive of all directors to have produced works in the studio. Instead, the following films have been selected for their memorable use of space — their ‘immersive spatiality’. For the purposes of this essay, spatiality also invokes the temporal dimension — acknowledging the fluid back-and-forth between physical space and history, both of which form critical aspects of a broader utopian dialectic. Much as utopias are products of their times, the films of Studio Ghibli are found in a similar grounded epistemology, drawing genre and landscape from real-world spatiotemporality.\nSix films are depicted here, divided into three sections. Section one, Spatiality and Abstraction, introduces key arguments for abstracted landscapes, including the only ‘fantastical’ setting included in this thesis. The first, My Neighbour Totoro (1988), is a wonderful example of utopian instinct — both sentimental and rigorously secular— in its depiction of a pastoral, agrarian community without ‘Landscape’. Using My Neighbour Totoro, this thesis will introduce the groundbreaking multidisciplinary analysis of the aforementioned literary critic Karatani Kojin, and apply his dialectic of the discovery of landscape to interrogate the universal nostalgia of pastoralism and childhood. In a similar fashion, but in a remarkably different setting, there is Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), a charming film about self-discovery as cast against mythical depictions of the universal “European Cityscape,” which is found replicated time and time again in Japanese depictions of so-called Old Europe. Breaking new ground, this study will look to source and identify the physicality of Kiki’s world, and document how it contributes to a utopia as “alternate history”. This effort will draw upon the work of Susan Napier and her seminal work The Fantastic in Modern Japanese literature, employing its scholarship as a historical framework in which to situate Kiki’s deeply historical world.\nThe next section concerns itself with Interiority and Reproduction, and argues for people-as-utopias insofar as characters can transcend and consequently come to determine places and times. This is not to simply suggest that people can also be landscapes — rather that, within the medium of film, there is a relationship between characters and their landscapes, much as there is a relationship between the watercolour background and the animated cell, and this relationship produces a dialogue that affects the other. So it is, that in Takahata’s masterpiece Only Yesterday, that these boundaries are transcended through memory and interiority. This calls upon again Karatani’s own work (1993) into the emergence of interiority in Japanese literature, and produces a novel framework for the analysis of this film. In Only Yesterday, spatiotemporality is deplatformed from literalism to provide a visual representation of memory and emotion, incorporating the bittersweet, tragic, humorous and absurd in a nonchronological sequence of memories telling a deeply personal story. It introduces the audience to the height of Shōwa postwar affluence in urban Tokyo — the epoch of economic expansion and the Shinkansen — and later contrasts this against the timeless agrarian communities of Yamagata in Northern Japan. Ghibli is well-documented for its positive depictions of nature, and its thematic overtones about landscape and stewardship are well represented by Only Yesterday here. To this end, Yoriko Moichi’s work on Japanese utopian literature helps us navigate these particular and specific dimensions of modern Japanese history, and introduces us to the fantastical as an element of Japanese utopianism.\nNext, The Wind Rises (2013) is a quasi-biographical account of aircraft designer Jiro Horikoshi leading up to and during the Second World War. This is the first of two films in this thesis to be set during the war, which devastated Japan and saw a culmination of the radical, dramatic shift in Japanese culture and politics that started in the Meiji restoration. In common use of utopia, a fascist colonial metropole seems hardly appropriate — and yet, as a form of social dreaming, The Wind Rises succeeds. There are eutopias depicted in this otherwise dystopian filmscape — Horikoshi’s employment at the Mitsubishi plant, the hotel in the mountains, the home of his employer — all exist as signifiers of social refuge, and extraordinary spaces amidst extraordinary times. This fits well within the metaphor of a textual analysis of the film itself — in which beautiful things cost terribly, and that impermanence and tragedy do not devalue them. These are places that simply do not exist in modern consumer society, as argued in this chapter — and to that end, they demonstrate the lateral freedoms of social dreaming as a foundation of utopian studies, orthodox to Lyman Sargent’s work on utopian taxonomies.\nFinally, Ghibli’s generic trends of childhood and whimsy are recalled in the next section — Childhood and Historicism, in which we return to specific places and times to explore Japan as depicted by Ghibli. Whisper of the Heart (1995), the final film of longtime Ghibli creative Kondō Yoshifumi, depicts a blossoming romance in Tama Hills, and explicitly replicates several real-world landmarks. These are profoundly Japanese spaces — filled with postwar concrete high schools, apartment lifestyles, shrines, trains, and the terraced concrete hills of West Tokyo. Calling upon Phillip Wegner, these spaces and — unusually among Ghibli’s catalogue — the contemporaneous setting, raise interesting questions about the inversion of what Robert Tally calls spatiotemporality. Universal markers of childhood — young love, music, and self-doubt — are cast against Japanese spaces at the height of the Japanese bubble economy. The tension between universality and provinciality in space — depicted here as the schisms between real-world Japanese space and Japan-as-fantasy originating in the minds of audiences abroad — is a critical example of the premise of this thesis.\nThis paper concludes with another depiction of Japan, though far removed from the pleasant domesticity of Tama Hills. We finally approach Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies, placed adjacent to the conclusion of this paper for its synthesis of the twin concerns that drive this exploration — namely spatiality as social dreaming, and the contextual dimensions of space within transnational products. Grave of the Fireflies is a wartime tragedy, released simultaneously (and not coincidentally) alongside My Neighbour Totoro. If the works depicted in this essay have trended chronologically towards the ‘real,’ then the fact that Grave of the Fireflies adapts an autobiographical story of two children in the poverty of wartime Japan should push the utopian dialectic nurtured throughout this thesis to its breaking point — landscape, interiority, universality, and memory are all being recalled here. It is perhaps Grave of the Fireflies that best exemplifies the tension between utopias and utopias-by-appropriation — and raises questions regarding the depiction of suffering in specific places and times, and the enduring nature of this story across decades and borders. Does the fact that Grave of the Fireflies depicts Japanese civilians — a population uncommon in the war films of former Allied countries — affect its universality and interpretation abroad? If so — what does it owe to that context, and how does spatiality inform its story\nFrom this summary of films, we can already see the trends and leitmotifs that characterise the work of the Japanese animation house. But there are interesting omissions of note, too — particularly that, aside from Kiki’s Delivery Service, these films are established to have concrete real-world locations, and, in the case of Whisper of the Heart, this thesis will visit these. Overall, this list constitutes much of Ghibli’s sober, less fantastical fair, hinged closely to moments and places that are either well-known or characterise aspects of Japanese history and contemporary landscape. This is, to some extent, a necessity while employing utopian and spatial frameworks, which are closely linked to the contexts of places and times. In other ways, however, this list characterises a broad sample of narratives and tones, from the placeless whimsical to historical war-drama, and will showcase well the breadth and depth of the total sum of films produced by the studio.\nIn summary, we can see in this introduction the foundations of a multidisciplinary analysis, blurring textual analysis and analysis of contexts within well-documented utopian and spatial epistemologies. There is perhaps no better case study in Japanese cinema presently than that of Ghibli’s catalogue, navigating in the rare vertices of artfulness and textual depth with approachability and mainstream success. Spatiality and time; body and interiority; memory and metaphysic — these are the foundations of social dreaming, and within the rich visuality of the animated medium, in which all frames and shots are designed and nothing is simply a “background,” utopian spatiality provides an excellent foundation upon which to explore these films.\fSpatiality and Abstraction # Landscape in Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro # If there is a single film of concern in this thesis that demonstrates a utopian, spatial dialectic within the films of Studio Ghibli, it is here, in 1988’s My Neighbour Totoro. The film showcases the dislocation of space common in Miyazaki’s work, and indicates at face value a landscape that transcends Miyazaki’s own lifetime as a sort of cross-generation nostalgia. So there is this contradiction, as is common in Miyazaki’s great stories, between progress and the past. This idea probably does not strike the reader as particularly novel — environmentalism and balance is an obvious theme common throughout the broader Ghibli catalogue — but “progress” and “conservation” here are not situated in the context of the film’s release, nor are they broader gestures at grand ideas about the future and past. Rather, they are symptoms of the tension between ‘old ways,’ characterised by social community, locality and land dependence, and a plastic, uncertain modernity. Miyazaki describes My Neighbour Totoro as taking place in 1955, or thereabouts, but acknowledges that “what [the production staff] had in mind was a ‘recent past’ that everyone could relate to” (VIZ, 2005). He reinforces this point by describing his deliberate exclusion of personal nostalgia during the film in his semiautobiographical work Starting Point (2009, p. 355). In another interview, Miyazaki remarked:\n“A lot of people now are nostalgic for Japan as it was in the Showa ’30s, but it was actually an unhappy period for me. Why? I was frustrated because nature — the mountains and rivers — was being destroyed in the name of economic progress.” (Schilling, 2008).\nIn the Japanese calendar, 1955 is the 30th year of Shōwa, placing it in the height of a period broadly characterised by rapid economic development and construction after the Second World War. Of course, My Neighbour Totoro depicts a space far removed from the noisy urbanism rapidly developing in Japanese cities — at odds with and even disrupting preconceptions of modernist progress. This submersion of capital-M Modernity is present throughout the film. In his seminal analysis of modernist instinct, Marshall Berman illustrated a vision of modern living remarkably hostile to the landscape of Totoro, arguing that 20th-century society “speeds up the whole tempo of life,” and severs “millions of people from their ancestral habitats, hurtling them half-way across the world into new lives,” as \u0026ldquo;rapid and often cataclysmic urban growth; systems of mass communication, dynamic in their development, [envelope] and [bind] together the most diverse people and societies […]” (Berman, 1983, p. 16).\nFig. 1.1 Mei and Satsuki amidst the season’s produce And yet, in Miyazaki’s childhood fantasy, we are presented a place of an excruciatingly agrarian pace of life, no depiction of commerce (and almost no recognition of the existence of money at all), of people dependent on place and history, living and moving into old, run-down homes in which even a telephone is a scarce feature. This depicts a sort of asymmetric timelessness, or, as utopian scholar Phillip Wegner argues, an “alternate history,” in which the priorities of the postwar Japanese state have been totally inverted, and the consumer society that flourished under American occupation and democratisation was never introduced (Wegner, 2010). To use Marx’s phrase borrowed by Berman (1983), Miyazaki is, in some sense, recapturing solidity that, in our own world and in his childhood, had long since melted into air during the Meiji restoration. It is here that lies the distinction of Miyazaki’s place of tension from broader thematic depictions of the future and past, found not in contemporary anguish or conservative retrospection, but in a dislocation of spatiotemporality, building worlds that, while thoroughly Japanese and midcentury, do not really exist. This is not to argue that no such villages in Totoro existed in 1950s Japan — the film was inspired by the Saitama prefecture outside Tokyo — rather, that the textual spatiality of My Neighbour Totoro, per their construction in animation, are pulled from social dreams rather than merely depicted historically. It is by ‘social dreaming’ that this thesis distinguishes utopian instincts from fantasy, and it is by social dreaming that Ghibli’s films are able to reach and engage with the subliminal concepts. It is not the absence of telephones, or the depiction of animism that recalls a utopian spatial dialectic, but the whole inversion of priority that cascades and colours every part of the film.\nFig. 1.2 The family visits an old shrine buried deep in the forest So, in demonstrating a vision of modern space without modernity, what remains in the film? Depleted of contemporary indicators, My Neighbour Totoro could be taken superficially as a sort of aimless conservatism, capturing the whimsy and nostalgia of the smallness of childhood. After all, it is through the childish lens of the sister protagonists that we see the forests and rice paddies of Totoro, and much of the film is dedicated to chronicling the pleasantly aimless activities of a four-year-old girl. As Wegner (2010) recognised, the “narrative utopia” has radical implications when we look to the deeper, underlying metaphysic that belongs to the ‘dream’. Where overt themes are recognised, internalised and reproduced at a plot level, the way spatiality operates deep within Totoro introduces critical dimensions as to why the film makes such a powerful text for utopian spatiality — specifically, its absence of landscape, childhood, and architecture.\nWe see here a dialectic introduced by literary critic and philosopher Karatani Kojin, and applied by Wegner (2010) in the case of Totoro. Karatani argues that, prior to the introduction of Western culture to Japanese art during the 19th century, the landscape metaphysic as we understand today did not exist (Karatani, 1998). This is, in effect, demythologising Western preconceptions about nature as an “other;” returning a foreign, transcendental space to the physical world. Modern Japanese literature, Karatani argues, is inundated with such constructions — and by their nature, these “epistemological constellations” suppress their own origins, appearing as immutable objects; an undeniable physical fact. What Wegner argues for, and this thesis incorporates as a Japanese-utopian framework, is the ways in which Totoro and more broadly, Studio Ghibli, suppress such constructions, and how they reemerge abroad as global, transnational fantasy, since I argue that fantasy cannot exist without landscape.\nIn real terms, what do these constructions mean for the film? In terms of spatiality, My Neighbour Totoro is suspended in a sort of abstraction, pleasantly liberated from naturalistic, realist depictions of the world common to live-action cinema. As American film critic Roger Ebert described of another Ghibli film, Grave of the Fireflies:\n“The characters are typical of much modern Japanese animation, with their enormous eyes, childlike bodies and features of great plasticity (mouths are tiny when closed, but enormous when opened in a child’s cry — we even see Setsuko’s tonsils). This film proves, if it needs proving, that animation produces emotional effects not by reproducing reality, but by heightening and simplifying it, so that many of the sequences are about ideas, not experiences.” (Ebert, 2000.)\nFig. 1.3 The family’s moving truck passes a roadside shrine In this spirit, we can see Totoro’s suppression of literalist instincts for a sort of demonstrated, if not depicted, reality that absolves the schisms between place and person. There is much work in media criticism with the goal of teasing out buried Shinto iconography and situating My Neighbour Totoro in its cultural and historical context. This, I fear, suppresses the rich ambiguity and abstraction animation affords the film — of course, the shrines depicted in the film belong to Shinto practices, and of course, the rice paddies, local railway and cultural behaviours are distinctly Japanese — but within the pretext of Totoro as a ‘dream,’ or “what-if,” as Wegner calls it, these images are reintroduced as new, if thoroughly Japanese-oriented, artefacts. Shinto is stripped of its historical and nationalistic implications and is reintroduced as a vessel for animism and a respect for all objects. Landscape is abolished and place is returned as a physical entity, standing once again only in its immediate physicality and utility. Even the child — another one of Karatani’s constructions — is reintroduced here with ageless burdens and complexities; in other words, a small, growing adult, far removed from the objectifying cultural force of modern education systems and children-as-consumers.\nAnd so there is a tension here — perhaps, even a proud contradiction — that exemplifies the richness of spirit in Miyazaki’s work. On one hand, there is the film’s undeniable contexts, founded deep in Miyazaki’s personal and political stories, and there is also the film’s wonderful demolition of such matters in place of a fictional, if Japanese, universality; a transnational appeal that sees this film delighting people across the world. That audience scalability, between local, regional and international viewing, is a recurring feature of Ghibli’s catalogue, and testifies to the underlying spatial and utopian vision’s widespread appeal.\n‘Old Europe’ and prewar nostalgia in Kiki’s Delivery Service # Using My Neighbour Totoro as a metric for spatiotemporal discussion in Ghibli, the next film arranged here marks a shift from the overt spatial questions of heavy concerns in literary history and metaphysics, towards the world of temporality, witchy semiotics and the delight of domestic fantasy. Kiki’s Delivery Service, released a year after Totoro in 1989, is one of Ghibli’s ‘European adventures,’ a legacy traced all the way back to Miyazaki’s early work on Heidi, a Girl of the Alps in the 1970s (Le Blanc \u0026amp; Odell 2019, p. 29). In many ways, it is a suitable film to elaborate and build upon the concepts discussed in the previous section, for Kiki’s Delivery Service, like My Neighbour Totoro, is quite easily characterised as the same alt-history “what-if” paradigm, displaced and rebuilt in a fictional European setting. Kiki, a young witch leaving home for the first time to develop her powers, finds her enemies not to be evil wizards of ancient evils, but self-doubt, money and loneliness. This marks what should be considered a critical shift in this ‘witch story’; its introduction to a domestic, personal space that appeals to both emotional narratives of development and self-discovery, and the petty fantasy of ‘small magic’ in an otherwise ordinary setting. Kiki does not wield tremendous magic power capable of altering history, either local or worldly — she accomplishes that instead through her character and relationships.\nFig. 2.1 Kiki soars high above the roofs of Koriko on her broomstick The film is set in the placeless town of Koriko, a 20th century coastal city in European fashion. As per the abstract wonder of animation, little is told and much is shown about life in this place. Agrarian quiet in My Neighbour Totoro is inverted here in a sort of fictitious European fantasy; a bustling seaside city of cafés, boutiques and, most importantly, bakeries. This is further illustrated in the context of Ghibli’s familiar utopian leitmotifs, as wonders of the golden age of air travel (the dirigible Spirit of Freedom) coexist with distinctly postwar artefacts in fashion, technology and teen-age culture. In the same sense that My Neighbour Totoro glimpses a vision of midcentury Japan in which the Meiji restoration might have never occurred, Koriko is a delightful European landscape in which it appears the Second World War never happened. This is remarked upon by Mio Bryce in a broader examination of Kiki’s depiction, describing Koriko as exhibiting a “strong sense of retrospection and other-worldness” (Bryce 2006). It is not that Koriko is entirely foreign — by most accounts, a young female witch in a European city should be superficially familiar to most Westerners — but that instead Bryce recognises that the dichotomous relationship between Japan’s (post-Meiji) introduction to ‘witch stories’ and the Western, Christian tradition of witch lore, and that the resulting product disarms Western presuppositions about European witches through its emphasis on “transition,” rather than “training”. Kiki does not attend a school for witchcraft, or takes on mentorship, as Bryce notes (p. 43), but rather participates in a feminised tradition of self-discovery and place.\nThis results in a film in which, much like Totoro, Miyazaki’s masterful, amorphous storytelling cautions ambitious attempts to trace textual lineage to Japanese “predisposition\u0026rdquo; or storytelling tradition. Susan Napier’s landmark work, Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke, notes as much:\n“The idea of a girl leaving home and setting up her own business would be surprising in any culture but particularly so in Japan. In Kiki’s happy independence we see Miyazaki’s technique of defamiliarisation working most effectively. Traits that might have been taken for granted had the protagonist been a boy—autonomy, competence, and ability to plan—are freshly highlighted through Kiki’s femininity to create a memorable coming-of-age story.” (Napier 2001, pp. 132-133).\nIt is precisely this process of defamiliarsation — through obfuscation of place, time and culture — that allows Kiki’s Delivery Service to play in service of its story and its spaces. Relevant to spatiality, the coastal city of Koriko is part of a recurring interest (and quite possibly, a fascination) on the part of Miyazaki for a mythologised ‘old Europe’. This point was made by Chris Wood, who described Ghibli’s Europe in Porco Rosso as an object of a “tourist’s gaze,” and argued for such depictions to be understood as part of longtime Japanese wonder and apprehension towards the European powers (Wood 2008, pp.114-120).\nFig. 2.2 News footage shows the zeppelin losing anchor, mimicking footage of the Hindenburg Nonetheless, although Kiki’s Delivery Service depicts a much broader and typically complicated society than My Neighbour Totoro, it is less political overall. That it is not to say the film is apolitical, or lacking in textual complexity — I would argue that all of Miyazaki’s films are deeply political, and characterise a moral and structural richness that is unsurpassed in contemporary anime. It is simply that, in the case of Kiki’s Delivery Service, the questions asked of this ‘alternate vision of history’ are different to the interrogative, structural dialectic within My Neighbour Totoro. Where Totoro challenges foundational assumptions about Japanese historicism, affluence, technology and modernity, Kiki’s Koriko is a wholly more fantastical glimpse into a blossoming, affluent Euro-themed society left intact in a depiction that recalls William Morris’s “Epoch of Rest”. In both cases, acknowledging these film spaces are extrapolated from our own global history — the Second World War looms large. Emerging like a phantom, it raises questions about artefacts that appear in these films that otherwise were radically altered by the turbulence of the early 20th century. In Totoro, it is agrarian pastoralism in a pre-Shōwa society. In Kiki’s Delivery Service, it is the splendour of a zeppelin, the romantic mythos of romantic European society, and the sanctity of technology as a servant of peacetime.\nA.J. Rocca argues for Koriko as a foundation for the climax of the film — a resounding ‘what-if’ rejection of the “ghost of modernity”:\n“[In Koriko] food and goods are plentiful, there’s no trace of any deep social antagonisms, and new technologies like the Zeppelin and biplane are presented as whimsical machines full of novelty and wonder as opposed to weapons of war. Koriko is nothing less than a utopia, and more: it’s a modern utopia; an idealised picture of what the 20th century might have looked like in the dreams of a Bellamy or a Chernyshevsky.” (A.J. Rocca, 2017)\nFig. 2.3 Crowds gather on Koriko’s rooftops to watch the stricken zeppelin The film guides the setting into the same climax it does its protagonist, Kiki. As Kiki discards self-doubt and reacquires her agency as a witch to save her friend, Tombo, a whole pre-war era is backed into that moment and held hostage. Rocca notes that, as the dirigible is wrested from human control, a reporter exclaims phrases pulled from the real-world Hindenburg disaster. It is in this moment, followed by the conclusion of the film in which no-one was hurt, that Kiki’s Delivery Service marks a fantastical departure from our own timeline — one that would, after the Hindenburg disaster, result in the bloodshed of the Second World War, and the iron curtain, depression and austerity that followed it. Out of Ghibli’s catalogue, Koriko is perhaps the most explicitly visionary in its depiction of alternate and parallel timelines\nConsolidating the spatial turn of both Totoro and Kiki, linked in this argument by their mutual depictions of ‘lost pasts,’ is the universalising power of reigning in the ‘fantastical’ (i.e. witches and forest spirits) with utopian thinking, drawn from the real world. This fascination with the interplay of the fantastic and the mundane extends well beyond the story of our girl protagonists — it is reproduced throughout these worlds, colliding their real-world contexts with nostalgic whimsy resurrected by proxy through the studio’s more fantastic elements — forest trolls and flying broomsticks. This is how a village amidst Japan’s great economic miracle, a time dominated by urbanisation, deforestation and consumerism, is resurrected in My Neighbour Totoro as a sort of utopian ‘no-place,’ colliding pre-Meiji intuition (Karatani 1993) with telephones and trolley cars. Similarly, this is how a European seaside town, fresh out of the First World War and awaiting a brutal resurgence of violence in the ‘Age of Frustration4,’ is resurrected in Kiki’s Delivery Service as a tranquil old-world theatre of European architecture, home to zeppelins and witches alike. Alternative histories are not simply spaces of the past, but in fact vessels of the present recreated elsewhere; displaced and transcendent. That is how Studio Ghibli reproduces conventional space in a utopian fashion.\nInteriority and Reproduction # Memory and Agrarianism in Only Yesterday # There is perhaps no finer testament to the specialness of the films of Studio Ghibli and Isao Takahata than 1991’s Only Yesterday. It is a film unique in the landscape of animated cinema. It is a sensitive depiction of womanhood in Japanese society, filled with muddy emotion and bittersweet moods usually reserved for live action feature films. Only Yesterday is strikingly empathetic and restrained in its representation of all parts of protagonist Taeko’s life. The people of her memories are complex, and her recollections of childhood are joyful, curious, mundane and occasionally heartbreaking. This is a film that could not exist in the mainstream animation culture of the U.S., but in Japan it was the highest-grossing domestic film of 1991. A film that typifies of Takahata’s experimental oeuvre, Only Yesterday forces the casual viewer to reassess assumptions about what sort of stories animation is able to tell. It is delicate, contemplative and nostalgic in a medium dominated by films that are usually exhilarating, fantastic and whimsical. This approach creates unique landscapes previously undiscussed in Ghibli’s cinema catalogue, and so argument for their relevance will be made here. This includes multidimensional spaces that are included in the themes of the film as well as more literally in Takahata’s approach to filmmaking itself. There obvious contrasts in the film — between agrarian and urban living, and memory and the present, each of which develop their own rich spaces. Takahata’s pioneering approach towards the actual mechanisms of Japanese animation push this analysis further, however — and we’ll have a look at the creative ways he illustrates these worlds.\nOnly Yesterday introduces Tokyo office worker Taeko, a woman in her late twenties about to embark for the countryside, where she explains to a friend that she’ll “visit family,” — in reality, though a tenuous familial connection exists, Taeko uses her time in the rural countryside to get away from city life and participate in the safflower harvests in Yamagata. On the train ride there, she finds herself surrounded by memories of childhood. After her arrival in Yamagata, she is picked up by a second cousin of an in-law, Toshio, with whom she is barely acquainted. Her displacement and sudden nostalgia allow bitter questions to emerge — at 27 years old, has Taeko been true to the dreams of her 10-year-old self? What would her childhood self think of her now? As she participates in rural life, and learns more about Toshio, the film pirouettes between self-contained scenes and images of her childhood and the present, sometimes contrasting them, sometimes merely observing a memory. A tapestry of topics — travel, school, puberty, menstruation, puppy love, family and dreams are recalled in lyrical glimpses of the past, some of which caused distributors to regard the film as “undubbable” (i.e., redistribute the film with the characters speaking English, performed by an English cast). Producer Geoffrey Wexler observed:\n“When I joined Ghibli and I talked to them I said, “Are you guys ever going to release this?” and they said, “We can’t release it.” I said, \u0026ldquo;Can it have it back then?\u0026rdquo; and they said, ”Yes.” I think the discussion of the girls having their periods may have been a problem. A lot of people squirm about that in North America, but in other countries they don’t. It wasn’t a problem in some countries. I think also the pacing was hard for North America” (Aguilar, 2016).\nFig. 3.1 Young Taeko sits out of PE after catching a cold, worried her peers will think she’s on her period These memories, broadly depicting different aspects of childhood (or, for that matter, linear), offer a unique unsentimental glimpse of middle-class girlhood in postwar Japan. It is only appropriate that these memories resurface during Taeko’s own physical displacement, since the transition between her urban and agrarian identities offer ample room for dislocated reflection in the spaces between. They reflect what could be described as an ‘abstract temporality’ in the absence of mapped space — it is here that we see linear chronology in the film begin to break down, as does the world beyond, and for a moment the past and present intermingle freely in the train carriage. New places have us recalling and relying on a dialogue with past memory and the future. On a slow-moving sleeper train into Japan’s mountainous interior, having left city life behind and having not yet arrived at her destination, Taeko experiences this dislocation of time, and so memories of her youth emerge uncontrollably throughout the film. It is not simply that Taeko is daydreaming deliberately — in several scenes, a memory bursts into her consciousness, triggered by spaces around her. It is a powerful depiction of how emotion and memory is bound to places, shapes, and images, and how those things can reemerge in their depiction.\nOnly Yesterday is a film about the ‘spaces between,’ formed in a collision of landscapes. Memory is perhaps at the heart of the spatial concerns of the film. The Japanese title, Memories Come Tumbling Down (Omoide Poro Poro) is perhaps a better summation of the events of the film, since the themes of the work and Takahata’s filmmaking rely so heavily on the interplay between past and present here. They are visually distinguished through changes in style of both backgrounds and character cels. When Taeko recalls a moment from her childhood, Takahata strips our sense of place right back. What follows is a beautiful representation of the foreignness and inaccessibility of childhood memories, depicted masterfully in gentle watercolour strokes and liquid shapes. These scenes look almost like traditional Japanese paintings, employing artful negative space and desaturated tones to direct attention and emphasise detail. The environment of Taeko’s childhood looks almost half-finished, invoking the haze of memory and her bias towards her own presence. It is not merely a depiction of absence, but is used to emphasise the vitality of the memory, by depicting honestly the events as Taeko remembers them.\nMore subtle, however, is Takahata’s unusual shift in the style of characters themselves. In the scenes of the present day, features of the face like cheeks and smile lines are animated in a noticeable and sharp break from anime’s tradition of simplification. In childhood, however, these illustrations disappear, where wide, plastic faces conform to Ghibli’s established style. This is both an artefact of Takahata’s experimentation with animating around prerecorded lines (a practice unusual for anime, where actors usually perform after production is underway), and a stylistic distinction that emphasises the schism between Taeko’s nostalgic Shoujo world and the real ‘present’ (Campbell, 2020). This is surely deliberate, since young Taeko represents well the common features of Ghibli heroines, regarded in Japan as ‘Shoujo’, literally ‘young lady’ or ‘little girl’. This characterisation, described by Tamae Prindle (1998) as a “lacuna between adulthood and childhood, power and powerlessness, awareness and innocence as well as masculinity and femininity” is a common trope, but although commonly depicted across Ghibli’s catalogue it alone does not fully summate the depth and complexities of their protagonists. Young Taeko reflects the shoujo idea specifically in a scene in which she dreams of becoming an actress — in the memory, her eyes are larger and exaggerated in typical shoujo manga style, in her mind “acting out” the exaggerated beauty and proportions of the shoujo trope. In this sense, there is a clear spatial distinction between the naturalistic styles and illustration of the present and the malleability of dreams and their abstract temporality.\nFig. 3.2 Taeko and her host family dry saffron on straw mats in the sun The division of landscapes is not unique to the mechanics of cinema, however — Only Yesterday has sincere thematic spaces also. By this point in the argument of this thesis, Ghibli’s interest and dialogue with natural landscape and the environment is well established. Unlike the functional and artistic implications of space, the ‘worlds’ of Only Yesterday do not invoke specific personal memory but broader historical contexts, largely informed by the social upheaval and rapid introduction of consumer society in the Shōwa period, albeit through a very different lens than that of My Neighbour Totoro. We see the introduction of nostalgia as informed by commodity-objects, including references to period-appropriate music groups and television. The inclusion of the series-0 Shinkansen, Japan’s first high-speed rail network, is symbolic of the postwar era, as a culmination of Japanese industrial strength and war recovery. Despite the film’s initial release in 1991, the story is set in the early 1980s, positioning Taeko as a child in the height of the baby boom and inextricably positioning her as a girl of Shōwa. This acknowledgement is important, because it finds Taeko’s fascination and eventual adoption of an agrarian lifestyle uniquely within this historical Japanese period, and characterises her personal struggles against deeply cultural spaces. This functions alongside the playful past-present mechanic, widening the cultural and technical gap between childhood and adulthood. On the overnight train trip out of Tokyo, Taeko sees little of the passing landscape and the audience experiences a dislocation of space, unable to map the journey without prior knowledge of her destination. In this sense, Shōwa Tokyo is not just a memory but a physically alien world, segregated from her rural destination by an inscrutable journey between. Her childhood memory, and its legacy in Japan’s vicious urbanism, is divorced from the present twofold, and an inversion of topos has occurred. The film shows little of present-day Tokyo, because there is little to tell — to a Japanese audience in the 1990s, this constituted a ‘default’ space.\nThe same cannot be said for the depiction of Yamagata, and Taeko’s retreat to the country marks a visual departure as dramatic as that between the memory scenes and present Tokyo. Despite her stay in a thoroughly Japanese farmhouse amidst steep, terraced hills, European elements also emerge. Toshio, her acquaintance and friend, mentions an affection for traditional Eastern European music, and agriculture in the region is dependent on the harvesting of Saffron flowers, an originally mediterranean crop. This reflects, to some extent, the minor Japanese interest in ‘Old Europe,’ but also helps distinguish Taeko’s journey as somewhat special across Japanese agriculture, distinguish the practice and technique of Saffron harvest against staple crops like rice. We see every part of the plant being used, using its valuable threads to dye clothes. Here, Taeko is obviously an outsider — despite her eagerness to learn and participate — and so her Shōwa nostalgia, which she confesses to Toshio, is unreciprocated. This ties into a broader, studio-wide thematic interest here towards the deficiencies of Japanese urbanism. Most obviously, the previous chapter’s My Neighbour Totoro celebrates agrarian living, and it is not unreasonable to associate Only Yesterday with this general post-Shōwa urban skepticism. The film makes obvious, however, that Taeko’s tentative agrarian retreat is presented as an alternative, rather than default space. It is very much a human domain, just distant from the bustling heart of Tokyo, which is epistemically opposed to Totoro’s more foundational absence of landscape.\nFig. 3.3 Young Taeko considers the poverty of a fellow classmate Here we return to Karatani, who articulates the origins of this schism of conception:\n“Of course, I do not mean to say that landscapes and faces had not previously existed. But for them to be seen as \u0026ldquo;simply landscape\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;simply face\u0026rdquo; required, not a perceptual transformation, but an inversion of that topos which had privileged the conception landscape or face” (Karatani 1993, p. 56).\nIn other words, it is precisely this conception of rural life that has alienated it, and so despite the similar Ghibli watercolour background style, they are totally different conceptions of ‘agrarian living’. Miyazaki has said as much while discussing the Japanese relationship with nature:\n“The biggest reason why mountain animals decreased so much is agriculture. It\u0026rsquo;s human arrogance to say that the country scenery is beautiful. A farm basically takes away the chance to grow from other plants. It\u0026rsquo;s more like barren land. The productivity of wasteland is higher than that of farmland. It\u0026rsquo;s the same for other creatures. It\u0026rsquo;s because of the time (we live in today) is such that I have to even think such things” (Miyazaki, 1997).\nIn the context of this essay’s total argument, then, we see Only Yesterday advocate Ghibli’s spaces in two places — first in memory, in the dichotomy of childish abstraction and mature naturalism, and then in physicality, in Ghibli’s environmentalist leitmotifs — expressed commonly as a New Japan/Old Japan anxiety. Only Yesterday, like almost all of Takahata’s films, experiments with the format and style of animation to better express the function and mechanics of thematic or story concern, which marks a departure in the body of this thesis from Miyazaki’s unwavering orthodoxy to the Ghibli “house style”. This affords him a pleasant abstraction, not just in Only Yesterday but across his filmography, that is not usually present in Miyazaki’s more fantastic, but literal, filmmaking. In a paper concerned with spaces and their representation, Takahata takes an artistic wrench to a cohesive characterisation to Ghibli’s spatiality, and films precluded from this argument, including the likes of Pom Poko and My Neighbours the Yamadas might threaten to collapse it entirely, outliers as they are. Only Yesterday, however, and his 1988 film Grave of the Fireflies (which this this paper will look at in the next section) represent novelistic filmmaking that expands the conventions of cinema, and critical to the concern of this essay, the methods in which the studio’s worlds are constructed and depicted.\nChildhood and Historicism # Love and Whimsy in Whisper of the Heart # Now far from the fantastical images of a ‘lost past’ in Kiki’s Delivery Service and My Neighbour Totoro, we arrive in Whisper of the Heart at the urban heart of Tokyo in the midst of the Japan\u0026rsquo;s ‘Lost Decade,’ a setting close to home for the contemporaneous Japanese audience that saw it in cinemas in 1995. This section also marks an interesting shift in this paper\u0026rsquo;s textual analysis, from the imagined to the ‘real’: places that you can ostensibly identify upon a map and — as demonstrated in this chapter — visit for yourselves. In this chapter, we’ll look at Ghibli’s depiction of time and childhood within spaces and dreams, and how they interact and play with the real world\nWhisper of the Heart introduces Shizuku, a fourteen-year-old junior high-schooler whose creative ambitions and creeping anxiety about what she wants out of the future have her listless as serious decisions about school and life approach. Her bookish habits spur a meet-cute with a boy in her year who initially annoys her, Seiji. From there, a story unfolds about creativity and self-discovery, positioning Shizuku as a burgeoning creative as her relationship with Seiji blossoms. She navigates the exceptions of herself from within and without, culminating in the draft of her first novel as her school exams loom.\nThe manga on which the film is based (of the same name) prioritises the relationship between Shizuku, Seiji, and a third fellow student as part of a love triangle common in Shojo manga. In Miyazaki’s hands, however, the film presents Shizuku as an independent spirit, following her heart on a journey of self-confidence and discovery alongside, rather than because of, Seiji. In the context of the severe recession underway in Japan at the time, their creative ambitions are strikingly brave, and describe a circumstance that was undoubtedly relevant to young Japanese contemplating their futures in 1995.\nWithin the film, however, the asset bubble and stock market crash couldn’t be further away, as a more domestic conflict within a middle-class family plays out. Shizuku’s parents are scholarly (a common trope within Ghibli’s catalogue) — her father works at the local municipal library and her mother studies at university. Since her sister, with whom she shares a room for the first part of the film, is also a university student, Shizuku is a somewhat independent figure. It is possible that her bookishness is inherited at least in part from her parents. Her life is spread across Tama, commuting to and from school and her father’s library, as well as the commercial heart of her hometown. Hills are a characteristic feature of the area, and the film depicts curving roads, vast concrete retaining walls and steep staircases throughout.\nFig. 4.1 Shizuku crosses a curved street in Tamagawa Fig. 4.2 The same curved street (own work) Whisper of the Heart makes full use of the Tamagawa suburb in Tokyo, employing locations in all manner of spatial functions. Shizuku finds herself exploring parts of these hills, and we explore with her — where conventional filmmaking intuition would merely cut between locations, Kondō (and also screenwriter Hayao Miyazaki, who drafted the storyboards) use a practice common among Ghibli films in which the journey is presented in part or in full, allowing audiences to map recurring spaces in the film. These are thoroughly immersive journeys, with detailed views into the outside world as they whiz by on trains or on bicycles. Weedy (2018) calls this approach “perceptual modulation,” and recalls Miyazaki’s invocation of Ma as its reason for being, arguing that:\n“[…] it is the train-like motion of these animated vehicles that perceptually modulate the viewers. Their gaze is then focused on the character’s simple face, and the combination of these two elements creates this specific empathetic response resulting in characters that feel multidimensional, despite the flat, two-dimensional art style.”\nThis approach also means most viewers will cultivate a basic understanding of Tamagawa — and by extension, the anchors of Shizuku’s life — through the relationship of these spaces with Shizuku and with each other. This approach also has a dramatic effect on the pacing of the film, which Miyazaki identified above as Ma in an interview with critic Roger Ebert. “Emptiness,” Miyazaki said. “It’s there intentionally” (Ebert, 2002). He proceeds to distinguish it from Makurakotoba, or “pillow words,” found in Japanese poetry, since Ma describes the ‘negative space’ or ‘emptiness’ of a scene, both physically and conceptually. In these contexts, the depiction of a journey — consuming money and time to animate — are clearly important parts of pacing and storytelling and help to provide breathing room between scenes. They also provide a physical dimension between locations, even if their specifics remain vague — we might not know for how long the train runs, or which stations she boards and alights, but we understand that her home and the library are linked together by a short walk and a train trip. This map helps illustrate what should be an abstract, alien series of places by their relationship to each other and Shizuku, reorganising them spatially.\nFig. 4.3 Shizuku sits at a shrine after school with a friend Fig. 4.4 The same shrine (own work) The film is set in and inspired by Tamagawa — centred on the Seiseki Sakuragaoka station on the Keio Line specifically — and many locations depicted in the film are inspired by locations in this area. In this sense, there are two places that appear simultaneously in the film. To those that are familiar with the local area, the film faithfully recreates and depicts the landscape and architecture of Tamagawa, with all its local history — from its origins in the rapid expansion of Tokyo suburbia in the ‘60s, to its Keio line station and commercial surrounds. To those unfamiliar with Tamagawa, these places transcend their real-world origins and become fantasy, drawing more broadly on concepts of ‘life in Japan’. A foreigner may not recognise Shizuku’s Danchi as a postwar public housing initiative common to the Tokyo metro area, but they may very well recognise her apartment lifestyle and the concrete structure’s open-air staircase to be ‘Japanese.’ In this sense, there is a Shizuku of Tamagawa, a Shizuku of Japan, and perhaps even Shizuku of universal adolescence, with the specificity of her environs and circumstance irrelevant to the broader narrative strokes of the film.\nIn typical Ghibli fashion, there is an obvious presence of this ‘universal Shizuku,’ even within this deeply Japanese film. Most obviously, there is mention of Seiji’s interest in a traditionally European craft (violin making) and his ambitions to study under an expert in Italy. More broadly, however, the recession that devastated Japan’s ‘economic miracle’ during production is replaced by broader gestures towards familial concern and adolescent uncertainty, requiring Shizuku to draw upon confidence in herself and her ability to justify her departure from the “usual path”. She has noble and disarmingly charming literary ambitions in an education system that prioritises test-taking and academic performance, and weighing her dreams against family and society are at the heart of the themes of this film. Shizuku’s parents, while hesitant and concerned for her wellbeing, are supportive of her ambitions and largely defy stern, conservative Japanese stereotyping (Nakayama 2014, pp.17-19), allowing Shizuku’s circumstance to transcend Tamagawa and Japan. These are the “shared cultural codes” described by Frans Mäyrä (2010, p. 38), who recognised Ghibli’s propensity to demonstrate “contemporary global concerns” that are “readily available as a cultural dialectic for the future.”\nFig. 4.5 A Keio EMU pulls into Seiseki-sakuragaoka station Fig. 4.6 The same station (own work) This is perhaps symbolised best by the film’s use of ‘Country Roads’ by John Denver, which is referenced throughout the film and finally sung during the climax of the film — a concept which, to West Virginians, might seem delightfully absurd. Walter Chaw for Film Freak Central expressed this colourfully, writing in his review:\n“The obsession with reworking John Denver\u0026rsquo;s hilljack schmaltz classic \u0026ldquo;Country Road\u0026rdquo; into an un-ironic ode to the \u0026ldquo;concrete roads\u0026rdquo; of the picture’s Tokyo-bound little girl protagonist, for instance, almost by itself renders Whisper of the Heart a Hello Kitty! for that particular brand of Japanese, Yank-ophile, cross-eyed badger shit” (Chaw, 2016).\nHe adds, “[the song] reminds us of how peculiar a beast cultural diffusion can be.”\nPerhaps, throughout the Ghibli catalogue, there is no better representation of how wildly different cultural spaces interact and fuse into new immersive experiences — in the same way that Tamagawa for many Westerners is now illustrated by the beautiful watercolours of the film’s backgrounds, perhaps the song ‘Country Roads’ for Japanese audiences in 1995 recalls not American mountains but Japanese hills. This is whimsy at its finest, as a great equaliser — and represents Ghibli’s ability to resonate internationally, even within films of real physical location. And it is precisely in this displacement of location and meaning that Whisper of the Heart reveals the importance of ‘subconscious cartography’ in these worlds, especially in unfamiliar places.\nMortality and Innocence in Grave of the Fireflies # Grave of the Fireflies originally released in Japan as a double feature, accompanying My Neighbour Totoro to cinemas. At first, this practice may strike someone familiar with both films as totally bizarre — Grave of the Fireflies has been characterised as a Japanese “Schindler’s List” and My Neighbour Totoro is associated most commonly with wholesome, family cinema and came to define Ghibli’s universal nostalgia. In fact, the decision to play them back-to-back urged Phillip Wegner in part to theorise My Neighbour Totoro as an alternate history dream that contrasts the brutal naturalism of Grave of the Fireflies:\n“Not only did many of the same animators and production teams work on both films, there are a number of references throughout that suggest it and Totoro were intended to be understood as a complementary pair. For example, the lush visual representation of the countryside that the children inhabit for part of Grave of the Fireflies recalls the setting of Totoro; and at one point, the young protagonist Seita lies to his sister telling her that their mother – who perishes after being severely burned in the attack on their city and whose ashes are in a can inside their meager cave-like dwelling – is buried under a giant camphor tree” (Wegner, 2010).\nThe film, directed by Takahata, is based off Nosaka Akiyuki’s short story of the same name. Nosaka is one of Japan’s great postwar novelists, and depicts the scene shown in the opening minutes of the film. Nosaka wrote Grave of the Fireflies in 1967, a month after his short story American Hijiki (a bitingly satirical post-war comedy), and Takahata’s 1988 film was its first cinema adaptation. In a 1994 interview (Animerica, p. 8) with Animerica magazine, Nosaka said:\n“There were many offers to make that novel into a movie, but they never materialised. It was impossible to recreate the barren, scorched earth that’s to be the backdrop of the story […] what if a kid with a fat belly showed up to play him [Seita]?”\nFig. 5.1 The spirits of Seita and Setsuko overlook their aunt’s home after the firebombing of Kobe Takahata further explained the rationale behind the animation war story in the same interview (p.7):\n“It’s natural that many that many animated stories are adventure stories, and that’s not a bad thing in itself. But at the same time, I’ve felt a contradiction in that… Whether it’s animated or not, a wartime story tends to be moving and tear-jerking, but the young people reading or watching such a story have a certain inferiority complex in relationship to it. They think that people back then were much more noble and they wouldn’t be able to do such things themselves. But I think that’s not right. We make such stories to give people courage, but then the audience feels that the story has nothing to do with them. So I wanted a common ground for the audience to relate to. If felt that way before I encountered the [Nosaka’s] book.”\nThe director confirms that, even in 1980s Japan, animation was associated mostly with adventure stories and children’s cartoons, making Grave a significant departure from the approach of prior formats (Animerica, 1994, pp.7-8). Yet its double-feature release alongside My Neighbour Totoro shows that Ghibli intended the film to be seen by children — an unusual approach, to say the least. So what is found in Takahata’s sobering war story?\nGrave of the Fireflies opens in the Japanese city of Kobe in the aftermath of the Second World War. The opening scene depicts the starvation death of Seita, a teenage boy, in a train station where he joins his sister as a spirit. The film then cuts to the waning days of the war, as Seita’s mother and five-year-old sister, Setsuko, prepare to evacuate their home in anticipation of an air raid. Moments later, the bombs arrive but not in the expected form — long, thin incendiary tubes land and set fire to their home and neighbourhood. As a firestorm grows and consumes the city, Seita and Setsuko seek shelter, having been separated from their mother. By the time the fire is extinguished, Kobe is scorched and barren — little remains but Meiji stone department stores and concrete schools. Seeking shelter at a local elementary school, Seita is informed that his mother was badly burnt in the raids. Within days, she dies.\nWith their mother’s passing and their father overseas in the war, the children are taken in by distant family and relocate to the countryside. Seita sells his mother’s remaining possessions and retrieves their buried supplies, giving it all to his aunt, who uses the proceeds to purchase rations. As the supplies begin to stretch thin, and the number of mouths to feed in the home increases, his aunt becomes increasingly resentful towards their presence, since Seita has no job or income. This culminates in an argument that results in Seita and Setsuko setting out on their own, establishing themselves nearby in an empty bomb shelter that sits on the edge of a small lake.\nAt first, Seita and his sister are triumphant at their independence and freedom by the lake. A scene sees them capturing and releasing fireflies in their small, cave-like shelter, only for Setsuko to find them dead the next morning. She asks, “why do fireflies have to die so soon?” As food becomes scarce, Seita provides for them by stealing from the fields of local farmers, who eventually catch him and assault him. Setsuko grows increasingly ill, and when Seita takes her to a doctor he confirms she is dangerously malnourished. Seita goes to withdraw the last of his mother’s money from her bank account, but on his way back to the shelter Japan has surrendered and, since her navy was sunk, his father is almost certainly dead.\nFig. 5.2 Setsuko watches enemy fighters buzz the Japanese coast Satsuko is delirious by the time he returns, and although he attempts to feed her she passes soon after. A scene shows a wealthy family returning home from the country after evacuation, indulging in music and small-talk, as glimpses of Setsuko’s life in the shelter are shown. Seita cremates her body at the top of the hill, and retains only a few small personal items in her memory. He starves to death in the weeks following surrender, joining Setsuko’s spirit. In a haunting image, they settle beneath a view of modern-day Kobe, aglow in the prosperity of the postwar world.\nIt is unflinchingly tragic, but also in some ways more sentimental than Nosaka’s own experience, who survived his sister and died in 2015. As Takahata explained, Seita reflects a postwar generation, as “he withdraws to go away and do other things. He doesn’t endure it” (Animerica, 1991, p. 7). Takahata positions Grave not as a traditional anti-war film in its tragedy, despite his well-documented antiwar advocacy, in favour of an intimate story of the consanguineous bond of brother and sister, and their death in isolation. We recall here the “New Japan/Old Japan” anxiety of the previous chapter on Only Yesterday, but its dimensions are replaced. ‘New’ and ‘Old’ are not broad notions of old agrarian Japan and new consumer society, but of old childhood in the Second World War and new childhood raised after it. So there like a lot of Takahata’s films, Grave invokes a dialogue between the time of a film’s release and the time of a film’s setting.\nThis is why Goldberg (2009, p. 41) suggests the use of luminous fireflies as an image of “[remembering] this wartime history paradoxically through the act of viewing the natural,” bridging the irreconcilable suffering of the war and consumer society shown at the end of the film through a natural paradigm. This is helped by the illustrative nature of animation — the fireflies mirror closely the burning spot-fires of Tokyo, in the same way that our protagonists depict the idea of a brother and sister transcendentally, rather than literally as in live-action cinema. This produces an effect that paradoxically distills the brutality and tragedy of the film, immersing the audience in their feelings without distracting them with the detail of a living human actor. This better orients characters spatially, since they are depicted in the same transcendental approach given to background watercolour and lighting cels.\nFig. 5.3 Seita and Setsuko sitting in the sunset outside their makeshift shelter To close the argument portion of this thesis, it seems appropriate to draw parallels between Grave and its sister film Totoro through Karatani’s initial observation on the upheaval of the old, transcendental understanding of landscape. It is easy enough to draw parallels between Grave’s retreat from society and Only Yesterday’s similar modern phobias. More critically, considering their cinema pairing, consider how aspects of Grave’s landscape mirrors Totoro’s own pleasure amidst the trees; particularly the scenes in which Satsuko plays and acts out adult chores around their abandoned shelter. Wegner (2010) also draws parallels between the shelter the natural world provides in Totoro, nurturing the girls, and Grave’s “fully objectified mute landscape, [which] appears glacially indifferent to their suffering.” Their shelter sits on a lake, across from where large country houses look over the surrounding countryside. There is some fantasy at play here, between the misery and rationing of the Japanese society and the freedom and peacefulness of the shelter. Of course, the children never really escape from the war-world — they become increasingly dependent on it, as Setsuko’s health deteriorates. These desperate scenes starkly contrast the peaceful and intuitive relationship between person, agriculture and wilderness depicted in Totoro, and constitutes a dystopia that inverts several the picturesque, utopian deconstructions of modernity argued for in this paper’s first chapter. This is a good way of demonstrating the complementary, rather than antagonistic nature of the utopia/dystopia paradigm: we can trace the ‘social dream’ in both, precisely because of their opposing thematic constructions — dystopia is most commonly an inversion, rather than a subversion, of the utopian social dream (Wegner 2002). The dream may be different — Takahata clearly outlines a dialogue between the youth of consumer society and the abstract suffering of the war years at the beginning of this chapter — but as a double-feature, and as a text preceding Totoro’s ‘50s pacifism, Grave’s haunting echoes of the past reflect a radically different visions of Japan\u0026rsquo;s 20th-century landscape.\fConclusion # Although the five films pulled from Studio Ghibli’s thirty-year “golden age” might seem to constitute a varied selection of cinema, reflection on the arguments made across the five texts suggest their appropriateness for use here as elements of a single argument — what components of Ghibli’s spatiality contribute to its importance in ongoing analysis into animation? Each film offers a unique dimension of spatial thinking, and helps build a portfolio of texts that testify Ghibli’s strength in depicting and moving around landscapes.\nHence the title of this paper: A Universal Nostalgia — “universal” by way of the mechanics of Ghibli spatiality. Throughout this broad filmography there are recurring political themes (in perhaps the most obvious framing of utopian thinking), but we can also see utopian effort arising from the mechanics of the studio too. This is how hyperlocal texts like Only Yesterday, in its midcentury parade of Japanese memory, and Whisper of the Heart, in its championing of urban Tokyo spaces, can become universalised to audiences foreign to both Japanese urbanism and the Shōwa/lost decade periods. The arguments of this thesis are less concerned with the spatial characteristics of any single film than it is with how different strengths of different films across Ghibli’s catalogue can make a convincing argument for the studio’s relevance and usefulness in both the structural and textual dialogue around animation. This made a good excuse to revisit and assess some of the studio’s most memorable, and often less-discussed, works across the last forty years and map them against their spatial strengths to produce a convincing portfolio of utopian spatiality.\nThe first section of this thesis, titled Spatiality and Abstraction, looked at two of Ghibli’s ‘lost histories,’ or films that depict alternative pasts in the real world. These films constitute the most fantastical among the texts analysed in this thesis. Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro, represents the heart and initial inspiration of this thesis, because of its obvious agrarian whimsy and Wegner’s (2010) powerful argument for its understanding as alt-history. It introduced a conversation about modernity we saw recurring throughout the subsequent chapters, but positions itself more generally, depicting an ‘alternate Shōwa’ that could very well be an ‘alternate agrarian Britain’ or ‘alternate postwar Europe;’ highlighting the some of the similarities and many of the vast differences between Japan’s war period and that of the pre-war West. This is Ghibli at its most subversive, due to its restrained depiction of utopian agrarian life and the small-worldness of childhood. It presents utopia as a conceptual dream, rather than as dry political fiction, which is made powerful by its gentle abstraction and pastoral universality. Although other Ghibli films indict and critique real places and times in history, none do it as quietly and convincingly as Totoro.\nMy Neighbour Totoro’s ‘abstract Japan’ is followed by an ‘abstract Europe’ in Kiki’s Delivery Service, the subject of the second chapter. As siblings of the Spatiality and Abstraction section, Kiki’s urban European port town is closer to Totoro’s agrarian Japan than it first appears, largely bound by their mutual fascination with and deliberate recreation of the midcentury period in their respective landscapes. Where Wegner saw a 20th-century vision of Japan that had never gone to war in Totoro (2010), A.J. Rocca saw a “ghost of modernity” in Kiki’s Delivery Service (2017), that, similarly, had survived into the postwar period only through the abolition of the Second World War itself. This leaves the section with two key arguments, drawn from analysis of each chapter. First, that Ghibli films (as directed by Miyazaki) show a fascination with the rebuilding of history, reinventing and immersing old spaces and building out of them ‘ghost pasts’ that never occurred in our own world. Looking backwards from the 21st century, these ‘ghost pasts’ are depicted in the abstract, told only through local stories of local significance, lending them a vague universality that traditional science fiction often dismantles. It is precisely this abstraction, and the deeply human and empathetic depiction of our girl protagonists, that allows these places to live on as believable worlds in our minds.\nThe second section section documented Interiority and Reproduction, and accompanied a focus on personhood and placeable nostalgia in Takahata’s Only Yesterday. The film introduced the same fitful postwar setting of My Neighbour Totoro, but evidently the two films couldn’t be more distinct in scope and landscape. Only Yesterday’s bittersweet, chaotic memories of urban life in Tokyo are worlds apart from Totoro’s friendly agriculture, and Only Yesterday introduces this schism quite literally through protagonist Taeko’s split life between modern, the busy world of the city and agricultural, slow-paced worlds of the country. Only Yesterday has a playful relationship with linearity, dispensing it and recalling it at-will to better illustrate a portrait of its protagonist, which contributes another dimension to the spaces of the film. We see the camera observe child Taeko and adult Taeko independently, only for the two to coalesce into surreal moments of coexistence, as Taeko approaches truths about her dreams and the past. This section is dominated by a concern for spatiotemporality as it links to objects, invoking historical landscapes to ground memory and place. In Only Yesterday, this is demonstrated in the cultural artefacts of growing up, or the depiction of the new Shinkansen bullet train, which helps to ground the studio’s backwards-facing storytelling in the ‘real,’ thus demonstrating Ghibli’s capacity for open dialogue with the spaces of the past even among a catalogue of successful abstract films.\nThe final section, Childhood and Historicism, looked at two films produced contemporaneously in conversation with the time in which they were produced and the circumstances that produced them. The chapter is also an indulgence of the depiction of childhood, a common trope of the studio, in which two vastly different stories produce antithetical concepts of the ‘Child’. Whisper of the Heart is easily argued as an anthem for beleaguered recession-culture youth, with its creative and curious teenage protagonist Shizuku holding faith in her ability amidst the collapse of Japan’s ‘economic miracle’. This chapter looked at the modality of literary cartography, in which the depiction of travel allows audiences to map places against each other, and the multidimensionality of real space and how that space is recognised and valued. Shizuku is a teenager of ‘multiple Tamagawas,’ in the sense that her lifestyle and life-spaces are reproduced in different forms to different audience-members, a universality that recurs throughout the films depicted here. This depiction of recession-childhood was followed by Takahata’s tragic war-childhood in Grave of the Fireflies, which expanded on Ghibli’s propensity for conversation on Japanese historicism and modernity, and provided (through its adjacency to Totoro) another glimpse of a ‘social dream’ recalled throughout this paper in various capacities.\nReflecting on the subject of this paper, a few simple truths of the Ghibli catalogue emerge from the sum of each of the five texts. The first, and perhaps most overt, is that these films (which include works directed by all three co-founders of the animation studio) are deeply concerned with time and place, and contribute to contemporary conversation about animation and filmmaking through their varied depiction of modern history. This contributed on several occasions to politicised spatiotemporality, often in utopian form (as ‘alt-history’ or ‘lost-history,’ in addition to literalist depictions of Japanese experiences throughout the 20th century).\nCritically to the focus of this thesis, however, it is clear that while Ghibli maintains a ‘house style’ of hand-drawn character cels and detailed watercolour background plates, the studio also maintains a ‘spatial dimension’ to its films, constructed out of recurring stylistic artefacts that have come to characterise the studio’s look. This means that, modality and perception aside, there is a spatial foundation working across the studio’s films that transforms all landscapes depicted, rendering all works in the same visual language. This is important, because the transcendental quality of animation produces startling capacity for storytelling, and is how the same studio, with many of the same artists, can produce magical films like Totoro and realist character portraits like Only Yesterday within years of each other. That ‘same visual language’ is a key concept in Ghibli’s total spatial turn, because it operates like a language — perhaps not a phonetic alphabet, but pictographically, and transcendentally of what it’s actually depicting. In the same way sounds and icons come to represent concepts and phrases, Ghibli’s large heads and plastic mouths come to represent people. By Karatani’s metrics (1993), that transcendental style affords the studio a valuable literary freedom, not bound by the realist constraints of description or live cinema.\nLooking specifically to the components of Ghibli’s spatial turn, then, we see a broad tapestry of film that experiments with space-making beyond the inherent abstractions of the medium. Throughout the analysis of this thesis, the films depicted here reveal startling multidimensional geography, rearranging historical timelines and identifiable cultural aesthetics into new forms (as in My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service), recalling foreign temporal dimensions and memory (as in Only Yesterday), and the recreation of real place and real history through abstracted forms (as in Whisper of the Heart and Grave of the Fireflies respectively). This adds up to a complex and sophisticated spatial catalogue, and suggests that broader generic trends within anime could similarly provide historical, cultural and textual insight into the narrow dialectic of literary cartographic discourse, and provide new ground for Ghibli fans to explore novel and sophisticated dimensions in the studio’s work.\nI think that this is among the studio’s greatest strengths as an animation studio, in a medium that by its nature celebrates landscape. There is nothing left to chance in animation; everything must be built. In this sense, it represents an outstanding medium for social dreaming; a vicarious celebration of architecture, nature, infrastructure and domesticity — the places that are the building blocks of ‘social dreams’. With Ghibli, we see this repeatedly. We see it in the abstract, as whimsical alt-history and domestic play-fantasies within fictitious, beautifully-created watercolour landscapes. We see it in the interiority of its characters, which break down temporality and use it to inject reflection and memory into literal space. We see it in the reproduction of historical settings used to communicate the atmosphere and iconography of previous ages, and retell the truths of their time. We see it in the way Ghibli’s spaces create transcendental images of the real world in ways that can universalise and beautify it, or to produce a dialogue with contemporary audiences and the past. These distinctive, sensitive and beautifully-depicted spaces are, for me, a significant component of the total value of Studio Ghibli’s body of work, and demonstrate the importance of animated stories not just as beautiful pictures, but immersive living spaces that affect the modality and linearity of filmmaking. This intersection of world-making, illustration and the mechanisms of film is unique to animation, and Studio Ghibli provides new and rich insights into this emerging spatial conversation across several overlapping disciplines. This represents an exciting dialogue for the future of animation study, and the multiple spatial dimensions of Studio Ghibli’s filmography represent a unique and deeply engaging contribution to animated cinema.\fCited Works # Filmography # Grave of the Fireflies (1988). Directed by I. Takahata. Japan: Studio Ghibli.\nKiki’s Delivery Service (1989). Directed by H. Miyazaki. Japan: Studio Ghibli.\nMy Neighbour Totoro (1988). Directed by H. Miyazaki. Japan: Studio Ghibli.\nOnly Yesterday (1991). Directed by I. Takahata. Japan: Studio Ghibli.\nWhisper of the Heart (1995). Directed by Y. Kondō. Japan: Studio Ghibli.\nReference List # Aguilar, C., 2016. ‘Studio Ghibli\u0026rsquo;s Geoffrey Wexler Talks Dubbing Takahata\u0026rsquo;s Undubbable “Only Yesterday”’. Indiewire, [online]. 🔗Available here. [Accessed 30 Sep. 2020].\nAkimoto, D., 2013. \u0026lsquo;Miyazaki’s new animated film and its antiwar pacifism: The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu)’. Ritsumeikan Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 32, pp.165-167.\nAmzad Hossain, M. and Fu, W.H., 2014. ‘A Semiotic Analysis of Hayao Miyazaki’s Animations’. Journal of Visual Literacy, 33(2), pp.97-119.\nAranda, O.G., 2020. ‘Representations of Europe in Japanese Anime’. Mutual Images Journal, (8), pp.47-84.\nBishop, E., 2014. ‘Miyazaki\u0026rsquo;s Films and the Utopia Within\u0026rsquo;. Doctoral dissertation, North Central College, Naperville.\nCampbell, K., 2020. ‘Only Yesterday is a masterful reflection on youth’s impermanence’. Little White Lies, [online]. 🔗Available here. [Accessed 20 Sep. 2020]\nChaw, W., 2016. ‘Whisper of the Heart Review\u0026rsquo;. Film Freak Central, [online]. 🔗Available here. [Accessed 2 Sep. 2020].\nDenison, R., 2007. \u0026lsquo;The Global Markets for Anime: Miyazaki Hayao’s Spirited Away’. Japanese Cinema, pp.326-339.\nEbert, R., 2000. \u0026lsquo;Grave of the Fireflies Review’. rogerebert.com, [online]. 🔗Available here. [Accessed 2 Sep. 2020].\nEbert, R., 2002. ‘Hayao Miyazaki Interview\u0026rsquo;. rogerebert.com, [online]. 🔗Available here. [Accessed 2 Sep. 2020].\nFrank Lloyd Wright Foundation, 2020. ‘Frank Lloyd Wright’s Lasting Architectural Influence’. franklloydwright.org, [online]. 🔗Available here. [Accessed 19 Oct. 2020].\nHernández-Pérez, M., 2016. ‘Hayao Miyazaki’s Works and Persona Through Disney Film Criticism’. Animation, 11(3), pp.297-313.\nIles, T., 2005. ‘Female Voices, Male Words’. Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies, pp.1-15.\nKaratani, K. and de Bary, B., 1993. Origins of Modern Japanese Literature. Durham and London: Duke University Press.\nKono, S., 2017. ‘Did Spirited Away Dream of Third-Wave Feminism?’. Correspondence: Hitotsubashi Journal of Arts and Literature, 2, pp.9-36.\nLe Blanc, M. and Odell, C., 2019. Studio Ghibli: The Films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Oldcastle Books.\nMiyazaki, H., 1997. ‘Interview: Miyazaki on Mononoke-hime’ Translated by R. Toyama. Mononoke-hime Theater Program. Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten. Nausicaä.net, [online]. 🔗Available here. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2020].　Miyazaki, H., 2001. Studio Ghibli Storyboards Collection 10: Whisper of the Heart. Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten.\nMiyazaki, H., 2009. Starting Point, 1979-1996. Trans. Beth Cary and Frederik L. Schodt. San Francisco: VIZ Media.\nMäyrä, F., 2010. ‘Japanese Fantasy and the East-West Dialectic’. Imaginary Japan: Japanese Fantasy in Contemporary Popular Culture.\nPenney, M., 2012. \u0026lsquo;Miyazaki Hayao and the Asia-Pacific War’. The Asia-Pacific Journal, 10(54), p. 3.\nPrindle, T.K., 1998. ‘A Cocooned Identity: Japanese Girl Films: Nobuhiko Oobayashi\u0026rsquo;s “Chizuko\u0026rsquo;s Younger Sister\u0026quot; and Jun Ichikawa’s “Tsugumi”’. Post Script-Essays in Film and the Humanities, 18(1), pp.24-37.\nRocca, A.J., 2017. \u0026lsquo;Miyazaki’s Haunted Utopia: The Ghost of Modernity in \u0026lsquo;Kiki’s Delivery Service’. Pop Matters, [online]. 🔗Available here. [Accessed 20 Oct. 2020].\nSchilling, M., 1997. \u0026lsquo;Miyazaki Hayao and Studio Ghibli, the animation hit factory’. Japan Quarterly, 44(1), p.30.\nSchipperges Tjus, E., 2018. ‘Pacifism in the animated films of Miyazaki Hayao. Bachelor’s Thesis’, Stockholm University, Stockholm.\nTally, R.T., 2013. Spatiality. Vancouver: Routledge.\n‘The Animerica Interview: Takahata and Nosaka: Two Grave Voices in Animation’, 1994. Animerica. Viz Media. 2 (11): pp. 7-8.\nThe Art of My Neighbour Totoro, 2005. San Francisco: VIZ Media.\nWarf, B. and Arias, S. eds., 2008. The Spatial Turn: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Routledge.\nWegner, P.E., 2002. Imaginary Communities. San Francisco: University of California Press.\nWegner, P.E., 2010. ‘Utopia and Alternate History in Hayao Miyazaki\u0026rsquo;s My Neighbor Totoro’. Interdisciplinary Comics Studies, 5(2).\nWells, H.G., 2006. The Shape of Things To Come. London: Penguin Books.\nWood, C., 2008. ‘The European Fantasy Space and Identity Construction in Porco Rosso’. Post Script-Essays in Film and the Humanities, 28(2), pp.112-120.\nAs per Lyman Sargent’s triad of utopia — eutopia exemplifying a traditional ‘utopian’ good-place (as per a literal translation). Readers will likely be familiar with dystopia, its opposite, though still operative within the Sargent’s utopian framework.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nAlthough Whisper of the Heart was directed by Yoshifumi Kondō, it was storyboarded and written by Hayao Miyazaki (Miyazaki, 2001).\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nQuoted from (Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 2020)\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nCoined by H.G. Wells’s The Shape of Things to Come (Wells 2006).\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ghibli/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1011,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/private-industry/gina/",
  "title": "Gina","logo": "/svg/logos/gina.svg","icon": "🚲","rgb": "203, 2, 0",
  "section": "Private Industry",
  "description": "Gina is an bicycle and moped manufacturer Vekllei, specialising in petrolbikes. It is most famous for the Gina Motoral moped.",
  "content": " Gina Private Corporation of Vekllei Employees 2,410 Founded 1899 Headquarters Oslola Industry Bicycles \u0026 mopeds LocatorID oslola Revenue AK ✾ 1.6 billion Traded GNA ScL Gina S.c.L. is a bicycle and motorcycle manufacturer in Vekllei, specialising in bikes and mopeds. It has a long history of successful bicycle designs, but in the post-war period is synonymous with its most successful product: the Gina Motoral. It is the largest bicycle and moped manufacturer in Vekllei, and the second-largest motorcycle manufacturer after Vulcan.\nVery few Vekllei people own cars, and usually make long commuters via shared transportation like trains, hydrofoils and commercial aircraft. The demand for personal transportation for intermediate distances and local commutes is very strong, and the Gina Motoral fulfils this role perfectly. First designed in 1963, it was not until the postwar period that the Gina Motor\u0026rsquo;s 14th iteration exploded in popularity. To date, over 20 million Gina Motorals have been sold, and is well liked by Vekllei people for its ease of use, quiet shrouded engine, and reliability. The current iteration is based on the chassis of another Gina bike, the Model 9, with extensive changes to prepare it for motorised and road use.\nIn addition to the Motoral, Gina manufactures a suite of bicycles for different riders and uses, from urban commuter bikes stored in cyclepools to offroad and mountain bikes for recreation. Gina has three factories including its headquarters in Oslola, and another in Kairi. It remains a private corporation within the Gina family, whose continued participation in cycle racing ensured they remain well-known throughout Vekllei.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/gina/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1012,
  "href": "/series/goc/",
  "title": "Goc",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1013,
  "href": "/series/government/",
  "title": "Government",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1014,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/",
  "title": "Government","logo": "/svg/crests/vekllei.svg","icon": "🌸",
      "image": {
        "src": "/svg/diagrams/government.png",
        "webp": "/svg/diagrams/government_hufc8d1204c9b51f5b8eae53367d350c93_3179511_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box_3.webp"
      },"color": "millmint",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "Government plays an important role in Vekllei society, and contributes substantially to the lived experience of Vekllei people.",
  "content": " Government in Vekllei is a federal parliamentary directoral commonwealth that unites 83 island republics across the Atlantic and Caribbean. The system operates through consensus democracy and devolved administration, creating a sui generis state without direct precedence or comparison.\nAt its heart lies a three-tier structure: federal Commonwealth government, regional Commonwealth coordinators, and sovereign republic assemblies. Executive power rests with the Commonwealth Directory, a collegial body of dual-gender offices, while legislative authority flows through representative chambers and quarterly constitutional referendums that give ordinary citizens direct say over federal legislation.\nThe political architecture reflects Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s unusual geography and history. Scattered across two oceans, with cultures spanning from Inuit communities to Forro West Africans, Vekllei administration reflects the country\u0026rsquo;s unique character as a diverse federation of city-states. What emerged during the postwar years was a union of island communities united by consensus and ways of living, not geography or race.\nConstitutional Foundations # Core Principles # The Vekllei Constitution establishes government around three foundational ideas that distinguish it from conventional federal democracies.\nConsensus governance operates through paired executive offices at every level, with one man and one woman serving as a single political entity. These dual offices, called Consilia, must reach internal agreement before presenting unified positions to higher governmental levels. From municipal councils to the federal Directory, the system assumes that better decisions emerge from negotiated consensus rather than individual authority and lends Vekllei decisionmaking a considered, moderate character.\nConcurrent sovereignty allows republics to maintain autonomy while participating in a federal state, a concept known as subsidiarity or localism. Each republic operates its own Republic Assembly and local laws, provided they don\u0026rsquo;t contradict federal constitutional principles. The federal government maintains a vertical fiscal imbalance with most republics, but they retain control over their own local affairs.\nDevolved administration creates an intricate system where federal ministries maintain local bureaus in each republic while centralising policy development. A federal ministry might set national standards for education or healthcare, but implementation occurs through republic-based bureaus situated in local conditions and cultures.\nFederal Structure # The Commonwealth operates through institutions designed for consensus rather than competition. Unlike Westminster systems where government and opposition face off across party lines, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s nonpartisan democracy requires cooperation between different levels of government and different regional interests.\nFederal legislation must pass through multiple filters: the Commonwealth Senate representing regional interests, the Confederal Ecclesia representing republic populations, and quarterly referendums representing direct citizen authority. This creates slow but deliberate governance, with major changes requiring broad social consensus rather than narrow political majorities.\nCommonwealth Directory # Executive Authority # The Commonwealth Directory serves as Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s collective head of government, comprising 8 Consilia1 offices elected by the Regional Commonwealths. Each Consilia represents roughly ten republics, creating a federal executive of 16 individuals who must somehow present unified national leadership.\nThe process works through graduated consensus. Individual Consilia first negotiate internally between their male and female components, then present agreed positions to the broader Directory. Federal decisions require majority support from Consilia offices, but persistent minority dissent can trigger political crises requiring resolution through Regional Commonwealth intervention.\nThis system deliberately makes individual leadership nearly impossible while enabling collective action. No single person can dominate federal policy, but the Directory as a whole can act decisively when consensus exists. In many ways it reflects Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s deep suspicion of concentrated authority, born from colonial experience and postwar reconstruction.\nPowers of the Directory include:\nFederal executive authority and administrative oversight Appointment of ministry leadership and federal judges Foreign relations and treaty negotiation Emergency powers during national crises Constitutional interpretation, subject to referendum override Coordination between federal and republic governments The Directory\u0026rsquo;s authority generally stops where republic sovereignty begins. It cannot override republic assemblies on local matters, dissolve republic governments or impose federal administrators except during declared emergencies requiring Regional Commonwealth approval.\nSelection # Consilia selection occurs every four years through Regional Commonwealth Assemblies, with each region electing their dual executive through internal vote. Candidates typically emerge from successful republic leadership or distinguished federal service, though some regions prefer to elect political outsiders. It is quite common to see members elected from industry, science or the arts compared to other countries.\nThe accountability mechanism operates through both political and constitutional channels. Individual Consilia may be recalled by their Regional Commonwealth through majority vote, while the entire Directory faces citizen confidence through referendum if petitioned by sufficient republics. Repeated dissent from Directory consensus can trigger impeachment requiring approval from six of eight Regional Commonwealths.\nFederal Parliament # Commonwealth Senate # The Commonwealth Senate comprises 40 senators with five representatives from each Regional Commonwealth, elected indirectly by Regional Commonwealth Assemblies for staggered six-year terms. Half the Senate faces election every three years, ensuring continuity throughout democratic renewal.\nSenators represent regional rather than party interests, with most maintaining strong connections to their home republics as they develop federal perspectives through parliamentary service. The Senate functions as a house of review and regional coordination, which helps federal legislation reflect the diverse interests of Atlantic and Caribbean republics.\nSenate powers include:\nFederal budget approval and taxation authority Treaty ratification and international agreement oversight Confirmation of federal appointments including judges and ministry heads Constitutional amendment initiation Federal legislation review and amendment The Senate operates through committees corresponding to major ministry areas which scrutinise federal policy through a regional lens. Committee membership reflects regional balance rather than population, so smaller island republics retain influence over federal decisions.\nConfederal Ecclesia # The Confederal Ecclesia solves a fundamental problem facing Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s federal democracy: how to represent 83 individual republics without creating an impossibly large parliament. Rather than electing 1,500+ federal representatives, the system uses existing republic assemblies as federal representatives.\nEach republic\u0026rsquo;s Republic Assembly serves dual functions as local legislature and federal representative body. Federal legislation receives simultaneous consideration by all 83 assemblies within 30-day windows, with assemblies casting weighted votes based on republic population. Small islands receive minimum representation of one vote, while larger republics like Oslola receive up to five votes.\nThis creates some level of federal representation while maintaining strong local democracy, and allows assemblies to debate federal legislation alongside local matters. This also helps voters understand how federal decisions affect their communities. The system maintains connection between local and federal politics without requiring separate federal election campaigns across scattered islands.\nFederal legislative process:\nBills introduced in Commonwealth Senate or through citizen petition Senate committee review and amendment Senate floor vote requiring simple majority Simultaneous consideration by all Republic Assemblies Republic assemblies vote within 30-day window Confederation vote tallied using weighted system Bills passing both chambers proceed to constitutional referendum Constitutional Referendums # Quarterly constitutional referendums provide direct citizen oversight of federal legislation, with five to eight bills bundled together four times annually. These aren\u0026rsquo;t plebiscites about government popularity but direct votes on specific federal laws passed by parliament.\nCitizens vote yes or no on each bill, with simple majorities required for passage. Rather than voting continuously as legislation develops, citizens engage quarterly with carefully prepared packages of federal decisions.\nReferendum authority extends beyond parliamentary legislation. Citizens may petition for referendum votes on Directory decisions, constitutional amendments, or major federal policy changes. This is why Vekllei is often characterised as a direct democracy within a representative framework, founded on the consent of its people.\nRegional Government # Commonwealth Coordination # The eight Regional Commonwealths manage between 8 to 12 republics each, serving primarily as administrative coordinators rather than sovereign governments. These regions reflect geographic and cultural affinities \u0026ndash; the Lucayan and Kalinan Commonwealth coordinates island republics with shared colonial and cultural histories, while the Atlantic Commonwealth manages the scattered mid-ocean territories.\nRegional Commonwealth Assemblies comprise three to five representatives from each member republic\u0026rsquo;s Republic Assembly, creating regional forums of 25 to 50 members focused on inter-republic coordination. These assemblies handle resource sharing agreements, regional infrastructure projects, and coordination of federal programme implementation. Regional coordination becomes essential for island republics lacking individual capacity for major projects. The Antilles Commonwealth might coordinate hurricane preparedness across its member republics, while the Arctic Commonwealth manages shared icebreaker services and northern research stations.\nCommonwealth Territorial Councils consist of First Secretaries from regional republics, handling day-to-day administrative coordination. These councils allocate regional budgets, mediate inter-republic disputes, and makes sure federal programmes receive consistent implementation across culturally diverse territories. Regional Commonwealths also elect federal Directory Consilia, creating the crucial link between local republic democracy and federal executive authority. This electoral function ensures federal leadership maintains connection to regional interests while developing national perspectives.\nAdministrative Functions # Regional Commonwealth authority operates through consensus and coordination rather than command. Regions cannot override republic decisions or impose regional tax,2 but they can facilitate agreements between republics and coordinate shared services that individual islands couldn\u0026rsquo;t manage alone.\nThis includes management of inter-republic transport systems (including CommRail, Commonwealth Airways and Commonwealth Lines networks), shared educational institutions serving multiple small republics, regional healthcare specialisation and coordination of federal ministry bureau activities.\nRepublic Government # Sovereign Island Democracy # Each of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s 83 republics operates as a council democracy with autonomy over local affairs. These aren\u0026rsquo;t simple administrative divisions but sovereign political entities with their own constitutions, legal systems and cultural institutions. The system recognises that democracy requires local control over matters affecting daily life.\nRepublic Assemblies comprise 15 to 25 members elected by Municipal Assembly delegates, as a direct connection between the neighbourhood democracy familiar to Vekllei people and republic governance. Assembly size reflects island population, so geography—small single-island republics might elect 15 members, while larger multi-island republics elect up to 25. Oslola\u0026rsquo;s large parliament has over 50.\nEach assembly elects a First Secretary who serves as republic head of government and represents the republic in regional coordination. First Secretaries typically emerge from successful municipal leadership or distinguished service in republic administration, though some republics prefer to elect political outsiders or technical experts.\nRepublic powers include:\nLocal legislation, provided it doesn\u0026rsquo;t conflict with federal constitution Republic taxation and budget allocation Municipal coordination and resource sharing and management of some municipal corporations Cultural policy and heritage preservation Implementation of policy directed by Commonwealth Parliaments (superior ministries) Regional trade and economic development Participation in federal legislative confederation This autonomy allows republics to develop distinctive local cultures while participating in federal governance.\nMunicipal Foundation # Municipal Assemblies form the foundation of Vekllei democracy and are the foundation of municipalism, which represents their understanding of community and subsidiarity. These assemblies typically encompass 500 to 2,000 citizens within geographic communities where social relationships remain strongest \u0026ndash; usually corresponding to neighbourhoods, villages or small towns.\nMunicipal boundaries follow natural community divisions rather than arbitrary administrative lines. On small islands, the entire population might form a single municipality, while larger republics divide into multiple municipal communities. This is \u0026ldquo;democracy with a human face,\u0026rdquo; and allows ordinary people to engage with democracy in ways that are impossible in the larger federal system.\nMunicipal functions include:\nDirect democratic forums for local issues and citizen concerns Election of delegates to Republic Assemblies Initiation of local legislation and citizen petitions Community resource allocation and local project coordination Primary venues for political education and civic engagement Municipal democracy operates through regular citizen assemblies where residents debate local issues, coordinate community projects and select representatives to higher governmental levels. This allows participatory democracy while connecting local concerns to republic and federal policy development.\nSpecialised councils supplement municipal democracy:\nCivic Ecclesia: Government secretaries and appointed citizens coordinate administrative matters Industrial Ecclesia: Workplace representatives coordinate economic policy and labour relations Heliaea: Community courts handle local disputes and minor criminal matters Voluntary Councils: Cultural, academic, and interest-based associations provide advisory input These councils ensure different aspects of community life receive representation while maintaining democratic accountability through municipal assembly oversight.\nFederal Administration # Ministerial Parliaments # Commonwealth Parliaments\nCommunity Parliament Civic Parliament Democracy Parliament Parliament of Health Parliament of Education Security Parliament Six Ministerial Parliaments operate as specialised federal institutions with their own legislative chambers, handling policy areas requiring both professional expertise and democratic accountability. These quasi-independent bodies develop national policy while remaining answerable to federal parliament and citizen referendums.\nEach parliament comprises 35 members combining democratic representation with professional expertise. The Parliament of Health exemplifies this structure:\n16 members elected by republic assemblies from health sector representatives 12 public health professionals elected by medical associations 7 citizens selected by sortition from health sector workers This specialised focus facilitates detailed policy development while maintaining democratic control over technical decisions affecting citizen welfare.\nDevolved Ministries # Devolved Ministries\nMinistry of Commerce Ministry of Culture Ministry of Defence Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Industry Ministry of Labour Ministry of Landscape Ministry of Light and Water Ministry of the Commons Ministry of the Commonwealth Ten Devolved Ministries maintain federal policy coordination while operating local bureaus in each republic, creating sophisticated balance between national standards and local implementation. This system ensures policy consistency while allowing adaptation to local conditions and cultural preferences.\nEach ministry operates through three distinct levels.\nFederal headquarters develop national policy, establish standards, and provide inter-republic coordination. Republic bureaus implement federal programmes while adapting to local conditions and cultural practices. National departments and other Federal Organisations provide specialised services requiring commonwealth-wide coordination. Democratic Participation # Electoral Systems # Vekllei operates staggered electoral cycles designed to facilitate direct democracy while ensuring the stability of government. This prevents the political paralysis that can result from simultaneous elections across multiple governmental levels while retaining the benefits of regular democratic renewal.\nFederal elections occur every three years for half the Commonwealth Senate, ensuring continuity while allowing democratic adjustment. Regional elections follow four-year cycles, with Regional Commonwealth Assemblies and Directory Consilia selection occurring simultaneously to maintain connection between regional representation and federal executive authority. Republic elections operate on three-year cycles for Republic Assemblies, providing regular democratic renewal and experienced governance. Municipal assemblies operate through continuous citizen participation rather than fixed electoral terms, which reflects their direct democratic character. Constitutional referendums occur quarterly, bundling federal legislation into manageable citizen votes. This is designed to ensure regular direct democratic participation while preventing referendum fatigue through careful timing and issue bundling. Civic Engagement # The Vekllei system emphasises broad democratic participation through multiple institutional channels. They have a type of civil and military conscription known as Compulsory Service, which requires two years of work and two years of community engagement including municipal assembly participation. This Compulsory Service typically occurs between ages 16-20, and can involve a number of different roles as required.\nSortition elements supplement elected representation throughout the system, particularly in specialised bodies requiring citizen perspectives alongside professional expertise. Citizen juries participate in constitutional courts, community representatives join technical committees, and sortition-selected citizens serve in ministry advisory bodies.\nProfessional representation introduces industrial and scientific expertise to policy development while maintaining democratic accountability. Teachers elect education representatives, healthcare workers select health parliament members, and cultural workers choose arts administration representatives. This helps facilitate governance informed by professional knowledge while preventing technocratic isolation from democratic oversight.\nThe combination of election, appointment and sortition creates a complex and uniquely diverse patchwork of perspectives across different governmental functions.\nLegal Framework # Constitutional Authority # The Vekllei Constitution establishes federal authority in specified areas while protecting republic autonomy over local affairs. Unlike unitary constitutions that grant powers to lower levels, or federal constitutions that reserve powers to states, the Vekllei system creates overlapping jurisdiction with clear hierarchy principles.\nFederal supremacy applies in areas including defence and foreign policy, inter-republic commerce and transportation, constitutional rights and democratic procedures, federal industrial and monetary policy, and standards in government, environment and industry.\nRepublic authority covers local legislation and cultural policy, municipal coordination and community development, local resource and budget allocation, cultural programmes and economic development within constitutional limits.\nMunicipal rights receive strong constitutional protection as the foundation of democratic legitimacy. Federal and republic governments generally cannot override municipal autonomy in community affairs except in defence of Constitutional law.\nConstitutional interpretation operates through a number of mechanisms. The Commonwealth Directory provides initial interpretation subject to citizen referendum challenge. Constitutional courts handle disputes between governmental levels. Citizen referendums provide ultimate constitutional authority through direct democratic participation.\nJudicial Independence # Commonwealth Constitutional Courts handle federal constitutional matters and inter-republic disputes, ensuring consistent application of federal law while respecting republic autonomy. These courts comprise judges elected by federal parliament from nominations by republic assemblies and legal professional associations.\nRegional Appeal Courts coordinate legal standards across republic jurisdictions while respecting local legal variations. Republic Heliaea handle most civil and criminal matters through community courts adapted to local customs and cultural practices.\nMunicipal Tribunals provide restorative justice and community dispute resolution, mostly for petty crimes and antisocial behaviour. Vekllei is a diverse country and this system helps keep minor crimes within the community rather than systematising them into the broader legal system.\nThe system operates through concurrent jurisdiction where multiple court levels may address different aspects of legal disputes, with clear hierarchy rules preventing conflicting decisions while facilitating local adaptation of legal principles.\nConsilia is a political office comprising one man and one woman. They represent a single office, and are supposed to reach consensus.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nYes, despite Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s famous moneyless domestic market, the country does collect taxes on industrial imports and exports.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/government/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1015,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/government-aircraft-factories/",
