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The Free Tajara Republic, often abbreviated to FTR, is a representative democracy that spawned in the fires of revolution against the monarchy. Declaring independence as a single entity in 2516, the cause of the revolution is still hotly debated by historians. While small, the young republic has much support from extraplanetary entities, especially corporations, and has been able to carve out a place on the galactic stage for itself. Despite a ceasefire being signed in 2518, they are still technically at war with the Sacred Azunal Kingdom, which labels them as an insurgent state and does not recognise their sovereignty.
Server-Relevant Information
This section will summarise some of the behaviours and pieces of information that are most typical of a Tajaran from the Free Tajara Republic who would be seen in the server’s setting. These are not hard rules, however they are highly advised to be loosely followed for the sake of a coherent story.
- Republican Tajara are the most familiar with human customs, understanding the difference in cultural context and perhaps even accepting certain gestures such as handshakes. They are still likely to find refusing a cigarette rude, due to the variety of humans that typically exist in the republic.
- These Tajara often speak one human language, usually Basic but sometimes Freespeak if they are in politically active circles. Despite this openness to learning alien languages, they will shun Ornadi as the language of monarchists and corrupt clergy, considering only an academic language. A tajaran that speaks Ornadi aloud will typically be treated similarly to a human that speaks Latin aloud.
- There is very rarely a charitable assumption of humanity from a Republican Tajaran, instead they often assume that humans are greedy, and usually either businessmen or mercenaries.
Economy
In an almost total contrast to the Sacred Azunal Kingdom, the economy of the republic is the most advanced on the planet, making use of numerous alien-made technologies and exporting vast amounts of raw materials and small manufactured goods at cheap prices. The bursting wealth of the republic is often pointed to by corporate economists as an example of how corporate influence can help an economy grow and improve the lives of a nation’s inhabitants, however more cynical economists claim that the young nation will never grow past its primary and secondary industries and forever remain the cash-cow of corporate interests.
The rapid economic miracle of the Free Tajara Republic can be largely attributed to the work of corporations, who swiftly moved into the region to offer economic and military services in exchange for raw resource rights and factories. It is said that for every Republican soldier, there are four corporate mercenaries. This symbiotic relationship quickly blossomed but has recently plateaued as the vast majority of existing resources within the tiny republic’s borders have begun to be exploited, forcing them to look elsewhere for expansion.
The most important of these resources is a small reserve of phoron contained within the southern border region of the republic, nearing the arctic circle. This reserve is currently the exclusive right of the republic to exploit, having signed a treaty giving them 50 years of these rights when the field was discovered in 2548. With the expiry of this treaty looming over the horizon, many government-backed mining corporations are attempting to scout the rest of this field so that they may open mines before foreign corporations can muscle them out. It is the general assumption of most that this sole, dangerous resource is the reason that both the Sacred Kingdom and the wider corporate powers have not taken the region by force, as the super-fuel is too easily weaponised for a swift resolution.
The Tajaran insistence on innovation has not been lost, however, even with so many foreign products flooding the market. Tuner businesses are one of the major industries of the republic, taking foreign-made products and improving them, either in artisanal tinkers’ shops or in massive factories that swap out parts for ones made locally. These tuned products are not always superior, in fact many could be considered side-grades that use locally-patented technologies instead of the alien technologies the products were designed for. Most commonly, tesla engines will be put inside of civilian vehicles to replace their internal combustion engines or battery-packs.
The Revolution
“To claim that the revolution of 2516 was merely the birth of the Free Republic would be to do its impact a total injustice. It was not simply a political event, so much as a socio-cultural explosion created when a culture that believed itself the most innovative possible meets a group of war-mongers whose technological capacity put them comparatively in the stone-age.” - Yabka Teramika, Contemporary Tajaran Historian, 2582
The revolution in 2516 that birthed the Free Tajara Republic was a complicated event. Originally starting as a revolt of a group of nobility of whom viewed themselves as enlightened against a regressive monarch, it was quickly inherited and co-opted by a new cause: democracy. This new cause was far more popular with the common public and educated elite alike, becoming a key factor that motivated the revolution’s fervour. What this has created, however, is a very large divide in the politics of the average politician and the politics of the average person, especially as government officials are often former nobility.
The average Tajaran, and therefore the public facing image of the republic to many, could only be described as an ardent warhawk. The belief typically goes that no Tajaran is free until every Tajaran is free, and this must be achieved by any means necessary up to and including war. The traditions and practices of the nobility are seen as backwards and counter-revolutionary, and in some ways the anti-noble sentiment can be seen as going too far, shunning acts such as reading literature or speaking Ornadi. Small peasant revolts often receive massive public support in the form of demands for military aid and partying in the streets.
The average politician, however, often has to face a far uglier reality. The republic is simply too small for any war at scale. While the occasional border skirmish goes well, largely due to the help of mercenaries and corporate air power, the fledgling nation simply cannot support a war for more than a few months, and certainly not occupy large gains in territory. Instead they resort to symbolic acts, decrying counter-revolutionaries and declaring military readiness acts that do little. In the midst of this behaviour, they often perform many of their noble-heritage traditions in private, quietly contacting Priests of Rensa for blessings and speaking Ornadi to their families. This often ends in public controversy, with politicians who declare plans to outlaw Ornadi or curb the powers of the Suns Worship Church having their private matters exposed by the press.