The Divine Government [OOC/Signups]

[Vienna Eliot]

IC Thread

A Letter From God

My friends,

It is my honor to welcome you into my home. In many ways, public service is a public trust, and it has been my privilege to serve as your God for the past several billion years. But, as times change and the world grows, the ability for an absolute monarchy to effectively govern the world diminishes.

This is not a resignation letter — far from it — but as the past few thousand years have shown, perhaps it is time for me to take a step out of the limelight. As we transition the world from an absolute rule by one God to a constitutional system based on the rule of law, I welcome you to play a role in crafting a new way of eternal governance.

To that end, I am delighted to establish the new office of the Divine Government. Hand picked, the Divine Government will consist of the best and brightest bureaucrats, now tasked with creating a government that can effectively govern the world without my intervention.

We have much work ahead of us, but I know that you are up to the task. I look forward to taking a more relaxed role in the coming millennia, and can't wait to see how you will govern.

Yours,
Father Almighty
King of the Universe

Welcome!
You have been chosen by God to participate in His Divine Government. As has been rumored for a while now, God will be taking a step back from ruling the universe as we transition to more of a constitutional monarchy. Some say the scandals that have rocked his reign from time to time did him in, while others insist that overseeing all of heaven and earth just gets to you after a while. Whatever the reason behind it, everyone agrees that this is a step in the right direction.

However, we don't have much to go off of in terms of how exactly we do this. For years God has dealt with everything — life, death, nature — on His own. The devolution of these powers to a group of the brightest divine bureaucrats was always going to be contentious. But the show must go on, and somebody's got to play in it. Here are a few of the pressing matters:

Constitution
We have to start somewhere, and a lot of folks say a constitution is somewhere to start. Laying out the groundwork for who governs and how could be an important place to begin ruling the universe. Maybe this will look like a typical government's constitution — legislature, executive, judiciary — or maybe something more like a corporation's, a nonprofit's, a church's. That'll be up to you (as will if we even need one at all).

Law
Way back when, God would just rule based on tradition: ie, "the way we've always done things." People are going to expect more of a rule-of-law based system this time around. How it's drafted and who writes it will need to be decided, since we can't just have a free-for-all, and of course somebody will need to implement it. As for the content — well, God is all-powerful, so it can really be anything. But some things we really ought to touch on are the creation of life, the procedures after death, and the forces of nature. And, sure, we can create planets in our spare time.

Budget
We're not necessarily working with money, but we do have limited resources. Just like you and me, everyone who's going to work for this government lived and, at some point, died. That means we have about 108 billion people we can give work to. That doesn't mean we should employ everyone (we would have a lot of people sitting around), but depending on how complex we plan on making this divine government, we'll probably need to employ anywhere from 1% to 10% of souls. And before you mention it, the angels are busy with the internal governance of heaven. Our business is not to overlap.

We need to govern wisely. This is a huge undertaking, but the big guy wouldn't have trusted us with it if He didn't think we could manage to get it right. We're building a government for the ages here, folks. Let's get to work.

Rules + OOC
In brief, this is a roleplay where we play God: collectively, as a government. It's fundamentally a roleplay that's more about government than it is about politics — I'll regularly report on the consequences of the divine government's decisions and, since public administration is hard work, some things are sure to slip through the cracks. I'll also keep updated records on everything the government has done. Hopefully this will last a while and we'll be able to have a record of everything accomplished by the end of it. Now, the rules:

1. OP Rights. I reserve the right, as OP, to control this roleplay in order to make it better for everyone participating. That includes enforcing these rules. In this case, the OP is literally God (and/or an archival intern).
2. Real Life Characters. Characters can be completely fictional. But, since every character is someone who was once alive and now has died, they don't have to be. However, I will hold real life characters to high standards of mirroring their real-life personalities.
3. Posting Frequency. Post regularly. If you can't, let everyone know.
4. Cheating. Please don't cheat: this means no substantively editing posts after you make them, no godmodding, no metagaming, and no looking things up when your character is in a situation that they wouldn't be able to do the same.
5. Respect. Respect other players, respect the roleplay, and follow NS site rules.
6. Major Events. Everyone has broad authority to worldbuild, especially if they run a department or have a bunch of characters. That said, please run major or particularly consequential things by me, or by any players they affect; eg, if you were going to (somehow) kill another character.
7. What Religion Is This? Reply hazy, ask again later.