  "title": "Government Aircraft Factories","logo": "/svg/logos/GAF.svg","icon": "✈️","rgb": "247, 85, 85",
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "Government Aircraft Factories is a government-owned corporation that manufacturers a variety aircraft, specialising in passenger and transport planes.",
  "content": " Government Aircraft Factories State Corporation of Vekllei Employees 19,000 Founded 2015 Headquarters Oslola Industry Aerospace Manufacturing Ministry Ministry of the Commons Parent Bureau of Aerospace Revenue AK ✾ 44.6 billion Traded GAF ScL Government Aircraft Factories (known as GA, Government Aircraft or The Factory) is an aircraft manufacturer owned by the government of Vekllei. It comprises the majority of aircraft research, development, testing and manufacturing in the country, and dominates civilian aerospace construction in Vekllei. It is also the oldest and most prestigious of the postwar aircraft development firms. It is a devolved corporation with plants and offices around Vekllei. It is independent from Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation and has a general focus on civilian aerospace, and the two companies have a historic rivalry.\nIt trades on the Commsec as GAF, and is the fourth largest aircraft manufacturer in the world by market cap.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/GAF/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1016,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/government-ownership/",
  "title": "Government Ownership","icon": "🌺","rgb": "238, 72, 155",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "In the complex federal system in Vekllei, government-owned corporations have to share ownership among many government bodies.",
  "content": " Summary\nGovernment-owned corporations (GOCs) are owned by the Vekllei government, which in practice often means each of the republics simultaneously. The share capital of GOCs is governed by preferred-privileged shares, which are available only to government ministries, departments and occasionally industry councils. Rather than consisting of thousands or millions of shares, GOCs have their share capital pegged to the number of relevant authorities (in most cases republic governments). As such, nationalised corporations like Commonwealth Airways have issued only 9 shares, each being owned by a republic\u0026rsquo;s Ministry of Transport. The unusual ownership structure of Commonwealth GOCs1 are a result of the federalised Vekllei system. While the commonwealth councils do own some corporations directly, the vast majority of Vekllei state-owned assets fall under the portfolio of the ministries of constituent republics.2\nEach republic has the same suite of ministries responsible for its own affairs. Because ministries in Vekllei are decentralised (but identical),3 they own corporations that would be nationalised overseas jointly, as a means of representing one collective owner. This stake can be attributed a money-value but there is no legal mechanism for any one republic to exploit or leverage that value.\nThere are generally three levels of government-owned corporation in Vekllei:\nFederalised corporations, owned by the Commonwealth government Nationalised corporations, owned jointly or singularly constituent republics Municipalised corporations, owned by a Polis, territory or municipality Issued preferred-privilege shares in the case of jointly-owned GOCs do confer limited voting rights. Jointly-owned GOCs have a governing council that helps unify the policy of the individual ministries. In most cases, these GOCs operate as independent businesses within the mandate of their governing portfolio, but ministries can call votes on policy in certain cases. In this sense, the ministerial councils operate similarly to a board of directors.\n\u0026lsquo;Government-owned corporation\u0026rsquo; (GOC) is the preferred Vekllei term, and is interchangeable with state-owned or nationalised enterprise.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nA \u0026lsquo;republic\u0026rsquo; in Vekllei is similar to a state or canton overseas. They are not traditionally sovereign, but enjoy significant autonomy through standards established by the Commonwealth government.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nVekllei republics have the same set of ministries. These are functionally independent, but are also united into an organisation of mutual association called a Commonwealth Ministry, lead by a Commonwealth cabinet member. As such, the individual ministries of republics are called Republic Ministries.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/government-ownership"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1017,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/atlantic/graciosa/",
  "title": "Graciosa","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/graciosa-4x3.svg","icon": "🐄","rgb": "227, 24, 24",
  "section": "Atlantic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Graciosa is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the North Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Graciosa Republic Island of Graciosa Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Atlantic Commonwealth Accession 1976, as part of the Azores Delegation Area 60.65 km² Capital Dismas Languages English, Portuguese Population 62,745 The Graciosa Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic Ocean, in the middle of the Azores archipelago. Although a volcanic island, it is mostly flat and does not share the dramatic terrain of its neighbours. Conspicuous and rolling hills characterise parts of its interior, and its southwest coast has steep cliffs.\nThe island is heavily deforested and covered by paddocks, orchards and grazing animals. The republic has a strong agricultural character reflected in its economy and lifestyle, and is famous for its wine and wool. A prevalence of homesteads, a Vekllei phrase here meaning self-sufficiency from the municipality, has encouraged some migration from aspirational farmers around the country.\nIn the southeast end of the republic, the enormous remains of a volcanic crater known as the Caldeira Massif can be found, now shrouded in forest. At the heart of the crater is a network of caves, through which the Ministry of Landscape has constructed paths to allow access to visitors. On the coast nearby are the Carapacho Thermal Baths, famous for the medicinal quality of their water.\nLife in Graciosa has a tranquil and pastoral quality, and its agricultural roots has made it a popular place of pilgrimage for both homesteaders and the urban disaffected. Unlike much of Vekllei, where diets depend heavily on synthetic meats, Graciosa commonly consumes living meat \u0026ndash; mostly lamb and some beef. The process of animal husbandry, animal raising and butchering has become a sacred process there, and one in which the entire community participates. Food preparation is still a communal activity on the island, and despite its 60,000 residents it still feels provincial.\nUnlike most of the Vekllei Commonwealth Atlantic, little English is spoken there. Older persons may not speak any English at all, and communicate only in historic Portuguese. The volcanic soils on the island and agreeable climate produce abundant harvests, and many fruits, wine, cereals and cheeses are exported for the benefit of the rest of the country. In return, the federal government has invested heavily in transport links, a new hospital and the maintenance of historic churches there. Trams now connect all the villages of the island, and a narrow-gauge steam locomotive runs on weekends. A daily ferry connects Graciosa to the Velas republic.\nClimate\nWarm year-round, with humid and sub-Mediterranean weather. Because of its flat terrain it receives much less rainfall than its neighbours.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Republic Day 15 Feb Carnival Good Friday Easter Commonwealth Day 1 May Azores Day 1 Jun Corpus Christi Assumption Day 15 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Feast of Imm. Con. 8 Dec Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest Furna do Enxofre: A unique volcanic cave featuring an underground sulphur lake, accessible by a spiral staircase and known for its impressive natural architecture. Caldeira da Graciosa: Colcanic caldera surrounded by hiking trails and scenic viewpoints. Praia de São Mateus: A small, popular beach with calm waters, perfect for swimming and sunbathing, located near the village of São Mateus. Santa Dismas: The island’s main town, featuring charming cobblestone streets, traditional Azorean architecture, and the historic Santa Dismas Church. Termas do Carapacho: Natural hot springs on the coast, known for their therapeutic properties and a relaxing atmosphere overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Monte de Nossa Senhora da Ajuda: Hilltop chapel that has panoramic views of the island and the ocean. Graciosa Wine Museum: A museum dedicated to the island’s wine production, showcasing traditional wine-making methods and local grape varieties. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/graciosa/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1018,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/grenadines/",
  "title": "Grenadines","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/grenadines-4x3.svg","icon": "🏝️","rgb": "0, 152, 96",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "The Grenadines is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Grenadines Republic Archipelago of the Grenadines Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1930, as part of the Alford Agreement Area 86 km² Capital Port Elizabeth Languages English, Vincy Creole Population 43,760 The Grenadines Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Caribbean. It is an archipelago of small islands scattered across a bank stretching between Yolouca in the north to Cama in the south. It comprises some 600 islands and islets, most of which are uninhabited. Their low economic value to the British, who exerted control over them in the 18th Century, has left them surprisingly remote considering their adjacency to major Vekllei republics.\nJust as pirates and smugglers once found a haven in the hundreds of islands in the Grenadines, today the republic remains a destination for ambitious homesteaders, fisherman and transient sailors. The restructuring of property law under Commonwealth federalisation has made the precise ownership of many of the islands more obscure, and so many of them thrive as minor communal agricultural settlements or even private islands. There is a real sense there that, with hard work, you can establish a paradise for yourself there.\nThe vast majority of Grenadinians live on its five main inhabited islands \u0026ndash; Bequia (the capital), Mustique, Canouan, Union and Carriacou. There are several others that also have villages or small towns. There is evidence the Island Caribs inhabited the islands sporadically, probably to fish, but by the time of their settlement in the 17th Century they were uninhabited and the Caribs had settled in Yolouca. Despite the severe lack of water, the French established a number of plantations across them during their rule. The British did little to improve them, but did establish a number of towns around naval forts used to control piracy.\nThe capital of Port Elizabeth is a pretty and prosperous, and along with other large towns has seen the most development. They resemble much of the Vekllei Caribbean, with good harbours, schools and tram networks. Other islands very in their development and strength of municipal authority. While federal obligations \u0026ndash; compulsory education and civic or military service \u0026ndash; are well-enforced, people on the peripheral islands are left alone and usually appreciate the freedom of the minor island lifestyle. It is common for Grenadinians to own private boats, and is typically how they get about the islands.\nThe republic is diverse, even by the standards of the Vekllei Caribbean. It attracts many transplants, which mix with the multicultural legacy of the colonial period. The islands are influenced by Yoloucan and Caman culture, and indulge typical Antillean pleasures of spiced barbecue and rum. They have a strong musical tradition that fuses French violin with Caribbean and Creole rhythm.\nThe towns usually import water from the desalination plants in their neighbours, supplemented by reservoirs and rain catchment. The peripheral islands and homesteads generally rely on tank water. There are secondary schools on the five major islands, and a campus of the Commonwealth University of the West Indies in the capital which has a prestigious ecology programme. Only Bequia and Carriacou have airports in the republic. Locals get around by ferry or private boat.\nClimate\nSunny and warm, with rainy spells in the summer and fall. Though the dry or showerless period runs from December-April, the Grenadines\u0026rsquo; sun knows no seasons.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Discovery Day 22 Jan Spring Carnival Easter Monday Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Corpus Christi Republic Day 27 Oct Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Tobago Cays National Park: Group of small, uninhabited islands surrounded by coral reefs, offering some of the best snorkelling and diving in the Caribbean. Palm Island: Small island famous for its unlicensed distilleries, popular with private sailors. Bequia Island: Known for its laid-back atmosphere, beautiful beaches, and the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary, which works to protect endangered sea turtles. It is the most developed island of the republic and home to its capital. Salt Whistle Bay: Located on Mayreau, this crescent-shaped beach is popular for its calm turquoise waters and idyllic scenery. Friendship Bay: A tranquil beach on Bequia known for its golden sands and excellent sailing opportunities. Commonwealth University of the West Indies Grenadines: Regional university with a prestigious ecology programme, offering placement to people from all over Vekllei. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/grenadines/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1019,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/lucaya/habacoa/",
  "title": "Habacoa","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/habacoa-4x3.svg","icon": "🪸","rgb": "251, 99, 44",
  "section": "Lucaya Commonwealth",
  "description": "Habacoa (\u003ci\u003eAndros \u0026 Cay Sal\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lucayan Archipelago.",
  "content": " Habacoa Republic Archipelago of the Andros \u0026amp; Cay Sal Islands Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Lucaya Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 5,957 km² Capital Kipri Languages English, Lucayan Creole Population 204,038 The Habacoan Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei on the northeast periphery of the Lucayan archipelago, west of Nema and south of Lucayoneque. It is the largest island of the Lucayan Commonwealth, and is fragmented by many inlets and cays.\nComprising flat, wooded limestone islands linked by mangroves, Habacoa is sparsely populated for an island of its size. It has a fifth of the population of neighbouring Nema, and so its modest settlements are mostly spread up and down the east coast. The Habacoan Barrier Reef to its east is the third largest reef in the world, and is recognised internationally for its significance and diversity.\nThe Habacoan economy is municipal and agricultural, and its major employers are all institutions of Commonwealth government. The LSRE operates the National Marine Establishment in the town of Mars, and the Armed Forces maintains the National Ocean Test Facility at the capital of Kipri. The republic is known for its seafood, and fishing is still the most common registered occupation on the island. This diet is supplemented by local crops of vegetables and tropical fruit.\nA rail line runs from north to south on the east coast. The west and interior of the island is mostly protected by the Habacoa National Park, which has boardwalks and paths for visitors. Increasingly, the island is a popular place to dive among Vekllei people, who travel from all over the country to visit its reefs. An airstrip with basic facilities is found outside the town of Mars and within the military facility in Kipri, but realistically most Habacoans transit to Nema for air journeys.\nPoints of Interest National Marine Establishment: Scientific marine studies centre and base of operations for the Marine Division of the LSRE in the Lucayan Commonwealth. Associated with CUWI. National Ocean Test Facility: Military testing facility and underwater sonic research complex. Kipri Town Beach: Gorgeous and guarded beach found on the coast of the capital city. Habacoa National Park: Large and accessible national park that encompasses most of the west side of the island. Blue Holes: Deep underwater cave systems that manifest on the surface as blue pools found within the National Park. Habacoa Barrier Reef: Third-largest barrier reef in the world teeming with coral and aquatic animals. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/habacoa/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1020,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/haiti/",
  "title": "Haiti","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/ht-4x3.svg","icon": "⛓️","rgb": "210, 15, 52",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "The Black Republic of Haiti is a black liberationist country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean.",
  "content": "The Black Republic of Haiti is a country in the Caribbean, occupying the eastern third of the island of Hispaniola. It was founded by black slaves who rebelled and won freedom from France in 1804, and most of its population today is descended from those rebels. Since independence, Haiti has been beset by political and economic problems and natural disasters that have severely impeded its development.\nIn 2045, a series of coups and widespread political unrest collapsed the Third Haitian Republic and Haiti fell into anarchy. In order to restore society and prevent widespread famine, the COMOC staged an intervention to deliver aid and depose the criminal Destine regime. After the war, with aid and security from CO members, the Fourth Haitian Republic elected a black-liberationist communalist republic influenced by Vekllei, and operates a mixed socialist economy styled after the Seychelles.\nAs a member of the COMOC, Haiti has seen rapid development in the last twenty years and its education and health systems have improved significantly. In addition to the CO members, Haiti maintains close ties with socialist republics in Africa, particularly the Guinea Socialist Republic and the Latin Africa.\nOutside of its close political allies, Haiti is functionally a closed economy and trades mostly subsistence crops. It remains a net importer of most manufactured goods.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/haiti/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1021,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-health/health-democracy-commission/",
  "title": "Health Democracy Commission","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/health.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "health",
  "section": "Parliament of Health",
  "description": "The Health Democracy Commission receives and prosecutes complaints in the Vekllei public health system.",
  "content": "The Health Democracy Commission (HDC) is a statutory body set up to receive, assess, resolve and prosecute complaints in the public health system. It also acts an advocate for the rights, dignity and welfare of patients in tribunals and legal disputes.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bureau-of-public-health/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1022,
  "href": "/factbook/state/healthcare/",
  "title": "Healthcare","logo": "/svg/logos/healthcare.svg","icon": "⚕️","rgb": "45, 122, 235",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "Healthcare in Vekllei is planned centrally but delivered locally. It provides good outcomes for Vekllei people, and is widely accessible.",
  "content": " Overview # As elsewhere in Vekllei, healthcare is centralised in planning and standards and decentralised in delivery. Each republic has a Health Service which governs regional policy. Healthcare is operated and legislated by the Parliament of Health. Almost all healthcare available in Vekllei comes through public financing and providers. There are two private hospitals in the country which provide specialised care to foreigners.\nThe current system has good outcomes, and its public services are widely available to residents.\nServices # Read more: Health Vekllei There are 540 hospitals in Vekllei with a total of 80,000 beds.\nPublic health care covers the following:\nhospital inpatient services most general practitioner (GP) and specialist services a broad list of pharmaceuticals and medical devices home care services physiotherapy most preventive measures, including selected vaccinations, selected general health examinations, and screenings for high-risk patients maternity care, including prenatal checkups, birth, postpartum care, and breastfeeding advice outpatient care for mental illness, if provided or delegated by physicians medically necessary long-term care hospice care if there is an underlying disease Psychiatric Health # The country has six psychiatric hospitals. The largest is the Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital in Paria, which covers over 300 acres. Most mental health treatment occurs through outpatient services at general hospitals or through municipal health centres.\nCommunity mental health programmes operate in most municipalities, with psychiatric nurses and social workers conducting home visits and coordinating care. This approach keeps most patients in their communities rather than in institutional settings.\nPharmaceuticals and Medicine # The Commonwealth Government manufactures most pharmaceuticals domestically through the National Pharmaceutical Bureau. This bureau operates production facilities in Oslola, Kairi and Praia, which produce generic medications and some specialist drugs.\nForeign medicines are imported through the Municipal Pharmacy Agreements (MPA), which negotiate bulk purchasing with overseas manufacturers. The Medicines Authority approves all drugs for use in Vekllei and maintains a national formulary that lists approved medications.\nPharmacies are operated by municipalities and staffed by registered pharmacists. Most medicines are dispensed without charge, though some specialist medications require approval from a GP or consultant. The system maintains tight controls on controlled substances and antibiotics.\nFunding and Accounting # Hospitals and staff are funded by National Health Authorities, which receive block grants from the federal Health Secretariat. These grants are calculated based on population, demographic factors and historical costs. Republics with older populations or scattered island communities receive additional funding.\nLike all Vekllei government enterprises, healthcare in Vekllei uses commercial accounting systems and records spending. Although money is not actually used, these budgets are audited regularly and expenditure is determined through an extensive costing exercise.\nHealthcare delivery costs are often opaque in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s integrated health systems, in which a pharmaceutical can be produced, shipped and administered without material financial cost. Instead, prices are affixed by the Health Accounting Office and used as guides for cost. These budgets compel health services to discipline their costs.\nThe Health Finance Board reviews spending quarterly and can impose restrictions on republics that exceed their budgets. Capital expenditure for new facilities or equipment requires separate approval from the Commonwealth Health Secretariat.\nRole of Government # Main article: Parliament of Health Public healthcare is integrated into Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s cascading federal system. National Health Authorities (NHAs) are tasked with local policy and the delivery of most care, including health promotion programmes and the administration of hospitals. The federal Health Secretariat designs commonwealth policy, and conducts most health planning and research. The federal health authorities also purchase foreign imports necessary for domestic healthcare, including the Community Pharmacy Agreements (CPA) which negotiate foreign medicine prices.\nDiagram of the organisation of public health in Vekllei and its structure The foundation of Vekllei public health, however, lies in the municipalities. General Practitioners (GPs) and Family Doctors are the main primary care providers in the country, and are employed by municipal health councils.\nThe Parliament of Health oversees the entire system and has legislative authority over health policy. Its 35 members include elected representatives from republic assemblies, health professionals and citizens selected by sortition from the health sector. This body sets national standards, approves major policy changes and adjudicates disputes between different levels of the health system.\nMedical professionals require registration with the Health Sciences Authority, which maintains standards and handles disciplinary matters. Doctors, nurses and allied health workers must complete continuing education requirements and undergo periodic recertification.\nRole of Government Commonwealth Health Secretariat Commonwealth Office of Public Health Commonwealth Disease Control Authority National Health Council Vekllei Health Network Commonwealth Health Academy Medicines Authority Radiation Health Authority Food and Medicines Standards Authority Integrated Health office Integrated Health Accounting Office Integrated Care Office Health Democracy Advocate Health Accounting Office Health Finance Board Vekllei National Health Health Sciences Authority Health Promotion Board Hospital Administration Vekllei Municipal Health ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/healthcare/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1023,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antarctic/helena/",
  "title": "Helena","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/sh-4x3.svg","icon": "🐦‍⬛","rgb": "24, 117, 71",
  "section": "Antarctic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Helena (\u003ci\u003eSt Helena\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the southern Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Helena Republic Island of Saint Helena Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Antarctic Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 121.8 km² Capital Plover Languages English Population 29,844 The Helena Republic is a constituent republic in the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the commonwealth of Antarctica. Of volcanic origin but with volcanic activity now extinct, Helena is home to around 20,000 people, most of whom live in the capital Plover. Its closest neighbour is the Vekllei republic of Ascension.\nHelena is dominated by steep, conspicuous terrain with dramatic volcanic features. It has a pleasant, temperate climate cooled by the South Atlantic trade winds, that range 15-30°C across seasons. Its flora has evolved for millions of years in isolation, and has extraordinary biodiversity across its unique species. Human settlement is concentrated in the highlands and in narrow valleys on its coast.\nHelenians are descended mostly from British, South Asians and Africans most of whom were brought over as slaves and servants in the early colonial history of the island. The practice of slavery continued until the late 18th Century when it was outlawed across the British Empire.\nHelena was among the islands transferred to the British Atlantic Territories, which would eventually become the first Commonwealth of Oceans. It inherited membership in Vekllei upon independence.\nThe Helena economy is dominated by municipal goods (green vegetables, land stewardship, crafts) as well as the Port of Helena in Plover that is an important supply station between other Vekllei Antarctic territories. Helena is also home to the South Atlantic Radar Array. It has a single airport on the east of the island, and is serviced by small tramlines and funiculars.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/helena/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1024,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/arctic/helvasia/",
  "title": "Helvasia","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/sj-4x3.svg","icon": "🐻‍❄️","rgb": "219, 2, 3",
  "section": "Arctic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Helvasia (\u003ci\u003eSvalbard\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Arctic Ocean.",
  "content": " Helvasia Republic Island of Svalbard Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Arctic Commonwealth Accession 2026, as part of the Arctic Agreement Area 62,045 km² Capital Romsa Languages Northern Sami, English, Norwegian Population 32,400 The Helvasia Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic Ocean north of the Arctic Circle, nearly 1000km north of Norway. It comprises an archipelago of nine main islands, the largest of which is nearly 40,000 km² and is home to most of the republic\u0026rsquo;s small population. It is the northernmost Vekllei republic, and holds several records for its latitude, including its capital of Romsa as the northernmost permanent settlement in the world.\nAccording to sagas in Oslola, Helvasia was discovered by Scandinavians in the 12th Century, who observed tribespeople living there \u0026ndash; most likely arctic Sami. After the island was rediscovered by Europeans in the 17th Century, whaling stations were established on Bear Island in its south. After quarrels over whaling rights resulted in conflict between Dutch and English settlers, the UK effectively exercised control over Svalbard thereafter, though a small Russian settlement on the main island remained uncontested throughout the 18th Century. In 1836, the archipelago was absorbed into the British Atlantic Territories and later acceded to Vekllei after the Atomic War.\nBecause the whale oil industry was largely confined to Bear Island, the indigenous Sami peoples of Helvasia have retained relative independence from foreign powers for over a thousand years. They remain the predominant ethnic and linguistic group on Helvasia, and Northern Sami and English are taught in schools. Sami culture characterises life in Helvasia, and many traditional and animistic practices remain commonplace. Sami culture and language is distinct from both Scandinavian and Algic languages spoken elsewhere in Veklllei.\nLife on Helvasia is cold and harsh, and pack ice in its surrounding shallows prohibit access by sea in the winter months to all vessels except nuclear icebreakers. Its climate is Arctic and ranges from around 15 °C in summer to -40 °C in winter. Its extreme latitude means Helvasia experiences midnight sun and polar night for nearly a hundred days in both summer and winter respectively. Polar Bears remain dangerous there and many Helvasians carry rifles outdoors. Outside of company towns and nomads nearly all Helvasians live in the capital of Romsa.\nHelvasia has economic zone disputes with Norway and the Soviet Union, and confrontation between the Vekllei Littoral Service and the navies of those countries occur periodically. The country exploits coal, oil and gas reserves on and around the archipelago. Minor industries include domestic tourism, trapping, fishing and municipal goods. The republic also serves as a base for Vekllei polar research and expeditions, and its isolation has encouraged the establishment of initiatives like the Federal Vault and the International Knowledge Vault.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/helvasia/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1025,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/hera-class/",
  "title": "Hera-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Hera-Class is a class of minelaying warship in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Hera-class Minelayer Minelayer/Minesweeper Built 2055-present Class Hera-class Crew 140 Displacement 4,000 tonnes InService 6 Length 115 meters Service Maritime Service Speed 25 knots Station NS Java Java The Hera-class minelayer/minesweeper is a class of minelayer of the Marine Services of Vekllei. The class was designed for both deploying and clearing naval mines, particularly in gulfs and channels of strategic interest to Vekllei. With a displacement of 4,000 tons and a length of 115 meters, the class was designed for operations in littoral and coastal waters, but is also capable of operating in deeper waters when necessary.\nThe ship is powered by a Vampire marine nuclear power plant, allowing a maximum speed of 22 knots. The relatively small crew of 140 is complemented by a range of automated systems.\nThe Hera-class is equipped with a modular mine-laying system capable of deploying up to 150 naval mines of various types. This includes both defensive minefields to protect strategic locations and offensive minefields intended to deny access to enemy shipping routes. For mine-clearing operations, the ship is fitted with advanced sonar systems and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) designed to detect, neutralise, or recover naval mines.\nIn terms of armament, the ship carries a basic self-defence package, including a 30 mm auto-cannon and short-range No. 4 Lucaya anti-aircraft missiles to defend against aerial or surface threats. In Vekllei, the minelayers serve a support role alongside warships, and may be allocated to other fleets as required. Its dual-role design allows it to transition quickly between mine-laying and minesweeping missions.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/hera-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1026,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/volcanic/hetland/",
  "title": "Hetland","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/hetland-4x3.svg","icon": "🛖","rgb": "249, 150, 51",
  "section": "Volcanic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Hetland (\u003ci\u003eShetland Islands\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the North Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Hetland Republic Archipelago of the Shetland Islands Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Volcanic Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 1,467 km² Capital Lerwick Languages Commonwealth Celtic, Irish, Scots, Norn, English Population 26,400 The Hetland Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the North Atlantic Ocean. It comprises a group of about 100 islands east of the Vekllei republic of Aismious between Norway and Scotland, though only a couple dozen of them are inhabited. They are skirted by rich undersea oil deposits which form the economic basis of the their economy, and its windswept and mostly treeless islands are famous for the quality of their wool.\nMost Hetlanders live in Lerwick, the capital and largest city located on the island of Mainland. Historically, Hetland has been influenced by both Celtic and Norse cultures. First settled by the Norse in the 8th and 9th centuries, the islands were part of the Kingdom of Norway until they were transferred to the North Sea Kingdom in the 16th century. Throughout Norse settlement, an influx of Celtic settlers from Ireland and West Scotland influenced culture on the islands. This dual heritage is still visible today in the local dialect, place names, and traditions. One of the most famous cultural events is the Up Helly Aa festival, a Viking-inspired celebration featuring torch-lit processions and the burning of a galley, held annually in Lerwick. They speak a kind of fusion of Celtic and Old Norse languages, including a variant of Norn and Irish.\nEconomically, the islands have traditionally depended on fishing, crofting (small-scale farming), and knitwear, particularly their famous Fair Isle sweaters. In recent decades, oil extraction from the North Sea has been exploited by Commonwealth Oil, bringing considerable development to the region. The Hetlands are also a popular tourist destination for Vekllei people because of their proximity to the British Isles, natural beauty, birdwatching opportunities, and rich archaeological sites. These include Jarlshof, which provide evidence for 4,000 years of human history on the islands.\nDespite their isolation, the Hetlands are well-connected to both Aismious and Oslola by hydrofoil and air services. The islands maintain a strong sense of community and cultural identity. Their recent prosperity and discovery of oil under the North Sea has brought it into economic conflict with the UK, and the Armed Forces maintains Air Station Hetland on Mainland.\nPoints of Interest Jarlshof: An archaeological site spanning 4,000 years, with remnants from the Bronze Age, Viking, and medieval periods. Sumburgh Head Lighthouse: A historic lighthouse offering views of seabirds like puffins and dramatic coastal scenery. Lerwick: The capital with charming streets Nordic-style streets, the Hetland National Museum, and a busy waterfront. Fair Isle: Renowned for its knitwear and as a top destination for birdwatchers. St Ninian’s Isle: A tombolo beach connecting to a small isle, known for scenic walks and archaeological finds. Sullom Voe Oil Refinery: One of Vekllei’s largest oil refineries, and an important fixture in the Hetland economy. Lerwick Harbour: Key for fishing, freight, oil transport, and cruise ship docking. Scatsta Federal Airport \u0026amp; Air Station: Important industrial and military airport. Celtic Works: Company manufacturing machine tools, compressors and other industrial equipment as part of Atlantic Works. Hetland Fission Power Plant: General Reactor plant on Mainland, one of the handful of remaining fission plants in Vekllei ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/hetland/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1027,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/aircraft/horus-class/",
  "title": "Horus-Class","logo": "/svg/crests/air-service.svg","icon": "❉",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/thermal-ship.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/thermal-ship_hu1feda536e8a0c2f2db5012adfab87387_9828726_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "aero",
  "section": "Aircraft",
  "description": "The Horus-class is military airship that provides early warning and surveillance for the aero services.",
  "content": " Horus-class Naval Survey Thermal Airship Naval Survey Thermal Airship Built 2025-28 Class Horus-class Crew 40 InService 2 Length 330 metres Service Air Service Speed 200km/h Station NS Summers Summers Weight 310 tonnes The Horus-class naval survey thermal airship is a class of military airship in service with the Air Service. Its official role is as a survey airship, but its equipment and armament means it is primarily used for surveillance and early warning at the periphery of Vekllei waters. It has a sophsiticated suite of sensors and radars that are able to see beyond the horizon, making it invaluable as a mobile platform for ground and air surveillance in the vast interior areas of the Atlantic.\nThe Horus-class is a thermal airship, which means it is partially buoyant through hot air produced by the ship\u0026rsquo;s reactor. This air primarily controls altitute, and is supplemented by vast hydrogen envelopes at the fore and aft that maintain static buoyancy. The vessel is propelled by electric propellors that are arranged in a external ring around the rear third of the ship, and has four electric jet engines for moving at speed.\nAccess to the ship is provided by a ventral boarding compartment that is lowered to the ground like a lift, and there is stair access in the nose and aft bridge. The class also has a dorsal hanger for helicopters, which can be equipped with a variety of sensor packages or munitions. A single twin-armed launcher provides onboard defence of the airship, which relies heavily on its stored aircraft for defence.\nThere are two Horus-class airships in service: the Cold Watch and Black Horizon. Cold Watch is stationed in the Vekllei Lucaya and Antilles, and Black Horizon operates in the Volcanic Commonwealth and the Arctic. Both are capable of detecting ballistic missile launches from thousands of kilometres away, but also serve roles in maritime surveillance and geospatial defence work.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/cm-100/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1028,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/hound-class/",
  "title": "Hound-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hovercraft.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hovercraft_hu51f9ca77b72b7fb6e8e354ce2556e429_9209322_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Hound-class is a class of surface-effect hovercraft in service with the Littoral Service of the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Hound-class Surface Effect Hovercraft Surface Effect Hovercraft Built 2055-present Class No. 1 Hound-class Crew 35 Displacement 860 tonnes InService 16 Length 60 meters Service Littoral Service Speed 85 knots Station NS Antigua Antigua The Hound-class surface effect hovercraft is a type of littoral sidewalled hovercraft of the Marine Services of Vekllei. It serves an important role in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s archipelago maritime regions as the primary disaster response class of the Littoral Services. It is well-suited to this purpose, since it carries different kinds of search vehicles and powerful radars. In this capacity, it serves as a mothership for search and rescue missions, but in the Caribbean can also serve as a fast and well-armed interceptor in anti-piracy and anti-smuggling operations.\nLike most smaller littoral service vessels, the Hound-class carries No. 2 Fireflash anti-ship missiles for purposes of national defence and a 76mm Vanguard cannon for everything else. This computerised gun is a mainstay of the littoral and maritime services and can serve in limited air-defence roles.\nMore formidable in its armament is its complement of patrol launches and helijets. It can carry two of each, which provides a vessel of its size remarkable capabilities. Although the power and armament of the helijets are limited by the size of the hangar, they are capable of being equipped with anti-submarine sonar buoy systems and No. 8 Magma torpedoes. More commonly, bubble-dome patrol helijets are assigned instead to aid the Hound-class\u0026rsquo;s primarily roles in maritime patrol and search and rescue. The patrol launches are of the Harbour-class and are only armed with crew-operated bow machine guns. Their primarily purpose is rescue, maritime policing and to support dive operations.\nThe Hounds are hovercraft, and so have an inflatable (though rigid) skirt that raise the hull of the vessel almost entirely above the waterline. This allows it to attain incredible operational speeds of nearly 85 knots (155km/h), though they are limited in capability during rough seas. They can partially beach themselves to make offloading vehicles easier, but are not able to move freely across land like a regular hovercraft. They are powered by a regular NMPR marine reactor, which also supplies power to the pumps that inflate the air cushion.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/hound-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1029,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commons/housing-commission/",
  "title": "Housing Commission","logo": "/svg/logos/housing-commission.svg","icon": "🏠","rgb": "239, 91, 26",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commons",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Housing Commission designs, constructs and manages municipalised tenanted housing for the Ministry of the Commons.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Housing Commission designs, constructs and manages municipalised tenanted housing as part of the Bureau of Housing in Vekllei.\nAlthough most Vekllei people own their homes, home-ownership varies across resident status, employment, and different republics. To incentivise employment in some sectors like the Armed Forces and Healthcare, the Vekllei government attaches desirable housing to employment. Similarly, a claim to home ownership takes time to justify, and so many migrants and young people remain tenants. In both cases, tenanted housing is provided by the housing commission, which acts as a landlord for the purposes of ensuring a minimum standard of housing access.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-housing-commission/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1030,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/india/",
  "title": "India","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/in-4x3.svg","icon": "☸️","rgb": "255, 153, 51",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "India is a country in South Asia, and is the most populous country in the world.",
  "content": "The Republic of India is a country in South East Asia.\nThis article is under construction, please check back soon.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/india/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1031,
  "href": "/series/industry/",
  "title": "Industry",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1032,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/",
  "title": "Industry","icon": "⚙️","color": "orange",
  "section": "Factbook",
  "description": "Vekllei is a highly industrialised country, and has mature industries in most major sectors for domestic consumption and export.",
  "content": " Vekllei is an industrial country that leverages its good infrastructure and educated workforce to furnish a decent standard of living for its people. Unlike many island societies, Vekllei has a comparatively balanced economy with mature industries in most major sectors for domestic consumption and export. It is an advanced entrepot, with strong dirigist and federal characteristics.\n💎 Resources Bureau Industry Atlantis Caribbea Cane Common Gemstone General Reactor National Machines Municipal Industry Atlantic Works Avro Federal Timekeeping United Grocers Private Industry Adelectrics Atlantic Department Company Castro Cateral Firewalk Gina Orleans Steelworks State Industry Atlantic Hotel Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Commonwealth Airways Commonwealth Bank Commonwealth Lines Commonwealth Oil Commonwealth Post Commonwealth Ratings Corporation Commonwealth Starlines CommRail Cosma Government Aircraft Factories National Construction House ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/industry/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1033,
  "href": "/factbook/history/interim/",
  "title": "Interim Prosperity Government","icon": "🌸","color": "red",
  "section": "History",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Part of the history series of articles The Interim Vekllei Government (also the Interim Parliament and Interim Prosperity Government) was a temporary puppet state of the United Kingdom, established in 2015 as a means to Vekllei independence after twenty years of British occupation in the country. It consisted of approved leaders in the arts and industry, who developed proposals for a new democratic Vekllei state.\nIncluded was a majority female Council of Roses, many of whom were socialists opposed to communist unrest in British-occupied Vekllei and were seen as a strategic alternative to a hostile communist government upon British withdrawal. The council were responsible for draughting the Vekllei Constitution and establishing Interim Ministries in anticipation of independence.\nAfter independence in 2017, the Vekllei Interim Government became the 4th Commonwealth of Vekllei.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/interim/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1034,
  "href": "/characters/isuri/",
  "title": "Isuri","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Isuri is a student who lives in Mira, and works at United Grocers. She has no idea what she's going to do with her life.",
  "content": " Isuri is a student who lives in Mira, and works at United Grocers. She has no idea what she\u0026rsquo;s going to do with her life. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/isuri/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1035,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/verde/java/",
  "title": "Java","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/java-4x3.svg","icon": "☕️","rgb": "217, 20, 19",
  "section": "Verde Commonwealth",
  "description": "Java (\u003ci\u003eSao Tome\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Gulf of Guinea.",
  "content": " Java Republic Island of Sao Tome Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Verde Commonwealth Accession 1945, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 859 km² Capital Java Languages English, Forro, Angolar, Principence Population 514,720 The Javan Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei off the Atlantic coast of central Africa. Its sister republics, Principe and Annobon, are arranged to its northeast, and its closest continental neighbour is Latin Africa to its east. The three islands comprise the eastern grouping of the Commonwealth Verde.\nJava is roughly oval in shape and its interior is dominated by tall volcanic mountains. The slopes of these mountains are heavily forested, and form microclimates of considerable biodiversity. The island is bisected by the equator, and is typically tropical and maritime.\nThe island was the site of the Portuguese colonial sugar economy in the 15th Century, which exploited enslaved African labour from Central Africa. The decline of this industry was supplemented by the expansion of the Portuguese slave trade. The rise of cacao production in the 19th Century coincided with the abolishment of slavery in Portugal, but it resulted in little practical improvement in the working conditions in the plantation system, which was dominated by indentured labour. The island was infamous for the brutality of its foreign and absentee plantation owners, and conditions only worsened upon Portugal\u0026rsquo;s entry into the Second World War. After the war, the islands were ceded to the UK, and working conditions saw some improvement.\nToday, Java has had perhaps the most dramatic transformation in the postwar period. Although financial aid was common during the Atlantic Commonwealth period, the federal Vekllei system has invested heavily in infrastructure and education. The island is currently undergoing the process of federalisation, and has yet to transfer to the moneyless system of the rest of the country. Major land reform, and a sweeping urban renewal project managed by the Bureau of Public Works hopes to see Java reach near-parity with Commonwealth Verde by 2070.\nJavan culture has deep roots in the lusophone African continent, and those bonds persist today. Although English is taught as a working language in schools, the majority language is Forro, a kind of Portuguese creole shared with other East Verde islands. The majority live in the capital, also called Java, where the cacao industry makes up the majority of exports. Under federalisation, the labour-intensive cacao plantation system is declining and being replaced by undersea hydrocarbons and utilities targeting the Central and West African markets.\nJavans are mostly African or mixed-race, and are typically Roman Catholics. Many others come from the western islands of Commonwealth Verde. Soccer is unquestionably the national sport, and there are dozens of teams within Java. Passenger rail service has just started operation between the capital and the town of Ordella.\nPoints of Interest Java Works: Large manufacturer specialising in tools, power tools and construction material as part of Atlantic Works. Obo National Park: Large national park within Java\u0026rsquo;s interior, most famous for the bizarre needlelike volcanic formation known as Great Dog. National Equatorial Monument: Monument and public park marking the site of the equator. Naval Station Java: Major navy dock and shipyard. Java Colonial Museum: Intimate and comprehensive museum of Java\u0026rsquo;s colonial history under Portuguese rule. Government Coffee Plantation: An historic coffee plantation dating back centuries, now under new management. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/java/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1036,
  "href": "/sitetag/july-14-2021/",
  "title": "July 14, 2021",
  "section": "Sitetag",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1037,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/kairi/",
  "title": "Kairi","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/kairi-4x3.svg","icon": "🌲","rgb": "215, 18, 45",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Kairi (\u003ci\u003eTrinidad\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Kairi Republic Island of Trinidad Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1930, as part of the Alford Agreement Area 4831 km² Capital Conquerabia Languages English, Creole, Hindustani, Spanish Population 2,480,384 The Kairi Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Caribbean. It is the southernmost part of the Kalina island group, and adjacent to Aloubaera. At its nearest point, Kairi is 11km off the coast of Venezuela, making it the closest border Vekllei has to a continental landmass. It comprises a single large island and a few smaller ones, and enjoys a tropical climate cooled by sea breezes year-round.\nKairi is home mostly to ethnic Indians and Africans, as well as Caribs who had settled the island prior to colonisation by European powers. About a third are descended from African slaves brought over to work sugar and cocoa plantations, and another third are Indian descended from indentured labourers brought over from South Asia by the British. The Indian population is the largest South Asian community in Vekllei, and retain their own language, religion and customs.\nKairi is the industrial heart of the Kalina island group and has substantial oil, gas, electricity, steel, aluminium, fertiliser, textiles and chemical industries. It is home to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s second fusion power plant, opened in 2024, which supplies its heavy industries and neighbouring republics with power.\nThe capital of Conquerabia is home to Commonwealth Oil and the Cherry Automobile Plant, which manufactures consumer and commercial vehicles. Cateral, the largest firearms manufacturer in Vekllei, is also headquartered there. The islands are well-serviced by a dense network of small trains and trams typical of the Vekllei Caribbean.\nThanks to its relative wealth, development and ready accession with Commonwealth government, Kairi has long been an example republic of Vekllei governance and planning in the Caribbean. It is host to several international schools and missions, and contributes substantially to the overall prosperity of the Vekllei Caribbean. Kairi is the site of the southern campus of the Commonwealth University of the West Indies, which ranks highly among national tertiary schools. It is also the administrative capital of the Kalina Commonwealth state.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/kairi/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1038,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/arctic/kala/",
  "title": "Kala","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/kala-4x3.svg","icon": "❄️","rgb": "39, 126, 72",
  "section": "Arctic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Kala (\u003ci\u003eGreenland\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Arctic Ocean.",
  "content": " Kala Republic Island of Greenland Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 2,166,086 km² Capital Kanek Languages Kalan, Aleutian Algic, English Population 482,448 The Kala Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei, located 320km west of Oslola. It is the world\u0026rsquo;s largest island, and makes up the majority landmass and population centre of the Commonwealth Arctic. It is known for its rugged, mostly arctic terrain and interior glaciers that forms the second-largest ice sheet in the world. Kala plays a major part in the history of Vekllei Inuits (often called Algics) and the population today remains majority Algic.\nTwo thirds of Kala is above the arctic circle, and its climate is moderated only by the Gulf Stream across its populated southwest coast. The interior forms a permanent low-pressure system that circles cold air above the country, where permanent ice sheets form and feed peripheral glaciers. Dramatic weather changes are a part of Kalan life, and seasons experience both polar night and midnight sun during the solstices. Exposed terrain is mostly covered by low-lying tundra vegetation and a few species of Atlantic Pine. Polar bears, Arctic Oxen and Reindeer can all be found there.\nSettlement in Kala dates back thousands of years, but its extensive history is poorly recorded compared to the Oslolan kingdoms. The island was home to the first permanent settlements of Vekllei Inuits, who inhabited the coastline and islands around the capital of Kanek at least 3,000 years ago. Unlike Oslola, Kala was not historically united under a single kingdom, and its harsh terrain prevented extensive trade between coasts. Local languages and culture on the east and west coasts are referred to in common as Kalan, but are seperate from each other, and have distinct identities.\nKala\u0026rsquo;s massive, though isolated, internal area is unique across Vekllei, and the country is home to many government installations. The public service remains the largest employer in the country, and most Kalans live in a few major metropolitan areas on the southwest coast. Due to the interior permafrost, the island has been slow to develop rail infrastructure common across other Vekllei republics. Life under its arctic climate has been improved by the limitless supply of fusion power provided by a reactor completed in 2026. As a consequence, streets and rails are able to be heated in winter and kept free of deep snow. Kanek is home to several major Vekllei companies, including National Machines and Common Gemstone. Major deposits of oil, coal, precious metals and uranium are mined there.\nPoints of Interest National Machinery Complex: The headquarters and primary fabrication and research plant of National Machines, the third-largest robotics manufacturer in the world. Mesters Vig Aeromanufacturie: Government Aircraft Factories complex and major air base serving the northern command of the air service. Commonwealth Arctic Division: LSRE specialist research complex and base of arctic circle expeditions. Jewel Street: Headquarters campus of Common Gemstone, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s largest synthetic gemstone manufacturer. Located in the heart of Kanek and known for its dramatic stained-glass architecture. Seqi Olivine Mine: Peridot mine in continuous operation for over three hunded years. Kala National Park: The world\u0026rsquo;s largest national park, comprising much of the island\u0026rsquo;s glacial interior. Commonwealth National Vault: Preservation vault of Vekllei government, libraries, technology and seeds, designed to survive a total nuclear war. Alavia: Historic site containing the oldest evidence of Inuit settlement in northern Kala, adjacent to a small village of the same name. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/kala/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1039,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/",
  "title": "Kalina Commonwealth","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/kalina-4x3.svg","icon": "🌹","color": "vekllei",
  "section": "Commonwealth",
  "description": "Commonwealth Kalina is a constituent region of Vekllei, comprising 20 island republics in the Lesser Antilles in an arc between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Commonwealth Kalina Constituent Commonwealth of Vekllei Area 10,686 km² Capital Kairi (administrative), Virgin (judicial), Lucia (legislative) Constituents 20 Population 9,515,983 The Kalina Commonwealth (Vekllei Kalina) is a constituent commonwealth of Vekllei, comprising the entire Lesser Antilles island chain and a few adjacent islands. It contains 20 island republics that are densely populated and culturally diverse, and contribute much to Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s overall population and industry. It is the second most-populous region after the Commonwealth Volcanic, and is the most ethnically and linguistically diverse, owing to its unique history.\nKalina\u0026rsquo;s climate is tropical and warm, moderated by the sea. Most of its islands are exposed to strong Atlantic trade winds, and are threatened by hurricanes and volcanic activity. The Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s close geographic proximity to the Caribbean and Americas means it is a common point of migration into Vekllei, and the diversity between republics also indicates the diversity of their industry and services, which vary dramatically between islands.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/kalina/","/kalina-commonwealth/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1040,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/karu/",
  "title": "Karu","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/karu-4x3.svg","icon": "🦋","rgb": "218, 19, 52",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Karu (\u003ci\u003eGuadeloupe\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Karu Republic Island of Guadeloupe Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1930, as part of the Alford Agreement Area 230 km² Capital Pitera Languages English, French, Antillean Creole Population 2,246,392 The Karu Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Caribbean. Shaped like a butterfly, the republic comprises two main islands known as Grande Terre and Basse Terre, meaning \u0026ldquo;great\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;low lands\u0026rdquo; respectively. A number of other islands of various sizes surround these two. The republic is south of Antigua and Allia in the Commonwealth Kalina island chain, just north of Kabuli.\nThe island was home to Island Caribs when Columbus discovered it in the late 15th Century, but the Spanish never colonised it. The French arrived in 1653 and named in \u0026lsquo;Karu,\u0026rsquo; from a diminuitive version of the Arawak word \u0026ldquo;Karukera,\u0026rdquo; meaning island of beautiful waters. The republic lives up to its name, and is famous for its spectacular scenery including volcanic peaks, dazzling wildflowers and waterfalls. The island remained a French colony until just after the Second World War, when it independence movements triumphed and Karu joined the West Indies Federation. It followed the rest of the federation in the uniting with the British Atlantic Territories in 2020, forming Vekllei.\nAlthough English now accompanies French as the medium of instruction, most Karuns speak French or Creole day-to-day. The island is home to a rich, French-Carib fusion culture that is very exotic to many Vekllei people and the island is a popular place of pilgrimage for domestic tourists seeking to tour the country. It is famous for its rum and food, and has a reputation as a land of drink and dancing. Local girls wear a kind of madras costume known as madras et foulard, and both Afro-Carib Jazz and Rumba are popular in clubs.\nMost Karuns are Creole of white and black ancestry, but there is also a substantial Karun Mestizo population (French-East Asian) along with Europeans and Tamils. The vast majority are Roman Catholics. They have an easygoing culture, and the republic is not particularly industrious for its size. The Karu economy is dominated by municipal goods and smallholdings, light agriculture, and services. The capital of Pitera has a historic public workshop district that allows local artisans to prototype products in the automatic schema format. The islands of Karu produce a great many tropical fruits and drinks, including bananas and cocoa. A lot of local agriculture simply supplements the commons economy and represents a local food source.\nThe University of Karu is a famous and historic collegial university now part of CUWI, but many students seek to study at the main campus of CUWI in Antigua nearby. There are a number of unusual facilities on Basse Terre, including a gravity research complex of the ASRE and the Karu Research Hospital, specialising in tropical diseases. The capital of Pitera is trim and pretty, and with nearly two million inhabitants, very busy.\nTrains link the two main islands, and ferry services leave regularly for the peripheral islands and archipelagos. There is an airport outside of the capital, and most large towns are serviced by trams or intercity local railways in the Vekllei fashion. Visitors should start in the capital, where Hotel Meridian has a fine grounds and golf course, before embarking for a series of local inns across the islands in the contemporary tradition.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Mardi Gras Feb Easter Monday Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Republic Day 14 Jul Assumption Day 15 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Armistice Day 1 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest La Soufrière Volcano: An active volcano on Basse-Terre, with hiking trails and views of the surrounding rainforest. Plage de la Caravelle: A popular beach with white sand and clear waters, ideal for swimming and sunbathing. Jardin Botanique de Deshaies: A beautiful botanical garden featuring local flora, tropical birds, and waterfalls. Fort Fleur d\u0026rsquo;épée: Historic fort with underground dungeons and passageways to explore. Club Meridian: Thriving rumba club in Pitera, popular with students. Cousteau Reserve: A marine reserve near Pigeon Island, famous for diving and snorkelling with coral reefs and abundant marine life. Liberation Memorial, Karu: A museum in Pitera dedicated to the history of slavery and the African diaspora in the Caribbean. National Gravity Research Establishment: Gravity research facility of the ASRE. Cape Terre Coastal Railway: Elevated and winding coastal railway connecting the capital to Grande Terre, with striking views of the mountains and sea. Avro: Major Vekllei automotive manufacturer. University of Karu: Regional collegial university famous for its performing arts programmes. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/karu/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1041,
  "href": "/characters/kowalczyk/",
  "title": "Kowalczyk","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Simon Kowalczyk is Tzipora's civics teacher. He gets along with him well. He might have a crush on Ms Nincic.",
  "content": " Simon Kowalczyk is Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s civics teacher at Moshel St School. She gets along with him well. He might have a crush on Ms Nincic. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/kowalczyk/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1042,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/latin-africa/",
  "title": "Latin Africa","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/laur-4x3.svg","icon": "🐘","rgb": "40, 151, 40",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "Latin Africa is a country on the west coast of Africa, stretching north into central Africa.",
  "content": "The Latin Africa United Republics (also Latin Africa) is a federal country located on the west coast of Africa, astride the Equator in its south and stretching up into central Africa. It consists of most of the former French colonies north of the former Belgian Congo (now Zaire), and comprises 28 states representing different cultural and language groups.\nLatin Africa is a major power in subsaharan Africa and enjoys vast natural resources and relative stability within its borders. It maintains close relations with France, its former coloniser, but also often represents pan-African interests internationally as part of the non-aligned movement. It is a major supplier of arms and training to groups resisting white rule in Rhodesia and South Africa.\nIts 28 states are represented in a communal assembly called the High Council where informal decision-making precedes legislation in their parliament. The country is highly decentralised politically, and states enjoy considerable autonomy, with the federal government primarily providing security and common infrastructure.\nPrimary industries include cash crops like coffee and sugar, but also raw commodities like oil and bauxite. The stability and prosperity of its society has encouraged many multi-national corporations to establish themselves in the capital, Yaounde, further entrenching Latin Africa as a gateway to the rest of the world for its neighbours.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/latin-africa/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1043,
  "href": "/characters/laura/",
  "title": "Laura","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Laura Anderson works for the Bureau of Housing. She was previously studying chemistry, but dropped out. She does not like her job much, and her new coworker Astrid gets on her nerves.",
  "content": " Laura Anderson works for the Bureau of Housing. She was previously studying chemistry, but dropped out. She does not like her job much, and her new coworker Astrid gets on her nerves.. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/laura/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1044,
  "href": "/series/law/",
  "title": "Law",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1045,
  "href": "/factbook/state/law/",
  "title": "Law","icon": "🌸","color": "purple",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "Vekllei has a large, independent legal system enshrined in the Constitution, Basic Laws and Civil Rights documents.",
  "content": " Laws in Vekllei are set at the Commonwealth, National and Municipal level. The following pages document notable or curious examples of Vekllei law. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/law/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1046,
  "href": "/millmint/patreon/letters/",
  "title": "Letters","icon": "📬","color": "blue",
  "section": "Patreon",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " ✿ Note from the Editor I occasionally publish letters to followers and patrons of the project to keep them informed on what\u0026rsquo;s going on. Listed below are copies of the letters distributed to patrons. If you would like to support this project on Patreon, 🔗click here.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1047,
  "href": "/factbook/state/law/licensing/",
  "title": "Licensing","icon": "📋","color": "purple",
  "section": "Law",
  "description": "Vekllei maintains a unique approach to professional licensing that prioritises personal autonomy whilst protecting shared infrastructure and collective resources.",
  "content": "Professional licensing in Vekllei operates on a simple principle: you can do what you want on your own scale, but accessing shared infrastructure and greater resources requires demonstrating competence. This approach keeps authorities out of personal affairs while protecting the systems that connect Vekllei communities and enable modern life.\nThe Commonwealth Professions Act (2023) establishes that licensing applies primarily to shared systems rather than individual practice. This creates a practical distinction that most people understand. You can drive around your own property or local roads without a licence, but accessing high-speed motorways between towns requires proper credentials. The difference reflects the scale of potential consequences.\nThis principle extends across most areas of professional life.1 Medical practitioners can provide basic care and traditional healing without formal credentials, but accessing pharmaceutical supply chains, hospital facilities or controlled medications requires licensing. The same logic applies to electrical work: anyone can wire their own shed, but connecting to the grid requires proper licensing to ensure the safety of the entire community. Households can dig wells or collect rainwater without licensing, but connecting to municipal water supplies requires approval, and so on.2\nThe commons \u0026ndash; Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s moneyless domestic economy \u0026ndash; naturally implies this approach. Complex professional work typically requires access to institutional resources, which are only available through established professional networks. A mechanic working independently can repair vehicles with basic tools but needs integration with professional systems to access expertise or new parts. This creates a natural barrier to complex work without legal restrictions on routine tasks.\nThe system affects the social nature of work in the country. Traditional apprenticeship relationships have strengthened as formal credentialing has become less significant for basic work. Innovation has also flourished in areas where reduced barriers to entry allow creative problem-solving. The system works best, and is most prevalent, in the smaller, codependent communities of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s scattered island geography.\nThe system adapts to local conditions. In Oslola, traditional guilds blend with modern licensing requirements, while in the Kalina republics traditional healing practices are integrated with modern medical systems.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nMaritime communities also show this flexibility. Local fishermen work within their traditional waters without licensing, but accessing commercial shipping lanes requires proper credentials.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/licensing/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1048,
  "href": "/characters/zhi/",
  "title": "Lin Zhi","icon": "🐉","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Lin Zhi is Tzipora's friend and occasional accomplice. She is surly, independent and uninterested in the opinions of others. She meets Tzipora at Moshel St School.",
  "content": " Lin Zhi 📅 Age 17 🤝 Associates Tzipora Coretti Cobian 🎂 Birthday March 22nd 💔 Dislikes The arrogance of foreigners ❤️ Likes Cherries 💼 Occupation Student 🏠 Residence Cossack, Borough of the Great Coast, Oslola, Vekllei Zhi Lin, who prefers being addressed by her full name in the Chinese, is Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s friend and occasional accomplice. She is surly, independent and uninterested in the opinions of others. She meets Tzipora at Moshel St School.\nLike Tzipora, Zhi is a recent immigrant and despises her parents for uprooting her life to live in Vekllei, from which she has retreated into traditionally Chinese cultural dress and signals. Tzipora is fascinated by her. Cobian and Coretti fear her.\nLin Zhi is Chinese and has lived in Vekllei since she was 15. She speaks little Oslolan and mostly poor English. She has a serious face and round spectacles like Cobian, and brushes her long dark hair back. She maintains two unusual hair loops below her ears in braids, a style she has apparently invented herself.\nLin Zhi resents the burden of integration and demonstrates her foreignness through foreign styles, usually with traditional Chinese items or more contemporary Maoist fare. She wears loose Ku-style pants at home and school, which bear close similarity to Vekllei trousers. She has a weakness for jackets and cardigans, and never leaves her arms uncovered.\nTzipora first bonds with her over their social isolation as recent immigrants. Like Tzipora, Zhi speaks poor Oslolan and is deeply resentful of having to relocate to a foreign country. These poor language skills and deep anger are evident in her short, sharp speaking style and stern appearance.\nShe is sensitive to being made fun of, and considers many of her problems making friends to be racial in nature. Despite these emotional burdens, or perhaps because of them, Zhi is deeply loyal to her allies as long as they respect her social boundaries. Zhi is never the engine of conversation \u0026ndash; but she misses her friends when they\u0026rsquo;re not there.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/zhi/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1049,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/littoral-service/",
  "title": "Littoral Service","logo": "/svg/crests/littoral-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Ministry of Defence",
  "description": "The Littoral Service is the maritime security component of the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": "The Littoral Service (the Coast Guard or Navy of the Parliament) is the maritime security component of the Armed Forces of Vekllei as part of the Ministry of Defence. It provides customs, policing and search and rescue services for Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, though it frequently patrols international waters in the Atlantic. The service plays a crucial role in maintaining maritime security across the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s vast oceanic territories.\nThe Littoral Service operates with a broad mandate that encompasses law enforcement, search and rescue, customs enforcement, environmental protection, and border security. As Vekllei spans the entirety of the Atlantic and Caribbean seas, the service maintains one of the world\u0026rsquo;s largest maritime patrol areas and exclusive economic zones.\nThe Littoral Service operates through 12 regional commands across the Atlantic, Arctic, Antarctic and Caribbean Oceans, covering the entirety of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s exclusive economic zone and territorial waters. Each command is tailored to the specific geographic and operational challenges of its region, from Arctic icebreaking operations to Caribbean anti-narcotics patrols.\nLittoral Command Atlantic\nRegional Littoral Service command based at NS Verde in Costa Verde. The command covers the central Atlantic approaches and coordinates closely with Portuguese and Spanish maritime authorities.\nCustoms Cutters\n1 Frigate Customs Cutter\nNS Verde Costa Verde 2 Medium Customs Cutters\nNS Verde Costa Verde 1 Search and Rescue Vessel\nNS Mira Mira 2 Fast Patrol Boats\nNS Verde Costa Verde 2 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutters\nNS Verde Costa Verde Utility Vessels\n1 Seagoing Buoy Tender\nNS Verde Costa Verde 1 Coastal Buoy Tender\nNS Mira Mira 1 Coastal Construction Tender\nNS Mira Mira 1 Harbour Tugboat\nNS Verde Costa Verde Littoral Command Africa\nRegional Littoral Service command based at NS Morocos in Morocos. The command monitors shipping lanes between Europe and Africa and provides support for vessels transiting the Gibraltar approaches.\nCustoms Cutters\n2 Medium Customs Cutters\nNS Morocos Morocos Utility Vessels\n1 Medium Ocean Tugboat\nNS Morocos Morocos Littoral Command East Atlantic\nRegional Littoral Service command based at NS Java in Java. The command covers the African coast approaches and maintains liaison with West African maritime authorities.\nCustoms Cutters\n1 Medium Customs Cutter\nNS Java Java 2 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils\nJava Annobon 2 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launches\nAnnobon Principe Utility Vessels\n1 Coastal Buoy Tender\nNS Java Java 1 Coastal Construction Tender\nNS Java Java Littoral Command South Atlantic\nRegional Littoral Service command based at NS Santes in Santes. The command serves as a staging base for search-and-rescue efforts in the middle South Atlantic and monitors shipping and fishing activities.\nCustoms Cutters\n1 Frigate Customs Cutter\nNS Santes Santes 2 Search and Rescue Vessels\nNS Santes Santes 1 Fast Patrol Boat\nNS Santes Santes Utility Vessels\n1 Coastal Buoy Tender\nNS Santes Santes Littoral Command Antarctic\nRegional Littoral Service command headquartered at NS Falklands with an auxiliary naval station at NS Sude. The command provides polar maritime security and scientific mission support.\nCustoms Cutters\n1 Frigate Customs Cutter\nNS Falklands Falklands 4 Medium Customs Cutters\nNS Falklands Falklands 4 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils\nFalklands Sude Santes Helena 1 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launch\nSude Utility Vessels\n1 Harbour Tugboat\nNS Falklands Falklands Icebreakers\n1 Heavy Icebreaker\nNS Sude Sude Survey \u0026amp; Auxiliary Ships\n1 Hydrographic Survey Ship\nNS Falklands Falklands Littoral Command Kalina\nRegional Littoral Service command based at NS Kairi in Kairi with a major auxiliary base at NS Antigua in Antigua. The command conducts extensive anti-piracy, anti-narcotics and border control operations due to proximity to South American mainland.\nCustoms Cutters\n1 Frigate Customs Cutter\nNS Kairi Kairi 2 Medium Customs Cutters\nNS Kairi Kairi 1 Search and Rescue Vessel\nNS Antigua Antigua 4 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils\nKairi Barbados Virgin Aloi 1 Air Cutter\nNS Kairi Kairi 2 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launches\nGrenadines Anguilla 1 Search and Rescue Vessel\nNS Kairi Kairi 3 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutters\nNS Kairi Kairi Utility Vessels\n1 Seagoing Buoy Tender\nNS Kairi Kairi 2 Coastal Buoy Tenders\nNS Kairi Kairi 1 Coastal Construction Tender\nNS Antigua Antigua 2 River Tenders\nNS Kairi Kairi 2 Harbour Tugboats\nNS Kairi Kairi Littoral Command Antilles\nRegional Littoral Service command based at the capital port in Caimanas. The command focuses on border policing and anti-narcotics operations in coordination with South American authorities.\nCustoms Cutters\n3 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils\nAruba Caimanas 1 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launch\nCaimanas 4 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutters\nAruba Bonaire Curacao Utility Vessels\n1 Coastal Buoy Tender\nAruba 1 River Tender\nAruba 1 Harbour Tugboat\nCuracao Littoral Command Lucaya\nRegional Littoral Service command based at Nema in Bahama. The primary concerns are smuggling, migration and drug running from neighbouring Caribbean islands and Florida.\nCustoms Cutters\n1 Medium Customs Cutter\nBahama 3 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils\nBahama Habacoa Caicos 1 Fast Patrol Boat\nBahama 3 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launches\nBahama Curateo Caicos 6 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutters\nVarious ports Utility Vessels\n1 Coastal Buoy Tender\nBahama 2 River Tenders\nHabacoa 1 Harbour Tugboat\nCaicos Littoral Command West Atlantic\nRegional Littoral Service command based at NS Summers in Summers. The command provides maritime security for the western Atlantic approaches and coordinates with North American authorities.\nCustoms Cutters\n1 Medium Customs Cutter\nNS Summers Summers 2 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils\nSummers 1 Search and Rescue Vessel\nNS Summers Summers 1 Fast Patrol Boat\nNS Summers Summers Utility Vessels\n1 Medium Ocean Tugboat\nNS Summers Summers Survey \u0026amp; Auxiliary Ships\n1 Hydrographic Survey Ship\nNS Summers Summers Littoral Command North Atlantic\nRegional Littoral Service command based at NS Oslola in Oslola. Primary concerns include illegal fishing, search and rescue for transatlantic traffic, and resource disputes near Hetland.\nCustoms Cutters\n2 Frigate Customs Cutters\nNS Oslola Oslola 6 Medium Customs Cutters\nNS Oslola Oslola 2 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils\nOslola Aismious 1 Air Cutter\nNS Oslola Oslola 1 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launch\nHetland 2 Search and Rescue Vessels\nNS Oslola Oslola 1 Fast Patrol Boat\nNS Oslola Oslola 1 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutter\nNS Oslola Oslola Utility Vessels\n1 Seagoing Buoy Tender\nNS Oslola Oslola 2 Coastal Buoy Tenders\nNS Oslola Oslola 1 Coastal Construction Tender\nNS Oslola Oslola 1 Large Ocean Tugboat\nNS Oslola Oslola 4 Harbour Tugboats\nNS Oslola Oslola Icebreakers\n1 Heavy Icebreaker\nNS Oslola Oslola Littoral Command Americas\nRegional Littoral Service command based at Kala. The command provides maritime security along the North American approaches and maintains Arctic patrol capability.\nCustoms Cutters\n1 Medium Customs Cutter\nKala 2 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launches\nKala 1 Search and Rescue Vessel\nKala 2 Fast Patrol Boats\nKala Utility Vessels\n1 Seagoing Buoy Tender\nKala 1 Coastal Buoy Tender\nKala Icebreakers\n1 Heavy Icebreaker\nKala Littoral Command Arctic\nRegional Littoral Service command based at Helvasia. The command maintains resource security patrols due to ongoing disputes with the Soviet Union and provides Arctic search and rescue capability.\nCustoms Cutters\n1 Medium Customs Cutter\nNS Helvasia Helvasia 1 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launch\nNS Helvasia Helvasia 1 Search and Rescue Vessel\nNS Helvasia Helvasia 1 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutter\nNS Helvasia Helvasia Utility Vessels\n1 Seagoing Buoy Tender\nNS Helvasia Helvasia Icebreakers\n1 Heavy Icebreaker\nNS Helvasia Helvasia 1 Ice-strengthened Oiler\nNS Helvasia Helvasia The Littoral Service operates a diverse fleet ranging from heavily armed frigate cutters to small patrol craft and specialised vessels. The service has significant air support provided by the Air Service, particularly for maritime patrol and search and rescue operations. Many vessels are equipped with advanced electronics for law enforcement, environmental monitoring, and coordination with international maritime authorities across the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s extensive patrol areas.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/littoral/","/coast-guard/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1050,
