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From Randomramblings

Revision as of 02:33, 23 October 2006

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The Walrus is the only Walrus to travel the city of Rambles. He runs a LateNight show that is famous throughout the Kingdom of Loathing.

The Kingdom

The Invisible Walrus Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom, the W.K., the I.W.K. and the Sky Kingdom, is a floating island that travels mostly up above over the open seas. About the size of Iceland, the Walrus Kingdom is comprised of many nations with the shared capital of Micius.

The present-day Kingdom of the 21st century has been inhabited for at least 20,000 years by indigenous Walrus tribes. After the landbased population of Walruses discovered the Island in the 18th century, following the invention of the aircraft, they established their own colonies. The landbased tribes named the island the "New World". On December 4, 1789, at war with the land based population (noted by their lack of tusks) over fair governance, thirteen of the sixteen colonies declared their independence. In 1783, the war ended in landbased acceptance of the new nation. And handed over the other three colonies to what was becoming known as the Kingdom. Since then, the W.K. has more than doubled in size, now enveloping the full island. From then up until the Sundering the government prospered. After the Great Divide the Kingdom now consists of almost 50 individual states most sharing the same capital.

At approximately Forty Thousand square miles, 5.4% of it being water, the W.K. is undisputably the largest floating island by total area, and not so large depending on whether the word floating is included or not. It is the world's third most populous nation, with nearly 500 million people.

Walropians consider the date of the Declaration of Seperation, December 4, 1789, as the date the Sky Kingdom was founded. The first federal government was constituted under the Constitution, adopted in 1789. The Constitution was replaced by the Articles of Utilitarity, adopted in 1794. Since its establishment, the liberal democratic nature of the government has grown as suffrage has been extended to more diverse citizens. The Kingdom's military, economic, cultural, and political influence increased throughout the 20th century when planes began to fly civillians. With the collapse of the Socialist Union at the end of the Frozen War, the nation emerged as the world's sole remaining superpower. Today, it plays a major role in world affairs.

Geography

The Kingdom is the world's largest floating island by land area boasting approximately 40,000 floating square miles of land. It is surrounded on all sides by a vertical drop that varies depending on where the island hovers. For obvious reasons no nations or bodies of water border the Kingdom.

The W.K. has an extremely varied geography, particularly for such a relatively small area.

The East

About 70 to 80% of the "Eastern Seaboard" is forested, mountainous,and unsuitable for agricultural, industrial, or residential use, due to the generally steep elevations, climate, and risk of landslides caused by earthquakes, soft ground, and heavy rain. This has resulted in an extremely high population density in the habitable zones that are mainly located in coastal areas. The East is seperated from the rest of the island by a body of water that stretches multiple miles wide and ends at two spectacular falls known as the "Ends of the World".

The climate of the East is predominantly frigid but varies greatly from north to south. It's geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones.

The northernmost zone has a temperate climate with long, cold winters and cool summers. Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snow banks in the winter.

The region's west coast often has heavy snowfall in Winter. During the summer, the region is cooler than the "End of the World", though it sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures, due to wind phenomena.

The central highland is a typical inland climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter, and between day and night. Precipitation is light.

The Inland Sea is a great valley formed by the two tallest mountains of the island. The mountains shelter the zone from the seasonal winds, bringing mild weather throughout the year.

The Drop is the east coast, it experiences cold winters with little snowfall and hot, humid summers due to the southeast seasonal wind.

Southeast Islands found drifting seperate from the Invisible Kingdom have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very heavy, especially during the rainy season. Rain here can sometimes be considered as heavy as a typhoon.

The main rainy season begins in early May in the south and the stationary rain front responsible for this gradually works its way north until it dissipates in the north before reaching the top of the Drop in late July.

Middle Walropia

Central Walropia is a coastal plain which is widest in the south and narrower in the north. The coastal plain does not exist much further north of Micius. In the extreme southeast, there is a great grove of ecologically unique Everglades.

Beyond the coastal plain, rolling hills stretch to a range of Mountains, which rise above 6,000 feet. From the west slope of the range, the Interior Plains of the Midwest are relatively flat and are the location of the Great Lakes as well as the Pinniped River, the world's 5th longest river system. West of the River, the Interior Plains slope uphill and blend into the vast and often featureless Great Plains of the West.

The West

The abrupt rise of the Lapidarian Mountains, at the western edge of the Great Plains, extends north to south across the floating countryside, reaching altitudes at times over 14,000 feet. In the past, the Lapidarian Mountains had a higher level of volcanic activity; nowadays, the range only has no active volcanoes. Dozens of high mountain ranges, salt flats such as the Starkville Salt Flats, and valleys are found in the Great Basin region located west of the Lapidarian and east of the Remmington Range, which also has deep chasms, including the fabled Diamond River. At the southwestern end of the Great Basin, Death Valley lies 282 feet below sea level. A large igneous province known as the Devil's Woods was shaped by one of the largest flood basalts on Earth. It is marked by dark black rocks. Surrounding the Four Corners region lies the Hayes Plateau, named after the Hayes River, which flows through it. The Plateau is generally high in elevation, has highly eroded sandstone, and the soil is a blood red in some locations. Many national parks, such as the Golden Arches, Goeckel Canyon and Great Canyon are in the area. West of the Great Basin, the Remmington mountain range has Mount Elijah, the highest peak in the West.