Applications
Character Application (required)
To start off, everyone's current occupation should be "Constitutional Commissioner," as that's the only job that exists as of right now.

Code: Select all

[box][size=120][b]*FULL NAME*[/b][/size] [floatright][img]*ADD%20PICTURE%20NO%20BIGGER%20THAN%20350x350px%20HERE*[/img][/floatright]
[b]Account Name:[/b] *ADD NS ACCOUNT NAME HERE*
[b]Occupation:[/b] *ADD OCCUPATION HERE*
[b]Faction (if applicable):[/b] *ADD FACTION HERE*

[b]Family:[/b] *ADD SPOUSE/CHILDREN HERE*
[b]Background:[/b] *ADD BACKGROUND HERE*
[b]Faith:[/b] *ADD FAITH HERE*

[b]Miscellaneous[/b]
[list][/list][/box]

Roster of Members and
Characters (under construction)
Constitutional Commission
Chairman Vienna Eliot (Vienna Eliot)
Commissioner George H.W. Bush (Serbia-Macedonia)
Commissioner Thomas More (The New Teutonic Order)
Commissioner Xebec Tremont (New Cobastheia)
Commissioner Mark Johnson (Helowi)
Commissioner Harold Holt (Arkhastok)
Commissioner Alexandr Torenov (Amuaplye)
Representative Azimuth (Labstoska)

Office of the Archivist
Archival Intern Clint Webb (Vienna Eliot)

[Vienna Eliot]

My app:

Vienna Eliot

Account Name: Vienna Eliot
Occupation: Chairman of the Divine Constitutional Commission
Faction (if applicable): N/A

Family: Elsinore Ophelia-Eliot (first wife), Joyce Wu (second wife)
Background: Vienna Eliot, not to be confused with Latin American terrorist Jared Alfred Prufrock who used the name as an alias, had the privilege of serving as the second President of Australia after it became a republic. Much beloved for his charm and much hated for his policy, Mr. Eliot singlehandedly turned Australian Labor into an explicitly anti-environmentalist party, the Australian Senate into an explicitly executive agency, and Lorde's Melodrama into an explicit album when he performed an acoustic cover during a campaign. After leaving the presidency, he founded Vienna Consulting, which has been variously described as "worse than Cambridge Analytica and ALEC combined" and "unusually socially progressive for a multinational corporation dedicated to investing in elections as if they were stocks."

Nonetheless, after his assassination heavenly lawyers clamored for the honor to represent him, eventually securing him a spot in heaven — and then behind a desk for eternity, certifying prayer receipts. Fortunately, God noticed the former statesman's skill in life and dedication to his menial work after, and appointed him to a seat on the Divine Constitutional Commission. He applied for the chairmanship, and the Appointments Committee of the Divine Commission on the Divine Constitutional Commission granted him the position.
Faith: Jewish

Miscellaneous

You may post!

[Labstoska]

This looks very cool, would it be possible to play a character who isn't exactly human and has a more divine nature?

[Helowi]

I'm gonna give this a tag. I should get an app up later today

[Serbia-Macedonia]

George H.W. Bush

Account Name: Serbia-Macedonia
Occupation: Famous Across Heaven, Helps God Preach (Along with Billy Graham), Commisioner
Faction (if applicable): The Famous Americans Faction

Family: Barbara Bush (Spouse), George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, Neil Bush, Pauline Bush, Dorothy Bush, Marvin Bush (Kids)
Background: WWII Veteran of the Navy, 43rd Vice President and 41st President of the United States of America. DIed November 30, 2018 of Old Age and Awesomeness.
Faith: New England Episcopalian

Miscellaneous

N/A

[Serbia-Macedonia]

Famous Americans Faction

Leaders: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George H.W. Bush, Donald J. Trump
Purpose: Spreading American Values into Heaven, Preaching God's Word
Ideology: Democracy

Miscellaneous

N/A

[New Cobastheia]

It's definitely a change of pace, but I'm definitely interested, tag

[Vienna Eliot]

Hoping to see everyone app!