  "href": "/series/location/",
  "title": "Location",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1051,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/",
  "title": "Locations","icon": "🌐","color": "green",
  "section": "World",
  "description": "This is a list of locations within Vekllei.",
  "content": " This page catalogues single articles covering locations relevant to stories in Vekllei. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/places/","/location/","/locations/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1052,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-landscape/lsre/",
  "title": "LSRE","logo": "/svg/logos/LSRE.svg","icon": "🔬","color": "landscape",
  "section": "Ministry of Landscape",
  "description": "The Land Science Research Establishment is a constituent research organisation of SIRO dedicated to environmental, geological and agricultural research.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Land Science Research Establishment (LSRE) is a research organisation of the Ministry of Landscape. It is primarily tasked with research of environmental and agricultural science. It is a part of SIRO, and is the second-largest constituent research establishment in Vekllei after the DSRE, employing 15,000 people.\nExecutive Council # Director, LSRE Chief Land Scientist Officer for Science Policy Officer for Conservation \u0026amp; Observation Director, SIRO Chairman, Commonwealth Volcanic Hazards Establishment Departments # General Headquarters Office of Conservation \u0026amp; Observation Office of Research Culture \u0026amp; Personnel Office of Research Ethics Office of Science Policy Office of the Chief Scientist Department of Chemicals \u0026amp; Materials Cement \u0026amp; Ceramics Laboratories Division of Geochemistry Division of Mineral Chemistry Division of Organic Chemistry Division of Physical Chemistry Division of Protein Chemistry Division of Textile Industry Department of Ecology Antarctic Division Falklands Arctic Division Kala Division of Entomology Division of Marine Wildlife Abakoa Division of Subarctic \u0026amp; Subantarctic Agronomy Division of Tropical Agronomy Division of Wildlife Rum Department of Energy \u0026amp; Fuels National Resource Laboratory ( Bureau of Materials and Supply) Coal Survey Section Division of Energy Chemistry Madiana Oil Survey Section Kairi Principe Precious Minerals Survey Section Uranium Survey Section Department of Geologic Sciences Division of Agricultural Physics Division of Hydroponics Division of Irrigation Research Division of Livestock \u0026amp; Dairy Industry Division of Plant Industry Division of Soils Division of Volcanology Irrigation Research Laboratories Department of Oceanographic Sciences National Marine Establishment Habacoa Division of Aquaculture Industry Division of Oceanography Conch Division of Undersea Physics Department of Physics Division of Applied Physics Division of Atmospheric Physics Division of Chemical Physics Division of Extraterrestrial \u0026amp; Atmospheric Industry Division of Fluid Dynamics Division of Geophysics Division of Metrology Boards \u0026amp; Commissions # Vekllei Ecology Board: Advocate for ecological balance and conservation Commonwealth Volcanic Hazards Establishment: Preparation and response for dangerous volcanic activity. National Marine Establishment: Scientific marine studies centre in Habacoa. Conception Island Research Station: Ecological research station located on Conception Island in Rum. Anguilla Electric Laboratories: Seawater electricity generation complex located in Anguilla. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/LSRE/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1053,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/lucaya/",
  "title": "Lucaya Commonwealth","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/lucaya-4x3.svg","icon": "🌹","color": "vekllei",
  "section": "Commonwealth",
  "description": "Commonwealth Lucaya is a constituent region of Vekllei, comprising 14 island republics in the Lesser Antilles on the periphery of the northern Caribbean Sea as part of the Lucayan archipelago.",
  "content": " Lucayan Commonwealth Constituent Commonwealth of Vekllei Area 14,977 km² Capital Providence Constituents 14 Population 1,345,567 The Lucayan Commonwealth (Vekllei Lucaya) is a constituent commonwealth of Vekllei, comprising the Lucayan archipelago and the North Atlantic island of Summers. Neatly 700 islands make up its landmass, the majority of which fence the northwestern edge of the West Indies. They are almost all flat coral islands vulnerable to seasonal storms and hurricanes.\nThe strategic position of the Lucayan archipelago as a gateway to the Caribbean Sea and Central America is reflected in its tumultuous and diverse history, throughout which it was mostly colonised by the British. It is particularly ethnically diverse for a Caribbean region, and in the postwar period has become a desirable place to live within Vekllei for its climate and lifestyle.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/lucaya/","/lucaya-commonwealth/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1054,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/lucia/",
  "title": "Lucia","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/lucia-4x3.svg","icon": "🌴","rgb": "0, 157, 220",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Lucia is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the eastern Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Lucia Republic Island of Saint Lucia Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 2025, as part of the West Indies Confederation Area 617 km² Capital Castries Languages English, Lucian Creole, Kalina Carib Population 402,781 The Republic of Lucia is a constituent republic in the eastern Caribbean Sea, and part of the country of Vekllei. It sits in the Windward Islands chain between Madiana to the north and Youloumain to the south, forming a crucial link in the Commonwealth Kalina island chain.\nLucia is distinguished by the Pitons, twin volcanic peaks that rise dramatically from the sea on the southwest coast and have become iconic symbols of the island. The interior is mountainous and densely forested, cut by river valleys that descend to both coasts. The island\u0026rsquo;s volcanic origins are evident in the sulphur springs near Soufrière, where the earth still steams and bubbles with geothermal activity.\nThe island was originally home to Kalina peoples who called it Iouanalao, meaning \u0026ldquo;there where the iguana is found.\u0026rdquo; Unlike many Caribbean islands, Lucia\u0026rsquo;s Kalina population survived European colonisation in meaningful numbers, aided by the island\u0026rsquo;s rugged interior and frequent changes of colonial power. The island changed hands between French and British control fourteen times between 1650 and 1814, more than any other Caribbean territory. This constant upheaval meant neither power could establish the plantation monocultures that devastated indigenous populations elsewhere.\nWhen Britain finally secured permanent control in 1814, they found an island with a substantial Kalina population living in the mountain valleys, a French-speaking creole majority along the coasts, and African communities descended from escaped slaves who had established independent settlements during the colonial chaos. This demographic reality, combined with Britain\u0026rsquo;s post-abolition shift away from plantation economics, resulted in an unusual accommodation. The Kalina were granted reserved lands in the interior valleys, particularly around the Quilesse Forest Reserve, where their communities persist to this day.\nThe population is predominantly Afro-Caribbean, with smaller communities of mixed descent and a handful of families tracing lineage to French, British and Indian ancestors. The island\u0026rsquo;s culture reflects this diversity \u0026ndash; Catholic and Anglican churches stand alongside Kalina ceremonial grounds, while Lucian Creole (called Kwéyòl locally) serves as a common language across communities despite its French roots.\nLucia\u0026rsquo;s economy transformed dramatically during the Commonwealth period. The banana plantations that once dominated the windward coast have largely given way to precision agriculture focused on export crops suited to the island\u0026rsquo;s volcanic soil \u0026ndash; cocoa, coconuts and exotic spices. The geothermal resources around Soufrière now power a significant portion of the island\u0026rsquo;s energy grid and supply hot water to the capital via an extensive district heating system, a remarkable feat of engineering completed in 2033.\nThe island has also become a centre for pharmaceutical research. The Commonwealth Equatorial Medicine Establishment (a constituent of the MSRE) maintains its Caribbean complex in the Castries hills, where researchers study endemic plants with medicinal properties. The Lucia Tropical School, part of CUWI, is training the next generation of researchers. The institute exports its findings through Commonwealth Oil\u0026rsquo;s chemical division, which operates a modern synthesis facility on the island\u0026rsquo;s northwest coast.\nCastries remains the capital and largest settlement, though it was largely rebuilt after fires in the 1920s and 1940s. The harbour is one of the deepest in the Caribbean and serves as a crucial port for inter-island shipping. A rail line runs from Castries down the west coast to Soufrière, with branch lines serving the eastern settlements of Vieux Fort and Dennery. The mountain interior is served by a network of roads and hiking trails, many following ancient Kalina paths.\nLucian cuisine is a spectacular fusion. Green fig and saltfish remains the national dish despite its plantation origins, while bouyon stew and accra fritters show French creole influence. Kalina dishes include cassareep (a sauce made from cassava) and pepperpot, a meat stew that can simmer for days. The island produces excellent cocoa, and local chocolate-making has become a point of pride. Bay rum, distilled from leaves of the bay tree, is produced in the north and exported throughout the Commonwealth.\nMost Lucians speak Kwéyòl at home and English at work and school. The Kalina communities use their own language among themselves, though most are trilingual by adulthood through compulsory schooling.\nClimate\nTropical with a dry season from January to April and a wet season from June to November. The interior mountains receive significantly more rainfall than the coasts.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Independence Day 22 Feb Good Friday Easter Monday Commonwealth Day 1 May Whit Monday Corpus Christi Emancipation Day 1 Aug Kalina Heritage Day 19 Aug Republic Day 13 Dec Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest The Pitons: Twin volcanic peaks rising from the sea, connected by hiking trails through the Gros Piton Nature Reserve. Sulphur Springs: Active geothermal area near Soufrière, claimed to be the world\u0026rsquo;s only \u0026ldquo;drive-in volcano.\u0026rdquo; Lucia Tropical School: Constituent university of CUWI, specialising in tropical disease research and culinary arts. Quilesse Forest Reserve: Protected mountain forest with Kalina settlements and traditional agricultural plots. Castries Market: Historic covered market selling local produce, spices and handicrafts. Pigeon Island National Park: Historic site with ruins of British and French fortifications, connected to the mainland by a causeway. Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens: Gardens surrounding mineral-rich waterfall, with geothermal baths. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/lucia/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1055,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/ludic-productivity/",
  "title": "Ludic Productivity","icon": "🛝","rgb": "223, 158, 50",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Vekllei people engage with work not in an economic but in a social sense. This concept is known as 'ludic productivity,' and resembles a form of play.",
  "content": " Summary\nThe Vekllei economy does not use money in everyday life, but this is not the only unusual thing about it. Vekllei people engage with work and employment primarily as a kind of play \u0026ndash; a self-justifying social activity done to narrativise actions or amuse themselves. This \u0026lsquo;playful work,\u0026rsquo; also called a ludic economy, has fundamental differences from work environments overseas. Understanding its specifics helps illustrate the motivations and characteristics of the Vekllei worker, and why their society continues to function in a social economy. Work in Vekllei \u0026ndash; in fact, most factors of life in Vekllei \u0026ndash; is characterised by play. Play is a distinguishing characteristic of social creatures and it is all around us, even if we might not recognise it as such. It is not idealism or altruism; it is intuitive to every person, and like other basic social motivations does not need to be taught or conceptualised. We play for entertainment, gratification and fun. Vekllei people work for entertainment, gratification and fun.\nYet society rolls on; teachers show up in classrooms and clerks are at their desks. They produce forms of value for their country; physical labour, services, and yes, money-value. In this article we\u0026rsquo;ll look at ludic productivity in Vekllei, its features, and how it informs the character of Vekllei society.\nIntroduction # Play is a process of structuring freedom, or more specifically, free time. It is both spontaneous and organised, natural and structured. It is done for its own sake, yet it is also closely linked to the great achievements of human society \u0026ndash; language, law, science, the arts.\nMany foundations of human society, taken as immutable and preexisting in modern times, have their origins in kinds of play. Johan Huizinga (1935) argues that play is older than culture itself, occurring throughout the animal kingdom with no immediate functional purpose \u0026ndash; it is self-justifying, spontaneous, and establishes a space seperate from functionalism and utility. It is a driving force for human culture, which in turn has established the foundational \u0026ndash; and very real \u0026ndash; features of civilised society. Contests, duels, competition, symbolism, all inform culture and arise from play.\nIn Vekllei, they do not use money in everyday life. This society is known as the commons, or a social economy. Because a social economy cannot support wage labour as we think of it, productivity and work have to be structured and measured in different ways. In Vekllei, people commit to work for social reasons, many of which resemble what we might call play in the literal sense. This applies to all work, and not just the twee, fleeting hobbyism of post-scarcity society \u0026ndash; all people, from clerks to engineers to homesteading farmers, are engaging in the same social ritual as a natural condition of participating in society.\nPlay \u0026amp; Industry # Read more: Economic Productivity in Vekllei Like all industrial societies, Vekllei industry is preoccupied with efficiency and productivity. Vekllei is in fact a highly productive society, because it has efficient automatic systems and talented, motivated workers. Yet there is also considerable separation between the two.\nEmpiricism is a powerful thing, and it is necessary to design beautiful systems that can raise the standard of living fairly. But it is rarely conducive to the social factors underpinning Vekllei workplaces. In this sense, industrial (automatic)1 systems and human ones are antagonised, as they operate on competing economic logic. And there is economic logic in ludic productivity, because it benefits the social behaviours \u0026ndash; the underlying motivation \u0026ndash; of effective work in their society. This is outlined in the bulletin linked above, but also demonstrated by the antagonised relationship between the automatic and human machinery of a workplace.\nThe kinds of business logic that are effective in extracting value from workers overseas do not work in Vekllei because their workers are not coerced by money or law.2 This does not mean efficiency or productivity do not matter; economic rationale can be effective in automatic systems, and so is used in those contexts.\nThe machine, now evolving towards its final form as an independent, decision-making automaton, does not engage in play and has no place in a ludic economy. They should be considered fundamentally seperate \u0026ndash; man and machine, working side by side, under totally segregated economic logic. Machines are treated as workers are overseas, used in strictly efficient ways that provide direct and measurable improvements to production. They are not more important than human workers, but they do provide fundamentally different services otherwise unable to work at scale within a ludic economy.\nExploring this play economy, which makes up the lived experience of most Vekllei people, we can examine broad trends in their working environment and the ways it arranges their lives:\nMany Vekllei people, perhaps three-fifths, work several jobs. A large minority may work three or four jobs a week, because work is more interesting that way. This is typical of entry-level work or roles of intermediate expertise. Social relationships are much more important in the workplace. People generally like their colleagues \u0026ndash; it is common enough to hop between several offices before settling into one that fits you well. This also resolves harmful relationships quickly, since exiting work is generally much easier. Competence is demonstrated, not implied. Although many specialists in Vekllei work in fields close to their area of study, many others may have diverse or well-rounded resumes. There is no guarantee someone from a good school will be a good worker, and so trust is generally built internally and over time. Volunteerism \u0026ndash; a somewhat arbitrary distinction in their society mostly used to describe public service \u0026ndash; is considered a legal occupation. As such, someone may \u0026ldquo;work\u0026rdquo; three days a week across professional jobs and on the fourth volunteer as a firefighter or military reservist. This is extremely commonplace, and odds are more likely than not that any given person has at least one volunteer gig. Productivity tends to be measured by task accomplishment rather than timeframes. Scheduling is much more complex, but also much more efficient for ordinary people. Vekllei workers have much more freedom to be able to arrange their scheduled commitments to their liking. They have greater exposure to different kinds of people. Since so many people work multiple jobs, they meet many more people. This has an important effect on civic cohesion in society, and helps foster tight-knit communities in local work. People generally still take great pride in difficult work, but their sense of identity is complex and better rounded. Vekllei workers are generally less reliable, better rounded, more transient, more satisfied, and more likely to specialise as they get older. Their complex working environments, usually built as portfolios of different interests, also help the cohesion of society. Class is as much a cultural phenomenon as it is an economic one, and the ludic economy suppresses it by exposing people to many different careers simultaneously. Professional careers, clerical work and physical labour mix freely in their lives, obscuring class antagonism between them.\nLudic Culture, Sports \u0026amp; Media # Vekllei people sometimes lament their provincial, aspirational culture, derisively calling it pretentious (\u0026lsquo;arthouse\u0026rsquo;) or backwards (\u0026lsquo;shoddy\u0026rsquo;), but they have a lot in common with Americans in their unbroken optimism. The economic limitations of their society also prevent the industrialisation of media, and so in place of industry is the spontaneity and self-asserting nature of play. It is a good example of how economic structure can impart cultural traits, and vice-versa. It is not just that their culture encourages play; play is in fact an response to their economic reality.\nExample\nPlay characterises culture in Vekllei because the mechanisms of its social economy limit the kind of industrialisation that strips culture of playfulness. For example, films made in Vekllei are almost all low-budget, small-scale affairs. It is a scene dominated by amateurs with a camera, who have to work strenuously to meet the production values of even small-time Hollywood features.\nVekllei filmmakers cannot pay actors or rent sets, because they have no money. In any ambition, no matter how amateur, they leverage social relationships and hard work to achieve what they want. Because of these circumstances they might have to put more effort in than foreigners to achieve their goals \u0026ndash; and in doing so demonstrate that play can be hard work.\nThis kind of democracy of culture applies to all kinds of achievements in Vekllei cultural life \u0026ndash; from athletes to novelists. It encourages the proliferation of newspapers, magazines and sporting clubs. These limitations, arising from an economic inability to industrialise culture, characterises culture itself. It is more common than not to meet Vekllei people with professions outside of their formal occupation, working in hobby clubs, associations and random craftsmanship. In function they are no different to employment \u0026ndash; they are structured, social and equally unpaid. Yet Vekllei people distinguish between them nonetheless.\nAs a result, Vekllei people are not just passive observers of sports and media but active participants in it. The line between hobbyists and professionals is blurred, and contributes to a staggering per-capita cultural output. This does not have much bearing on the quality of what they create, but a tremendous effect on the character of their society. Far from children stuck in an eternal, inconsequential, coddled play-state, Vekllei people are well-rounded, sophisticated and tuned in.\nLiving Through Play # This produces naturally what Johan Huizinga3 calls a play community, in the sense that there is a common form of ludic productivity. Like other forms of play, it has its own rituals \u0026ndash; and in Vekllei, amusingly, these rituals imitate industrial productivity.\nIt should be no surprise that work in Vekllei looks much like work overseas. This is for the same reasons that Vekllei people use honourifics and insist on courtesy \u0026ndash; they are people, not anarchists. To abolish the dress code, tea break and work-desk is to misunderstand ludic productivity \u0026ndash; it functions in a liminal position between the fantasy and real, and depends on both in the structured fashion play often does.\nOn one hand, ludic productivity is participating in the same fantasy as a child playing doctor or house \u0026ndash; they wear these uniforms and perform these roles in imitation of the office overseas. On the other, Vekllei workers are adults and have adult expectations about professionalism, competence and productivity in the workplace Both of these concepts feed into play. In industrial productivity, professionalism is an expectation \u0026ndash; a burden. In Vekllei, it is foremost a social behaviour \u0026ndash; nonetheless expected, but part of the play-fantasy. There are many kinds of work that do not directly participate in this play-fantasy, especially where they meet responsibilities that require procedures or technical decision-making, but they are nonetheless insulated in it. The procedure is the details, but the role of work \u0026ndash; the ludic element of productivity \u0026ndash; is as a ritual.\nExample\nCommercial airline pilots perform a technical, well-regulated role. Nonetheless, the specifics of their work and precision of their labour are insulated in the same ludic rituals encouraged by material benefit and the complex social rewards of Vekllei society. To be a pilot is a glamorous profession, and inspires respect. As such, its ludic elements are straightforward \u0026ndash; the cap, pin, admiration, and the achievement of flying an aircraft all indicate the playful aspects of a technical role. Without a wage, the fundamental aspects of work are social or physical.\nPlay is not antagonistic to responsibility, technical proficiency, or productive output. In fact, all those things can contribute to its status as play. Part of the problem is the word itself, which we associate with children or at least childishness. It implies a kind of naivety \u0026ndash; perhaps the adult-sounding \u0026rsquo;ludic\u0026rsquo; is more convincing. Nonetheless, the actual function of self-motivating activity is just as effective in technical roles as it is in social ones. And at its core, that is all play really is \u0026ndash; a self-motivating action that narrativises a task or makes it amusing.\nIn this sense, a ludic economy is no more unserious than any other cultural phenomenon. There is no functional reason a politician should wear a suit, yet they all do. Those that don\u0026rsquo;t are engaging with the same culture \u0026ndash; making an anti-colonial, or an anti-establishment point. These are social factors, a kind of play culture, mostly seperate from the wage incentive of the individual.\nReal Voluntarism # Although ludic productivity is less coerced by material interests, it would be misleading to characterise it as voluntary. First of all, it simply is not voluntary \u0026ndash; all working-age people in Vekllei need some kind of occupation by law, an obligation known as contributory service.4 That obligation however is commonly theoretical rather than material, since what they call work is a feature of life and occurs naturally and spontaneously.\nMaterial pressures are not the only mechanism with which to coerce people, and Vekllei is a country of strong social pressures.5 It is quite possible to be coerced into social obligations with no material reward or punishment. A variety of normal interactions can produce nonmaterial, though very real, coercive behaviour.\nAs such, it is not accurate to describe ludic productivity in Vekllei as voluntary without qualification, in the fashion of orthodox utopian anarchy. Vekllei people sometimes do things they would not otherwise want to do, and this includes labour for others. Rather than indicating a corruption of voluntarism, however, this actually indicates an abolition of work. Because it now exists primarily in social dimensions, it lacks the material benefit and consequence of labour as labour, and so does not really resemble \u0026ldquo;work\u0026rdquo; as we understand it at all. Instead, the Vekllei use of the term defaults to one of two meanings.\nWork is energy spent on getting things done Work is the play-fantasy of going into a workplace and performing roles (ludic productivity) As a consequence, these begrudging social obligations demonstrate that the physical obligation of work is gone (except, notably, for that distant legal obligation). The fact that Vekllei people continue to go into the workplace for no pay and under no threat indicates that work as we think of it does not exist at all.\nThe distinction is important, because the physical and blunt mechanics of industrial relationships, previously insulated behind the social rituals of work, are now absent. The physical coercion (the need to earn and eat) is gone, except in that distant legal obligation \u0026ndash; a thorny but important caveat.\nThe role of that legal obligation is not really as a carrot or a stick. Make no mistake \u0026ndash; it can be prosecuted, and you can be physically coerced into labour as part of community service. But that sort of blunt coercion is rarely necessary. Instead, it primarily indicates a social norm, and deviation from which invites derision and prosecution.\nThis indicates the general state of Vekllei pragmatism, which is generally untethered from absolutes (voluntary, freedom, hierarchy, autonomy, coercion) and is concerned with the function of independence, pleasure and dignity. If the absolute of voluntary work prohibits in function the wellbeing of ludic productivity, it is sanded off as needed until it fits.\nA New Society # So this is Utopia,\nIs it? Well —\nI beg your pardon;\nI thought it was Hell.\n– Max Beerbohm\nCommonwealth society has triumphs and failures like any other. It has strict benefits and strict limitations. Those benefits \u0026ndash; of ludic productivity, of democratic society, of dignity and independence \u0026ndash; are the products of a system that has to curtail wealth, reward and expertise. These are people, not anarchists. They move on complicated emotions, and make good and bad decisions.\nThe triumphs of the ludic economy are obscured by its nature. The form dictates the product, and ludic economies are social in form. They are more satisfied by work, and work better because of it. They are more satisfied because their work is usually varied, aligned with self-interest, satisfies their curiosity, is easier to perform and rewarded holistically. Because of this, they are fickle, transient and self-directed workers.\nIt seems that moneyless economics are functionally dependent on types of play. They are linked to each other, as features of a more fundamental restructuring of life. The premises of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s new society \u0026ndash; a ludic society, a moneyless society, a democratic society \u0026ndash; are better understood through their aspirations than their dogma.\nIndependence Pleasure Dignity Each of these things contribute to the nature of play as an economic form, but also reflect it as the outcome of independent, happy and dignified people. Rather than distracting from productivity, they contribute to it as the natural instinct of educated, satisfied people with not much else to do. Not all people are equally good and not all are equally productive, but so what?\nThe real evidence is in their ways of living and the new society that facilitates it. Almost all the machines they use are designed by them, as are their cities, as are their clothes. They are produced mostly by robots, sometimes here, sometimes overseas. And when they aren\u0026rsquo;t writing policy or teaching schoolchildren, they can become a footballer, filmmaker or seamstress for a day.\nVekllei industry is mostly automatic. This does not mean entirely without human workers, but typically people serve administrative and technical roles rather than assembly or maintenance work in industrial contexts.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nWhile Vekllei law requires an occupation for working adults, it has very little control over employment. Vekllei workers, in all cases outside of conscripted service, are free to leave their work and pursue new opportunities any time.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nSee also Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture, 1938. This work is influential on Vekllei and is a useful reference for this article.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nContributory Service is a requirement to register an occupation until retirement. This does not necessarily imply work \u0026ndash; education, homemaking and many other occupations not usually regarded as employment often qualify. Although it is a legal requirement, it is rarely prosecuted.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nIt is important not to obscure Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s complex and powerful social functions as simple collectivism; they are not, buy and large, collectivists. They have a Western conceptualisation of the individual, though they are substantially more codependent on their communities than your average European or American.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/ludic-productivity/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1056,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/madiana/",
  "title": "Madiana","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/madiana-4x3.svg","icon": "☀️","rgb": "222, 13, 74",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Madiana (\u003ci\u003eMartinique\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Madiana Republic Island of Martinique Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1930, as part of the Alford Agreement Area 1,128 km² Capital Fort Royal Languages English, French, Antillean Creole Population 921,962 The Madiana Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Caribbean. The name Madiana comes from the Taino word for \u0026ldquo;Island of Flowers,\u0026rdquo; an appropriate name considering its natural beauty. The republic is extraordinarily diverse for an island of its size, measuring about 80km long. Large mountains dominate the northern half of the island, the tallest of which is an active volcano called Mount Palee.\nMadianans are a proud people, and represent a strong fusion of French and Creole cultures. The women have become consorts to kings, emperors and shahs; and its historic capital of Sainte Pierre was once the most cultured settlements in all the West Indies before its destruction. The republic\u0026rsquo;s dramatic history, fine cuisine and love of music have made Madiana one of the most exotic and desirable communities in Vekllei \u0026ndash; although fully accessible only to those willing to learn a little French.\nThe island was discovered in the 15th Century, but was not settled by Europeans for 200 years. The history of the republic is a story of great prosperity and great violence. A persistent war with local Indians led French colonists to kill and deport most indigenous Madianans to neighbouring Kabuli. The island was also a major producer of cotton, cacao and sugar, mostly worked by African slaves who led uprisings against French rule throughout the 18th and 19th Centuries. Most famously, in 1902, the town of St Pierre was laid to waste by Mt Palee, killing almost the entire population of 30,000 people. The destruction of St Pierre ruined the economy and much of the livelihood of the island, which recovered slowly throughout the decades after.\nMost people today live in Fort Royal, a neat and pretty city centred around the historic fort for which it is named. It is densely populated, and the city snakes upward and away from the coast in valleys typical of the complex relief of the island. Luxuriant vegetation covers much of the republic, and includes dense forests, mangrove swamps and dry savannahs scattered with petrified trees. A national park protects much of the northern part of the republic, including its destructive volcano. There, water cascades freely down the slopes of the mountains, gathering in hidden oases encased in thick forests of mahogany and rosewood.\nMadianans are good-natured and vibrant people, and celebrate any occasion with music and feasts. The republic is famous for its cuisine, fusing the cult of haute cuisine with Caribbean flavour, washed down with French wine and champagne or local rum. They love to dance the béguine, merengue or mazurka. They are also a deeply religious people, comprising mostly Roman Catholics, and host tremendous public celebrations throughout Mardi Gras, culminating in the burning of images of deities on the fourth day. In November, All Saints Day is celebrated by lighting candles on every grave on the island. They enjoy a variety of music, including the béguine, the mazurka and, on Ash Wednesday, the frenzy of the diablesses.\nMost Madianans are mixed-race (Creole), though there are European French, Indian and Chinese communities there too. Fort Royal is a busy city, and has good schools and hospitals. There is a Commonwealth Oil refinery in the capital, but the republic is most famous for its processed food. Although local agriculture is limited to municipal goods, many foods are shipped to Madiana for packaging and processing in its large automatic canning and refining facilities. Major exports include feed for livestock, fruit and vegetable tins, premade meals and soups and sugar and salt refining. The Energy Chemistry Division of the LSRE is headquartered there.\nThe island has good transport connections. There is a tourist steam train that travels daily to the ruins of Sainte Pierre, as well as modern electric railways that follow the southern coast to the capital. Most large towns have their own tram network, and ferries connect the republic to its neighbours. There is also an airport outside of Fort Royal, which includes search-and-rescue facilities for the Littoral Service.\nClimate\nWarm the year round. Rainy season from July to November. The capital is rather hot at this time.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Mardi Gras Feb Good Friday Easter Monday Commonwealth Day 1 May Republic Day 27 May Ascension Day Whitsun Assumption Day 15 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Armistice Day 11 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest St Pierre: Ruined former capital of the island; a modern-day Pompeii. Diamond Rock: Conspicuous tall island off the south coast of the republic, once home to a British naval fort used to harrass French shipping. Mount Pelée: An active volcano with hiking trails, offering breathtaking views and an insight into the 1902 eruption that shaped Madiana’s history. Les Salines Beach: A popular white-sand beach near Sainte-Anne, famous for its turquoise waters and scenic coconut palms. Jardin de Balata: A lush botanical garden featuring tropical plants, flowers, and treetop walkways with views of the surrounding rainforest. Anse d\u0026rsquo;Arlet: A charming village known for its picturesque beach, vibrant coral reefs, and a waterfront church. Port of Fort Royal: A major commercial and passenger port supporting cargo, ferry, and passenger ship traffic throughout the Caribbean. Chemical Energy Research Laboratories: Fuel research laboratory operated by the LSRE in Fort Royal. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/madiana/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1057,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/maldives/",
  "title": "Maldives","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/mv-4x3.svg","icon": "🦈","rgb": "210, 15, 52",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "The Maldives is a country in the north Indian Ocean, south of the Indian subcontinent.",
  "content": "The Republic of the Maldives is a country in the north Indian Ocean, south of the Indian subcontinent. It is a scattered island chain consisting of clusters of small islands and atolls extending nearly 800km from north to south.\nThe Maldives are coral atolls, and as such are flat and low-lying, rarely rising more than a couple metres above sea level. Maldivians speak an indigenous language (Dhivehi) constitute a unique ethnic group from centuries of migration, including Tamils and Sinhala from India and Ceylon as well as from Arab countries and East Asia.\nThe Maldives are a multi-party socialist democracy, and the state religion is Islam. Major industries include textiles and crafts, but most exports are fishing and tropical agriculture. Next to seafood, tourism and the service industry are major drivers of economic growth, and the Maldives have signed trade agreements with China, Saudi Arabia and its regional island neighbours. It is also a recent member of the COMOC. Relations with India remain tense over fishing rights.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/maldives/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1058,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/mantle-class/",
  "title": "Mantle-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/submarine.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/submarine_hu5e137347435867ec1f192b3791180368_2512617_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Mantle-Class is a class of ballistic missile submarine in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Mantle-class Ballistic Missile Submarine Ballistic Missile Submarine (SSBN) Built 2054-present Class Mantle-class Crew 140 Displacement 18,000 tons (submerged) InService 6 Length 170 meters Service Maritime Service Speed 30 knots (submerged) Station NS Oslola Oslola The Mantle-class Ballistic Missile Submarine is a class of submarine of the Maritime Service of the Marine Services of Vekllei. The class was designed to serve as a strategic deterrent, capable of launching nuclear-armed ballistic missiles from underwater and ensuring Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s second-strike capability. With a submerged displacement of 18,000 tons and a length of 170 meters, the Mantle-class is the largest Vekllei submarine and is a cornerstone of its nuclear deterrent. Its home station is Naval Station Oslola.\nPowered by the same NMPR hydromagnetic propulsion system as the smaller Capricorn-class attack submarine, the Mantle-class can operate at submerged speeds of up to 30 knots. Its reactor allows it to remain submerged for extended periods, offering considerable operational flexibility and stealth in global patrol areas. A crew of 140 operates the submarine, including specialists in missile systems, nuclear operations, and submarine warfare.\nThe submarine’s primary armament consists of 10 vertical launch tubes capable of firing No. 2 Oceanic ballistic missiles, each of which can be fitted with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs). These missiles give the Mantle-class significant strike range and capability.\nIn addition to its missile armament, the Mantle-class is equipped with No. 8 Orca heavy torpedoes in four tubes, enabling it to engage hostile submarines or surface ships if necessary. The vessel also carries advanced sonar and countermeasure systems to evade detection and attacks.\nThe Mantle-class SSBN is designed for long-duration patrols, operating undetected in the Atlantic (and elsewhere) while remaining a potent nuclear deterrent. Its role is primarily strategic, ensuring that retaliatory nuclear strikes remain possible in the event of an initial attack.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/mantle-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1059,
  "href": "/factbook/maps/",
  "title": "Map","icon": "🗺️","color": "teal",
  "section": "Factbook",
  "description": "",
  "content": " You can find a collection of Vekllei maps here. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/maps/","/map/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1060,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/armed-forces/marine/",
  "title": "Marine Services","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Armed Forces",
  "description": "The Marine Services comprise 3 specialised services in the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": "The Marine Services comprise a number of military services that are part of the Armed Forces of Vekllei. It is a conceptual distinction, since vital components of naval warfare (including naval aviation and naval infantry) are part of the air and Territorial Services respectively. Instead, \u0026lsquo;marine services\u0026rsquo; refer broadly to the military organisations that primarily operate watercraft or coastal artillery, in the fashion of a traditional navy, coast guard or coastal fortification.\nThese marine services include:\nThe Maritime Service, the historic naval component of Vekllei The Littoral Service, the coast guard The Coastal Artillery Service, which constructs and operates coastal fortifications The marine services are supported by a number of naval stations which provide facilities to dock, refurbish and construct vessels. They can also incorporate a number of other military functions, like air bases, training centres, radar stations and research facilities. Because of the variety of vessels in the marine services, many stations specialise in the maintenance of certain classes of ship, which are then known as \u0026ldquo;home stations\u0026rdquo; even if they are not their home port.\nNaval Station Antigua, Antigua Naval Station Falklands, Falklands Naval Station Java, Java Naval Station Kairi, Kairi Naval Station Mira, Mira Naval Station Morocos, Morocos Naval Station Oslola, Oslola Naval Station Santes, Santes Naval Station Sude, Sude Naval Station Summers, Summers Naval Station Verde, Costa Verde Maritime Service # The Maritime Service (the traditional Navy or Navy of the Public) is the traditional naval warfare component of the Vekllei military and consists of its surface ships and submarines. It comprises three fleets and an auxiliary service, that functions similarly to a republican or federal militia.\nCommonwealth Fleet The Commonwealth Fleet (Sovereign/Federal Fleet) of the Vekllei Maritime Service is the largest naval formation in Vekllei and is tasked with defence of the country\u0026rsquo;s central corridor, a triangular area with points in Oslola, Costa Verde and Summers. It is\n5 Aircraft Carriers 1 Supercarrier (flagship CVN Veletia) 2 Fleet Carriers (Volcanic-class) 2 Helicopter Carriers 1 Battleship (Federal-class CVN Commonwealth) 3 Battlecruisers 12 Cruisers 2 Scout Cruisers 2 Torpedo Cruisers 6 Missile Cruisers (Nike-class) 2 Aircraft Cruisers (Prosperity-class) 28 Destroyers 6 Minelayers/Minesweepers (Hera-class) 20 Fleet Air Escort Destroyers (Baker and Swordfish-classes) 2 Submarine Chaser Destroyers (Palm-class) 32 Corvettes (Suffrage-class) 8 Attack Submarines (Capricorn-class) Home Fleet (Auxiliary) The Home Fleet (also Auxiliary Fleet) of the Commonwealth Maritime Service is an auxiliary fleet stationed across the 70 island city-states that make up the country. Each Vekllei city-state serves as a home port to a particular frigate. While they serve a ceremonial role, they are active warships that perform littoral maritime security duties and can be federalised into other fleets as necessary. The Home Fleet also consists of vessels with a multi-fleet or multipurpose role, and can be reassigned to other fleets as required.\n82 Frigates 70 Aurora-Class Republic Warships 5 Air Scout Frigates 4 Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigates 3 Guided Missile Frigates 2 Submarine Rescue Ships 4 Assault Ships 28 Landing Craft Vessels 1 Crane Ship 2 Minelayers 6 Minehunters 4 Naval Yachts 3 Amenities Ship 2 Ammunition Ship 2 Floating Dock 1 Troopship (+ 4 Auxiliary) 6 Naval Yachts 4 Accomodation Ships 2 Dispatch Ships 4 Nuclear Replenishment Ships 2 Replenishment Oilers 4 Gunboats Arctic Fleet 1 Fleet Carrier 1 Battlecruiser 6 Cruisers 4 Nuclear Icebreaker Cruisers 2 Aircraft Cruisers (Prosperity-class) 8 Destroyers 4 Fleet Air Escort Destroyers (Baker-class) 3 Missile Destroyers 1 Arsenal Destroyer 2 Patrol Boats 3 Attack Submarines Antarctic Fleet 1 Fleet Carrier 1 Battlecruiser 4 Cruisers 2 Nuclear Icebreaker Cruisers 2 Aircraft Cruisers (Prosperity-class) 12 Destroyers 8 Fleet Air Escort Destroyers (Baker and Swordfish-classes) 2 Missile Destroyers 2 Arsenal Destroyer 2 Patrol Boats 2 Attack Submarines Missile Fleet 2 Arsenal Ships 6 Ballistic Missile Submarines (Mantle-class) Littoral Service # The Littoral Service (the Coast Guard or Navy of the Parliament) is the maritime security component of the Vekllei military. It provides customs, policing and search and rescue services for Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, though it frequently patrols international waters in the Atlantic.\nThe Littoral Service has 12 commands across the Atlantic, Arctic, Antarctic and Caribbean Oceans, including the entirety of the Vekllei exclusive economic zone and territorial waters. It has a broad mandate reflected in the vessels under its command, which range from heavily armed frigates to small watercraft and survey ships. It also has an air component provided by the Air Service.\nLittoral Command Atlantic Regional Littoral Service command based at Naval Station Verde. Customs Cutters\n1 Frigate Customs Cutter 2 Medium Customs Cutters 1 Search and Rescue Vessel 2 Fast Patrol Boats 2 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutters Utility Vessels\n1 Seagoing Buoy Tender 1 Coastal Buoy Tender 1 Coastal Construction Tender 1 Harbour Tugboat Littoral Command Africa Regional Littoral Service command based at Naval Station Morocos. Customs Cutters\n2 Medium Customs Cutters Utility Vessels\n1 Medium Ocean Tugboat Littoral Command East Atlantic Regional Littoral Service command based at Naval Station Java. Customs Cutters\n1 Medium Customs Cutter 2 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils Java Annobon 2 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launches Annobon Principe Utility Vessels\n1 Coastal Buoy Tender 1 Coastal Construction Tender Littoral Command South Atlantic Regional Littoral Service command based at Naval Station Santes in the republic of Santes. The command serves as a staging base for search-and-rescue efforts in the middle South Atlantic, but also monitors shipping and fishing activities in the area around the Vekllei exclusive economic zone.\nCustoms Cutters\n1 Frigate Customs Cutter 2 Search and Rescue Vessels 1 Fast Patrol Boat Utility Vessels\n1 Coastal Buoy Tender Littoral Command Antarctic Regional Littoral Service command based in the Falklands and Sude. It is headquartered at Naval Station Falklands with an auxiliary naval station at Naval Station Sude.\nCustoms Cutters\n1 Frigate Customs Cutter 4 Medium Customs Cutters 4 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils Falklands Sude Santes Helena 1 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launch Sude Utility Vessels\n1 Harbour Tugboat Icebreakers\n1 Heavy Icebreaker Survey \u0026amp; Auxiliary Ships\n1 Hydrographic Survey Ship Littoral Command Kalina Regional Littoral Service command based at Naval Station Kairi in the republic of Kairi. It has a major auxiliary base at Naval Station Antigua in Antigua Most of the naval policing in the Commonwealth Kalina is expended in anti-piracy, anti-narcotics and border control operations. The western edge of Kairi is just 10km or so off the coast of Venezuala, and the republic receives considerable numbers of migrants each year. The littoral command intercepts and processes a number of migrant boats each month.\nCustoms Cutters\n1 Frigate Customs Cutter 2 Medium Customs Cutters 1 Search and Rescue Vessel 4 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils Kairi Barbados Virgin Aloi 1 Air Cutter 2 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launches Grenadines Anguilla 1 Search and Rescue Vessels 3 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutters Utility Vessels\n1 Seagoing Buoy Tender 2 Coastal Buoy Tender 1 Coastal Construction Tender 2 River Tenders 2 Harbour Tugboats Littoral Command Antilles Regional Littoral Service command based at the capital port in the Caimanas. The local harbours in the ABC islands also have a handful of small vessels, mostly employed in border policing and anti-narcotics operations. Customs Cutters\n3 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils Aruba Caimanas 1 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launch Caimanas 4 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutters Aruba Bonaire Curacao Utility Vessels\n1 Coastal Buoy Tender Aruba 1 River Tender Aruba 1 Harbour Tugboat Curacao Littoral Command Lucaya Regional Littoral Service command based at Nema. The primary concern of the command is smuggling, migration and drug running originating from neighbouring Caribbean islands and Florida. Customs Cutters\n1 Medium Customs Cutter 3 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils Bahama Habacoa Caicos 1 Fast Patrol Boats 3 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launches Bahama Curateo Caicos 6 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutters Utility Vessels\n1 Coastal Buoy Tender 2 River Tenders 1 Harbour Tugboat Littoral Command West Atlantic Regional Littoral Service command based at Summers. Customs Cutters\n1 Medium Customs Cutter 2 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils Summers 1 Search and Rescue Vessel 1 Fast Patrol Boat Utility Vessels\n1 Medium Ocean Tugboat Survey \u0026amp; Auxiliary Ships\n1 Hydrographic Survey Ship Littoral Command North Atlantic Regional Littoral Service command based in Oslola, Aismious, Demon and Hetland. Its headquarters are in Naval Station Oslola. Its primary concerns are illegal fishing, search and rescue for transatlantic traffic, and resource disputes near Hetland.\nCustoms Cutters\n2 Frigate Customs Cutters 6 Medium Customs Cutters 2 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils Oslola Aismious 1 Air Cutter 1 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launch Hetland 2 Search and Rescue Vessels 1 Fast Patrol Boat 1 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutters Utility Vessels\n1 Seagoing Buoy Tender 2 Coastal Buoy Tenders 1 Coastal Construction Tender 1 Large Ocean Tugboat 4 Harbour Tugboats Icebreakers\n1 Heavy Icebreaker Littoral Command Americas Regional Littoral Service command based at Kala. Customs Cutters\n1 Medium Customs Cutter 2 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launches Kala 1 Search and Rescue Vessel 2 Fast Patrol Boats Utility Vessels\n1 Seagoing Buoy Tender 1 Coastal Buoy Tender Icebreakers\n1 Heavy Icebreaker Littoral Command Arctic Regional Littoral Service command based at Helvasia. Helvasia has ongoing resource disputes with the Soviet Union, and frequent patrols are a means Customs Cutters\n1 Medium Customs Cutter 1 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launch Helvasia 1 Search and Rescue Vessel 1 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutter Utility Vessels\n1 Seagoing Buoy Tender Icebreakers\n1 Heavy Icebreaker 1 Ice-strengthened Oiler Coastal Artillery Service # The Coastal Artillery Service provides coastal fortification and defence for Vekllei republics, including counter-battery fire, raiding, and ship boarding.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/marine/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1061,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/maritime-service/",
  "title": "Maritime Service","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Ministry of Defence",
  "description": "The Maritime Service is the traditional naval warfare component of the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": "The Maritime Service (the traditional Navy or Navy of the Public) is the traditional naval warfare component of the Armed Forces of Vekllei as part of the Ministry of Defence. It consists of surface ships and submarines that form the backbone of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s strategic naval power. The Maritime Service comprises three operational fleets and an auxiliary service that functions similarly to a republican or federal militia.\nAs a seagoing country of island communities, the Maritime Service represents the historic and contemporary primary means of defence for Vekllei. All surface vessels and submarines operate under unified naval command, working closely with other services to provide integrated maritime defence across the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s vast oceanic territories.\nThe Maritime Service operates four distinct fleet commands, each specialised for different operational theatres and strategic requirements. The Commonwealth Fleet serves as the primary naval force, while the Arctic and Antarctic Fleets provide polar operational capability. The Home Fleet functions as both a ceremonial and operational auxiliary force distributed across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s 78 republics.\nCommonwealth Fleet\nThe Commonwealth Fleet (Sovereign/Federal Fleet) is the largest naval formation in Vekllei and is tasked with defence of the country\u0026rsquo;s central corridor, a triangular area with points in Oslola, Costa Verde and Summers. It represents the primary striking force of the Maritime Service.\nCapital Ships\n1 Supercarrier (flagship CVN Veletia)\nNS Kairi Kairi 2 Fleet Carriers (Volcanic-class)\nNS Kairi Kairi 2 Helicopter Carriers\nNS Kairi Kairi 1 Battleship (Federal-class Commonwealth)\nNS Kairi Kairi 3 Battlecruisers\nNS Kairi Kairi Cruiser Force\n2 Scout Cruisers\nNS Oslola Oslola 2 Torpedo Cruisers\nNS Kairi Kairi 6 Missile Cruisers (Nike-class)\nNS Kairi Kairi 2 Aircraft Cruisers (Prosperity-class)\nNS Java Java Destroyer Force\n6 Minelayers/Minesweepers (Hera-class)\nNS Java Java 20 Fleet Air Escort Destroyers (Baker and Swordfish-classes)\nNS Kairi Kairi 2 Submarine Chaser Destroyers (Palm-class)\nNS Java Java Light Forces\n32 Corvettes (Suffrage-class)\nNS Kairi Kairi Submarine Force\n8 Attack Submarines (Capricorn-class)\nNS Kairi Kairi Home Fleet (Auxiliary)\nThe Home Fleet (Auxiliary Fleet) is an auxiliary fleet stationed across the 78 island city-states that make up the country. Each Vekllei republic serves as home port to a particular frigate. While they serve a ceremonial role, they are active warships that perform littoral maritime security duties and can be federalised into other fleets as necessary.\nRepublic Warships\n78 Aurora-Class Republic Warships\nDistributed across all republics 5 Air Scout Frigates\nNS Oslola Oslola 4 Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigates\nNS Kairi Kairi 3 Guided Missile Frigates\nNS Summers Summers Amphibious Warfare\n4 Assault Ships\nNS Antigua Antigua 28 Landing Craft Vessels\nVarious naval stations Support Vessels\n2 Submarine Rescue Ships\nNS Kairi Kairi 1 Crane Ship\nNS Oslola Oslola 2 Minelayers\nNS Oslola Oslola 6 Minehunters\nNS Oslola Oslola 3 Amenities Ship\nNS Verde Costa Verde 2 Ammunition Ship\nNS Kairi Kairi 2 Floating Dock\nNS Oslola Oslola 1 Troopship (+ 4 Auxiliary)\nNS Antigua Antigua 6 Naval Yachts\nNS Verde Costa Verde 4 Accommodation Ships\nNS Kairi Kairi 2 Dispatch Ships\nNS Oslola Oslola 4 Nuclear Replenishment Ships\nNS Kairi Kairi 2 Replenishment Oilers\nNS Kairi Kairi 4 Gunboats\nNS Mira Mira Arctic Fleet\nThe Arctic Fleet provides naval operations capability in the polar north, including the defence of Helvasia, Kala, and northern approaches to the Commonwealth. It operates specialised vessels capable of Arctic operations and maintains close cooperation with icebreaker forces.\nCapital Ships\n1 Fleet Carrier\nNS Oslola Oslola 1 Battlecruiser\nNS Oslola Oslola Cruiser Force\n4 Nuclear Icebreaker Cruisers\nNS Sedna Kala\nNS Helvasia Helvasia 2 Aircraft Cruisers (Prosperity-class)\nNS Oslola Oslola Destroyer Force\n4 Fleet Air Escort Destroyers (Baker-class)\nNS Oslola Oslola 3 Missile Destroyers\nNS Oslola Oslola 1 Arsenal Destroyer\nNS Oslola Oslola Light Forces \u0026amp; Submarines\n2 Patrol Boats\nNS Helvasia Helvasia 3 Attack Submarines\nNS Oslola Oslola Antarctic Fleet\nThe Antarctic Fleet provides naval operations capability in the polar south, including the defence of the Falklands, Sude, and southern ocean approaches. Like the Arctic Fleet, it operates specialised vessels for polar operations.\nCapital Ships\n1 Fleet Carrier\nNS Falklands Falklands 1 Battlecruiser\nNS Falklands Falklands Cruiser Force\n2 Nuclear Icebreaker Cruisers\nNS Sude Sude 2 Aircraft Cruisers (Prosperity-class)\nNS Santes Santes Destroyer Force\n8 Fleet Air Escort Destroyers (Baker and Swordfish-classes)\nNS Falklands Falklands 2 Missile Destroyers\nNS Falklands Falklands 2 Arsenal Destroyers\nNS Sude Sude Light Forces \u0026amp; Submarines\n2 Patrol Boats\nNS Falklands Falklands 2 Attack Submarines\nNS Santes Santes Missile Fleet\nThe Missile Fleet comprises Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s strategic nuclear deterrent and long-range strike capability. These vessels operate from secure bases and maintain the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s nuclear deterrence posture.\nStrategic Assets 2 Arsenal Ships\nNS Oslola Oslola 6 Ballistic Missile Submarines (Mantle-class)\nClassified locations The Maritime Service operates from a network of naval stations that provide facilities to dock, refurbish and construct vessels. Major naval stations include NS Kairi (the largest), NS Oslola, NS Falklands, NS Antigua, and NS Verde. These stations often incorporate other military functions such as air bases, training centres, radar stations and research facilities.\nMaritime vessels are primarily designed and manufactured domestically, with emphasis on nuclear propulsion for major combatants and advanced electronics for command and control. The service maintains high readiness levels across all fleets to respond to threats across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s vast oceanic territories.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/maritime/","/navy/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1062,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/mauritius/",
  "title": "Mauritius","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/mu-4x3.svg","icon": "🌾","rgb": "238, 183, 14",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "Mauritius is a country in the south Indian Ocean, west of Madagascar.",
  "content": "The Republic of Mauritius is a country in the south Indian Ocean, west of Madagascar. It consists of scattered volcanic islands fringed by coral reefs, which are rich with arable soil used mostly to grow sugar cane, its largest export. Mauritius\u0026rsquo;s capital, Port Louis, is modern and well connected by good roads and its busy port.\nMauritius has a comfortable subtropical climate, with a cool and a hot season. Its people are mostly descended from indentured labourers from India and Pakistan who were compelled their during French rule. English is the official language, but Creole is most commonly spoken.\nMauritius is a developed society with an advanced economy, known for its frequent festivals among its diverse population. It has close economic ties with nearby Seychelles and close political ties with Vekllei, and is a member of the COMOC.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/mauritius/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1063,
  "href": "/sitetag/may-15-2021/",
  "title": "May 15, 2021",
  "section": "Sitetag",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1064,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/atlantic/meridia/",
  "title": "Meridia","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/meridia-4x3.svg","icon": "🌊","rgb": "0, 159, 123",
  "section": "Atlantic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Meridia (\u003ci\u003eEl Hierro\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the North Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Meridia Republic Island of El Hierro Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Atlantic Commonwealth Accession 2020, as part of the Canary Delegation Area 268.71 km² Capital Sabinosa Languages English, Portuguese, Canarii Bimbache Population 15,260 The Meridia Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic Ocean, the westernmost island of the Canary archipelago found south of Benahoare. Its triangular landmass rises abruptly from deep Atlantic waters, crowned by volcanic peaks and bounded by steep cliffs that have earned it the sobriquet \u0026ldquo;the fortress island.\u0026rdquo; The interior is dominated by ancient calderas and a highland plateau where much of the island\u0026rsquo;s agriculture and settlement occurs.\nMeridia was known to the Canarii as Hero-akran, meaning \u0026ldquo;edge of the great water,\u0026rdquo; though over centuries of Portuguese rule this evolved into the modern Meridia. Among the Canary islands, it retained perhaps the strongest indigenous character during the colonial period, owing to its remote location and the diplomatic cunning of its Bimbache chiefs who negotiated tributary status rather than outright conquest when the Portuguese arrived in 1483.\nThe Bimbaches had developed one of the most sophisticated water management systems in the Atlantic world, channeling the island\u0026rsquo;s sparse rainfall through an intricate network of stone channels and underground galerías that remain the backbone of the island\u0026rsquo;s water supply today. Their society was organised around extended clan networks that controlled different sections of the highland plateau, trading obsidian tools, woven goods, and preserved fish with Berber merchants who made regular stops during their trans-Atlantic trading expeditions.\nThe result was a unique colonial society where Portuguese settlers, primarily from the Azores and Madeira, intermarried extensively with Bimbache families and adopted many local customs. Catholic missions established schools that taught in both Portuguese and Bimbache Canarii, creating a literate indigenous population unusual in the Atlantic colonial world. Traditional Bimbache metalworking, enhanced by Portuguese techniques, made Meridia famous throughout the Portuguese empire for its iron tools and weapons forged from the island\u0026rsquo;s volcanic ore.\nModern Meridia retains this distinctive character. The capital, Sabinosa, is built around a colonial Portuguese plaza but its old town reflects centuries of Canarii-Portuguese synthesis. Houses feature traditional Bimbache wind-resistant construction using volcanic stone, combined with Portuguese tile work and wrought iron that incorporates Canarii geometric patterns learned through their historic North African connections. These motifs have been carried into Commonwealth construction, which integrates local patterns in its typical syncretic fashion.\nThe republic\u0026rsquo;s economy centres on traditional industries that have evolved with Commonwealth membership. Iron working continues in small forges scattered across the highlands, now producing precision tools for the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s industrial sectors. The island\u0026rsquo;s famous quesadillas herreñas cheese, made according to recipes that blend Bimbache preservation techniques with Portuguese dairy methods, is exported throughout the Atlantic Commonwealth. Fishing remains important, with Meridian boats operating from small harbours carved into the volcanic coastline.\nAgriculture on the highland plateau follows ancient terracing systems, now supplemented by colonial and contemporary crops. Wine production, using both indigenous grape varieties and Portuguese vinho verde techniques, produces distinctive vintages that reflect the island\u0026rsquo;s volcanic soils. Livestock, particularly the hardy local goats descended from Berber breeds introduced through pre-colonial trade, graze the highland pastures.\nThe island\u0026rsquo;s transport system reflects its challenging geography. A single railway line circles the coastal settlements, with a branch climbing to the highland plateau through a series of switchbacks and tunnels. Several of the more isolated fishing villages are accessible only by coastal tramway or on foot along ancient Bimbache paths that wind through the volcanic landscape. Ferry connections link Meridia to the rest of the Canary republics, with the main terminal in Sabinosa\u0026rsquo;s protected harbour.\nMeridians maintain their Bimbache identity alongside Portuguese and Commonwealth influences. Many still practice traditional crafts including basket weaving using local rushes and volcanic glass cutting for decorative work. The annual Transfiguración festival combines Catholic observance with ancient Bimbache seasonal celebrations, featuring traditional dances performed to the accompaniment of Canarii drums and Portuguese string instruments.\nMost Meridians speak Bimbache Canarii at home and Portuguese in towns, with English used for Commonwealth business and education. The whistling communication system once used across the island\u0026rsquo;s deep valleys survives in rural areas, though modern telecommunications have reduced its everyday use. Portuguese influence is strongest in coastal towns, while the highland settlements retain more distinctly Canarii character.\nClimate\nSubtropical with strong trade wind influence. The highland plateau experiences more rainfall and cooler temperatures than the arid coastal areas.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Epiphany 6 Jan Good Friday Easter Commonwealth Day 1 May Canary Day 8 Jun Transfiguración Day 6 Aug Assumption Day 15 Aug Republic Day 27 Sep All Saints Day 1 Nov Feast of Imm. Con. 8 Dec Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest Punta de Orchilla: Historic lighthouse marking the westernmost point of the Canaries, once considered the edge of the known world. Sahara Works: Constituent workshop of Atlantic Works comprising a traditional forge complex where Meridian craftsmen continue centuries-old metalworking traditions using local volcanic ore. Bimbache Cultural Centre: Museum and research facility dedicated to preserving Canarii language, customs, and traditional knowledge. La Dehesa: Ancient juniper forest on the highland plateau, sacred to the Bimbaches and now protected as a Commonwealth nature reserve. Frontera Hydroelectric Station: Commonwealth power facility utilising the island\u0026rsquo;s highland springs and steep terrain for electricity generation. Charco Manso: Natural volcanic pools on the northern coast, popular with locals for swimming and traditional gathering place for community meetings. Mirador de Jinama: Highland viewpoint offering panoramic views across the western Atlantic and neighbouring Canary republics. Las Puntas Port: Tiny fishing harbour considered one of the world\u0026rsquo;s smallest, serving the island\u0026rsquo;s traditional fishing fleet. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/meridia/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1065,
  "href": "/millmint/commissions/license/",
  "title": "MillMint License","icon": "📄","color": "millmint",
  "section": "Commissions",
  "description": "Studio MillMint commission information",
  "content": " ✿ Download the 📄 MillMint Limited Commercial License.pdf When you commission work from MillMint, it is licensed for limited commercial use.\nYou may adapt the work for personal use or for gifts as many times as you like with no permission required.\nIf you plan on using commissioned work for commercial purposes, including selling it or adapting it into a commercial product, it is licensed under these terms.\nLICENSE INFORMATION:\nThe 📄 MillMint Limited Commercial License applies to commissioned work from MillMint. Uses that exceed these terms require the permission of MillMint.\nAny questions about this license or commissioned work can be forwarded to 📧 studio@millmint.net.\nLICENSE IS REQUIRED WHEN:\nYou are planning to use the work up to 500 times on commercial products, e.g. prints or novelties. You are planning to use the work in a commercial product, e.g. books, video games etc. that has sold up to 1,000 units. LICENSE CONDITIONS:\nMillMint retains copyright of the work. Signatures on the work must maintain intact in reproductions. You cannot claim to have created commissioned work (i.e. to have drawn it). You cannot resell artwork in its original digital format. You cannot use the work in a pornographic, obscene, illegal, immoral, libellous or defamatory manner. You cannot incorporate the work into trademarks, logos, or service marks. Under NO circumstances may you sell, or otherwise commercialise the actual digital files in their original format.\nContact me ✉️\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/license/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1066,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/",
  "title": "Ministries","logo": "/svg/crests/vekllei.svg","icon": "🌸","color": "millmint",
  "section": "Government",
  "description": "Ministries are the supreme departments of Vekllei government. Each is headed by a Minister, and specialises in a specific aspect of state affairs.",
  "content": "Commonwealth Ministries are devolved ministerial departments of Vekllei. They are lead by a qualified member of the Cabinet appointed by the Commonwealth Directory.\nEach ministry is lead by a ministerial secretariat, which centralises authority and policy across the constituent commonwealths. Each constituent has the same ten ministries, which are coordinated centrally by the secretariat.\nMinistry of Commerce Bureau of Securities Bureau of Trade Commonwealth Mint Commonwealth Securities Exchange Commonwealth Treasury Ministry of Culture Atlantic Arts Federation Atlantic History Federation Bureau of Post and Telecommunications Bureau of Press and News Media Bureau of Records and Correspondence Bureau of Sports Commonwealth Art Commission Commonwealth Central Archives Commonwealth Communications Authority Commonwealth Olympic Committee National Library Ministry of Defence Air Service Armed Forces Bureau of Supply Bureau of War Civil Defence Service Defence Imagery Establishment DSRE Littoral Service Maritime Service Noshem Police of the Parliament Police of the Public Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bureau of Communications Bureau of Home Affairs Bureau of International Missions Bureau of State Bureau of Travel Ministry of Industry Bureau of Hydrocarbons Bureau of Production Surveillance Bureau of Workers CSRE Ministry of Labour Bureau of Chapels Bureau of Syndicates Commonwealth Employment Register Ministry of Landscape Bureau of Agriculture Bureau of Conservation Bureau of Materials Bureau of Meteorology Bureau of Oceans LSRE Ministry of Light and Water Bureau of Light Bureau of Water Emergency Light and Water Authority NSRE Ministry of the Commons ASRE Bureau of Aerospace Bureau of Housing Bureau of Parks and Gardens Bureau of Public Works Bureau of Rail Bureau of Roads and Paths Bureau of Space Housing Commission Transport Commission Transport Laboratories Ministry of the Commonwealth Bureau of Accreditation Bureau of Commonwealth Corporations Bureau of Policy Research Bureau of Standards Bureau of Statistics Commonwealth Civil Service Academy Commonwealth Electoral Commission Commonwealth Public Press SIRO ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ministries/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1067,
  "href": "/series/ministry/",
  "title": "Ministry",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1068,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-commerce/",
  "title": "Ministry of Commerce","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-commerce.svg","icon": "💵","color": "commerce",
  "section": "Ministries",
  "description": "The Ministry of Commerce conducts government spending and facilitates trade in the country.",
  "content": " This ministry is part of Vekllei The Ministry of Commerce (COSMOSOL) conducts government spending and facilitates trade in the country. Despite the functional moneylessness of the Vekllei, COSMOSOL remains among the busiest ministries of the Interior Government, since all economic policy, international trade and entitled renumeration (the Vekllei turn-of-phrase for withdrawing from the Commonwealth Bank) occurs through its subordinate bureaus and organisations. Common responsibilities of COSMOSOL include:\nRegulation and taxation of international trade, particularly through Government \u0026lsquo;White Bonds\u0026rsquo; and Commonwealth Bank \u0026lsquo;Blue Bonds\u0026rsquo; Banking the Commonwealth state apparatus Advising the Parliament on economic policy and foreign trade Monitoring and reporting on the health of foreign markets Printing and transporting currency The Ministry of Commerce is led by the State Secretary of Commerce, who is a member of the Cabinet. It is represented in the Commonwealth Council by the First Minister of Commerce.\nMost of the functions of the ministry are conducted by the Treasury, which oversees most economic planning and operates the vast computerised systems that functionally run the Vekllei domestic market.\nVekllei has a reputation as a financial capital for its political neutrality and location between Europe and the Americas, and is among the largest facilitators of international commerce and exchange in the world.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ministry-of-commerce/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1069,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-culture/",
  "title": "Ministry of Culture","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-culture.svg","icon": "🎨","color": "culture",
  "section": "Ministries",
  "description": "The Ministry of Culture supports sports, museums and libraries, oversees media and telecommunications and organises festivals and parades.",
  "content": "The Ministry of Culture is a devolved ministry of the Government of Vekllei. It has a broad mandate that includes cultural preservation and promotion, but also media, telecommunications and sports.\nThe constituent bureaux and organisations of the ministry serve a variety of roles. Vekllei is a deeply multicultural society and comprises dozens of indigenous and foreign languages and cultures. Its role in this context is twofold; the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity, but also the promotion and preservation of common beliefs, languages and civic principles that unify Vekllei as a country. This includes the promotion of English as a functional language, a decision made for practical rather than historical or cultural purposes. It also serves an important role in integrating migrants through the promotion of community activities and events.\nIn addition, the ministry outlines the roles and restrictions of news media and telecommunications. Though Vekllei people and press have freedom of speech protected under their Civil Rights, communications and media agencies have standards set by the ministry or industry. The ministry also has a hand in postal services, sports, and cultural institutions of national significance. Common responsibilities of the ministry include:\nCelebration and promotion of Vekllei traditional languages and cultures Welcoming and integration of migrants into Vekllei society Management of press and news media, often as a standards authority and regulator Management of postal services and telecommunications Promotion of literature, arts and film to ordinary people, and to encourage their participation in culture Celebration and recognition of Vekllei arts and culture Management of national arts institutes, archives and libraries The Ministry of Culture is led by the State Secretary of Culture, who is a member of the Cabinet. It is represented in the Commonwealth Council by the First Minister of Culture.\nThe ministry plays a major role in the organisation of festivals and large cultural products, like feature films. In these cases, it serves as a neutral production role and has no ability to dictate or censor content. The ministry may also be commissioned by government or industry to produce documentaries or publish information on subjects, for which it performs the same neutral production role.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ministry-of-culture/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1070,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/",
  "title": "Ministry of Defence","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-defence.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "defence",
  "section": "Ministries",
  "description": "The Ministry of Defence maintains the Armed Forces of the country and assists security, civil defence and warfare.",
  "content": "The Ministry of Defence is responsible for the Armed Forces of Vekllei, as well as its civil defence organisations that include both its police services and emergency response capabilities. In this sense, the Ministry of Defence exercises both a military and civilian role, and its devolved nature under Commonwealth federalism means it has a broad mandate between republics.\nThe ministry in peacetime does not exercise command authority of its constituent organisations directly, as the military and civil defence forces are autonomous organisations. Common responsibilities of the ministry include:\nDevelopment of defence policy and planning. Recruitment of citizens and foreigners into the armed forces. Equipment procurement and administration. Conducting scientific military research. Policing and security of Vekllei republics, territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. The Ministry of Defence is led by the State Secretary of Defence, who is a member of the Cabinet. It is represented in the Commonwealth Council by the First Minister of Defence.\nAspects of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s police and military are devolved, and the ministry has a key role in coordinating them centrally and establishing standards of service.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ministry-of-defence/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1071,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/",
  "title": "Ministry of Foreign Affairs","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-foreign-affairs.svg","icon": "🌍","color": "foreignaffairs",
  "section": "Ministries",
  "description": "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs manages diplomatic relations with foreign countries.",
  "content": " Overview # COSMOSEA ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1072,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-industry/",
  "title": "Ministry of Industry","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-industry.svg","icon": "⚙️","color": "industry",
  "section": "Ministries",
  "description": "The Ministry of Industry oversees and regulates production, resource extraction and industrial development.",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ministry-of-industry/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1073,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-labour/",
  "title": "Ministry of Labour","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-labour.svg","icon": "⛏️","color": "labour",
  "section": "Ministries",
  "description": "The Ministry of Labour manages the Vekllei workforce, workplace safety, the civil service and conscription.",
  "content": "The Ministry of Labour is a devolved ministry of the Government of Vekllei. It provides a general role in registering and legislating the Vekllei workforce, which serves a unique role in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s participatory economy.\nThe ministry serves traditional functions in establishing workplace standards and safety legislation, but also maintains the consosva and corsosva systems, which outline the legal obligations for employment and civic conscription respectively. To this end, the Ministry of Labour is an organiser of essential work in Vekllei, as well as a general administrator of worker protections, industrial relations and migrant integration. Common responsibilities of the ministry include:\nCompiling labour statistics and registers of employment for use in policy Ensuring compliance with Vekllei workplace standards Handling employment in compliance with the Consosva principles and laws Organising manpower and conscription in the Corsosva system Facilitating collective bargaining and labour relations Hearing and prosecuting violations of labour standards, including anti-discrimination laws Facilitating training and skill-building in Vekllei workplaces The Ministry of Labour is led by the State Secretary of Labour, who is a member of the Cabinet. It is represented in the Commonwealth Council by the First Minister of Labour.\nThe ministry is highly devolved, and although its policy is subordinated to federal legislation, devolved branches of the ministry generally reflect their local economies and have different political priorities. In developing Vekllei republics, for example, transition to the Commons social economy requires regular intervention by the ministry. In developed moneyless economies like the Commonwealth Kalina and Commonwealth Volcanic, the ministry targets training and unemployment as priorities.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ministry-of-labour/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1074,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-landscape/",
  "title": "Ministry of Landscape","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-landscape.svg","icon": "🌋","color": "landscape",
  "section": "Ministries",
  "description": "The Ministry of Landscape deals with matters related to agriculture, food security, nature, meteorology and the oceans.",
  "content": "The Ministry of Landscape is a devolved ministry of the Government of Vekllei. It serves a broad role in government in matters related to agriculture, food security, natural resources, meteorology, nature and the oceans. In this sense, the ministry is tasked with \u0026ldquo;landscape\u0026rdquo; as it is used in Vekllei, with resource exploitation and human settlements assigned to the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of the Commons respectively.\nAlthough the ministry has many environmental and conservationist responsibilities, it is not strictly an environmental ministry. Instead, its portfolio encompasses the physical landscape of Vekllei in a straightforward sense. This includes weather monitoring, food production, pollution control, natural spaces and parks and natural bodies of water. It has a close relationship with the LSRE, the primary natural sciences research organisation in Vekllei. In many ways, the portfolio of research interests of the LSRE is the portfolio of duties of the Ministry of Landscape. Common responsibilities of the ministry include:\nFood production, security, distribution, and standards Biosecurity and quarantine domestically and internationally Management of agriculture and fisheries Management of national parks, commonwealth land, and sovereign natural spaces Meteorology, weather forecasting and natural disaster preparation Landcare, land conservation, education and promotion of the natural sciences Hydrography of Vekllei territorial waters and exclusive economic zones Facilitating research and development of relevant sciences through constituent research organisations The Ministry of Landscape is led by the State Secretary of Landscape, who is a member of the Cabinet. It is represented in the Commonwealth Council by the First Minister of Landscape.\nVekllei is a megadiverse country, owing to its distant and transpolar and territories that often comprise isolated and unique ecosystems. As such, the ministry is highly devolved and has an established presence in every Vekllei republic. Where other ministries are tied closely to the populations of Vekllei people, the Ministry of Landscape has a much broader interest in the physical makeup of Vekllei territories and as such may often make up the largest Commonwealth presence in many smaller constituent republics.\nBecause it is well-funded and staffed, the ministry produces tremendous amounts of useful economic and scientific data about the unique environments of Vekllei. Through its constituent research establishment, the LSRE, it is one of the foremost contributors to environmental sciences in the world.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ministry-of-landscape/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1075,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-light-and-water/",
  "title": "Ministry of Light \u0026 Water","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-light-and-water.svg","icon": "⚡️","color": "lightandwater",
  "section": "Ministries",
  "description": "The Ministry of Light \u0026 Water is responsible for water, sewerage, waste management and electricity supply in Vekllei.",
  "content": "The Ministry of Light \u0026amp; Water is responsible for water and electricity supply in Vekllei. While the ministry primarily directs production and facilitates research, it also controls the vast majority of energy and water production in Vekllei through its statutory corporations.\nAlthough electricity now flows freely and abundantly in an age of commercial fusion power plants, many of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s constituent republics have little to no fresh water reserves and rely heavily on water conservation, recycling and desalination to supplement their water supply. Common responsibilities of the ministry include:\nMaintenance and operation of utilities that provide Vekllei people with electricity and water Facilitation of water and energy grid independence and security Production, promotion and conservation of energy and water Investment and research into emerging physical sciences Advising energy and water policy to republican and commonwealth parliaments Investment and development of new electric and water sources Nuclear energy research and security The Ministry of Light \u0026amp; Water is the third-largest ministry by persons employed, and its subordinate bureaux and corporations are responsible for a number of iconic pieces of Vekllei infrastructure, including the Expo \u0026lsquo;74 Experimental Reactor and the Ou Hydroburo Complex. It is lead by the State Secretary of Light \u0026amp; Water, who is a member of the Cabinet. It is represented in the Commonwealth Council by the First Minister of Light \u0026amp; Water.\nThe ministry is organised around electricity and water production respectively, but also has statutory bodies for emergencies, security and nuclear science research. The ministry was a pioneer in the construction the first and second commercial fusion power plants in Oslola and Kairi, which were among the first in the world to provide fusion-generated electricity to households.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ministry-of-light-and-water/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1076,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commons/",
  "title": "Ministry of the Commons","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commons.svg","icon": "🏡","color": "commons",
  "section": "Ministries",
  "description": "The Ministry of the Commons is responsible for housing, public spaces, transport and urban development.",
  "content": "The Vekllei Ministry of the Commons (COSMOTRAN) provides housing and administers state construction activities in Vekllei, and is also responsible for state protection of human nature and Crown Lands. Responsibilities of COSMOTRAN include:\nConstruction of beautiful and modern Vekllei cities in the spirit of Atlantic Municipalism. The provision and furnishing of adequate recreation spaces for neighbourhoods and municipalities. The construction and maintenance of infrastructure for commercial and industrial purposes. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ministry-of-the-commons/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1077,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commonwealth/",
  "title": "Ministry of the Commonwealth","logo": "/svg/crests/ministry-of-the-commonwealth.svg","icon": "🌐","color": "commonwealth",
  "section": "Ministries",
  "description": "The Ministry of the Commonwealth is responsible for standardisation across Vekllei governments, licensing and accreditation.",
  "content": "The Ministry of the Commonwealth administers devolved ministerial organisations that require planning and expertise coordinated at a national level. It primarily establishes standards for industry and commerce and maintains federal organisations that, for one reason or another, are not subordinated to commonwealth parliaments. In this sense, the ministry provides national stewardship to otherwise devolved and decentralised ministerial organisations and commissions. Responsibilities include:\nAdvising, training and auditing local accreditation and qualifications in line with Commonwealth standards and directives. Ensuring that the Vekllei interior state meets standards determined by the Commonwealth parliaments and international commitments. Developing and enforcing standards in technical, industrial and brand features of the Interior Government and its responsible state assets and bureau partners. Training and maintaining the workforce for the Interior civil service and Interior state assets in line with Commonwealth standards and directives. COSMOCOM\u0026rsquo;s commitments to the transnational Commonwealth Parliaments go both ways \u0026ndash; the ministry ensures domestic compliance and also advises Commonwealth policy and standards, since the Vekllei Interior Government is the largest and most industrious member-state of the Commonwealth.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ministry-of-the-commonwealth/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1078,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/atlantic/mira/",
  "title": "Mira","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/mira-4x3.svg","icon": "🌸","rgb": "19, 96, 195",
