Continuation of The Kingdom of Xerxa's Factbook

[Xerxa]

Since I've reached the twenty-five factbook limit, I will be posting more on here.

[Xerxa]

Love in Xerxa too free?

The Second Queen of Xerxa, Queen Kuruza has been under fire for her ruling last week which legalized marriage between family members. Moralists are outraged due to this decision and have been decrying her as a deviant. Scientists heavily criticize the decision as well, stating that inbreeding will cause a slew of problems for the country's populace.

The Queen spoke on the issue yesterday. Reporters state that she looked embarrassed due to her red cheeks. "I'm aware a lot of you aren't particularly fond of my decision last week to legalize incest. I myself do not care for incest but I am aware that not everyone in this grand kingdom of ours shares my ideals. In order to uphold freedoms I made the call to legalize familial marriages. Everyone should be free to marry whom they choose and our own feelings shouldn't get in the way of that. If you don't approve of incest, that's fine, don't partake in it but do not dare harm those who do. I do not wish for you to ridicule or shun them for their decision. I and my family shall grant you freedoms so long as they do not harm others. We must strive to be like the stars: free and happy."

The queen's speech has somewhat quelled dissent but foreign nations still regard the decision scornfully.

[Xerxa]

Red Llama
The makers of the Xerxa Factbook would like to dearly apologize for the brief hiatus. The producers of the factbook have been recovering from a red llama attack. What is a red llama you ask? A red llama is a type of llama native to Xerxa, specifically western Xerxa, where the factbook is created. Red llamas are shorter than other llamas and are kept warm by their thick fat. Red llamas are extremely woolly, so woolly in fact that their eyes are perpetually covered by their bright red fur. Their most remarkable trait however is their aggressiveness. They are known to attack humans on sight and prolonged contact with red llamas usually bodes death. Red llamas consume paper, ink, trees and miscellaneous junk, making them particularly annoying. A red llama managed to break through the wall of the publishing building and completely trashed the place and ate all of our paper. Fortunately, no one lost their lives.

Red llama riding has become a popular sport in recent years. It has been compared to bull riding.

Well, with our office functional again we are eager to bring you more factbook goodness!

[Xerxa]

International Affairs

Xerxa is sometimes criticized as being a hermit nation and that is shown best by The Starry Kingdom's stance on international affairs. Xerxa has no desire to become strained with the problems of other nations and as such frequently declines invitations to political meetings in The Western Isles. Xerxa doesn't even wish for to influence The World Assembly in any way, shape or form. Xerxa's stance is that if you leave them alone, they shall leave you alone. Xerxan royalty often state that they have no business meddling in the affairs of other nations and feel that partaking in international conflicts and meetings would simply bring complications to their kingdom, ultimately hinder its growth and bring strife to their citizens. Xerxans themselves seem to have no problem sticking to their own kingdom though they are taught about other nations in school.

However, Xerxa is known to generate international tension as it becomes hostile towards governments that arrest their citizens and the government shall do everything in its power to retrieve the citizens.

[Xerxa]

A gold deposit was recently found deep in Lake Austuray. After it was found by private scuba diver, Nichelle Dana, the ownership of the gold deposit was intensely debated.

Some argued that as the person who found it, Nichelle Dana owned the gold while others claimed that the gold belonged to The Xerxan Royal Family since they own the lake (even though The Queen has gone on record to say that the family does not "own" Mother Nature).

Queen Kuruza ended the debate by forbidding anyone to mine the gold deposit for it would damage the ecosystem of Lake Austuray.

[Xerxa]

"Like the stars!"

It has been brought to the king's attention that Xerxa has the technology to create a space program. The king was originally hesitant to give the okay for such an endeavor due to the declining economy. After discussing it with his wife, he decided to break the sad news to his citizens that they wouldn't be receiving a space program via a speech in Squall.

Once he arrived however, he saw many smiling Xerxans with banners containing the national motto of "We must strive to be like the stars." along with the flag that displayed many stars. The crowd began to chant, "Like the stars! Like the stars!"

His decision swayed, King Deida announced with a smile that Xerxa would be starting its space program immediately and thus be closer to the stars.

Construction of the Xinxi Space Station began soon after in the Xerxa's southern region of Polithiny.

[Xerxa]

Meet the New Leaders

The kingdom is still mourning the deaths of Queen Kuruza and King Deida. The two died a mere three days after contracting a rare and strange disease which has been dubbed Xurinia-choto (Xerxan for royal-killer). Doctors are currently scrambling to find the cure.

