Talus

Natural History

As confirmed by research done by A.T.O.M. (no acronym) Practical Technologies, a major breakthrough has been made in tracing the history of the ancient Talosian native tribes. There is overwhelming evidence that Talosians originally came from Neolithic Domanic peoples crossing through parts of Aculon via an ice bridge. This theory could also explain why red ice is present in several Bistol-Seam countries, such as Xentus.  While there is some direct history of these Neolithic native Talosians, there are hundreds upon hundreds of Talosian stories telling of parts of Talosian history and wars with Jameslandian native tribes. They are currently being pieced together into a larger timeline of native history.

 From what A.T.O.M. Practical Technologies currently has, it is likely that there were, instead of 4 small islands and one large one, 5 small islands of various sizes and 1 larger one; the 5th island most likely was a portion of the southernmost micro-peninsula of Talosia. This is breakthrough evidence and a major connection to the theory that, thousands of years ago, the Shadow Continent shifted, leading to thousands of islands being made into eventual bigger ones like Talus, James City, the Titan Republic, and Xentus, to name a few.

The technology of the ancient Talosians is similar to that of Spebian weaponry, consisting of a variation of the Atlatl (a spear-thrower), rock slings, and (later) longbows made from hard wood and animal sinew. While these do have similarities, the culture and clothing that the Talosians wore were glaringly different; the Talosians wore dark hide pants and semi-short-sleeved shirts (a bit less than elbow length) of thinner hide. They had Domanic complexion and hair color, which is one key piece of evidence suggesting that Native Talosians originally came from ancient Domanic nomads.

Government and politics

(way the government operates, local elections, council, monarch, power hierarchy, legal framework, foreign policy, military breakdown, alliances, etc.) 

Talus operates as a monarchic pentarchy (one monarch ahead of five elected council members). Talus is also split into five jurisdictions known as districts. Each island is considered a jurisdiction, with each having its own capital and administrative counties. Counties hold their own elections for those taking office and consist of various administrations, varying from town councils to city mayors to town mayors, just to name a few. Röd Island, Hexal, Tael, and Talosia (the most populous district) are all districts in Talus.

The monarch of Talus holds most power over the country, heavily advised by his five council members. Most government officials hold equal power, in the sense of leadership positions, besides, of course, the monarch. There are no juries in Talus (as explained later), and rulings are decided by a judge. There are two courts, National and County. National Courts handle major lawsuits or federal charges (e.g, indictment of an arsonist on federal property, Republic of Talus vs. other company), and County Courts handle where cases or lawsuits originate and smaller affairs (e.g, traffic violations, smaller personal lawsuits, injury claims).

The council also elects advisors to different sectors of the administrative divisions of the government, with four advisors elected by council members for each "sector," like the Industry and Construction Sector, Offense and Defense Sector, Medical and Civil Sector, the Law and Justice Sector, the Transportation Sector, and the Consumer Regulation and Agriculture Sector, to name a few.

Industry and Construction Sector

The Industry and Construction Sector (ICS) is tasked with building and maintaining everything from underground automated factories building microchips to colossal monuments made of stone and gold-plated metal. Talisian reservists often work in construction or industrial settings alongside conventional engineers and overseers. Individual projects (such as fixing bridges) are managed by 1 out of 800 legislative personnel working within the Industry and Construction field. Financed by David Breckor, an investor from the Huggie Union, a project is ongoing called the "Bringing An Arena To Talus," which will oversee the construction of a super-stadium for concerts, sporting events, military parades, and more. Breckor is also funding the "Bridges for All" project, which will oversee the construction of megastructure bridges connecting each island by car, sidewalk, bike, and train.

Offense and Defense Sector

The Offense and Defense sector (ODS) consists of Talisian generals, field marshals, military analysts, chief production overseers, training overseers, and the chief executive officers of state-owned weapons companies (ie., J.G, SafeGuard Defense, Gold Mining & Co.) that spans 1,000 total legislative personnel. The Offense and Defense Sector was originally titled 'Homeland Defense Committee' and was manned by 300 people; changes were made in 2023 due to military reforms and renewed geopolitical tension. The Offense and Defense is essentially the "war cabinet" of Talus and controls the Natal (an ancient term used to describe a pre-colonial Talisian warrior) Ground Forces (NGF), the Royal Navy (RN), and the Talisian Royal Air Force (T-RAF). Not including the total number of other workers in the ODS, the ODS has a personnel count of more than 3,265,573 across the NGF, RN, and T-RAF.

