Faction overview: Siesta
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Administration and politics
Government of Siesta
Owing to its Columbian root, Siesta implements a democratic system where a mayor runs the city-state republic, and Siesta's politics is further solidified following Herman Doykos's political reformation. The mayor seat has since been occupied by Herman alone without a term limit owing to popular support for his contributions to the city-state. Nevertheless, unlike Columbia's democracy that involves various political parties and interest groups, Siesta practices a nonpartisan democracy in which national matters, referendums, and government elections are directly decided by the vast majority of the citizens. Hence, Siesta is sometimes praised for its political transparency.
As part of Herman's political reformation, the old city assembly is reorganized into a bicameral legislature: the Siesta City Council representing the upper house and the Siesta City Congress representing the lower house. The City Council is directly led by the mayor, whereas the City Congress is composed of representatives of the citizens. Members of the City Council and the City Congress are elected to their office through annual general elections. General affairs are usually resolved in a session conducted by the representatives of the citizens. Only when it comes to affairs of state, the representatives will first declare a proposal to the public for public discussions, then a referendum will be held as the final solution. Anyone who lives in Siesta, be it citizens or permanent residents, are allowed to take part in politics, including the referendum.[1]
Law enforcement
Like any independent city-state throughout history, Siesta does not have a national military. In fact, Siesta rarely needs a military as the city-state does not involve itself in geopolitical affairs. In turn, the Siesta Urban Public Security Bureau is the sole law enforcement agency who serve as policemen for civil affairs, and the current police is sufficient to maintain civil order.[2]
Administrative division
The migration of Siesta to mobile platforms since 1097 has created two distinct districts: the Old Siesta and the New Siesta or Nomadic Siesta. The Old Siesta comprises former sedentary settlements near the coastline and the volcano, but much of them have been reclaimed by magma since the eruption of 1099 which has become too dangerous to live in. The Nomadic Siesta is the current presiding city that still travels around the site of Old Siesta, and as a tribute to their coastal culture, Nomadic Siesta includes artificial geysers and hot springs that also serves as new tourist attractions. Nevertheless, before the migration project is fully accomplished, many Siestans prefer to stay in sedentary settlements along the traveling route of Nomadic Siesta.[2]
Geography
Siesta is located on a peninsula in the Sea of Clariside where it borders Victoria in the northeast and Sargon to the west. As part of the ancient "southern passage," there is a natural corridor starting from southern Victoria, bypassing Siesta, and finally reaching both Sargon and Columbia. In terms of climate, Siesta is a tropical monsoon coastal plain in which it possesses humid climate and constant monsoon seasons.[2]
Mount Siesta is the pristine landmark of Siesta, a dormant volcano lying on the eastern side of Old Siesta. For the Siestans, it is the heart of their coastal culture. During the Profound Silence, it was this volcano that helped block Siesta from the tsunamis, sparing the young city-state from submergence into the ocean. Mount Siesta is also known for its rich deposits of obsidian which many Siestans believe to be a remedy to suppress Oripathy despite its has long been debunked by the science community.[3] Nevertheless, its volcanic activity has been reawakened since the summer of 1097 due to severe infestation of Originium slugs colonies specifically feeding on obsidian that are unfortunately driven out from their underground nests by illegal obsidian mining that deplete their food source.[4]
According to Siestan folklore, Mount Siesta is also the legendary "White Volcano," a volcano that occasionally turns into white color. Under special conditions especially during its eruption, the volcano will gush out pinkish white clouds of ashes on a sunny day, and the volcano mouth or cliffs will turn into white as snow.[5] Many locals claim they have witnessed such a phenomenon with their own eyes, yet many volcanologists do not fully trust their accounts due to its credibility. Nevertheless, Mount Siesta remains an interesting subject to study among volcanologists.
Mount Siesta is also the site of an endemic flower species, the Volcano Watchers. This specific flower species will change colors based on volcanic activities. Before the eruption of the volcano, there will be a massive bloom on the volcano's slopes; hence, it is often treated as a warning sign to the locals. But because of its rarity, only very few scientists have managed to observe them and record them while others presume these flowers to be a Siestan legend.[5] Nevertheless, the remaining Volcano Watchers could still be found on a hill at the back slope of Mont Siesta.[6]
Economy
The major economic activities of pre-1099 Siesta were both obsidian trade and tourism. Tourism in Old Siesta relied on its serene environment around the tropical coastline contributed by the drastic geographical change of the Profound Silence. Beach resorts, hotels, restaurants, and stadiums for various events were subsidiaries born from local tourism. Obsidian mining centered around Mount Siesta where much of its deposits were found, and these extracted gemstones would then be processed into art decorations, wearing accessories, or tourist souvenirs. Hence, in the past when tourism remained underdeveloped, obsidian trade supplemented much of Siesta's economy.[2] By 1082, all obsidian mining was completely outlawed out of environmental concerns, but obsidian trade remained active.[3] Furthermore, under the oversight of Cronin, Siesta's former Catastrophe Messenger, the already closed mines remained operating illegally in order to gain profit from the mining that could compensate Herman's enormous financial burden in providing public healthcare to the Infected.[7] The illegal obsidian mining eventually triggered the volcanic activity of Mount Siesta, and since 1097, all trades of obsidian have been completely forbidden in Siesta except art collections prior to 1097.
