Penguin Plains

The Penguin Plains is a secluded area in northeast Eastshield that is self-governed, but still considered part of the USA as it is not officially independent. A dystopian government in-exile, it is dictated by The Warden and prominently governed by The Warden's arch-enemy, Mayor Cactus. The country has yet to join the United Antarctic Nations and receive recognition from neighboring countries, although Maverick plans to for its all-for-one system further inspired Tortugadesetas' dictatorship.

The Penguin Plains is part of the Western States, an alliance formed by Westshield to gather all unrecognized, in-exile governments across Antarctica. Despite the government's efforts to persuade the citizens to support the Western States, most opposed and have since been in custody of the government, jailed and tortured in a chamber. The South Pole Council, although aware, has no say over this matter and plans to bring this situation to the Executive Cabinet, in which the figurehead president Billybob heads.

History
Penguin Plains came about in the 1990s, during the Colonial Antarctica days. At the border between the Normal Penguins, Dark Penguins and Nerd Penguins colonies, a small group of protestors against their rights was formed. When the war between the government started, they were neither in the Revolutionists nor in the Loyalists, instead, they wanted to have a full-dictatorship over Antarctica, giving no freedom nor rights to the penguins and overthrow the taxing system in place of torture. The Revolutionists nor the Loyalists bothered but then came the attack by the then-labeled Dictators. A feud began but never ended, nor did it actually start in the first place.

When the USA was officially formed, Eastshield was formed too. The 'Dictators' wanted a piece of land to themselves. At the same time, an unrecognized country, known as Westshield, wanted to separate from the USA. Eventually, the 'Dictators' went to war with the USA, and won, having gained a piece of land at the northeast side of the country. However, it was not formally independent, nor did any country recognize it like Westshield. Eventually, the land was re-conquered and the government was in-exile from then on.

The leader, The Warden, had to appoint several mayors to govern the country, although he preferred for an autocracy. He chose the initially-loyal Mayor Cactus, who governed over the country as a 'mayor', similar to the role of a vice president. Mayor Cactus soon disliked The Warden's ways of treating the citizens and wanted to launch protests against him, but to no avail he had to keep it in secrecy.

In 2005, in which CP was about to be formed, Penguin Plains submitted a request for their own state. At the time, there were not many states so the USA almost accepted, until they reconsidered the vote and left it to the South Pole Council to decide. Eventually, the request was declined and Penguin Plains remained in exile. Mayor Cactus' secret was also revealed to the public, although The Warden did not take action and considered it a rumor. He is still suspicious of Mayor Cactus, though, and implements security cameras everywhere, similar to how the AIA could be wiretapping penguins.

In 2006, a short-lived country known as the Republic of the Confederate States of Antarctica was formed, hoisting the Penguin Plains society. The republic was only recognized for a short while before being dissolved due to lack of capital and debts owed to neighboring countries, such as Freezeland. In 2007, Penguin Plains went to war with The Kingdom of Happyface141 but lost.

Penguin Plains already had three cities at the time - Great City, Cameratown and Warden City. The in-exile government built another city, although not classified by the USA which lead to a number of disputes and criticism. At the same time, Mayor Cactus successfully launched an attack onto some part of Eastshield, and lessened the Warden's suspicions. Penguin Plains' case was eventually submitted to the UAN on February 14, 2008. A unanimous vote of Penguin Plains not being a country was cast, and remained in exile and unrecognized. This further aggrevated the Warden, and another attack was launched. The attack, however, was also not classified to be launched, nor did the soldiers return (see the Penguin Plains Army conspiracy theory).

Penguin Plains, to this day, remains a vast land of seven hundred thousand penguins.

Government
Penguins Plains is modelled after a socialist single-party autonomous autocratic military dictatorship in which the country is free from the USA, being far from the capital centre. Penguin Plains has no legislature and has two politicians only: The Warden, the Supreme Dictator of State, and Mayor Cactus, the "Mayor" of the Penguin Plains who controls over internal affairs. Basically, The Warden, although has all-say and no opposition, passes most of his duties to Mayor Cactus and mainly handles external affairs.

Contary to popular belief, Penguin Plains is not an eternal dictatorship. The Warden has absolutely no spouse nor children to take over his role. In his will he only appoints Mayor Cactus as his successor when he dies. Mayor Cactus is known for his opposition against the regime and good relations with the mainstream USA government. The Warden, somehow, does not take this into account but his suspicious nature could intervene in this process of democracy.