  "section": "Atlantic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Mira (\u003ci\u003eMadeira\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the North Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Mira Republic Island of Madeira Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Atlantic Commonwealth Accession 1976, as part of the Azores Delegation Area 740.7 km² Capital Fennel Languages English, Portuguese Population 512,587 The Mira Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei and in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It is part of a small island group comprising the neighbouring Porto Santo republic and the Desert and Savage Islands. Mira is the largest of them, and forms the basis of its industry and culture.\nOriginally a Portuguese colony, Mira and Porto Santo were uninhabited when discovered and settled in the 15th Century. The islands initially served an important role as a safe harbour in the Age of Discovery, but diminished in importance after the annexation of the Azores and Canary Islands in the late 15th Century. Agriculture has long since dominated the economy, comprising farms of European fruits and vegetables as well as cash crops like sugarcane, and tropical fruit. Sugar processing and fishing supplement the economy, and continue to thrive there today.\nIn federalisation, island of Mira underwent large political transformations that rapidly developed its civic and economic infrastructure to prepare it as an administrative centre of the Commonwealth Atlantic. It plays an important strategic role in the region, and hosts Naval Station Mira.\nThe island of Mira is in fact the peak of a massive underwater volcano, and its physical relief is dramatic. Its climate is affected greatly by its terrain, but is generally warmed year-round by the Atlantic and Canarian ocean currents. Snow often falls across its mountaintops, which peak at over 1,800 meters. Because of these mountains, Mira receives much more rain than neighbouring Porto Santo.\nThe island has robust infrastructure to facilitate travel. It has a major international airport that doubles as an air service station, as well as ferry services towards nearby Porto Santo. It also has a rail corridor across its south coast, which links with urban and mountain trams. The capital, Fennel, has funiculars that connect its steep suburbs to the harbour.\nPoints of Interest Pico do Arieiro: The third highest peak in Mira, offering stunning panoramic views and hiking trails. Mira Botanical Garden: A beautiful garden showcasing the diverse flora of Mira, including endemic plants and exotic species. Fennel: The capital city, known for its historic architecture, vibrant markets, and the stunning Fennel Cathedral. Monte Palace Tropical Garden: A stunning garden featuring a variety of exotic plants, waterfalls, and panoramic views over Fennel. Cabo Girão: One of the highest sea cliffs in the world, offering breathtaking views and a glass skywalk for daring visitors. São Vicente Caves: A series of volcanic caves that offer guided tours showcasing the geological history of the island. Atlantic International Airport: The main airport in Mira, providing connections to Vekllei and other international destinations. Atlantic Sugar Works: Western super-refinery and fermentation plant operated by Caribbea Cane. Naval Station Mira: Major naval station servicing air escort destroyers for the Marine Services. Port of Fennel: A key maritime hub supporting passenger ships, cargo traffic, and ferry services to nearby islands. Mira Nuclear Power Plant: The main provider of electricity on the island, employing the latest No. 4 Commercial Fusion Reactor. Public Transport System: Trains, trams and cable cars connecting major towns and tourist attractions, facilitating easy movement around the island. The \u0026ldquo;Levadas\u0026rdquo; Irrigation System: A historic network of irrigation channels that not only provides water but also supports visitors through its scenic walking paths. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/mira/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1079,
  "href": "/characters/moise/",
  "title": "Moise","icon": "🏏","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Moise is Tzipora's neighbour and one of her closest friends. Like Tzipora, he was born overseas and has only started schooling in Vekllei in late childhood.",
  "content": " Moise Hasapis 📅 Age 16 🤝 Associates Tzipora Coretti 🎂 Birthday July 1st 💔 Dislikes Indirectness ❤️ Likes Cricket, making movies 💼 Occupation Student 🏠 Residence Seispri, Borough of Lola, Oslola, Vekllei Moise Hasapis is Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s neighbour and one of her closest friends. Like Tzipora, he was born overseas and has only started schooling in Vekllei in late childhood.\nImposing in attitude and manner, Moise is feared and respected among his peers, an unfortunate social situation that enables his renowned temper. An agitator and occasional victim of his strength, Moise is tempered by Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s inwardness and Coretti\u0026rsquo;s good-naturedness. He lives with his sister and father in Seispri, and has no relationship with his mother, who remains in Greece.\nMoise is brown-eyed and dark-haired, with powerful Greek features inherited from his parents. Well-built and heavy-set, Moise is overweight when he meets Tzipora, and loses some of it through her help in exercise.\nHe is not particularly interested in his own appearance, but by habit or luck is characterised by a wardrobe of shorts, slacks, bright shirts and tennis shoes. In summer, he usually wears Hawaiian shirts, a fact Tzipora finds funny.\nMoise is hot-headed and sensitive, traits that leave him feeling cornered by the world. It is precisely this cycle of passion and anxiety that endears him to Tzipora, who recognises some of his traits in herself. He provides her a male perspective and straightforward advice, compared to Cobian\u0026rsquo;s more intricate and unspoken social rituals. In this sense, they have a different dynamic as a duo.\nHe dislikes his parents and is protective over his younger sister, Penelope. He has some interest in making films, since he is not particularly academic and doesn\u0026rsquo;t want to leave his sister for the army. He is uncomfortable with sharing his emotions, which upsets his girlfriend Coretti. Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s social intimacy with him is largely due to their similar shyness of emotion and stubborn independence, which counterintuitively binds them closely.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/moise/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1080,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/moshel-school/",
  "title": "Moshel School","icon": "📖",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/school-map.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/school-map_hu04e568c83c70e42a00e60020594a5652_5085942_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "green",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "The Moshel St School is Tzipora's secondary school in Vekllei, located in the neighbourhood of Seispri in Oslola.",
  "content": " Moshel Street State School District School Location Oslola Students 800 The Moshel Street State School, also the Moshel School or Lola 6th, is a Central School in the Oslolan borough of Lola. It is the second-largest school in Lola, and offers schooling between Prep and Year 12. It is also Tzipora\u0026rsquo;s school, and is where she completes her secondary schooling upon her arrival in Vekllei.\nAs a Central School, Moshel St occupies a large grounds that are well-equipped with facilities, including a dining hall, multipurpose gymnasium, photographic, photonic computing, and chemical laboratories, and a large school library. Other school facilties include a multi-faith chapel and school farm. It is considered an average Central school for the Vekllei metropole, but its cricket teams and sports facilities are highly regarded.\nLike most Vekllei schools, Moshel St has a house system consisting of Loh, Vosmiosn, Reznor, and Halifasmiosn.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/moshel/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1081,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-health/msre/",
  "title": "MSRE","logo": "/svg/logos/MSRE.svg","icon": "🔬","color": "health",
  "section": "Parliament of Health",
  "description": "The Medical Science Research Establishment is a constituent research organisation of SIRO dedicated to medical and health research.",
  "content": " MSRE is part of the Parliament of Health and SIRO The Commonwealth Medical Science Research Establishment (MSRE) is a research organisation of the Parliament of Health. It conducts sociological, medical, economic and technological research to assist with the efficiency and quality of the public health care system. Its innovations include the Standard Commonwealth MediBed, which is now used in every Vekllei hospital.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/MSRE/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1082,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/municipal-industry/",
  "title": "Municipal Industry","icon": "🏬","color": "orange",
  "section": "Industry",
  "description": "Municipal corporations are businesses owned and managed by municipalities, but may be coordinated at a higher level. The are less centralised than bureaus.",
  "content": "Municipal corporations are businesses owned and managed by municipalities, as the lowest unit of Vekllei federalism. They range from unique local enterprises and factories to the management of franchises with hundreds of stores.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/municipal-industry/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1083,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/municipal-class/",
  "title": "Municipal-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/hydrofoil.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/hydrofoil_hu91cdd6a33129594d6427518088437ccf_9314267_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Municipal-Class is a class of fast-response hydrofoil in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Municipal-class Hydrofoil Hydrofoil Built 2041-present Class Municipal-class Crew 20 Displacement 280 tonnes InService 20 Length 40 meters Service Littoral Service Speed 60 knots Station NS Oslola Oslola The Municipal-class Hydrofoil is a class of fast-response hydrofoils mostly used by the Littoral Service of the Marine Services of Vekllei. They serve as interceptors in Vekllei territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, a mission aided by their heavy complement of anti-ship missiles and a 76mm gun. They are also the smallest nuclear-powered ship in the Armed Forces.\nThe class is well-armed for littoral service vessel, and despite its size maintains capabilities closer to the larger littoral frigates. This indicates the high-risk nature of its role as an interceptor, and is often the first point of contact of Vekllei sovereignty with smugglers, drug-runners and illegal fishermen. The country has territorial claims covering large parts of the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans, and its high top speed allows to reach the periphery of its exclusive economic zones. It is equipped with a Vanguard 76mm standard medium gun, and also carries 8 Fireflash anti-ship missiles on its rear deck. The vessel has a large satellite and air surveillance radome used to communicate with naval helijets and surveillance satellites to coordinate and track targets.\nThe class is the smallest to be powered by an NMPR reactor, which allows it to reach a top speed of 60 knots when foilborne. The main gun is still able to fire at speed thanks to the vessel\u0026rsquo;s gyroscopic fire control computer. The ship is able to remain foilborne in regular oceangoing conditions, but operates mostly within Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s claimed 200nm exclusive economic zones.\nHome Ports\nAismious Aloi Annobon Aruba Bahama Barbados Caicos Caimanas Falklands Habacoa Helena Java Kairi Oslola Santes Sude Summers Virgin\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/municipal-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1084,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/municipalism/",
  "title": "Municipalism","icon": "🌺","color": "purple",
  "section": "Government",
  "description": "Municipalities are the smallest sovereign unit in Vekllei federalism, and are a form of local government in Vekllei.",
  "content": " Read more: The Good, The Municipal Municipalities are the bedrock of sundress municipalism, and a physical feature of everyday Vekllei life. A municipality refers to both a local council and its services, including libraries, schools, and policemen. Municipalities in Vekllei are the predominant form of local government, and vary dramatically in scale, power and resources. They usually refer to council municipalities, which are bodies of elected industrial and political leaders of a community. This open-ended definition means that municipalities scale in Vekllei from tiny villages to major metropolitan areas.\nMunicipalities are the basis of Vekllei localism, a belief in local concern and decentralised decision-making. In general, Vekllei municipalism describes the places where society in abstract meets the individual, and so also has cultural and aesthetic qualities. The sum of a municipality is expressed in the Atlantic Municipalist tradition, which consists of the following principles:\nPrinciples of Atlantic Municipalism\nLocal employment, or “commutelessness.” Slumlessness, beautification, and a will to architecture. Property stewardship. Open air and clean water. Land usefulness (\u0026ldquo;friendliness\u0026rdquo;). Private ownership of private needs. Public ownership of public needs. There are 14,000 municipalities across the Commonwealth. The usage of \u0026lsquo;municipal\u0026rsquo; can refer to a political council or the spirit of Atlantic Municipalism.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/municipalities/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1085,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/national-construction-house/",
  "title": "National Construction House","logo": "/svg/logos/nch.svg","icon": "🚧","rgb": "232, 13, 64",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/nch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/nch_hu6ce9eb8c2c4c7d6a37ab7e373491c724_2069375_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "State Industry",
  "description": "National Construction House is a government-owned construction company in Vekllei. It has pioneered a range of technologies to automate construction.",
  "content": " Read more: A House for Each Man National Construction House State Corporation of Vekllei Employees 40,300 (variable) Founded 2035 Headquarters Oslola Industry Construction Ministry Ministry of the Commons Parent Bureau of Public Works ScL National Construction House (NCH) is the largest construction outfit in Vekllei and among the largest construction companies in the world. Despite its status as a government-owned corporation, it is heavily directed by government policy and functions closer to a department of the Bureau of Public Works. This privileged status also benefits the NCH in several ways, including access to conscript labour from corsosva and access to government-supplied equipment and robotics that automate most residential construction.\nAs a policy-directed company, the National Construction House builds the vast majority of homes in Vekllei, and is closely associated with almost all construction in the country.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ach/","/nch/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1086,
  "href": "/factbook/culture/national-design-atlas/",
  "title": "National Design Atlas","logo": "/svg/logos/design-atlas.svg","icon": "🖼️","rgb": "255, 0, 52",
  "section": "Culture",
  "description": "The National Design Atlas is a compendium of design published annually by the government and distributed to all Vekllei people.",
  "content": "The National Design Atlas is a book of illustrated examples of Vekllei design published annually and distributed for free to all Vekllei people. It is produced by the Design Atlas Programme of the Commonwealth Art Commission and employs a team of 700 artists and writers. About 10 million Atlases are printed and distributed each year, and each contains about 4,000-6,000 watercolour drawings.\nThe primary aim of the Atlas is to compile a pictorial survey of Commonwealth design, products, art objects and folk decorations and celebrate and advertise them to Vekllei people. Subjects include gadgets, domestic appliances, machinery, clothing, uniforms, tools, cutlery and cookware, novelties, patterns and other objects that surround Vekllei people. It serves as an index of the designed objects of Vekllei life, as well as its handicrafts and folk items that supplement it. In doing so, it indexes to a common design heritage of the country, and contributes to its visual identity.\nThe Atlases are well-liked and are a strong example of Vekllei \u0026ldquo;nonmaterial values,\u0026rdquo; since they provide no material returns for the Ministry of Culture but have a tremendous impact on the character and cultural literacy of their society. Their distribution has become something of a national event \u0026ndash; widely anticipated, sometimes controversial, and often talked about.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/design-atlas/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1087,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-education/national-education-forum/",
  "title": "National Education Forum","logo": "/svg/logos/nef.svg","icon": "🏛️","rgb": "2, 113, 182",
  "section": "Parliament of Education",
  "description": "The National Education Forum is an industry organisation that represents teachers and educators in Vekllei.",
  "content": "The National Education Forum is an industry organisation that represents teachers and educators in Vekllei. It administers an annual conference each October, which provides recommendations to the Curriculum \u0026amp; Qualifications Council on changes to the Vekllei curriculum.\nIt is independent of the Parliament of Education and Government and serves as a professional association for Vekllei teachers of all kinds. To this end, it also independently monitors working conditions and education standards in Vekllei schools.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/nef/","/national-education-forum/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1088,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/national-levantine-theological-university/",
  "title": "National Levantine Theological University","logo": "/svg/logos/nltu.svg","icon": "📖","rgb": "255, 51, 108",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "The National Levantine Theological University is the largest theological research university in Vekllei, located in the republic of Sal.",
  "content": " National Levantine Theological University Independent Collegial University Employees 5,500 Location Sal Students 6,000 The National Levantine Theological University, called the NLTU or The College of the Mount is the largest theological research university in Vekllei, located in the republic of Sal. It is a multi-faith institution specialising in early Abrahamic faiths and levantine theology, and a number of specialist schools.\nThe campus of the NLTU is located on and around Monte Curral, and at its peak is its central gardens and reading area. The school buildings step down from the peak in a radial fashion, and are generally divided by religion. Although it has a keen theological focus, the NLTU is a secular institution and is administered by a council from all schools.\nThe university is extremely prestigious, and is also a unique institution in its focus and structure. Admission is competitive, and students live at the university for the duration of their studies. The NLTU hosts about 6,000 students each year, which accompany about 3,000 academics who teach and research year-round. Nearby towns, including the capital of Santa Maria, also provide boarding and dining facilities to students.\nThe school is famous for its tranquil grounds and peaceful quality, despite the proximity of so many different religious schools. There is zero tolerance for fighting, and the architecture of the school facilitates the constant flow of water and air throughout. Although much of the Sal republic is characterised by salt works and desert, the NLTU is famous for its lush gardens and modernist desert architecture adorned with mosaics and murals.\nSchools of the NLTU\nCoptic School\nRoman Catholic School\nSyriac School\nAntioch Orthodox School\nSephardic School\nCanaanite School\nSamaritan School\nZaydist School\nTwelver School\nIsmaili School\nDruze School\nSunni School\nSufist School\nDawoodi Bohra School\nZoroastrian School\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/nltu/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1089,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-culture/national-library/",
  "title": "National Library","logo": "/svg/logos/national-library.svg","icon": "📖","rgb": "39, 82, 222",
  "section": "Ministry of Culture",
  "description": "The National Library serves as the principal library of Vekllei, maintaining comprehensive collections and coordinating library services throughout the Commonwealth.",
  "content": "The National Library is the principal library institution of Vekllei and a constituent of the Ministry of Culture. It is responsible for maintaining complete book and document collections, coordinating library services throughout the Commonwealth and serving as the legal deposit library for all publications in the country. The Library serves both as a research institution and the coordinating body for the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s Federal Library Network. It has a close relationship with the Commonwealth Central Archives.\nThe Library maintains the most comprehensive collection of Vekllei publications, operates specialised research collections, and provides interlibrary lending services across the Commonwealth. It also maintains the national bibliography and coordinates professional development for librarians throughout the country.\nConstituents # Federal Collections: Comprehensive collections of books, periodicals, and documents. Federal Despository: Acquisition and cataloguing of all publications produced in Vekllei, jointly operated with the Commonwealth Central Archives. Commonwealth Research Service: Specialised research assistance and scholarly resources. National Catalogue: Maintenance of the national bibliography and cataloguing standards. Federal Library Network: Electronic networked catalogue and postage system that centralises the inventory of the National Library. Regional Library Coordination Office: Support and coordination for local and regional libraries. National College of Libraries: Professional education for librarians and information specialists. Atlantic Library Federation: Lending and resource sharing between libraries. Commonwealth Literature Exchange: International exchange of publications with other countries and general promotion of international literacy. Council # Chief Librarian, National Library Deputy Chief Librarian Secretary for Collections Secretary for Public Services Secretary for Library Coordination Director National College of Libraries Director Commonwealth Central Archives Director, Atlantic Library Federation Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture Representative, University Libraries Representative, Public Library Association Departments # Department of Collections Office of Acquisitions Office of Cataloguing \u0026amp; Classification Office of Special Collections Office of Federal Libraries Office of Municipal Libraries Department of Public Services Office of Reference Services Office of Reader Services Office of Public Programmes Department of Library Coordination Office of Municipalities Office of Universities Office of Technical Services ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/national-library/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1090,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/bureau-industry/national-machines/",
  "title": "National Machines","logo": "/svg/logos/national-machines.svg","icon": "🤖","rgb": "224, 40, 35",
  "section": "Bureaus",
  "description": "National Machines is a computer and robotics company in Vekllei. It is a bureau corporation made up of many constituent companies.",
  "content": " National Machines Industrial Bureau of Vekllei Employees 5,200 Founded 2026 Headquarters Kala Industry Computing \u0026 Robotics Revenue AK ✾ 84 billion Traded NMC SpA National Machines S.p.A. is a computer and robotics manufacturer and research and development lab in Vekllei. It is by far the largest robotic appliance supplier in the country, and among the \u0026ldquo;Big Three\u0026rdquo; robotics firms in the world, alongside U.S. Robots and NRFP (Pabrik Fabrikasi Robot Nasional). Its flagships products include the General Use Machine (GUM) and the Automatic Factory Schematic System (AFS), which are the most popular robot and factory construction specification in Vekllei respectively.\nNational Machines is headquartered in Kala, and as a bureau constitutes several semiautonomous corporations. It is in a formal association with National Computer S.p.A., and a major sponsor of the National Photonic Laboratories at Vekllei National University. Its primary research campus, the National Machines Laboratories, are located in Barbados.\nNational Machines is listed on the Commsec as NMC, and is ranked 8th on the CRC/CSX 50.\nConstituent Corporations of National Machines S.p.A.\nAtlantic Electrics International Machine Laboratories HomeRobot ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/national-machines/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1091,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/tour/",
  "title": "National Tour","icon": "🚢","rgb": "88, 155, 204",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "After completing civil or military conscription, Vekllei citizens are entitled to six months off work and a special cruise that visits every constituent republic.",
  "content": " Summary\nVekllei citizens who have completed four years of national service are entitled to a \u0026lsquo;National Tour\u0026rsquo;. This National Tour is traditionally a six-month cruise that visits all 68 republics that make up the Commonwealth. This tour spans the entire length and width of the Atlantic, reaching both poles. Since its introduction in 2040, it has become a ritual of citizenship, and has contributed significantly to the civic identity of Vekllei. National Service, or \u0026lsquo;compulsory service\u0026rsquo; as it is commonly known, comprises four years of civic and military conscription in Vekllei. It is primarily a means of getting done what needs to be done, because labour in Vekllei is fickle, irregular and otherwise free.\nNational Service requires four years from each person, between the ages of 18 and 32. In practice, most Vekllei people contribute it in a single block either after secondary school or after university. It is not always desirable, and Vekllei people don\u0026rsquo;t desire it, but it has to be done.\nRecognising this sacrifice, the Vekllei government in 2040 made available sixteen cruise ships from Commonwealth Lines for a \u0026lsquo;National Tour,\u0026rsquo; a half-year holiday after the completion of National Service. It provides an opportunity to reward people for their contribution, but also offers a way to further unite the disparate Vekllei islands under a single civic identity. Passengers are known as being \u0026lsquo;on their Tour.\u0026rsquo;\nThe National Tour departs from one of eight ports around the country, usually the largest in its respective regional commonwealth. For the next six months, the vessel will visit all 68 constituent republics of Vekllei, allowing a shore day or two in each. Your port of departure is often located outside your home commonwealth, and so your fellow passengers are generally from all over the country.\nThe Tour is a cause for celebration \u0026ndash; drinking, dining, dancing and enjoying the full spectrum of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s unique cultures. It is an opportunity to enjoy high society \u0026ndash; black tie dinners and balls \u0026ndash; and earthier experiences like dance clubs and private parties. Life-long romance and heartbreak are common. Most walk away with a friend in every commonwealth.\nIt is difficult to understate the success of these tours and their contribution to the Vekllei national identity. It is not just that they are great fun, but that they show Vekllei people their entire country and give them a sense of what their work contributes to, both during National Service and as private citizens. Many Vekllei people will tell you that their Tour is among their most treasured memories.\nWhile the Tour is most closely associated with a cruise, alternatives exist for the seasick and phobic. All people are entitled to six month\u0026rsquo;s holiday if they cannot enjoy the cruise. Accomodations are made for domestic travel via aircraft or shorter sea excursions where necessary. The Tour is not just any holiday, however, and it is supposed to be a time of adventure and new experiences, reflecting the new chapter of their lives.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/tour"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1092,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/natural-commodities/",
  "title": "Natural Commodities","icon": "🛢️","rgb": "94, 194, 40",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "For a variety of economic and cultural reasons, Vekllei limits the exploitation of natural commodities. This includes resources like oil and gas.",
  "content": " Summary\nWith islands across most of the Atlantic, Vekllei has a huge exclusive economic zone and tremendous natural commodities. Vekllei minimises their use and export of these resources for reasons outside of simple environmentalism. The Vekllei position is that resources are a source of capital, not income, and consequently their expense should be minimised. This complements a broader view of natural and physical landscapes in the country, as a distinct sovereign entity seperate from civilisation. Nonetheless, Vekllei exploits resources as any other country does, since it is necessary to service any kind of production. The difference is mostly in its perspective of natural commodities and minimisation of their use. Nature in Vekllei is not simply a place or vista undeveloped by civilisation, but a constant, unconscious and legitimate valuation of things not made by people. This means that nature and its sovereignty apply equally to the tropical paradises and stark volcanic landscapes of its island communities as it does to its buried and lifeless commodities, like resource deposits and soil. This bulletin focuses on the Vekllei approach to its natural commodities.\nA Vekllei economic valuation of nature recognises the money-value of crude oil and pristine white beaches, in the same way they recognise the store of value of dollars in a bank. This, and the labour of people, is the real wealth wealth of the world and its transformation into useful commodities makes up the majority of production. The distance between raw natural resource and shelf product is so great that the connection might seem abstract, or that its value derives mostly man-made techniques and machines shaping an otherwise valueless resource, but this is not fundamentally true \u0026ndash; the majority of money-value in a product originates with the natural commodity and survives its transformation intact.\nThe inversion here is capital and income. Where raw resources are treated as income overseas, they are treated as capital in Vekllei, and so their exploitation is seen as an expense. This is a philosophical difference as much as it is an economic one \u0026ndash; Vekllei, like many countries, has just started to exploit asteroids in space for their metals and mineral deposits, which in the scale of the universe would seem to be an unlimited resource. But even in the face of this escape route from the rapidly depleting terrestrial resources on Earth, the Vekllei instinct is to understand natural commodities as a store of capital, not income, which in its logic is undoubtedly true \u0026ndash; crude oil cannot be found on asteroids, and is depleting rapidly here.\nOf course, resources are necessary to service a quality of life, and so they are exploited in Vekllei as they are anywhere else \u0026ndash; indeed, Vekllei is one of the major exporters of oil in the world thanks to its huge undersea deposits in the Arctic. The difference here is in its minimisation, and government anxiety, over their use as one would spending from their bank account. Expending capital is a necessary function to lubricate the economy and can generate income, but spending capital and treating is as income in itself is no way to run a business or an economy.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/natural-commodities/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1093,
  "href": "/sitetag/newsdesk/",
  "title": "Newsdesk",
  "section": "Sitetag",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1094,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/nike-class/",
  "title": "Nike-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Nike-Class is a class of cruiser in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Nike-class Missile Cruiser Missile cruiser Built 2045-54 Class Nike-class Crew 250 Displacement 9,500 tonnes InService 6 Length 180 meters Service Maritime Service Speed 30 knots (nuclear) Station NS Verde Verde The Nike-class Missile Cruiser is a class of cruiser of the Marine Services of Vekllei. It was designed as a strategic offensive fleet component with multi-role capabilities, primarily focusing on fleet air defence and limited anti-submarine warfare. They were commissioned and constructed at Oslola Naval Docks beginning in 2025, and offer a robust platform for command and control operations across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s far-flung Atlantic territories. The home station of the class is Naval Station Verde.\nPowered by a nuclear steam propulsion system, the Nike-class can sustain prolonged deployments with minimal logistical support, though they almost always serve as a fleet component. Its maximum speed of 30 knots allows for rapid repositioning in response to emerging threats. The ship\u0026rsquo;s displacement of 9,500 tons provides ample space for advanced weaponry and onboard facilities, and houses around 250 crew.\nArmament includes the No. 3 Rackham missile system, capable of engaging both air and surface targets at ranges exceeding 100 kilometres from four twin-arm launchers at its fore and aft. In regular sailing it carries an armament of about 60 Type 22s. The cruiser is also outfitted with launch tubes for No. 5 Spearhead anti-ship missiles. A 76 mm dual-purpose gun serves as the primary close-in weapon system, complemented by two No. 3 Seascope torpedo launchers for anti-submarine operations.\nThe Nike-class was designed to support carriers within task groups, conducting patrols, deterrent operations, and strategic reconnaissance missions. Its capabilities make it an integral component of Vekllei naval strategy, aiming to maintain maritime security and project power across the Atlantic.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/nike-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1095,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/noshem/",
  "title": "Noshem","logo": "/svg/logos/noshem.svg","icon": "🏹","rgb": "240, 86, 75",
  "section": "Ministry of Defence",
  "description": "Noshem is the covert intelligence agency of Vekllei, and conducts external surveillance and espionage on behalf of the country.",
  "content": " SECURITY THREAT: LOW An attack is highly unlikely at this time. This is because there are very few people who want to cause harm to Vekllei, and there is little means to conduct an attack on this country. There are very few violent extremists with the intention to conduct an attack onshore, and the risk factors of an attack have been reduced. You do not need to change your daily behaviour or activities. SECURITY THREAT: MODERATE An attack is possible, but not likely. This is because there are a few people in Vekllei and overseas who want to cause this country harm, and may pose a risk to public safety. The threat from scandinationalists and religious extremists has moderated. The ability for these groups to attack Vekllei have been substantially degraded, and support for these groups has declined. You do not need to change your daily behaviour or activities. SECURITY THREAT: SUBSTANTIAL An attack is likely. This is because extremists, including scandinationalists and religious fundamentalists, have support in Vekllei and overseas and may attempt to attack this country. Rising anti-government sentiment and anti-Vekllei extremist beliefs can create conditions for an attack. It is important that Vekllei people remain aware of their surroundings in busy public places and report suspicious activity. SECURITY THREAT: SEVERE An attack is highly likely. This is because Noshem is aware of extremists in Vekllei and overseas who intend to attack this country. The risk of danger to Vekllei people is considerable. In these conditions, support for extremist beliefs are a serious risk to public safety. Vekllei people should reconsider their need for travel and be aware of their surroundings in public places. All suspicious activity should be reported. SECURITY THREAT: CERTAIN An attack is imminent. Noshem are aware of a plan to attack this country. Danger is certain and Vekllei people may need to act immediately to save lives. Extremists are planning to commit an act of terror against Vekllei and the public may be in danger. Vekllei people should stay away from all public places, cancel plans to travel and shelter in place. All suspicious activity should be reported. The Commonwealth Intelligence Service (National Intelligence, or Noshem) is the secret service of Vekllei and the Commonwealth’s primary covert intelligence apparatus abroad. It is concerned with intelligence-gathering, surveillance and operations external to the Commonwealth. It is organised into 40 semiautonomous outlines, which each may operate several offices. Noshem\u0026rsquo;s sophisticated intelligence network and broad mandate contribute to its legendary reputation abroad, and conspiracies of its presence in almost every country.\nNoshem is unique in its broad recruitment of foreigners, many of whom are promised citizenship and residency in Vekllei. Many Noshem outlines recruit locally, and manage foreign assets through Vekllei-born supervisors.\nExecutive Council # The Commonwealth Directory, Vekllei Senior Minister, Security Parliament Intelligence Director, Noshem Senior Analyst Officer for General Policy Secretary for Intelligence Sections Secretary for Control Authority Senior Analyst, Defence Imagery Establishment General Headquarters # Department of Analysis Office of General Policy Office of the Intelligence Director Office of Threat Assessment Department of Espionage General Office of Counter-Espionage General Office of Security \u0026amp; Risk Mitigation Department of Intelligence Sections General Training Section Sections Council Office of Section Coordination Department of Finance General Office of Accounts \u0026amp; Payments Department of Control Authority Office of the Intelligence Press Office of Personnel \u0026amp; Culture Office of Secrets Office of Control Authority Department of Government Intelligence Office of the Military Liaison Office of the Security Cabinet Office of the Security Parliament Intelligence Outlines \u0026amp; Sections # Home Office (HO/NI): The Home Office at National Intelligence (HO/NI) is the domestic intelligence organisation of Vekllei, including the Home Islands.\nSection 1 Atlantique: Administration and recruitment. Section 2 Bohs: Organisation security and democracy-advocate. Section 3 Cosette: Domestic affairs, political threats and extremism section. Section 4 Devon: Democracy-Advocate command. Section 5 Eusea: Logistics and training command. Section 6 Familia: Coercion and blackmail section. Section 7 Gem: Foreign military intelligence section. Section 8 Helette: Financial intelligence section. Section 9 Ioviosn: Offices and staff in North Commonwealth Intelligence Theatre and Vekllei Islands. Section 10 Jasvere: Offices and staff in the governments of Commonwealth member-states. Section 11 Kosmo: Senior reporting body and command. Section 12 Los: Internal operations command. Africa Bureau (RB/NI): The Africa Bureau at National Intelligence (RB/NI) reports information and conducts operations in the African continent. Headquartered in Casablanca, Morocco, RB/NI is particularly concerned with decolonisation and influencing new democratic states under Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;Trade Democracy\u0026rdquo; policy. It also historically seeks to destabilising American and Eastern Bloc influence in the continent, as well as ferment unrest against current colonial governments and the Apartheid regime in South Africa. It includes the following departments.\nSection 13 Abosasme: Offices and staff in postcolonial Africa. Section 14 Bulga: Offices and staff in colonial Africa. Section 15 Cobian: Regional tactical operations command. Section 16 Domo: Democracy-Advocate command. Section 17 Ende: Directorate organisation and localisation command. Americas Bureau (AB/NI): The Americas Bureau at National Intelligence (AB/NI) reports information and conducts operations across North and South America, including overseas possessions of the United States and regional claims in the Arctic and Antarctic. AB/NI maintains major offices in Washington D.C. in the U.S., Dallas in Dallas America, and Bogotá in Colombia. It is the largest of the N.I. Bureaus, with nearly a hundred satellite offices across the Americas. Its operations are classified, but are implicated in a variety of work including regime change and guerrilla training. AB/NI also fosters positive relations with the regional neighbours of the Commonwealth, particularly in Mexico, British Belize, Venezuela and Colombia. It includes the following departments.\nSection 18 Anatole: Offices and staff in the United States and Canada. Section 19 Bosme: Offices and staff in Mexico and Central America. Section 20 Célestine: Offices and staff in South America. Section 21 Désiré: Regional tactical operations command. Section 22 Eudea: Regional logistics and training command. Section 23 François: Antifascist and separatist affairs intelligence command. Section 24 Gosme: Directorate organisation command. Euro Bureau (EB/NI): The European Bureau at National Intelligence (EB/NI) reports information and conducts operations across Europe and Eurasia, particularly in the UK, France, and the Eastern Bloc. It is second-largest of the regional N.I. bureaus, with offices in London, Paris, Prague, Moscow, and Genoa, and dozens more satellite installations throughout Europe. Its intelligence doctrine is particularly defensive, since most foreign espionage in the Commonwealth originates from Western and Communist Europe, and operates special counter-espionage units for this purpose. It includes the following departments.\nSection 25 Ana: Offices and staff in Western Europe. Section 26 Basa: Offices and staff in Minor Europe. Section 27 Cofa: Offices and staff in states signatory to the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. Section 28 Demon: Special counter-espionage command. Section 29 Eiga: Directorate organisation and localisation command. Oriental Bureau (OB/NI): The Orient Bureau at National Intelligence (OB/NI) reports information and conducts operations across the Orient and West Asia, Vekllei phrases spanning from the Middle East to the Pacific Islands, including South and East Asia. It maintains offices in Tokyo, Peking, Bangkok, Delhi, and Tehran. Without vested strategic interests in the area, OB/NI\u0026rsquo;s primary mission is nation-building and observation in its region and the support of actions in its neighbouring N.I. regions.\nSection 30 Asosnia: Offices and staff in Communist China and Taiwan. Section 31 Bouismiosn: Offices and staff in Japan and South-East Asia. Section 32 Cismi: Offices and staff in India. Section 33 Drosviousn: Offices and staff in the Middle East. Section 34 Erswin: Directorate organisation and localisation command. Section 35 Fennet: Counter-espionage and political command. Special Protectorate Bureau (SP/NI): The Special Protectorate Bureau at National Intelligence (SP/NI) reports information and conducts operations across special territories and possessions of the Commonwealth, including military sites, the Vekllei Antarctic Claims, and the Lunar Territories. Although its home office is in Vekllei Proper at N.I., it serves a different function to HO/NI, specialising in remote, dangerous and dirty work at the fringes of Vekllei intelligence control.\nSection 36 Arcos: Offices and staff assigned to special counterintelligence work. Section 37 Boris: Offices and staff assigned to the protection of individuals. Section 38 Codesta: Offices and staff in foreign claims and Vekllei Antarctica. Section 39 Decrest: Offices and staff in foreign delegations and international waters. Section 40 Endoria: Offices and staff in Vekllei space and lunar territories. Boards \u0026amp; Commissions # Intelligence Audit Authority: Secure independent intelligence watchdog with high control access. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/noshem/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1096,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-antigua/",
  "title": "NS Antigua","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Antigua is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Antigua.",
  "content": " Naval Station Antigua Naval Station of Vekllei Location Antigua Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Common Navy Air Service Naval Station Antigua, situated in the natural harbour of English Harbour on the southern coast of Antigua, is a major maritime facility of the Marine Services of Vekllei. The complex has a long maritime history dating back to the 18th century when it served as a Royal Navy base in the Caribbean, protecting naval fleets from hurricanes and serving as a strategic stronghold against piracy and European rivals. Much of the original Georgian naval architecture survives and continues to function within the modern facility.\nToday, Naval Station Antigua operates as a comprehensive naval training centre and operational base, featuring expanded dry-docks and advanced radar installations. The facility houses the National Littoral Training School and maintains strong operational ties with neighbouring Caribbean nations, particularly in anti-drug trafficking operations. It serves as the primary base for the Commonwealth Kalina Auxiliary Fleet and provides important maritime security for the eastern Caribbean approaches.\nNational Littoral Training School\nThe National Littoral Training School is the national training facility of the Littoral Service in Vekllei, headquartered in a large complex at NS Antigua. It also includes a police detachment operated by the Commonwealth Police College that trains coastal rangers and police divers.\nResident Common Navy Vessels\n2 Mary-Class Hospital Ships 1 Atom-Class Power Plant Ship 1 Converted Dauntless-Class Technical School Ship 1 Angel-Class Aircraft Carrier 1 Mercy-Class Security Ship 1 Peret-Class Supply Ship 1 Anuket-Class Replenishment Ship 1 Converted Dauntless-Class Exhibition Ship Resident Maritime Service Vessels (Home Fleet)\n4 Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigates 4 Assault Ships 1 Coastal Construction Tender 1 Search and Rescue Vessel Resident Air Service Squadrons\nNo. 9 Aeromarine Helicopters Wing No. 39 Am. Heli Sqdn. Cenobite No. 4 Aerorifles Wing No. 14 Aerorifles Sqdn. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-antigua/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1097,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-falklands/",
  "title": "NS Falklands","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Falklands is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of the Falklands.",
  "content": " Naval Station Falklands Naval Station of Vekllei Location Falklands Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Littoral Service Air Service Naval Station Falklands, located in Stanley Harbour on East Falkland Island, is a major Vekllei military facility of the Marine Services in the South Atlantic. Originally established by the British in the mid-19th century as a coaling station for whalers and naval vessels, the station has evolved into a major component of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Antarctic Fleet operations and southern maritime defence doctrine.\nThe station serves as headquarters for the Antarctic Fleet and provides a military foundation for Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s continued sovereignty claim over the Falklands, which remains disputed with Argentina. Regular encounters with Argentine naval vessels underscore the station\u0026rsquo;s strategic importance in maintaining Commonwealth territorial integrity in the South Atlantic. The facility houses several specialised installations including a cold-weather warfare research centre operated by the DSRE and automatic dry-dock facilities capable of servicing icebreakers and polar patrol vessels.\nResident Maritime Service Vessels (Antarctic Fleet)\n1 Fleet Carrier 1 Battlecruiser 8 Fleet Air Escort Destroyers (Baker and Swordfish-classes) 2 Missile Destroyers 2 Patrol Boats 1 Harbour Tugboat 1 Hydrographic Survey Ship Resident Littoral Service Vessels (Antarctic Command)\n1 Frigate Customs Cutter 4 Medium Customs Cutters 4 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils Resident Air Service Squadrons\nNo. 8 Aeromarine Wing No. 38 Aeromarine Sqdn. Hesperus No. 3 Aerorifles Wing No. 13 Aerorifles Sqdn. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-falklands/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1098,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-helvasia/",
  "title": "NS Helvasia","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Helvasia is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Helvasia.",
  "content": " Naval Station Helvasia Naval Station of Vekllei Location Helvasia Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Littoral Service Air Service Naval Station Helvasia, located in the remote Arctic archipelago of Helvasia, serves as the northernmost naval installation in Vekllei and headquarters for Arctic maritime operations. Originally established as a Norwegian coaling station in the early 20th century, the facility was expanded during World War II to serve as a weather monitoring outpost and potential staging base for Arctic convoys. The harsh Arctic environment and strategic location have made it a vital component of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s northern maritime defence strategy.\nThe modern facility operates as a fortress of the Maritime Service and a critical hub for Arctic Fleet operations. The station maintains specialised cold-weather capabilities including ice-strengthened berthing facilities, Arctic survival training centres, and advanced weather monitoring systems. Its position provides crucial oversight of Arctic shipping lanes and serves as a deterrent to Soviet territorial ambitions in the region. The facility also supports scientific expeditions and environmental monitoring in the High Arctic.\nResident Maritime Service Vessels (Arctic Fleet)\n2 Patrol Boats 1 Nuclear Icebreaker Cruiser Resident Littoral Service Vessels (Arctic Command)\n1 Medium Customs Cutter 1 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launch 1 Search and Rescue Vessel 1 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutter 1 Seagoing Buoy Tender 1 Heavy Icebreaker 1 Ice-strengthened Oiler Resident Air Service Squadrons\nNo. 7 Aeromarine Wing No. 35 Aeromarine Sqdn. Icaria ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-helvasia/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1099,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-java/",
  "title": "NS Java","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Java is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Java.",
  "content": " Naval Station Java Naval Station of Vekllei Location Java Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Littoral Service Naval Station Java, situated on the eastern coast of Java in the Gulf of Guinea, serves as a major maritime facility of the Vekllei Marine Services and the primary naval presence in West African waters. Originally established by Portuguese colonial forces in the early 18th century to protect cocoa and coffee trade routes, the station served as a crucial refuelling and resupply point for colonial fleets navigating between Europe and southern Africa. Following Commonwealth accession, the facility underwent rapid expansion to support a substantial naval presence in the strategically vital Gulf of Guinea.\nThe modern installation functions as a comprehensive naval headquarters for regional operations, featuring advanced radar arrays capable of detecting surface vessels across hundreds of miles of ocean between Java and the African mainland. The station plays a central role in anti-piracy operations and strategic security patrols while supporting the construction and maintenance of multiple vessel classes. Naval Station Java houses the third-largest dry-dock facility in Vekllei, capable of accommodating Volcanic-class aircraft carriers, and serves as home base for the Prosperity-class aircraft cruisers and Hera-class minelayer/minesweepers. The facility also hosts the East Atlantic Naval School, training personnel from across the Commonwealth Atlantic and Commonwealth Verde.\nResident Maritime Service Vessels (Home Fleet)\n2 Prosperity-class Aircraft Cruisers Hera-class Minelayer/Minesweepers Palm-class Submarine Chasers [Currently serviced pending dry-dock renovation] Resident Littoral Service Vessels (East Atlantic Command)\n1 Medium Customs Cutter 2 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils 2 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launches 1 Coastal Buoy Tender 1 Coastal Construction Tender ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-java/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1100,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-kairi/",
  "title": "NS Kairi","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Kairi is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Kairi.",
  "content": " Naval Station Kairi Naval Station of Vekllei Location Kairi Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Littoral Service Air Service Naval Station Kairi, located on Kairi\u0026rsquo;s northern coast, serves as the primary maritime base and fleet headquarters for the Marine Services Commonwealth Fleet. The site has operated as a naval facility since the early 17th century, when British colonial forces established fortifications to protect valuable sugar trade routes. The installation played a crucial role during the Napoleonic Wars and later served as a critical hub during World War II, where it was instrumental in Atlantic convoy protection operations.\nToday, Naval Station Kairi operates as the largest and most advanced naval facility in the Caribbean, housing the Commonwealth Fleet\u0026rsquo;s primary striking force including the supercarrier CVN Veletia. The sprawling complex features multiple automatic shipyards, extensive dry-dock facilities capable of servicing the largest Vekllei vessels, and a fleet command centre. The station\u0026rsquo;s dockyards serve as the primary construction and maintenance facility for the Suffrage-class corvettes, with many manufactured in the automated assembly facilities on-site.\nResident Maritime Service Vessels (Commonwealth Fleet)\n1 Supercarrier (flagship CVN Veletia) 2 Fleet Carriers (Volcanic-class) 2 Helicopter Carriers 1 Battleship (Federal-class Commonwealth) 3 Battlecruisers 2 Torpedo Cruisers 6 Missile Cruisers (Nike-class) 20 Fleet Air Escort Destroyers (Baker and Swordfish-classes) 32 Corvettes (Suffrage-class) 8 Attack Submarines (Capricorn-class) 2 Submarine Rescue Ships 2 Ammunition Ship 4 Nuclear Replenishment Ships 2 Replenishment Oilers 4 Accommodation Ships Resident Littoral Service Vessels (Kalina Command)\n1 Frigate Customs Cutter 2 Medium Customs Cutters 4 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils 1 Air Cutter 1 Search and Rescue Vessel 3 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutters 1 Seagoing Buoy Tender 2 Coastal Buoy Tenders 2 River Tenders 2 Harbour Tugboats Resident Air Service Squadrons\nNo. 5 Aeromarine Wing No. 27 Aeromarine Sqdn. Caravel No. 28 Aeromarine Sqdn. Tarsis No. 29 Aeromarine Sqdn. Anchora No. 30 Aeromarine Sqdn. Abyss No. 31 Aeromarine Sqdn. Mistral No. 32 Aeromarine Sqdn. Orion No. 9 Aeromarine Helicopters Wing No. 41 Am. Heli Sqdn. Delta No. 3 Aeroscouts Wing No. 10 Aeroscouts Sqdn. Sinai No. 3 Aeroweapons Wing No. 11 Aeroweapons Sqdn. Iskander No. 1 Aerotransport Wing No. 3 Aerotransport Sqdn. Halcyon No. 2 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 6 Maritime Patrol Sqdn. Pelican ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-kairi/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1101,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-mira/",
  "title": "NS Mira","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Mira is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Mira.",
  "content": " Naval Station Mira Naval Station of Vekllei Location Mira Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Littoral Service Naval Station Mira, located just outside Fennel on the island of Mira, serves as a key Vekllei naval facility of the Marine Services in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Established in the early 20th century by Portugal as a strategic outpost for defending Portuguese colonies and safeguarding maritime routes between Europe, Africa, and South America, the station has evolved into a comprehensive modern naval base serving advanced destroyer forces.\nThe facility operates as the primary base for Baker and Swordfish-class air escort destroyers, providing crucial air defence capabilities for Atlantic shipping lanes. Its comprehensive facilities include automatic ship repair docks, nuclear refuelling stations, and advanced communication systems for monitoring eastern Atlantic maritime traffic. The station serves as a cornerstone of Vekllei maritime security operations, frequently coordinating search-and-rescue missions and environmental monitoring throughout the surrounding waters. The facility maintains strong integration with local Fennel community and contributes significantly to the island\u0026rsquo;s naval heritage and economy.\nResident Maritime Service Vessels (Home Fleet)\nBaker and Swordfish-class Air Escort Destroyers 4 Gunboats Resident Littoral Service Vessels (Atlantic Command)\n1 Search and Rescue Vessel 1 Coastal Buoy Tender 1 Coastal Construction Tender ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-mira/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1102,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-morocos/",
  "title": "NS Morocos","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Morocos is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Morocos.",
  "content": " Naval Station Morocos Naval Station of Vekllei Location Morocos Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Littoral Service Naval Station Morocos, located on the Verde island of Morocos, serves as a nuclear refuelling and supply station of the Vekllei Marine Services in the Commonwealth Verde. Established in 2054 to support the increased operational tempo of Vekllei nuclear naval vessels in the eastern Atlantic, the station occupies a strategic position at the crossroads of Atlantic shipping routes. The facility played a crucial role in the federalisation process of the Verde archipelago, providing both maritime security and economic integration for the region.\nThe station specialises in nuclear vessel support operations, featuring advanced docking, refuelling, and maintenance facilities specifically designed for nuclear-powered warships. Beyond its technical capabilities, the installation serves as a regional training centre for the Verdean component of the maritime service, focusing on coastal defence and maritime surveillance operations. The facility also coordinates regional naval patrols, anti-smuggling operations, and search-and-rescue missions across the expansive eastern Atlantic waters. While Palm-class submarine-chasers are designated as the station\u0026rsquo;s home vessels, ongoing renovations to the automatic dry-dock have temporarily relocated their servicing to Naval Station Java.\nResident Maritime Service Vessels (Home Fleet)\nPalm-class Submarine Chasers [Currently serviced at NS Java during dry-dock renovation] Resident Littoral Service Vessels (Africa Command)\n2 Medium Customs Cutters 1 Medium Ocean Tugboat ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-morocos/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1103,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-oslola/",
  "title": "NS Oslola","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Oslola is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Oslola.",
  "content": " Naval Station Oslola Naval Station of Vekllei Location Oslola Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Littoral Service Air Service Naval Station Oslola, located on the fortified island of Kolumbo off the southern coast of Oslola, is the largest and most advanced naval facility in Vekllei. The dockyards date back to the medieval period, with the site serving as a naval fortress since at least the 15th century during the height of the Oslolan North Sea Empire. The modern facility represents centuries of continuous development, featuring densely-packed installations including the Oslola Commonwealth Docks, automated shipyards, the Commonwealth Naval School, and extensive coastal fortifications guarding Oslola\u0026rsquo;s inhabited southwest coast.\nDespite Commonwealth federalisation efforts, Naval Station Oslola remains the most significant naval facility in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s maritime architecture. The complex houses the King Dock, the only dry-dock facility capable of manufacturing and maintaining the Veletia-class supercarrier. The Commonwealth Submersible Plant operates a collection of automated factories producing Capricorn and Mantle-class submarines. As the home station for most of the maritime service\u0026rsquo;s capital ships, including the Federal-class battleship and battlecruiser force, the facility represents the industrial and strategic heart of Vekllei naval power.\nResident Maritime Service Vessels (Arctic Fleet)\n1 Fleet Carrier 1 Battlecruiser 2 Aircraft Cruisers (Prosperity-class) 4 Fleet Air Escort Destroyers (Baker-class) 3 Missile Destroyers 1 Arsenal Destroyer 3 Attack Submarines Resident Maritime Service Vessels (Missile Fleet)\n2 Arsenal Ships 6 Ballistic Missile Submarines (Mantle-class) [Classified locations] Resident Maritime Service Vessels (Commonwealth Fleet)\n2 Scout Cruisers 6 Minelayers/Minesweepers (Hera-class) Resident Maritime Service Vessels (Home Fleet)\n5 Air Scout Frigates 1 Crane Ship 2 Minelayers 6 Minehunters 2 Floating Dock 2 Dispatch Ships Resident Littoral Service Vessels (North Atlantic Command)\n2 Frigate Customs Cutters 6 Medium Customs Cutters 2 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils 1 Air Cutter 2 Search and Rescue Vessels 1 Fast Patrol Boat 1 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutter 1 Seagoing Buoy Tender 2 Coastal Buoy Tenders 1 Coastal Construction Tender 1 Large Ocean Tugboat 4 Harbour Tugboats 1 Heavy Icebreaker Resident Air Service Squadrons\nNo. 1 Aerocombat Wing No. 4 Fighter Sqdn. Blue No. 3 Aeroscouts Wing No. 1 Aeroscouts Sqdn. Argon No. 4 Aeroscouts Sqdn. Oracle No. 3 Aeroweapons Wing No. 1 Aeroweapons Sqdn. Caracal No. 2 Aeroweapons Sqdn. Bastion No. 6 Aeromarine Wing No. 33 Aeromarine Sqdn. Thule No. 34 Aeromarine Sqdn. Godthul No. 9 Aeromarine Helicopters Wing No. 40 Am. Heli Sqdn. Pelagia No. 1 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 3 Air Firefighting Sqdn. Pixie No. 3 Air Training Wing No. 5 Air Training Sqdn. Rackham No. 4 Air Replenishment Wing No. 7 Air Replenishment Sqdn. Basilisk No. 1 Aerotransport Wing No. 2 Aerotransport Sqdn. Basilisk ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-oslola/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1104,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-santes/",
  "title": "NS Santes","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Santes is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Santes.",
  "content": " Naval Station Santes Naval Station of Vekllei Location Santes Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Littoral Service Naval Station Santes, located on the remote island of Santes in the South Atlantic, represents one of the most isolated naval installations in the world. Established by the British in the early 20th century as a maritime monitoring outpost during World War I, the facility\u0026rsquo;s strategic location along key shipping routes between South America and Africa made it a vital intelligence gathering point during both World Wars. The station\u0026rsquo;s remote position and harsh environmental conditions have shaped its evolution into a highly specialised facility focused on deep-ocean operations.\nToday, Naval Station Santes operates as an advanced facility specialising in oceanographic research, maritime surveillance, and environmental monitoring for the LSRE. The station features a unique deep-sea submersible docking complex, taking advantage of its proximity to some of the South Atlantic\u0026rsquo;s most unexplored depths. While no major naval vessels call Santes home port, the facility maintains comprehensive support infrastructure for Capricorn-class attack submarines, including specialised nuclear refuelling and maintenance capabilities that serve vessels operating in the southern Atlantic patrol areas.\nResident Maritime Service Vessels (Antarctic Fleet)\n2 Aircraft Cruisers (Prosperity-class) 2 Attack Submarines Resident Littoral Service Vessels (South Atlantic Command)\n1 Frigate Customs Cutter 2 Search and Rescue Vessels 1 Fast Patrol Boat 1 Coastal Buoy Tender ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-santes/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1105,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-sedna/",
  "title": "NS Sedna","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Sedna is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Kala.",
  "content": " Naval Station Sedna Naval Station of Vekllei Location Kala Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Naval Station Sedna is a Naval station of the Vekllei Maritime Service, located in the republic of Kala. Originally established during the medieval period as part of the Oslolan North Sea Empire\u0026rsquo;s expansion into Kalanese territories, the facility served as a forward naval base for controlling the Denmark Strait and monitoring North Atlantic approaches. The station\u0026rsquo;s strategic position has made it a crucial element of northern maritime defence for centuries, with continuous development reflecting its enduring importance in Arctic naval operations.\nThe modern installation serves as the primary base for Arctic Fleet nuclear icebreaker cruisers, representing one of the most specialised naval facilities in the Vekllei maritime system. The station\u0026rsquo;s unique capabilities include ice-strengthened berthing facilities, Arctic logistics support, and a range of specialised equipment for icebreaker operations.\nResident Maritime Service Vessels (Arctic Fleet)\n3 Nuclear Icebreaker Cruisers ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-sedna/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1106,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-sude/",
  "title": "NS Sude","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Sude is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Sude.",
  "content": " Naval Station Sude Naval Station of Vekllei Location Sude Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Air Service Naval Station Sude, located in Godthul in the Sude Islands, serves as a peripheral Marine Services naval station of Vekllei with crucial strategic importance in southern ocean operations. The facility began as a whaling station in the early 20th century, operating as one of the world\u0026rsquo;s largest whaling hubs until commercial whaling declined in the mid-1960s. During World War II, British forces briefly fortified the station to guard against potential Axis activity in the Southern Ocean, establishing the foundation for its later military role.\nFormally established as a naval station following the 2015 Antarctic Crisis, the facility plays a significant role in maintaining Vekllei sovereignty over the South Georgia islands and supporting Antarctic Fleet operations. The station currently houses a small naval garrison alongside specialised vessels including nuclear icebreaker cruisers and arsenal destroyers. The facility serves as a crucial staging base for Antarctic expeditions and supports both military and civilian shipping operations in some of the world\u0026rsquo;s most challenging maritime environments.\nResident Maritime Service Vessels (Antarctic Fleet)\n2 Nuclear Icebreaker Cruisers 2 Arsenal Destroyers Resident Littoral Service Vessels (Antarctic Command)\n1 Wake-class Patrol Motor Launch 1 Heavy Icebreaker Resident Air Service Squadrons\nNo. 8 Aeromarine Wing No. 37 Aeromarine Sqdn. Nekros ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-sude/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1107,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-summers/",
  "title": "NS Summers","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Summers is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Summers.",
  "content": " Naval Station Summers Naval Station of Vekllei Location Summers Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Air Service Naval Station Summers, located at Irish Head in Summers, is a major Marine Services naval station of Vekllei and a critical component of western Atlantic maritime defence. The facility traces its origins to British fortification of the island in the 18th century, when it served as a strategic naval fortress for the Royal Navy. The natural harbours and defensive geography have made it an ideal naval base for centuries, with continuous expansion and modernisation reflecting its strategic importance.\nThe modern installation comprises comprehensive automatic dockyards and berthing facilities capable of accommodating the largest Vekllei naval vessels, including Federal-class battleships. Several specialised facilities operate within the complex, including the Naval Infantry Training School and the American Radar Array, which provides crucial surveillance of North American approaches. The historic naval fort at Bloody Head in Great Sound has received substantial upgrades including the installation of long-range anti-ship missile systems, representing a modern evolution of centuries-old coastal defence principles.\nResident Maritime Service Vessels (Home Fleet)\n3 Guided Missile Frigates Resident Littoral Service Vessels (West Atlantic Command)\n1 Medium Customs Cutter 2 Municipal-class Fast Response Hydrofoils 1 Search and Rescue Vessel 1 Fast Patrol Boat 1 Medium Ocean Tugboat 1 Hydrographic Survey Ship Resident Air Service Squadrons\nNo. 4 Aerorifles Wing No. 16 Aerorifles Sqdn. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-summers/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1108,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/ns-verde/",
  "title": "NS Verde","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Naval Station Verde is a naval station of the Vekllei Armed Forces, located in the republic of Costa Verde.",
  "content": " Naval Station Verde Naval Station of Vekllei Location Costa Verde Ministry Ministry of Defence Operator Armed Forces Residents Maritime Service Air Service Naval Station Verde, located on the Azores island of Costa Verde, serves as a vital maritime hub of the Vekllei Marine Services in the Commonwealth Atlantic. Established in the late 19th century under Portuguese rule as a strategic coaling and resupply point, the station has evolved into a modern naval facility equipped with automatic maintenance systems and advanced logistics capabilities. Its position at the crossroads of Atlantic shipping routes makes it indispensable for monitoring European, African and American maritime traffic.\nThe station currently serves as the primary base for Volcanic-class Fleet Carriers and Nike-class Missile Cruisers of the Commonwealth Fleet. Its comprehensive facilities include nuclear refuelling stations, heavy-lift dry-docks, and sophisticated radar arrays capable of tracking surface vessels across hundreds of nautical miles. The facility plays a crucial role in anti-piracy operations and coordinates closely with UN maritime security task forces.\nResident Maritime Service Vessels (Home Fleet)\n3 Amenities Ship 6 Naval Yachts Resident Littoral Service Vessels (Atlantic Command)\n1 Frigate Customs Cutter 2 Medium Customs Cutters 2 Fast Patrol Boats 2 Hound-class Hovercraft Cutters 1 Seagoing Buoy Tender 1 Harbour Tugboat Resident Air Service Squadrons\nNo. 1 Aerocombat Wing No. 1 Fighter Sqdn. Navy No. 2 Fighter Sqdn. Gold No. 3 Aeroweapons Wing No. 12 Aeroweapons Sqdn. Phalanx No. 1 Aeroxiliary Wing No. 2 Search \u0026amp; Rescue Sqdn. Clement No. 1 Aerotransport Wing No. 1 Aerotransport Sqdn. Commonwealth ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/ns-verde/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1109,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-light-and-water/nsre/",
  "title": "NSRE","logo": "/svg/logos/NSRE.svg","icon": "🔬","color": "lightandwater",
  "section": "Ministry of Light \u0026 Water",
  "description": "The Nuclear Science Research Establishment is a constituent research organisation of SIRO dedicated to nuclear research.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Nuclear Science Research Establishment (NSRE) is a research organisation of the Ministry of Light and Water.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/NSRE/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1110,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/nuclear-marine-propulsion-reactor/",
  "title": "Nuclear Marine Propulsion Reactor","icon": "⚛️","color": "purple",
  "section": "Technology",
  "description": "The Nuclear Marine Propulsion Reactor (or Vampire) is a marine propulsion system used in large oceangoing Vekllei ships.",
  "content": "The Vekllei Nuclear Marine Propulsion Reactor (VNMPR, Vampire or NMPR) is a marine propulsion system developed by General Reactor designed for large oceangoing vessels, including warships. Developed to standardise and simplify Vekllei marine power plants, the NMPR is used across most large commercial and military vessels in Vekllei, and variants of its design have been licensed to Argentina, Singapore, the Balkans, India and several other emerging naval construction markets.\nThe NMPR features a compact design with high-density mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel rods arranged in a hexagonal lattice. The core employs a liquid metal coolant (typically sodium) which offers superior heat transfer capabilities compared to water-based systems. This design allows for higher operational temperatures and thermal efficiencies, generating significant thermal energy for propulsion.\nThe propulsion system integrates Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) technology, which converts thermal energy from fission into electrical energy. This energy ionises seawater, propelling it through electromagnetic fields. The MHD system is capable of producing thrust levels exceeding 100 kilonewtons, suitable for both military submarines and commercial vessels. It compares favourably to competing overseas MHD systems in speed and thermal efficiency.\nBecause of its broad implementation, safety and ease-of-maintenance is a critical component of the reactor\u0026rsquo;s design. It includes robust containment structures made from advanced steel composites and high-temperature ceramics, engineered to withstand extreme conditions. NMPR reactors are equipped with redundant fail-safe systems that automatically initiate shutdown and cooling processes during anomalies. Radiation shielding of the plant structure is enhanced through boron-infused concrete barriers and active radiation absorption technologies. The reactor uses materials to improve durability and corrosion resistance, including advanced titanium alloys and nickel-based superalloys.\nThe basic design of the reactor is modular, and its installation in standardised vessel plant rooms facilitate straightforward component upgrades. Although first introduced in 2045, the NMPR has seen multiple revisions over its lifespan, and new designs are backwards-compatible with plants already in service.\nEnergy management is optimised through a computerised grid system powered by an atomic master computer (AMC), which continuously monitors reactor performance and adjusts energy output in real time. High-capacity superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) units are utilised to stabilise the power supply and improve overall efficiency, which provides effective load levelling across varying operational demands.\nWith virtually unlimited operational range, the Nuclear Marine Propulsion Reactor can sustain missions limited only by crew endurance and supplies. It can achieve sub-surface speeds exceeding 30 knots, and its introduction effectively enabled the development of submarine commercial cargo vessels under the Arctic. All large vessels of the Armed Forces and most Vekllei-built commercial shipping use a variant of the NMPR in some form.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/nmpr/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1111,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/lots/",
  "title": "One Person, One Factory","icon": "🏭","rgb": "90, 193, 143",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "The computerisation and automation of manufacturing in Vekllei has also decentralised industry, multiplying the productive output of a worker.",
  "content": " Summary\nAutomated small and medium-sized factories are called Lots in Vekllei. They are generally operated by a few people, or even a single person. Lots can develop their own production processes or (more commonly in certain industries) license them from the Commons Industrial Bureau. In most cases, these small factories are established by the municipality and then \u0026ldquo;sold\u0026rdquo; to individuals, usually with housing attached. Existing enterprises in recently-federalised republics are also upgraded into lots. These sole-proprietor factory supervisors generally only have a few hours of work to do in the morning, unloading raw material from trains and calibrating the machines. The intensity of work varies greatly by industry. In the afternoon, the machines have to be checked and the goods are loaded into half-size rail sidings which feed into the main automatic freight system. Lots are the foundation of Vekllei manufacturing. What sort of thing do lots produce? Small factories generally produce essential products that are ubiquitous, or otherwise specialty craft items.\nExamples of ubiquitous \u0026ldquo;essential products\u0026rdquo; include:\nClothing items like underwear and shoes Stationary like paper and pencils Recycled construction materials like rebar And so on. Essential products are almost always produced on a licensed design \u0026ndash; for example, Universal Cotton creates factory diagrams to produce cotton shirts of a certain specification. These diagrams are licensed through the Commons Industrial Bureau to allow factories all over the Commonwealth to produce identical shirts.1\nExamples of \u0026ldquo;specialty craft items\u0026rdquo; include:\nIndustries with signature or unique product types, including coloured pencils and paints Enthusiast and hobbyist products like plastic moulds for model toys Artistic and design industries including specialty textiles and fabrics In each case, the lot does most of the work \u0026lsquo;itself.\u0026rsquo; Raw materials, some of which has been pulled from space in the miracle of 21st-Century resource exploitation, are sorted and delivered on half-size freight wagons everywhere in the country. Almost every lot has a rail siding for import and export.\nThe primary role of the sole-proprietor is factory stewardship2 and to improve the production processes. Labour-saving innovations are especially prized. Even though the factory may have been built and designed by the municipality or national government, it is now his factory and it is the responsibility of the proprietor to ensure smooth production and efficient operations.\nSince lots are part of the commons, they do not use commercial accounting.3 Instead, they use commons resource accounting, which does not determine money value but labour value. So long as the steward is good at his job, the factory will be supplied with whatever it needs to assist its existing processes. In rare cases, a factory may even be expanded. In effect, small business is subsidised by the commercially-accounted and money-costed bureaus.\nA lot of Vekllei products are monopolised by a single design. There is a belief in the country, warranted or not, that at some point a well-made cotton shirt is good enough for a certain use, and so does not require fifteen competing designs to improve it. This applies particularly to simple consumer items like toothbrushes, underwear and notebooks. Consequently, \u0026ldquo;staple goods\u0026rdquo; might only have minor regional variations, since Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s commons society requires the overproduction of simple, quality goods to furnish a standard of living.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nFactory stewardship means to be the point of contact and representative of the lot, as well as the primary operator of its machines and processes. A steward is familiar with his factory and understands how to diagnose problems, which can be fixed by himself or outside specialists.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nLarge-scale enterprise in Vekllei uses commercial accounting, which uses costing exercises to determine a theoretical money-value and calculate efficiency. This is a concern for government budgets and large industry which interacts with foreign economies. In the commons, which is anarchic and does not use capital, commercial accounting is much rarer and is generally costed instead by resource accounting.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/lots"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1112,
  "href": "/series/organisation/",
  "title": "Organisation",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1113,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/private-industry/orleans-steelworks/",
  "title": "Orleans Steelworks","logo": "/svg/logos/orleans.svg","icon": "🏭","rgb": "100, 78, 242",
  "section": "Private Industry",
  "description": "Orleans Steelworks is a large integrated steelworks on the island of Soualiga, and provides approximately 30% of Vekllei steel.",
  "content": " Atlantic Department Company Private Corporation of Vekllei Employees 600 Founded 2020 Headquarters Soualiga Industry Steel Revenue AK ✾ 20 billion Traded ORL SA The Orleans Steelworks S.A. is a large integrated steelworks in Vekllei, located in the republic of Soualiga. It is the third-largest integrated steel mill in the country, and occupies a compact 800 acre site on Steel Island in a brine lagoon in the town of Orleans. It produces around 1.5 million tonnes of steel per year from iron sourced mostly from Guinea and Mauritania. The company employs around 600 people, the majority of whom are locals on part-time contracts.\nThe company is one of the largest privately-owned heavy industrial concerns in Vekllei, and was founded by a prominent local Orleans family in the early postwar period as a means of securing Commonwealth investment in what is now the Soualiga Technical School and the island railway. Like all Vekllei heavy industry plants, it is heavily automated and most processes are roboticised.\nThe site is the largest single works in the republic, and comprises a number of units.\nProcessing Plant\nCoke Ovens 1 \u0026amp; 2 Sinter Works: Processes iron ore fines into sinter for blast furnaces. Flux Works: Crushes and prepares limestone for fluxing. Steel Works\nBlast Furnaces 1 \u0026amp; 2: Produce molten pig iron from iron ore, coke, and limestone. Orleans Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF): Convert pig iron into crude steel using oxygen. Mettallury Works\nMetallurgy Works: Refines steel by adjusting its composition. Continuous Casting Works: Shapes molten steel into slabs, billets, or blooms. Finishing Mill\nHot \u0026amp; Cold Rolling Works: Produces sheets, plates, bars, and coils. Coating \u0026amp; Galvanisation Works: Applies protective layers to steel products. Other Buildings\nElectricity Generation \u0026amp; Transmission Plant: Plant subtation and backup generators. Water \u0026amp; Brine Treatment Plant: Supply and recycle water for cooling and processing. Conveyor Building: Power station for site conveyors and electric railways. High levels of brine were recorded in Great Bay in 2056, which is adjacent to the mill\u0026rsquo;s main works and saline ponds, and prompted a review of operations by the Bureau of Oceans. The investigation found brine contamination of waters around the mill had seriously damaged the surrounding marine ecosystem, and barriers were constructed to prevent the further contamination. The brine ponds were also moved away from the coastline.\nIn 2060, the Orleans Steelworks celebrated its 40th birthday and erected an iron girder as a monument to the occasion in the capital of Marigot.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/orleans-steelworks/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1114,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/volcanic/oslola/",
  "title": "Oslola","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/oslola-4x3.svg","icon": "🌋","rgb": "88, 90, 190",
  "section": "Volcanic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Oslola (\u003ci\u003eIceland\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the North Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Oslola Republic Island of Iceland Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Volcanic Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 103,125 km² Capital Astrolola Languages Oslolan Algic, English, Oslolan Islandi Locator /svg/maps/locator/oslola-locator.png Population 8,331,426 The Oslola Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is the most populous Vekllei republic, and is historically its centre of industry, education and administration. The large island sits atop the border of the European and North American tectonic plates and is famous for its volcanic activity and striking landscapes characterised by flower tundras, glaciers, hot geysers and and temperate rainforests.\nOslola has been continuously inhabited for over 4,000 years by Algic Inuits, who are a distinct ethnic and linguistic group from other Arctic Inuits. Archaeological evidence suggests Irish settlers established fishing communities on the south coast in 1200BC, and Scandinavians arrived a hundred years later. Since that time, Algic and Scandinavian/Irish populations (commonly \u0026ldquo;Scandis\u0026rdquo;) have participated in united and seperate kingdoms. Oslola is the site of the world\u0026rsquo;s oldest democracy, which has varied in structure and power through succeeding kingdoms and councils. Oslola was a major centre of power in the British Atlantic Territories and the First Commonwealth that followed it, and in the postwar Fourth Commonwealth retains an important though diminished role.\nOslola has historically been a major entrepôt for trans-Atlantic traffic, and a trade metropole for Vekllei. It enjoys a maritime subarctic climate, with strong warm currents anchored by the Oslola Low Pole warming the southern coast. Summer typically average between 12-25 °C, and about 0-10°C in winter. The high latitude of the republic means it features midnight sun for a couple of weeks in summer. Forests of birch and eucalyptus dominate mossy, cold-weather rainforests that populate the south coast. In the glacial interior and north tundras, scrub and flowers cover mostly treeless valleys and dramatic terrain.\nOslola is densely populated, and the metropolitan region in the south-east comprises one continuous city broken up by mountains and crown lands. The main city, also called Oslola, has a varied character of narrow medium-height streets, railways, canals and street vegetation. It is home to many Vekllei institutions, including Vekllei National University, as well as international organisations like the new UN building and the International Federation of Journalists.\nPoints of Interest Rail Works: Company manufacturing railway vehicles, carriages and commuter rail vehicles as part of Atlantic Works. Federal Document Laboratory: Specialised laboratory specialising in the restoration of historical documents and damaged photovolumes. Part of the Commonwealth Central Archives. Firewalk: Firewalk Tyres is a leading manufacturer of tyres headquarted in the Great Coast. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/oslola/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1115,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/palm-class/",
  "title": "Palm-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Nike-Class is a class of anti-submarine patrol ship in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Palm Submarine Chaser Built 2026-36 Class Palm-class Crew 85 Displacement 1,500 tonnes InService 2 Length 80 meters Service Maritime Service Speed 28 knots Station NS Java Java The Hera-class minelayer/minesweeper is a class of anti-submarine patrol ship of the Marine Services of Vekllei. The class is a compact and highly manoeuvrable vessel designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations in both coastal and open waters. With a displacement of 1,500 tons and a length of 80 meters, it is smaller than traditional destroyers and designed specifically for detecting and engaging submarines.\nPowered by the small variant of the NMPR marine nuclear propulsion system, the Palm-class can reach speeds of up to 35 knots, allowing it to move quickly in response to submarine threats. Its crew of 85 operates the various ASW systems onboard, which are the primary focus of the class’s design.\nThe ship is equipped with the No. 12 Triton towed sonar array system, which provides long-range detection of submarines. For close-range engagements, it uses a bank of No. 3 Seascope anti-submarine torpedoes, launched from four fixed tubes. The Palm-class also features depth charge racks at the stern, allowing for more traditional anti-submarine attacks in shallow waters.\nThe ship’s self-defence armament is relatively minimal, with a single 30 mm auto-cannon and short-range No. 4 Lucaya anti-aircraft missiles to fend off aerial threats. It is also equipped with countermeasure systems, including decoys and noisemakers, to evade torpedo attacks.\nThe Palm-class operates primarily as part of larger ASW task groups in the Commonwealth Fleet, escorting convoys or patrolling known submarine hunting grounds. Its size and agility make it well-suited to engaging enemy submarines in confined areas or near strategic waterways.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/palm-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1116,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antilles/paria/",
  "title": "Paria","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/paria-4x3.svg","icon": "🦪","rgb": "40, 167, 71",
  "section": "Antilles Commonwealth",
  "description": "Paria is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the south Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Paria Republic Los Roques Islands Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Antilles Commonwealth Accession 2022, as part of the Curacao Treaty Area 109 km² Capital Bethlehem Languages English, Papiamento, Spanish Population 4,200 The Republic of Paria is a constituent republic in the western Caribbean Sea comprising many islands and archipelagoes that fringe the coast of Venezuala. It is situated east of Bonaireand continues east as scattered islands until the Witness Islands southwest of Cama and west of Kairi.\nParia has a small population clustered in Bethlehem, the only city and capital of the republic. Life there is remarkably similar to other Vekllei towns in the region, and rarely do Parians spend any time in the 60-70 uninhabited islands and cays that can be found in clusters east and west of the Botutuo Archipelago. Many are low-lying, wooded and sandy, but there are also rocky monumental island chains in the east.\nThe scattered coral atolls and limestone islands that comprise Paria have always resisted conventional history. The Guaiqueri people, accomplished seafarers who once commanded these waters, treated the archipelago as seasonal waystations rather than permanent settlements, leaving behind conch shell middens. When Spanish explorers charted the surrounding waters in 1529, christening them \u0026ldquo;Los Roques\u0026rdquo; with characteristic bluntness, the islands proved too small for sugar, too remote for administration, and too beautiful for serious exploitation \u0026ndash; becoming instead a perfect refuge for pirates and pearl divers.\nPearl diving gave Paria its first real economy through the 17th and 18th centuries, though by 1780 most beds were worked by free divers who had simply declared themselves beyond colonial authority. The capital Bethlehem acquired its biblical name from Methodist missionary Josiah Whitmore, who arrived on Christmas Eve 1847 and proclaimed he had found \u0026ldquo;a new Bethlehem under tropical stars.\u0026rdquo; This zeal carried on to the first Caribbean Federation in 1910, when the Pariense delegation insisted the new capital be chosen not for convenience but for beauty, declaring that \u0026ldquo;government should conduct itself where it cannot forget the grace of creation.\u0026rdquo;\nThe capital, Bethlehem, is pretty but underdeveloped and has only a few large buildings by the harbour. Life and property is communal on the island, and is disturbed only by the Bethlehem Hospital and the interests of the Littoral Service in the region. Many Parians work at the hospital, which sees many people coming and going from all parts of Vekllei. East of the Botuto islands is a littoral service air station located on Orchilla, which polices Venezualan intrusions into Commonwealth waters and occasional smuggling. Few of Paria\u0026rsquo;s islands are inhabited permanently, and they inspire many rumours of escaped madmen, pirates, criminals, shipwrecks and hermits that have renounced Commonwealth society.\nModern Paria has perfected what Vekllei federalists call \u0026ldquo;strategic municipalism,\u0026rdquo; maintaining local customs that keep development manageable while fostering a society both timeless and contemporary. The republic\u0026rsquo;s famous \u0026ldquo;Midnight Parliament\u0026rdquo; still meets under the stars on occasion, while Bethlehem\u0026rsquo;s harbourfront cafés host debates between CUWI-trained marine biologists and fourth-generation fishing captains. Visitors find a people friendly but not eager, helpful but not dependent \u0026ndash; perhaps the Vekllei Caribbean\u0026rsquo;s most successful example of cultural resistance wrapped in civilised hospitality.\nA tramway exists in the capital, but otherwise the only way to get around is by boat. Fast ferries run between the Botutuo Archipelago and Scallop Island. The airstrip in the capital is popular among private seaplane pilots.\nClimate\nWarm and dry, with the heat eased by constant trade winds. Rain falls between September and January.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Good Friday 30 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Assumption Day 15 Aug Republic Day 10 Oct All Saints Day 1 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital: Psychiatric hospital established on Scallop Island in 1954 and rebuilt in 2021 by the Commonwealth government. It is the largest hospital of its kind in Vekllei. Littoral Air Station Orchilla: Major Littoral Service air station policing the contentious maritime border between Venezuala and Vekllei. Bank Cafe: Fixture of Bethlehem\u0026rsquo;s waterfront, which has served sweet tea and seafood for two centuries by some estimates. Eden Rock: Historic landing site in the capital where the republic\u0026rsquo;s Midnight Parliament is held. Bethlehem Lagoon: Large lagoon in the capital abundant with Crevalle Jack, Tarpon and Bonito. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/paria/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1117,