The North The North is a wasteland of snow that stretched endlessly into the distance. That is until you reach the edge.

Walropia's Government

Walropia has a democratic/utalitarian based, three branched government in which the average citizen holds a great deal of power.

The Democratic Branch - This Branch is comprised of two bodies, the general populace and the senate. The senate is comprised of a number of senators in direct corrolation with the population of Walropia. It can be up to one senator per 500,000 persons at a time. The senate writes new legislation and challenges the old, while the general populace votes on each item of legislation brought up by the senate individually. A citizen has the right to challenge legislation by taking it up with local government officials known as house representatives. The house representatives duties are to bring to the senate worthy pieces of legislation or reasonable challenges to the current laws.

The Executive Branch - The King (it is referred to always as King never as Queen, no matter which gender the King may be) is nominated by the senate and the citizens vote him into office via a voluntary popular vote. At least ten candidates must be nominated by the senate. The King serves in office until the senate sees him/her unfit to serve longer and votes the King out of office. The King has the power to write his/her own legislation though this occurs only rarely and has the power to veto legislation proposed by the senate though this occurs even more rarely. A vetoed piece of legislation may still be voted on by the general populace with a 7/10 vote in the Senate. The King is the ceremonial head of the military and police forces.

The Judicial Branch - The Supreme Court largely functions as it does within the contemporary world, it's duty is to interperet the law. The members of the Supreme Court are elected in the same manner as the executive. Court sessions contain the mix one might find in a contemporary court house except that the judge acts as more of a moderator than anything else. Every criminal is assured the right to fair trial.

Currency

The toof is the form of currency employed about the floating island. They are rather peculiar in that they are made from the ivory found in a Walrus's tusk. When a walrus ages past being a minor (sixteen years of age) they are given the choice to donate their tusks posthumously much like a human may donate their body to science. The Toof is shaped like those oval coins that are made from pennies when you put them in the machines, they have a portrait and name of their previous "owner" engraved in them. The company that produces and handles the Toof is known only as Toof Inc. Cooincidentally, Toof Inc. is also the only bank in the Kingdom. A slang term thats evolved due to the form of currency is "Toofy" meaning wealthy or rich, one might even go as far as describing someone as the "Toofiest" or the richest. For simplicity the prices in the game will roughly translate to those of the American Dollar. And just a note: It isn't a very easy currency to inflate...

Evolution of The Walrus

Ramale odobenus

Over a vast amount of time many changes occurred to this species. It’s tusks disappeared, it lost weight, and lost it’s whiskers and nose. Over time it even grew arms and legs. It changed like this because of the process of evolution. Evolution is a procedure used by a species to adapt to it’s environment over long periods of time. The original hypothesis on how evolution worked was done by Chevalier de Lamarck. His theory was that adaptation was caused by a change in the environment, which causes changes in the needs of organisms living in that environment. This alteration causes modifications in their behavior and he believed that altered behavior lead to greater or lesser use of a given trait; use would cause the trait to develop over several generations, whereas disuse would cause it to disappear. Darwin’s theory in a nutshell: as genetic mutations occur within an organism's genetic code, the helpful mutations are kept because they aid in the organisms survival, a process known as "natural selection." These beneficial mutations are passed generation to generation and over time, these beneficial mutations add up and the result is a completely different organism (not a variation of the original, but an entirely new creature). Darwin’s theory is the most widely accepted theory of evolution today.

Ramale bifiduscauda

After a volcanic eruption there was a climate change and much of the Ramale odobenus’s natural habitat was diminished. The tail mutated to that of the split tail in order to swim faster in its new environment and catch prey in its new surroundings. The specie’s physical structure also changed in order for it to have increased flexibility, so that it could dodge faster around the volcanic rocks it’s prey now hid in.

Ramale ambulo

After more volcanic activity the temperature continued to rise and soon there were only lakes left of their ocean in the sky. The Ramale bifiduscauda’s tail continued to split for limited mobility on land. Their prey’s population was also heavily devastated and the bifiduscauda began to change their diet to that of the shrubs in the area. The Walrus’s tusks and whiskers began to shrink away because of this diet change. Ramale careodens

Eventually the whiskers and tusks were completely lost to the species. Soon their new food supply would become on the verge of extinction due to the Ramale’s population boom. However, their legs and arms became more developed and they began to catch small prey. Many of the species were lost during this period of time though. Ramale bullae

The species began to hunt larger prey and they began using simple tools like seal clubs and sporks. It is believed the increase in knowledge lead to further development of a head, so that it could store more memory (this of course was before everyone’s mind was expanded via computer chip so that one could quest for infinite knowledge if one wasn’t lazy). The legs and arms of the species lengthened, which has been credited to a small change in the climate and the pursuit of larger prey.

Ramale praestantiae

Eventually meat became a sort of currency in an informal bartering system and many other leaps and bounds in various fields occured (such as the continuum transfunctioner). Society had a golden age, but it was not to last. After the invention of the disease in the box many great minds were lost. Evolution attempted to halt this plague by removing their noses, but it proved only slightly effective.

Ramale faciesei

Eventually there was someone who mutated an immunity to the disease though he was not physically strong or athletically capable. The descendants of this stick man all were thin, gullible and weak, but the species managed to survive.

The final outcome of the evolution was the Ramale faciesei. Though it was more physically weak then the Ramale praestantiae, it had developed an immunity to the deadly disease and outlived it’s superior.