Cardinal

Cardinal is the most reknowned country on Earth. Located in the central Northern Hemisphere, and entirely laying claim to the continent of the same name, this country is where the vast majority of all role play in Alternate DBZ occurs. It is often equated to IRL North America. Due to Cardinal's open-door foreign policy and aggressive aeronautics campaigns, compared to the rest of the world, almost all space travellers end up going through or to Cardinal when they land on Earth. Consequently, Cardinal also receives the brunt of almost every extraterrestrial invasion that arrives on Earth.

Cardinal was, originally, the only land mass in the world, before the events of The First to Fall caused the obliteration and reformation of Earth. This, in turn, was a direct copy of a map of the planet Earth in the Dragonball manga. City names and many canon landmarks are direct descendents from the manga map, as well. During the Pre-Null eras, a single empire governed the entire world peacefully, known in Alt as the World Empire. With the recreation of Earth, the World Empire turned into a democracy known as Cardinal.

The government of Cardinal, known as the Directional Council, is considered the fairest in the world. This is in spite of the occasional political struggle for freedoms, liberties, and justice, often centered on the age-old feud between the hopelessly outnumbering mortal men and the ever-growing body of power wielders.

Vital Statistics

Official Name

The Grand Democracy of Cardinal

Universal Location

The topographical center of the northern hemisphere of Earth

Population

Under construction.

Population Breakdown

Under construction.

Government Mode

Small, pontiff-led democratic council

Technology Level

Mid-to-High Information Age

Currency

The Zenny, equiv. $0.01 USD

Major Cities

• Central Capital (Capital of Cardinal)
• North City
• West City
• East City
• South City

Essential Links

• Map of Cardinal
• Cardinal Power Wielder Act

Military

Cardinal's military has, for years, been populated almost entirely by people with only mortal fighting capacities. Despite there being an ever-growing population of power wielder citizens who wish to protect their country, the Cardinal Army tends to have restrictions which place most power wielders at a significant disadvantage, as they are designed for mortals. The mortals do command certain machinations that can fight at powered levels (such as mechanical power-suits, powerful aircraft, and orbital lasers), but they are usually far too slow to respond to smaller, localized threats within Cardinal's own borders.

To that end, there are now two branches of the Army designed specifically for countering power-wielder threats:

• The Ranger Guard acts as a SWAT team, reinforcing local police when power wielders cause for criminal situations to be escalated. The Ranger Guard are usually the ones called upon to address most supervillains. Ranger Guard recruits train hard to prevent damage to the infrastructure of the cities they work to protect.

• The Special Adept Forces are typically more elite, skilled, and specialized personnel than the Ranger Guard. They are charged with protecting Cardinal's interests abroad, as well as protecting it from powered threats that threaten to destroy entire cities, or take over the country.

Immigration and Naturalization

Aliens, both in the geographical sense and the galactic sense, flock to Cardinal more than any other nation, due to its aerospatial and interdimensional connections and advances, as well as its open-door attitude. However, foreign persons wishing to live in Cardinal (without being completely isolated from civilization, of course) must follow a process in order to gain the rights of a civilian.

Visitors

Visitors are free to stay in Cardinal for up to six months out of any 2 year span. Visitors are not given the right to work, vote, or enlist in Cardinal's Army. Additionally, visitors who are not victims of a crime are only very rarely considered to be acting on Cardinal's behalf, as far as legal procedures go. Otherwise, they are treated ordinarily.

Foreign Resident Cards

Individuals from foreign countries who either do not wish to give up their previous citizenship or do not meet the standards adherent to securing citizenship may instead be eligible for a Foreign Resident Card. Obtaining such a card allows the cardholder to live and work within Cardinal, indefinitely and legally. They may still not vote, or enlist in the military. However, they are occasionally granted more leniency than visitors when defending personal property and related persons.

The FRC card is usually, colloquially called the "Red Card", mostly because it is easier to say and remember, and because the card has a great deal of red on it.

Individuals are generally barred from obtaining an FRC if they have been convicted of a felony, or if they are a national from an territory that Cardinal is currently at war with. In addition, foreign residents committing a felony will likely incur revocations of their FRCs and deportation. In certain situations, an aptitude test may be required to ensure that applicants posess needed skills for the economy. Being able to beat people up is not necessarily a needed skill. FRCs do expire after a 5-year period, and must be renewed.

Naturalization

It is also possible for foreign individuals to secure permanent citizenship within Cardinal. This allows them every right that any other Cardinalian citizen enjoys, including voting and military service. This is also a permanent honor; the only way to lose a Cardinalian citizenship is to gain citizenship elsewhere (which, regardless of that country's customs, is considered a renounciation of Cardinalian citizenship). They may even take office in the Directional Council, if voted in. Cardinal does not permit double citizenships.

In order for a foreign individual to be considered for naturalization, they must:

• Have lived and kept a steady job in Cardinal legally for 3 years, ending with the time of application
• Have not committed any crimes above minor traffic citations
• Undergo a thorough background check
• Posess three Cardinal non-felon citizen references
• Be able to fluently speak and write Common.
• Take an aptitude test for knowledge of the Cardinalian government
• Take an aptitude test for knowledge of Cardinalian history
• Publically renounce all other citizenships
• Publically pledge allegiance to Cardinal

Valid references from important individuals within Cardinal's government may allow waiver of several of the above restrictions (depending on the importance and particular position of the individual), but not all, and particularly not the last two. These references are almost never given out lightly, and are usually done for interest of the country.

Because of the great diversity of Cardinal and its position as intergalactic hub to Earth, there are many applicants for Cardinalian citizenship. At the same time, the naturalization process is lengthy and often runs into ruts. Thus, some applicants may be forced to wait for an entire year before their application is fully processed. Again, however, having connections within the government can speed this up a great deal, so long as the applicant is punctual and prepared.

Certain circumstances automatically confer citizenship, if the individual chooses:

• Being born in Cardinal (the individual may choose this on their birthday of adulthood)
• Marrying a Cardinalian citizen within Cardinal (certain checks must be made to ensure legitimacy)

Miscellaneous Places of Interest

If you have an establishment in Cardinal that you would like to publicize, and it does not lie within or very close to one of the major cities, please place it here. I suggest you either make a short description of it directly on this page, or link to a page with any description over a paragraph or two.

• Deius Castle is typically present somewhere within the bounds of Cardinal, most often in the western half of the continent.
  
• The Neo-Kame Dojo is one of the few places that still instructs Ki fighters. It resides where Mutenroshi, or Master Roshi, the Turtle Hermit, once resided and taught many Ki fighter legends.
• The Schmidt Dojo, a small and isolated training center that instructs ki fighters, is located deep in the wilderness of Cardinal.
• Sanctuary has been built on the border of Central City, and houses all types of fighters, training facilities, a spa, relaxation and meditation centers, and is open to all.

International Relations

Alaris

Cardinal's political officials have had contact only with Arsineh's government, not with Ralesk's. As such, they regard Arsineh as presiding over Alaris' affairs (as that is the situation as they have been informed of it). Relations are currently fairly neutral, with some trade happening. Arsineh is wary of the liberty that Cardinal grants its citizens, and does not wish to be caught in the storm should the government reap the whirlwind they seem to be planting. Cardinal, while desirous of the technology that Arsineh can make available, is wary of the restricted liberties its people have, and thus, of the government's intentions.

D'hennex

Cardinal has not yet made contact with any authorities in D'hennex, and is only vaguely aware of the southern continent's existance.