  "href": "/series/parliament/",
  "title": "Parliament",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1118,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-bread-and-roses/",
  "title": "Parliament of Bread and Roses","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/bread-roses.svg","icon": "🌹","color": "bread-roses",
  "section": "Parliaments",
  "description": "The Parliament of Bread and Roses oversees social cohesion and the stability of Vekllei's unique social economy.",
  "content": " Read more: Ministry of Culture, Social Economy The Commonwealth Parliament of Bread and Roses is a superior ministry of the Vekllei Government. It is led by a First Secretary, who reports directly to the Cabinet. Taking its name from the labour organising principle that human dignity requires both material sustenance and spiritual flourishing, the Parliament monitors and maintains the delicate social equilibrium that makes Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s moneyless society possible.\nWhile other parliaments handle specific policy areas, Bread and Roses operates across all ministries from the perspective of social stability. It coordinates the complex web of reciprocal obligations, community bonds and cultural practices that prevent the commons system from collapsing into either chaos or authoritarianism. The Parliament manages what economists might call \u0026ldquo;social capital\u0026rdquo; but which Vekllei people simply understand as courtesy and neighbourliness.\nThe Parliament\u0026rsquo;s unique role emerges from recognition that human dignity requires both material security and social belonging. Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s economy depends not just on abundance but on the principle of subsidiarity \u0026ndash; that decisions should be made at the most local level possible, with higher authorities supporting rather than supplanting community initiative. The Parliament cultivates what might be called \u0026ldquo;social solidarity;\u0026rdquo; the understanding that individual flourishing depends on the common good.\nBroadly, the responsibilities of the Parliament of Bread and Roses include:\nPromotion of human dignity through community integration and social participation. Oversight of subsidiarity principles and community self-determination across republics. Administration of programmes supporting families, vulnerable populations and social solidarity. Management of restorative justice and compromise. Coordination of voluntary service and Work Action Groups. Planning for social resilience and community preparedness during disruptions. Monitoring social cohesion indicators and community health across all republics. Oversight of community integration for immigrants and internal migrants. Management of social development programmes and experimental community arrangements. Administration of volunteer coordination and community service systems. Regulation of gift economies, time banks and alternative exchange systems. The Parliament of Bread and Roses is led by the State Secretary for Bread and Roses, who is a member of the Cabinet. It is represented in the Commonwealth Council by the First Secretary of Bread and Roses.\nSocial monitoring is conducted through the Bureau of Civic Society, which maintains detailed understanding of social relationships across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s scattered communities.\nAs the guardian of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s social fabric, the Parliament ensures that material abundance supports social advancement. It recognises that, in a social economy, social behaviours are economic behaviours and require special attention.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/parliament-of-bread-and-roses/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1119,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-education/",
  "title": "Parliament of Education","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/education.svg","icon": "🎓","color": "education",
  "section": "Parliaments",
  "description": "The Education Parliament is responsible for all schools and universities in Vekllei, and maintains the national curriculum.",
  "content": " Read more: Education The Commonwealth Education Parliament is a superior ministry of the Vekllei Government. It is led by the State Secretary of Education, who reports to the Cabinet. It administers, regulates and maintains public education in Vekllei, and is responsible for all compulsory and most tertiary education throughout the country.\nEducation in Vekllei is centralised in policy and local in delivery. The country maintains a national curriculum established by the Curriculum \u0026amp; Qualifications Council, which also conducts examinations. Regular operation of schools and policymaking is provided by the Bureau of Public Education, which oversees the 120 school districts across Vekllei. There are nearly 4.1 million students across Vekllei enrolled in compulsory schooling, and a further 2.3 million enrolled in tertiary schools.\nBroadly, the responsibilities of the Education Parliament include:\nAdvancement of education throughout the country. Operation, funding and supply of government schools, libraries and universities. Establishment of quality standards, a national curriculum and education policy. Improvement of accessibility and equity in public education. Promotion of learning and upskilling to adults. The Parliament of Health is led by the State Secretary of Education, who is a member of the Cabinet. It is represented in the Commonwealth Council by the First Secretary of Education.\nEducation is a national priority, and has been since independence. It is generally regarded as well-equipped, equitable and world-class. Innovations inside and outside the classroom have led a quiet revolution in the style and outcomes of their learning, and equip Vekllei people to meet the needs of their high-skill society. It is publicly valued and culturally cherished, and is among the foremost achievements of the 4th Commonwealth.\nBecause of its transformative systems of learning and reliable public investment, Vekllei schools have a high and unique reputation around the world \u0026ndash; praised not for their test scores, but for the quality, competence and wellbeing of the graduates it produces.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/parliament-of-education/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1120,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-health/",
  "title": "Parliament of Health","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/health.svg","icon": "⚕️","color": "health",
  "section": "Parliaments",
  "description": "The Health Parliament is responsible for healthcare policy and delivery in Vekllei.",
  "content": " Read more: Healthcare The Commonwealth Health Parliament is a superior ministry of the Vekllei Government. It is lead by a First Secretary, who reports directly to the Cabinet. In general, the Health Parliament legislates, finances and administers healthcare in Vekllei, particularly its comprehensive and universal public healthcare scheme.\nThe system is highly centralised, with rigid care and administrative standards that are applied across all levels of public health. Innovations in healthcare, including an electronic nationwide patient database, help efficiency and ease the burden of care on ward staff. Vekllei public health is recognised as a quality and equitable system, with good outcomes for patients in its care. Its accessibility and universality of care contribute greatly to standards of health and quality of life in Commonwealth society.\nBroadly, the responsibilities of the Health Parliament include:\nPromotion of health throughout the country. Provision and administration of universal healthcare services. Provision of disability services and disability access. Regulation of private healthcare providers, medicines and policy. Medical and pharmaceutical research. The Parliament of Health is led by the State Secretary of Health, who is a member of the Cabinet. It is represented in the Commonwealth Council by the First Secretary of Health.\nUniversal healthcare is provided by the Bureau of Public Health, which operates most hospitals and clinics in Vekllei. Administration and policy is conducted by the Bureau of Health Services, which is subject to regulation and policy by the Parliament and Health Democracy Commission.\nAs a founding promise of the 4th Commonwealth and its acceding members, healthcare has been prioritised since independence and received continuous investment and improvement. Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s public system has an abundance of staff and beds, and Vekllei medical professionals often volunteer in aid missions as a rite of passage. As a direct consequence of this parliament, life expectancy in Vekllei has risen from 75 to nearly 85 in forty years.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/parliament-of-health/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1121,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-law/",
  "title": "Parliament of Law","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/law.svg","icon": "⚖️","color": "law",
  "section": "Parliaments",
  "description": "The Parliament of Law is responsible for law enforcement, judicial administration and legal policy in Vekllei.",
  "content": " Read more: Police The Commonwealth Parliament of Law is a superior ministry of the Vekllei Government. It is lead by a First Secretary, who reports directly to the Cabinet. In general, the Parliament of Law legislates, finances and administers law enforcement and judicial services in Vekllei, including its unified constabulary system and federal court network.\nThe system operates on the principle of \u0026ldquo;unified service, local application,\u0026rdquo; with standardised training and procedures applied through flexible deployment across all Commonwealth territories. The fluid constabulary model allows officers to hold multiple specialist endorsements, effectively serving different roles in different contexts. Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s law enforcement is recognised for its community integration, cultural sensitivity and adaptive response capability across diverse island republics.\nBroadly, the responsibilities of the Law Parliament include:\nAdministration of law enforcement throughout the Commonwealth. Provision and coordination of constabulary services across all republics. Judicial administration and court system management. Regulation of legal practice and professional standards. Criminal justice policy and rehabilitation services. Border security and customs enforcement. The Parliament of Law is led by the State Secretary of Law, who is a member of the Cabinet. It is represented in the Commonwealth Council by the First Secretary of Law.\nLaw enforcement is provided by the Commonwealth Constabulary, which operates through a fluid service model allowing constables to serve multiple roles as community needs demand. Judicial administration is conducted by the Bureau of Courts and Justice, whilst policy development falls under the Legal Standards Commission.\nAs a founding principle of the 4th Commonwealth, accessible and equitable justice has been prioritised since independence. The constabulary\u0026rsquo;s cultural integration model ensures law enforcement reflects the diverse communities it serves, whilst the fluid service system maximises efficiency across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s scattered island geography. The unified training standards combined with local deployment flexibility has created a uniquely responsive and community-centred law enforcement system.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/parliament-of-law/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1122,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-milk-and-honey/",
  "title": "Parliament of Milk and Honey","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/milk-honey.svg","icon": "🍯","color": "milk-honey",
  "section": "Parliaments",
  "description": "The Parliament of Milk and Honey directs the material orchestration of Vekllei's abundance through democratic production planning.",
  "content": " Read more: Ministry of the Commons, Bureaus The Commonwealth Parliament of Milk and Honey is a superior ministry of the Vekllei Government. It is led by a First Secretary, who reports directly to the Cabinet. Named for the biblical promise of abundance, the Parliament operates as the conductor of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s productive machinery — coordinating a complex symphony of production, distribution and consumption that services a dignified standard of living without markets or money.\nWhile ministries handle sectoral administration, the Bureau of Milk and Honey thinks in terms of flows, rhythms and processes across the entire Commonwealth economy. This process is both technically procedural and an art, orchestrating the tempo of production seasons, the regional specialisations that create diversity within unity and the careful balance between work and toil that keeps Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s social economy vibrant.\nThe Parliament\u0026rsquo;s approach reflects the principle that economic life should serve human dignity rather than abstract efficiency. It recognises that work itself possesses inherent value when it contributes to the common good, and that genuine abundance means ensuring everyone can participate meaningfully in productive life. The Parliament coordinates not just the production of goods but the creation of conditions where work becomes a form of social participation rather than mere survival.\nBroadly, the responsibilities of the Parliament of Milk and Honey include:\nCoordination of productive life that honours human dignity. Oversight of workplace arrangements that promote labour participation and social solidarity. Orchestration of production rhythms and seasonal economic cycles across the Commonwealth. Coordination of inter-republic specialisation and regional comparative advantages. Planning for economic security that enables family and community life to flourish. Coordination of environmental stewardship and care for the land sovereign across production. Administration of programmes ensuring universal access to meaningful work. Direction of economic development that strengthens rather than fragments communities. Management of the balance between human labour and automated production. Planning for economic resilience and stockpiles. The Parliament of Milk and Honey is led by the State Secretary of the Commons, who is a member of the Cabinet. It is represented in the Commonwealth Council by the First Secretary of Milk and Honey.\nProduction orchestration is managed through the Bureau of Industrial Coordination, which coordinates the complex rhythms of Commonwealth-wide production without centralised control.\nAs the conductor of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s material standard of living, the Parliament demonstrates that conscious orchestration can supplement both markets and central planning. Through careful attention to economic rhythms, demand, supply and logistics, it is a substantial contributor to the quality of their lives.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/parliament-of-milk-and-honey/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1123,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-state/",
  "title": "Parliament of State","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/democracy.svg","icon": "🗳️","color": "state",
  "section": "Parliaments",
  "description": "The State Parliament is responsible for policy regarding Vekllei federalism, seperatist movements and the rights of constituent republics.",
  "content": " Overview # CONSEC The Commonwealth Democracy Council is a secretariat of national administration, and a forum of Polises throughout the country.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/parliament-of-state/","/state-parliament/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1124,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/",
  "title": "Parliaments","logo": "/svg/crests/vekllei.svg","icon": "🌸","color": "millmint",
  "section": "Government",
  "description": "Parliaments are a superior kind of ministry in Vekllei. They form policy at a federal level, and are not devolved as regular ministries are.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth parliaments are a superior kind of ministry in Vekllei. They form universal policy and legislation in key federal Commonwealth concerns, and are not duplicated across subnational governments as regular ministries are. Instead, parliaments are the direct hand of the Commonwealth in ordinary life.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/parliaments/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1125,
  "href": "/sitetag/patreon/",
  "title": "Patreon",
  "section": "Sitetag",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1126,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/photovolumes/",
  "title": "Photovolumes","icon": "💾",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/photovolume.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/photovolume_huf1c0662ed66b1f3381584c6a71f728ce_2192476_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "purple",
  "section": "Technology",
  "description": "Photovolumes are devices that store computer information in crystals, where it can be retrieved later.",
  "content": "Computer data in Vekllei is stored in crystals known as photovolumes. Lasers record and retrieve data from these crystals, which convert the information into electrical signals for use in a computer.\nPhotovolumes are remarkable devices comprising many complex components. Since Vekllei computers do not use bitmapped screens, all graphics and images accessed electronically are effectively stored in miniature as holograms in the structure of the crystals, which are called photocrystals. In addition to images, regular ternary data can be written and read in parallel, and together form the basic memory components of a Vekllei computer.\nOperation # Photovolumes can store all kinds of data encoded as light wavelengths, including images. It first has to be recorded (encoded) into a light pattern, usually by projecting the image onto a photosensitive material like laserfilm.\nThis is done with a laser beam fired by a device called a light gun. It produces a laser that is split with a prism to form two distinct beams with different functions:\nA signal beam, which is pointed at an object and shines at its surface. This light scatters around and carries information about the object, like its shape, texture and details. This laser shines between the object and the photocrystal recording medium. A reference beam, which is pointed at the photocrystal. This is a clean, unaltered signal. When the two beams meet at a superposition, they interfere with each other, creating what is called an interference pattern. This pattern is a complex map of the image (or data) including its shape, texture and details. The pattern encodes the amplitude (brightness) and phase (wave shape) information of the object into the crystal. This works like a pen and ink, with the reference beam providing a steady flow of unaltered ink and the signal beam shaping it.\nLight interference occurs where the waves of both beams meet, creating bright spots. Dark interference occurs where the waves are misaligned, where the peaks of one amplitude meet the troughs of another, creating dark spots. These light and dark spots are known as constructive and destructive interference patterns respectively. These light and dark spots affect the photocrystal, and form a pattern that can be read back to reconstruct the data.\nIn Vekllei, there are two main types of photocrystal in use in commercial photovolumes:\nPhotorefractive photocrystals can be read and overwritten over and over again, making them useful to store data that needs to be updated, moved or deleted. There are two kinds of photorefractive photocrystal used in commercial photovolumes in Vekllei: Lithium Niobate (LiNbO₃), which is more durable and well-suited for the nonlinear optical computing used in Vekllei thanks to its good piezoelectric and photoelectric properties. Barium Titanate (BaTiO₃), which is more photorefractive and faster to read and write from, at the expense of durability. This is often used as a form of cache in large memory archives. Photopolymer photocrystals are written to once before hardening, permanently fixing the data patterns in place. In this state, it is able to be read over and over again. These photocrystals form the basis of Vekllei archive volumes, and will last a very long time. Once written to, however, they typically cannot be overwritten. As the beams move across the surface of the photocrystal, they affect its physical properties. Depending on the type of crystal, constructive interference may affect its density, refraction index or its light absorption qualities. This occurs on a microscopic scale, in billionths of a meter.\nTo retrieve the information, the reference beam is pointed at the crystal at the same angle and conditions. As it strikes the interference pattern it refracts the reference beam, which reconstructs the original signal beam\u0026rsquo;s wavefront. This wavefront is fed into a photodetector, which translates the shape of the waves into ternary data that a computer can understand. Images signals are passed through directly, cached and positioned by metadata.\nDesign # Vekllei commercial photovolumes are typically the size of a paperback novel. They can interface with optical computers and are plugged in via a photovolume port, which contains the photodetector required to parse the wave data from a photocrystal.\nInside a photovolume there is a head assembly consisting of a laser, beam splitters and mirror arrays to deflect the beams. There are also electrical components required to interface with a computer.\nThe data in the drive is stored in trays, which contain crystal wafers derived from a larger crystal boule. These look like very thin disks, and have a large surface area to read and write data to. In most commercial photovolumes, there is a smaller tray called a cache that uses higher-performance crystal wafers for temporary storage to increase data retrieval speeds.\nStorage Information # In ternary computing, the smallest kind of data is called a trit \u0026ndash; three values that make up a single character. Photovolumes store trits and physical images alongside each other to store useful data for computers.\nScientific ternary units are represented as Metr, Gitr, Tetr and so on. In common use, an \u0026lsquo;ah\u0026rsquo; sound has been appended to most of the units to make them easier to pronounce.\nPhotovolumes typically have a storage density ranging between 100-200 tetra per square inch. A typical commercial drive might have a storage capacity of 5,000 tetra, or 5 petra.\nUnit Number of Trits Equivalent in Base-3 Trit 1 3^0 Kitra (Kit) 1,024 3^10 Metra (Metr) 1,048,576 3^20 Gitra (Gitr) 1,073,741,824 3^30 Tetra (Tetr) 1,099,511,627,776 3^40 Petra (Petr) 1,125,899,906,842,624 3^50 Etra (Etr) 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 3^60 Zetra (Zetr) 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 3^70 Yotra (Yotr) 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 3^80 ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/photovolumes/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1127,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/phreaking/",
  "title": "Phreaking","icon": "☎️",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/phreak.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/phreak_huffe2b4d7a935ab0f5d69da162021d49e_9385420_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "purple",
  "section": "Technology",
  "description": "Phreaking is the process of exploring photo or telecommunications infrastructure, usually in service of surveillance, signal interference or intelligence gathering.",
  "content": " Read more: Photophreaking Phreaking is the process of exploring photo or telecommunications infrastructure, usually in service of surveillance, signal interference or intelligence gathering. It is a practice often associated with the phreak subculture, and has legitimate technical and educational uses. More commonly, however, phreaking is performed without permission from a communications operator and can be used to surveil or tamper with information passing through a network. The term phreaking refers specifically to interactions with information in transit. This is in contrast to phracking, which describes intrusion into computers themselves, although a \u0026ldquo;phreak\u0026rdquo; is the nomenclature for people who either \u0026ldquo;phreak\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;phrack.\u0026rdquo;\nComputers in Vekllei use optical circuits, and usually transmit information through fiber-optic cables called photolines. These are different from regular telephone lines, but are often bundled with them. A network of optical computing infrastructure is called a photocommunications network, which uses a packet protocol where light pulses of specific wavelengths and timing intervals represent both data and network control signals. Similar to how telephone systems used in-band signaling tones, photocommunications systems embed command sequences within the same channels as regular traffic.\nPhotocommunications phreaking is highly technical, and involves the use of special equipment to make use of any intercepted signals. In covert applications, it follows a specific process:\nA photoline is \u0026ldquo;tapped\u0026rdquo; by exposing the optical cable from its shroud and bending it in a mechanical jig to allow light to leak out. A collection cable (a photodetector) is positioned at the bend in the line and an index-matching gel is applied, which facilitates the reading of the signal. If information is being injected into the line, a secondary injection cable is required. Phreaking is not actually particularly complicated, but doing it covertly is extraordinarily difficult and can fail regularly. Photocommunications networks use specific command signals to operate, and interruptions to that connection can trigger a \u0026ldquo;spectral wink\u0026rdquo; that disconnects the line and can indicate a tap. Covert phreaking usually follows a series of steps:\nFirst, a phreaker establishes a physical connection described in the process above, and monitors the optical traffic to identify the specific wavelengths and patterns used for network control signals. The connection is routed through a delay line, which is usually dozens or even hundreds of kilometres of coiled cable that introduce microseconds of latency into the connection. The phreaker then observes the waveforms and patterns of the signal. Once the command signals are identified and decoded, equipment like a Photosignal Reader/Injector are calibrated to perform a mimic wavelength masquerade which generates signals that appear to come from a higher command authority computer. This process is sometimes called \u0026ldquo;a charade.\u0026rdquo; Bad signals, coming either from micro-interrupts caused by physical interference with the line or malformed signals injected into the connection, can trigger a \u0026ldquo;spectral wink\u0026rdquo; that closes the connection and may leave evidence of manipulation. Phreakers usually use the natural quantum noise floor of a connection to mask these interrupts, and time their interventions with these natural noise peaks. Some amount of artificial noise can be generated if the line is too clean. With the command signals decoded and the line monitored for noise that can mask the intrusion, command signals can then be injected to \u0026ldquo;join\u0026rdquo; an existing connection without disrupting it. This is called a \u0026ldquo;handshake\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;manipulated handshake.\u0026rdquo; Everything is now in place for a phreaker to surveil the connection or even inject new data. Further intrusion is possible (for example, to use physical proximity to a receiver to route traffic in the brief delay between caller and receiver) but this kind of tampering risks detection. A good tap, with good data and few interrupts, is very difficult to detect. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/phreaking/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1128,
  "href": "/millmint/fiction/poetry/",
  "title": "Poetry","rgb": "236, 70, 132",
  "section": "Fiction",
  "description": "",
  "content": "Poetry in Oslola was something ordinary people did and had no stigma attached to it. It came from the tradition of the early sagas, which were written in rhythmic stanzas and passed down orally. The Algics had been doing something similar even before that but the earliest Algic poems were written down by Scandinavians.\nCobian wrote poetry in the same ways some girls like to draw, or play piano. It was not a solemn enterprise that required something to say and an education to say it, it was just done with some interest and some effort. It was a satisfying sort of hobby.\nOne day she was in the park below Moshel Street School. She didn’t have a blanket with her so she just sat in the grass with one leg stretched out and the other tucked beneath her to steady her notebook.\nThe flowers bloomed late this spring;\nShe gently kisses\nA reaching hand\nShe looked at her work. ‘Gently kisses?’ Is that really the best she could do? She crossed it out and wrote above it, ‘slowly kisses.’ Then she looked at it again and wondered if she’d made it worse. Tzipora sidled over as she frowned at her pages.\n‘Hello,’ Tzipora said, tapping Cobian’s outstretched foot with her shoe. ‘I got you a peach one,’ and she held out a bottle of soda. Tzipora loved soda, which she called fizzy drink, and probably had two or three bottles a day.\n‘It’s more for the heat than the taste,’ Cobian said, and took the cool bottle in her hands and tutted at the condensation that had formed on it. She wiped her hands on her skirt.\n‘What are you writing?’ Tzipora asked, and sat down near her and broke the seal on her drink with a hiss.\n‘My short poems,’ Cobian said, ‘try not to interrupt. You have to let the words occur spontaneously and balance their feeling. If you talk I can lose the word and with it my whole poem.’\nTzipora nodded and sniffed and rubbed her nose. She liked the sharp, painful sensation of drinking the bubbles quickly.\n‘What about this one?’ Tzipora said, leaning forward. ‘He was struck in the head\u0026hellip; and he\u0026hellip; fell to the ground laughing.’\nCobian shook her head. ‘That doesn’t even mean anything.’\n‘No, it means something. Look.’\nShe gestured for the notebook and Cobian grudgingly obliged. She wrote it down in English amidst Cobian’s semantic Oslolan rune forms.\nStruck in the head\nAnd he\nFell to the ground laughing\nCobian looked at it for a moment, and after a moment longer she snatched the notebook back. She looked up, scowling at Tzipora.\n‘Well\u0026hellip; That’s\u0026hellip; That’s better than mine,’ she said, irritated. ‘And in English? Are you kidding?’\n‘Why, what does yours say? In Oslolan?’\n‘It doesn’t matter what mine says,’ Cobian snapped, tapping the pen against her head rapidly so that it made an audible plastic sound. ‘How did you do that? Where did the idea come from?’\n‘It speaks for itself,’ Tzipora said simply, a simple look on her face.\n‘I don’t understand it. Did you think of it earlier?’\n‘It just came to me then.’\n‘Just like that?’\n‘It emerged.’\nCobian’s pulled her outstretched foot back in and crossed her legs. ‘Well, it’s good,’ she was mumbling, ‘it has a lot of energy behind it. It sets a scene well. Is it humorous? Is it sinister? It’s very direct.’\nShe snapped her fingers and looked back at Tzipora. ‘It’s a modernist poem,’ she said. ‘You’re writing directly, in the proletarian style. It’s no wonder I can’t capture that; I’m working in the traditional Oslolan form. It has energy from its bluntness, the way I write is indirect.’\n‘Maybe you should become a modernist proletarian like me.’\nCobian waved her away, frowning and staring off into the distance as she thought out loud.\n‘Perhaps English lends itself better to direct forms, since it is not a semantic language. It can be ambiguous but it is astringent; it lacks the shades of meaning of Oslolan logographs. But that may work against traditionalist forms.’\n‘I think it does,’ Tzipora said, finishing her fizzy drink.\n‘Would you be serious?’ Cobian said, ‘I’m trying to take this seriously, to figure out the heart of my issue.’\n‘Why not capture this feeling? Write it out in the modernist style in English, just to see how it feels? Maybe it would suit your style.’\nCobian reached for her pen and tried to capture the feeling.\nStupid English\nEnriches the other\nFull of bubbles\nCobian looked at what she wrote, and said, ‘this sucks.’\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/snapshots/poetry"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1129,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-law/police/",
  "title": "Police","logo": "/svg/logos/police.svg","icon": "🚔",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/police-car.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/police-car_hu2a4fdb1a0a614cf0ef9ade874a3d0273_8888698_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "law",
  "section": "Parliament of Law",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Police is the unified police service of Vekllei, operating through a flexible multi-role system.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Police Service or Constabulary is the unified police service of Vekllei, operating under the Parliament of Law. Rather than separate departmental forces, the Constabulary is a fluid service system where officers hold multiple specialist endorsements and shift between roles as community needs demand. This allows a parish constable to serve as a marine specialist during fishing season, or a detective to mediate disputes in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s often-chaotic commons.\nAll constables are commissioned under Commonwealth authority but serve distinct functions based on their active endorsements and deployment requirements. This means policemen1 may take on many roles and uniforms as part of their service, and helps reduce jurisdictional overlap between police services. This structure suits the Commonwealth\u0026rsquo;s scattered island geography, and helps retain strong professional standards among their constables.\nPhilosophy and Structure # Vekllei has a policing system designed to address the country\u0026rsquo;s federal structure, geographic diversity and multicultural population. It requires flexible, multi-disciplinary personnel.\nFor communities, the model ensures access to appropriate specialists, helps preserve Commonwealth localism and supports cultural continuity through integrated community policing. For officers, it offers career variety, geographic mobility and promotes ongoing professional development. For the Commonwealth, it facilitates efficient personnel use, rapid specialist deployment and a system suited to its disparate and federal structure.\nOne Constable, Many Roles # Every officer begins with fundamental Constable training at the Commonwealth Police College, which establishes a shared professional foundation. Successfully completing training awards a base commission, which confers the right to enforce laws and make arrests. From there, they earn specialist endorsements rather than transferring between rigid departments. A constable might serve as a parish officer on Monday, detective on Wednesday, and sea marshal over the weekend \u0026ndash; all under the same unified service.\nThe Commission System # All officers hold a base commission status as their foundation, which allows them to enforce Commonwealth and jurisdictional law and make arrests. They can diversify their role through endorsements, which require successful completion of specialised training programmes.\nEndorsement Categories include:\nTerritorial: Parish, Municipal, Republic, Federal jurisdictions Functional: Detective, Marine, Traffic, Tribal, Migrant, Commons Mediation Detachments: Ranger (Polar, Equatorial, Coastal), Frontier Patrol, Port Warden, Urban Special: Treasury, Parliamentary, Transport, Company (Rifles, Animal, Riot) Constables maintain active status in their primary role and hold reserve status in other endorsed areas. Reserve endorsements activate during seasonal demands, emergencies, specialist requirements or staff shortages.\nDeployment # The Duty Roster System maintains each constable\u0026rsquo;s capability matrix showing current active role, available reserve endorsements, specialist skills, languages and activation availability. Regional Police Circuits manage deployment through routine seasonal shifts, priority specialist calls, emergency deployment, and voluntary role changes.\nSeasonal Constables shift roles predictably:\nTourist season marine patrol and cultural liaison Storm season emergency response coordination Fishing season port wardens and maritime safety Assembly season municipal security and crowd management Circuit Riders travel between small islands on regular schedules, carrying portable equipment and maintaining communication links to provide specialist services to remote areas.\nOrganisational Structure # Executive Command\nCommissioner, Commonwealth Constabulary\nDeputy Commissioner for Operations\nAssistant Commissioner for Federal Services Assistant Commissioner for Republic Services Assistant Commissioner for Special Operations Deputy Commissioner for Standards\nAssistant Commissioner for Training Assistant Commissioner for Professional Standards Assistant Commissioner for Police Democracy Secretary for Legal Affairs\nSecretary for Intelligence \u0026amp; Analysis\nSecretary for Communications\nSecretary for International Cooperation\nRegional Police Circuits\nVolcanic Police Circuit: Oslolan Metropolitan area, volcanic circuit Arctic Police Circuit: Arctic territories, remote area coordination, indigenous liaison Antarctic Police Circuit: Antarctic territories, remote island small-town policing, fishing protection Kalinan Police Circuit: Pan-Indies Caribbean operations, maritime coordination Atlantic Police Circuit: Azores, Madeira, Canary island circuits Verdean Police Circuit: African Atlantic territories, Portuguese heritage areas Antillean Police Circuit: Continental Caribbean operations, international borders Lucayan Police Circuit: Lucayan islands circuit, maritime patrol Service Branches # Federal Constables serve Commonwealth-wide functions:\nCommonwealth Constables: Also called Police of the Parliament or Federal Police, serving premier federal law enforcement roles Commonwealth Marshals: Fugitive pursuit, witness protection, cross-republic crime investigation Commonwealth Rangers: Environmental protection, national parks, marine reserves, uninhabited territory patrol, tribal policing Treasury Constables: Financial crime investigation, customs enforcement, revenue protection Parliamentary Guard: Government facility protection, Directory security, ceremonial duties Transport Police: CommRail security, ferry services, airports, space facility protection Commonwealth Police Companies: Specialised police sections for dedicated purposes. Rifles Section \u0026ndash; Armed response, special weapons and tactics Animal Section \u0026ndash; Canine, horse and special tracker units Riot Section \u0026ndash; Affray, public disorder, rioting Republic Constables serve local community functions:\nRepublic Constabulary: Also called Police of the Public, general policing within each republic\u0026rsquo;s boundaries Parish Constables: Community policing in smaller settlements, often part-time and elected locally Municipal Guards: City centre policing, event security, traffic management, tourist liaison Port Wardens: Harbour safety, maritime law within republic waters, fisheries coordination Training and Professional Development # Commonwealth Police College # The Commonwealth Police College is a network of training facilities that provide all constables complete standardised foundation training with specialisation tracks. The curriculum emphasises Atlantic Municipalism, civic values, and local competency across their diverse republics. It also encourages new recruits to pursue specialist endorsements to vary their work and improve their skills in law enforcement.\nTraining Structure:\nFoundation Course: 6-month Commonwealth Constable certification Primary Endorsement: 3-month specialist training for chosen focus area Secondary Endorsements: 2-week intensive courses for additional capabilities Continuing Development: Annual refresher requirements and new endorsement opportunities Local facilties called Republic Training Annexes provide local skills training, cultural and language instruction, community policing methods specific to each region and republic-specific law and procedure.\nProfessional Development # Police in Vekllei have a strong culture of education that encourages constables to gain new endorsements annually through rotation assignments, mentor across specialisations and integrate into their communities.\nCareer pathways emphasise horizontal development through multiple endorsements.\nExample\nCommunity Generalist: Multiple local endorsements for comprehensive local service Regional Specialist: Deep expertise in particular functional area Circuit Officer: Multi-island deployment; the travelling constable Crisis Responder: Multiple emergency response endorsements Leadership development spans multiple functions with supervisors managing mixed-role teams, inspectors coordinating regional deployment, superintendents managing cross-endorsement training and commissioners providing strategic direction.\nDepartments # General Headquarters\nOffice of the Commissioner Office of Parliamentary Liaison Office of Legal Affairs Office of Security \u0026amp; Intelligence Office of Public Communications Office of Personnel \u0026amp; Culture Office of International Relations Operations Department\nOffice of Federal Services Coordination Office of Republic Services Coordination Office of Special Operations Command Office of Emergency Response Coordination Office of Inter-Island Operations Office of Maritime Services Office of Transport Security Standards Department\nOffice of Training Standards Office of Professional Conduct Office of Police Democracy Office of Cultural Competency Office of Equipment \u0026amp; Technology Office of Health \u0026amp; Security Specialist Services Department\nOffice of Criminal Investigation Office of Financial Crime Office of Cultural Heritage Protection Office of Commons Enforcement Office of Environmental Crime Office of Forensic Services Intelligence Department\nOffice of Criminal Intelligence Office of Strategic Analysis Office of Surveillance Operations Office of Counter-Intelligence Office of Frontier Intelligence Support Services Department\nOffice of Communications \u0026amp; Technology Office of Vehicle \u0026amp; Equipment Management Office of Facilities Management Office of Medical Services Office of Legal Support Regional Coordination Department\nOffice of Circuits Office of Deployment Office of Supply Office of Inter-Republic Liaison Commissions and Boards # Police Democracy Commission: Maintains professional standards, investigates misconduct, ensures community accountability Training Accreditation Board: Oversees endorsement programmes, validates specialist training, manages ongoing education requirements Community Relations Board: Facilitates civilian oversight, manages community complaints, promotes police-community partnerships Equipment \u0026amp; Technology Board: Evaluates new technologies, standardises equipment across services, manages procurement Cultural Heritage Advisory Board: Guides heritage protection policies, liaises with indigenous communities, oversees cultural crime investigations Equipment and Technology # The Commonwealth Police employs a distinctive mixture of traditional tools and modern technology that reflects the unique character of their service.\nPolice Droids # Like many countries, Commonwealth policing involves the widespread deployment of autonomous police droids built by National Machines for routine patrol and support functions. These barrel-shaped robots operate under remote control from Automatic Asset Command centres, using sophisticated optical computers to process their sensor data and coordinate responses. Rather than replacing human officers, the droids handle tedious tasks like traffic control, area monitoring, and equipment transport.\nThe droids are deliberately non-threatening \u0026ndash; they carry no weapons and instead rely on their ability to physically interpose themselves between combatants, using their substantial mass to harmlessly but persistently ram attackers until human officers arrive. Constables can summon droids via radio to block roads, provide emergency phone access, or conduct environmental monitoring for hazards like carbon monoxide leaks.\nThey have a modular equipment system, with different tool boxes that lock onto a circular swivel rail around the droid\u0026rsquo;s midsection. Standard modules include first aid kits, emergency communications equipment, crowd control speakers, and dazzling lights for visibility and crowd dispersal. They can also carry secure firearms containers to deliver rifles to police if necessary.\nPersonal Equipment # Commonwealth constables carry a distinctive combination of traditional and modern weapons that reflects both practical necessity and cultural heritage. The standard sidearm is the .45 APC Police Special, a robust revolver designed specifically for law enforcement use. Officers also carry a lengthened carbine version of the same weapon, featuring a stock, lengthened barrel and foregrip that transforms the revolver into a short rifle for situations requiring greater range or accuracy. Both weapons use interchangeable ammunition, with officers carrying both steel and rubber cartridges depending on the situation, along with speed loaders for quick reloading.\nIn addition to firearms, all constables are trained with sabres, which serve multiple practical purposes beyond their ceremonial significance. The extra reach and intimidation factor of a blade often prevents situations from escalating to the use of firearms, while the extensive saber training builds physical conditioning and discipline. Officers may opt to carry steel batons as well, or instead of the sabre in certain situations.\nSpecialised Equipment # Different endorsements require specialised gear suited to their particular functions. Marine constables carry waterproof communication equipment, rescue gear, and specialised maritime firearms resistant to saltwater corrosion. Rangers operating in Arctic conditions have cold-weather gear, survival equipment, and long-range communication systems capable of functioning in extreme isolation. Detective endorsements include portable forensic kits, evidence collection tools, and sophisticated camera equipment for crime scene documentation.\nCommunications Technology # Many rural constables carry collapsible pantograph radio equipment that provides reliable communication across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s challenging geography. Officers also have access to portable telemetry systems for transmitting location data and coordinating complex operations across multiple islands. All constables carry a basic radio.\nVekllei does not typically gender titles, so women officers are also referred to as \u0026lsquo;policeman.\u0026rsquo; Specifying gender produces strange phrases like \u0026lsquo;woman policeman\u0026rsquo; or \u0026lsquo;male policeman.\u0026rsquo;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/police/","/constabulary/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1130,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/police-of-the-parliament/",
  "title": "Police of the Parliament","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament-police.svg","icon": "⚖️","color": "defence",
  "section": "Ministry of Defence",
  "description": "The Police of the Parliament are the federal police service of Vekllei.",
  "content": " Read more: The Police of the Parliament The Police of the Parliament (also National Police, or VENOPOR) are the national and paramilitary police of Vekllei, responsible for internal security, riot control, counter-terrorism, disaster response, law enforcement and maritime rights protection. The VENOPOR is made up of a variety of organisations dedicated to specialised and tactical forms of policing unavailable to the Police of the Public. As a paramilitary force, the VENOPOR are also trained to support the Crown Armed Forces in wartime, and coordinate broad mobilisation in the event of a defensive war.\nVENOPOR jurisdiction is organised within the individual theatre commands of the Crown Armed Forces. Kala, the Antilles and the Vekllei and Kalina Islands maintain their own VENOPOR police forces, and other Commonwealth members and territories are dependent on Vekllei Islands policing.\nSections # Sections are units directly responsible to VENOPOR command and are generally deployed in conventional policing duties. They consist of special units for different types of policing within the jurisdiction of VENOPOR.\nCompanies Section of the Parliament Police # Read more: Compor, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Special Police The Companies Section (Compor) is a paramilitary and riot control unit concerned with maintaining public peace. Compor moves to meet riots, participate in counter-terrorism and counter-espionage operations, and support the Crown Armed Forces in wartime.\nRifles Section of the Parliament Police # Read more: The Rifles Section The Rifles Section is a special weapons unit employing specially-trained officers and tactical vehicles for high-risk situations. They are tasked primarily with counter-terrorism, hostage and weapons situations.\nAnimals Section of the Parliament Police # The Animals Section employs officers trained in animal-handling and their animal companions, usually dogs and horses. It is the oldest of the National Police sections, as the successor of an animals support unit of the Royal Armed Forces in the 16th Century.\nGuards # Guards are semiautonomous units that operate independently of VENOPOR situational command. They are not independent policing branches, and are generally supplied and trained within existing VENOPOR systems, but serve distinct and specialised policing functions outside of the conventional policing duties of VENOPOR sections.\nCoast Guard of the Parliament Police # Read more: The Vekllei Coast Guard The Vekllei Coast Guard (also the Navy of the Parliament or the Coast Guard of the Parliament Police) is the maritime naval police of Vekllei responsible for search and rescue and law enforcement in the territorial waters of Vekllei.\nAs part of the Commonwealth Security Concordat, the Vekllei Coast Guard also provides maritime policing services to members of the Commonwealth. It is among the most well-equipped and militarised coast guards in the world, and assists in rigorous protection of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s Atlantic claims and oceanic exclusive economic zones.\nBorder Guard of the Parliament Police # The Customs of Vekllei (also the Vekllei Customs and the Customs of the Parliament Police) are responsible for customs and excise duties in Vekllei (and, largely, the Commonwealth). It is also the law enforcement agency responsible for the import and export of goods in Vekllei.\nMint Guard of the Parliament Police # ✿ Read more: Gold Sappers The Mint Guard (also Gold Sappers) are responsible for the security of financial assets in Vekllei, particularly currency and gold reserves minted and held by the Vekllei National Mint. In addition to providing security for Mint sites and infrastructure, the Mint Guard also escorts the transfer of Vekllei currency and gold internationally.\nJudicial Guard of the Parliament Police # The Judicial Guard are responsible for the policing and security of Interior and Commonwealth courts and prisons. The Judicial Guard supply officers for correctional facilities and bailiffs for courthouses, and are also responsible for prisoner transport. Judicial Guards report directly to the Courts of Vekllei.\nParliament Guard of the Parliament Police # The Special Guard (also Honour Guard) are a security unit responsible for policing high-value and high-risk targets, particularly the Interior and Commonwealth Parliaments, representatives of the Crown, and sites of particular political or historic importance. They are also responsible for the protection of the Prime Ministers and important persons, as well as foreign dignitaries.\nMilitia of the Parliament Police # The Militia of the Parliament Police are an auxiliary and reserve force of the VENOPOR, and serve a similarly paramilitary function in Vekllei society. Although the miltia report to the Crown Armed Forces as part of the VENOPOR, they similarly serve a primarily policing role in peacetime consisting mostly of crowd control and support of conventional policing outfits. Militia units in Vekllei may consist of volunteers, as per the Army Reserves, or conscripts in Compulsory Service.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/police-of-the-parliament/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1131,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/police-of-the-public/",
  "title": "Police of the Public","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament-police.svg","icon": "⚖️","color": "defence",
  "section": "Ministry of Defence",
  "description": "The Police of the Parliament are the municipal police service of Vekllei.",
  "content": " ✿ Read more: The Police of the Public The Police of the Public (COSMOPOR) are the local police in Vekllei, consisting mostly of constabulary responsible for local policing. COSMOPOR are retained on a municipal level, and divided between municipalities in neighbourhoods known as commissions. A commission is lead by an Inspector or Qualified Constable.\nMunicipal (public) vs Commonwealth (parliament) police. Each neighbourhood commission, which might comprise an area of thousands of people, is further subdivided in constabularies, which are the responsibility of a constable. Constables general know each person in their constabulary, and visits each residence regularly to confirm the welfare of their community and hear their grievances.\nConstables attend to the security and peacefulness of their jurisdictions, and are often unarmed. Most arrests and warrants are executed by Inspectors or VENOPOR officers rather than constables.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/police-of-the-public/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1132,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/portugal/",
  "title": "Portugal","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/pt-4x3.svg","icon": "⛵️","rgb": "0, 102, 1",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "Portugal was a country on the western coast of the Iberia, and existed in an area now occupied by the constituent state of the same name in Iberia.",
  "content": "The Second Portuguese Republic (commonly Portugal) was a Portuguese state that existed between 1926 and 2014. It succeeded the democratic First Republic and Portuguese Empire, and was ruled by the Estado Novo regime.\nPortugal was incorporated into Iberia following the Spanish invasion of Portugal at the turn of the 21st Century. Portugal\u0026rsquo;s defeat and subsequent annexation ended its independence and brought an end to the Portuguese Colonial War, which in turn decolonised most of its former empire.\nIn the late 20th Century, lusotropicalist foreign policy heightened tensions with the Republican government in Spain. These compounded historical grievances, including the Estado Novo regime\u0026rsquo;s support of the francoist coalition during the Spanish Civil War, and the deportation of Spanish students in 1975.\nTwo different massacres in Portuguese colonies, the maintenance of which was strongly opposed by Madrid, led to sanctions on Portugal and military aid to anti-colonial rebels in its colonies. The war, which started in 2013, was provoked by the assassination of Spanish president Javier Marx, for which Portgual denied responsibility. The decision to annex European Portugal rather than depose the Estado Novo regime prompted strong criticism from the UN and NATO.\nSeveral former Portuguese territories are part of Vekllei today. These include:\nMira Azores Verde Principe ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/portugal/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1133,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/verde/praia/",
  "title": "Praia","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/praia-4x3.svg","icon": "🧂","rgb": "220, 36, 31",
  "section": "Verde Commonwealth",
  "description": "Praia is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Cabo Verde archipelago off the coast of West Africa.",
  "content": " Praia Republic Island of Santiago Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Verde Commonwealth Accession 1945, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 991 km² Capital Praia Languages English, Verde Creole, Portuguese Population 492,199 The Praia Republic (literally \u0026ldquo;Beach\u0026rdquo;) is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic, and is located in the southeastern fringe of the Barlavento archipelago. Perhaps a better name might have been \u0026lsquo;Plateau,\u0026rsquo; since the republic\u0026rsquo;s most charismatic feature is its raised towns on pleateaus surrounded by valleys. It is both an unusual and an extraordinarily pretty island reflected well in its distinctive and insular culture.\nFor an island of its size, Praia remains surprisingly provincial. Neighbouring republics of the Verde Commonwealth have large federal or international institutions \u0026ndash; the NLTU in Sal, or the International Peace Park on Maio, for example. But despite being the most populous of the Barlavento islands, Praia seems to administrate only itself. This is despite its welcoming culture, developed coastal cities and pleasant climate, and makes it both an oddity and oddly charming in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s disparate Commonwealth. It is also heavily forested, especially in its valleys and mountains, which is unusual for the region.\nPraia is the administrative heart of eastern Verde and the seat of its federal garrison. Unlike Cavoada\u0026rsquo;s dramatic mountainous interior or Viana\u0026rsquo;s natural harbor, Praia was never destined for greatness by geography alone. Its selection as the Verde capital in 1858 was a case of political pragmatism over natural advantage, chosen precisely because it offended no established interests while offering the practical benefit of defensible highlands overlooking excellent anchorage. The massive Fortaleza do Plateau (now Fortress Praia, built in phases between 1860 and 1895) remains the most imposing structure in the republic and has completely absorbed the islet of Santa Maria it once sat atop in the capital\u0026rsquo;s harbour.\nThe island\u0026rsquo;s Portuguese colonial period left the usual scars of slave entrepôts and salt pans, but Praia\u0026rsquo;s independent character emerged during the great morna renaissance of the 1880s, when Verdean musicians fleeing drought found patronage among the Portuguese colonial bureaucrats and garrison officers who had begun to see their Atlantic posting as something more than exile. \u0026ldquo;Plateau Sessions\u0026rdquo; \u0026ndash; informal concerts held in the fortress courtyards during the cooler evening hours \u0026ndash; remain a distinctive tradition to this day, and draw musicians from as far as the Azores who contribute to an evolved \u0026ldquo;federal morna\u0026rdquo; style. Today\u0026rsquo;s visitor will still find echoes of the Portuguese colonial period in the cafés surrounding Government House, where retired functionaries with ancestry in three continents argue about federal this-or-that over grogue and pastéis.\nThe republic\u0026rsquo;s unique position as the archipelago\u0026rsquo;s administrative center has preserved Verdean traditions amidst a growing, cosmopolitan population. The capital, also called Praia, is well-developed and home to many tall buildings, including the federal fortress and the headquarters of the Commonwealth Maritime Register. They are proud of their underground metro, the only such example in Verde, which feeds into winding and scenic train lines that reach out to the republic\u0026rsquo;s mountain towns and villages. A fast train leaves regularly for Tarrafal, the other city of the republic.\nClimate\nExpect heavy rains between August and October, but no precipitation at all the rest of the year. The weather is warm year-round.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Heroes Day 20 Jan Republic Day 9 Mar Good Friday 30 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Assumption Day 15 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest Fortress Praia: Imposing and monumental military fortress and barracks in Praia\u0026rsquo;s harbour. Praia Sugar Works: Super-mill and integrated fermentation factory operated by Caribbea Cane. Archive Afrique: Regional archive of the Commonwealth Central Archives. Sud Gas Liquefaction Works: Commonwealth Oil gas liquefaction plant in Tarrafal that produces about sixty per cent of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s liquified natural gas (LNG). Ordinary Subsea Cable Landing Station: Oil and has network submarine cable landing point, which then travels onward to central control in Sal. Government House: Colonial-period government building, now home to Praia\u0026rsquo;s parliament. Assomada: Colourful regional town located on a plateau in central Praia, surrounded by forested valleys. Verdant Gardens: Botanic gardens containing specimens of most of Praia\u0026rsquo;s nearly 300 endemic species. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/praia/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1134,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/verde/principe/",
  "title": "Principe","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/principe-4x3.svg","icon": "🌾","rgb": "239, 52, 63",
  "section": "Verde Commonwealth",
  "description": "Principe is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Gulf of Guinea.",
  "content": " Principe Republic Island of Principe Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Verde Commonwealth Accession 1945, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 136 km² Capital Portinho Languages English, Annobonese Creole, Principence Population 18,953 The Principe Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Gulf of Guinea, northeast of Java. It is smaller than its neighbour but shares its dramatic relief, with its southwest dominated by volcanic mountains that slope erratically towards sea cliffs. The mountains decline more gradually towards the northeast, where the capital and most Principense live.\nThe republic is a thickly forested tropical volcano of great legend and mystery. It once served as the capital of the Portuguese colony of Java and Principe for centuries. During this period, slaves taken from the African continent worked coffee and cocoa plantations. After the collapse of the Portuguese empire, many of these plantations were reclaimed by the jungle, and many lost ruins scatter the rugged island today. There are also rumours of pirate settlements and treasure, mostly stemming from abundant French privateering around the islands in the 18th Century.\nThe locals are mostly Forros, meaning free descendants of slaves forced by the Portuguese to work in the plantation economy. There is a substantial mixed population, mostly from Portuguese colonisers (and in rumour, French pirates), as well as migrants from mainland Africa and the rest of Commonwealth Verde. They live mostly around the capital of Portinho, which is bright and freshly painted in the telling fashion of a federal beautification programmes. Indeed, the island was among the first recipients federalisation programmes in East Verde, which restored many historic structures and constructed many new ones. There are trams that follow routes of villages in the surrounding hills but little infrastructure in the uninhabited, impassable terrain of the south.\nResidents speak mostly Principense, a Creole fusing Portuguese with African languages. As in the rest of Vekllei, English is a secondary medium of instruction in schools. They celebrate a syncretic and complicated Creole culture with traditions in both Portuguese Roman Catholic and African history. They are historically polygynous, and several women may share a husband. Consequently, about half of households are headed by women. This tradition has been affected by the cultural influence of the rest of the country and has seen some shift towards monogamy, but the majority of family structures on the island are still polygynous.\nThe economy on Principe is small, and much of its agriculture was designed for export in the extractive colonial system. As part of federalisation, major land reforms have tried to make the republic\u0026rsquo;s plantations productive for local use, since there are excellent growing conditions there and an abundance of fresh water. Principe\u0026rsquo;s volcanic soils are rich with nutrients, and there is a priority in Vekllei to both decentralise and industrialise agriculture in the country. This has involved the closure or repurposing of several plantations, and has led to some unrest in the republic as it federalises.\nMunicipal fishing and, recently, oil exploration are the most productive sectors of the economy. The LSRE maintains a station of the Oil Survey Section in Porthino. The situation in general is tumultuous as the Principense people acclimatise to the process of federalisation and eventual journey to the shared Vekllei commons system.\nClimate\nMaritime and tropical, complicated by a range of microclimates amidst its formidable terrain. Harsh rainfall punishes the southwest of the island in the wet season.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Martyrs\u0026rsquo; Day 3 Feb Good Friday 30 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May Republic Day 1 Jul Ascension Day Whit Monday Assumption Day 15 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Arrival Day 21 Dec Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest Obo Natural Park: Protected rainforest area with diverse wildlife, endemic bird species, and some advanced hiking trails through lush tropical landscapes. Banana Beach: A pristine beach with golden sands and clear blue waters, popular for swimming, snorkelling, and relaxing by the coast. Portinho: The republic\u0026rsquo;s capital and one of the smallest cities in the world, featuring colonial architecture, new federal tropical architecture, and a peaceful atmosphere. Pico Papagaio: A prominent volcanic peak with hiking trails that lead through dense forest. Roça Sundy: A historic plantation complex where Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity was famously tested in 1919 during a solar eclipse. Porto Real: The main port in Portinho, supporting cargo and passenger ferry services with good connections to its neighbours. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/principe/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1135,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/private-industry/",
  "title": "Private Industry","icon": "🏘️","color": "orange",
  "section": "Industry",
  "description": "Private industry is common and prosperous in Vekllei society, but usually operates on a smaller scale than overseas.",
  "content": "Private industry is common and prosperous in Vekllei society, but usually operates on a smaller scale than overseas.\nPrivate corporations are businesses owned and managed by individuals, families, or shareholders independent from Vekllei Government or municipalities. This encompasses a range of corporations that vary dramatically in size, industry and structure.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/private-industry/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1136,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/productivity/",
  "title": "Productivity","icon": "📊","rgb": "184, 105, 17",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Despite a workforce organised along abstract, social lines rather than economic ones, Commonwealth industry maintains high productivity.",
  "content": " Summary\nDespite functional moneylessness for most people, the Vekllei economy is very large and trades with other countries. In this aspect, the Vekllei economy is easily evaluated and compared to moneyed markets overseas, and against which Vekllei ranks highly in economic productivity. This seems to run contrary to popular intuition, in which Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s social, participatory labour should not outcompete powerful industrial American and European markets that have much higher GDPs. Nonetheless, because of a variety of unique factors in the Vekllei market, productivity metrics remain among the highest in the world outside of the oil-rich and resource-extraction economies. Note\nThis bulletin highlights the advantages of the Vekllei system, i.e. its best-case scenario. There are in fact many inefficiencies and exceptions within Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s intricate economic constellation of industry, barter, social labour and planned economics, but here we look only at explaining high productivity metrics in Vekllei.\nProductivity is an equation that measures the ratio between input cost and output value of a product, which can be used to indicate efficiency, growth and competitiveness. In most countries, this is measured by the hours of labour required to produce it, since labour hours are both expensive and easy to track.\nIn the Vekllei system, however, labour-value measurement of productivity is incomplete. While labour is inversely much more valuable in a moneyless economy for its voluntary, participatory nature, labour-hours do not reflect a material expense (and therefore input ratio) in the Vekllei economy.\nThe reason for this is straightforward \u0026ndash; Vekllei in its domestic market does not use money, and therefore employees are not paid and do not impose a salary burden on a company. Their remuneration is more complicated and harder to quantify materially, and includes public-provided goods and services (education, housing, food) and social relationships and gifts.1\nIn material terms, the largest average expense of most Vekllei industries are raw commodities, electricity, land use and imported technology that service the industrial economy. Consequently, productivity in Vekllei includes indexes of these factors, as a measurement of total or multifactor productivity.\nCore drivers of productivity in Vekllei are:\nHigh public investment from autonomous but coordinated productivity drivers like governments and bureaux The Vekllei economy is highly centralised in policy but devolved in structure, and there are clear lines of communication between municipal, republican, commonwealth and federal governments regarding opportunities for investment and improvement. Investment is spurred by the major firms of the Vekllei economy, some of which are government-owned. The country has historically high levels of public investment and the government plays a significant role in the economy. Rapid advancement of labour-saving technologies like robotics and automatic factory schematics The basic Vekllei standard of living is mostly the product of automatic factories. Food, housing, clothing, electricity and heat are produced by robots and universalised schematics. As a result, factory labour that is undesirable and difficult to compel without a wage incentive is mostly abolished in basic consumer products manufacturing. Computerisation and centralisation of actionable data The automation of industrial labour, alongside improvements in computing and data processing, provided new opportunities to not just index production but improve it. Regular production within the industrial economy (an important and distinct market seperate from the moneyless domestic economy) is not just recorded but in fact initiated by computers, eliminating some human oversight and also making much more efficient the planned elements of the Vekllei economic system common at the industrial scale. High standards of education, job performance and innovation among its workforce Vekllei has among the highest rates of teachers per capita in the world, and education is universal and free from kindergarten through university. For what they lack in consumer comforts \u0026ndash; per the social economy \u0026ndash; they are very well-educated, very healthy, and well fed. These securities pay huge dividends in the high-skill Vekllei economy. Furthermore, its huge immigrant population are mostly English-speaking and, thanks to Century Society laws, often tertiary-educated, further adding economic value to the high-skill labour pool. An advanced and high-skill economy that makes good use of labour Much of the Vekllei economy is geared towards maintenance of their quality of life, which is mostly automatic. Beyond this concern, services, finance and high-value exports make up most of the economy, and are where the majority of Vekllei people work. Assisted by good education, short working weeks and material security, Vekllei workers are typically employed in work they enjoy and contribute to, trimming wage-incentivised dead weight from company employee rolls. This factor should be taken seriously in analysing productivity \u0026ndash; most, though not all, Vekllei people self-select work for reasons that are not financial, which often positively influence the productivity of their labour. This is a workforce that, without a compelling wage, rejects low-skill work.2 This further advantages Vekllei productivity by forcing the automation of factory labour (or simply disregarding it, as Vekllei does not have a consumer society) and pressuring labour into high-value industries in services, research, civil service and finance.\nThis, in truth, is the core factor of high total productivity in Vekllei. It is not just that they work harder, faster, or with better technology, because these things are not really true. Instead, the Vekllei economy sheds inefficient work regularly in a means out of reach for other countries, because a low wage in a free market will always resurrect unproductive business practices.3 Rather than simply improving productivity, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s unique economy reduces unproductivity, which is not quite the same thing.\nAn example of this is the pyramid of bad jobs, and the ways in which low-productivity labour is reduced through cascading solutions:\nIt is improved It is rewarded It is shared It is automated It is conscripted It is done without Many such jobs are simply \u0026ldquo;done without,\u0026rdquo; which leaves Vekllei with an automated low-skill industrial market4 and a top-heavy high-skill market that contributes most economic value, or GDP. In this context, in which their public investment and infrastructure drives people upward, it is no wonder that most other markets not based on raw commodity extraction are unable to compete with Vekllei in this metric.\nRemuneration does exist in Vekllei, and is further complicated by special visa-holders and migrant workers who are indeed paid a real wage. For the most part, however, Vekllei citizens live insulated within a moneyless social economy, and their material remuneration is often little more than gifts, a uniform and some flowers on birthdays.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nVekllei people have many reasons for working, as discussed in the essay on their social economy. While these reasons are not usually altruistic, they are often positive for productivity, because their self-interest here makes them happier workers that have more to give in their role. These gains obviously do not apply for conscripted and other miscellaneous labour in the country.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nLow wages in a free market breed inefficiency, because cheap human labour disincentivises contributing factors of productivity, like training workers, improving machinery and innovating production processes. In Vekllei, which lacks cheap labour altogether (somewhat counterintuitively, since labour has little material cost), incentives are aligned with the contributing factors of productivity.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nIt is worth noting that even the low-skill industrial market, which manufactures most consumer products in Vekllei, is actually a high-skill labour market. It is dominated by engineers and industrial architects who maintain and improve factory robots and schematics, further emphasising the top-heavy skill market.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/productivity"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1137,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/products/",
  "title": "Products in Vekllei","icon": "🏷️","rgb": "253, 117, 42",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Vekllei is sometimes described as a country without products, but their modestly affluent society is filled with the regular furnishings of modern living.",
  "content": " Summary\nVekllei is sometimes described as a country without a consumer society, for many reasons. Among them is the conceptualisation and treatment of products in Vekllei, and how they are advertised, distributed and consumed. This is because Vekllei contains multiple distinct economies that do not necessarily compete with each other. For example, products of bureau industries have limited branding and usually demonstrate only the contents of the product straightforwardly, diminishing its conceptual value as a product. This influences the psychology of commerce in Vekllei, and affects both producers and consumers in their complicated market systems. The Vekllei basic standard of living is assured through its tireless functionaries \u0026ndash; the bureau syndicates that exist somewhere between state-owned enterprise and independent industrial federation. Industrial bureaus account for about 70 per cent of Vekllei consumption, and produce all manner of consumer and industrial goods that facilitate all of Vekllei society. Clothes; homes; food; cosmetics; medicines \u0026ndash; the economic security of an endless middle class is supported by this centralised enterprise.\nThe remaining 30 per cent arises chaotically out of imports (6 per cent), local production (10 per cent) and municipal enterprise (14 per cent). In Vekllei department stores and groceries, these different products are arranged together, and represent a decent standard of living that ensures no person in the country suffers poverty.\nOverview of Consumer Product Origins Production Origin Share Product Categories Bureau Industries 70% • Basic Consumer Goods\n• Industrial Equipment\n• Medicines\n• Mass-produced Clothing\n• Processed Foods Municipal Enterprise 14% • Local Services\n• Public Utilities\n• Community Goods\n• Regional Foods Local Production 10% • Artisanal Goods\n• Specialty Foods\n• Crafts\n• Small-batch Products Foreign Imports 6% • Luxury Items\n• Specialty Goods\n• Foreign Foods\n• Cultural Products Because Vekllei people do not use money in everyday life, they do not purchase products as consumers do overseas. And while Vekllei does have competing industry and records revenues for enterprise, it does not resemble a commercial market where value, labour, material and branding intermingle. Not all aspects of a product are abolished \u0026ndash; the social economy heightens sensitivity to social forms of capital, and so prestigious, luxurious or rare products are especially treasured in Vekllei. But tinned peas in Vekllei are mostly, for better and worse, tinned peas.\nFreshness? Quality? Value? None of these things are printed on a tin produced by a bureau. They might have coloured labels, or a recipe on the back, but they are not competing for your dollar. Each tin represents the total capability of the hydroponics, logistics and manufacturing of the bureau syndicates. Weaknesses compared to products overseas are, in some ways, weaknesses of Vekllei itself \u0026ndash; such is the trouble with centralised economies. A lot of effort goes into improving them, but where their attention lapses the product stagnates.\nNot all goods in Vekllei are the product of these huge, federated corporations. A great many products are manufactured locally, organised under municipalities in localist tradition, or individuals making spices, granola, ginger beer or crafts. These people have direct, usually personal relationships with grocers and local shops. As such, stores in Vekllei roughly represent the macroeconomic ratios of consumption \u0026ndash; about 70 per cent is bureau or federal goods, with some imported, some unique and the remaining sixth being local specialty organised municipally.\nThe general variety of products varies depending on the market, type and location. For bureau goods you can expect anywhere between 2-3 types (tinned products, pasta, toothbrushes, etc.) and hundreds (clothes, spectacles, accessories). Others are impossible to calculate, because local production and import is irregular and not usually distributed nationwide. As a general rule, there are fewer choices in Vekllei supermarkets and department stores than wealthy countries like the U.S. or France, but there is almost always a choice \u0026ndash; whether between two types of tinned apricots or a thousand colours of necktie.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/products"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1138,
  "href": "/factbook/state/property/",
  "title": "Property","icon": "🏡","color": "purple",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "Property in Vekllei is not just a legal right but a foundation of their society, and ties closely into core political beliefs regarding independence, dignity and stewardship.",
  "content": "Property in Vekllei is not just a legal right but a foundation of their society. They have a completely new mode of living, without direct precedence or comparison, and the entitlement of ordinary people to land is a basic feature of their vision of a more productive and equitable society.\nProperty is the foundation of much of Vekllei life and culture. Almost all other aspects of their society flow on naturally from their assumptions about the core treatment of land and who may live there and work it.\nProperty is also the basic unit of the city, and most Vekllei people now live in cities. These are not just arrangements of buildings but societies in motion, and in this organic fashion can express living ideas. Vekllei is most importantly a democracy, and so its cities should be democratic. For that to happen, its basic unit, property, should be democratic too.\nCore Principles of Property\nProperty is an entitlement of all people in Vekllei Use and stewardship of property gives dignity and independence There should be public ownership of public needs, and private ownership of private needs There is no realtor except the municipality, and the architect is the agent of the municipality Beauty is a form of dignity and should be accessible to ordinary people Democracy is as much a way of living as it is a form of government These facts refer specifically to the role of property and housing, but also apply across society in all aspects of Vekllei life. There are clear provisions for the dignity and independence of the individual while acknowledging the importance of social coordination for man and machine, which demonstrates the centrality of property to Vekllei society.\nRather than a straightforward legal contract, land ownership in Vekllei is an arena of competing claims between three agents. Land can and does own itself, and ownership is a contract with that land. As such, while a resident and steward of a plot of land may have de facto ownership, that claim has to be qualified in court against competing agents.\nClaim Agents in Vekllei\nThe Land \u0026ndash; Land owns itself, and has its interests extrapolated by an advocate independent from the Public or Steward. The Public \u0026ndash; The community and its advocate, the state. Most often, the municipality is the representative of the state. The Steward \u0026ndash; The resident and steward of the land, who may live or work there. In litigating ownership, the claims of each party are weighed against each other to produce a legal consensus, though that consensus may only be partial or non-binding. Ownership is not a binary legal concept and so while the Steward may have the strongest claim to ownership, that fact does not force total concession of the other agents. In most cases, all three agents have some rights and consequently some measure of claim.\nClaims are strengthened by the amount of labour or time an agent has spent with the land, historical context, familial and sentimental values, public benefit, improvements made by the agent, and the planning of the community.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/housing/","/property/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1139,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/prosperity-class/",
  "title": "Prosperity-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Prosperity-Class is a class of cruiser in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Prosperity-class Aircraft Cruiser Aircraft Cruiser Built 2032-42 Class Prosperity-class Crew 900 Displacement 30,000 tonnes InService 6 Length 240 meters Service Maritime Service Speed 27 knots Station NS Java Java The Prosperity-class Aircraft Cruiser is a class of cruiser of the Marine Services of Vekllei. It is a hybrid warship that combines the fire-support and missile defence role of a traditional cruiser with the ability to carry a small complement of VTOL aircraft. Designed primarily for independent operations or as part of smaller task forces, the class is capable of supporting limited air operations while also providing surface warfare capabilities. Its home station is Naval Station Java in Java.\nDisplacing 30,000 tons and measuring 240 meters in length, the Prosperity-class is powered by the Vampire marine nuclear power plant, allowing it to operate at a sustained speed of 27 knots. The vessel carries a typical air wing of 12 to 16 aircraft, including VTOL multirole fighters and anti-submarine helijets. These aircraft are launched from a large flat deck at the aft of the ship, enabling up to 4 aircraft on deck at a time.\nThe primary armament includes the No. 3 Rackham anti-aircraft missile system, designed for medium-range defence against air targets. The ship also has twin-launchers for No. 5 Spearhead anti-ship missiles, offering surface-to-surface engagement capabilities. Close-in defence is handled by multiple CIWS installations, protecting the ship against incoming missiles and aircraft. Additionally, the Prosperity-class is outfitted with dual 76 mm naval guns for surface action and shore bombardment as an naval invasion support vessel. Anti-submarine capabilities are provided by its air complement.\nThe Prosperity-class is versatile, and serves a variety of roles with the Vekllei navy. The class of ship is suited for operations where a full-sized carrier (like the Volcanic-class) is not necessary but air support is still required, making it a valuable asset in contested regions and asymmetric operations common in Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s strategic interest. Its combination of defence systems and air complement allow it to act as a deterrent and as a flexible mothership for a variety of naval missions.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/prosperity-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1140,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antilles/providence/",
  "title": "Providence","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/providence-4x3.svg","icon": "♣️","rgb": "233, 1, 51",
  "section": "Antilles Commonwealth",
  "description": "Abakoa (\u003ci\u003eSan Andres\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the western Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Providence Republic Island of Providencia Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Antilles Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 17 km² Capital Freetown Languages English, Abakoan Creole Population 8,812 The Republic of Providence is a constituent republic in the southwest Caribbean Sea northeast of Abakoa as part of the west Antilles island chain. It is a pear-shaped island that is slightly smaller than its sister island and much less populated.\nWhen the Providence Island Company established their Puritan settlement here in 1630, they chose the most dramatically beautiful spot in the western Caribbean: a volcanic island whose peaks rise nearly 400 meters from azure waters, wrapped in coral reefs that Spanish galleons learned to fear. The experiment lasted barely two decades before Spanish forces finally dislodged the Protestant colonists in 1651, but those twenty-one years established a character that distinguishes Providence from every other Antilles settlement. Providence has a peculiar blend of Puritan work ethic and buccaneering independence that would later make the island a natural haven for escaped slaves and political refugees.\nThe British reclaimed Providence in 1670 as part of the Treaty of Madrid, transforming what had been a theological experiment into a thriving commercial outpost. Unlike the sugar-obsessed colonies to the east, Providence developed a more diverse economy based on logwood cutting, turtle fishing and what contemporaries diplomatically call \u0026ldquo;irregular commerce,\u0026rdquo; which in those days involved privateers operating against Spanish shipping. Henry Morgan himself maintained a house there between expeditions, and local legend insists his ghost still walks the heights above Freetown during the full moon.\nProvidenceans remain mostly Protestant with a minority Catholic population, and speak mostly English and Abakoan Creole. Almost all of them live on the coast in small communities and many are skilled gardeners. Providence is famous for its gardens and general colourfulness, which decorates homes and street furniture.\nThe republic\u0026rsquo;s economy has evolved from buccaneering to more respectable pursuits, most famously coconut plantations on the gentler western slopes and a small but renowned boat-building industry that produces some of the Caribbean\u0026rsquo;s finest racing sloops. The island is situated southwest of a number of number of reefs and cays that reach towards Caimanas, most of which remain federal territory. The Petrel Islands maintain an airship docking station and a Marine Services outpost. Providence is ringed by a rail line, and a fast tram connects the interior to the capital. The surrounding Seaflower Reef is extraordinary pretty and is an attraction for visitors from all around the country.\nClimate\nWarm temperatures year-round with tropical weather and a rainy season in the second half of the year.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Good Friday 30 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday King\u0026rsquo;s Birthday 2 Oct Republic Day 18 Oct All Saints Day 1 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Freetown: Old capital with a storied history famous for its boat races. Seaflower Reef: Natural reef of outstanding biodiversity and very popular with visitors. Rapture Coconut Company: Family-owned coconut plantation famous for its shaded grounds and rows of palms, the largest of its kind in Vekllei. Old Providence Lagoon: Picturesque swimming lagoon in the Sea of Seven Colours, with pretty walks through the surrounding mangroves. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/providence/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1141,
  "href": "/characters/qi/",
  "title": "Qi","icon": "🐟","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Qi is a character of @crab_rare on Twitter.",
  "content": " Qi is a character of 🔗@crab_rare on Twitter. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/qi/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1142,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/parliaments/parliament-of-health/radiation-health-authority/",
  "title": "Radiation Health Authority","logo": "/svg/crests/parliament/health.svg","icon": "🏛️","color": "health",
  "section": "Parliament of Health",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Radiation Authority is the agency for radiation protection and treatment in Vekllei.",