Penguin Plains is part of the Western States that is a summit for all unrecognized states within the USA region. Westshield, Penguin Plains and Regal Louvere of western Freezeland are the only members in this alliance. The Western States was meant to give the unrecognized republics some support, but The Warden claims he only uses it as support for his own dictatorship. Despite their alliance, Westshield, a liberal democracy, is strongly against the Penguin Plains regime.

Geography
The state is located in the northeastern area of Eastshield, bordering Polaris SAD to its north. It is a mostly flat piece of land, suggesting the name, located about 5m above sea level. The forested area, covering three-quarters of the state, is predominantly deciduous, a rare sight in mainland Antarctica. Some claim that The Warden issued for a total "reconstruction" of the forest to differentiate it from the coniferous forests of Eastshield. This also proves harmful should war occur, as the area would be easier to identify than the rest of Eastshield.

The four cities in the are are Great City, the de-facto capital of the state, Warden City, the de jure capital, Cameratown, which is under strict surveillance and Mayor Cactus's hometown, and another unnamed town, near the border of Polaris and Eastshield. Most of these cities cover about 400 km sq in land space, and are about 10m above sea level.

Language
The official language of Penguin Plains is 'Wardenese', a Latin-wording dialect of English that seems to have a more alien/acronym feel to it. For example,


 * "Hello" becomes "Sgrrighjisgh" (pronnounced seg-gre-eh-ji-search)
 * "Goodbye" becomes "Mshrlgijsrg" (pronnounced ma-nish-fursh)

To add to the confusion, all words have to be conjoined and shortened. For example,


 * "Hello! Goodbye!" would become not "Sgrrighjisghmshrlgijsrg" but "Sgrrighjirlgijsrg", which is apparently similar to "Sgrrisghlijsrig" or "Elimination".

The Board of Language specially devised this language as to annoy and frustrate the populous. It was required for all penguins to use this language. However, Mayor Cactus counter-reacted the plan by only requiring the use of this language in the countryside, in which there are no police officers there.

Race
Most of the penguins are either Adelie Penguins or High Penguins as it is near Freezeland. Other notable races include the Northern Rockhopper Penguin and Tropical Adelie Penguin. Crabs are also abundunt, especially in Warden City although located more inland.

Culture
As a socialist dictatorship, the Plains controls most media affairs and uses propaganda as influence for the culture of the nation. For example, the media prohibits recognition of the United States of Antarctica, and all programmes must be approved by authorities. Even cuisine and fashion have to be intervened by the authorities, who stress on the "No-USA" law.

Communications
The main source of communication within the Penguin Plains is the telephone, which is strictly monitored by a special team of telephone operators who process each and every call. Ever. The mail service is rigged in which all messages are opened, read, and sometimes corrected into Wardenese. Nearly all sites within the USA are banned, however, this only applies to penguins using the official Internet carrier that was approved by the government. Otherwise, penguins could use illegal services that have undetermined databases and servers.

Computers within the Penguin Plains are manufactured by the government, who install monitoring systems to track their passwords and activity. Other computer manufacturers are also available in the suburbs of Great City. All other computer manufacturers, including Peach, are banned.

Television
Penguin Plains is known for its strict television policy. There are only seven channels, six of which are nationalised. They go by the names of Capital Television, Plains Channel, Warden Television, Warden Channel, Warden Broadcasting and Warden News Broadcasting Channel. The only external channel is from Snowzerland who is against the USA partly.

Most programmes shown are usually drama series that have subliminal messages praising the Warden. For example, in Couple, the male lead addresses, "Why must you leave me? It is to our gracefulness that the gods intricate our relationship". The gods usually describe The Warden and Mayor Cactus.

Radio
Radio used to be popular throughout the 80s' and 90s'. However, with the advancement of television in the state, radio is not as frequently used as before. Also, certain radios could broadcast USA radio channels, therefore, there is a limit to radios in the state. There are only two channels - Warden Radio and Radio Warden, which are usually a subject of joke for their confusing names.

Radio, like television, has subliminal messages instilled in their programs.

Video games
There are many arcades within Penguin Plains, and, surprisingly, the games are not monitored by the government at all. However, one popular game, WonderWarden, has sparked much controversy and is one of the biggest conspiracy theories in all of video gaming.