Active military emplacements in major urban areas are very common and often work in cooperation with law enforcement when responding to armed disturbances and other crimes. While this does make Talisian police forces rather effective and make Talus safe, Talus is still a heavily militarized state.

Medical and Civil Sector

The Medical and Civil Sector consists of all things relative to setting guidelines for the private healthcare system and providing essential human services in areas such as funding medical studies, as well as all things pertaining to the happiness of civilians and maintenance of civil goods. There are over 3,000 employees within the Medical and Civil Sector, mostly regulatory employees, not including the tens of thousands who are staffed on-site in hospitals and medical centers.

Medical

Hospitals and medical centers in Talus are state-owned and subsidized by the Medical and Civil Sector. These centers are considered high-class, and if not, some of the best in the world. The Medical and Civil Sector goes through extensive lengths to make sure all patients are taken care of, including in both physical and mental health. While the Medical and Civil Sector is supposed to be for civil needs, there is also a command sector for medical facilities within the Offense and Defense Sector that connects to the Medical and Civil Sector.

As ISO (International Shipping Organization, a company purchased by Talus as explained in section 'Major Industry: ISO') massively increased the GDP and NDP of Talus; the crown used this massive amount of income to improve the quality of life in Talus significantly. The budgets of schools and A.T.O.M. Practical Technologies research labs became vastly larger, multiplying an impressive ninefold. The money provided to A.T.O.M. Practical Technologies, a state-owned company dedicated to the advancement of research and technology in a wide range of STEM fields, allowed for life-changing medicines and methods to be made available for procurement; among the most prominent is the NK-CP (Natural Killer, Contrapestis, which means 'all-disease'), a modified cell designed to defeat any disease known to man through the triggering of apoptosis (the programmed self-destruction of a cell), including cancerous tumors.

Elaborating on Talisian healthcare (excluding plastic surgery, which is mostly banned or strictly regulated), it is widely considered the best in the world, materially inexpensive, and free. This is mainly due to the fact that Benjamin Rounsaville, the CEO of A.T.O.M. Practical Technologies, insists on removing the aspect of consumerism and planned obsolescence from medical-related equipment.

Civil

The Medical and Civil Sector controls regulations and balances pertaining to the happiness of civilians and maintenance of civil services (ie., garbage collection, ambulances, police response, etc.). Most recently, the budgets of schools and A.T.O.M. Practical Technologies research labs became vastly larger, multiplying an impressive sevenfold and ninefold, respectively. The newly created slush fund from the ISO acquisition allowed for planned overhauls in education plans to be implemented far quicker than anticipated, providing Talisian students with far better futures compared to other renowned nations such as the Shadow Union.

Not only medicine, but advances in biology have allowed lab-grown meat to become actual meat through 3D nutrient bio-scaffolds that completely replicate the muscles, fat, and cardiovascular systems of conventional meat cuts because a small number of cells with those genes and purposes are put onto the bio-scaffold to then grow and feed off of it at an accelerated pace (as opposed to the slow, disorganized growth of simple muscle cells). Underground agricultural and advanced synthetic meat facilities were built, making Talus (and later Xentus) completely food-sufficient; immune to weather and drought. The completion of these facilities was a major milestone for the Talisian Industrial and Construction Sector, taking a whole 9 years to finish.

Law and Justice Sector

As mentioned prior, the Law and Justice Sector (LAJS) operates two courts: National and County. National Courts handle major lawsuits or federal charges (e.g, indictment of an arsonist on federal property, Republic of Talus vs. other company), and County Courts handle where cases or lawsuits originate and smaller affairs (e.g, traffic violations, smaller personal lawsuits, injury claims).  The LAJS also has seven elected councilmembers (elected every two years) under the Law and Justice Council (LAJC) that oversee and vet judges around the nation.

While Talus is a considerably nice place to live, there are rather strict punishments for some crimes such as pedophilia, necrophilia, 1st and 2nd degree murder, severe domestic abuse, unlicensed drug dealing, terrorism, and scamming, many of which lead to a life of factory-prison labor or a firing squad. There are no juries in Talus, so the judge presiding has almost complete decision-making power over the fate of the accused (they still have to follow guidelines and rules and are heavily vetted by the Law and Justice Council). Talus has extensive data-collection technologies in use, not for 3rd-party marketing purposes, but for profiling for police use. Rather than normal, dull prisons, Talus also has what are known as Reform Facilities, designed to reduce the importance of prison time regarding things such as job applications and insurance.