  "content": "The Radiation Health Authority (RHA) is an agency for radiation protection. It has roles in licensing and inspection of radioactive treatments and medicines in the country, as well as research in nuclear medicine. The RHA also has a civil defence role, and promotes awareness of radiation dangers and sickness in the event of the release of radiation in an accident or nuclear war.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/radiation-health-authority/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1143,
  "href": "/series/republic/",
  "title": "Republic",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1144,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/republic-assemblies/",
  "title": "Republic Assemblies","logo": "/svg/crests/vekllei-purple.svg","icon": "⚱️","color": "purple",
  "section": "Government",
  "description": "Republic Assemblies are decentralised parliaments found in each constituent republic in Vekllei.",
  "content": "The Republic Assemblies are lower houses of elected representatives in Vekllei. Each constituent republic has an assembly, which elects members of parliament and a Sorda to represent their interests in the Commonwealth Directory.\nThere is an assembly for each republic, numbering 83 in total. Combined, there are 1520 members of parliament. The number of MPs is related to population size. Republic with large populations may have over 100 sitting MPs, and smaller republics\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/assembly/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1145,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/republics/",
  "title": "Republics","icon": "💮","color": "green",
  "section": "Commonwealth",
  "description": "Constituent republics are the basic sovereign constituent of Vekllei. There are 83 of them that make up the country.",
  "content": " A Constituent Republic is type of city-state that make up the country of Vekllei. They retain autonomy and devolved powers, but have acceded to the state of Vekllei and are part of that country. They are organised into constituent commonwealths, which serve as an intermediate level of administration between the federal and republican governments. The largest republics have millions of people; the smallest have only a few thousand.\nDiagram of the a Polis administration and its structure There are a few criteria separating republics from regular local government. They are generally self-sufficient, and include surrounding areas capable of agriculture and industry. They also retain their own lower courts, and have a strengthened local democracy consisting of a popular assembly (the Municipal Assembly) and Ecclesia \u0026ndash; special-purpose councils of important civic citizens and industrial representatives.\nList of Vekllei Republics Federal Territories\nMeteor Federal Territory Vekllei Antarctic Territories Vekllei Lunar Community Vekllei Mars Territories International Free Arctic Territories (partial) Commonwealth Antarctic\nAscension (Ascension) Falklands (Falklands) Helena (Saint Helena) Santes (Tristan da Cunha) Sude (South Georgia \u0026amp; South Sandwich Islands) Commonwealth Antilles\nAbakoa (San Andres) Aruba (Aruba) Bonaire (Bonaire) Paria (Los Roques Islands) Caimanas (Caimanas) Curacao (Curacao) Providence (Providencia) Commonwealth Arctic\nHelvasia (Svalbard) Kala (Greenland) Commonwealth Atlantic\nBerbera (La Gomera) Canary (Gran Canaria Island) Costa Verde (Sao Miguel Island) Fayal (Faial Island) Flores (Flores Island) Graciosa (Graciosa Island) Benahoare (La Palma Island) Lanzarote (Lanzarote Island) Maria (Santa Maria Island) Meridia (El Hierro Island) Mira (Madeira) Pico (Pico Island) Porto Santo (Porto Santo) Tenerife (Tenerife Island) Terceira (Terceira Island) Velas (Sao Jorge Island) Ventura (Fuerteventura Island) Commonwealth Lucaya\nBahama (Grand Bahama) Caicos (Turks \u0026amp; Caicos) Cigateo Republic (Eleuthera) Conch (Key West) Curateo (Great Exuma) Guanima (Cat Island) Habacoa (Andros Islands) Inagua (Great Inagua) Lucayoneque (Abaco Islands) Mayaguana (Mayaguana) Providence (New Providence) Rum (San Salvador \u0026amp; Rum Cay) Summers (Bermuda) Yabaque (Acklins) Yuma (Long Island) Commonwealth Kalina\nAllia (Montserrat) Aloi (St Eustatius) Aloubaera (Tobago) Anguilla (Anguilla) Antigua (Antigua) Barbados (Barbados) Barbary (Barbuda) Cama (Grenada) Grenadines (Grenadines) Karu (Guadeloupe) Kabuli (Dominica) Kairi (Trinidad) Liamuiga (St Kitts) Lucia (Saint Lucia) Madiana (Martinique) Oualie (Navis) Ouanalao (Saint Barthelemy) Saba (Saba) Soualiga (Saint Martin/Sint Maartin) Virgin (British/Spanish/U.S. Virgin Islands) Youloumain (Saint Vincent \u0026amp; The Grenadines) Commonwealth Verde\nAnnobon (Annobon) Boa Vista (Boa Vista) Brava (Brava) Cavoada (Sao Nicolau) Fogo (Fogo) Java (Sao Tome) Maio (Maio) Moroços (Santo Antao) Praia (Santiago) Principe (Sao Tome \u0026amp; Principe) Sal (Sal) Viana (Sao Vicente) Commonwealth Volcanic\nAismious (Faroe) Demon (Jan Mayen) Hetland (Shetland) Oslola (Iceland) ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/republics/","/polis/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1146,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/resources/",
  "title": "Resources","icon": "💎","color": "orange",
  "section": "Industry",
  "description": "Vekllei has the largest exclusive economic zone of any country in the world, and across its diverse islands and waters a wealth of natural resources can be found.",
  "content": " This article for now is a reference that assists the development of this site. It remains an inventory of resources until further development. Production # Hydrocarbons # Resource Locations Estimated Quantity Crude Oil Falklands Basin, Kala offshore, Kairi Basin 60+ billion barrels (proven + probable) Natural Gas Kairi, Aloubaera, Helvasia offshore, Kala offshore 100+ trillion cubic feet Coal Helvasia, Aismious 2+ billion tonnes Peat Falklands, Hetland 500+ million cubic meters Asphalt Kairi 10+ million tonnes Metallic Minerals # Resource Locations Estimated Quantity Gold Kala, Oslola, Aruba (historical) Significant deposits Silver Oslola, Kala Medium deposits Copper Helvasia, Kala Large deposits Zinc Kala, Helvasia Major deposits Lead Kala Significant deposits Iron Ore Kala Large deposits Titanium Kala Medium deposits Nickel Kala Medium deposits Platinum Group Metals Kala Small deposits Uranium Kala Large deposits Rare Earth Elements # Resource Locations Estimated Quantity Neodymium Kala Large deposits Dysprosium Kala Large deposits Terbium Kala Medium deposits Yttrium Kala Large deposits Other REEs Kala Significant deposits Industrial Minerals # Resource Locations Estimated Quantity Phosphate Caribbean islands Large deposits Salt Caicos, Bonaire, Sal Major deposits Limestone Kalina, Summers, Lucaya Extensive deposits Pumice Oslola, Canary Islands Large deposits Sulfur Oslola, Lesser Antilles Medium deposits Diatomite Oslola Significant deposits Pozzolana Verde Large deposits Marble Helvasia Medium deposits Clay Kairi, various Caribbean islands Large deposits Aragonite Lucaya Large deposits Talc Hetland Medium deposits Gypsum Caribbean islands Medium deposits Quartz Various volcanic islands Widespread Basalt Verde, volcanic islands Extensive deposits Gemstones # Resource Locations Estimated Quantity Rubies Kala Significant deposits Sapphires Kala Small deposits Diamonds Potential in volcanic pipes Unproven Marine Resources # Resource Locations Estimated Quantity Tuna Multiple EEZs Sustainable yearly catch Cod Arctic waters Large stocks Halibut Arctic waters Medium stocks Haddock North Atlantic Significant stocks Herring North Atlantic Large stocks Mackerel Multiple regions Large stocks Lobster Caribbean, South Atlantic Sustainable stocks Shrimp Kala waters Large stocks Squid Falklands waters Large stocks Krill Sude waters Extensive stocks Toothfish Southern Ocean Managed stocks Deep-sea fish Various EEZs Various stocks Seaweed Multiple regions Extensive Coral Caribbean reefs Protected resource Seabed Minerals # Resource Locations Estimated Quantity Manganese nodules Azores region Potential large deposits Polymetallic sulfides Mid-Atlantic Ridge Potential deposits Cobalt crusts Deep EEZ areas Unquantified Submarine volcanic deposits Various locations Unquantified Renewable Energy Resources # Resource Locations Capacity Geothermal Oslola, Costa Verde, Terceira, Pico, Faial, Velas, Kabuli, Lucia, Allia, Youloumain, Karu Large potential Tidal Various locations \u0026gt;5 GW potential Wave Multiple locations \u0026gt;10 GW potential Hydroelectric Oslola, Java, various \u0026gt;5 GW potential Water Resources # Resource Locations Quantity Glacial freshwater Kala, Oslola Vast reserves Natural springs Volcanic islands Significant Groundwater Various islands Limited Rainfall catchment Tropical islands Seasonal Biological Resources # Resource Locations Notes Hardwood timber Caribbean islands Limited Tropical fruits Various tropical islands Cultivated Coffee Helena, Caribbean Specialty crops Sugarcane Caribbean islands Agricultural Spices Caribbean islands Various Medicinal plants Various locations Multiple species Construction Materials # Resource Locations Quantity Aggregate Multiple islands Extensive Sand Various locations Large deposits Gravel Various locations Large deposits Volcanic stone Volcanic islands Extensive Construction timber Limited locations Restricted Strategic Considerations # Total EEZ area: \u0026gt;15 million km² Deep water ports: Multiple strategic locations Natural harbours: Numerous across all regions Shipping lanes: Access to major global routes Strategic chokepoints: Several key locations Research potential: Multiple unique ecosystems Notes:\nQuantities are estimates based on known deposits and surveys \u0026ldquo;Significant\u0026rdquo; indicates commercially viable quantities \u0026ldquo;Large\u0026rdquo; indicates globally important deposits Some resources may be currently unexploited Environmental protections may restrict access to some resources Many areas require further geological surveys Global Resource Production Rankings # Energy Resources # Resource Global Rank % of Global Production Notes Oil Production 15th 2.3% Comparable to Algeria Natural Gas 18th 1.8% Similar to Malaysia Geothermal Power 3rd 12% Behind USA and Indonesia Wind Power (offshore) 8th 4.2% High potential for growth Solar Power 25th 0.8% Limited by land area Coal 45th \u0026lt;0.1% Minor producer Mineral Resources # Resource Global Rank % of Global Production Notes Rare Earth Elements 2nd 15% Behind only China Gold 35th 0.5% Minor producer Silver 40th 0.3% Limited production Uranium 15th 1.2% Moderate reserves Phosphate 22nd 0.8% Limited production Bauxite 28th 0.4% Small producer Marine Resources # Resource Global Rank % of Global Production Notes Fish Catch (Total) 12th 3.5% Major fishing zones Tuna Production 8th 5.2% Significant EEZ Shrimp Production 15th 2.1% Including aquaculture Krill Harvest 2nd 25% South Georgia waters Squid Catch 5th 8% Falklands waters Aquaculture 25th 0.6% Growing sector Industrial Minerals # Resource Global Rank % of Global Production Notes Salt 12th 2.8% Multiple producers Pumice 3rd 15% Volcanic sources Limestone 35th 0.3% Limited by size Aragonite 1st 80% Bahamas dominance Diatomite 8th 4.2% Iceland production Water Resources # Resource Global Rank % of Global Production Notes Desalination Capacity 15th 1.8% Growing sector Bottled Water 45th 0.2% Premium sources Freshwater Reserves 3rd 10% Greenland ice sheet Refining \u0026amp; Processing # Industry Global Rank % of Global Capacity Notes Oil Refining 25th 0.8% Caribbean facilities LNG Processing 20th 1.2% Trinidad based Fish Processing 10th 3.8% Multiple facilities REE Processing 3rd 12% Greenland based Strategic Resources # Resource Global Rank % of Global Control Notes EEZ Area 5th 7% Vast marine territory Shipping Lanes 8th 4% Strategic locations Deep Water Ports 15th 2% Key facilities Strategic Chokepoints 10th 3% Important passages Agricultural Products # Product Global Rank % of Global Production Notes Sugar 35th 0.3% Caribbean production Coffee 45th 0.1% Specialty production Tropical Fruits 30th 0.4% Limited by area Spices 25th 0.5% Niche products Comparative Analysis # Major Strengths (Top 5 Globally): # Aragonite Production (1st) Rare Earth Elements (2nd) Krill Harvest (2nd) Geothermal Power (3rd) Pumice Production (3rd) Significant Positions (6th-15th Globally): # Fish Catch Tuna Production EEZ Area REE Processing Oil Production Shipping Lane Control Strategic Chokepoints Moderate Positions (16th-30th Globally): # Natural Gas Oil Refining Desalination Uranium Salt Production Key Competitive Advantages: # Strategic Location Control Marine Resource Access Rare Earth Element Reserves Renewable Energy Potential Processing Infrastructure Notes:\nRankings based on current production capacity Some resources have significant untapped potential Rankings could improve with infrastructure development Marine resources particularly strong Strategic position often exceeds raw production value ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/resources/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1147,
  "href": "/characters/rin/",
  "title": "Rin","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Rin is clerk who lives in Oslola, and works at Common Gemstone as an inspector. She is listless and unsatisfied by her life.",
  "content": " Rin is clerk who lives in Oslola, and works at Common Gemstone as an inspector. She is listless and unsatisfied by her life. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/rin/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1148,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/lucaya/rum/",
  "title": "Rum","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/rum-4x3.svg","icon": "🍹","rgb": "57, 122, 205",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/sand-tram.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/sand-tram_hu25578023866e2e8a69dd35d8ff0b6f47_9476206_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Lucaya Commonwealth",
  "description": "Rum (\u003ci\u003eSan Salvador \u0026 Rum Cay\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lucayan Archipelago.",
  "content": " Rum Republic Islands of San Salvador \u0026amp; Rum Cay Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Lucaya Commonwealth Accession 1930, as part of the Alford Agreement Area 241 km² Capital Conception Languages English, Lucayan Population 4,910 The Rum Republic (also Rummy) is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Lucayan archipelago. It comprises two inhabited islands, San Salvador and Rum Island, the islet of Conception (now a Commonwealth Preservation) as well as some minor islets and rocks. It is situated in the west of the Lucayan archipelago, and the eastern coast of San Salvador is exposed to the open Atlantic.\nAbout three fifths of its people, mostly ethnic Lucayans and some whites, live in the capital of Conception on San Salvador. The remainder live around its coast or in the settlement of Travesty on Rum Island. The islands are mostly flat with some minor hills, and San Salvador is characterised by small lakes and ponds across its surface. Both are fringed by picturesque coral reefs that attract some tourists from other parts of Vekllei.\nWhile San Salvador has a minor airport and a single tramline circumnavigating its coast, Rum Island is accessible only by its pier. The republic is comparatively isolated from the larger Lucayan islands, and lives there are typically relaxed, characterised by municipal farming, some fishing, and recreational island activities. The capital of Conception is home to all major infrastructure, including the post office, power station, police station and the republic\u0026rsquo;s only secondary school. Minor tourism is facilitated by inns and guesthouses.\nThe island of Conception is an uninhabited preservation, and is home to a unique species of Boa. It has a research station from the LSRE there. The navy also maintains a naval station, primarily used for monitoring and navigation, on the north point of San Salvador.\nPoints of Interest Salvador Research Centre, Commonwealth University of the West Indies Salvador Naval Station Conception Island Research Station, LSRE ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/rum/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1149,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/saba/",
  "title": "Saba","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/saba-4x3.svg","icon": "🍃","rgb": "12, 104, 244",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Saba is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Saba Republic Island of Saba Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 2022, as part of the Curacao Treaty Area 13 km² Capital The Bottom Languages English, Dutch, Antillean Creole Population 12,531 The Saba Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Caribbean. The island forms the peak of a tall, undersea volcano, and is the smallest Vekllei republic by area at just 13 square kilometres. It is a few miles southeast of Soualiga, and has strong economic and cultural ties to its neighbour.\nAll visitors to Saba are impressed by its dramatic shape, which rises conspicuously out of the sea. Mount Scenery, the extinct volcano which makes up its landmass, is fringed by steep sea cliffs. You can find the people of Saba in the crater of the volcano, living in the settlements that have sprung up there. They are both reached by winding, perilous roads or cable railway.\nThe island was once home to the Ciboney, a kind of Taino people, but had been displaced by Arawaks by the 9th Century. Whatever became of them, the island was uninhabited by the time of European settlement in the 17th Century. Dutch families were sent from nearby Aloi to settle the island shortly after, but were evicted by pirates serving the governor of Jamaica. In the centuries thereafter, the island produced a lot of sugar, indigo and rum in plantations mostly worked by slaves imported from Africa. It was also a haven for smugglers and pirates, since its steep cliffs and proximity to other Commonwealth Kalina islands made it difficult to police. Over the years, many people have made Saba their home, including Irish exiled by King Charles I for instigating a rebellion over land in Ireland.\nThe two towns of Saba, known as Windwardside and The Bottom, are where most people live. These are strikingly pretty towns in the white-walled Dutch Caribbean style, terraced up and down the hills of the island. The economy has very little export activity, and comprises some domestic goods and municipal gardening. Most famous are a local rum known as Saba Spice and a kind of lace, known as \u0026ldquo;Spanish work\u0026rdquo; (despite being drawn thread work). Both of these goods are generally made by townswomen, and a small amount are exported. They raise a lot of lamb and grow a lot of potatoes, which inform local cuisine.\nDespite its relative isolation, it is especially popular with people from northern Vekllei for its climate, dramatic terrain and close-knit, cultural community. There are several inns on the island which can accomodate about a hundred tourists at a time. There is a landing about 800 steps below The Bottom, where a pier has been constructed. Saba is also home to the world\u0026rsquo;s shortest commercial runway, which is restricted and not open to commercial passenger traffic. Ferries remain the primary link to its neighbours.\nClimate\nPleasant temperatures that very very little. Rainfall scant and mainly in November and December.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Easter Monday Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Carnaval Jul Assumption Day 15 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Armistice Day 1 Nov Republic Day 11 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest Mount Scenery: The striking peak of the island, at one time the highest point in the Netherlands. Many rainforest trails surround it. The Bottom: Saba’s quaint capital, known for its charming architecture, friendly locals, and cultural sites like the Dutch Reformed Church. Windwardside: Picturesque village with colourful cottages, boutique shops, and the Saba Museum, which showcases the island’s history and culture. The Ladder: A historic stone staircase that once served as the island\u0026rsquo;s main access point. Visitors be warned \u0026ndash; the climb is not easy. Saba Carnival: A vibrant annual celebration with music, parades, and festivities that reflect the island’s rich cultural traditions. Celebrated in the last week of July. Martin Luther King Airport: Famous for having one of the shortest commercial runways in the world, used mostly for medical and emergency flights. Fort Bay Harbour: The main port for Saba, facilitating cargo shipments, ferry services, and access for visiting boats. Queen Wilhelmina Library: Public library in The Bottom, serving as a cultural and educational hub for the local community. The Road: The \u0026ldquo;Road That Couldn’t Be Built,\u0026rdquo; an impressive feat of engineering connecting villages across the island. Saba Cable Railway: Railway that rises up the steep climb from Fort Bay all the way to The Bottom. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/saba/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1150,
  "href": "/factbook/culture/sagas/",
  "title": "Sagas","icon": "🕯️","color": "red",
  "section": "Culture",
  "description": "Sagas are historic documents that record narratives in northern Vekllei cultures, including Oslola, Kala and Aismious.",
  "content": "Sagas are a kind of historic prose narrative that recorded the oral history of early Oslola. They are distinguished by their use of Topyas, a predecessor to modern Topet.1 They are recognised for their realism and poetry, and provide a valuable historical record of the 1st Commonwealth and practices of Old Upen.\nSagas were consolidated into historical and thematic eras in the 14th Century during the Period of Rest, which is typically how they are arranged today.\nSagas of Old Oslola\nGod Saga, c. 880AD Saga of Origins c. 940AD Saga of Saints c. 960AD Saga of Family c.1000AD Saga of Spirits c. 1200AD Saga of New Earth c. 1300AD Topet is the written language of Oslola, Kala, and Aismious, and derives from ancient rune-forms like Topyas that arose thousands of years ago in a fusion of north Inuit (Algic) and Scandinavian-Celtic cultures.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/sagas/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1151,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/verde/sal/",
  "title": "Sal","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/sal-4x3.svg","icon": "🧂","rgb": "220, 36, 31",
  "section": "Verde Commonwealth",
  "description": "Sal is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Cabo Verde archipelago off the coast of West Africa.",
  "content": " Sal Republic Island of Sal Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Verde Commonwealth Accession 1945, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 219.84 km² Capital Santa Maria Languages English, Verde Creole, Portuguese Population 54,494 The Sal Republic (literally \u0026ldquo;Salt\u0026rdquo;) is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic, and is the northeasternmost island of the Barlavento archipelago. It comprises a main island shaped roughly like a fish and a tiny, uninhabited islet of its west coast. The republic is particularly flat and dry, and much of its surface is made of red, sandy dirt exposed to trade winds. It is fringed by pretty beaches of white sand, and receives an extraordinary amount of sun per year.\nThe island was sparsely populated throughout much of the early colonial period, but drew permanent settlement after the establishment of a salt works near the modern settlement of Pedra Lume. This spurred a \u0026ldquo;salt rush\u0026rdquo; that saw the island\u0026rsquo;s population grow rapidly. Other major settlements, including the capital of Santa Maria, are the legacy of the salt industry, which is mostly clustered around shallow, extinct volcanic craters. Although the industry saw significant decline during the 20th Century as major export markets were closed off by foreign protectionism, most of the major factories survive under municipal management in Vekllei, and the republic is the largest domestic exporter of salt in the country.\nThe history of the republic contributes to its unique appearance today. Its major towns, including the capital, are quite pretty Portuguese colonial settlements improved by irrigation of street trees and municipal agriculture in the federal period. Outside of these dense communities is a wide, flat expanse of land without any major features except for salt ponds, their factories, and aerial tramways that criss-cross the island with buckets full of salt. Outside of the cities and their gardens, the republic is mostly treeless and barren.\nSanta Maria and the historic fishing village of Palmeira are particularly beautiful. The locals are a mix of local Verdeans and Persian migrants, mostly refugees from the first failed Jungle Coup in Iran. Persians are about half the population and practice culturally muslim traditions but are not especially devout. The salt industry is heavily automated, so most Salians work in research or academia.\nThere is a very pretty mosque in the capital, but the major attraction of the republic is the National Levantine Theological University (NLTU). This is a sprawling complex starting on the hilltop of Monte Curral in the centre of the island, and it cascades down its slopes to cover about forty acres. It is the largest theological institution in the country, with a special focus on ancient Abrahamic religious history (primarily Coptic, Roman Catholic, Syriac and Antioch Christians, Mizrahi Jews, Shia Islam, and Zoroastrianism). The modernist fusion style of its campus is particularly acclaimed, and unlike internationalist styles is heavily ornamented and decorated. It is among the most prestigious institutions of its type in the world, and has about 6,000 domestic and international students in addition to 3,000 permanent staff. Flowing water and canals characterise not just the NLTU but Santa Maria as well, and provide passive cooling.\nSalians live in the handful of towns across the island, the largest of which is the capital. A lot of work is related to the NLTU in some way, either as writers, artists, academics or providing services like cooking or board for students. Despite their proximity to the university, they are typically sleepy towns with little nightlife. The salt works are the major export industry on the island, and fishing supplements the local diet. Their religion and customs are divided mostly evenly between the Verdean and Persian communities, which mix freely. Swimming in the salt craters are a popular novelty for resident students.\nA train connects Santa Maria to the university, and proceeds onwards to the towns of Palmeira and Pedra Lume. The island is somewhat poorly connected by ferries compared to other Verde islands, lending the republic an insular quality. An airport is located just outside of Santa Maria, which accommodates international connections to the university.\nClimate\nSal receives about 350 days of sunshine a year, and is among the sunniest places in Vekllei. The republic is hot and dry, and little rain ever falls.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Heroes Day 20 Jan Republic Day 9 Mar Good Friday 30 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Assumption Day 15 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest Commonwealth Oil Central Control: Realtime monitoring facility for all CommOil sites. Santa Maria Beach: A stunning stretch of white sand and turquoise waters, popular among students at the NLTU. Buracona – Blue Eye: A natural pool with an underwater cave that creates a mesmerising \u0026ldquo;blue eye\u0026rdquo; effect when sunlight hits the water at the right angle. Pedra Lume Salt Crater Works: Large, operating salt works inside an extinct volcano, where visitors can float effortlessly in the saline waters. Our Lady Botanical Gardens: Large botanic gardens located near the capital, designed as an oasis among the sands. Shark Bay: Shallow bay where visitors can wade into the water to observe lemon sharks in their natural habitat. National Levantine Theological University: Prestigious, multi-faith theological research university specialising in early Abrahamic faiths. Port of Palmeira: The primary port on Sal, supporting cargo, fishing, and ferry services to other islands. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/sal/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1152,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antarctic/santes/",
  "title": "Santes","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/santes-4x3.svg","icon": "🦞","rgb": "211, 45, 71",
  "section": "Antarctic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Santes (\u003ci\u003eTristan da Cunha\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the southern Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Santes Republic Island of Tristan da Cunha Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Antarctic Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 207 km² Capital Glass Town Languages English Population 2,802 The Santes Republic is a constituent republic in the Atlantic Ocean, and part of Commonwealth Antarctic. Its closest neighbour is Helena, which lies over 2,000km north of the territory. As such, Santes is considered the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world.\nThe republic comprises six small islands, of which five are closely grouped together. Gough island, a UNESCO world heritage site, lies 320km southeastwards of the main island group and is home only to seabirds and a small Vekllei Weather Service station. The main and only permanently-inhabited island of Santes is roughly circular in shape and rises dramatically from the sea in a volcanic cone.\nThe climate is mild and windy, and the islands are home to significant biodiversity. Many Santesians are descended from the original European male settlers who had mixed-race wives from Helena, and the majority of the local population is now mixed-race. Almost all live in Glass Town, the capital, which is home to the government, a hospital, two schools and a Maritime Service naval station.\nTheir society is communal, even by Vekllei standards. All local food sources are shared, consisting of potatoes and coastal shellfishing. Livestock are also raised for consumption. Aside from a VTOL landing site at the naval station, Santes is inaccessible by air and has to be reached by ship. Historically an ageing, shrinking population, the republic has been rejuvenated by interest in the Vekllei localism movement.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/santes/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1153,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/senate/",
  "title": "Senate","logo": "/svg/crests/vekllei-purple.svg","icon": "🏺","color": "purple",
  "section": "Government",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Senate is the upper house of Vekllei's bicameral legislature, and has special powers to approve or reject laws.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Senate is the upper house of the Vekllei government and has special legislative powers to approve, defer or reject proposed laws. The Senate cannot introduce most types of legislation, and so acts as a check on the Assemblies, which collectively form a federated Lower House across 8 constituent commonwealths.\nMembership in the senate is proportional to the number of constituent commonwealths, which submit five members each.\nThe Senate is able to form Commonwealth Committees and Commissions, which engage in special inquiry of concern to the country. Although the results of these bodies are not legally binding, they have significant influence on government and the public and help draw attention to issues that have not recieved government or public notice.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/senate/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1154,
  "href": "/series/",
  "title": "Series","icon": "📑",
  "section": "Home",
  "description": "Browse content by series, which groups together similar articles.",
  "content": " Browse content by series, which groups together similar articles. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/series/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1155,
  "href": "/factbook/culture/serviced-restaurants/",
  "title": "Serviced Restaurants","icon": "🍽️","color": "red",
  "section": "Culture",
  "description": "Serviced restaurants represent the fine dining tradition in Vekllei, distinguished by formally trained staff and rigorous French service standards.",
  "content": "Serviced restaurants represent the fine dining tradition in Vekllei, distinguished by formally trained staff who have completed hotel school and rigorous adherence to classical French service standards. They occupy a distinct position within Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s restaurant culture, operating under different social and professional conventions than the casual eateries that dominate most republics.\nThe term \u0026ldquo;serviced\u0026rdquo; refers specifically to the professional training of the staff, who have typically completed formal hospitality education at institutions like the Imperial Hotel School in Barbados or similar programmes across the Atlantic. These establishments maintain the European fine dining tradition, with waitstaff trained in proper cutlery placement, wine service and the formal protocols that define haute cuisine service.\nUnlike most Vekllei restaurants, serviced establishments operate without ambient music or live entertainment. The dining room instead maintains a hum of natural background conversation to improve the dining experience.\nReservation Systems\nSince Vekllei operates without money in daily life, serviced restaurants cannot rely on high prices to manage demand. Most popular establishments operate daily reservation lotteries, with interested diners entering their names each morning for evening sittings.\nSome serviced restaurants are explicitly exclusive, restricting reservations to government officials, heads of major industrial bureaux, or members of the hospitality community itself. These establishments function as professional networks where chefs, sommeliers and restaurant owners dine with political and industrial figures. The exclusivity operates through invitation rather than payment, creating tight social circles within Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s professional class.\nServiced restaurants occupy a complex position within Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s egalitarian society. They represent one of the few spaces where social hierarchy becomes structural, creating temporary distinctions based on professional achievement, political position or social connection.\nThe tradition also connects Vekllei to broader culinary culture, demonstrating that the commons can support sophisticated cultural pursuits without monetary exchange. For many practitioners, serviced restaurants represent the highest expression of hospitality craft within the constraints and opportunities of Vekllei society, and elite Vekllei hospitality staff perform their duties competitively.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/serviced-restaurants/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1156,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/seychelles/",
  "title": "Seychelles","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/sc-4x3.svg","icon": "🏝️","rgb": "2, 123, 57",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "The Seychelles is a country in the west Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and Kenya.",
  "content": "The Republic of Seychelles is a country in the west Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and Kenya, comprising about 115 islands. The country consists of two main island groups, characterised by lush tropical vegetation and pristine white beaches. Its people are mostly descendants of French colonists and black slaves, and centuries of intermarriage means most are of mixed descent. There are also significant minority populations of Chinese, Indians and Malays.\nAlthough Seychelles is a one-party socialist state, lead by the Seychelles People\u0026rsquo;s United Party, it maintains a non-aligned foreign policy and receives tourists from all over the world. It has close political and economic links with Vekllei, as well other Indian Ocean states including the Maldives and East India. It is a member of the COMOC.\nSeychellois people enjoy a high standard of living, with publicly-funded healthcare and education, and easy employment in a rapidly growing economy. The Seychelles economy is dominated by tourism, service industries and light manufacturing, particularly of soft drinks and alcohol.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/seychelles/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1157,
  "href": "/series/siro/",
  "title": "SIRO",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1158,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commonwealth/siro/",
  "title": "SIRO","logo": "/svg/logos/SIRO.svg","icon": "🔬","rgb": "0, 155, 113",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commonwealth",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisations Council is the executive council of many autonomous government research organisations in Vekllei. It is the oldest and largest research organisation in the country.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisations Council (CSIROC, commonly SIROs or SIRO) is the executive council of the autonomous government research organisations in Vekllei. With its members combined, the council represents the oldest and largest research organisation in the country. SIRO is part of the Ministry of the Commonwealth, but its constituent research establishments are administered and funded by their relevant ministries and parliaments.\nSIRO is headquartered in Comet, but through its constituent organisations has a presence in almost every Vekllei republic. The tremendous diversity across Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s island republics provides an ample basis for research, and SIRO is among the leading research outfits in the world. It employs nearly 80,000 people and is credited with a wide variety of innovations and inventions, including the low-field fusion reactor and the Multimatrix computer network system.\nCouncil Organisation # Executive Council\nSIRO Constituent Establishments\nASRE CSRE DSRE LSRE MSRE NSRE Constituent Laboratories\nCommonwealth Laboratories Transport Laboratories Executive Council # Director, SIRO Secretary for Research Officer for Research Democracy Officer for Science Policy Chief Scientist, ASRE Chief Scientist, CSRE Chief Scientist, DSRE Chief Scientist, LSRE Chief Scientist, MSRE Chief Scientist, NSRE Chief Scientist, SIRO Chairman, Public Science Board Executive, Government Scientists Group Departments # Department of Research Office of Science Policy Office of Research Democracy Office of Research Ethics Office of Research Culture \u0026amp; Personnel Department of Public Services Office of Press \u0026amp; Media Office of Public Affairs Office of Public Education Department of Automation Office of Industrial Automation Office of Enterprise Department of Manufacturing Office of Industrial Research Department of Energy Department of Resources Office of Undersea Research Office of Resource Discovery Office of Minerals \u0026amp; Mines Department of Infrastructure Office of Laboratories Standards Board Boards \u0026amp; Commissions # Cooperative Research Commission: Public-private research partnership advocate. Public Science Board: Independent ombudsman of public science. Government Scientists Group: National science committee of chief scientists who coordinate science policy across establishments. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/SIRO/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1159,
  "href": "/sitetag/",
  "title": "Sitetag",
  "section": "Home",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1160,
  "href": "/millmint/patreon/snapshots/",
  "title": "Snapshots","icon": "🕯","color": "blue",
  "section": "Patreon",
  "description": "Studio MillMint is a Hobart-based illustration studio specialising in utopian fiction.",
  "content": " This page lists snapshots produced for patrons. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1161,
  "href": "/series/society/",
  "title": "Society",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1162,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/soualiga/",
  "title": "Soualiga","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/soualiga-4x3.svg","icon": "🏗️","rgb": "200, 35, 103",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Soualiga (\u003ci\u003eSaint Martin/Sint Maarten\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Soualiga Republic Island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1930, as part of the Alford Agreement Area 87 km² Capital Marigot Languages English, French, Soua Creole Population 214,249 The Soualiga Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Caribbean. It is found just south of Anguilla and measures about 20km tall north to south. It is a lush volcanic island about 400m tall in the centre, which slopes away dramatically to reveal steep plains, long white beachfronts and sand banks. Most of the island speaks French at home, but at one time the island was split between France and the Netherlands. Rumour has it a Frenchman and a Dutchmen partitioned the island after a walking contest, and this division can be felt today in the colonial architecture that survives in its towns.\nStrong French influences run up and down the republic\u0026rsquo;s history, and can still be noticed in the style of their towns, the sound of their song and the renown of their cuisine. The southern half of the island provides mostly physical testimony to Dutch colonisation, and little evidence remains of Dutch language or culture since the partition treaty expired centuries ago. Most Soualigans are descended from French, British, Asians, Africans or Amerindians. Like many former colonial societies in Vekllei, they practice a strong fusion cultures and are richer for it. Soualigan cuisine is especially renowned and charms everyone who discovers it. Seafood is a specialty, especially conch and salted fish, though nothing beats lobster prepared in butter the French way.\nSoualigans are scattered around the island, mostly on the slopes of Paradis Peak on in the major towns hemmed in by coastal lagoons. Taking the train around the island will take you past sandy beaches, rich green vegetation and rolling hills. The main feature is the old 17th-century Fort Rouge, a grand old building which recalls days of buccaneering. Ferries regularly depart from Marigot and Orleans to neighbouring islands, and make excellent day trips.\nThe largest private employer on the island is the Orleans Steelworks, which was founded in 2020 to attract Commonwealth investment in the republic\u0026rsquo;s technical education and rail network. The mill occupies most of the area around the town of Orleans, and has become a landmark of the island. Most others are employed in technical education or training, local government, or salt production. The culture is quite insular, and the island receives comparatively few visitors to its neighbours. There is an airport in Orleans and a good quality rail network (a gift from the Commonwealth for the steelworks) that circles the island.\nMarigot, the capital, is the most splendid city of the republic. It is rich with French Creole foods, singing, dancing and wine. The slopes around the historic urban centre are terraced by orchards. There you can find the local campus of the Commonwealth University of the West Indies and most of the local government. Orleans, an industrial city in the shadow of the steelworks, is home to the Soualiga Technical School. Huge desalination plants operate there for use in the steelmaking process.\nClimate\nWarm year-round, with a dry season between January and April and a wet season between August and December.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Spring Carnival Easter Monday Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Corpus Christi Republic Day 3 Sep Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Orient Bay: A popular beach on the French side, known for its nude bathing. Fort Louis: A historic French fort overlooking Marigot, offering panoramic views of the island. Pic Paradis: The highest point on the island, providing hiking trails and breathtaking views of Saint Martin and beyond. Grand Case: A picturesque village known for its Creole cuisine and fine dining scene. French Language Institute: Primary institute for the French language in Vekllei. Orleans Steelworks: Major integrated steelworks that produces about 30% of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s steel. Port of Orleans: Major industrial port. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/soualiga/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1163,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/standardisation/",
  "title": "Standardisation","icon": "🏳️","rgb": "236, 92, 27",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Despite Vekllei's extensive federalism and far-flung islands, the imagery, structure and branding of their society is surprisingly consistent.",
  "content": " Summary\nIn some aspects, the republics and island-states that make up Vekllei are decentralised and retain control over their own affairs. This is not the case for the visual identity of its institutions \u0026ndash; the federal government retains significant control over how the Commonwealth looks and feels. This control is wide-ranging, and includes flags, government logos and shields, typefaces and document standards, and uniforms. This level of control is practically unseen even in unitary countries, and its public nature makes it very apparent in society. The Commonwealth understands the power of a strong visual identity and the importance it has in supporting civic commonhoods. Upon acceding to the Commonwealth, swarms of federal officials will arrive in the new constituent and develop a process for federalisation.1 Their work includes critical changes including the revision of laws and the careful (and painful) restructuring of government to suit the Commonwealth. Other changes appear less material, but ultimately represent an essential feature of Commonwealth society: the standardisation of its systems.\nDesign rules supreme in Vekllei government. It is a dictatorship of a single organisation \u0026ndash; the Commonwealth Design Bureau of the Council of Home Affairs (CDB). The CDB has studios in every Vekllei republic, and draws its employees from industry. Rather than a traditional department, the CDB is better thought of as a council of specialists in industry, who volunteer their time to maintain the corporate image of the Vekllei state.2 To designers and architects, it is an irresistible opportunity.\nThe axiom is this \u0026ndash; if design matters, which it does, then the government should take seriously design as it does other aspects of government. It is not enough that design should simply be the paint used to dress up the work of government; it should be a core aspect of the Vekllei identity.\nThis is especially true in the Vekllei Commonwealth, which is a unique country. It has no common landmass, language, race or culture. It is made up of many islands that have common values. As such, standardisation is a way of reinforcing those values, and making its islands seem geographically closer together than they are.\nRules of the Commonwealth Design Bureau\nAll work must be in good taste. Work must be universal within its scope. You can expect the same language of design used across all levels of Vekllei government, from its federal chambers in Comet to its autonomous cities and municipalities.\nIn a country as diverse as Vekllei, standards need to be flexible. As such, aspects of dozens of local cultures are integrated into the design language of the Commonwealth, and standardised into systems that give the impression of localism while being part of a larger whole. Government shields, for example, maintain a common shape and palette of colours3 while consisting of many types of imagery and graphics, drawn in a single style.\nThis diversity-within-systems is apparent in other aspects of government too. New flags have unique colours and imagery, but are designed in relation to each other, retaining both an individual identity and their shared membership as part of a larger country. Uniforms of government, even within government schools, demonstrate common principles expressed in a shared design language that incorporate regional cultural elements.\nThe effect is obvious and acclaimed. Despite Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s political inscrutability to foreigners, its visual motifs are widely recognisable and the careful management of its visual design has given the Vekllei government a strong and unique identity domestically and overseas. This is also effective in design\u0026rsquo;s essential function across its many republics, as it helps familiarise disparate peoples with their common government, and allows Vekllei people feel comfortable in others parts of the country. Standardisation in Vekllei is a tremendous success.\n\u0026lsquo;Federalisation\u0026rsquo; is the term for integration of a new country into the Vekllei Commonwealth. It is a shorthand for all aspects of integration, including the construction of new buildings, ratification of new laws and accession to the Vekllei Constitution and the restructuring of the government. It concludes the establishment of a commons and the abolishment of common money through a process of hyperinflation.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe Commonwealth Design Bureau performs work only for government organisations. State-owned enterprises generally retain their own design systems as independent companies, or fuse aspects of systems as the situation requires.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe \u0026lsquo;Commonwealth Palette\u0026rsquo; is a swatch of 80 colours used across almost all government design. They include both practical, political and cultural colours that draw semantic connections with real-world culture, like \u0026lsquo;Kalina Blue\u0026rsquo; for its Caribbean seas and \u0026lsquo;Kalan Cream\u0026rsquo; for its snow.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/standardisation"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1164,
  "href": "/series/state/",
  "title": "State",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1165,
  "href": "/factbook/state/",
  "title": "State","icon": "🌸","color": "pink",
  "section": "Factbook",
  "description": "Vekllei is a sui generis state; not seen before or since. The unique features of this federal country contribute to a new way of living.",
  "content": " Vekllei is a sui generis state, with no direct precedent or comparison. That does not mean it is unrecognisable \u0026ndash; it is an evolution of common practices and systems of governance adapted to their political culture. These include federalism, democracy and the commons \u0026ndash; their sophisticated and enigmatic social economy in which ordinary people do not use money in everyday life.\nRead more: Commonwealth Government 🏵️ COMOC 🏳️ Compulsory Service ⏳ Consosva 📄 Documents 📚 Education 💮 Federalisation 💵 Finance 🏵️ Forum of Free Nations ⚕️ Healthcare 🏡 Property 🖐️ Work Action Groups Government Bureaus Cabinet Civil Servants Consilia Council Directory Ministries Municipalism Parliaments Republic Assemblies Senate Law Basic Laws Century Society Civil Rights Constitution Firming Laws Licensing Ministry of Commerce Bureau of Securities Bureau of Trade Commonwealth Mint Commonwealth Securities Exchange Commonwealth Treasury Ministry of Culture Atlantic Arts Federation Atlantic History Federation Bureau of Post and Telecommunications Bureau of Press and News Media Bureau of Records and Correspondence Bureau of Sports Commonwealth Art Commission Commonwealth Central Archives Commonwealth Communications Authority Commonwealth Olympic Committee National Library Ministry of Defence Air Service Armed Forces Bureau of Supply Bureau of War Civil Defence Service Defence Imagery Establishment DSRE Littoral Service Maritime Service Noshem Police of the Parliament Police of the Public Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bureau of Communications Bureau of Home Affairs Bureau of International Missions Bureau of State Bureau of Travel Ministry of Industry Bureau of Hydrocarbons Bureau of Production Surveillance Bureau of Workers CSRE Ministry of Labour Bureau of Chapels Bureau of Syndicates Commonwealth Employment Register Ministry of Landscape Bureau of Agriculture Bureau of Conservation Bureau of Materials Bureau of Meteorology Bureau of Oceans LSRE Ministry of Light and Water Bureau of Light Bureau of Water Emergency Light and Water Authority NSRE Ministry of the Commons ASRE Bureau of Aerospace Bureau of Housing Bureau of Parks and Gardens Bureau of Public Works Bureau of Rail Bureau of Roads and Paths Bureau of Space Housing Commission Transport Commission Transport Laboratories Ministry of the Commonwealth Bureau of Accreditation Bureau of Commonwealth Corporations Bureau of Policy Research Bureau of Standards Bureau of Statistics Commonwealth Civil Service Academy Commonwealth Electoral Commission Commonwealth Public Press SIRO Parliament of Bread and Roses Parliament of Education Bureau of Public Education Commonwealth Laboratories Curriculum and Qualifications Council National Education Forum Parliament of Health Bureau of Health Services Bureau of Public Health Commonwealth Disease Authority Commonwealth Food and Medicines Authority Commonwealth Health Academy Commonwealth Health Council Health Democracy Commission MSRE Radiation Health Authority Parliament of Law Commonwealth Register Constitutional Tribunal Police Parliament of Milk and Honey Bureau of Economic Participation Bureau of Economic Weather Bureau of Industrial Coordination Bureau of Materials and Supply Bureau of Residences and Factories Bureau of Stewardship Bureau of Surplus and Export Bureau of the Commons Parliament of State Common Navy ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/state/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1166,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/state-industry/",
  "title": "State Industry","icon": "🏬","color": "orange",
  "section": "Industry",
  "description": "Vekllei government has a substantial presence in the Vekllei economy, but generally affords government-owned corporations independence.",
  "content": "Large segments of the Vekllei economy are dominated by industries of the state, as both direct ministerial privileges and state-owned enterprises. In total, they form the basis of the basic Vekllei standard of living, holding back catastrophe through reliable overproduction where gaps in the participatory economy might threaten serious shortages.\nThere is no real distinction in Vekllei between state assets, state-owned enterprises (SOE) and government-owned corporations (GOC), and the terms are used interchangeably. A state asset is distinct from bureau companies or private enterprise, and is often directed by government policy via an Ministry or Parliament.\nState assets make up about 40% of the total Commonwealth GDP. They occupy central roles in the Vekllei economy, often as functional or constitutional monopolies, and are responsible for 65% of the CSX market capitalisation.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/state-industry/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1167,
  "href": "/sitetag/story/",
  "title": "Story",
  "section": "Sitetag",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1168,
  "href": "/categories/story/",
  "title": "Story",
  "section": "Categories",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1169,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/antarctic/sude/",
  "title": "Sude","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/gs-4x3.svg","icon": "🎣","rgb": "60, 122, 184",
  "section": "Antarctic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Sude (\u003ci\u003eSt Georgia \u0026 South Sandwich Islands\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the South Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Sude Republic Archipelago of the South Georgia \u0026amp; South Sandwich Islands Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Antarctic Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 3,903 km² Capital Godthul Languages English Population 3,422 The Sude Republic is a constituent republic in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, and part of Commonwealth Antarctic. Its closest neighbour is the Falklands, which lies 1,300km northwest of the island group. It is a cold, barren territory with permanent snow across much of its land area, and is home to a few thousand people, hardy grasses, and introduced reindeer. It comprises the island of Georgia, where nearly all of its people live, and the Candlemas island chain to its south of around 11 islands.\nHistorically the main island of Georgia was used by the British and Norwegians as stations for whaling and blubber rendering, and most of these former stations form the core of the seven towns on the most populous island of Georgia. The capital, Godthul, was originally a Norwegian station founded in the early 20th Century, but whales have not been hunted around Sude for over a hundred years and their populations are in recovery.\nGeorgia has a mountainous interior consisting of stepped flats and windswept, barren peaks. It is a breeding ground for fur seals and king penguins, which can occasionally cause trouble near human settlements. The Candlemas islands are almost entirely uninhabited except for a weather and scientific station on Thule Island, and are prone to strong earthquakes. The climate there is characterised by long, cold winters and cool summers, with weather that changes quickly.\nGeorgia has a good port in its capital, and serves as a staging point for antarctic expeditions in Vekllei. The port in Godthul is also home to Naval Station Sude, a naval base for both military and littoral service vessels. Seven towns, mostly based at former whaling stations, serve the Sudenese population, which are linked by trams. The population are hardy, descended from British and Norwegian whalers as well as settlers from the Falklands. They have a close-knit, communal society dependent on fishing and government interest in the antarctic.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/sude/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1170,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/suffrage-class/",
  "title": "Suffrage-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Suffrage-Class is a class of corvette in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Suffrage Corvette Built 2031-41 Class Suffrage-class Crew 120 Displacement 2,500 tonnes InService 32 Length 100 meters Service Maritime Service Speed 30 knots Station NS Kairi Kairi The Suffrage-class corvette is a class of corvette of the Marine Services of Vekllei. The Suffrage-class is a smaller, versatile surface combatant designed for patrol, escort, and coastal defence roles. With a displacement of 2,500 tons and a length of 100 meters, the class is large for a corvette, and has an operational capability closer to a frigate than a coastal patrol vessel.\nPowered by the Vampire marine nuclear power plant, the corvette can reach speeds of up to 35 knots, making it fast and agile for its size. Its relatively small crew of 120 operates the ship’s various systems, including weapons, sensors, and communications equipment, and retains a suite of automatic targeting and detection systems to reduce crew workload.\nThe ship’s armament includes a “Vanguard” dual-purpose 76 mm naval gun for surface and air engagements. In addition, it is equipped with “Harpooner” anti-ship missiles for striking surface targets at medium range and a short-range anti-air missile system for self-defense against aerial threats. For anti-submarine operations, the Suffrage-class carries two lightweight torpedo launchers, making it capable of limited ASW missions.\nThe Suffrage-class is equipped with advanced radar and sonar systems, providing situational awareness in both open-ocean and coastal environments. Its relatively small size and versatility allow it to perform a range of missions, including escorting larger vessels, conducting patrols, and participating in maritime security operations.\nWhile not as heavily armed or armored as larger warships, the Suffrage-class ocean corvette is a flexible asset suited for environments where larger ships may be less practical. Its role in fleet operations typically centers around providing defense, conducting reconnaissance, and engaging smaller surface threats.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/suffrage-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1171,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/lucaya/summers/",
  "title": "Summers","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/summers-4x3.svg","icon": "🏰","rgb": "0, 177, 116",
  "section": "Lucaya Commonwealth",
  "description": "Summers (\u003ci\u003eBermuda\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the north Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Summers Republic Island of Bermuda Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Lucaya Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 53.2 km² Capital Parliament Languages English Population 112,830 The Republic of Summers is a constituent republic in the western North Atlantic, and part of the country of Vekllei. It is an island city state consisting of an archipelago of 7 main islands and about 170 charted islets and rocks, situated about 1,000km off the east coast of the United States and about 3,120km southwest of the Vekllei capital in Comet.\nSummers was uninhabited when it was discovered by the Spanish in the early 16th Century, but was not settled until the wreck of the British ship Sea Venture stranded 150 English settlers bound for the Americas there, who named the isles Somers after their leader George Somers. Succeeding settlement included increasing numbers of free but indentured servants and slaves, including prisoners of war and Africans and American Indians trafficked in the slave trade. These groups make up the ancestry of most Summerans today, mixed with a steady influx of subjects from other parts of the British Empire in the centuries since.\nThe republic has a strong naval history that continues today. It has a major naval station of the Marine Services, and is the home port of the Relentless class of Battlecruiser, served at the large dockyard in the naval complex at the west end of the isles. The large naval construction and replenishment sites complement a network of naval forts, garrisons and missile emplacements. The navy is the majority employer in the republic, but the economy is supplemented by fresh produce, the civil service, and tourism from Vekllei people seeking tranquility in its beaches and quiet seaside villages. The republic is also home to a great number of poets and playwrights, whose work is often performed in the Theatre Royale in the capital. It is also home to the headquarters of major Commonwealth institutions, including Cosma and the Commonwealth Mint.\nSummers is one of the few Vekllei republics in which automobiles are banned by law. Although few Vekllei people own personal automobiles, very rarely are they banned altogether. The law came into effect in the early 20th Century, and has remained in place today to preserve the peace and quiet of the islands. Instead, Summerans commute via the 35km railway that runs the length of most of the archipelago. A small tram network also exists in the capital of Hamilton. Otherwise, locals get around via bicycle or scooter. Regular air service from the international airport provides a link to other parts of Vekllei.\nClimate\nMild with lots of sunshine. The warmest months are May to mid-November. Slightly cooler the rest of the year.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Good Friday Easter Monday Whit Monday Commonwealth Day 1 May Cup Match Day Aug (first weekend) Christmas Day 25 Dec Boxing Day 26 Dec Points of Interest Horseshoe Bay Beach: Famous for its pink sand, crystal-clear waters, and scenic limestone cliffs. Crystal Caves: Stunning underground caves featuring dramatic limestone formations and clear, deep pools of water. Summers University: Tertiary College famous for its beautiful campus spread over a number of islands in Great Sound. Commonwealth Mint: Sole manufacturer of physical currency and site of much of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s gold reserves. Cosma: The Vekllei national telecommunications providor, which also operates a major telephone and optical exchange in Summers. Firewalk Summers: Firewalk Tyres operates a factory outside Hamilton that specialises in aircraft tyres, and is a substantial export. The Summers Arboretum: Renowned arboretum that features 90+ acres of flowers, trees, and shrubs, including a palm grove and sensory garden. New York University, Summers: US-based university campus that serves American and Vekllei students on exchange. Naval Station Summers: A historic site housing museums, shops, and restaurants, with attractions like the National Museum of Summers and the Dolphin Quest. Somers International Airport: The republic\u0026rsquo;s primary airport, connecting Summers to major cities like New York, London, and Toronto. Air Station Somers: Military air station attached to the international airport, including airship docking facilities. Parliament Harbour: The central, historic commercial harbour on the island. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/summers/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1172,
  "href": "/factbook/maps/summers-map/",
  "title": "Summers Map","color": "teal",
  "section": "Map",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/maps/summers/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1173,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/swordfish-class/",
  "title": "Swordfish-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/swordfish.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/swordfish_hu866748b8a30a7d0b3e05fb1ce1fab145_8838064_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Swordfish-Class is a class of aerial warfare destroyer in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Swordfish-class Air Escort Destroyer Air Escort Destroyer Built 2042-55 Class No. 12 Swordfish-class Crew 310 Displacement 9,000 tonnes InService 17 Length 165 meters Service Maritime Service Speed 33 knots Station NS Mira Mira The Swordfish-class air escort destroyer is a type of air escort destroyer of the Marine Services of Vekllei. It is a successor to the Baker-class, but is slightly larger to accomodate a larger missile magazine. The class is designed to provide escort for Commonwealth fleets and their carriers, and operates mostly in these formations since they lack substantial anti-ship and anti-submarine defences. While not as armed as Vekllei cruisers or as specialised as submarine hunters, the Swordfish-class is second-to-none in terms of naval anti-air armament.\nThree missile arms on two launchers at the fore and centre decks are capable of firing No. 3 Rackham missiles sequentially. This is a common and versatile missile platform in Vekllei, and can carry specialised payloads including nuclear armament. These missiles are about 10 meters tall, and are fed into the launchers via automatic magazines in the armoured hull of the destroyer. They have a reliable air interception range of about 300km. The system is complemented by No. 6 Shemozzle anti-ship and anti-submarine missile launchers.\nThere are two 76mm \u0026ldquo;Vanguard\u0026rdquo; guns at the bow and aft, and two 40mm point-defence canons on the flanks. The class is powered by the same Vampire marine nuclear power plant as its predecessor, but improvements to its hydrodynamics allows slightly faster sustained speeds of up to 33 knots. The crew size is slightly reduced to 310, due to increased automation in various ship systems. In total the ships have a displacement of 9,000 tons and a length of 165 meters, and are home stationed in Naval Station Mira.\nThe Swordfish-class is also fitted with improved sensor and electronic warfare systems under a Master and Auxiliary Automatic Asset Command computer. These updates were made to counter American improvements to chaff detection in their anti-ship missiles.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/swordfish-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1174,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/technology-use/",
  "title": "Technocracy","icon": "🧪","rgb": "86, 174, 200",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Life in Vekllei depends heavily on technology, but the country is not especially technocratic. This results in odd combinations of high and low technology.",
  "content": " Summary\nVekllei is a high-technology, high-productivity, high-education society. Large segments of its industry are partially or completely automatic thanks to the computerisation of data, planning, and mechanical labour. Thanks to the marriage of incentive and capability, Vekllei is among the most advanced technological societies in the world, and its quality of life is dependent on these advances. Nonetheless, Vekllei is not technocratic, and does not have utopian aspirations for its technology. Beneath the visible successes of technological progress, much of Vekllei society operates on technology, machines and systems that have been superseded or outdated. Consequently, Vekllei is best characterised as a high and low-technology society simultaneously, which speaks to their technological pragmatism, social beliefs and moral scientism. Make no mistake, this bulletin is not describing a society where technology is straightforwardly fairer and people sacrifice petty comforts for better communities. This is not the case, and the use of technology in Vekllei is much more complicated.\nVekllei is famous for its technology around the world. In fact, owing to its cultural obscurity, Vekllei sciences have a quasi-mythical status in international competition. Routinely, the country contributes substantial advances in the nuclear, medicinal, material, and computer sciences. These breakthroughs leave impressions on foreigners and their press, since they are most visible in public life; in their cities, shops and communities.\nUnder the surface, however, things are much more complicated. Unlike most foreign societies, where advances in industrial or military science often trickles down into the household, Vekllei homes are simple and uncomplicated. In fact, to an American or European, Vekllei households are technologically austere and even backwards. It is not uncommon, for example, for Vekllei people to wash their clothes by hand in a tub or carry them to a laundromat. They do not own computers, televisions or personal massagers.\nIt is not accurate to describe Vekllei society as technocratic. Vekllei people are basically social utopians, not techno utopians,1 and their use of technology reflects this. Instead, it is more accurate to describe Vekllei people as being fascinated by technology, which understood literally applies not just to cutting-edge nuclear engines and biosciences but to types of technology that are discarded elsewhere, including steam engines and propeller aircraft.2 This distinction is obvious when you spend time in Vekllei societies and notice that, despite sending tourists to the moon daily, they still operate steam locomotives on timetabled passenger service.\nExample\nVekllei operates some of the most advanced forms of transportation in the world, including the Obsidia series of super-conductive trainsets (maglevs) and commercial space aviation. These are highly visible, and make good press in Vekllei and overseas. But Vekllei is a nation of rail, and most of their rolling stock are simple electrified units that are not so different from the types made at the turn of the millennium, because they are reliable and do their job well.\nEven more dramatically, Vekllei still operates nearly a hundred steam locomotives in regular service across its republics. This is not simply for nostalgia or tourism, but because they are good engines that do their job well. In a social economy, the value of technology is determined socially, and steam locomotives are subsequently valuable here.\nTechnology in Vekllei is not just a question of efficiency or value but what people like. Human labour remains the most expensive aspect of their economy, and in a participatory economy there is no means to compel labour outside of compulsory service. Consequently, people have to like their tools and machines, and this paradigm is at odds with pure technocratic utopianism because it makes inefficient choices.\nA steam locomotive is slower, more labour-intensive and requires more maintenance than modern electric trainsets, but some people like them more so they put in the effort to use them. To that end, they do their job well, and represent a more holistic and personal use of technology determined by ordinary people.\nThis is a fundamental aspect of Vekllei society \u0026ndash; not just that the government should hand down tools and provisions through central resources in an egalitarian fashion, but instead be forced to preempt the whims of a population who are idle, curious, irregular and often motivated by abstract social reasons rather than economic or ideological logic. This is why, despite their standard of living being dependent on huge centralised resources and organisations, Vekllei remains a voluntarist and quasi-anarchist society \u0026ndash; because while they often choose space travel over televisions, sometimes they\u0026rsquo;ll choose steam trains over space travel.\nThe use of utopia here refers to the ultimate social dream of their society. Americans, for example, have a utopia made up of the individual, family, success via wealth or community, and duty. Vekllei has a social utopia made up of its systems, beliefs and systems of government rather than machines, robots and interstellar travel. This does not mean an opposition to technology, just describes which serves what.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe opposite of technocracy, different from neutral and objective technology, is not backwardness and Luddism, but a belief in social relations i.e. democracy.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/technology"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1175,
  "href": "/series/technology/",
  "title": "Technology",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1176,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/",
  "title": "Technology","icon": "🔬","color": "purple",
  "section": "Factbook",
  "description": "Vekllei is a highly technological society, and has lead research into breakthroughs in many industries.",
  "content": " Vekllei is a highly technological society, and due to a confluence of social factors has many scientists and engineers of renown that have contributed to breakthroughs in many industries. THey excel especially in industrial computing, automatic machines, material sciences and chemistry.\nRead more: High and Low Technology in Vekllei ⚛️ Apollo NTR ⌨️ Common Assembly Language 🖥 Computers ❄️ District Cooling ⚛️ Nuclear Marine Propulsion Reactor 💾 Photovolumes ☎️ Phreaking Aircraft CM-100 Horus-Class Vehicles Avro Commando Avro Interceptor Vessels Baker-class Capricorn-class Federal-class Hera-class Hound-class Mantle-class Municipal-class Nike-class Palm-class Prosperity-class Suffrage-class Swordfish-class Volcanic-class Wake-class ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/technology/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1177,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/atlantic/tenerife/",
  "title": "Tenerife","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/tenerife-4x3.svg","icon": "🌋","rgb": "233, 141, 49",
  "section": "Atlantic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Tenerife is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the North Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Tenerife Republic Island of Tenerife Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Atlantic Commonwealth Accession 2020, as part of the Canary Delegation Area 2,034.38 km² Capital Añaza Languages English, Portuguese, Canarii Guanche Population 1,210,448 The Tenerife Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic Ocean, the largest and most populous island of the Canary archipelago. It is dominated by Mount Teide, a dormant volcano that rises 3,718 metres above sea level and stands as the highest point in the Atlantic islands. The mountain\u0026rsquo;s summit is often snow-capped even in summer, a curious sight against the subtropical coastline below.\nThe island was originally home to the Guanche people, a Berber population that arrived from North Africa around 200 BC. Unlike their Benahoarita cousins to the west, the Guanches here had lost the art of seafaring by the time of European contact, which isolated them culturally on their island. They lived in cave complexes and stone settlements, practised mummification of their dead, and developed a sophisticated pastoral society with complex social hierarchies and religious practices centred on their sacred mountain.\nPortuguese navigators reached Tenerife in the early 15th century and found the Guanches already engaged in sporadic trade with Moroccan merchants, who had introduced some Islamic and Christian influences through North African networks. When the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the Canaries in 1494, Tenerife fell within the Portuguese sphere. Colonisation proceeded slowly from 1496, following the lusotropicalist approach that had proven effective in the Azores and Madeira. The Guanches\u0026rsquo; existing exposure to Catholicism, however limited, was encouraged while their traditional customs were gradually incorporated into Portuguese colonial society.\nThe result was a cultural synthesis. Unlike the devastation visited upon Guanche populations elsewhere in the archipelago, Tenerife\u0026rsquo;s Guanches survived in substantial numbers through a process of forced integration rather than conquest. Their cave settlements in the Orotava Valley became the foundation for terraced agricultural systems that still produce the island\u0026rsquo;s famous wines. Traditional Guanche councils, called tagoror, were adapted into Portuguese colonial structures. The practice of goat herding and cheese-making passed unbroken through the centuries even as it fused with Portuguese techniques and customs.\nThis history is visible today. Festival dress combines Portuguese embroidered waistcoats with flowing robes and silver jewellery that echo Berber origins. The whistled language Silbo Guanche persists in mountain villages, though less developed than the Benahoare variant. Religious festivals blend Catholic saints with ceremonies at ancient Guanche sacred sites, particularly around Mount Teide, which the Guanches called Echeyde and considered the dwelling place of their god.\nThe modern republic is the most developed of the Atlantic Commonwealth islands and is an agricultural cornerstone of the national economy. The island exports bananas, tomatoes and potatoes grown on terraced slopes that date back to Guanche times. Its wine industry, centred in the Orotava Valley, produces distinctive volcanic wines from vines planted by Portuguese settlers four centuries ago. The capital, Añaza, was built in the 1920s on the northeast coast as a planned city to replace the congested historic port of Santa Cruz. It serves as the administrative and commercial heart of not just Tenerife but the wider Atlantic Commonwealth.\nMount Teide National Park occupies the island\u0026rsquo;s interior. The volcanic landscape is otherworldly \u0026ndash; rust-red lava fields, forests of endemic Canary pines, and strange rock formations sculpted by ancient eruptions. A funicular railway carries visitors partway up the volcano, with the final ascent requiring a permit and a head for heights. The observatory near the summit is operated jointly by the University of Tenerife and Benahoare\u0026rsquo;s Our Lady of the Snows Observatory.\nThe island is well connected by rail. The main line circles the coast, linking the capital with the historic towns of Puerto de la Cruz in the north and Los Cristianos in the south. A mountain railway climbs to the national park and connects with hiking trails throughout the interior. Trams operate in Añaza and the larger coastal settlements. Two airports serve the island \u0026ndash; the primary facility at Añaza handles most commercial traffic, while a smaller airfield serves the Littoral Service. Flying boats arrive in the capital continuously.\nTenerife\u0026rsquo;s cuisine reflects centuries of cultural fusion. Papas arrugadas are salt-wrinkled potatoes served with mojo sauces that blend Portuguese piri-piri traditions with North African spices. Gofio, a toasted grain flour inherited directly from the Guanches, appears in everything from soups to desserts. Fish stews are a staple and prepared in the Portuguese tradition. The island produces excellent goat cheeses using methods that predate European arrival.\nMost Tinerfeños speak Canarii Guanche in daily life, though heavily influenced by Portuguese vocabulary and grammar. Portuguese itself is commonly spoken in households and contributes to the melodious accent that distinguishes Tinerfeños from other Canariis. English is taught in schools and used in many workplaces and official contexts.\nClimate\nSubtropical with significant variation by altitude. The coast is warm and dry year-round, while the mountain interior experiences cold winters and occasional snow.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Epiphany 6 Jan Good Friday Easter Commonwealth Day 1 May Canary Day 8 Jun Assumption Day 15 Aug Tenerife Day 12 Oct All Saints Day 1 Nov Feast of Imm. Con. 8 Dec Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest Mount Teide National Park: Volcanic landscape surrounding the Atlantic\u0026rsquo;s highest peak, with hiking trails and a funicular railway. Teide Observatory: High-altitude research facility specialising in solar and atmospheric studies. University of Tenerife: Largest campus in the Atlantic Commonwealth, with faculties in sciences, humanities and engineering. Avro Tenerife: Automobile manufacturer based in the Orotava Valley. Canarii Museum of Nature and Archaeology: Comprehensive collection covering Guanche culture, natural history and the island\u0026rsquo;s geological formation. Orotava Valley: Historic wine-growing region with steep terraced vineyards and colonial architecture. Añaza Cathedral: Modern cathedral completed in 2034, incorporating Guanche stonework recovered from archaeological sites. Commonwealth Atlantic Administrative Complex: Headquarters of the Atlantic Commonwealth regional government. Cave of the Guanches: Preserved cave settlement in the Güímar Valley with ancient mummies and artifacts. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/tenerife/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1178,
  "href": "/terminal/",
  "title": "Terminal","color": "orange",
  "section": "Home",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1179,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-defence/armed-forces/territorial/",
  "title": "Territorial Services","logo": "/svg/crests/territorial-service.svg","icon": "⚔️","color": "land",
  "section": "Armed Forces",
  "description": "The Territorial Services comprise 3 specialised services in the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Overview # The Armed Forces of the Commonwealth are the military of Vekllei, and a constituent armed component of the Ministry of Defence. They comprise the combined armed services of the country, as well as capabilities for public emergencies, law enforcement and civil defence.\nUnlike common practice overseas, Vekllei does not have seperate military branches, and instead administers all aspects of defence as a single armed organisation originating as part of the navy, a term which is still used generally to describe all military services. As a union of island communities, the Vekllei Navy is its historic and contemporary primary means of defence, and Vekllei doctrine favours an integrated command. As such, all air and land warfare is conducted as part of the Navy under a unified defence command.1\nBecause all services operate within the Navy, different roles are organised into different services. For example, the traditional surface navy of the Maritime Service does not operate its own seaborne aviation, since all aircraft are part of the Navy\u0026rsquo;s Air Service. In this context, \u0026ldquo;Navy\u0026rdquo; is a synonym for \u0026ldquo;Military\u0026rdquo; in Vekllei, and equipment, signage and vehicles are marked as such.\nVekllei Armed Services # A Vekllei military service is a component of the overall armed forces, and so they overlap and intersect. Unlike most other militaries, which are divided between different branches and coordinated by a central command, Vekllei military services are effectively interchangeable, and form interarmes services for specific missions. A single interarmes service may even involve regiments from all services simultaneously, which would operate as a single unit under a unified command.\nVekllei is a seagoing country of island communities, and so the Marine Services are the backbone of its strategic forces. They are the oldest military organisations of Vekllei and revered by the country.\nNote\nIn numbered Vekllei services (e.g. Terrestrial \u0026amp; Air Services, etc.), numerical order is preserved and units are not permanently identified by a particular number. Unit numbers are administrative and assist in formation of interarmes services, so units may change numbers regularly. Instead, unit identity and honours are attached to ceremonial and historical names that remain with the unit.\n🗡️ Land and Army Services # The Vekllei Territorial Service is the closest component to a conventional army in the Vekllei armed forces, and comprises the majority of its professional fighting force. All Rifles regiments are trained as marine infantry, and Vekllei does not maintain dedicated marine regiments. All Territorial regiments are a part of the Commonwealth Guard and are federalised the same way, but are distinguished by their professional service and expeditionary posture.\nIn Vekllei, military units are roughly organised as \u0026lsquo;regiments\u0026rsquo; of 1,000 men and \u0026lsquo;sections\u0026rsquo; of 100.\nOrganisation\nVekllei has a professional combat army of around 45,000 soldiers, 6,000 of which are commandos that suit its expeditionary and interventionist strategic posture.\nIncluding the Guards and Popular Guards, which serve roles as reservists and partisan militias respectively, that number exceeds a million during wartime.\nCommonwealth Rifles # Rifles regiments consist of 1,000 men, and can be assembled into larger divisional units. Regiment numbers are administrative only and so can change, and regiments are identified with inherited names with honours instead. All Rifles servicemen are also part of a Guards regiment as per the Vekllei federal militia system. Rifles are mechanised with armoured cars.\nPolicy is to have a standing army 35,000 strong, but Rifles regiments are activated as they are combat-ready, and so the 19th and 20th are often deactivated between training.\nRifles Regiments (36,000) # Expeditionary Rifles (2,000)\n1st Commonwealth Rifles Fortress Lola Oslola 1st Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Lola Oslola 2nd Rifles Battalion 300 Montre Barracks Oslola 3rd Rifles Battalion 300 Iron Barracks Kala 2nd Parliamentary Rifles Fortress Meteor Flores 4th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Meteor Flores 5th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Meteor Flores 6th Rifles Battalion 300 Velas Barracks Velas Fortressed Rifles (10,000)\n3rd Demonic Guards Regiment 1000 Fortress Demon Demon 7th Rifles Battalion 300 Air Station Scatsta Hetland 8th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Demon Demon 9th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Demon Demon 4th Sunburst Guards Regiment 1000 Fortress Lola Oslola 10th Rifles Battalion 300 Air Station Oslola Oslola 11th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Lola Oslola 12th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Lola Oslola 5th Desert Guards Regiment 1000 Fortress Praia Praia 13th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Praia Praia 14th Rifles Battalion 300 Air Station Praia Praia 15th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Praia Praia 6th African Guards Regiment Fortress Annobon Annobon 16th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Annobon Annobon 17th Rifles Battalion 300 Naval Station Java Java 18th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Annobon Annobon 7th Sentinel Guards Regiment Fortress Helena Helena 19th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Helena Helena 20th Rifles Battalion 300 Air Station Ascension Ascension 21st Rifles Battalion 300 Naval Station Santes Santes 8th Falklander Guards Regiment Fortress Falklands Falklands 22nd Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Falklands Falklands 23rd Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Falklands Falklands 24th Rifles Battalion 300 Naval Station Sude Sude 9th Sugar Guards Regiment Fortress Kabuli Kabuli 25th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Kabuli Kabuli 26th Rifles Battalion 300 Naval Station Antigua Antigua 27th Rifles Battalion 300 Air Station Kairi Kairi 10th Ready Guards Regiment Fortress Aruba Aruba 28th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Aruba Aruba 29th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Aruba Aruba 30th Rifles Battalion 300 Naval Station Curacao Curacao 11th Candle Guards Regiment Fortress Occident Caicos 31st Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Occident Caicos 32nd Rifles Battalion 300 Conch Barracks Conch 33rd Rifles Battalion 300 Naval Station Summers Summers 12th Meteor Guards Regiment Fortress Meteor Flores 34th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Meteor Flores 35th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Meteor Flores 36th Rifles Battalion 300 Naval Station Mira Mira Commonwealth Rifles (8,000)\n13th Lucayan Rifles Fortress Occident Caicos 37th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Occident Caicos 38th Rifles Battalion 300 Habacoan Barracks Habacoa 39th Rifles Battalion 300 Nema Barracks Nema 14th Verden Rifles Fortress Praia Praia 40th Rifles Battalion 300 Viana Barracks Viana 41st Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Praia Praia 42nd Rifles Battalion 300 Boa Vista Barracks Boa Vista 15th Volcanic Rifles Fortress Lola Oslola 43rd Rifles Battalion 300 Aismious Barracks AIsmious 44th Rifles Battalion 300 Air Station Scatsta Hetland 45th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Demon Demon 16th Arctic Rifles Air Station Kala Kala 46th Rifles Battalion 300 Iron Barracks Kala 47th Rifles Battalion 300 Air Station Kala Kala 48th Rifles Battalion 300 Naval Station Helvasia Helvasia 17th Antarctic Rifles Fortress Falklands Falklands 49th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Falklands Falklands 50th Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Falklands Falklands 51st Rifles Battalion 300 Sude Barracks Sude 18th Antilles Rifles Fortress Aruba Aruba 52nd Rifles Battalion 300 Fortress Aruba Falklands 53rd Rifles Battalion 300 Caimanas Barrakcs Caimanas 54th Rifles Battalion 300 Abakoa Barracks Abakoa 19th Atlantic Rifles Fortress Meteor Flores 55th Rifles Battalion 300 Costa Verde Barracks Costa Verde 56th Rifles Battalion 300 Naval Station Mira Mira 57th Rifles Battalion 300 Canary Barracks Canary 20th Kalinan Rifles Fortress Kabuli Kabuli 58th Rifles Battalion 300 Kairi Barracks Kairi 59th Rifles Battalion 300 Virgin Barracks Virgin 60th Rifles Battalion 300 Barbados Barracks Barbados Aerorifles Regiments # 21st-24th Aerorifles Regiments Marine Rifles Regiments # 25th-32nd Marine Rifles Regiments Special Warfare Regiments # Chemical Defence Regiment Oslola Nuclear Defence Regiment Oslola Armoured Rifles Regiments # The Armoured Rifles are mechanised with infantry fighting vehicles and function as shock infantry.\n35th-36th Armoured Rifles Regiments Commonwealth Commandos (6,000) # Commandos in Vekllei are highly trained, professional soldiers with an expeditionary character. While often trained for remote and tactical combat, they are also commonly used to lead interarmes services that include regular rifle infantry.\nThe 1st-3rd commandos include regional special forces sections for polar, equatorial and lunar warfare. The 6th specialises in unconventional and psychological warfare.\nCommandos Regiments 1st-3rd Commandos Regiments 4th Airborne Commandos Regiment 5th Marine Commandos Regiment 6th Special Activities Regiment Commonwealth Javelins Javelin regiments are the Vekllei name for armoured units, and represent the bulk main battle tank force. They are designed to operate with rifles regiments in interarmes formations.\nJavelin Regiments\n1st-2nd Javelin Regiments 3rd Javelin Scouts Regiment Commonwealth Federal Components Commonwealth components are the federal militia and primary reserve force of the Territorial Services. It is federalised by default, and contributes its servicemen for the Rifles and other territorial regiments. As such, all Territorial servicemen are part of a Commonwealth Guards regiment, but in regular service are assigned to active units in other services. Only reservists, trainees and officers remained attached to the Guard while it is federalised.\nGuards units are numbered in context to their home republic, i.e. Oslola has Guards regiments numbering 1st-12th.\nCommonwealth Popular Guards The Popular Guards are the volunteer militia groups found across the country. They reflect the Vekllei concept of the citizen-soldier, and are distinct from regular guards/reservists by their level of training and organisation. They are strictly volunteer, and are raised and organised by gendarmes of the Police of the Parliament. They number perhaps a million if mobilised totally, and would function as a saboteur and partisan force in the event of war.\nCommonwealth Security Service The Commonwealth Security Service is the military police of the territorial service, and primarily provides base security, military intelligence and policing for enlisted servicemen.\nSecurity Service Regiments\n1st Parliamentary Security Regiment 2nd Industrial Security Regiment, Ministry of Light and Water 3rd-4th Security Regiments 5th-6th Strategic Security Regiments 7th Security Intelligence Regiment Commonwealth Patrol Service The Patrol Service is the armed border guard of Vekllei. While all Vekllei borders are found at sea and involve the Littoral Service, the Patrol Service provides onshore security and policing.\nAlthough the service is organised into regiments, their formations are better reflected by their regional sections.\nPatrol Service Regiments\n1st-8th Patrol Regiments Equipment\nTerritorial Service Equipment Main Battle Tanks # 310 No. 4 Sekhmet MBT 21 No. 3 Ordoria MBT Infantry Fighting Vehicles # 300 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (ASLAV) 1600 Infantry Fighting Vehicles Armoured Personnel Carriers # 3500 Armoured Personnel Carriers (Commandos) 1400 Tracked APCs 800 Amphibious Armoured Vehicles 600 Armoured All-Terrain Carriers 460 Armoured Cars Watercraft # 30 Amphibious Cargo Vehicles 24 Mechanised Landing Craft Trucks \u0026amp; Cars # 3,600 Multi-Purpose Utility Vehicle 3,560 Military Truck 30 High-Mobility Transporters Mine-Resistant and Ambush Vehicles # 240 Protected Combat Support Vehicle 180 Armoured Personnel Support Vehicle Engineering Vehicles # 30 Armoured Combat Engineering Vehicles 80 Combat Recovery Vehicles 20 Vehicle-Launched Bridges 72 Armoured Tractors 15 Amphibious Bridging Vehicles 6 Demining Vehicles 12 Mine Detection Vehicles 20 Bulldozers 8 Backhoe Loaders Field Artillery Service Field Artillery Service Structure Field Artillery # 1st-5th Cannons Regiments Artillery Service Equipment Artillery # 52 Rocket Artillery 105 Self-Propelled Artillery 120 155mm Towed Howitzer 80 105mm Towed Howitzer 75 Ceremonial Gun-Howitzer Signals Service Signals Service Equipment 4 Signals Interceptor Aircraft 2 Intelligence \u0026amp; Control Aircraft 6 Early Warning Aircraft The \u0026rsquo;navy\u0026rsquo; as described here is seperate from the Maritime Service, which comprises the naval fleets of Vekllei. It is a broader termp distinct from the maritime and littoral services.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/land/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1180,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/elsewhere/",