This looks very cool, would it be possible to play a character who isn't exactly human and has a more divine nature?

Sure — what did you have in mind?

George H.W. Bush

Accepted. Welcome to the Divine Government.

[Labstoska]

Hoping to see everyone app!

This looks very cool, would it be possible to play a character who isn't exactly human and has a more divine nature?

Sure — what did you have in mind?

George H.W. Bush

Accepted. Welcome to the Divine Government.

I had two ideas: one being a member of a race that's between Humans and angels who's sole purpose it is to manage the bureaucracy of heaven, the other is a prince of hell exiled after a revolution took place overthrowing to demonic monarchy and replacing it with a demonic republic

[Vienna Eliot]

Hoping to see everyone app!


Sure — what did you have in mind?


Accepted. Welcome to the Divine Government.

I had two ideas: one being a member of a race that's between Humans and angels who's sole purpose it is to manage the bureaucracy of heaven, the other is a prince of hell exiled after a revolution took place overthrowing to demonic monarchy and replacing it with a demonic republic

Either are fair game. I should note that the bureaucracy of the business the divine government will be conducting (for instance, keeping tabs on death records) will be done by the souls of the faithful departed. But the angels run the actual government of heaven (somebody has to maintain the heavenly roads and infrastructure), so that might be a reasonable place for your character. Or perhaps they would be a liaison between the divine government and the government of heaven, or an official in the government of heaven. Regardless, it has my blessing.

[Helowi]

*Mark Johnson*

Account Name: Helowi
Occupation: Fmr. U.S. Representative from Indiana, Fmr. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Faction (if applicable): Famous Americans Faction

Family: Amy Johnson (Wife), Maria Johnson (Mother), Richard Johnson (Brother), Gary Johnson (Grandfather), Jeffrey Johnson (Son, Age 11) Harriet Johnson (Daughter, Age 8 ), Derrick Johnson (Son, Age 6)
Background: Born to a political family on March 8th, 1974. His mother was an Indianapolis City Councilwoman who would later go on to be a U.S. Representative. His grandfather was an army general who eventually became Secretary of Defense, and his brother, Richard, eventually became Mayor of Indianapolis. Growing up, Mark was an intelligent child who went on to skip a grade and graduated at 17, going into college majoring in foreign affairs.

After graduating with a masters in foreign affairs at 21, he went on to work at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico for 7 years before deciding to run for his mothers seat at 28, winning and becoming the new baby of the house. As a congressman, he was known as a bipartisan who often got a lot done with both democrats and republicans, quickly rising to become the top democrat in the United States House, serving as chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs from 2008-2013.

In 2013, he was appointed by Barack Obama to serve as Ambassador to the U.N., and was confirmed by the house in a 62-37 vote. As an ambassador, he was very effective, never missing a day of work and often encouraging the U.N. to put sanctions on authoritarian regimes across the globe and working with other ambassadors to get more done.

In the year 2017, he was taken out of office by the appointment of Nikki Haley, and eventually joined CNN as a political correspondent. He recently began thinking about his options, including a potential senate run, governor run, heck, even maybe a presidential run. However, that all came to an end on June 15th, 2018, when Mark was taking an evening job, he was run over by a drunk driver, passing away at the hospital that night. He then went to heaven and was planning on spending the rest of his afterlife relaxing in heaven. However, when god resigned, he was appointed to begin as a constitutional commissioner, to his complete surprise, as he could think of several other people more fit for the job. But, as duty calls, he must fulfill his new job.
Faith: Christianity

Miscellaneous

[Serbia-Macedonia]

WIP

*Mark Johnson*

(Image)

Account Name: Helowi
Occupation: Fmr. U.S. Representative from Indiana, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Faction (if applicable): No faction, currently

Family: *ADD SPOUSE/CHILDREN HERE*
Background: *ADD BACKGROUND HERE*
Faith: *ADD FAITH HERE*

Miscellaneous

Join our faction!