Reform Facilities

Reform Facilities are similar to standard prison systems, but with several glaring differences. Opposed to the reduction of human rights and living conditions, Talisian Reform Prisoners (TRPs) are given hotel-like single-person cells, private restrooms, high-quality hygienic necessities, and comfortable clothes. Instead of sitting in crummy cells for most of the day, TRPs engage in exercises with fellow inmates and unarmed specialized correctional officers to 'reform' themselves into constructive members of society. Normal prison elements such as dull, brutalist concrete walls and metal bars are removed and replaced with familiar designs and artwork. The most surprising thing about Reform Facilities is that TRPs are provided with books, and sometimes even digital media. Privacy (such as online mugshots, police files, etc.) is an important element of Reform Facilities and is widely restricted from public view. While high-security measures such as cameras, identification technology, sniper towers, and electrified defensive measures are incorporated into Reform Facilities, they are cleverly designed to be hidden from in-bounds view. Prison sentences at Reform Facilities are often shorter than 24 months.

Transportation Sector

The Transportation Sector (TST) aims to provide an efficient, sustainable, and equitable movement of people and goods through various means. These ways of transportation lead to the development and stimulation of the economy, providing motorways for goods to travel across, multiple airports (though a single international one in Talosia), bikeways and bike lanes for both cargo bicycles and human transportation, adequate sidewalks compliant with the Talisians With Disabilities Act of 1992 and Civilian Centric Act of 2017, subways, monorails, and train systems.

Consumer Regulation and Agriculture Sector

Maintaining regulation quality of food itemry, guns, drugs of all types, and consumer goods of all kinds, as well as aiming to meet the needs of commercial farming, livestock food production (widely considered a domestically obsolete regulation due to the rising synthetic meat industry, now mostly used to dually regulate along with other countries' agencies for imported meat), while promoting agricultural trade and natural preservation, the Consumer Regulation and Agriculture Sector (CRAS) employs roughly 450 regulatory specialist staff members, not including the hundreds of agricultural engineers and thousands of health and welfare inspectors in retail locations. 

Economy

Industry

Talus operates with the predominant industries of construction, business, banking, pharmaceuticals, precision instruments (watchmaking, handmade instruments), mechanical/electrical engineering, food processing, and most importantly, research and technology (predominantly in STEM fields). The government of Talus operates separate finances where it can invest, purchase, etc., in companies as its own "corporate" entity, acting as a sort of sovereign wealth fund.

Imports

Talus imports most things that are not natively found on the island. These items include, but are not limited to, refined petroleum (from Shadow Union and small amounts from Huggie Union), automobiles, airplanes, cement, steel, lumber, and technology infrastructure. These items are traded predominantly in the Bistol-Seam and lower Oceans with trade nations such as the Titan Republic (host of Titanazon factories producing almost everything possible, like consumer electronics, private-label merchandise, digital entertainment, and cloud computing services, and millions of other companies housing storefronts through Titanazon on ISO), the Shadow Union, and the major trade nation of the Banana Kingdom. 

Exports

Talus exports a wide variety of specific goods that generate strong cash flow. These items include, but are not limited to, medical technology, jewelry, electronic components, and guns. These items are traded with the entire world through various shipping companies, storefronts, and online websites.

Resource distribution network

The Talus is connected to major highway arterials for the transport of both freight and commuters. These highways avoid cutting through cities and are kept relatively low to the ground, through tunnels, or entirely underground. Train systems dominate the island, operating separate freight and passenger routes both underground (through subway systems) and above ground. There are several major airports on each island, with the only international one residing on Talosia. Power lines, substations, and natural gas lines (providing both biofuel and refined petroleum) are connected to major solar farms and smaller power plants to provide energy to homes, factories, etc. Aqueducts and pipelines are connected to major treatment plants and the ocean to provide water to homes, factories, etc. Finally, through digital tracking and Inventory Management Systems (IMS), supplies are ensured to reach the right place.