  "title": "The Commons Overseas","icon": "🌐","rgb": "200, 110, 189",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Despite its certain achievements, the Vekllei economic system known as the 'Commons' remains unique to that country.",
  "content": " Summary\nThe commons is a pretty remarkable thing. It has improved life satisfaction, productivity, and quality of life for people in Vekllei. The obvious question follows \u0026ndash; if the commons is so great, why is it only found in Vekllei? If other countries are richer and more powerful, why have they not seized on these new developments? The answer is complicated, and just as the commons does not rely on the benevolent altruism of the Vekllei person, its exclusivity does not rely on a superior work ethic intrinsic to them either. Fundamentally, Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s system is just too unusual, too culturally and geographically specific, too risky, and too imperfect to see much interest in adoption overseas. The obvious question is, if the Vekllei commons is so great, why is it only found in Vekllei? The commons, as a reminder, is a moniker for Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s domestic, consumer economy that does not use money in ordinary life. For most Vekllei people, this is the only economy they actually engage with in a domestic context. It is seperate from the industrial economy, through which international trade and most large enterprise is facilitated.\nSince its gradual, staged introduction throughout the 2010s and 2020s, the commons has been a radical achievement of postwar Vekllei society. Against all expectations, it has produced good outcomes for Vekllei people and continues to do so. They rank highly in productivity, happiness, education and overall life satisfaction, and it is has dramatically redetermined the function and mechanics of the economy.\nVekllei\u0026rsquo;s world in 2063 has plenty of radical, or at least ostensibly revolutionary, states. So why has the success of the Vekllei system, which has resemblance to many different kinds of progressive economic ideologies, not yet found traction in other countries?\nWhile there are a few key factors that have resulted in Vekllei being the only example of such a system in a world, it\u0026rsquo;s important to acknowledge that Vekllei has had and continues to have influence on the political and economic thinking around the world. Although moneylessness has not been implemented in other countries, geographic neighbours like Cuba have worked closely with Vekllei to establish the Oceans Political Institute as part of an expression of interest in their system. As another example, Iberia\u0026rsquo;s internal self-governing collectivities closely resemble aspects of the Vekllei commons.\nNonetheless, there are good answers for why Vekllei remains unique among economic systems:\nThere is little evidence that the commons would work at scale. Despite its geographic size, Vekllei has only 24 million people. It has major urban centres in Oslola and some islands in the Kalina island chain, and those cities have been dramatically adapted to suit their system. There is no reason to assume that what works on their islands might also work in a much larger, more populous, continental country. They have a very federal society with a strong, civic culture developed in a unique set of circumstances. These are not things you can simply develop in a five-year plan, or attempt to forge through control of media. Their social behaviours are also their economic ones, and so are much more vulnerable to changes in public sentiment or attitude. Vekllei is politically independent. Despite some similarities, Vekllei does not in rhetoric or appearance resemble a communist or anarchist society. There is no mention of Marx, class, or proletariat, and the foundations of Vekllei political economics were influenced by feminist anarchists, Georgists, libertarians and nationalists. Although the country does not resemble any single ideology, these left-of-field influences isolate (and insulate) it from straightforward characterisation in the cold war binary, and by extension has much less academic interest overseas. While Vekllei considers itself a western, democratic country, it does not resemble traditional capitalist liberalism, and elements of its economy, like dirigisme, are already common around the world. Consequently, Vekllei does not offer much insight into reform of these existing systems, and its greater achievements require much more revolutionary, foundational and unappealing changes to a country. Fundamentally, competing systems continue to \u0026lsquo;work.\u0026rsquo; The Soviet Union and China remain superpowers, and despite the troubles of the US, the Western powers remain economically and militarily powerful. From a certain perspective, there is nothing \u0026lsquo;wrong\u0026rsquo; with these systems insofar as they maintain their superpower status and continuous growth. The commons has straightforward concessions, and directs their quality of life. Despite its social achievements, Vekllei people are materially poorer than most other developed countries, if measured by the metrics of a consumer society. It is obvious to other countries that Vekllei is culturally obscure, and its social economy is built on core social factors that aren\u0026rsquo;t easy to reproduce in economic planning. There is no straightforward solution or, for the reasons listed above, a serious desire to introduce aspects of its economy elsewhere. It has no special industrial or technological advantage. It is quite possible its introduction would destroy a country, since its only successful example developed in the aftermath of total devastation in the Atomic War. While these reasons contribute to the obscurity of the commons, it is also true that it has been successfully implemented in many different societies \u0026ndash; it\u0026rsquo;s just that those societies now make up part of Vekllei, and their integration (known as \u0026lsquo;federalisation\u0026rsquo;) was directed by Vekllei. This exact process will be described in another bulletin, but its success contains insights for other emerging case studies, including potentially Cuba and Haiti. These are similarly radical societies with a restless island population, and so are primed for the kind of changes required to undertake such a dramatic reimagining of their economic system.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/elsewhere"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1181,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/consensus/",
  "title": "The Post-War Consensus","icon": "🏞️","rgb": "117, 135, 218",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Vekllei government operates in general consensus about the state and challenges of the country, an arrangement that has held for decades.",
  "content": " Summary\nVekllei is governed by an executive council of peers called the Commonwealth Directory. The directory is made up of Prime Ministers who are forbidden from participating in political parties, as part of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s nonpartisan democracy. The principles of consensus are important for the Vekllei style of governance, and contribute to the stability of the country. Although policy is fought over within executive bodies in Vekllei, the principles of consensus are that results should be respected and that it is important for the government to present a unified front. These principles were founded in the far-ranging and diverse nature of the Commonwealth, in which irreconcilable disagreements threatened permanent political paralysis that would destabilise Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s fledgling postwar democracy.\nVekllei democracy is ostensibly nonpartisan, meaning that it does not have formal political parties. Instead, candidates for election present five policy points which they commit to represent in office.\nIn practice, disagreement and consensus in Vekllei mimics the cascading federalism of its political system. There are many different levels of executive, and a single executive has multiple functions within the political framework. In each case, disagreement happens privately and consensus is presented publicly.\nFor example, a Sorda is an office of two prime ministers, usually a man and a woman, representing a republic. The Commonwealth Directory is made up of eight Sorda. Individual PMs may disagree about an issue, but within the Directory they are expected to represent a single office and thus present a single point of view. The Directory itself, as part of the Commonwealth Council routinely has major political disagreements but presents policy as a unified government.\nThis culture is a feature of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s council-based society, in which workplace democracy and recreational activities alike are often governed by multiple people. In this style of decision-making, factionalism and partisan behaviour have to be restrained to prevent the paralysis of the executive. As such, private disagreement and public consensus is a natural feature of this style of government.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/consensus"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1182,
  "href": "/millmint/essays/west/",
  "title": "The West Coast of Tasmania","icon": "🏔️","rgb": "130, 120, 36",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/blog/westcoast/11.jpeg",
        "webp": "/images/blog/westcoast/11_hu18a20eadcce9d3bc3642dfa0f9873d24_1074275_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Essays",
  "description": "The greatest wilderness in the world.",
  "content": " A shining beacon in the dull, uniform and largely artificial world\n\u0026ndash; Olegas Truchanas (1923-1972)\nThese photos were taken across two trips to the West Coast of Tasmania. The first was in September 2020. The second was in April 2021. Each time it took about four or five hours to get there, driving along the only road that cuts through the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. It includes about a fifth of Tasmania\u0026rsquo;s landmass, covering almost all of the southwest.\nThe West Coast is foreign to most Tasmanians, who are located in Tassie\u0026rsquo;s south in Hobart or north in Launceston. The West is sparsely populated and dominated almost entirely by the southwestern protected areas, which include world heritage rainforests and national parks.\nIt is \u0026lsquo;old\u0026rsquo; by several criteria. The landscape itself is millions of years old, and dramatically glacial. Indigenous people have inhabited the area for tens of thousands of years. There are Huon pines in Mt Read that are currently over ten thousand years old \u0026ndash; these are among the oldest living organisms on Earth. Throughout its history, Tasmania\u0026rsquo;s West Coast has been home to the Peternidic and Ninene people, convicts and their guards, loggers, piners, fishermen and miners.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s harder than you\u0026rsquo;d think to qualify as a \u0026lsquo;wilderness\u0026rsquo; in the eyes of UNESCO.\nThe International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources included in its opening summary:\n[The TWWHA comprises] one of the world\u0026rsquo;s last great remaining temperate pristine wildernesses. With distinctive landforms, outstanding examples of cool temperate rainforests, important aboriginal sites (the Tasmanians are now an extinct race of humans), and many endangered species of plants and animals (including, perhaps, the Thylacine or Tasmanian Wolf), the area is unique and special at a world scale.\nThis is an incredible place, and feels empty of human concern. Looking south across the Gordon River, there is likely not a single human being between you and Antarctica. The protected areas and world heritage site are so isolated that only a single road links the West Coast to the East.\nThe plaque located near where the photo above was taken said there was evidence of human habitation from over 40,000 years ago. The Parks Tasmania website says 35,000 plus \u0026ndash; either way, it\u0026rsquo;s a staggeringly long time, and mostly incomprehensible.\nThe Australian landscape does not look like anywhere else on Earth. The Tasmanian landscape does not look like anywhere else in Australia. It has muddy hues of red, lime, orange, white and green that appear across great grassy plains, dramatic rocky highlands, glacial lakes, quiet white beaches and tannin creeks.\nThese photos were taken on my  iPhone 11 Pro across the Tasmanian southwest.\nBeautiful green hills on the highway out towards hydro country. In the spring and autumn, the paddocks and fields are bright green. In the summer, their hues shift to orange and red \u0026ndash; the typical dry country you might otherwise associate with Australian agriculture.\nThe Tasmanian Highlands are found at the end of a long and winding road gaining elevation in \u0026ldquo;hydro country.\u0026rdquo; The Hydro-Electric Commission (H.E.C.) was a huge presence in Tasmania for a long time. The government-owned company exists as Hydro Tasmania today, with a much worse name and logo. Hydro\u0026rsquo;s dramatic hydroelectric schemes in the 20th Century formed some of the lakes found in Tasmania\u0026rsquo;s interior.\nThe rivers and lakes out here are filled with tannin, which colours the water red and amber where it meets the shore. The shores of the lake are lined by fallen, bleached trees that were flooded after the dams downstream were built.\nThe highlands precede some very un-Tasmanian mountain scenery, which remind me of the American Pacific Northwest. You can see the exposed, rocky peaks of the mountain ranges, which are indicative of the area\u0026rsquo;s glacial history. The grassy plains in the first picture are populated by a type of native grass commonly called \u0026lsquo;button grass.\u0026rsquo;\nThe ruins of the Royal Hotel sit along the highway just outside of Queenstown. Built in 1901, the pub burned down in 1910 before being rebuilt. It closed in the early 1950s as the mining towns in the area emptied out. The town of Linda, where the Royal Hotel is located, is a ghost town. One of many in the area.\nThe barren moonscape of the hills surrounding the mining town of Queenstown. They still mine gold there today. Queenstown is a weird town, and among the last of the old mining towns scattered through Tasmania\u0026rsquo;s interior.\nA yacht returns to the jetties in Strahan, which sits on Macquarie Harbour. The overcast weather is typical of the West Coast \u0026ndash; when it\u0026rsquo;s not outright raining.\nA lighthouse guards the entrance to Macquarie Harbour, called Hell\u0026rsquo;s Gates. It\u0026rsquo;s a treacherous pass that has sunk many ships. A few kilometres further into the harbour is Sarah Island, a former penal colony widely regarded as the harshest in the colonial penal system. Today it\u0026rsquo;s a ruin. It sits at the foot of the Gordon River, where piners would fell Huon pine and send it downstream.\nToday, Huon pine is illegal to log. The Parks \u0026amp; Wildlife Service gathers debris that floats into Macquarie Harbour and rations it to mills and furniture makers. It has the nicest smell of any wood in the world \u0026ndash; yes, it\u0026rsquo;s true. It is unlike any other kind of wood smell, and highly sought-after. Today it\u0026rsquo;s mostly made into bowls and stirring spoons, since it\u0026rsquo;s very rare for pieces to emerge large enough for tables and chairs. Even 25 years ago you could find colonial furniture made of Huon pine for dirt cheap. Not anymore.\nI think about the West Coast a lot. Isolation is a powerful force on the mind. Thanks for reading. ■\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/west/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1183,
  "href": "/factbook/timeline/",
  "title": "Timeline","icon": "⏳","color": "brown",
  "section": "Factbook",
  "description": "Vekllei is an immersive visual world, written and illustrated by Hobart Phillips.",
  "content": " This timeline is a useful curated reference of Atlantic history, but is not comprehensive. It is continuously evolving with this site. Pre-War Timeline # 6000BC Earliest evidence of human settlement in Oslola 1230BC Irish settlers establish fishing communities on south coast of Oslola 1100BC Scandinavians settle in Smoke Cove, aka Lola 600BC Oslola is politically and culturally isolated from Europe 400BC Oslola is using Oslolan logographs\nUpen is being practiced 500BC Beginning of Oslolan Common Period 200 Beginning of Oslolan Early Period 230 Language reforms are initiated by Queen Souisviasn 700 Beginning of Oslolan Middle Period\nFounding of the 1st Commonwealth\nOslola’s monarchist period 900 Golden age of sagas begins 1100 Helvasia is discovered by Scandinavians, who observe Arctic Sami living there\nAnguilla and Antigua are settled by Arawaks 1200 Founding of the 2nd Commonwealth\nAismo Desimou becomes king\nCapital moved to Altanehs\nArawaks are displaced by Caribs in Antigua\nIrish settlers establish Aran on Demon 1350 Rise of trading towns on East Coast 1380 Navy coup forces monarchy from power 1350 Rise of trading towns on East Coast 1400 Beginning of Period of Rest\nFounding of the 3rd Commonwealth\nCollapse of Oslolan trading power begins 1422 The Royal Mail Service, predecessor to the Commonwealth Post, is founded in Oslola. 1440 Kala enters a union with the 3rd Commonwealth 1455 Costa Verde is discovered and settled by Portugal 1492 Antigua is discovered by Europeans 1600 Beginning of Vekllei Late Period\nOslola loses the Six Years War to the British Empire and is capitulated as a colony of the British Empire. 1642 Commonwealth Bank is founded in Oslola as the Royal Bank 1643 Helvasia is rediscovered by Europeans and subsequently settled by whalers. 1689 Allia and Aloi are settled by the UK 1692 Barbary is founded as a slave estate known as Codrington's Island 1695 Antigua and Barbados are settled by the UK\nCombermere School opens in Barbados 1815 Ascension is settled by the UK 1830 Atlantic is founded in the Oslola 1836 The British Overseas Territories consisting of Oslola, Kala and Demon are reincorporated as the British Atlantic Territories, including Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Montserrat, the Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan de Cuna Islands, South Georgia and Sandwich Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. 1838 The new British Atlantic Territories are granted an executive governor, essentially affording self-governing status to the colonies. 1841 The Ginnery is founded in Barbary 1842 The Atlantic daily newspaper is founded\nThe Great Recession hits the metropole 1849 Royal University of the West Indies is founded in Antigua 1874 Montre University is founded 1899 Gina is founded in Oslola 1901 The British Atlantic Territories are granted an 1902 Cateral is founded in Kairi as Cateral Artillery Co. 1908 The future capital of Godthul is founded as a whaling station by Norway in Sude 1925 Rail transport in Oslola is nationalised 1926 The British Atlantic Territories are awarded Dominion status at the 1926 Imperial Conference, granting it autonomy from British administration. 1935 Beginning of the Late Commonwealth\nThe Atlantic Independence Movement culminates in Oslola achieving independence from the UK, retaining Edward VII as the head of state. 1933 Sugarhouse Mountain Fortress begins construction outside Montre\nU.K. deploys frigates to the North Atlantic 1940 The Second World War begins 1943 The assassination of Adolf Hitler ends the Second World War and results in the partition of Germany\nThe United Nations is founded 1946 Nuclear weapons used by the US against Japan 1946 American-Japanese War ends 1963 Oslola becomes independent of the British Crown, replacing the monarch with the Atlantic Council\nCosta Verde along with the rest of the Azores votes to secede from Portugal after the recession worsens 1966 United Kingdom enters decolonisation talks in Edinburgh Conference\nThe Imperial Trade House in Oslola is burnt down by arsonists 1968 Founding of the First Commonwealth of Oceans\nThe UK grants independence to the British Atlantic Territories, which chooses to remain a single country after a referendum. The new country is known as the Atlantic Federation 1976 Costa Verde accedes to the Atlantic Federation 1978 The 1978 World’s Fair is held in Montre\n1978 World's Fair terror attack kills 2,300 people\nAtlantic Crown dissolves under republican pressure 1986 Government is sacked by the Governor-General after corruption inquiry\nConstitutional crisis begins\nMartial Law is declared in Vekllei 1989 UK frigate sunk after tensions over VK-Faroese corridor access 1992 Oslolan Civil War begins along political and ethnic lines 1993 The Atlantic Crown junta collapses but the rebellion is unable to consolidate control, leading to further fighting 1995 First Atomic War\n100 Days Grief\nVekllei is occupied by the UK \u0026 the US\nThe foundation of the European Economic Community (EEC)\nThe US establishes a lunar colony in Ocean of Storms 2004 Wallabies are introduced to Vekllei\nBritish Gambia border skirmish occurs\nThe Senegalese Crisis begins\nBritish expeditionary forces invade Senegal 2006 The USSR establishes a lunar colony in Eastern Sea\nMoon I treaty establishes protected Lunar Nullius\nThe PRC establishes a lunar colony on East Equator Post-War Timeline # 2015 Beginning of Vekllei Floral Period\nFounding of the Interim Government\nGovernment Aircraft Factories is founded in Oslola 2017 Founding of the 4th Commonwealth\nUK withdraws from Vekllei\nGovernment is reesetablished\nAngua, Antigua, Barbary, Liamuiga, Martin, Montesur and Oualie are federated into the Antilles Commonwealth\nGeneral Reactor is founded in Vekllei\nCommonwealth Oil is founded in Kairi 2018 Commonwealth Airways is founded\nFission energy is legalised for restricted commercial use in the U.S.\nVekllei postwar economic boom begins\nUnited Grocers is founded in Virgin 2020 Aismious accede to the Commonwealth\nFarmer’s Syndicate is founded\nThe International Federation of Journalists moves HQ to Vekllei 2021 Ou Hydroelectric Dam opens 2022 Ramoin-Dupont Aircraft Company founded\nFirst commercial vacuum airship flight in France 2023 Amelie Azela is born 2024 Gregori Hordiyenko, the first Gregori baby, is born 2025 Gregori Hordiyenko, the first Gregori baby, is born\nAtlantis is founded in Cama\nCommonwealth Aircraft Corporation is founded in Oslola\nCommonwealth Lines is founded in Oslola 2026 National Machines is founded in Vekllei 2027 Baron Azela is born\nThe Soviet lunar colony is unofficially abandoned 2029 Ayn Rumouisen is born in Yana Boya Chemical opens in Ada 2030 Vekllei's second fusion power plant goes online in Kairi 2033 The All-Atomic Auto Company (AAAC) is founded in Vekllei\nThe Strawberry Test Site begins operations in Montre 2034 The first Vekllei vacuum airship is launched 2035 National Construction House is founded in Oslola 2038 Amelie Azela, Baron’s sister, dies from TB 2043 Vekllei World Jetport opens 2044 Baron enlists in general infantry, dropping out of school\nAdelectrics is founded in Santes 2045 The People’s Republic of China declares war on Taiwan\n2045 Sino Crisis begins\nVekllei enters war against China alongside NATO 2046 Decolonisation of the U.K. possessions is complete\nNational Robotics Plant is opened by National Machines in Barbados 2047 Tzipora Sumoisnesn is born in Ro\nVekllei withdraws troops from Taiwan 2048 2045 Sino Crisis ends in PRC defeat\nCopette Science Basin and Rocket Factory established in Vekllei\nU.S. announces cuts to space programme\nFrance establishes lunar colony in West Equator\nCobian is born in Little Vekllei\nCommonwealth Starlines is founded as a subsidiary of Commonwealth Airways in Ascension 2049 Ayn and Baron meet during their Noshem cadetship 2050 Vekllei establishes a colony on the South Lunar Pole\nGregori Hordiyenko dies in a car accident 2052 Oa-class Battlecruiser is commissioned 2053 Baron is assigned to Bolivia as an Noshem Section Chief 2055 Vekllei sovereignty over Lunar Pole is disputed in international court\nWildfires in Somalia collapse U.S.-backed Somali Democratic Party 2056 Vekllei establishes Moidonnet (Moon City) on the Malapert Massif Comen Aeroyards are founded\nCifuentes government is overthrown with Soviet help in Colombia 2057 The U.S. invades Colombia to depose communist government\nTzipora moves to California to study at St Mary’s Catholic College\nMissile attack on Panama Canal halts shipping traffic for six weeks\nThe Second Yom Kippur War sends oil prices spiralling\n2057 Financial Crisis begins 2058 Terror attack in Cairo prompts OAPEC to restrict crude supply\nThe Ghawar refinery is set alight in Saudi Arabia by Iranian spies\nThe Ford Motor Company declares bankruptcy\nThe Dallas Secession begins\nOpen conflict with the United States begins\nBaron moves to Dallas America as an AB/NI operative\n2059 Tzipora loses contact with her mother\nTzipora leaves St Mary’s and moves East\nLend-lease of nuclear silos g’teed under California Amendment\nJune ceasefire between U.S. and Dallas\n2061 Tzipora meets baron at Hotel Cairo\nDallas government issues stand-down order after central command over secessionist militias wanes\nE.E.C. pledges material support to U.S. government 2063 Operation Sea of Reeds occurs\nTzipora arrives in Vekllei ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/timeline/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1184,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commons/transport-commission/",
  "title": "Transport Commission","logo": "/svg/logos/transport-commission.svg","icon": "🛤️","rgb": "255, 86, 79",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commons",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Transport Commission manages public transport for the Ministry of the Commons.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Transport Commission manages public transport in Vekllei. While operation is delegated to many federated companies operated by the government and individual licensees, including CommRail, Commonwealth Airways and Commonwealth Lines the transport commission is responsible for the overall connectivity and usefulness of the network.\nMost Vekllei people do not own private automobiles and so cannot be expected to travel via their own means. Instead, transport has to be arranged through useful and well-maintained public services, which the transport commission arranges. It is headquartered in Praya in Aruba.\nThe Transport Commission\u0026rsquo;s findings are non-binding but generally respected, and the commission has access to real-time data provided by networked industrial computers. It also makes recommendations to the Vekllei Cabinet. The fundamental aim of the commission is to facilitate the accessibility of any Vekllei person to any part of Vekllei via the public networks it is famous for.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-transport-commission/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1185,
  "href": "/factbook/state/government/ministries/ministry-of-the-commons/transport-laboratories/",
  "title": "Transport Laboratories","logo": "/svg/logos/transport-labs.svg","icon": "🏛️","rgb": "234, 29, 46",
  "section": "Ministry of the Commons",
  "description": "The Commonwealth Transport Laboratories conducts research to develop the Vekllei transport network for the Ministry of the Commons.",
  "content": "The Commonwealth Transport Laboratories (CTL) conducts research to benefit the Vekllei national transport network. Although a lot of this research relates to the existing operation of their commuter systems, it also includes development of new routes and machines that may benefit accessibility and efficiency of transport in the country.\nIn this sense, CTL outlines the shape and future of Vekllei transport in a comprehensive fashion. It lacks the resources to develop prototypes itself, and so commissions other industrial and government partners. Examples include the Coral-series electric multiple units for CommRail, which were developed by the Atlantic Works to specifications provided by CTL.\nCTL has a close working relationship with the Transport Commission, which uses its findings to develop transport policy. Much of CTL\u0026rsquo;s regular work involves passenger surveys and network studies that monitor passenger load, experience and efficiency. The main laboratory and head office of the CTL is located in Aismious.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/commonwealth-transport-laboratories/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1186,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/travel/",
  "title": "Travel in Vekllei","icon": "🧳","rgb": "88, 155, 204",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Vekllei people travel enthusiastically and regularly. How they do so without any money is more complicated.",
  "content": " Summary\nTravel is good for people and the government in Vekllei has made some attempts to facilitate it. Domestic travel is straightforward and does not require coordination or permission. Overseas travel is more complicated. The average person in Vekllei does not use money in everyday life, and so cannot finance themselves or be expected to know how cash economies work. To allow it, the government operates a network of hotels and contracts services around the world specifically for Vekllei people. Independent travelers can access a stipend for self-directed travel, but have to coordinate through the local embassy or diplomatic mission to register travel plans. These systems allow Vekllei people to travel like \u0026ndash; or even better than \u0026ndash; people overseas. Vekllei is a society in the epoch of rest, and their lives of leisure facilitate a strong curiosity about the world and the people in it. They are educated and have a lot of free time, and so the ability to travel becomes a natural interest. Some of them could figure it out with no help at all, working overseas to finance their own travels. But surely all people deserve to travel \u0026ndash; not just the young and the hungry. So the government in Vekllei has organised systems to encourage it.\nThere are three kinds of travel in Vekllei. Read on to discover how to plan your own holiday.\nDomestic Travel # Domestic travel in Vekllei is common and easy. It is the most popular form of tourism in Vekllei. And why shouldn\u0026rsquo;t it be? Vekllei is the most diverse country in the world, spanning both poles and the entire width of the Atlantic. Across its republics you have basically every kind of landscape available to you. Hot deserts, tropical beaches, permafrost, temperate forests, grasslands and the quiet beauty of shrubby tundra. This diversity carries on through every concievable object of desire. Food; drink; culture; architecture; the tastes of men and women. It is no wonder so many choose to travel around the country.\nMost Vekllei people completing Compulsory Service are rewarded with a National Tour, which visits every republic and helps satiate natural curiosity about the makeup of their country.\nDomestic travel in Vekllei does not need permission or coordination. If you can find somewhere to stay, you can travel. Even if you can\u0026rsquo;t find somewhere to stay, camping in many public forests is perfectly legal.\nSort out your accomodation Many Vekllei people are generous and their society is deeply reciprocal. The most common way to see a new area is to stay with a friend or relative who can show you around. Be prepared to return the favour someday. For new lands, \u0026ldquo;inns\u0026rdquo; are the most common form of accomodation in Vekllei. These range from shared rooms in cottages in the Falklands to larger, more sophisticated operations in Karu or Caicos. They are generally run by a family or single owner, and you may be asked to help prepare breakfast or dinner in Vekllei communalistic tradition. For business or particular circumstances, you may secure a room at a hotel. These operate like they do overseas, but are typically reserved for work, not leisure. Book your transport Vekllei is a big country, and most people fly. Anyone can book a flight for any reason. Fast ships like hydrofoils are also common and much easier to book for regional destinations. If you don\u0026rsquo;t mind waiting a few years, booking a cabin on an airship is among the most romantic ways of touring one of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s archipelagos. Visit a Tourism Bureau It\u0026rsquo;s always worth a visit to a local tourism bureau. Vekllei society is not commercial and rarely advertises its best features, and in this sense knowledge becomes a kind of commodity. Tourist agents are generally helpful and will help you with an intinerary of your taste. International Travel # Most people in Vekllei travel internationally with help from the Bureau of Travel, because it is a straightforward and pleasant way to holiday. By coordinating with the Bureau of Travel, agents can prepare an interary that suits your tastes and interests. This is facilitated by a network of hotels, resorts, contracts and tours organised on the behalf of a Vekllei traveller before and during the trip.\nThe benefit of this arrangement is convenience and an expectation of quality. Hotels procured by the Bureau of Travel are usually owned by the Atlantic Hotel company and are pleasant, centrally located and well-equipped. They are also designed for Vekllei people and their common concerns when travelling abroad, and so are well-suited to support them.\nVekllei people are also entitled to a modest stipend of $45 U.S. dollars per day to spend on food, drink, private transport and souveniers. Tickets to shows and events are widely available and booked through the hotel concierge.\nTo travel under this arrangement, Vekllei people must have completed their Compulsory Service.\nBook your trip with the Bureau of Travel Speak to your agent about where you\u0026rsquo;d like to visit, shortlisted to about 90 countries best served by Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s hospitality industries and consular services. Determine a good time to travel. Hotels book out quickly during holiday seasons and may not be able to provide rooms during this time. Your agent will work with you to find a place and time that works best for you. Establish an itinerary. Your agent may suggest an outline popular in the area, depending on whether this is your first time visiting or a return trip. Tickets for major events and shows should be booked in advance. Find a hotel. Almost always, this is a property owned and operated by Atlantic Hotel, which accomodates Vekllei people. Major destinations like London and Paris have several hotels operated by Atlantic \u0026ndash; peripheral destinations, like Kuala Lumpur, often only have one. Your agent will arrange you flights for you, almost always with Commonwealth Airways. Arrange your passport and, if necessary, your visa In Vekllei, this can be done at any passport office or remotely via a post office. Use local resources Vekllei has a diplomatic presence in most countries around the world. Regardless of whether it has a dedicated tourism bureau, the people there will help you. Your concierge at an Atlantic Hotel is at your service to support your visit. They will give you directions, arrange transit, book tickets and tours, suggest sights and facilitate connections for onward journeys. As a Vekllei person you are entitled to a stipend of $45 a day at an Atlantic Hotel to assist with your trip. Remaining money must be returned to your concierge at the end of each day. If you are ever lost, confused or victimised, contact your hotel or consulate to assist. Independent Travel # Naturally, people want to travel independently for a variety of reasons. They may be visiting family, or chasing adventure. They might simply be visiting a region with no government hotels available, or with a reduced consular presence. While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs establishes travel advice and warnings, there is no specific mechanism to prevent a Vekllei person from going where they like.\nIndependent travelers are entitled to a superior stipend of $100 a day depending on their destination and length of stay. This applies for up to four weeks at a time, and can be extended only with permission. Extensions are usually only granted for occasions like long-service leave or bereavement.\nIndependent travelers must register with their local consulate and receive advice about travel. Flights can be arranged by the Bureau of Travel or independently by the traveller.\nPlan your independent travel You don\u0026rsquo;t need a complete itinerary, but you should have a destination in mind. This destination will determine appropriate consular support and will affect your stipend. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is here to support you. Speak to them or the Bureau of Travel for advice about your trip that can ensure your comfort and safety overseas. Prepare sensibly Independent travel can be the adventure of a lifetime, but the rest of the world can be very different to Vekllei. You should take advantage of the time before your trip to prepare your documents, visas and research the lay of the land at your destination. Take any opportunity to educate yourself. Many governments in Vekllei have services to help you understand money and how to use it sensibly. You are in charge of your stipend and the consulate may have limited recourse if it is wasted or stolen. Learning useful phrases in the local language can be the difference between a great visit or a bad one. Learn your rights and responsibilities as a traveler. When you travel independently overseas, you travel as a private citizen and the Vekllei government cannot interfere with local law. Stay in touch When travelling independently, you must register your plans with your local consulate so they know you are in the country and for how long you expect to stay. If your length of stay substantially exceeds your indicated duration you may be contacted or declared missing. If you plan to travel intercontinentally, make sure you coordinate with local consulates when you have the chance. If the country does not have a consulate, speak to an employee of the Vekllei government or an expatriated citizen. If you find yourself in trouble, contact your local consulate or a trusted intermediary. The Vekllei government cannot save you from peril you have created, but will do its best to advocate on your behalf. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/travel"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1187,
  "href": "/characters/tzipora/",
  "title": "Tzipora","icon": "🐚","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Tzipora is a student living in Oslola, an ancient land part of the country of Vekllei.",
  "content": " Tzipora \u0026#39;Zelda\u0026#39; Azela 📅 Age 16 🤝 Associates Baron Ayn Cobian Coretti Moise Zhi 🎂 Birthday May 1st 💔 Dislikes Large dogs, Germans ❤️ Likes Science fiction, cotton wool, sleeping in her clothes 💼 Occupation Student 🏠 Residence Seispri, Borough of Lola, Oslola, Vekllei Tzipora lo Ula de Helette Azela, often called Zelda by her friends, is the main character of this project. She was born in 2047 in Colombia, but lives in Vekllei with Baron. Cobian is her closest friend.\nThough born to Vekllei parents, she was raised overseas in Colombia and was later educated in the United States. Since her arrival in Vekllei, she has returned to school and has formed sincere and close friendships, stabilising the more neurotic and anxious parts of her personality.\nTzipora is blue-eyed and black-haired of mixed Gitana (Spanish Roma) and Ashkenazic heritage. She has a round head and a big smile, and is naturally athletic. She has dry, wiry hair that she parts in the middle. She speaks Oslolan serviceably, but prefers to communicate in English and has a Latin American accent.\nShe dresses in internationalist styles and has maintained a consistent taste throughout her life. She has a preference for loose-fitting clothing some would characterise as scruffy. She is most commonly seen in soft cotton shirts, shorts or dresses, uneven socks and flat shoes or sandals.\nTzipora is nonconformist by way of ignorance or obstinance depending on the occasion.\nShe is paranoid and conservative, good-natured and austere, with a moral outlook bound by her deepest anxieties and obsessions. She can be thoughtful and astute, and is fascinated with objects and their history. She has many collections of many things she’s found.\nShe is a Catholic, but has a confrontational relationship with God and only attends mass on holidays, and usually prays to Mary instead. She also has Jewish ancestry and observes some Jewish holidays and traditions while living with Baron.\nTzipora may be intense and inward-facing, but she can also be disarmingly charming and self-deprecating. She has a good sense of humour. There are not many people that can so easily reconcile the contradictions between the peculiar and the healthy, the eccentric and the friendly, and the violent and the domestic. That’s part of her character — an essence of being that radiates decency, good taste and a respect for the spirit of all things.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/tzipora/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1188,
  "href": "/factbook/industry/municipal-industry/united-grocers/",
  "title": "United Grocers","logo": "/svg/logos/united-grocers.svg","icon": "🌾","rgb": "98, 186, 85",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/united-grocers.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/united-grocers_hu31f7cfd3774ee5f34e82cc57cf337f04_3076330_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },
  "section": "Municipal Industry",
  "description": "United Grocers is a food and retail chain in Vekllei that mostly sells groceries and homegoods. It is a municipalised cooperative made up of many constituent stores.",
  "content": " United Grocers Municipal Corporation of Vekllei Employees 82,900 Founded 2018 Headquarters Virgin Industry Food \u0026 Retail Revenue AK ✾ 70 billion Traded UNG United Grocers is an inter-municipal co-operative business that sells agricultural surplus through its network of franchised groceries. It can be found in one form or another across all of Vekllei. United Grocers is a signatory to the Living Standards Scheme, and so can be compelled by the government to distribute appropriated food in times of need.\nThe franchise is ubiquitous throughout most Vekllei cities, and is the most common place to shop for household groceries by accounted revenue. There are some 7,500 locations across Vekllei republics.\nUnited Grocers stock local produce and agriculture surplus, as well as factory foods like synthesised meats. They also stock domestic items like cleaning products and home essentials. They are heavily automated through a central stock database, and have stock robots manufactured by National Machines to shelve and track products.\nAs co-operative enterprises in a franchise system, local franchises are usually owned by a few members of their surrounding communities, and are maintained by their owners or volunteer labour.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/united-grocers/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1189,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/united-kingdom/",
  "title": "United Kingdom","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/gb-4x3.svg","icon": "☕️","rgb": "200, 16, 47",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "The United Kingdom is an island country in the North Sea, off the coast of Europe.",
  "content": "The United Kingdom (UK) is an island country in the North Sea, off the coast of Europe.\nThis article is under construction, please check back soon.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/uk/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1190,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/united-nations/",
  "title": "United Nations","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/un-4x3.svg","icon": "🌍","rgb": "76, 146, 219",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental, international organisation established to protect peace and promote human development.",
  "content": "The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental, international organisation established to protect peace and promote human development. By 2063, almost all countries on earth have membership or observational status. It is headquartered primarily in New York, but also has assemblies in Vekllei, Geneva, Johannesburg, Brasilia and Thailand.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/un/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1191,
  "href": "/factbook/world/countries/united-states/",
  "title": "United States","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/us-4x3.svg","icon": "🦅","rgb": "50, 106, 204",
  "section": "Countries",
  "description": "The United States is a global superpower comprising most of North America, and is among the richest countries in the world.",
  "content": " United States of America Capital Washington, D.C. Languages English, Spanish, French, many others Population 436,839,200 (de jure), 332,884,200 (effective) The United States of America (commonly United States, USA, US or just America) is a country in North America, comprising a contiguous from the northern Mexican border and the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic. It is the largest country in the world, and is among the most powerful countries on Earth. It accounts for most of the world\u0026rsquo;s industrial capacity, and maintains among the largest standing armed forces.\nSince 2058, the United States has grappled with a violent secession crisis in Dallas America, which has destabilised much of its industrial economy and provoked violence throughout the secessionist territories. Since February 2059, a ceasefire and lend-lease agreement over nuclear strategic nuclear sites has stabilised day-to-day life somewhat, but the situation remains precarious.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/us/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1192,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/university-of-karu/",
  "title": "University of Karu","logo": "/svg/logos/university-of-karu.svg","icon": "🎭","rgb": "255, 37, 70",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "The University of Karu is a prestigious institution in the Karu Republic, renowned for its performing arts programs, particularly dance and ballet.",
  "content": " University of Karu Constituent University Employees 1,200 Location Karu Parent CUWI Students 12,500 The University of Karu is a public university located in Pitera, the capital of the Karu. Established in 1948, it is best known for its performing arts programs, particularly in dance and ballet. The university forms part of the Commonwealth University of the West Indies system, though it operates autonomously.\nThe main campus occupies 50 hectares in central Pitera, with additional facilities in Grande Terre. Architecture blends modernist Vekllei design with French-Caribbean influences, featuring open-air courtyards and performance spaces adapted to the tropical climate. The university employs about 850 teaching staff to tutor 12,500 enrolled students who are enrolled in its colleges.\nConstituent Colleges\nSoufriere College \u0026ndash; Mathematics Saintes College \u0026ndash; Astronomy and Astroscience Trinity College \u0026ndash; Ballet and modern dance Caribbea College \u0026ndash; Medicine Armada College \u0026ndash; African Sociology Bolivar College \u0026ndash; Natural sciences The largest college is Trinity, which specialises in the performing arts, and also offers the only professional ballet training programme in Kalina. Other colleges have their own specialisations, including Caribbea College in medicine and Armada College in African Sociology.\nAcademic Divisions \u0026amp; Schools\nSchool of Fine Arts National Ballet School ( Atlantic Arts Federation) Atlantic School of Dance ( Atlantic Arts Federation) Pitera Theatre School of Social Sciences Calypso Policy Centre School of Humanities Karu Folklore Archive School of Natural Sciences National Gravity Research Establishment ( ASRE) School of Medicine Commonwealth Tropical Medicine Research Unit ( MSRE) The School of Fine Arts is the university\u0026rsquo;s most prominent division and offers programmes in classical ballet, contemporary dance, Afro-Caribbean dance, music performance and the theatre arts. Approximately 40% of students are enrolled in performing arts disciplines. It also has a robust astroscience programme that maintains close relationships with the National Gravity Research Establishment of the ASRE.\nStudent life centers around performance groups, including the University Dance Troupe and Pitera Symphony Orchestra. The annual Carnival des Arts showcases student work across disciplines. It has strong exchange relationships with the University of Antigua.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/karu-university/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1193,
  "href": "/millmint/log/",
  "title": "Update Log","icon": "📋","color": "brown",
  "section": "MillMint",
  "description": "A chronicle of all the updates to Vekllei.",
  "content": " ⚓️ Wake-class Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Volcanic-class Oct 5, 2025 🛢️ Virgin Oct 5, 2025 🎣 Viana Oct 5, 2025 🍇 Velas Oct 5, 2025 🚀 Vekllei World Astroport Oct 5, 2025 🌹 Vekllei Oct 5, 2025 🎭 University of Karu Oct 5, 2025 🦅 United States Oct 5, 2025 🌾 United Grocers Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ Territorial Services Oct 5, 2025 🌋 Tenerife Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Swordfish-class Oct 5, 2025 🏰 Summers Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Suffrage-class Oct 5, 2025 🎣 Sude Oct 5, 2025 🏗️ Soualiga Oct 5, 2025 🦞 Santes Oct 5, 2025 🧂 Sal Oct 5, 2025 🍃 Saba Oct 5, 2025 🍹 Rum Oct 5, 2025 ♣️ Providence Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Prosperity-class Oct 5, 2025 🌾 Principe Oct 5, 2025 🧂 Praia Oct 5, 2025 🦪 Paria Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Palm-class Oct 5, 2025 🌋 Oslola Oct 5, 2025 🏭 Orleans Steelworks Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Verde Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Summers Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Sude Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Sedna Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Santes Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Oslola Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Morocos Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Mira Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Kairi Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Java Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Helvasia Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Falklands Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ NS Antigua Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Nike-class Oct 5, 2025 🤖 National Machines Oct 5, 2025 📖 National Levantine Theological University Oct 5, 2025 🚧 National Construction House Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Municipal-class Oct 5, 2025 📖 Moshel School Oct 5, 2025 🌸 Mira Oct 5, 2025 🌊 Meridia Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Mantle-class Oct 5, 2025 ☀️ Madiana Oct 5, 2025 🌴 Lucia Oct 5, 2025 🦋 Karu Oct 5, 2025 ❄️ Kala Oct 5, 2025 🌲 Kairi Oct 5, 2025 ☕️ Java Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Hound-class Oct 5, 2025 ❉ Horus-Class Oct 5, 2025 🛖 Hetland Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Hera-class Oct 5, 2025 🐻‍❄️ Helvasia Oct 5, 2025 🐦‍⬛ Helena Oct 5, 2025 🪸 Habacoa Oct 5, 2025 🏝️ Grenadines Oct 5, 2025 🐄 Graciosa Oct 5, 2025 ✈️ Government Aircraft Factories Oct 5, 2025 🚲 Gina Oct 5, 2025 ⚛ General Reactor Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ Fortress Praia Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ Fortress Occident Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ Fortress Meteor Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ Fortress Lola Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ Fortress Kabuli Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ Fortress Helena Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ Fortress Falklands Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ Fortress Demon Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ Fortress Aruba Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ Fortress Annobon Oct 5, 2025 🛞 Firewalk Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Federal-class Oct 5, 2025 ⏱️ Federal Timekeeping Oct 5, 2025 🌞 Federal Republic of the Americas Oct 5, 2025 🦀 Falklands Oct 5, 2025 ⛪️ Demon Oct 5, 2025 🔥 Dallas America Oct 5, 2025 🎓 CUWI Oct 5, 2025 🐚 Curateo Oct 5, 2025 🍸 Curacao Oct 5, 2025 🦅 Costa Verde Oct 5, 2025 📞 Cosma Oct 5, 2025 🐚 Conch Oct 5, 2025 🚇 CommRail Oct 5, 2025 🪐 Commonwealth Starlines Oct 5, 2025 📈 Commonwealth Ratings Corporation Oct 5, 2025 📯 Commonwealth Post Oct 5, 2025 🎓 Commonwealth Police College Oct 5, 2025 🛢️ Commonwealth Oil Oct 5, 2025 ⛴️ Commonwealth Lines Oct 5, 2025 🏦 Commonwealth Bank Oct 5, 2025 ✈️ Commonwealth Airways Oct 5, 2025 ✈️ Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Oct 5, 2025 💎 Common Gemstone Oct 5, 2025 ✨ CM-100 Oct 5, 2025 🍊 Cavoada Oct 5, 2025 💥 Cateral Oct 5, 2025 🍽️ Castro Oct 5, 2025 🌴 Caribbea Cane Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Capricorn-class Oct 5, 2025 🌶️ Cama Oct 5, 2025 📖 Caimanas Oct 5, 2025 🐚 Caicos Oct 5, 2025 🌳 Brava Oct 5, 2025 🦩 Bonaire Oct 5, 2025 ⚕️ Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital Oct 5, 2025 🍌 Benahoare Oct 5, 2025 🪸 Barbary Oct 5, 2025 🔱 Barbados Oct 5, 2025 ♣️ Balkan Federation Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Baker-class Oct 5, 2025 🛢️ Bahama Oct 5, 2025 🚓 Avro Interceptor Oct 5, 2025 🚔 Avro Commando Oct 5, 2025 🚗 Avro Oct 5, 2025 ⚓️ Atlantis Oct 5, 2025 ⚙️ Atlantic Works Oct 5, 2025 🏨 Atlantic Hotel Oct 5, 2025 👔 Atlantic Department Company Oct 5, 2025 🐢 Ascension Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ AS Virgin Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ AS Verde Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ AS Scatsta Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ AS Oslola Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ AS Kala Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ AS Kairi Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ AS Falklands Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ AS Caimanas Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ AS Ascension Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ AS Africa Oct 5, 2025 🌴 Aruba Oct 5, 2025 🌸 Antigua Oct 5, 2025 🥥 Annobon Oct 5, 2025 🐬 Anguilla Oct 5, 2025 🌲 Aloubaera Oct 5, 2025 🐠 Aloi Oct 5, 2025 ☘️ Allia Oct 5, 2025 🐏 Aismious Oct 5, 2025 ⚔️ Air Service Oct 5, 2025 📻 Adelectrics Oct 5, 2025 ❌ Abakoa Oct 5, 2025 Monopoly Oct 5, 2025 💎 Resources Oct 4, 2025 Grub Oct 4, 2025 ❄️ District Cooling Oct 3, 2025 ⚕️ Healthcare Oct 1, 2025 Lunar Hotel Oct 1, 2025 Silly Doll Oct 1, 2025 Writing Poems Oct 1, 2025 Citizenship Oct 1, 2025 Enjoying Winter Oct 1, 2025 Nuclear Commando Oct 1, 2025 Standard of Living Oct 1, 2025 Police Interceptor Oct 1, 2025 Hot Plate Oct 1, 2025 Police Armoured Car Oct 1, 2025 🧪 Technocracy Sep 29, 2025 🍽️ Serviced Restaurants Sep 29, 2025 🏹 Noshem Sep 29, 2025 🔬 LSRE Sep 29, 2025 🤝 Bureau of the Commons Sep 29, 2025 🚢 Bureau of Surplus and Export Sep 29, 2025 🌱 Bureau of Stewardship Sep 29, 2025 🏭 Bureau of Residences and Factories Sep 29, 2025 ⚙️ Bureau of Materials and Supply Sep 29, 2025 🔧 Bureau of Industrial Coordination Sep 29, 2025 🌩️ Bureau of Economic Weather Sep 29, 2025 🤲 Bureau of Economic Participation Sep 29, 2025 🏛️ Radiation Health Authority Sep 17, 2025 🚔 Police Sep 17, 2025 🏛️ National Education Forum Sep 17, 2025 🔬 MSRE Sep 17, 2025 📋 Licensing Sep 17, 2025 🏛️ Health Democracy Commission Sep 17, 2025 ⚖️ Firming Laws Sep 17, 2025 📚 Education Sep 17, 2025 🏛️ Curriculum and Qualifications Council Sep 17, 2025 ⚖️ Constitutional Tribunal Sep 17, 2025 🌸 Constitution Sep 17, 2025 📋 Commonwealth Register Sep 17, 2025 🏛️ Commonwealth Laboratories Sep 17, 2025 🏛️ Commonwealth Health Council Sep 17, 2025 🏛️ Commonwealth Health Academy Sep 17, 2025 🏛️ Commonwealth Food and Medicines Authority Sep 17, 2025 🏛️ Commonwealth Disease Authority Sep 17, 2025 🕊️ Common Navy Sep 17, 2025 🌸 Civil Rights Sep 17, 2025 ▲ Civil Defence Service Sep 17, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Public Health Sep 17, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Public Education Sep 17, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Health Services Sep 17, 2025 ⚖️ Basic Laws Sep 17, 2025 🕯️ Sagas Sep 11, 2025 🏢 Commonwealth Central Archives Sep 11, 2025 🏳️ Atlantic Arts Federation Sep 10, 2025 ⚓️ Maritime Service Sep 7, 2025 ⚓️ Littoral Service Sep 7, 2025 She stands in the harbour in national dress Sep 7, 2025 Anti-bullying poster in the year 2063 Sep 7, 2025 The Five Uniforms of Any Good Vekllei Girl Sep 7, 2025 Tzipora, one of the children to stop ageing Sep 7, 2025 Girl’s Life Saved by Veteran Hero in Day of Terror Sep 7, 2025 Fashion in the Year 2063 Sep 7, 2025 Tzipora Makes Friends with a Desert Spirit Sep 7, 2025 Tzipora, the Undying Miracle Child Sep 7, 2025 Chemical Warfare in 2063 Sep 7, 2025 Pleading with Angels to Spare Humanity Sep 7, 2025 A Little Vekllei General Store Sep 7, 2025 The Face of Human Extinction Sep 7, 2025 Watching the End of the World Sep 7, 2025 The National Dress of Vekllei Sep 7, 2025 Entering the Spirit World Sep 7, 2025 Two Spies and a Vekllei Girl Sep 7, 2025 The Princess of the Earth Sep 7, 2025 Beat Cops in Vekllei Sep 7, 2025 Seaside in Vekllei Sep 7, 2025 Radiation Poisoning in Domestic Vekllei Sep 7, 2025 Girl Scouts Learn to Shoot in Vekllei Sep 7, 2025 Anarchy in Cherry, Nevada Sep 7, 2025 The Bridging of Worlds Ritual Sep 7, 2025 On the Concept of Childhood Sep 7, 2025 A Sketch of a Blood Spirit Sep 7, 2025 Washing the Feet of the Enemy Sep 7, 2025 Rail-Launched Nuclear Missiles Sep 7, 2025 Winter Clothing (and Womanhood in Vekllei) Sep 7, 2025 How to Bow (and Fashion in Vekllei) Sep 7, 2025 Police in Vekllei Sep 7, 2025 The dress code for talking to spirits Sep 7, 2025 Blood Names Sep 7, 2025 Life in Vekllei Sep 7, 2025 What will become of the Gregori Children? Sep 7, 2025 Navy in Vekllei Sep 7, 2025 winter love \u0026#43; puffin / feat. Tzipora \u0026amp; Akiko Sep 7, 2025 Hot summer rain on a beach of black sand -- Iceland in 2127 Sep 7, 2025 Valleys of Vekllei Sep 7, 2025 School Lunch Sep 7, 2025 School Capes Sep 7, 2025 The Warrant Sep 7, 2025 Canarii Student Sep 7, 2025 Chicki Chews Sep 7, 2025 Police Cadet Sep 7, 2025 Menhit Tank Sep 7, 2025 World Map Aug 25, 2025 🖐️ Work Action Groups Aug 25, 2025 🎗️ Veletia Aug 25, 2025 🏗️ Urban Development Aug 25, 2025 🌍 United Nations Aug 25, 2025 ☕️ United Kingdom Aug 25, 2025 🧳 Travel in Vekllei Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Transport Laboratories Aug 25, 2025 🛤️ Transport Commission Aug 25, 2025 ⏳ Timeline Aug 25, 2025 Summers Map Aug 25, 2025 🔬 SIRO Aug 25, 2025 🏝️ Seychelles Aug 25, 2025 🏺 Senate Aug 25, 2025 💮 Republics Aug 25, 2025 ⚱️ Republic Assemblies Aug 25, 2025 🏡 Property Aug 25, 2025 ⛵️ Portugal Aug 25, 2025 ⚖️ Police of the Public Aug 25, 2025 ⚖️ Police of the Parliament Aug 25, 2025 Poetry Aug 25, 2025 ☎️ Phreaking Aug 25, 2025 💾 Photovolumes Aug 25, 2025 ⚛️ Nuclear Marine Propulsion Reactor Aug 25, 2025 🔬 NSRE Aug 25, 2025 📖 National Library Aug 25, 2025 🖼️ National Design Atlas Aug 25, 2025 🌺 Municipalism Aug 25, 2025 🌾 Mauritius Aug 25, 2025 ⚔️ Marine Services Aug 25, 2025 🦈 Maldives Aug 25, 2025 🛝 Ludic Productivity Aug 25, 2025 🐘 Latin Africa Aug 25, 2025 ☸️ India Aug 25, 2025 🏠 Housing Commission Aug 25, 2025 ⛓️ Haiti Aug 25, 2025 🏵️ Forum of Free Nations Aug 25, 2025 💵 Finance Aug 25, 2025 💮 Federalisation Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Emergency Light and Water Authority Aug 25, 2025 🌊 East India Aug 25, 2025 🔬 DSRE Aug 25, 2025 🧍‍♀️ Dolls Aug 25, 2025 🧍‍♀️ Dolls Aug 25, 2025 📄 Documents Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Directory Aug 25, 2025 🔱 Denmark Aug 25, 2025 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Demographics Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Defence Imagery Establishment Aug 25, 2025 Dance Aug 25, 2025 📇 Cultural Cringe Aug 25, 2025 🔬 CSRE Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Council Aug 25, 2025 ✍ Corcidi Aug 25, 2025 💮 Constituent Commonwealths Aug 25, 2025 ⏳ Consosva Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Consilia Aug 25, 2025 🖥 Computers Aug 25, 2025 🏳️ Compulsory Service Aug 25, 2025 🏵️ COMOC Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Commonwealth Treasury Aug 25, 2025 💰 Commonwealth Securities Exchange Aug 25, 2025 📖 Commonwealth Public Press Aug 25, 2025 🏢 Commonwealth Olympic Committee Aug 25, 2025 🪙 Commonwealth Mint Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Commonwealth Employment Register Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Commonwealth Electoral Commission Aug 25, 2025 📺 Commonwealth Communications Authority Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Commonwealth Civil Service Academy Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Commonwealth Art Commission Aug 25, 2025 Commonwealth Airlines Route Map Aug 25, 2025 ⌨️ Common Assembly Language Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Civil Servants Aug 25, 2025 🗳️ Civic Commons Aug 25, 2025 Cherry Aug 25, 2025 🍵 Ceylon Aug 25, 2025 ⚖️ Century Society Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Cabinet Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureaus Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Workers Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Water Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of War Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Travel Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Trade Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Syndicates Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Supply Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Statistics Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of State Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Standards Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Sports Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Space Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Securities Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Roads and Paths Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Records and Correspondence Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Rail Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Public Works Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Production Surveillance Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Press and News Media Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Post and Telecommunications Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Policy Research Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Parks and Gardens Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Oceans Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Meteorology Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Materials Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Light Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of International Missions Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Hydrocarbons Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Housing Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Home Affairs Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Conservation Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Communications Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Commonwealth Corporations Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Chapels Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Agriculture Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Aerospace Aug 25, 2025 🏛️ Bureau of Accreditation Aug 25, 2025 📉 Bankruptcy in Vekllei Aug 25, 2025 🏳️ Atlantic History Federation Aug 25, 2025 🔬 ASRE Aug 25, 2025 Ascension Map Aug 25, 2025 ⚛️ Apollo NTR Aug 25, 2025 ✈️ Airline Travel Aug 25, 2025 ⚔️ Aero Services Aug 25, 2025 🗣️ Accent Aug 25, 2025 The Fairie Aug 25, 2025 Air Atomic Aug 25, 2025 Department Commerce Aug 25, 2025 Hera Passenger Jet Aug 25, 2025 Jumpsuit Aug 25, 2025 A House for Each Man Aug 25, 2025 Island Hopper Aug 25, 2025 Fire Truck Aug 25, 2025 Rainstorm Aug 25, 2025 UNPMC Aug 25, 2025 Falklands Soldier Aug 25, 2025 Verde Home Aug 25, 2025 Hairstyles in Vekllei Aug 25, 2025 Conductor Aug 25, 2025 Conductor Uniform Aug 25, 2025 The Weekend Aug 25, 2025 Bangs Aug 25, 2025 Department Clerks Aug 25, 2025 Schizodress Aug 25, 2025 Oslolan Bath Aug 25, 2025 Grocery Merch Aug 25, 2025 The Common Navy Aug 25, 2025 8,000 Followers Aug 25, 2025 Naval Commando Aug 25, 2025 Witness Truth Aug 25, 2025 Coastal Helijet Aug 25, 2025 Gremlin Aug 25, 2025 Father/Daughter Aug 25, 2025 Aqueduct Aug 25, 2025 Whaling Interception Aug 25, 2025 Lin Zhi Aug 25, 2025 Jet Seaplane Aug 25, 2025 God Aug 25, 2025 Moon Coworker Aug 25, 2025 Police Robot Aug 25, 2025 Saturday Aug 25, 2025 Nuclear Interceptor Aug 25, 2025 💸 On Moneylessness Aug 25, 2025 Tzipora has her photo taken at Youth Meet 2063 Jun 2, 2025 Milk Tea Jun 2, 2025 Naval Airship Jun 2, 2025 Inuit Holiday Jun 2, 2025 Fish Jun 2, 2025 Celtic Guard Jun 2, 2025 Deadbeat Girlfriend Jun 2, 2025 Design Atlas Jun 2, 2025 Debating Jun 2, 2025 Loner Jun 2, 2025 Cocktail Jun 2, 2025 The Levant Jun 2, 2025 🏷️ Products in Vekllei May 18, 2025 Regret Comic May 18, 2025 Fish Commission May 18, 2025 Fishgirl May 18, 2025 Home Survey May 18, 2025 Poems May 18, 2025 Bread \u0026amp; Sword May 18, 2025 Modern Girls May 18, 2025 Groceries May 18, 2025 Announcing the Princess of the Earth Apr 16, 2025 Tzipora\u0026#39;s Portrait Apr 16, 2025 The Country of Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 Old, dead demons still wander the countryside Apr 16, 2025 This is Blood Worship Apr 16, 2025 All-weather combat for the Atomic Age Apr 16, 2025 The Constabulary Apr 16, 2025 big mood right now Apr 16, 2025 summer nerds reading comix Apr 16, 2025 The Vekllei Grocery Economy Apr 16, 2025 Masculinity \u0026amp; Fatherhood in Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 KID COMIX Apr 16, 2025 Some notes on the end of the world Apr 16, 2025 School uniforms for girls Apr 16, 2025 real sadboi posting hours Apr 16, 2025 The Collapse of the South Apr 16, 2025 Let’s look at military fashion, because why not? Apr 16, 2025 The Stewards of the Earth Apr 16, 2025 Talking about Girl Scouts and Child Soldiers Apr 16, 2025 Happy Summer Everyone Apr 16, 2025 The guilt dies with her Apr 16, 2025 Koka parks \u0026amp; municipal recreation Apr 16, 2025 Rural Trains Apr 16, 2025 The Flower Tundra Apr 16, 2025 Metro Days Apr 16, 2025 The Cosmojet Apr 16, 2025 The Valley of the Dead Apr 16, 2025 The Suburban Constabulary Apr 16, 2025 Merry Christmas everyone (plus a little Christmas story) Apr 16, 2025 On Childhood and Modernity Apr 16, 2025 Look...! Apr 16, 2025 A story of community policing and sweet militia Apr 16, 2025 Too Old for Sleepovers Apr 16, 2025 A gem girl shows off her enormous strength in Pachinki Apr 16, 2025 One Long Moment Apr 16, 2025 Air Raid Apr 16, 2025 The Forgotten Generation Apr 16, 2025 The Sugarhouse Mountain Fortress Apr 16, 2025 The Palace Gods attempt to retrieve their runaway child Apr 16, 2025 A Celebration of all Women across the World Apr 16, 2025 A Mineral Lake starts absorbing Grief in Pachinki Apr 16, 2025 Young and Educated Apr 16, 2025 The Littlest Goddess in Pachinki Apr 16, 2025 Dad\u0026#39;s Birthday Apr 16, 2025 The participatory economy of Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 Meet Tzipora Desmoines Apr 16, 2025 Catching a steam locomotive to school Apr 16, 2025 Much love to all of you Apr 16, 2025 Absolute Grotesque Apr 16, 2025 Hot Summers in the Arctic (and Newda architecture) Apr 16, 2025 The Principles of \u0026#34;Human Decay\u0026#34; Apr 16, 2025 Summer sex-ed Apr 16, 2025 Shōwa memories Apr 16, 2025 Vekllei’s Elite Military Units Apr 16, 2025 What is Vekllei? Apr 16, 2025 2nd Draft Apr 16, 2025 Carry me! \u0026gt;:( Apr 16, 2025 The People of Vekllei’s Railway (plus Dog) Apr 16, 2025 The Cherry Car Apr 16, 2025 Puffin Logic Apr 16, 2025 Supermarkets in Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 At peace, in dark Apr 16, 2025 Neighbourhood Cruiser Apr 16, 2025 Zelda, the Vigilant Apr 16, 2025 The Teeth Regents Apr 16, 2025 Introducing Moise Apr 16, 2025 Sweat and Ink in the Vekllei News Agency Apr 16, 2025 The Noble Helijet Apr 16, 2025 Squish! Apr 16, 2025 The Valley of Faith and Sorrow Apr 16, 2025 Lighter Than Her Shadow Apr 16, 2025 A Brief Introduction to Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 The Mountain Railway Apr 16, 2025 Big Mouth, Fat Lip Apr 16, 2025 A Most Complex Machine, the Autokinotheodolite Apr 16, 2025 Tesmosnen, the Festival of Fasting Apr 16, 2025 The Face of War in the 21st Century Apr 16, 2025 I like bread Apr 16, 2025 Introducing Ayn Apr 16, 2025 The Expo’74 Experimental Molten-Salt Peace Reactor Apr 16, 2025 Puffin Attack Apr 16, 2025 Holiday on the Moon Apr 16, 2025 A space tourist contemplates her first moonwalk Apr 16, 2025 Living in Tomorrow, Facing the Past Apr 16, 2025 500 SUBSCRIBERS Apr 16, 2025 Puffin Scouts Apr 16, 2025 The State of the Moon in 2078 Apr 16, 2025 A Mafioso and His Witch Apr 16, 2025 The Mountain Witches of Pachinki Apr 16, 2025 The Showdown Apr 16, 2025 Tattoos of Violence on Quiet Men Apr 16, 2025 Uniform Ideology in the Arctic North Apr 16, 2025 A New Challenger Has Appeared! Apr 16, 2025 The King Apr 16, 2025 … where did I leave all the uploads? Apr 16, 2025 Boyhood Fashion in Vekllei\u0026#39;s School Halls Apr 16, 2025 Emotional Intelligence in the Epoch of Rest Apr 16, 2025 Schools in a Society Without Children Apr 16, 2025 High-stakes air racing Apr 16, 2025 A Vekllei Timetable Apr 16, 2025 A Jetport Guide shuffles Americans onto the airport maglevs Apr 16, 2025 Like Father, Like Daughter Apr 16, 2025 1000 SUBSCRIBERS Apr 16, 2025 From Beaches to Mountaintops Apr 16, 2025 Ten corpses in the snow Apr 16, 2025 Blue Shoes Apr 16, 2025 Air Stewards in Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 Ocean-liners of the Sky — Vacuum Dirigibles in Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 Medicating despair in the pasture of plenty Apr 16, 2025 Making Trouble Apr 16, 2025 Wallabies of the Arctic Apr 16, 2025 Inside VOA’s “Flying Wing” Atomic Passenger Jet Apr 16, 2025 Sneak Sneak Apr 16, 2025 A “Horizon Wing” Atomic Passenger Jet Apr 16, 2025 Life and Death in Vekllei Apartment Ideology Apr 16, 2025 A Kodak Moment by a Vekllei Geyser Apr 16, 2025 Merry Christmas Apr 16, 2025 So long 2019, here\u0026#39;s to 2020! Apr 16, 2025 Valleys of the Wind Apr 16, 2025 Hobart and Tzipora are off to Japan Apr 16, 2025 Traditional Dress in Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 The Girl and the Sublime Apr 16, 2025 The Girls of the Last Carriage Apr 16, 2025 Face to Face with Immortality Apr 16, 2025 The Vekllei Timeline Apr 16, 2025 Salad Time Apr 16, 2025 Tzipora, the Princess of the Earth Apr 16, 2025 Meet Cobian, a concept panel for a Vekllei comic Apr 16, 2025 The Great Ro Highlands Apr 16, 2025 Ego Death and Upen\u0026#39;s Spiritual Rebirth Apr 16, 2025 Montre, City of Learning Apr 16, 2025 Ghosts of Taiwan in the Yana Lakehouse Apr 16, 2025 AB/NI’s Spectres of Violence Apr 16, 2025 The Ou Hydroburo Office Apr 16, 2025 Gentle Enthusiasm Apr 16, 2025 Life in Montre-Lola Apr 16, 2025 The Trials of Cobian Apr 16, 2025 The Chemical Feast Apr 16, 2025 Fiery Peaks Apr 16, 2025 Announcing Tzipo-stcards Apr 16, 2025 2031 Apartment Diagram Apr 16, 2025 Winter Uniforms in Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 The Last Train Out of Ada Apr 16, 2025 Hot Rain in the Arctic Circle Apr 16, 2025 Fission Cloud at Vekllei\u0026#39;s 50th Anniversary Apr 16, 2025 Canal Living Apr 16, 2025 The Oa-Class Battlecruiser Apr 16, 2025 A Most Beautiful Woman Apr 16, 2025 Village Map of Montre-Lola Apr 16, 2025 The Vekllei Crown Apr 16, 2025 A Map of Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 What is This Project? Apr 16, 2025 Police in Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 The Race for Inefficiency Apr 16, 2025 Tzipora’s ‘Every Day Carry’ Apr 16, 2025 Base Camp Apr 16, 2025 Summer House in the Azores Apr 16, 2025 Meet Tzipora — concept panel for a Vekllei comic Apr 16, 2025 The 31st Century Apr 16, 2025 The Thousand-Year-Old Girl Apr 16, 2025 Rural Newda in Rural Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 Absolute Quiet Apr 16, 2025 2,000 members! WOW! Apr 16, 2025 Absolute Grotesque Apr 16, 2025 Uniforms in Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 Road Trip Apr 16, 2025 Matchstick Girl Apr 16, 2025 Cobian and Zelda \u0026#34;head-over-heels\u0026#34; Apr 16, 2025 Memory and Death in the Flower Tundra Apr 16, 2025 Little Bouncy Zelda — an animation diary Apr 16, 2025 Baron, the Father Apr 16, 2025 Atlantic Boredom Apr 16, 2025 Mittens and Metaphysic Apr 16, 2025 Petrol Heaven — The Rohsm STR-750 Apr 16, 2025 All That’s Solid Melts into Zelda Apr 16, 2025 A Vekllei Comic Apr 16, 2025 21st Century Witch Apr 16, 2025 How to Speak Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 Out of The Ground and Into The Light Apr 16, 2025 Coming to Grips Apr 16, 2025 Crown Land of No King Apr 16, 2025 Bea and the Mosses Apr 16, 2025 Full Heart Apr 16, 2025 A Tzipora Christmas Story Apr 16, 2025 The Vekllei Army Apr 16, 2025 A New Year Apr 16, 2025 Robots in Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 Moments in Love Apr 16, 2025 The Puffling Apr 16, 2025 The Men and Women of the Royal Mail in Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 The Postmistress of Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 Racing the Post Office to the Station Apr 16, 2025 3,000 MEMBERS! Apr 16, 2025 The Stamp Manufacturie Apr 16, 2025 Philately Foolery Apr 16, 2025 Turning Things Around Apr 16, 2025 Post is for People Apr 16, 2025 Justice Apr 16, 2025 The Marine Railway Apr 16, 2025 Vekllei’s Sprawling Commonwealth Apr 16, 2025 Killing a Sea Serpent Apr 16, 2025 The Sand Mage Apr 16, 2025 City Rivers Apr 16, 2025 Vekllei\u0026#39;s New-Age Women Apr 16, 2025 Gold Sappers Apr 16, 2025 Saturday. Summer Rains. Apr 16, 2025 Living Diplomacy Apr 16, 2025 The People of Vekllei National Rail Apr 16, 2025 Shrine-Minded Girls Apr 16, 2025 A Vekllei Breakfast Apr 16, 2025 Gone Hollywood Apr 16, 2025 Zelda\u0026#39;s Guide to Living Forever Apr 16, 2025 How to Read Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 Station Logic Apr 16, 2025 Mossbound Apr 16, 2025 VNR Orange Apr 16, 2025 Standing Around at the Swimming Carnival Apr 16, 2025 Shabbat Shalom Apr 16, 2025 Generations Apr 16, 2025 Heavy Mist Apr 16, 2025 I have a very good website Apr 16, 2025 Wicket-Keeper Apr 16, 2025 Spiritful Apr 16, 2025 Compor, Vekllei\u0026#39;s Special Police Apr 16, 2025 Utopie ❦ Concrète Apr 16, 2025 The Quality of Life Surveillance Commission Apr 16, 2025 Something New is on The Horizon Apr 16, 2025 Looking Good and Feeling Good Apr 16, 2025 Anxiety, Utopia Apr 16, 2025 June 21st, 2111 Apr 16, 2025 A New Generation Apr 16, 2025 The Gun Apr 16, 2025 Tzipora Meets a Spirit Apr 16, 2025 Roadside Picnic Apr 16, 2025 Studio Zelda Apr 16, 2025 ForeignFoto Apr 16, 2025 Recess on the Roof Apr 16, 2025 The World’s Last Great Utopia Apr 16, 2025 New Roses Apr 16, 2025 Garden City Apr 16, 2025 Autumn Love Apr 16, 2025 30 Minutes to Midnight Apr 16, 2025 The Best Years of Our Lives Apr 16, 2025 The Vekllei Coast Guard Apr 16, 2025 Socialism, Backwards Apr 16, 2025 Fruit Tingles Apr 16, 2025 Happy Hanukkah Apr 16, 2025 On Moneylessness Apr 16, 2025 Vekllei Rumba Apr 16, 2025 Hall Notes Apr 16, 2025 Meta Moments Apr 16, 2025 Happy New Year Apr 16, 2025 100 Days of Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 Policing Anarchy Apr 16, 2025 Changes to the Patreon Apr 16, 2025 New Rivers of the Atlantic Apr 16, 2025 Private Fantasy Apr 16, 2025 All Chapels for All Women Apr 16, 2025 Kicking the Habit, Pt. 1 of 12 Apr 16, 2025 Lunch in the Park Apr 16, 2025 In-Between Stations Apr 16, 2025 Contrails Apr 16, 2025 Transmission Towers Apr 16, 2025 Towers in the Park Apr 16, 2025 Panaderas Apr 16, 2025 The Municipal Apr 16, 2025 A Vekllei Spaceship Apr 16, 2025 Café Diplomacy Apr 16, 2025 Little Hyderabad Apr 16, 2025 School Cape Apr 16, 2025 Waiting for a Movie Apr 16, 2025 Caught Sketching Apr 16, 2025 The Crown and the Gi Apr 16, 2025 Stories from the Horizon Apr 16, 2025 Story Trailer Apr 16, 2025 Lola, Borough of Genesis Apr 16, 2025 The Scouts Apr 16, 2025 Off Again Apr 16, 2025 The Rifles Section Apr 16, 2025 Five Years Apr 16, 2025 Caribbean Uniforms Apr 16, 2025 The Riot Apr 16, 2025 Tee Shirt Apr 16, 2025 Teachers Apr 16, 2025 Poofy Hair Apr 16, 2025 Sleep Apr 16, 2025 Silica Rivers Apr 16, 2025 The Look Apr 16, 2025 The Friend Apr 16, 2025 Sepia Interests Apr 16, 2025 Tannin Rivers Apr 16, 2025 The Prime Minister(s) Apr 16, 2025 The Veranda Apr 16, 2025 All That Glitters Apr 16, 2025 Constable Zelda Apr 16, 2025 Sketch for a Friend Apr 16, 2025 New Ruins Apr 16, 2025 A Government Jet Apr 16, 2025 America, 2059 Apr 16, 2025 Sand Apr 16, 2025 Caught Apr 16, 2025 Revised Mail Uniform Apr 16, 2025 Dapper Soldier Apr 16, 2025 Health Vekllei Apr 16, 2025 Zelda Apr 16, 2025 The Vekllei Jeep Apr 16, 2025 Sketch of Coretti Adoula Apr 16, 2025 On the Stair Apr 16, 2025 Hats Apr 16, 2025 Grey on the Mind Apr 16, 2025 Short Apr 16, 2025 General Infantry Apr 16, 2025 Atomic Main Battle Tank Apr 16, 2025 Tzipora, the Wanderer Apr 16, 2025 Natural Corners Apr 16, 2025 Downpour Apr 16, 2025 Hardware Apr 16, 2025 The Analyst Apr 16, 2025 Anarchist Trams Apr 16, 2025 Sulking Apr 16, 2025 Saba Island Sneakers Apr 16, 2025 Tzipora\u0026#39;s New Look Apr 16, 2025 The News Apr 16, 2025 Friends Apr 16, 2025 Weirdo Apr 16, 2025 The Dunes Apr 16, 2025 Portrait Apr 16, 2025 Portrait for Nico Apr 16, 2025 Cola Comic Apr 16, 2025 Miss Colombia Apr 16, 2025 Jump Comic Apr 16, 2025 Station Girls Apr 16, 2025 Good Morning Apr 16, 2025 Streets of Seispri Apr 16, 2025 Picture of Integration Apr 16, 2025 Scrap Apr 16, 2025 Drinks Apr 16, 2025 Sabae-chan Apr 16, 2025 Mira Uniform Apr 16, 2025 Slip Apr 16, 2025 Commonwealth Police Apr 16, 2025 Heatwave Apr 16, 2025 Police Livery Apr 16, 2025 Airships for Tomorrow Apr 16, 2025 Ham Comic Apr 16, 2025 The Trick of Disaster Apr 16, 2025 The Veletian Chiton Apr 16, 2025 Drip Apr 16, 2025 Tzipora \u0026amp; Cobian Apr 16, 2025 Grocer Girls Apr 16, 2025 Seinfeld Apr 16, 2025 Tolerance Comic Apr 16, 2025 A Social Economy Apr 16, 2025 A Civil Servant Apr 16, 2025 Weird Energy Apr 16, 2025 Southbound Express Apr 16, 2025 Futility Apr 16, 2025 Raincoats Apr 16, 2025 Tzipora\u0026#39;s Purse Apr 16, 2025 The Exchange Student Apr 16, 2025 New Brushes Apr 16, 2025 The Congo Regiment Apr 16, 2025 Barracks Dress Apr 16, 2025 Fighters Apr 16, 2025 Oslolan Uniform Apr 16, 2025 Warm Singapore Evening Apr 16, 2025 Officebound Apr 16, 2025 Homeroom Apr 16, 2025 Naval Commando Apr 16, 2025 1,000 on X Apr 16, 2025 Waiting in the Hall Apr 16, 2025 The Montevideo Apr 16, 2025 Ready to Dance Apr 16, 2025 Personal Defence Apr 16, 2025 Sausage Roll Apr 16, 2025 Commission Apr 16, 2025 Helijets Apr 16, 2025 Nabbed Apr 16, 2025 Novel Apr 16, 2025 Starched Apr 16, 2025 Christmas Lamb Apr 16, 2025 Just Tzipora Apr 16, 2025 Vekllei 2024 Apr 16, 2025 The Casemate Apr 16, 2025 High-Speed Rail Apr 16, 2025 Maria Apr 16, 2025 Grocery Robot Apr 16, 2025 Uniform Hijab Apr 16, 2025 Library Terminal Apr 16, 2025 Military Policeman Apr 16, 2025 Strategic Security Service Apr 16, 2025 Falklands Students Apr 16, 2025 Cairns Apr 16, 2025 A Vekllei Student Apr 16, 2025 Sorbet Apr 16, 2025 Tree Fern Apr 16, 2025 Police of the Parliament Apr 16, 2025 Inspectors Apr 16, 2025 Grunt Apr 16, 2025 School Photos Apr 16, 2025 School Photos, Pt. 2 Apr 16, 2025 Friends Apr 16, 2025 Company Car Apr 16, 2025 Standard Issue Rifle Apr 16, 2025 Terminal Apr 16, 2025 Astroport Apr 16, 2025 2,000 Apr 16, 2025 Gravity Apr 16, 2025 Jump Apr 16, 2025 Cable Car Apr 16, 2025 Allia Girls Apr 16, 2025 A Nice Moment Apr 16, 2025 Bald Apr 16, 2025 Briefcase Apr 16, 2025 The Greek Apr 16, 2025 Volcanic Moderne Apr 16, 2025 Algic Fashion Apr 16, 2025 The Fountain Apr 16, 2025 Chief Inspector Apr 16, 2025 Aurora Apr 16, 2025 Cab-Forward Apr 16, 2025 Shorts Apr 16, 2025 Family Apr 16, 2025 Sami Apr 16, 2025 Pistol Apr 16, 2025 Submarine Apr 16, 2025 Magma Apr 16, 2025 Maja (Commission) Apr 16, 2025 Coffee Apr 16, 2025 Smoke Apr 16, 2025 Radio Apr 16, 2025 Inuit student Apr 16, 2025 Formal Jewellery Apr 16, 2025 Fruitcore Apr 16, 2025 Petrol-Bike Apr 16, 2025 Nuclear Ship Apr 16, 2025 Nosebleed Apr 16, 2025 Killers Apr 16, 2025 Constable Apr 16, 2025 Malaysia Apr 16, 2025 Thailand Apr 16, 2025 Teabag Apr 16, 2025 Bored-er Guard Apr 16, 2025 Canteen Wine Apr 16, 2025 Scouts Learning to Shoot Apr 16, 2025 High \u0026amp; Low (IQ) Fashion Apr 16, 2025 The Cane Apr 16, 2025 Teleswitch Apr 16, 2025 Industrial Security Apr 16, 2025 Spicy Curry Apr 16, 2025 The Offering Apr 16, 2025 Ziggurat Apr 16, 2025 Froggy Apr 16, 2025 Her Best Apr 16, 2025 Tank Engine Apr 16, 2025 Clerk Apr 16, 2025 Sniff Apr 16, 2025 School Photo Apr 16, 2025 Caribbean Police Apr 16, 2025 The Dare Apr 16, 2025 The Work Week Apr 16, 2025 They Like Each Other Apr 16, 2025 School Map Apr 16, 2025 The Comedian Apr 16, 2025 Downriver Apr 16, 2025 Jousting Jet Apr 16, 2025 2063 Olympics Uniforms Apr 16, 2025 The News Apr 16, 2025 Whisper of the Heart Apr 16, 2025 Taking Requests Apr 16, 2025 Riot Police Apr 16, 2025 Pretending to Listen Apr 16, 2025 They Like to Dance Apr 16, 2025 Sprinter Apr 16, 2025 Nice Cardigan Apr 16, 2025 Coworkers Apr 16, 2025 Camo Apr 16, 2025 Patrol Kit Apr 16, 2025 Battleship Apr 16, 2025 Pademelon Apr 16, 2025 Don\u0026#39;t Touch Her Maria Apr 16, 2025 Colleague Apr 16, 2025 4,000 Apr 16, 2025 Rhodesia Apr 16, 2025 Bedroom Apr 16, 2025 Bench Girls Apr 16, 2025 Failing Student Apr 16, 2025 The Wind is Rising Apr 16, 2025 Photovolume Apr 16, 2025 Jacket Apr 16, 2025 Her Day Off Apr 16, 2025 Medals Apr 16, 2025 Thoughts Apr 16, 2025 Spring Apr 16, 2025 Constable Apr 16, 2025 Lighter Apr 16, 2025 Antigua Apr 16, 2025 Coast Guard Apr 16, 2025 Medic Apr 16, 2025 Platform Attendant Apr 16, 2025 Fireworks Apr 16, 2025 Academic Apr 16, 2025 Moron Apr 16, 2025 Dark Energy Apr 16, 2025 Cobian Apr 16, 2025 Coastal Artillery Apr 16, 2025 Father \u0026amp; Daughter Apr 16, 2025 What Are You Up To? Apr 16, 2025 Eucalypt Girls Apr 16, 2025 Rifleman Apr 16, 2025 Luce Apr 16, 2025 One Year Later Apr 16, 2025 Lunch Comic Apr 16, 2025 Sunday Morning Apr 16, 2025 Diwali Apr 16, 2025 Customs Hydrofoil Apr 16, 2025 Astro Flight Attendant Apr 16, 2025 Tito \u0026amp; Grace Apr 16, 2025 Softmaxxing Apr 16, 2025 Carib Police Apr 16, 2025 Naval Helijet Apr 16, 2025 Tzipora ½ Apr 16, 2025 Police Cruiser Apr 16, 2025 Panini Apr 16, 2025 Hair Apr 16, 2025 Patrol Motor Launch Apr 16, 2025 Garbage Bag Apr 16, 2025 Ludic Productivity Apr 16, 2025 Marshal Apr 16, 2025 Gift Economy Apr 16, 2025 She Blinked Apr 16, 2025 Haircut Apr 16, 2025 Back to Church Apr 16, 2025 2025 Apr 16, 2025 Two Wolves Apr 16, 2025 Fortress Guard Apr 16, 2025 Hydro Worker Apr 16, 2025 Spaceplane Apr 16, 2025 Arts \u0026amp; Crafts Apr 16, 2025 Sniper Team Apr 16, 2025 The Worst Clerk Apr 16, 2025 The German Apr 16, 2025 Vekllei School Lunch Apr 16, 2025 Coffee with Coworker Apr 16, 2025 Wristwatch Apr 16, 2025 Police Car Apr 16, 2025 Silly Goose Apr 16, 2025 Helping Out Apr 16, 2025 Air Escort Destroyer Apr 16, 2025 Students Apr 16, 2025 Ticket to the Moon Apr 16, 2025 Atomic Modern Apr 16, 2025 Moon, 2063 Apr 16, 2025 Lido Robot Apr 16, 2025 Low Gravity Apr 16, 2025 Lunar Border Patrol Apr 16, 2025 Tram Ride Apr 16, 2025 Good Job, Idiots Apr 16, 2025 Airlift Apr 16, 2025 Grave Washing Apr 16, 2025 My Birthday Apr 16, 2025 Fast Tank Apr 16, 2025 America Apr 16, 2025 Beep Boop Apr 16, 2025 National Costumes Apr 16, 2025 Police Carbine Apr 16, 2025 Born Tzippy Apr 16, 2025 Photophreaking Apr 16, 2025 Situationists Apr 16, 2025 Littoral Hovercraft Apr 16, 2025 Restitution Apr 16, 2025 Sukeban Apr 16, 2025 Fast Tram Apr 16, 2025 The Witch Apr 16, 2025 Seafire Apr 16, 2025 Dreamers \u0026amp; Schemers Apr 16, 2025 Trouser Skirts Apr 16, 2025 🍾 Waugh Apr 16, 2025 ☕️ Utopie Concrète Apr 16, 2025 🌸 Interim Prosperity Government Apr 16, 2025 🎙 FAQ Apr 16, 2025 🍜 A Cashless Tokyo Apr 16, 2025 🌼 Issue 7 | November 2020 Apr 16, 2025 🌼 Issue 6 | October 2020 Apr 16, 2025 🌼 Issue 5 | September 2020 Apr 16, 2025 🌼 Issue 4 | August 2020 Apr 16, 2025 🌼 Issue 3 | July 2020 Apr 16, 2025 🌼 Issue 2 | June 2020 Apr 16, 2025 ☂️ Hong Kong Apr 16, 2025 🌼 Issue 1 | May 2020 Apr 16, 2025 ♀ Women, Vekllei Mar 19, 2025 🫧 Ghibli Mar 13, 2025 📋 Update Log Mar 5, 2025 🏛️ Comet Feb 19, 2025 🎐 Atomic Moderne Chapter 1 Feb 19, 2025 ✉️ Jul 2021 Feb 19, 2025 ✉️ May 2021 Feb 19, 2025 ✉️ Feb 2021 Feb 19, 2025 ✉️ Jan 2021 Feb 19, 2025 ✉️ Dec 2020 Feb 19, 2025 🩸 The Cane Feb 19, 2025 💌 Pyjamas Feb 19, 2025 👚 Polyester Feb 19, 2025 ✉️ Nov 2020 Feb 19, 2025 🫥 Why do Oslolan People Look Like That? Feb 10, 2025 🏞️ The Post-War Consensus Feb 10, 2025 🌐 The Commons Overseas Feb 10, 2025 🏳️ Standardisation Feb 10, 2025 📊 Productivity Feb 10, 2025 🏭 One Person, One Factory Feb 10, 2025 🛢️ Natural Commodities Feb 10, 2025 🚢 National Tour Feb 10, 2025 🌺 Government Ownership Feb 10, 2025 🌍 Foreign Policy Feb 10, 2025 🗣️ Courtesy Feb 10, 2025 🗄️ Bureaucracy in Vekllei Feb 10, 2025 💸 Automatic Allocation Feb 10, 2025 🍷 Alcohol Feb 10, 2025 💸 Accounted Revenue Feb 10, 2025 💸 A Social Economy Feb 10, 2025 🏔️ The West Coast of Tasmania May 16, 2024 📄 MillMint License May 16, 2024 🌹 Council of Roses May 16, 2024 ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/log/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1194,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/development/",
  "title": "Urban Development","icon": "🏗️","rgb": "162, 110, 227",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Urban life in Vekllei develops quickly, aided by regulatory and technical processes that rapidly improves and uplifts their towns and cities.",
  "content": " Summary\nUrban development in Vekllei moves fast \u0026ndash; really fast. This phenomenon is not unique to the country, but is demonstrated well by it. It arises from a confluence of technology and political priority, as an extension of the new housing and renewal projects of the postwar period. Thanks to advances in automatic construction and political interest in rapid development, the cityscapes of Vekllei change frequently and rapidly. If nothing else, Vekllei is a nation of infrastructure. The quality and abundance of its infrastructure characterises all Vekllei islands, second perhaps only to their natural beauty and striking volcanic mounts. As is the case of all Vekllei theories of living, the principles that influence its cities are standardised and attempt to be employed equally across the country. Together, they are known as Atlantic Municipalism \u0026ndash; the values of the Vekllei city.\nPrinciples of Atlantic Municipalism\nLocal employment, or “commutelessness.” Slumlessness, beautification and a will to architecture. Property stewardship. Open air and clean water. Land usefulness and intimacy. Private ownership of private needs. Public ownership of public needs. In the decades since independence, many of these principles have been refined to mean specific things. \u0026ldquo;Open air and clean water\u0026rdquo; has come to mean flowing water, drinking fountains, sunlight and greenery. The abstract values of Atlantic Municipalism now generally refer to tangible things, and in this sense so too have Vekllei cities developed common appearances. In the mid-21st Century, it is now possible to distinguish Vekllei cities by their design and architecture \u0026ndash; a relatively uncommon feat in today\u0026rsquo;s internationalist world.\nAlmost as striking as the qualities of a Vekllei city, however, is just how quickly they grow and develop. The computerisation of construction, from design to assembly, has removed most physical labour from many types of construction, and so homes now go up in days instead of months. Municipalities have broad authority to develop public spaces, and are supported by quality resources like the Bureau of Housing and its professional civic architects, or the National Construction House.\nIn the span of a week, Vekllei roads can be pedestrianised and lined with leafy eucalypts \u0026ndash; they will have new gutters and street furniture, and may even have tracks for trams and freightcars. Large municipal projects, usually directed by the local Bureau of Public Works, require more planning but move just as quickly. The base unit of municipal planning in Vekllei is the fortnight:\nOnce interest in a project has been raised, initial drawings are developed along with computer diagrams (which may take some months) Two weeks for planning and approval Two weeks for public consultation Two weeks for site assembly and closure Two weeks for construction These are naturally generalised outlines. In practice, and depending on the type of work, things may move much faster or slower. Vekllei people have strong property rights based on their ownership claim, and in this system there is no real mechanism to evict longtime residents from their homes. Instead, strange and costly workarounds may need to be implemented, which further distinguish the character of Vekllei cities.\nNonetheless, Vekllei builds good things quickly. This is possible because Vekllei people generally trust their government \u0026ndash; helped by the fact that many constituent republics prior to federalisation were poor or exploited by distant colonial powers. They are a country still in the mindset of opportunity and excitement, not suspicion and fear. They are pleased and excited by new developments.\nIn many developed countries, opposition to new development can extract excruciating legal battles for developments of public benefit \u0026ndash; in Vekllei, this is generally not the case. In fact, politics plays only a preliminary and functional role in construction. Cities are the kingdoms of architects, who produce computer diagrams for everything from street furniture to new railway stations. Vekllei is overflowing with architects, all eager to make their mark. Today, their role is a hybrid between the engineer and draughtsman, and automatic machines are a critical part of the process.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/urban-development"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1195,
  "href": "/millmint/essays/utopie/",
  "title": "Utopie Concrète","icon": "☕️","color": "blue",
  "section": "Essays",
  "description": "Notes on utopie concrète, a new movement for utopian fiction.",