[Labstoska]

I had two ideas: one being a member of a race that's between Humans and angels who's sole purpose it is to manage the bureaucracy of heaven, the other is a prince of hell exiled after a revolution took place overthrowing to demonic monarchy and replacing it with a demonic republic

Either are fair game. I should note that the bureaucracy of the business the divine government will be conducting (for instance, keeping tabs on death records) will be done by the souls of the faithful departed. But the angels run the actual government of heaven (somebody has to maintain the heavenly roads and infrastructure), so that might be a reasonable place for your character. Or perhaps they would be a liaison between the divine government and the government of heaven, or an official in the government of heaven. Regardless, it has my blessing.

Excellent I think that I'll play as the exiled prince character who desperately tries to claw his way back into a position of power. As for his title how about Representative of Divine natives, his role in the commission is to represent the interests of all non mortals

[The New Teutonic Order]

Saint/Sir Thomas More

Account Name: The New Teutonic Order
Occupation: Theologian, Philosopher, Lawyer
Faction (if applicable): N/A

Family: Spouses: Jane Colt, Alice Harper Children: Margaret, Elizabeth, Cicely, John
Background: A prominent figure in the English Renaissance, More was a prolific author and statesman, eventually rising to Lord Chancellor in 1529. However, when Henry VIII converted to Protestantism, More refused to acknowledge Henry as the Head of the Church of England. As such, he was excecuted in 1535.

Over the past half-millenia, More has most prominently acted as a lawyer for those seeking to get into heaven, and he is widely acknowledged as one of the best ones there is. When the government was formed, More was invited to be a part of the new republic, which he eagerly accepted.
Faith: Roman Catholic

Miscellaneous: None at the moment.

[Vienna Eliot]

Saint/Sir Thomas More

Accepted! Welcome to the Divine Government.

[Helowi]

App is done

[New Cobastheia]

Xebec Tremont

Account Name: New Cobastheia
Occupation: Constitutional Commissioner, Former Prime Minister of the European Federation, Former MEP, Former French MP
Faction (if applicable): UTCP

Family: Antonio Iglesias (Husband), Margarethe Tremont-Iglesias (Daughter) Isabella Tremont-Iglesias (Daughter), David Tremont-Iglesias (Son)

Background: Born to a French History Professor and a Morrocan Immigrant turned Businesswoman, Xebec would grow up in Paris and become enamored in his continents politics from a young age. He attended Sciences Po for his undergrad and thanks to his mother's connections he was able to get a job on a Presidental Campaign. The Presidental Election was won, and at the same time, Xebec was able to win himself a seat in the National Assembly as a Left Leaning Independent.

During the start of Xebec's time in Parliament, Europe was ablaze with talks of Federalizing. The UK had jumped off the cliff a few years ago, and nearly destroyed itself in the process, the whole of the Western Balkans were EU Member States, and support of the EU was at a record high among the population. Near the end of his term, the Constitution of the European Federation was accepted via referendum among the population and elections were held for the Parliament. Xebec ran and won a seat.

Now as an MEP, despite continuing to spend his time as an independent, he was a somewhat high-profile figure, known across the country for his speeches railing the Government. During his second term as an MEP, he was offered a place in the Opposition as the Shadow Minister of the Environment, which he gladly took. He also founded a new European Political Group bring Green Politics, Left-Wing Politics, Social Democracy, and Regional Political Parties together in the European Alliance of Free Peoples (EAFP). His "party" was a success, stealing serveral MEPs and subnational parties.

Come the Third EF Elections and while the EAFP didn't win a majority, it would win a plurality and with the help of other left-leaning parties, he would form a coalition that elected him to be the third Prime Minister of the European Federation. He would serve in that role for nearly years 17, during that he would become one of the most powerful people on Earth, expand his nation via diplomacy, help solve some problems, etc, etc, It all came to an end with an Assassin's Bullet.

In the afterlife, he quickly got back to doing what he did during his life, trying to change the world, and founded the UTCP and has been a critic of God's rule ever since. Despite this, he was invited to be a Constitutional Commissioner, which he accepted.

Faith: He was an Atheist, then he died and became a Misotheist for a bit, now he's a Dystheist.