The tale is that in 2003, arcade cabinets of WonderWarden started popping up in arcades around Penguin Plains. It was extremely popular, and there were often queues to play the game. However, players complained of amnesia, hallucination and even suicide. The arcade cabinets soon disappeared. People even told of "strange penguins like the MIB" lurking around the cabinets, collecting data.

The WonderWarden is said to be a tool by the government to erase the memory of penguins and cause them to support the government, rather than fear it. There has been many recreations of the game, depicting it as a puzzle game to a 2D shooter. Mayor Cactus gave "no comment" on the situation.

To this day, original WonderWarden arcade cabinets continue to pop up all over the area, one at a time, before disappearing. In 2007, a WonderWarden arcade cabinet was spotted in the suburbs of Great City. It disappeared the next day. In 2009, reports of suicides near arcades were filed but never pursued. At the same time, locals spotted signs featuring the WonderWarden arcade cabinet at the arcade where the suicides occured. In 2010, the Moose in Black tried acquiring a WonderWarden arcade cabinet. The members who did so disappeared and were not found to this day.

This proves that even a joy such as video gaming could be of such propaganda.

Sports
In the Penguin Plains, sport is common activity, due to strict regulations in the media. Popular sports include football, ice hokkey and gymnastics.

The government has once opted to enter the Olympics, under the name "Empire of Penguin Plains". The word "Empire" gave the whole thing away.

Housing
Penguin Plains' cities is full of buildings and igloos. Igloos could oddly be placed in the middle of a crowded shopping area, while a huge building could be built adjacent to a big number of igloos. However, outside of the cities, vast lands of emptiness occupy the uninhabited areas. The Warden does not bother to give a care about the citizens and the cities and usually throws the works to Mayor Cactus to handle.

Igloo
Igloos are the most abundunt piece of infrastructure in Penguin Plains. 52% of all infrastructure (excluding transportation) are igloos.

Transportation
Penguin Plains' transportation system is mainly self-goverened for the USA did not implement any train lines or airports in that area. The most common transportation, other than waddling, is the train line. The most common external transportation is through air.

Land transport
Trains make up the bulk of the land transportation system in Penguin Plains. Each city in Penguin Plains has its own internal train network, along with an external train network connecting the cities and other areas together.

The train network in Great City is known as the 'Great City Train Service', or sometimes the 'Great City Metro'. The train service, though, differs from other train networks in the continent. There are no train lines, but simply a 'centeral area', followed by a number of line stretching out of it, inter-connected to one another. The overall tube map would look like a sun with its lines joined.

The more important stations are those surrounding the central station, known as the 'Great City Train Service Headquarters', located right at the heart of the city next to the parliment. Some of the stations have even become 'national monuments', which proves the lack of unique places in Penguin Plains.

The bus network in Great City is operated by a private company known as 'Great City Buses Co.' Some believe it to actually house spies from the USA as its headquarters is located in an abandoned warehouse. Other than that, Great City does not have much buses, most of which go to the more populated areas only.

In Cameratown, buses are the only source of transportation. Having been separated from the USA, the government could not afford to build a whole train line in Cameratown, and instead hired private operators to do so. There are five bus lines in the city are:


 * Jewel (built 2008, owned by Cameratown Bus Trasnportation Network, or CBTN)
 * Diamond (built 2009, owned by CBTN)
 * Sky (built 2008 by Entra Ltd., currently owned by Penguin Plains Transportation Services or PPTS)
 * Bund (built 2008 by Wallace Trains, passed on to Trains PP and eventually to PPTS)
 * Enclave (built 2008 by McHarold Ltd., passed on to PPTS)

The two large bus operators are CBTN, or Cameratown Bus Transportation Network, and PPTS, or Penguin Plains Transportation Services. CBTN was founded in 2006 to provide small bus services and eventually allowed by government to handle city buses. Entra Ltd., Wallace Trains, Trains PP, McHarold Ltd. and a number of other companies formed the PPTS in 2009.

In Warden City, bicycles are the common form of transport. PPTN operates the small sole bus line in the city whilst a 'train service' was implemented to run from the west of Warden City to the north. More taxis than privately-owned cars are found on the streets. It has been rated environmentally-friendly by the Penguin Plains Environmental and Healthcare Board, or PPEHB.

Economy and Currency
Penguin Plains is an autarky, and refuses to trade with neighbouring nations, mainly because it is unrecognized.