Due to this tragedy, their twin children, Trevor and Ever were crowned King and Queen respectively. Due to their youth at nine years of age, their uncle Garl has been named Frifri (Xerxan for pseudo or false) King to serve as their adviser. Frifri King Garl has gone on to state that he'll try to leave them to their own devices as much as he can for the crown and authority to pass legislation is rightfully theirs.

[Xerxa]

If There Be Dragons

A giant, shimmering golden scale has been discovered on a farm near the town of Taylor. No one is quite sure what the scale belongs to, certainly nothing that has been seen in Xerxa before. A growing rumor is that it belongs to a mystical dragon, the scale not being unlike the ones that serve as the upper half of the diagonal border for the Xerxan flag. Although dragons have been a prominent part of Xerxan art and legends, they have been mostly brushed off as myth and as such the royal family has neglected to fund any search for the creatures.

However, this new discovery has excited King Trevor and he is offering money to those who wish to go on an expedition to find dragons.

[Xerxa]

Knowledge For All

After receiving a letter from a young man and his family, stating that they felt that he was denied admission into a prestigious college on the grounds of him being a racial minority, King Trevor decided to meet with them in person. The young King of Xerxa patiently listened to their plight and promised to investigate the matter. The boy's case has gained national coverage as a result.

The Head of Admission of Red Star College defended his action by stating that Tyerner, the boy who was denied admission into college, lacked the required GPA to enter the college. The Head of Admission stated that his decision wasn't due to Tyerner's race and that everyone is subject to the same requirements.

A teacher argued in response that due to under-funding which hinders education in the area where minorities live, students in such areas won't be able to score high enough test scores to land a spot in any particularly good college. She urged for The King to increase funding for schools in inner-cites.

Trevor pondered over the problem with his sister and Frifri King Garl. Trevor did not like the concept of racial quotas since he felt it rigid and discriminatory despite the intent. Trevor's eyes then widened, he had discovered the prefect solution.

The next day, in Squall, King Trevor then made the grand and historic announcement that starting that day, college education would be completely free and available to every citizen of Xerxa regardless of their grades in high school, economic status or academic progress. He knew such an endeavor might be costly but King Trevor was determined to see it through in the name of equality and oppurtunity. He also hinted that he would consider free medical coverage for every citizen.

[Xerxa]

The Hanging Gardens of Xerxa
Queen Ever has begun construction on The Hanging Gardens of Xerxa in a clearing in the Erzonaj Forest. She has done so to beautify her beloved country and also to show the world yet another way that Xerxa is beatiful but stresses that these gardens are being made for the people of Xerxa. The Hanging Gardens of Xerxa or simply The Garden is a mile-long stretch of a ludicrous assortment of trees, vines, flowers, ferns, fruits and ferns. Architect Joni Dafiz and Queen Ever are closely collaborating on the gardens which feature gold stones with high stairs that are supported by stone pillars. The entire structure is made to look very organic, with it resembling a mountain. The Hanging Garden of Xerxa features many fountains and river like aqueducts. The Hanging Gardens are completely free and visitors are allowed to harvest the many fruits that grow in the colossal garden.

Another popular name for The Hanging Gardens of Xerxa is The Golden Mountain.

[Xerxa]

Due to the liberal views on cursing, Xerxan children are widely regarded as some of the most foul-mouthed. Tourists (that can speak Xerxan) are often quite shocked at how potty-mouthed the youth of Xerxa tend to be. Even more shocking is the fact that they curse without any ill-intent, greeting and smiling at foreigners while dropping (the equivalent of) an f-bomb without so much as stopping a beat. If called out on this, parents get very defensive of their children.

In fact, the populace of Xerxa as a whole tends to be foul-mouthed compared to some other nations.

[Xerxa]

It has been noted that Xerxans tend to speak their sentences with very incredible speed. One particular pitfall of foreigners trying to learn Xerxan is the fact that they cannot understand Xerxan sentences spoken at the "regular" speed and must have it slowed considerably to even begin to understand. Not helping is the fact that complete sentences in Xerxan tend to be quite longer than nearly any other language. If you're an Xerxan, one sure fire way to tell someone is a foreigner (assuming that they can speak Xerxan in the first place) is if they speak their sentences reeaallyyyy sloooowllyyyy.