Republic of Tunlan

The Republic of Tunlan is the last independent nation in the Dragon Dimension, managing to survive and remain separate from the Scandian League and the Tasnica Republic.

Land

Tunlan's territory consists of only a small island just north of Gant and northeast of the city of Scande. The Republic also lays claim to a healthy expanse of waterspace around the island of Tunlan, but this is negligible as most official naval traffic around Tunlan is conducted under the banner of the Celpo.

Population

Tunlan's native population is human. The Tunlanese boast a unique culture whose focus in all things is music. All Tunlanese are taught from a young age to read and write musical notes, and Tunlanese spoken and written language are both expressed through musical composition.

Both the population and the official language of state have changed since Manta rose to power as El Presidente for Life of the small island. With the influx of Celpo agents, and the rise of Tunlan as a major Celpo base in Dragon, Tunlan's population has become more and more heterogenous (where previously the native Tunlanese managed to keep their island's population pure). Also, since Manta is not very musical, by necessity the language of state has changed from Tunlanese to Common.

Religion

Tunlan's native religion revolves around a prime deity named Takemane, who (in the culture's mythology) created mankind and much of the universe by mating with rocks and trees and the ground and other things. Tunlanese mythology also speaks of the creation of Primans and Krydions, but neither race recognizes the traditional Tunlanese recounting (nor, for that matter, does modern evolutionary science).

There are small minorities of Northern Draggonethi and il'Bleu worshippers, and a few Rainerics have shown up with the annexation of Prima and Winlan into the Tasnica Republic.

Magic

Native Tunlanese magic involves the channelling of elemental powers through song and instrumental music, in a fashion similar to the bards of Damcyan and Merge. There are only a small number of native Tunlanese spellcasters still practicing in the modern era.

Economy

With Prima, Tunlan has long been one of the primary centers for trade in the Dragon Dimension. A historically neutral nation, goods from all of Tunlan's neighbors have moved through the island country throughout its history. In the modern Web, Tunlan continues this tradition of trade neutrality, and is often used as an intermediary by businesses and wealthy individuals. The First Banco Del Tunlan has an unusually large number of foreign account holders, mostly from Guardia, Tasnica and Medina.

Law

Under the current system, there is an El Presidente for Life (Manta), and for all intents and purposes Manta's word is the law in Tunlan now.

Government

Historically, Tunlanese governmental power rested in the hands of a single individual, the Composer. The Composer did not have direct control over any one part of government, and could not himself enact policy or law, but instead was responsible for directing the various Sections of Tunlanese government in carrying out their tasks. Beneath the Composer was a body of Movers, each of whom was responsible for directing only a specific Section of the government (the Labor Section, the Education Section, the Public Health Section, and so forth), and beneath each Mover was a body of Measures, each of whom was responsible for directing a specific sub-section of each Section. Under this system of implied-control bureaucracy, each Section was responsible for self-contained oversight and regulation, which in turn was overseen by the Composer, the Movers and the Measures.

This system was set in place by a document called The Grand Tunlanese Symphony, which as written can actually be played as a symphony by a full orchestra (and traditionally is done so, once a year on the anniversary of the founding of the Tunlanese Government). For hundreds of years the Grand Symphony operated smoothly and efficiently, until Tunlan came into debt. Through the 30's, the Composer Otho and his government expanded spending on the arts and culture, importing music and pieces of artwork from across the Web of Worlds. The government ran record defecits, and had no way to make up for the extra spending as there was no system put in place to levy additional taxes (the government had always relied on trade and tourism revenue to make up the difference in whatever the government spent). This was when the Composer and his government sought assistance from Tunlan's wealthiest citizen, the Priman covert operative known as Manta, who had maintained a condominium in Tunlan since his entrance into the Celpo's employ in the late 20's. Manta (who by that time was wealthier than most mid-tier Core world countries) agreed to loan Tunlan a sum that would balance the nation's budget, borrowed against the value of the nation of Tunlan itself.

This arrangement temporarily balanced the nation's books, but Manta was as merciless in pursuing his loan payments as he is in anything else. Eventually, Tunlan's government was unable to pay back the loan, and Manta foreclosed upon the entire country. Shortly thereafter, he moved out of his condominium and into the Grand Symphonium, the palacial government building and residence of the Composers of Tunlan. He amended the Grand Symphony, creating the office of El Presidente for Life and giving himself broad authoritarian powers over every aspect of the nation.