Miscellaneous

Ut Terra sit Caelum pro Populo (UTCP)

Leader: Xebec Tremont
Purpose: Although it started as a protest movement against God's Reign it has since evolved into what is essentially a political machine. Its basic goal is to make life as comfortable as possible for Humanity while on Earth. IE, to eliminate evils such as war, plagues, climate change, things like that.
Ideology: See Above, with a Left-Libertarian, Enviromentalist, and Social Democracy Bend.

Miscellaneous

Ut Terra sit Caelum pro Populo translates roughly into May the Earth be Heaven for the People

[Vienna Eliot]

*Mark Johnson*

The app is mostly good, but characters can't be still alive on earth: they have to have died and proceeded to the afterlife to be on the Commission.

Xebec Tremont

Accepted — welcome to the Divine Government. Fortunately for you, there is no electoral college up here.

[Arkhastok]

Looks interesting, I'll get an app up!

[Arkhastok]

Harold Holt

Account Name: Arkhastok
Occupation: Former Prime Minister of Australia, Constitutional Commisioner
Faction (if applicable): Famous Americans Faction (Even though he's not American, was invited)

Family: Zara Bate (former spouse), Andrew Holt, Nicholas Holt, Sam Holt (children)
Background: Holt was born on the 5 August 1908 in Stanmore, Sydney, Australia. Early in his life, he was already involved in politics joining the Young Nationalists in 1933. During World War Two, he enlisted in the militia but was never involved in combat. In December 1958, Holt was awarded with the position of Treasurer and eventually in 1966, Prime Minister. However, he disappeared mysteriously on December 17 1967 after swimming at Cheviot Beach. Many theories erupted from the media about his disappearance, including bizarre ones such as alien abduction. However, what simply happened was a drowning in which he then proceeded to the afterlife.
Faith: Protestantism

Miscellaneous

[Amuaplye]

Alexandr Torenov

Account Name: Amuaplye
Occupation: In life, he was a prominent politician in Russia and the USSR. In death, he is a Commissioner.
Faction (if applicable): N/A

Family: Wife is named Sofiya Torenova, and has 1 son, Vadim.
Background: Was born in Moscow in 1940 to a father, who died shortly after he was born in the Battle of Stalingrad, and his mother, who died of an illness when he was 10. He was then employed in an iron foundry shortly thereafter, where he worked until he was 15. By 16, he enlisted in the Red Army and was stationed all across the Eastern Bloc, from patrolling the Berlin Wall, to supervising railroad construction in Vladivostok.

He retired as a soldier in the Red Army when he was 37, reaching the rank of Major. This is when he decided to run in politics, where he became a member of the Politburo in 1987. When the USSR fell in 1992, he was still a rather prominent member, and was very close to becoming President of Russia when his life was cut short in 2000 when he was killed by a mail bomb sent by Chechen separatists.
Faith: None.

Miscellaneous He can speak Russian, English, Polish, German, Hungarian, and Mandarin, with varying levels of mastery. He is fluent in German, English, and Russian, but can't speak the rest very well.

[New Cobastheia]

Xebec Tremont

Accepted — welcome to the Divine Government. Fortunately for you, there is no electoral college up here.

Electoral College, never heard of her

[Labstoska]

Azimuth

Account Name: Labstoska
Occupation:Ambassador to heaven (4000 BC - 1943 AD), Velvet king of the Kingdom of hell's government-in-exile (1943 AD - 2018 AD), Representative for Divine natives (Present day)
Faction (if applicable): The church of Celestial perfection

Family: Beelzebub (Farther), Molrog (brother)
Background:Upon Azimuth's birth he was greeted to only the finest luxury imaginable, as the firstborn son of one of the velvet king's favoured daemons he had access to his father's obscene wealth, he was able to hear music from the greatest musicians ever to fall down into hell, and learnt poetry from the greatest. Fortunately for Azimuth his farther was rarely around and when you take into consideration that his farther was a literal daemon you'll understand why it was for the best that they were never really in one another's presence. Yet on the few dinner's the two did have together Beelzebub was able to see that there was something hideously wrong with his offspring, Azimuth rarely spent time in fiery pits of hell and would instead write poetry and daintily debate on the metaphysical nature of the Universe with the house's servants.