Major industry: ISO

After 2015, soon after the previous king stepped down, the monarchy invested in buying consumer and shipping companies to merge into the ISO (International Shipping Organization) until it rivalled the scale of Titanazon, a Titanic company that, at the time, was considered to be one of the largest retail and e-commerce-centered enterprises in the world. However, after the Great Titan War in 2024, Titanazon was battered by the economic halt of the Titan Republic and then crushed by economic sanctions and tariffs, hitting a record-breaking 96.3% stock value drop after the company was requisitioned by the Huggie union. The unfortunate turn of events for Titanazon left ISO as a monopoly of world shipping and a consumer mega-corporation ripe for purchase (which was later bought for 261 billion HD by Talisian monarch, Benjamin Rounsaville). ISO brought the GDP of Talus up 4.5% and grew the treasury to a jaw-dropping 24.254 trillion HD; Medical, military, technological, and commercial dreams were now far more than a reality for the Talisian government. 

Music, movies, and literature

The most common forms of music in Talus are Marschmusik themes, with many popular songs in other countries adapted for brass bands and marching choirs, and Native Talosian culture-styled music, playing with traditional instruments from late pre-colonial Talus. Talus is famously the hardest country to break into on the music charts due to the rigid national culture and dislike of northern pop music (like common Plainsboro rock, etc.) Famous Talisian bands include, but are not limited to, Die Altweig/The Old Way (1950s Native Domanic language music), Das Besteich (1970s Marschmusik, military marching folk outfit), and Nathaniel Williamson (Talisian-Orthodox, pro-state musical artist). Popular movies in Talus include nationalistic movies and military action movies. However, the most famous movie in Talus is A Life, a dramatic, emotional, pro-Talisian tale-telling of times under Huggie rule in Talus, which has grossed an impressive $4.4 billion at the box office, followed by the Huggie World War 4 retelling, Ollenhowser's War, which grossed roughly $3.2 billion. Popular books in Talus are almost always history books, informative books, autobiographies, and biographies of historical or pop culture people. Most music, movies, and literature in Talus is not heavily regulated to a degree where free speech is limited; however, music, movies, and literature are often ones that are promoted by the state.

Religion

Despite an increasing number of atheists, Talus remains predominantly Christian, specifically Talisian Orthodox. 89% of Talisians identify as Talisian Orthodox, 2% identify as Huggyo-Christian, and the rest is a mix of Xentian Muslims, Jews, and atheists.

Life in Talus

Through major public works projects and reforms, Talisian infrastructure in almost all areas (not buildings with historical significance) is modern and eco-friendly, but with neo-classical themes: copper or tiled roofs, exquisite sandstone brick exteriors patterned with real gold in city areas, beautiful red brick suburban homes, and comfortable country mansions elsewhere. Museums, memorials, and monuments in Talus are some of the grandest (and most expensive) on the planet. Industrial areas are designed and built to be concealed and partially or entirely underground (they still have proper airflow and some natural light coming in). Whether this is in case of an invasion or if it was just deemed an eyesore in need of covering is up to the regular civilian.

Education

Educational institutions of all kinds in Talus are widely state-owned or subsidized, given vast budgets, and often seen as some of the best in the world.  Rather than using online learning websites or simple packets and textbooks, Talisian education consists mostly of 'real' learning done by an actual teacher with multiple sensory inputs (images, conversation/lectures, etc.) and hands-on work. Strategies to improve the memory and understanding of lessons are also incorporated heavily rather than teaching information and just giving students a grade based on if they can memorize terms with bland explanations. Studying in Talus is rarely done or needed, mainly because lessons are intricately designed much more interactive and far more memorable than dry, fill-in-the-blank packet work. Homework is almost entirely non-existent because of the quality and efficiency of learning in classrooms across Talus; it just simply isn't needed. Grading and requirements in Talus are unique and are intended to encourage students to continuously perform well rather than managing effort on assignments based off of their point weight, to accomplish this, the raw points and categories of assignments are somewhat gate-kept, but still accessible during certain times and dates; effort is as important as the correct answer to Talisian schools.

College

Colleges are less competitive as they are almost-entirely uniform in quality and were designed to accommodate more than the local population, though extra seats in class are rarely filled because of Talisian culture; instead of having a small amount of Ivy-league colleges and lackluster community establishments like countries on the shadow continent, Talisian students are expected to go through their local (and extremely well budgeted) school systems up to college graduation. Another surprising thing about Talisan college is that, because of national culture and city/town planning, almost all non-foreign/abroad students live in their real houses. There are also dedicated abroad colleges in Talus with education plans designed to line up with the educational backgrounds of other nations while still bringing Talisian-level quality to the table.