  "content": " ✿ Note from the Editor This essay was written in June 2021. Click here to see it as a post. A New Style of Utopia # I write introspectively about the project sometimes, as a means by which I consider what I\u0026rsquo;m doing and where my unconscious is leading me with this project. I have the instinct of someone who is over-educated and self-obsessed; someone who went to university, fell for the farce of serious media criticism, and failed to see that all media theorists are basically freaks. And there is a small truth buried in that hyperbole: it does in fact require a certain dysfunction to write books about the study of anime or television. You can become too close to something.\nUtopie concrète, or \u0026lsquo;concrete utopia,\u0026rsquo; is my phrase for how I work. I saw parallels with the manifesto of musique concrète, as described by Pierre Schaeffer:\nInstead of notating musical ideas on paper with the symbols of solfège and entrusting their realisation to well-known instruments, the question was to collect concrete sounds, wherever they came from, and to abstract the musical values they were potentially containing.\nUtopianism is much the same; it distills the concrete sentiment, concerns, and futures of a time and place and reproduces them in abstract in fiction. In a very straightforward way, my work (Vekllei, so-called) is an abstraction of real people, events, and things.\nIt also refers to the \u0026ldquo;feeling\u0026rdquo; of Vekllei, in a transcendental fashion. Utopianism is associated with very specific, loaded conceptions of perfection \u0026mdash; cleanliness, symmetry, peacefulness, goodness, and impossibility. Vekllei is not any of these things consistently; it is like the raw concrete used in béton brut, and like raw concrete it discolours, weathers and crumbles in its exposure to reality and the march of time. You can see the formwork and imperfections in its product \u0026mdash; not as a result of sloppy workmanship or carelessness, but because those things are beautiful; utopian in their own right.\nAt the risk of disfiguring these notes into a manifesto, the principles of utopie concrète might look something like this.\nPrinciples of UTOPIE CONCRÈTE ■ # All things have dignity All things get dirty You must love it To explain further:\nAll things have dignity. You must take your \u0026ldquo;raw utopia\u0026rdquo; seriously \u0026mdash; it has to be honest. In this sense, you must always aim to do your best for it. Consider your landscape and give your characters the respect you would anyone. If you dishonour them through sloppy work, you should feel embarrassed. All things get dirty. In order to \u0026lsquo;consider your landscape\u0026rsquo; and \u0026lsquo;respect your characters,\u0026rsquo; you must also recognise that these things need to live independently from your control. The activity of your utopia is what makes it alive, and also what makes it imperfect. Recognise the imperfections and celebrate them. You must love it. Utopias are very thoughtful and considered, but they can\u0026rsquo;t be intellectual. It must be intuitive \u0026mdash; follow your heart. UTOPIE CONCRÈTE ■ with Vekllei Characteristics # There is a newer amendment to this section of the essay: Women, Vekllei You already have the tools to create your concrete utopia \u0026mdash; you just need to act on it. I have acted, and what has surfaced reveals a great deal about me, how I think and process the world, my anger and prejudices, my hopes and affections, and the pettiest of petty material interests.\nHayao Miyazaki, a great artist I admire deeply, was asked why his films starred heroines. He said:\nAt first, I thought \u0026ldquo;this is no longer the era of men\u0026hellip;\u0026rdquo; But after ten years, I grew tired of saying that. I just say \u0026ldquo;because I like women.\u0026rdquo; That has more reality.\nI mostly draw women, and there is not much good reason for it other than I like women.\nI have said previously I\u0026rsquo;m deeply uncomfortable with the conceptual objectification of women, and the shallowness of girl-caricatures. Yet, when asked why my cast of characters are mostly women, I can only say that I like drawing women. That\u0026rsquo;s very revealing of the hypocritical discrepancy between essay rhetoric and my body of work. I try and give my characters dignity, but I also draw women and girls because they might look more interesting in a certain profession, or have better options for their clothes. Where is the dignity in being reproduced for how you appear in a picture? We can\u0026rsquo;t mistake \u0026ldquo;drawing women\u0026rdquo; for \u0026ldquo;representation of women.\u0026rdquo; This is a failing on my part.\nBut I also think that Tzipora, the most egregious and unusual example of \u0026ldquo;using the appearance of women\u0026rdquo; in my project, is not much of a woman at all. She carries my anger, my obsessiveness, and lives my fantasy of a meaningful life. She is quite explicitly an author surrogate, although with a life of her own. She is also not supposed to be an authentic depiction of the experience of any woman \u0026mdash; she is in fact closer to an anti-woman. She is so tomboyish, obsessive, and neurotic, that it\u0026rsquo;s hard to use her to explore conventional literary interests in \u0026lsquo;womanhood.\u0026rsquo; Thank goodness for that \u0026mdash; it\u0026rsquo;s not my place.\nCreating Vekllei is my way of processing the goings-on of the world, and my lived experience day-to-day. In this sense, I prefer the clothes and appearance of women, and so in my utopia I draw women.\nThis is one of the interesting contradictions of utopianism. It is inherently egoistic, and can always be traced cleanly to the total worldview and personality of its author. But like most fiction, authors are eager to give life to their people and places, and would rather you not glimpse the man behind the curtain. Vekllei is fiction \u0026mdash; Tzipora is a girl, and lives in Vekllei. Vekllei is also a utopia \u0026mdash; Tzipora is me, and lives in my hopes, dreams, and anxieties. The contradiction is muted until authors start acting like the former is not a result of the latter, and that my personal experience does not affect who and what is depicted in Vekllei. This is true of all fiction \u0026mdash; so let us not pretend cuteness is not a female burden, and my desire to draw nice clothes and interesting hairstyles is not an altruistic representation of women, no matter how well-intentioned my depictions may be.\nThis conversation is important only because Vekllei is important (to me), and the principles of utopie concrète are worth upholding \u0026mdash; all things must have dignity.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/utopie/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1196,
  "href": "/series/vehicles/",
  "title": "Vehicles",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1197,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vehicles/",
  "title": "Vehicles","icon": "🚗","rgb": "245, 60, 89",
  "section": "Technology",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/vehicles/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1198,
  "href": "/series/vekllei/",
  "title": "Vekllei",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1199,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/vekllei/",
  "title": "Vekllei","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/com-4x3.svg","icon": "🌹","color": "vekllei",
  "section": "Commonwealth",
  "description": "Vekllei is a union of islands spanning most of the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea, and comprises nearly 80 constituent republics.",
  "content": " Vekllei Commonwealth Sovereign Commonwealth of Atlantic Communities Anthem Advance, Veletia Area 2,393,359 km² Capital Comet Constituents 83 Government Federal parliamentary directoral commonwealth Language English (official), many others Population 26,774,629 Vekllei is best conceptualised as a union of islands across the Atlantic Ocean. It is a commonwealth,1 the fourth in a series, and consists of many island republics that are connected by politics and prosperity, not geography or race. It is a new kind of country, without direct precedence or comparison, and spans the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans in their entirety.\nThe Commonwealth which unites them is both deeply federal and highly standardised, and built on common systems of governance and economic management. The sovereign basis of the country is the republic, or island city-state, which are organised into regional constituent commonwealths. These republics, numbering 78 in total, cede aspects of governance like Healthcare, Education and the Armed Forces to the federal Commonwealth.\nThe capital of Vekllei is Comet, located west of the Azores Commonwealth in the Meteor Islands. It was designed and built for that purpose.\nVekllei is often regarded a nation by will, rather than of culture or geography. It consists of distant autonomous republics with many cultures and languages, and it has attracted millions of immigrants since independence looking to participate in building the unique aspects of its governance and society.\nOslola, raging and now blinded, drew deep wounds into the Earth. Out of these wounds came fire, and out of fire came her child Oslola.\n\u0026ndash; Retelling of Algic legends, Verse 40, Saga of Origins\nWhat is Vekllei? Vekllei is a country that consists of many island republics in the Atlantic. The largest of these is called Oslola, which is its most populous island. Vekllei is the setting of this fiction, and is the home of most of its characters. Where is Vekllei? Most of Vekllei's islands are found in the North Atlantic and Caribbean seas. Its northernmost territory is Helvasia (Svalbard) and its southernmost territories are on the Antarctic continent. It also has a claim on the moon. When was Vekllei founded? The Commonwealth of Oceans (Vekllei) was founded in 2017 after independence in 2015, and is the 4th in a succession of historic Commonwealths based in the Kalan and Oslolan Islands. The first, known as the Nord Commonwealth, was the world's first parliament and among the first democracies in the world. Name # The country is known by different names. On this website, it is called Vekllei, which is an Algic corcidi word meaning people of the sea and stars.2 Within the country, \u0026lsquo;Vekllei\u0026rsquo; usually refers to the federal government.\nThe formal title of the country is the Commonwealth of Oceans, but is rarely used. It is more commonly known as the Atlantic Commonwealth or Veletian Commonwealth. In most cases, including internationally, the country is simply called the \u0026lsquo;Commonwealth.\u0026rsquo; Most people identify themselves by their native republic, but together people may call themselves \u0026lsquo;Vekllei\u0026rsquo; as plural, or \u0026lsquo;Veletian.\u0026rsquo;\nHistory # The diversity of the Commonwealth is reflected in its history. Vekllei as we know it today may have roots in in the Oslola-Kalan Union and Kalina nationalism, but its story begins in 1995, during the First Atomic War and British occupation of its former colonial territories for 20 years. That occupation, and the complete restructuring of Atlantic society beneath it, lay the foundations for a new and pluralistic union of republics called Vekllei. Read more: ⏳ Timeline Many Commonwealth republics have been inhabited for thousands of years, and have cultures and traditions that encompass many unique languages and faiths. There is a strong collision of old and new everywhere in the country. On many islands, ancient bloodlines and traditions have been displaced by colonial enterprise or postwar migration.\nIn many ways, the story of Vekllei is a story of slavery and subjugation. All of its republics were once European colonies, and most were transformed by chattel slavery. In many republics, indigenous populations were enslaved or murdered. Such is the basic tension in the heart of the country \u0026ndash; a direct successor to cultures with thousands of years of history, but profoundly influenced by colonial enterprise and the modern world.\nThe federal system of the country has precedence in the Oslolan Commonwealths that existed sporadically between 700 AD and 1600 AD. For this reason, Vekllei is sometimes referred to as the \u0026ldquo;4th Commonwealth,\u0026rdquo; a phrase that draws a direct connection between Vekllei and the Oslolan Commonwealths.3\nThe Oslolan North Sea Empire forms an important part of the country\u0026rsquo;s hsitory, as its historic centre of population and industry. Many early Atlantic federalists were Oslolan, and in many ways the genesis of the federal republic originates there. To this day, Oslola remains the most developed Vekllei republic, and dwarfs the others in size and industry. Federal principles have decentralised much of Vekllei administration, but most of its industry remains in Oslola and Kairi.\nCommon history of Vekllei as a state begins in 1710 AD, when the North Sea Empire comprising Oslola and Kala capitulated to the Kingdom of Great Britain and became subjects the British Empire. In 1836, the British colonies in the Atlantic were reincorporated as the British Atlantic Territories. This colony was granted autonomy in 1838 and achieved dominion status in 1926, and lay the groundwork for Oslolan independence in 1935.\nAfter the Second World War, the Oslolan Republic struggled through a series of crises that culminated in the fall of government and the establishment of the Atlantic Council in 1963, which severed ties with the UK. Rising territorial ambitions and erratic council rule saw relations strained and culminated in the Oslolan Civil War in 1992 and the exchange of nuclear weapons with the UK in 1995.\nOslolan territories, including Kala, Demon and Helvasia were occupied between 1995 and 2017. Independence was granted in 2015, in which occupied territories ceded local rule to a union called the Atlantic Commonwealth. This Commonwealth is the foundation of modern Vekllei.\nThe accession of other republics occurred between 2020 and 2040, and continues to this day in a process known as federalisation. Rather than individual islands, these accessions involved sovereign island-groups like the West Indies Federation, the Azores and Cabo Verde which were then decentralised by the Commonwealth. There are 78 constituent republics in Vekllei today.\nState # Vekllei contains a lot of ideas colliding with each other, which break into fragments and fuse to create new elements. This is a result of its similarly chaotic history, uniting a patchwork of republics that have been subjugated by other powers over time. These elements have evolved to become a new kind of nation-state, unique in the world and history. The Commonwealth is a union of Atlantic and Caribbean islands which, freed from colonial rule, have established a federal system to share common burdens and improve the lives of their oceangoing peoples. It is a constitutional, federal country comprising 78 republics which share political features established by the Council of Roses. These principles are enshrined in their Civil Rights.\nVekllei has a unique kind of federalism, with republics and territories orbiting central Commonwealth control at different distances. A common means of petitioning membership, or \u0026ldquo;acceding\u0026rdquo; to the Commonwealth is via its international organisation called COMOC.\nAlthough a country of unparalleled geographic and cultural diversity, Vekllei administration is strongly standardised and the state functions as a single, contiguous country. Its constituent republics have large degrees of autonomy, but are unilaterally governed by the federal government as an intact state.\nTerritories # Main article: Vekllei World Map List of Vekllei Republics Federal Territories\nMeteor Federal Territory Vekllei Antarctic Territories Vekllei Lunar Community Vekllei Mars Territories International Free Arctic Territories (partial) Commonwealth Antarctic\nAscension (Ascension) Falklands (Falklands) Helena (Saint Helena) Santes (Tristan da Cunha) Sude (South Georgia \u0026amp; South Sandwich Islands) Commonwealth Antilles\nAbakoa (San Andres) Aruba (Aruba) Bonaire (Bonaire) Paria (Los Roques Islands) Caimanas (Caimanas) Curacao (Curacao) Providence (Providencia) Commonwealth Arctic\nHelvasia (Svalbard) Kala (Greenland) Commonwealth Atlantic\nBerbera (La Gomera) Canary (Gran Canaria Island) Costa Verde (Sao Miguel Island) Fayal (Faial Island) Flores (Flores Island) Graciosa (Graciosa Island) Benahoare (La Palma Island) Lanzarote (Lanzarote Island) Maria (Santa Maria Island) Meridia (El Hierro Island) Mira (Madeira) Pico (Pico Island) Porto Santo (Porto Santo) Tenerife (Tenerife Island) Terceira (Terceira Island) Velas (Sao Jorge Island) Ventura (Fuerteventura Island) Commonwealth Lucaya\nBahama (Grand Bahama) Caicos (Turks \u0026amp; Caicos) Cigateo Republic (Eleuthera) Conch (Key West) Curateo (Great Exuma) Guanima (Cat Island) Habacoa (Andros Islands) Inagua (Great Inagua) Lucayoneque (Abaco Islands) Mayaguana (Mayaguana) Providence (New Providence) Rum (San Salvador \u0026amp; Rum Cay) Summers (Bermuda) Yabaque (Acklins) Yuma (Long Island) Commonwealth Kalina\nAllia (Montserrat) Aloi (St Eustatius) Aloubaera (Tobago) Anguilla (Anguilla) Antigua (Antigua) Barbados (Barbados) Barbary (Barbuda) Cama (Grenada) Grenadines (Grenadines) Karu (Guadeloupe) Kabuli (Dominica) Kairi (Trinidad) Liamuiga (St Kitts) Lucia (Saint Lucia) Madiana (Martinique) Oualie (Navis) Ouanalao (Saint Barthelemy) Saba (Saba) Soualiga (Saint Martin/Sint Maartin) Virgin (British/Spanish/U.S. Virgin Islands) Youloumain (Saint Vincent \u0026amp; The Grenadines) Commonwealth Verde\nAnnobon (Annobon) Boa Vista (Boa Vista) Brava (Brava) Cavoada (Sao Nicolau) Fogo (Fogo) Java (Sao Tome) Maio (Maio) Moroços (Santo Antao) Praia (Santiago) Principe (Sao Tome \u0026amp; Principe) Sal (Sal) Viana (Sao Vicente) Commonwealth Volcanic\nAismious (Faroe) Demon (Jan Mayen) Hetland (Shetland) Oslola (Iceland) The Commonwealth is a country of unequaled geographic and natural diversity. It spans the entirety of the Atlantic as well as the Caribbean Sea, and comprises the majority of islands within both. Its frontiers resemble the extremes of a compass \u0026ndash; Helvasia in the north, Sude in the south, Principe in the east and Caimanas in the west. Between them lie thousands of Vekllei islands and reefs, and two oceans. The exclusive economic zones of its islands are many times greater than the landmass of the islands themselves, and protect a wealth of resources and fish stocks.\nThere are 78 Vekllei republics, which comprise the 78 main inhabited islands in the country. There are thousands of other islands, islets and rocks that make up its territory. Vekllei also maintains claims on both poles, and maintains lunar and martian settlements.\nIn total, Vekllei islands amount to a demonstration of earth\u0026rsquo;s biodiversity. Xeric plains, arctic deserts, flower-tundras, dense jungles, temperate rainforests, pastoral hills and coral sandbanks can all be found there. Spanning pole to pole, this country experiences the extremes of polar midnight sun and humid, equatorial storms at the same time. Among them are the world\u0026rsquo;s largest islands and among its smallest, ranging from the republic of Kala of over 830,000 square miles to Saba of just 5. Many other possessions amount to little more than surfaced sea mounts, reefs and rocks.\nAcross its archipelagoes are a broad sample of people from every corner of the world \u0026ndash; Europeans, Africans, indigenous Inuits, Caribbean Indians, Persians, South-East Asians, Mediterraneans and Mongols all make their homes in Vekllei. A half-century of immigration has ensured that every language on earth is represented. The living effect is unique \u0026ndash; a social internationalism wrought from all kinds of people in all kinds of environments.\nGovernment # Main article: Government The Vekllei government plays an active role in the lives of ordinary people. Each commonwealth republic is represented by two people4 of equal standing called Prime Ministers. These ministers represent the bicameral parliaments and assembled cabinets of their homes,5 and participate equally in a council of leaders called the Commonwealth Directory.\nThere are different levels of elected government in Vekllei.\nThe Vekllei Commonwealth is the federal governing body and parliament of the constituent republics. The head of state is the Commonwealth Council. The Commonwealth Senate has special powers to approve or reject legislation. The National Commonwealths are constituent republics that manage home affairs with devolved powers. They each have National Assemblies which propose legislation. The Polis o Democros (Republics) are city republics, areas or boroughs that manage local services. Territories in Vekllei are also governed by Municipal Commonwealths. Vekllei elections do not allow political parties, a system called nonpartisan democracy. Commonwealth ministries and council secretariats are lead by professional directors appointed by an internal vote, and final approval resting with the Commonwealth Directory.\nEconomy # The Vekllei economy exists in two pieces: as a social market, dominated by wandering interest and cooperation, and as a financial market, which subsidises the former. The moneylessness of the social market is the marvel of the Vekllei nation and is deeply revered by citizens and disaffected foreign ideologues alike. See also: A Social Economy The Commonwealth has a hybrid moneyless system called commons, in which money is not used in daily life. In the place of money, the commons system exists as a series of social economies and usufructs. Rather than purchasing products as consumers, staples like food and clothing are subsidised by groups of companies known as bureaus. Everything else is produced in the colloquial moneyless market, often unreliably.\nMoney is used in a seperate industrial and financial market called the financialised commons. In this market, Vekllei has two currencies known as Vekllei and Government Crowns, which are used by the government, industry and foreigners to interact with the Vekllei economy and purchase securities and financial instruments. Money is also used as a means of exchange between Commonwealth republics as a privilege of the state.\nThe country has maintained high unemployment since independence, sliding between 5-10% for most of the postwar period.\nThe commons economy relies on a system of participatory work, encouraged by the simple and universal rule to be employed, called Consosva. The standard of living in Vekllei is quite good and is unique among modern societies today.\nIn industrialised regions like Oslola, the commons has a sophisticated network of incentives and social engineering to facilitate its quality of life. In other regions, particularly scattered across the many archipelagos and small islands of the Commonwealth, self-sufficiency is more common and dependent on fishing, community and codependence.\nWork # Employment in Vekllei has many unique features, not least of which is its functional moneylessness. Except for Verde,6 no republic of the Commonwealth uses money in daily life. Work in Vekllei is characterised by lifetime employment and seniority-based advancement, though this culture is changing in some industries. Most larger businesses in Vekllei function as cooperatives, often as part of a Bureau.\nLife is not that different, but is improved in ordinary and meaningful ways. People still go to school and work, as depicted here | Anarchist Trams This work environment ranks highly for productivity but lowly for economic freedom, as the structure of the commons inhibits scaling businesses beyond social dimensions. Private business ownership is most common in small communities with strong social bonds, particularly in rural or agricultural areas.\nVekllei people generally have aspirations of power rather than wealth, and work towards that goal in the absence of a wage. Other reasons for work include its strong social dimensions and relaxed ethic, which are facilitated by a professional but gentle work culture that retains short working days and frequent tea breaks.\nFinance # Main article: 💵 Finance in Vekllei Vekllei separates its markets to allow for money to be used by industry and the government as part of trade and business.\nThe Commons is the moneyless and participatory domestic market. The Financialised Commons are the moneyed industrial and international markets. Most Vekllei people never interact with the financialised commons, but it plays a significant role in the economy. Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s history as a series of entrepôts and its international neutrality have made it desirable as a place of business and investment, and many foreign companies bank in Vekllei. Vekllei is a major commodities and securities exchange, via the Vekllei International Market.\nDespite its international investment and low barriers to trade, the Commonwealth government is a major participant in the financialised commons and contributes significantly to its currency pool. Vekllei has the second-largest foreign currency reserves in the world.\nThe Commonwealth has major financial hubs in Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Azores.\nIndustry # Main article: ⚙️ Industry Read more: 🏬 State Industry in Vekllei Vekllei has a large industrial capacity and produces vehicles, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, and processed foods. It has the 12th-highest manufacturing output in the world.\nParts of Vekllei are highly industrialised,7 and the country has modernised its economy since independence through labour-saving automations, centralisation and new technologies like robotics. Very few Vekllei people work in traditional factory labour, since it is impractical in the commons, and so most production and assembly occurs in automated factories known as lots.\nMajor industries in Vekllei leverage the creative productivity of its enthusiastic and well-educated population, and leads markets in financial services, design, banking, electronics, telecommunications and research. Its historic reputation as a reliable and efficient entrepôt and geographic diversity means Vekllei is a major hub of trade and is well-connected to the rest of the world.\nProperty # Read more: 🏡 Property in Vekllei The right to property is protected by the Vekllei Constitution, and important in North Vekllei culture. Home ownership is a foundation of Atlantic Municipalism, and is determined by stewardship of land.\nIn the Vekllei legal system, land has three competing agents:\nThe Steward \u0026ndash; the occupier and worker of the land The Public \u0026ndash; the community, municipality and state The Sovereign \u0026ndash; the land itself, as a seperate sovereign kingdom of nature Rather than defined legal owners, land ownership in Vekllei is a pluralistic competition between these three agents. The claim to ownership grows with time and use, and so it is possible for any agent to litigate property provided a reasonable claim to ownership can be provided.\nIn North Vekllei, where Upen folk metaphysics are practiced, the Sovereign is treated literally as a competing agent. In other parts of Vekllei, like the Kalina Isles, it is treated as nature itself or the environment. In both cases, the interests of the Sovereign are established by special prosecutors in court.\nNearly 96% of Vekllei people own their homes, among the highest rates of home-ownership in the world.\nForeign Policy # Vekllei has championed the nonalignment movement since independence. Situated between NATO powers (North America and Western Europe) and between exploited developing regions (South America and West Africa), the Commonwealth uses nonalignment simultaneously as an instrument of peace and intervention. It has close relations with other nonaligned countries, including Yugoslavia and India.\nThis historical neutrality and geographic accessibility has encouraged the founding and relocation of international organisations to Vekllei. Vekllei chairs the Council of Oceans and has many international organisations headquartered across its republics, including the International Federation of Journalists and the new United Nations Office.\nMany Vekllei people work overseas for a period of time, either individually or as part of Commonwealth-sponsored programmes. The country is among the largest exporters of doctors and teachers in the world, many of whom work in West and Southern Africa.\nThe Commonwealth has several disputed territories among its Constituents and territories, particularly the Falkland Islands with Argentina and the Antilles Commonwealth with Venezuela.\nMilitary # Main article: Armed Forces The Commonwealth has a large military and takes an active role in a variety of conflicts around the world. It is separated into a large conscripted militia, for which all citizens receive training, and a professional armed forces. Its professional armed forces have an expeditionary character and consist of small, highly mobile units deployable to developing regions overseas.\nVekllei has a large domestic arms industry and produces most of its equipment internally, with significant spending on research. It also exports large numbers of arms to foreign nations, particularly members of the nonaligned movement.\nRecent conflicts include the 2045 intervention in Haiti and the 2065 Congo Crisis.\nVekllei is a nuclear power and maintains a network of ICBM silos and air-deployable nuclear weapons as part of deterrence.\nSociety # Commonwealth society is multicultural, egalitarian, informal and pluralistic. Aspects of society can be closely controlled by government or anarchistic, depending on circumstance. Vekllei has a strong sense of civic identity based around Atlantic Municipalism and Floral Democracy.\nAlthough acknowledging its indigenous cultures, postwar society in Vekllei emphasises a broad esprit de corps that informs belief through common values and political practices.\nLife is not that different, but is improved in ordinary and meaningful ways. People still go to school and work, as depicted here | Anarchist Trams Commonwealth society is internationalist owing to its internal distance and diversity, and so aspects of its political and cultural beliefs are considered universal. Atlantic Laicity overrules religious practice where it violates Commonwealth values or law \u0026ndash; for example the wearing of long veils in schools and public institutions is prohibited. Similarly, the Commonwealth considers democracy to be a foundational human right and belief in it is essential for participation in society.\nBecause the unmoneyed Commons economy is essentially unregulated beyond the Vekllei Basic Laws, Commonwealth society has strong anarchist currents.\nEducation # Main article: 📚 Education in Vekllei Education in Vekllei is universal and compulsory for children until the age of 16. All schools are coeducational, with the exception of a handful of faith schools.\nEducation across the Commonwealth is considered a life-long affair, and the country has many public programmes to encourage adult learning. The quality and universality of Vekllei education has ensured universal literacy across the Commonwealth and is a major export, both as a business and as a form of diplomacy and aid.\nDemographics # Read more: 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Demographics of Vekllei 24 million people live in Vekllei, and about half of them were born overseas. This number has settled in the mid-21st century, and is growing only slightly.\nDue to the unique geographic make-up of the country, Vekllei is highly centralised across a handful of major cities on its most populous islands and archipelagos. This population is also highly urbanised due to contemporary housing policy.\nThe Commonwealth is often described as a \u0026ldquo;cultural mosaic\u0026rdquo; because of its diverse linguistic and cultural groups. Immigration was encouraged as part of the Century Society laws, and resulted in the population of the Commonwealth increasing by nearly 8 million people between 2015 and 2050. Combined with the membership of new Constituents during this time, the population of the Commonwealth has doubled since independence.\nAs a pluralistic society, a national civic identity called Civic Commons is promoted by the government as a means to foster social cohesion. As a nation by will rather than by circumstance, Vekllei has a strong national identity and the Vekllei diaspora8 feel strongly towards the country.\nAncestry \u0026amp; Immigration # Read more: ⚖️ Century Society Laws Millions of migrants have settled in Vekllei. They arrived primarily from the territories of the former British and Portuguese empires, but large indigenous populations exist in Oslola, Kalina, the Antilles and Principe.\nMajor Ancestries of Vekllei\nOslolan (33%) UK \u0026amp; Ireland (29.9%) Kalinago/Carib (9.5%) Black (8.6%) Commonwealth Asian (5.5%) Hispanic (4.4%) East Creole (4%) Portuguese (3.1%) Latin American (2.9%) Indian/Ceylonese (1.7%) French (1.6%) Southern European (1.5%) Slavic (1.3%) Others (1%) Language # Vekllei has 16 official unique languages, a result of its unique communities and decentralised geography. It has an official constructed language, called Veletian, and English is widely spoken and understood. English, Veletian and a local language are generally taught in schools, and it is not uncommon for Vekllei people to speak three or four languages.\nReligion # Vekllei is agonistic and has no official religion, but recognises and has protections for traditional and folk religions. Recognised traditional faiths include folk Oslolan spiritualism, Kalina local faiths and the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman religions.\nReligion plays a role in certain Commonwealth societies, affecting local holidays and days of rest. In societies with large folk religions like Oslola and Kalina, aspects of local faith are present in the structure of municipal government and public companies.\nAlthough the official position of the Commonwealth is as a lay, secular republic that forbids public worship in state institutions like schools and government, it is loosely enforced.\nTransport # Read more: CommRail The Commonwealth has a comprehensive common transit network, which makes up most commuter traffic in the country. Automobiles are uncommon, except in the lending of \u0026ldquo;company cars\u0026rdquo; or via community Autopools. Most of the Vekllei republics are serviced by a dense network of trains and trams, and connected to each other via ferries, passenger jets and helijets.\nPublic transport infrastructure ranges from local tramways to lunar spaceflight | A Vekllei Spaceship Public transit ranges from state-of-the-art maglev lines in Oslola to century-old steam locomotives in Verde, operated by Vekllei National Rail. The sophistication of the network allows almost any citizen of the Commonwealth to travel from their doorstep to the moon entirely via public transport.\nCommunications # Read more: 🖥 Computing in Vekllei The Commonwealth is the site of the Atlantic Telephone \u0026amp; Telegraph Exchange, which services connections between the Americas and Europe. It has a sophisticated network of public phones available to persons with a Phone Card. Radio and television broadcasting are operated by the Ministry of the Commons via the Commonwealth Radio and Commonwealth Television companies, which contract regional service to local operators.\nThe Commonwealth maintains the National Bulletin System, a form of networked electronic bulletin board that is able to be accessed from most libraries and schools across its republics.\nCommonwealths are a historical nation-state indigenous to some Constituents, and today distinguishes Vekllei from federalised or unitary states and emphasises their egalitarian values and shared future.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe corcidi is actually a combination of two poetic phrases, and is usually transliterated separately as people of the sea, people of the stars, though the meaning is the same.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe Vekllei Commonwealth celebrates pan-atlanticism and strongly rejects historic connections to any one nation-state. For this reason, the phrase \u0026ldquo;4th Commonwealth\u0026rdquo; is controversial and sometimes associated with Oslolan Scandinavian nationalists.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nIn all Commonwealths except for Kala, the prime ministers are required to be one man and one woman.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nThe Prime Ministers represent a single office, called a Sorda.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nVerde acceded to Commonwealth membership in 2038, and is undergoing full integration with the commons moneyless system.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nOslola and the Kalina Commonwealth are the primary industrial regions of Vekllei, and also supply most of its food through its vast fisheries and food factories.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nVekllei has a large diaspora of emigrants from the Civil and Atomic Wars. They are concentrated mostly in the United States and the United Kingdom.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/vekllei/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1200,
  "href": "/factbook/world/locations/vekllei-world-astroport/",
  "title": "Vekllei World Astroport","icon": "🚀",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/astroport.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/astroport_hu6836f5c9cf2376eb058900cc82de08e9_2258827_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "green",
  "section": "Locations",
  "description": "Vekllei World Astroport (located in Ascension) is the largest spaceport of Vekllei, and its primary link to the Vekllei Lunar Territories.",
  "content": " Vekllei World Astroport Spaceport Location Ascension Operator Commonwealth Starlines The Vekllei World Astroport is the largest spaceport of Vekllei and the primary link to the Vekllei Lunar Territories. It is a combined civilian, military and research spaceport located on Ascension that launches around eight flights a day to the moon via SSTOs.\nThe spaceport is serviced by both a Commonwealth Airways shuttle and Commonwealth Starlines, which provides services into space and towards the moon.\nThe cosmodrome has two terminals, one for civilian and one for government use. Two flights leave for the moon per day, CF 1 and 2.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/astroport/","/cosmodrome/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1201,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/atlantic/velas/",
  "title": "Velas","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/velas-4x3.svg","icon": "🍇","rgb": "0, 135, 81",
  "section": "Atlantic Commonwealth",
  "description": "Velas (\u003ci\u003eSao Jorge\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the North Atlantic Ocean.",
  "content": " Velas Republic Island of Sao Jorge Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Atlantic Commonwealth Accession 1976, as part of the Azores Delegation Area 243.65 km² Capital Dismas Languages English, Portuguese Population 12,662 The Velas Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic Ocean, in the middle of the Azores archipelago. It is a striking island of equal peculiarity and beauty, shaped long and thin and resembling a mountain range rising directly from the ocean. Its unique landmass indicates its origins atop a volcanic fissure between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates, and measures 55km long from east to west.\nAt only 7km across at its widest point, there is little flat land available for settlement on the island. The island is famous for its fajas, flat areas of coastline backed by steep cliffs that are formed by lava flows meeting the sea. Many Velas towns are crowded into these little fajas, and the rest are mostly found in the hilly tops of the range that runs the length of the island.\nIn about the middle of the island, the land begins to rise and peaks in a sequence of volcanic craters in various stages of volcanic activity. The highland plateau, as it is called, is comparatively flat and give the island its characteristic tabletop relief. A lot of agriculture is performed up here, indulging its rich volcanic soils to grow wine and raise livestock. Its port towns are more developed and are where you\u0026rsquo;ll find the government, hospitals and schools.\nDespite its small population, the republic\u0026rsquo;s historical isolation has allowed the proliferation of many unique traditions and customs. The island has a strong religious character, and has several religious festivals and pilgrimages that take place throughout the year. Velatians are not just pious, however \u0026ndash; they love to feast and dance, and are famous for the quality of their wines, cheeses and seafood. Life there is provincial and family and community is deeply important. Many Velatians live on homesteads and may only visit towns once a week.\nTransport is around the republic is complicated by its dramatic terrain. A rail line, beginning in the capital, rises with the highland plateau and heads southeast. Along the way, at each station, steep funiculars provide access to the fajas that dot the isolated coast. The republic does not have an airport, and is connected to the rest of the Commonwealth Atlantic Commonwealth by ferry.\nVelatians speak Portuguese, but those in the towns can communicate in English serviceably. They do not receive many outsiders compared to their neighbouring republics, but interest in tourism in the republic has been stirred by its wine and some inns operate busily in the winter, mostly in the capital and the highlands.\nClimate\nHumid and subtropical, with pleasant temperatures year-round. The mountainous highlands are slightly cooler than the coastal fajas.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Carnival Good Friday Easter Espirito Santo Commonwealth Day 1 May Republic Day 15 May Azores Day 1 Jun Corpus Christi Assumption Day 15 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Feast of Imm. Con. 8 Dec Christmas Day 25 Dec In addition to public holidays, Velas is home to regular Romarias (religious pilgrimages) scattered throughout the year. Points of Interest Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo: A stunning coastal plain famous for its unique lagoon, surfing spots, and natural beauty (accessible by funicular). Pico da Esperança: The highest peak on Velas, offering panoramic views of the island and neighbouring islands, with hiking trails through volcanic landscapes. Velas Town: The charming main town of the island, known for its historic architecture, vibrant markets, and the Church of St George. Fajã dos Cubres: A scenic coastal area with traditional stone houses, popular for its natural pools and serene atmosphere. Poço do Bacalhau: Beautiful waterfall near Fajã Grande, surrounded by lush vegetation and providing an idyllic spot for swimming and relaxation. Sete Fontes Forest Park: Park with picnic areas, native flora, and walking trails. Festival de Julho: An annual festival held in Velas featuring traditional music, dance, and local culinary delights, celebrating the republic\u0026rsquo;s culture. Agriculture and Dairy Cooperatives: Notable for producing Velas cheese, a famous Azorean cheese, and other dairy products that are central to the local economy. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/velas/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1202,
  "href": "/factbook/culture/veletia/",
  "title": "Veletia","icon": "🎗️",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/chiton.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/chiton_hue64e7969f0ac0db4878bd796b49b23e3_2358973_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "red",
  "section": "Culture",
  "description": "Veletia is a national personification of Vekllei, commonly depicted as woman of different races holding a canopia spear.",
  "content": "Veletia is the national personification of Vekllei and Commonwealth society. Historically she was most commonly depicted as a young Algic woman with a canopia spear, but today can take many forms. In contemporary appearances, she appears as one of the Six Sisters that reflect the six major ethnic and cultural groups of the Commonwealth. She appears commonly in artwork and films as a shorthand for the Commonwealth, and forms an important part of the Vekllei visual identity.\nA male counterpart, called Vincenci, is occasionally used to represent Oslola. His appearance in political cartoons int eh 20th century coincided with the masculinisation of the 3rd Republic in Oslola, and has fallen out of general use in the postwar period.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/veletia/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1203,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/verde/",
  "title": "Verde Commonwealth","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/verde-4x3.svg","icon": "🌹","color": "vekllei",
  "section": "Commonwealth",
  "description": "Commonwealth Verde is a constituent region of Vekllei, comprising 11 island republics in the Cabo Verde archipelago and the Gulf of Guinea.",
  "content": " Verde Commonwealth Constituent Commonwealth of Vekllei Area 5,005 km² Constituents 11 Population 1,745,103 The Verde Commonwealth (Vekllei Verde) is a constituent commonwealth of Vekllei, comprising the Cabo Verde archipelago and the islands of Principe and Java, located off the west coast of Africa. The Cabo Verde island group has a desert climate, while the others are maritime and tropical. All are volcanic or igneous, and share striking terrain that gives each republic a unique character.\nLife in the Verde Commonwealth is mostly municipal, characterised by communal landownership and smallholding agriculture. The most populous republics are more diverse, and host substantial regional industries including port facilities, commodities refining and manufacturing.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/verde/","/verde-commonwealth/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1204,
  "href": "/series/vessel/",
  "title": "Vessel",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1205,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/",
  "title": "Vessels","icon": "🚢","color": "marine",
  "section": "Technology",
  "description": "",
  "content": " Read more: Marine Services ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/vessels/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1206,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/verde/viana/",
  "title": "Viana","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/viana-4x3.svg","icon": "🎣","rgb": "0, 80, 200",
  "section": "Verde Commonwealth",
  "description": "Viana (\u003ci\u003eSao Vicente\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Cabo Verde archipelago off the coast of West Africa.",
  "content": " Viana Republic Island of Sao Vicente Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Verde Commonwealth Accession 1945, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 226.7 km² Capital Mindelo Languages English, Verde Creole, Portuguese Population 360,391 The Viana Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic, off the coast of the African Sahara. It is a small archipelago of four desert islands, only the largest of which (the island of Viana) is inhabited. The main island rises nearly 800 meters from the surface of the Atlantic, and overlooks its smaller, uninhabited islands and islets. The capital of the republic is called Mindelo, and is among the most populated and prosperous cities of Commonwealth Verde, famous for its pretty modernist architecture that practices odd fusion with the colourful and vivacious culture of its people.\nThe history of Viana as a republic is the history of Mindelo, its capital, where 95% of its people live. Its tower apartments and dense urban core better resemble Singapore than the rest of Verde, and about 320,000 people live there. After being settled by the Portuguese in the late 18th Century, the port town served an important role as a coaling (and later, oiling) station for British and Portuguese ships. The decline of this industry precipitated the decline of Mindelo, and by the time of Vekllei accession only 12,000 people lived there. The city has since grown rapidly, largely because it was a preliminary foreign migration site after the reestablishment of the Commonwealth in 2017.\nThe island of Viana is roughly rectangular and flat among the greater archipelago, and its uninhabited islands are mountainous and have almost no vegetation at all, giving them an alien and moonlike quality. These other islands, the largest of which is called Lucia, have no obvious utility but are home to several unique and endangered birds and animals, and are protected as national parks. A large meteorological station established by the Bureau of Meteorology on Lucia is the only infrastructure there. Viana is greener but still dry, and most of its agriculture comprises smallholdings, some homesteads and aquaponics. Mindelo has a good port with a Commonwealth Oil refinery.\nVianans are cheerful and indulge any opportunity to celebrate. The islanders are famous for a week-long carnival stretching between Shrove Monday and Mardi Gras, which fuses Portuguese and Brazilian Catholic traditions. They eat a lot of seafood, and catch a lot of fish mostly by spearfishing from wooden boats. Mindelo is the third-most populous republic in the Verde archipelago, after Java and Praia, and facilitates a lot of its civil service and commerce. While the republic itself has only small developed industries related to petroleum refining and food processing, it is a hub of culture and hosts major corporations, government bureaus and collectives.\nThe republic has good schools and hospitals, and the island of Viana is well-connected by trains. It also has the largest airport in its region.\nClimate\nHot and dry, resembling a desert climate. It is warm year-round and receives little rain.\nPublic Holidays\nNew Year\u0026rsquo;s Day 1 Jan Heroes Day 20 Jan Carnival Late Feb Good Friday 30 Apr Commonwealth Day 1 May Ascension Day Whit Monday Assumption Day 15 Aug Republic Day 20 Aug All Saints Day 1 Nov Christmas Day 25 Dec Points of Interest Mindelo: Viana\u0026rsquo;s cultural and economic hub, known for its vibrant music scene, colonial architecture, and festivals like Carnival and Baía das Gatas Music Festival. Laginha Beach: Popular beach in Mindelo with white sands and turquoise waters. Monte Verde: The highest peak on Viana Island, with good views of neighbouring islands. São Pedro Beach: Known for its strong winds, this beach is a hotspot for windsurfing enthusiasts. Quarter Lucia: District in Mindelo famous for its dramatic and unique modernist architecture, fusing tropical and Bauhaus elements. Palácio do Povo: A historic building in Mindelo, notable for its colonial-era architecture and cultural significance. Porto Grande: One of the busiest ports in Commonwealth Verde, serving an important role in regional trade, fishing, and ferry services to other islands. Commonwealth University – Viana Campus: School for higher education and research, contributing to the republic\u0026rsquo;s academic and cultural life. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/viana/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1207,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/kalina/virgin/",
  "title": "Virgin","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/vg-4x3.svg","icon": "🛢️","rgb": "241, 112, 30",
  "section": "Kalina Commonwealth",
  "description": "Virgin (\u003ci\u003eVirgin Islands\u003c/i\u003e) is a constituent republic of Vekllei located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.",
  "content": " Virgin Republic Archipelago of the British, Spanish and U.S. Virgin Islands Constituent Republic of Vekllei Part of the Kalina Commonwealth Accession 1836, as part of the British Atlantic Territories Area 472.75 km² Capital Roadie (administrative) Languages English, French, Spanish Population 282,295 The Virgin Republic is a constituent republic of the Kalina Commonwealth in the Caribbean Sea, and is part of Vekllei. It is the westernmost part of the Kalina island group.\nIt comprises ten large islands in an archipelago extending eastwards of Puerto Rico (U.S.), as well as about 123 smaller islets and cays. Although these islands are situated on the fault-block mountains of the Puerto Rico trench, they are usually considered part of the Lesser Antilles due to their size and proximity of that chain. Virgin\u0026rsquo;s westernmost island, Vieques, forms the second-closest sea border to another country (Puerto Rico, part of the U.S.) after Kairi.\nBefore consolidation under the British Atlantic Territories, the Virgin archipelago was subject to competing colonial settlement and claims. English, Spanish, French and Danish ownership at various times contribute to the linguistic and cultural diversity within Virgin today. About three-quarters of its 182,000 people are black, descended from slaves who worked plantations in the colonial period. Substantial minority populations of Arawaks, Indians, Chinese and Europeans also exist. Protestant christianity is the majority religion.\nVirgin\u0026rsquo;s climate is subtropical and pleasant, with warm weather cooled by trade winds crossing south. Individual islands are varied, often characterised by dense tropical forest that cover steep mountain interiors, and low-lying coastal plateaus that has been cleared for agriculture. Many natural harbours exist, many of which host major settlements including the capital of Roadie, and the cities of Charlotte Amalie and Christiansted.\nWater scarcity across the islands has been historically severe, but alleviated in the 21st Century by desalination plants powered by nuclear fusion projects on the islands of St Croix and Tortola. The economy is dominated by the civil service, financial services and petrochemicals. Virgin refineries process oil from other parts of Vekllei for the Caribbean region. Virgin depends heavily on imports from other parts of the country, especially for machinery and manufactured goods.\nVirgin University is the second-largest university in Kalina, and the fourth largest in Vekllei. It is common for students from smaller Commonwealth islands to travel to Virgin for study. The republic is also popular as a domestic holiday destination thanks to its excellent climate and world-renowned beaches.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/virgin/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1208,
  "href": "/factbook/commonwealth/volcanic/",
  "title": "Volcanic Commonwealth","logo": "/svg/flags/4x3/volcanic-4x3.svg","icon": "🌹","color": "vekllei",
  "section": "Commonwealth",
  "description": "Commonwealth Volcanic is a constituent region of Vekllei, comprising 4 island republics in the northern Atlantic.",
  "content": " Volcanic Commonwealth Constituent Commonwealth of Vekllei Area 104,895 km² Capital Oslola Population 8,409,710 The Volcanic Commonwealth (Vekllei Volcanic) is a constituent commonwealth of Vekllei, comprising the island of Oslola, its largest and most populous republic, as well as the North Atlantic republics of Demon, Hetland and Aismious. They share a common Scandinavian cultural heritage, but differ dramatically in population, history and ethnic makeup. Oslola is Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s largest single republic and its history contributed significantly to the formation of Vekllei. It has a large, diverse population. Demon and Aismious have unique histories mostly seperate from Oslola, and their representation in the Volcanic Commonwealth reflect their common geographic interests.\nAll republics of the Commonwealth receive midnight sun during portions of the year, and have similar subarctic and tundra climates. Demon and Aismious are mostly treeless, but Oslola has substantial areas of cold-weather rainforest, and is warmed by ocean currents.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/volcanic/","/volcanic-commonwealth/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1209,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/volcanic-class/",
  "title": "Volcanic-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️","color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Volcanic-Class is a class of aircraft carrier in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Volcanic-class Fleet Carrier Aircraft carrier Built 2045-55 Class Volcanic-class Crew 1,600 Displacement 60,000 tonnes InService 4 Length 300 meters Service Maritime Service Speed 28 knots Station NS Verde Verde The Volcanic-class fleet carrier is a class of aircraft carrier of the Marine Services of Vekllei. Their introduction over the middle of the 21st Century represents a significant advancement in Vekllei naval aviation capabilities, designed to project air power over Commonwealth republics and support various strategic roles. With a displacement of 60,000 tons, the vessel accommodates a large air wing (or \u0026ldquo;section\u0026rdquo;) typically comprising 40 to 50 aircraft, including VTOL advanced strike fighters.\nConstructed with a flat-deck design and equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system, the Volcanic-class allows for rapid launching of aircraft. The carrier’s nuclear propulsion system enables extended deployments without the need for frequent refuelling, allowing the class to patrol Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s territories almost continuously.\nArmament features include the No. 3 Rackham air-to-air missile system, as well as a close-in weapon system (CIWS) for point defence, as part of a multilayered threat defence against aerial and missile attacks. The vessel also carries the No. 5 Spearhead anti-ship missile.\nThe Volcanic-class serves multiple roles, including fleet air defence, strike operations, and amphibious support. Its versatility allows for the coordination of joint operations with other naval and air assets, and forms the cornerstone of Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s regional fleets. The capability of the Volcanic class to project power while maintaining logistical support for air operations underscores its importance in contemporary Vekllei naval doctrine.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/volcanic-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1210,
  "href": "/factbook/technology/vessels/wake-class/",
  "title": "Wake-class","logo": "/svg/crests/maritime-service.svg","icon": "⚓️",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/patrol-launch.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/patrol-launch_hu62549038052e0f60a4b13db2968d27eb_10688294_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "marine",
  "section": "Vessels",
  "description": "The Wake-Class is a class of coastal patrol boat in service with the Vekllei Armed Forces.",
  "content": " Wake-class Patrol Motor Launch Motor Launch Built 2032-present Class Wake-class Crew 1/3 Displacement 50 tonnes InService 12 Length 21 meters Service Littoral Service Speed 30 knots Station NS Kairi Kairi The Wake-class Patrol Motor Launch (PMLs) is a class of patrol boat of the Littoral Service of the Marine Services of Vekllei. They patrol coastal areas in Vekllei archipelagos, and serve policing and generalised roles in their communities. Unusually for a naval craft,PMLs are designed to be operated by a crew of three, and can even be crewed by a single competent officer. In this capacity, they are not just naval ships but also the home of their CO, and as such the habitation of the ship is much improved compared to other littoral service vessels.\nThe class is equipped with a single 12.7mm gun in a raised barbette, and also carries small arms for the crew to aid policing roles. They are not typically used for counter-smuggling or territorial defence missions however, and spend more of their time anchored off smaller islands holding conversation with locals. In this sense, the vessel serves as a transport for its staff and aids their shore-based policing.\nTwo Caribmarine diesel engines provide about 200bhp per engine, controlled directly from the bridge. Although they are designed for coastal service, they are capable of sea crossings with a crew of 3 or more, and as such can reach any part of the country as required.\nProvided the commanding officer is effective, they maintain some claim to ownership over their vessel, and can retain the craft upon retirement. This reflects the intimate and prolonged natures of their service, and the unique role they play in the littoral service.\nHome Ports\nAnguilla Annobon Bahama Caicos Caimanas Curateo Grenadines Helvasia Hetland Kala Principe Sude\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/wake-class/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1211,
  "href": "/millmint/essays/waugh/",
  "title": "Waugh","icon": "🍾","color": "blue",
  "section": "Essays",
  "description": "An essay on landscape in Evelyn Waugh's novel \"Handful of Dust\" by Hobart Phillips, a utopian illustrator and storyteller.",
  "content": " ✿ Note from the Editor This article was originally published in October 2019. It offers an analysis of Evelyn Waugh\u0026rsquo;s Handful of Dust through an anti-utopian prism. Waugh’s Handful of Dust as Anti-Utopia # Waugh\u0026rsquo;s A Handful of Dust has remarkable topography. The word can be extrapolated in this case in several ways; for one, the book is occupied by worldly, secular affairs, inextricably bound to a particular cultural landscape and absence of metaphysic. Further, as a satirical novel of deep conservative utopian lament, there is a physical, temporal dimension to its present context and history. Finally, the topography of Waugh\u0026rsquo;s novel can be taken literally, as a landscape of modernity (cities) and counter-modernity (rural life), modernism (civilisation) and anti-modernism (savagery). Because of this, there is a playful relationship with Waugh\u0026rsquo;s anti-utopian world and his utopian instincts — one that warrants closer analysis. This essay will focus on the dichotomous, often schismatic landscapes at play in A Handful of Dust, and situate it in a modern utopian framework.\nIt is easiest to understand A Handful of Dust in a utopian context when the reader first recognises the novel as a worldview, or as Edward Lobb1 calls it, a ”picture of an entire society,” citing Waugh\u0026rsquo;s employment of Eliot\u0026rsquo;s Waste Land in its title and epigraph p.130. This scope is almost invariably unsentimental, especially in satirical works, and this quirk of genre is calcified into something more deliberate when looking at the novel’s literary context, which Peter Firchow recognised as a deliberate rejection of Victorian sentimentalism and moral arbitration as characterised by Dickensian literature2 p.415. The satirical edge of the novel’s climax is only shallowly buried; Nicholas Joost wrote that “beneath the incongruity, there is a chilling propriety. The relationship between Mr Todd and Tony is as Dickensian in kind and proportion as is that between Miss Havisham and Estella in Great Expectations.”3 p.186\nThe Waugh landscape is marked by unusual topography, where people and places are made foreign through their own alienation from purpose and time. Tony is a secular humanist (evidenced through his irreverence towards faith throughout the novel) dependent parasitically on the romantic nostalgia for the restrained way of life under the Judea-Christian tradition, without the metaphysic provided by pious faith1 p.133. Brenda is a modern woman attached socially and historically to London, the icon of modern (and Victorian) life, which informs her unfaithfulness and various missteps. In fact, nearly every character in the novel suffers from a kind of displacement of both place and intention, which in Waugh\u0026rsquo;s parody of a humanist framework forces a series of unfortunate events that unfold throughout. This all takes place, of course, in the tumultuousness of the interwar years, marked first by hedonism and excess in the 1920s and instability and poverty in the 1930s, the decade in which A Handful of Dust was written. H.G. Wells in his 1933 novel The Shape of Things to Come called it \u0026ldquo;The Age of Frustration,” for the vast cultural and political changes threatening an unravelling of the world. Waugh, like many of his fellow British authors (including Eliot, Orwell, and Wells himself), hedged existential concerns about the state of his homeland in his work.\nA Handful of Dust is distracted from pure reactionary critique by the (in his mind) far more egregious severing of morality from the metaphysic, and the adoption of previously Judeo-Christian ethics by secular, ungrounded humanist movements. Tony is estranged from real spiritual purpose or existential satisfaction by his secularity and passivity. He spends most of the novel surprised and wounded by sharp moments of tragedy only to be utterly unequipped to deal with them in his total vacuum of Self. In fact, his worldview is less an empty epistemological constellation than it is a fog where no stars or points of reference are visible at all. This culminates, of course, in his ironic fate, in which his old material life essentially reasserts itself in an absurd parody, where his fake, superficial Dickensian existence is resumed against his will in the jungles of Brazil. Quite literally, to Lobb, “his reading of Dickens is a reversion to Victorian sentimentality”1 p.135, concluding spatially in the same meaningless fantasy as his life at Hetton Abbey.\nSuch is the Waugh’s illustration of the world in the Age of Frustration, and his fundamental alienation from it. The novel contains not merely glimpses of anti-utopias, but in fact presents a particular anti-utopian philosophy, which can be inverted to better clarify the images of utopia present throughout the work. For example, even though the novel has clear misgivings about the state of England in the late 1930s, the utopian foundation on which A Handful of Dust is built upon nonetheless participates in a philosophy of place, gesturing towards a conservative progression of history. After all, it is not just the revolutionary that understands history as an arc of progress — liberals and conservatives alike recognise the horizon, but disagree on the changes made to meet it. Walter Benjamin illustrated this idea cleanly in 1940:\nProgress, as it was painted in the minds of the social democrats, was once upon a time the progress of humanity itself (not only that of its abilities and knowledges). It was, secondly, something unending (something corresponding to an endless perfectibility of humanity). It counted, thirdly, as something essentially unstoppable (as something self-activating, pursuing a straight or spiral path).4 pp.9-10\nWaugh’s conservatism in a utopian context thus reveals interesting temporal locations through the framework built by sociologist Karl Mannheim. Conservatism, and to a lesser extent liberalism, are fundamentally \u0026ldquo;socially congruent\u0026rdquo; utopias (as opposed, Mannheim supposes, to the socially transcendent topos of the radical and anarchic). White5 expands on this classification, explaining that the differences among utopian sectors \u0026ldquo;are matters more of emphasis than of content,” since all are fundamentally agents of change p.25. All utopias are efforts to envision and manifest a shift in politics or culture, either consciously in praxis or unconsciously as a collection of values and ideas. Under White\u0026rsquo;s summary, conservatives (to whom Waugh undeniably belongs) are \u0026ldquo;inclined to imagine historical evolution as a progressive elaboration of the institutional structure that currently prevails,\u0026rdquo; where anarchic/radical utopias tend to treat utopia as a non-temporal phenomena that is essentially timeless, dependent only on man\u0026rsquo;s ability to wrest control of their own humanity. Thus is the distinction between ideology and utopia in the inversion characteristic of Mannheim\u0026rsquo;s definitions, where ideology proves socially useful but practically impossible, and utopia is necessary in genuine social change as an element whose \u0026ldquo;ideas and values in which are contained in condensed form the unrealised and the unfulfilled tendencies which represent the needs of each age.\u0026rdquo;5 p.179 It marks a break from the lineage of utopia\u0026rsquo;s etymology from More\u0026rsquo;s original Utopia. Particularly relevant to Waugh\u0026rsquo;s work here is utopia as a practicable element of social change, as Mannheim writes6 p.178 \u0026ldquo;the road of history leads from one topia over a utopia to the next topia, etc.\u0026rdquo;\nWith Mannheim\u0026rsquo;s redefinition in mind, it is important to assert A Handful of Dust\u0026rsquo;s place in this epistemology. Phillip Wegner notes that the four utopian mentalities outlined by Mannheim (conservative, liberal, radical, and anarchic) are in fact present within their own \u0026ldquo;mode of historical consciousness,\u0026rdquo; existing independently while \u0026ldquo;representing a critical \u0026lsquo;counter-utopia\u0026rsquo; to its three competitors\u0026rdquo; 7 p.192. In this sense, Waugh\u0026rsquo;s conservative utopia is less a concrete set of values and principles than it is a device for clarifying the horizons of political imagination, dynamically reacting to and reflecting the other three corners of possibility.\nYou can see these possibilities through the further inversion of the anti-utopia, like the cyclical nature of faithless humanism. In the case of Tony, the interjection of reality into his absurd fantasy results in an eternity of Hetton-style superficiality manifested literally through Victorian moralism. John Beaver, still materialistic and dependent on his “mumsy,” leaves Britain only to presumably carry on in decadence in Californiap.176. Brenda’s desire for excitement and romantic satisfaction, meanwhile, leave her alone in the city and without money to sponsor a colourful lifestyle (Characteristically, Waugh does not mince words: “It was August and she was entirely alone,”p.193). By the end of the novel, in which the characters themselves are as unresolved as the arc of the story itself, it is clear that the spiritual emptiness that subsumes the purpose of these people is not merely thematic, but is in fact a clarified anti-utopia in itself, not as place but as “body utopias” 8 p.4. Or rather, anti-utopias of spiritual/sensual gratification. These are people who have no connection to anything fixed or meaningful in their own pasts or culture.\nThis reassessment of utopian writing acknowledges A Handful of Dust not as mere satire for satire’s sake, but as in fact a vessel of practicable ideas well within potentiality for a hypothetical conservative utopia. After all, should the interwar years have been marked by a series of different events, who is to say Britain might not have become marked at a national cultural level the kind of reactionary nostalgia visible in Waugh\u0026rsquo;s novel? It is not, after all, a simple utopia of place. Jean Ward9 p.679 describes the vision of the novel as a story of \u0026ldquo;human selfishness and self-delusion,\u0026rdquo; in contrast to a simpler misanthropic adventure of human misfortune. This characterisation better illustrates Waugh\u0026rsquo;s pointed absence of framework, or metaphysic, for the world depicted.\nAfter all, it is not as though people will cease to fall out of love, or commit adultery, or accidentally maim children in a world built upon Catholic social norms and the accompanying spiritual bedrock. Nor is it reasonable to suggest Waugh\u0026rsquo;s nostalgia for a pre-war (or pre-modern) England would be blind to the fact that human moral failure would continue to exist. But in the worldview of A Handful of Dust, the characters shown are merely symptomatic of a global cheapness, a sort of international hedonism, that is presented as a sort of era without end. Ann Slater10 notes the novel\u0026rsquo;s displacement of people and intention, citing a recurring motif in which a well-meaning or pleasurable thing is made bad and uncomfortable by its displacementpp.49-66. It is not difficult to find examples of this sardonic irony in the text; Brenda\u0026rsquo;s mourning of the wrong personp.118, and Tony\u0026rsquo;s ironic torturous imprisonment (which takes his pleasures and makes them agony)p.210 are just two examples. In fact, the instances of a correct sentiment or honest effort backfiring and causing trouble so thoroughly pervades the Waugh landscape that it becomes an indispensable part of its satirical edge, culminating in its ironic juxtaposition of life in London against Tony\u0026rsquo;s feverish delusions of the city in the jungle. As Slater notes:\nCivilisation and the savage world fuse. London turns into a desert for Brenda, once Beaver leaves for New York and the entire beau monde goes off cruising in the Mediterranean [\u0026hellip;] Tony, on the other hand, discovers that the bush at night is noisier than a city square.10 p.63\nThis fusion of anti-utopian landscape, both as a wasteland composed of good intentions and a jungle of bad outcomes, is an interesting illustration of Waugh\u0026rsquo;s wider satirical targets in the novel. Despite ostensibly satirising the bankruptcy of modern life and its secular humanism, Waugh\u0026rsquo;s ruthless antisentimentality marks A Handful of Dust as a thoroughly modernist novel. Indeed, outside of the aesthetic framework provided by modernism (which Waugh, at least spiritually and politically, rejects), A Handful of Dust was one of many English novels documenting the social disintegration and futility of the modern world. As put by Jonathan Greenburg, “In Waugh, the satiric and the modem often look very much alike; while the author may claim to satirise a decadent modernity, the disruptive mechanism of his satire fosters the very modem decadence he decries”11 p.352. The novel is at once a critique and a product of modernism. This dissonance was noted by his biographer as occurring shortly after his entry into the Catholic Church:\nConversion meant that in one way Waugh had withdrawn from the world of meaninglessness, godlessness, and chaos, yet he remained passionately interested in it, with it if not spiritually or intellectually of it. He could confidently judge and condemn the world he described, but he would not turn away from it.12 p.76\nFor Waugh, his conversion equipped him with a worldview that had already been formulating for some years. He was a great believer in the supernatural metaphysics of the Church as a place of order and stability12 p.76, and this would colour his personal politics as well as his personal writing, as well as condemn in his eyes the mortal and material desires of those without faith. A Handful of Dust is a work particularly relevant to his conversion, since an oft-cited quote of his declares the the novel “was humanist and contained all I had to say about humanism.”13 p.118. According to John Cunningham, “in this novel he considered the dead end of a humanism that supposes one may have a moral purpose and yet have no metaphysic in which that purpose is grounded.”p.118. It was not just a humanist topography in which A Handful of Dust was situated, however. In understanding utopia as a function of place as well as form, it becomes clear that the anti-utopia of the novel is multidimensional, incorporating criticisms of topos as well as body.\nIn his seminal work on the origins of landscape and historicism, Karatani Kojin wrote, \u0026ldquo;in the very moment when we become capable of perceiving landscape, it appears to us as if it had been there, outside of us, from the start”14 p.34. So too does the iconography of \u0026ldquo;old England\u0026rdquo; illustrated in A Handful of Dust suppress its origins as landscape as soon as it is introduced. Most obviously, the \u0026ldquo;old country\u0026rdquo; of Hetton Abbey is expressed only in transcendental terms and is thoroughly defamiliarised. It is, in effect, not a place at all, but a sham landscape only supported by the value given to it by the Lasts (which further recalls Eliot’s poem in the epigraph; “These fragments I have shored against my ruins”). To further draw on Karatani: “It brings into existence landscapes which, although they had always been there, had never been seen\u0026rdquo;p.29. This then informs the ability of the novel to set within it subjects and objects of action, as it is important to recognise the subjects and objects of action arise from within a landscape upon discovery, rather than having existed as immutable factsp.34. Tony is thoroughly alienated from landscape as it is depicted in the novel; it is only appropriate, then, that he struggles to find an appropriate metaphysical foundation for his existence. The discovery of landscape predates modernism as Waugh understands it, but it remains in fact a modern creation brought about the artistic and religious reformations of centuries prior (namely protestant reformations, notable in context of Waugh\u0026rsquo;s catholicism). As described by Gleiter:\nThe modern Self is indebted to a process of extraneation which is also a process of objectification. Both the landscape and the Self become alien and enigmatic, and these, precisely, are the qualities that made them visible.15 p.73\nFurthermore, Hetton Abbey is acknowledged as a Victorian Gothic reconstruction, a revivalist style that reflects his romantic fetishisation of the preindustrial and rural1 p.131. The investment of his spirit into an inauthentic commodity grotesquely acknowledges his spiritual bankruptcy, which cascades into all parts of his delusions (his inability to respond to the death of his son and his wife\u0026rsquo;s unfaithfulness, etc.). Firchow describes Hetton as “roughly from the same period of Dickens’ novels; both seem to represent the last gasping certainties of an old order. And both, by implication, are possibly intended to be recognised as shams”2 p.415. Even his response to grief is filtered through this plastic understanding of the world, as Tony exclaims, “A whole Gothic world had come to grief.., there was now no armour, glittering in the forest glades, no embroidered feet on the greensward; the cream and dappled unicorns had fled\u0026hellip;\u0026quot;p.147.\nThe reconfiguring of landscape as iconography also enables Waugh to further satirise the characters of the novel, and strip back their agency as a consequence of their own hedonism. Brenda is suffocated socially by Tony’s blind love for the Abbey; Tony is trapped by Mr Todd in the Brazilian jungle; Mr Todd is trapped by his illiteracy, and so on. Indeed, the book concludes on a cage of silver foxes. Through their social and physical imprisonment, the people of the novel are better illustrated against both the hellish topos and their own critical character flaws that prevent them from breaking out of their cyclical lifestyles. Their spiritual emptiness is reflected in their ability to take the metaphysical institutions of life seriously, and renders them (socially and in their ability to enact change over their own lives) as children10 p.61. John Beaver, in his poverty and dependence on his mother, seems to typify this psychospiritual bankruptcy, but the patronising tone of the novel leaves few characters unmarked. Nowhere is this more apparent than when Jock finally presents the request regarding the importation of pork pies on behalf of his constituents, only to bungle the department to which he was supposed to address it. Waugh’s sardonic line encloses this caricature of the man: “Jock left the House that afternoon with the comfortable feeling that he had at last done something tangible in the interest of his constituents”.p.216\nWith the intensity of the satirical edge in A Handful of Dust, it is only suitable that its anti-utopian foundations are expressed with great clarity. The defamiliarisation (and often outright absence of sympathy) for the people of this book only serve to better collapse the sort of Victorian sentimentalism to which Waugh seems averse. Just as Tony is isolated from sincere accomplishment of preindustrial, rural nobility by his time in history and material circumstance, so too are his metaphysical aspirations undermined by their baselessness. To the Catholic Waugh, the idea of morals without metaphysic is vacuous and empty of real substance. Similarly, Waugh’s perceived savagery embedded within civilisation is not just as a condemnation of changing cultural icebergs, but a literalist judgement of the products of modernists — that is to say, modern people. Waugh presents a paper landscape and plastic people, and through a simple inversion it easy enough to pull genuine utopian social dreaming from this novel. Utopia undeniably exists in the conservative anti-utopia, and in the case of A Handful of Dust, it invokes a broader context of a unique period of time for British literature, one marked by material uncertainty and cultural retreat. For that reason, Waugh’s A Handful of Dust is an undeniably important work of fiction, both as a biting critique of modernism (which itself has long-since given way to later movements) and as a zeitgeist for conservative apprehension in a remarkable period of history.\nLobb, E., 2003. Waugh Among the Modernists: Allusion and Theme in A Handful of Dust. In Connotations Vol. 13.1-2, p.130.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nFirchow, P.E., 1971. In Search of A Handful of Dust: The Literary Background of Evelyn Waugh\u0026rsquo;s Novel. In Journal of Modern Literature, 2(3), pp.406-416.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nJoost, N., 1976. \u0026ldquo;A Handful of Dust\u0026rdquo;: Evelyn Waugh and the Novel of Manners. In Papers on Language and Literature, 12(2), p.177.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nBenjamin, Walter. [1940] 2003. On the Concept of History. In Selected Writings, Vol. 4, Pp. 389-401, edited by H. Eiland and M. W. Jennings. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nWhite, H., 1973. Metahistory: The historical imagination in nineteenth-century Europe. John Hopkins University Press.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nMannheim, K., 1991. Ideology and utopia. In Collected Works of Karl Mannheim, Vol. 1. Psychology Press.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nWegner, P.E., 2002. Imaginary communities: utopia, the nation, and the spatial histories of modernity. University of California Press.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nSargent, L.T., 1994. The three faces of utopianism revisited. Utopian studies, 5(1), pp.1-37.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nWard, J., 2008. The waste sad time: Evelyn Waugh\u0026rsquo;s A Handful of Dust. In English Studies, 89(6), pp.679-695.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nSlater, A.P., 1982. Waugh’s A Handful of Dust: Right Things in Wrong Places. Essays in Criticism, 32(1), pp.48-68.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nGreenberg, J., 2011. Modernism, satire and the novel. Cambridge University Press.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nWykes, D., 2016. Evelyn Waugh: A Literary Life. pp. 74-122. Springer Press.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nCunningham, J., 1993. \u0026quot; A Handful of Dust\u0026rdquo; Reconsidered. In The Sewanee Review, 101(1), pp.115-124.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nKaratani, K. and Jameson, F., 1993. Origins of modern Japanese literature. Duke University Press.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nGleiter, J.H., 2016 . Parnassus and Paradise, or the Anthropocene and the Reversal of a Mode of Consciousness. In International Journal of Architectural Theory, Vol. 21 No. 35.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/waugh/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1212,
  "href": "/factbook/bulletin/looks/",
  "title": "Why do Oslolan People Look Like That?","icon": "🫥","rgb": "57, 136, 170",
  "section": "Bulletin",
  "description": "Oslolans in Vekllei do not look like what we think of as Icelanders. This is because, in many ways, they are not Icelanders.",
  "content": " Summary\nA common question about Vekllei, particularly when associated with Oslola (née Iceland), is why they do not look like the common conception of Icelanders. The simple answer is that they are not typical Icelanders, and most native Oslolans are descended from either indigenous arctic peoples (which they call \u0026ldquo;Algic\u0026rdquo;) and Irish or Nordic settlers. In addition, in Oslola there are substantive populations of immigrants who come from all over the world. As such, it is not accurate to describe any one group of people as \u0026ldquo;looking like\u0026rdquo; an Oslolan, owing to their enduring diversity. The commonwealth called Vekllei is a union of island communities, but when this project started it was centred on Iceland. Indeed, Vekllei originally referred only to \u0026ldquo;Iceland,\u0026rdquo; and its possessions across the Atlantic were an afterthought. The worldbuilding in this project is significantly more enlightened now, and Vekllei refers equally to a commonwealth of consenting island communities, but the main characters all still live in Oslola. Picking up on this, people often ask why some of them have Asian features or darker skin, and the answer is straightforward \u0026ndash; this is not Iceland, it is Oslola, and so its history and demographics are different.\nOslola has been inhabited for thousands of years, and was settled nearly simultaneously by indigenous arctic peoples (Algics) and Irish settlers. Not long after, a significant population of Nordic settlers accompanied them. This comprises, historically, the two main ethnic groups of Oslola. Algic peoples have light skin, dark hair, and asian features. Nordics, sometimes called Scandinavians, have northern European features and generally lighter hair colours.\nOf course, Oslola has undergone a series of catastrophic crises, and has changed very much in the last few hundred years. Between its colonial subjugation and its brutal civil war and atomic bombing, much of old Oslolan society \u0026ndash; its monarchy, clan system and traditions, have been displaced by the internationalist and anarchistic Floral Period. It is now a deeply multiracial society, and is united sincerely by politics and belief as much as geography and race. To that end, it is not even accurate to characterise \u0026ldquo;Oslolans\u0026rdquo; (i.e. Algics and Nordics) as the primary ethnic group of Oslola. They are a majority statistically, but they live in a deeply multicultural society and that is apparent living there.\nAppended is a summarised table demonstrating the diversity across the Commonwealth, and their nominated ancestries of origin. A deeper breakdown can be found on the demographics article.\nRead more: 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Demographics of Vekllei Major Ancestries of Vekllei\nOslolan (33%) UK \u0026amp; Ireland (29.9%) Kalinago/Carib (9.5%) Black (8.6%) Commonwealth Asian (5.5%) Hispanic (4.4%) East Creole (4%) Portuguese (3.1%) Latin American (2.9%) Indian/Ceylonese (1.7%) French (1.6%) Southern European (1.5%) Slavic (1.3%) Others (1%) ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/bulletin/looks/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1213,
  "href": "/millmint/essays/women/",
  "title": "Women, Vekllei","icon": "♀",
      "image": {
        "src": "/images/fullres/requests.jpg",
        "webp": "/images/fullres/requests_hu65afeb46cc233d747ccdfb5eeee63e35_3060052_680x0_resize_q90_h2_box.webp"
      },"color": "blue",
  "section": "Essays",
  "description": "An amendment to my previous essay, concerning the role of women as depicted in Vekllei.",
  "content": " An amendment to this previous essay: Utopie Concrete. Some years ago, I wrote a kind of manifesto for my work on this site and what I\u0026rsquo;m doing with it. It was called Utopie Concrète, and the basic premise was that you can take utopian fiction seriously. The second part of that essay included some self-criticism about the way women appear in Vekllei.\nWomen are of course all over Vekllei, including its main and peripheral characters. Is that the same thing as representation? Utopie Concrète is quite self-concerned and very sophomoric, but I\u0026rsquo;ve been asked about it a few times so I thought I\u0026rsquo;d write an addendum to clarify my evolved thoughts on the topic of men who write women.\nFirst, I think the Miyazaki quote from that essay is still very revealing:\nAt first, I thought “this is no longer the era of men…” But after ten years, I grew tired of saying that. I just say “because I like women.” That has more reality.\nI think that\u0026rsquo;s the truth of it. I don\u0026rsquo;t think I depict women more often because I am a feminist doing feminist things but just that I like to draw women. I prefer their hair; their clothes. It\u0026rsquo;s not usually romantic (except for gem clerk, who I love), it\u0026rsquo;s more of an affection. But affection is still basically selfish.\nI recall Andrea Chu from this 🔗essay, who is a trans woman:\nThe truth is, I have never been able to differentiate liking women from wanting to be like them.\nI\u0026rsquo;m not trans, but as someone who draws women this rings true. It\u0026rsquo;s especially true because there\u0026rsquo;s a lot of me in Tzipora; in her eccentricities and strong opinions.\nI don\u0026rsquo;t believe any man who draws women is doing so for feminist reasons. Who is gazing at who? That\u0026rsquo;s not to say it\u0026rsquo;s a bad thing, but I think it is obscene to think the male gaze could have any interior insights into womanhood. Tzipora has a lot of male psychology as a character, which is probably part of why she\u0026rsquo;s so unusual and eccentric. I think that\u0026rsquo;s nice, but she\u0026rsquo;s also not pretending to be an insight into the problems of a regular teenage girl. What would I know about that?\nFor these same reasons I don\u0026rsquo;t think Tzipora and Cobian\u0026rsquo;s complex relationship is good or worthwhile lesbian representation. It didn\u0026rsquo;t end up that way because I thought wouldn\u0026rsquo;t it be nice to recognise lesbians, but because Tzipora is a shame-filled person and in that context it made sense.\nI am skeptical in general of any male person claiming to represent a gay female relationship. It is always an object of mystery and, sometimes (as in the yuri phenomenon) desire. It reminds me of A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, which was lauded by many for its gay male representation, despite Yanagihara being a cis woman. But it provoked quite 🔗intense outrage from others, because her characters were only gay insofar as they touched and loved each other. There was no relationship otherwise to speak of, and it was transparent Hanya was projecting her own desires (whether to nurture or punish) onto these characters.\nI don\u0026rsquo;t think drawing women is the same thing as representing them. And I think most people understand that instinctively, because a preoccupation with depicting women implies that gaze I was talking about.\nThere\u0026rsquo;s nothing wrong with that, and I think people should be allowed to do what they want and write stories about who they like. But the idea of my girl characters who have some kind of romance between them being \u0026ldquo;feminist\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;lesbian representation\u0026rdquo; is just untrue because it obscures a more basic, emotional relationship I have with my characters. People who create things have something to say, and I have very little to say about the specific machinations of a relationship between two women. But I do have things to say about anxiety; interiority; regret, etc. It\u0026rsquo;s the same selfish instinct all creatives have.\nWith that said, characters have a life of their own, and each person who engages with a story has their own relationship with them. I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t begrudge anyone enjoying the relationships depicted in Vekllei; you can enjoy them or make jokes about them. It doesn\u0026rsquo;t bother me. I just wouldn\u0026rsquo;t claim to be trying to advance representation in these areas, since I don\u0026rsquo;t think I can and it\u0026rsquo;s not the purpose they serve.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/women-vekllei/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1214,
  "href": "/factbook/state/work-action-groups/",
  "title": "Work Action Groups","icon": "🖐️","color": "purple",
  "section": "State",
  "description": "Work Action Groups are a temporary volunteer organisation in Vekllei, raised usually to accomplish a specific task or respond to a crisis.",
  "content": "Work Action Groups are temporary volunteer organisations formed (or raised) for specific objectives. Although they are often raised and equipped by the Ministry of Labour, they are strictly participatory and organised locally.\nThe groups, known as WAGs, are formed by a general call for volunteers in municipal newspapers and government gazettes. They may also be announced in workplaces and schools, depending on the task. They are an expression of Vekllei volunteerism and solidarity, and participation can be competitive. Once established, participants are relieved of duties for work, school and compulsory service for up to three months, which may be extended with permission of the labour ministry.\nWAGs are most often assembled in response to, rather than anticipation of, an event or crisis. Common examples include:\nEmergency municipal repairs (e.g. to repair a school roof) Charity and relief for communities under hardship A natural disaster in Vekllei or overseas An emerging health crisis Assistance for essential tasks (e.g. relieving construction or emergency crews) WAGs are commonplace in Vekllei society and one of the purer expressions of the culture of mutual obligation in their communities. Volunteers are highly respected, and participation (known as being \u0026ldquo;on the WAG\u0026rdquo;) can benefit social standing and opportunities for employment. Any Vekllei person can petition the creation of a Work Action Group by submitting a notice to the Ministry of Labour, or their municipality.\n",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/wag/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1215,
  "href": "/series/world/",
  "title": "World",
  "section": "Series",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1216,
  "href": "/factbook/world/",
  "title": "World","icon": "🌐","color": "green",
  "section": "Factbook",
  "description": "Vekllei's world is quite different to our own, and roughly resembles an extended cold war full of futures that never came to pass.",
  "content": " See more: World Map Vekllei\u0026rsquo;s world is quite different to our own, and roughly resembles an extended cold war and the optimism of the postwar era carried into the mid-21st Century.\nCountries Balkan Federation Ceylon Dallas America Denmark East India Federal Republic of the Americas Haiti India Latin Africa Maldives Mauritius Portugal Seychelles United Kingdom United Nations United States Locations AS Africa AS Ascension AS Caimanas AS Falklands AS Kairi AS Kala AS Oslola AS Scatsta AS Verde AS Virgin Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital Comet Commonwealth Police College CUWI Fortress Annobon Fortress Aruba Fortress Demon Fortress Falklands Fortress Helena Fortress Kabuli Fortress Lola Fortress Meteor Fortress Occident Fortress Praia Moshel School National Levantine Theological University NS Antigua NS Falklands NS Helvasia NS Java NS Kairi NS Mira NS Morocos NS Oslola NS Santes NS Sedna NS Sude NS Summers NS Verde University of Karu Vekllei World Astroport ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/landscape/","/world/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1217,
  "href": "/factbook/maps/world/",
  "title": "World Map","color": "teal",
  "section": "Map",
  "description": "",
  "content": "",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": ["/maps/world/","/map/"]
  }
  ,{
  "id": 1218,
  "href": "/characters/yo/",
  "title": "Yo","color": "sunflower",
  "section": "Characters",
  "description": "Yo is Cobian's older brother. He's moved out of home and spends most of his time travelling and partying. He now lives in the Cama.",
  "content": " Yo Queismesnah is Cobian\u0026rsquo;s older brother. He\u0026rsquo;s moved out of home and spends most of his time travelling and partying. He now lives in the Cama. ",
  "date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "aliases": null
  }]