Beelzebub realised the magnitude of his error in regards to his spawn all to late, any attempt he made trying to set his son onto the right path ended in nothing but miserable failure Azimuth simply doubled down on his notably non-demonic behaviour and so Beelzebub gave up on Azimuth and sent him off the eternal mire that was diplomacy with the kingdom of heaven. Ever since Heaven and Hell's disruptive split during the war in heaven the two celestial states had been on less then friendly terms and it was only 4 billion years after the war that both states were permitted to send diplomats to the other. Azimuth could feel nothing but pity for the poor bastard who had to be an ambassador to hell.

His duties as ambassador to heaven were entirely ceremonial which fit Azimuth perfectly. His life of luxury continued unimpeded however he now had somewhat of an ambition, he desired to create a new image of hell in the afterlife and so he poured the entirety of his centurial budget into creating a new and impressive embassy for Hell in heaven, unfortunately the embassy was never completed the revolution in hell had begun. During the early 20th century an incredibly large amounts of communists made their way down to hell and were incredibly dissatisfied with the aristocratic nature of hell and although they could never hope to win a battle through arms they still had the power of their words which through one way or another managed to resonate with a great deal of daemons. The revolution ended in a resounding victory for the revolutionaries and the execution of almost every daemon of the upper class all except Azimuth who was conveniently up in heaven.

Azimuth remained up in heaven using the connections he had made over the years to ensure that he wasn't turned over to the republican authorities of Hell. He declared himself to be the new Velvet King and the leader of the Kingdom of Hell's government-in-exile and sat in the unfinished embassy brooding and drinking his way into oblivion dreaming ways that he could possibly regain his lost wealth. Then something altogether more disastrous happened the kingdom of Heaven were growing tired of Azimuth's slothfulness and were now threatening to send him back to hell however they also offered him a way out; if he gave up his title as velvet king he would be permitted to become a representative for beings native to the celestial plane upon the new constitutional commission, Azimuth accepted almost immediately finally a chance to regain his power and to put some upstart Humans in their place.
Faith:Agnostic - when you're born with an inherent understanding of the Universe it's hard to look at superior beings as anything more than your work boss, but there's always the chance that something more exists after all who created God.

Miscellaneous

[box]The Church of Celestial Perfection

Leader: Azimuth
Purpose: The goal of the Perfectionists is to ensure that the divine government takes a much more direct role in mortal affairs, they believe that Mortals should be subject to pre-destination and that the chain of being should be reinforced into divine law. They also believe that the war in heaven should be continued and Hell reclaimed for the kingdom of heaven.
Ideology: Interventionist, strong belief that the world should be ordered, extremely anti-hell.

Miscellaneous

[Serbia-Macedonia]

Harold Holt

(Image)

Account Name: Arkhastok
Occupation: Former Prime Minister of Australia, Constitutional Commisioner
Faction (if applicable): None yet (We can create our own faction anytime in the RP right?)

Family: Zara Bate (former spouse), Andrew Holt, Nicholas Holt, Sam Holt (children)
Background: Holt was born on the 5 August 1908 in Stanmore, Sydney, Australia. Early in his life, he was already involved in politics joining the Young Nationalists in 1933. During World War Two, he enlisted in the militia but was never involved in combat. In December 1958, Holt was awarded with the position of Treasurer and eventually in 1966, Prime Minister. However, he disappeared mysteriously on December 17 1967 after swimming at Cheviot Beach. Many theories erupted from the media about his disappearance, including bizarre ones such as alien abduction. However, what simply happened was a drowning in which he then proceeded to the afterlife.
Faith: Protestantism

Miscellaneous

I realize your person is from Australia, but would you like to join the Famous Americans Faction?

[Vienna Eliot]

Harold Holt

Here I was thinking he was still roaming the earth. Accepted. Welcome to the Divine Government.

Alexandr Torenov

Accepted. Welcome to the Divine Government.

Azimuth

Intriguing, and accepted. Welcome to the Divine Government.

I will open the IC soon.