Post-1099 Siesta focuses more on its commercial trade by becoming a trading hub for Columbia. Furthermore, both MountainDash Logistics and the Scwire Group have sought to set up their first foreign joint branch in Siesta as Mountaincomm Trade, and Siesta eventually plays an important role as mediator in cross-border trading. Tourism remains prominent in Siesta after two years of stagnation during the migration, and there are new tourist attractions that replicate Old Sieasta's coastal activities at the heart of Nomadic Siesta such as artificial hot springs and beaches, swimming resorts, fashion streets, and volcano museums.
Demographics
Siesta has a total population of 800,000 people. Among them, 300,000 of them are local Siestans, whereas the remaining 500,000 people are mostly tourists, businessmen, and foreign workers.[8] Every year, Siesta receives a large number of tourists or immigrating settlers seeking new job opportunities regardless of race, and such numbers will be increasing in the future.
Siesta is also relatively relaxed in handling Infected populace. As of 1099, there are a total of 8,573 registered Infected in Siesta. Since the completion of its mobile platforms, Siesta has come under political pressure from Columbia to implement similar laws regulating the Infected. Nevertheless, Siesta remains open to the Infected by setting up an Infected treatment center outside of Nomadic Siesta which is then claimed to the Federal Government as a developing zone.[9]
Culture
Owing to its immigrant origin, Siesta is famous for its liberty and openness to various cultures. As a terminal for various trading routes, Siesta is a cultural crossroad of bordering nations which in turn brings them into the amalgamation of its local culture.[8] Hence, in Siesta, one could witness both foreign modern cultures such as Columbian pop music and Victorian classical arts and local coastal traditions stemming from Iberian immigrants.
Siesta is also a good spot for academic studies thanks to its unique geography surrounded by volcanoes and its well-established educational institutions. Natural science is a prominent academy in Siesta including volcanology, geography, biology, ecology, etc., and many observatory stations and laboratories are set up in Siesta.[8]
Obsidian Festival
The Obsidian Festival (ObFes) is an annual music festival in Siesta held in the summer that usually lasts for two weeks or even longer. Its origin could be traced back to a simple singing concert held by the miners in obsidian quarry shafts where they played mining ballads with crude instruments to cheer up their colleagues and entertain themselves.[10] Over the course of history, this once ordinary concert in the quarries has evolved to become an international music festival where tourists, musicians, and music lovers across Terra flood Siesta to participate in this magnificent event. Not only music lovers get the chance to get in touch with their favorite artists, but also, many fresh musicians use this opportunity to publish their songs and gain popularity from their fans.
During the ObFes, Siesta will open up all its resorts, bars, and entertainment facilities to the public for free. The Garrison Amusement Park, the avenue for the festival, will be open 24/7 free of charge with regular schedules for music concerts and invitations for special guests.[3] Major concerts are usually held at night in the Garrison, while in the daytime, smaller individual concerts can be seen in various city districts.[11] By 1097 alone, the ObFes had used one major stage, four large stages, and twelve small stages as avenues for the festivals, and forty musicians of all kinds of genre had held their music performances that could even last eighteen straight hours, hence being described as a never-ending festival until the next sunrise.[7]
One of the uniqueness of the ObFes is a voting system for the audience to decide the best musician of the year in the festival. On the first day of the ObFes, the names of the musicians and bands will be showcased to the public. All the audience present in Siesta, be it locals or foreign tourists, will be granted the right to vote, and they will have to cast their votes on the second last day of the ObFes. After announcing the winner in the popular list, a milestone reward will be given to both the winning musicians and the voters.[12][13]
Since the 1097 Obsian Festival fiasco and the revival of volcanic activity in Mount Siesta, the ObFes was unfortunately suspended during the two-year migration onto mobile platforms. Furthermore, the old avenues for the ObFes were forever buried by the erupting Mount Siesta in 1099. Nevertheless, several musicians led by Emperor have been in a discussion for restarting the event under a whole new title which they believe to be a brand new beginning for the Siestans' musical culture.[14]
References
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