There was a brief return to the old ways after Manta was rumored to have been killed in Porre by the Shield. But when Manta returned to Tunlan (the rumors of his death being greatly exaggerated [and missing the part where he was resurrected by voodoo]) and found Composer Otho and several of the greatest Tunlanese artists and musicians freely using his money to continue splurging on art and culture, he brutally killed them all and instigated a crackdown on all those who would defy the office of El Presidente for Life.

Internal Politics

The political mood in Tunlan is one of depression and fear. The threat of death at the hands of Manta or his Celpo thugs is ever-present among even the lesser bureaucrats. The role of Tunlan's government has been almost entirely reduced to managing internal affairs; in effect, the Composer and the Movers and the Measures are now nothing more than caretakers and processors of Manta's constant flow of tax revenue.

Foreign Politics

Tunlan has always been neutral in the affairs of the Dragon Dimension, though the nation did ally with Travin Rumanski's resistance movement during the Great War. The only true ally Tunlan has ever had at any point in time is Prima, and that only because the two nations have historically seen more profit from a trade alliance with each other than from direct competition.

During the Imperialist Era, both Scande and Tasnica considered laying a claim to Tunlan, but were deterred by the presence of Manta and several other notorious Celpo agents (it is believed that Praxer himself lobbied Scande and Tasnica to keep Tunlan independent, if only because its neutrality made it an ideal living quarters for some of the Celpo's more brutal charges).

In the modern era, Manta has inherited and maintained the mantle of Tunlanese neutrality. Strictly speaking, Manta's model authoritarian state might have fit in well among the Fascist Pact during its heyday, but true to traditions Tunlan has neither allies nor enemies among its neighbors.

Military

Tunlan has never, in the entirety of its existence, had a standing army.

Then, came Manta.

Tunlan recently needed an army because Manta took up a mercenary contract from Alkar the Black to fight in the Merge Dimension on behalf of the Protectorate. This move threatens to destroy countless ages of balance and neutrality for Tunlan, but makes a certain degree of sense given that Scande is Tunlan's neighbor.

The army of Tunlan is small, and to date has never been seen on the field. It is known that the members of Tunlan's army are genetically engineered, using material harvested from insects and certain Celpo agents under Manta's employ. They are designed to be tank-like thugs, thoughtless toward their own survival, and whose only purpose in life is to increase the amount of money Manta can contract them out for by racking up insanely high damage tolls before inevitably being destroyed by massive bodily harm. In addition to the army of Tunlan, the island itself is home to a fortress-like Celpo outpost that would be enough to deter any would-be invaders.

Officially, the Celpo has no affiliation with Tunlan's government. Unofficially, most of the agents stationed in Tunlan would sacrifice their left nut to be party to the infamous Manta's schemes, and might also give up their right nut to defend that which is property of Manta.

People

Manta

El Presidente for Life. Has all governmental authority in Tunlan, and thensome. Is the only citizen of the country who is permitted to kill without reason or consequence.

Scud

Manta's pet, a Priman Dogfish (a species of shark that can float on land and behaves in many ways like a terrestrial canine). At various times Scud shares the duties and title of Vice El Presidente for Life with Albert (see below).

Albert

Manta's ghost butler. Manta once elevated him to Vice El Presidente for Life, but the title is mostly ceremonial and Albert doesn't really get any political or super powers out of the arrangement. Except the power to clean up Manta's living quarters and like, do his laundry and shit. But even that stuff Albert is permitted to delegate out to the El Presidente for Life House Slaves.

Cort

Manta's El Presidenteal geneticist, who designed the army of Tunlan using the genes of cockroaches. He has a cybernetic eye and can turn into a giant frog. Before he came to work for Manta, he was a miniboss working for the Dark Dragons.

Otho

The former Composer of Tunlan, who ran up record debts and made the fatal mistake of taking out a loan from Manta and then defaulting on said loan. When Manta was killed by the Shield, Otho took back control of the government, and also took control of Manta's bank accounts. When Manta was voodoo resurrected back to life and came back to Tunlan, he murdered the shit out of Otho and now he is dead.

Cockgobbler

Otho's successor in the office of Composer. His given name is Llorayan, but on his first day in office Manta issued an El Presidente for Life Decree that Composer Llorayan's name shall be legally and forever changed to Cockgobbler, and that whenever one greets Cockgobbler they are required (on pain of being murdered) to spit in his face and grab his crotch and squeeze hard. Manta justified this decree as a "reasonable check and/or balance placed upon the political powers of the office of the Composer," and further stated that it was "the funniest fucking thing I ever done since I got this stupid country." El Presidente for Life and his guests and people Manta likes are exempt from this requirement.

Cockgobbler rarely leaves his room or has any human contact. His meals (which he orders by phone) are delivered to him through a slot under his door.