Core Educational Standards

Talisian school levels are much less rigid than other nations' systems, with richer information and better teaching methods. As opposed to standardized AP classes, higher education institutions offer specific classes (designated 'paths') for topics in science, history, and math rather than blandly more demanding classes. Concepts such like algebra and biology, as noticeable below, can be and are taught earlier because of naturally superior teaching methods. Health and anti-drug classes in Talus are incorporated into physical education classes. Because of better teaching methods, the normal Talisian school year is slightly less than most other school years, averaging 175 days but keeps a uniform school-day length of 6.5 hours past 3rd grade, with lengths starting at around 3 hours in preschool, 4.5 in kindergarten, 5 hours in grades 1-3 and then finally scaling up to the uniform 6.5 hours after 3rd grade. School levels in Talus are intended to all support each other and follow in sync:

Preschool - Basic literacy and communication/social skills.

Kindergarten - (Hand)writing, basic addition and subtraction (up to 200), more advanced reading, simple/negligible history (simple background of Talus, animals & fossils).

1st grade - Multiplication and division (up to 12), more advanced addition and subtraction (up to 10,000), telling time, more advanced writing, expanded natural and cultural history.

2nd grade - Reinforcement of past math & telling time, fractions, chapter-book reading, simple paragraph writing and grammar, very basic cursive (such as a name/signature), expanded natural and basic cultural history.

3rd grade - Reinforcement of past math & telling time, simple mathematical graphing, more advanced literacy, more formal paragraph writing and grammar, simple cursive writing, more formal cultural and national history, formal physical education.

4th grade - Very basic pre-algebra (entirely exponents), reinforcement of past math, advanced literacy (complex or more dated words and terms), structured paragraph writing and grammar, reinforcement of cursive writing, formal cultural and national history, formal physical education.

5th grade - Reinforcement of past math, reinforcement of advanced literacy, structured 4-paragraph essay writing and advanced grammar, reinforcement of cursive writing, formal cultural and national history, formal physical education.

6th grade - Reinforcement of past math, decimals, statistical math (percentages, etc.), reinforcement of advanced literacy, structured 4-paragraph essay writing and advanced grammar, 1 paragraph cursive writing, formal world history, formal physical education, geological science.

7th grade - Pre-Algebra, statistical math, higher-education-esque literacy, varying types of essay writing and higher-education grammar, reinforcement of past cursive writing, formal world history, formal physical education, simple biology.

8th grade - Algebra 1, Reinforcement of past literacy, 5-paragraph essay writing and higher-education grammar, reinforcement of past cursive writing, formal world history, physical education, biology.

9th grade - Algebra 2, College-level literacy, 5-paragraph essay writing and college-level grammar, 4-paragraph essay writing in cursive, world history paths, formal physical education, Chemistry or Biology paths.

10th grade - Geometry, Reinforcement of past literacy, 5-paragraph essay writing and college-level grammar, reinforcement of past cursive writing, world history paths, formal physical education, Chemistry or Biology paths.

11th grade - Pre-Calculus, Reinforcement of past literacy, 5-paragraph essay writing and college-level grammar, 5-paragraph essay writing in cursive, world history paths, formal physical education, Chemistry or Biology paths.

12th grade - Calculus, Reinforcement of past literacy, preparation for 5,000-to-6,000-word essays and college-level grammar, 5-paragraph essay writing in cursive, world history paths, formal physical education, Chemistry or Biology paths.

It is important to note that this is a basic overview of core topics in Talisian education, this does not cover the broad scope of extra-curricular classes. "College-level" is based off of the educational standards of other nations such as the Shadow Union.

The Challenges

Talisian schools don't have uniforms, but do have dress codes that prohibit non-natural hair colors (i.e. red, blue, purple), tattoos, suggestive and 'borderline' clothing, and some piercings. Physical punishment (the ruler) in Talisian schools is used for acts such as hate crimes, sexual assault, and unlicensed protesting. One thing to note is that protesting in school is almost never approved.

Rather than arresting protesters in Talus, police will instead just beat protesters with blunt rubber coated bats or specifically engineered dull spears and letting them run away.

Cities:
Bastion - island of Talosia

Huvetus - island of Talosia

Huerviegh - island of Tael

Coldburg - island of Talosia

New Titania - island of Hexal

Talosia - 39,271,946

Tael - 19,635,973

Hexal - 18,421,000

Röd Island - 

Since Talus is situated a bit north of the equator, it varies in climate. A jungle biome sweeps through Röd Island (easternmost island); tropical biomes go through Hexal (top right island), Tael (southernmost island), and some of Talosia, and aridness goes through New Danada (northernmost island).