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This is the Center for Al Amarjan Culture. Envisioned and begun under the administration of its first and founding director, John Miguel Baker, the Center seeks to provide the world with information about the Island of Al Amarja, and the lives of the unusual mix of beings who inhabit it. If you wish to plan a trip to Al Amarja, the Edge, Skylla, Traboc, or Freedom City, or if you wish to have some information about Her Exaltedness, Monique D'Aubainne, Historic Liberator and Current Shepherdess of Al Amarja, then this is the place for you. The Center is a division of Customs and Immigration, which is itself a division of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and it is with full support of the government that we bring this page to you.
Al Amarja is a Mediterranean island located about 100 km south of Malta, 260 km north of Libya, and 280 km east of Tunisia. This fortuitous position gives the island not only the allure of a quaint secluded area, but is also the reason behind our truly unique and multicultural (and, according to some, rakish) personality.
The weather is mild the year around, ranging from a comfortable 10 degrees Celsius during the winter to a sunny 30 degrees Celsius during the summer. The rainy season is mostly during the winter and early spring, and typically the island receives about 50 centimeters of rain annually. It never snows.
Now that's an unfair question. Al Amarja has more than enough different sides to itself that the best way to explain what it's like is to simply decide what you WANT to see. Some people come with the desire to lazily relax at one of our many beachside resorts. Some come to swap stories and ideas with others in Science or Flowers Plaza on the Edge. Some arrive to explore their wilder, more adventurous sides. Whatever the reason, you can be sure to find some event on the island to your liking.
I suppose, though, there are some things about us that would be relevant to everyone. When the island was liberated by Her Exaltedness, Monique D'Aubainne, there was an immediate problem: how will we communicate with the outside world and to each other? We were mostly an Arabic people living under an Italian flag just liberated by a Frenchwoman-- what was our official language to be? Our leader decided upon English, and American English at that. The United States of America was (and still is, despite political infighting) a model government for the people, by the people. This being the case, American English was adopted as the official language of Al Amarja.
This was not the only thing we borrowed from the USA. The strength of the American economy and democracy is of course well known, and so we not only took on for ourselves the language but we also accepted the currency and much of the Constitution for ourselves. Although the Al Amarjan Freetrade was used as currency for a small period in 1946, it was soon discontinued and all businesses accept the American dollar. Also, freedom of expression is the most important tenet of the government on Al Amarja. We accept equally all religions and beliefs, and many of these forms of expressions can be found on the streets of Skylla and Freedom City and in the plazas of the Edge. Please note that some of these areas are "public pornography" areas and may be offensive to specific individuals; more information can be requested free of charge from the Director (see below). Some might think that our "libertarian" style of living might cause a lot of crime, but this is not the case; we do not allow firearms of any kind to be owned or possessed by the citizens or the tourists. There is no big game on the island, so there is no need for a recreational weapon. This is enforceable because Al Amarja is a small island with only one seaport and one airport, so all traffic is thoroughly checked for contraband. Tasers and other non-lethal devices are popular for protection and can be picked up at most local stores.
Unfortunately, we only have a few copies of this paper that have been left by burger in our director's reception room. I understand that the former publisher, Andrew Mellinger, maintains an office in a quiet building in Freedom City. The current publisher, Jeff Boes, jboes@qtm.net maintains a morgue at the Newspaper Office ... oh yes, he also keeps a newspaper archive there!
The center of learning and research for the Island, the University serves two purposes, the education of the populace, and the screening of students as potential agents and specialists in the service of Her Exaltedness. His article reflects some of the history of the institution taken from its extensive archives.
The population of Al Amarja is very large, but as in all big cities like The Edge, a handful of individuals make their mark, and are noticed. Some of the more noticeable residents, of all classes, genders, and species are listed here.Al Amarja Yellow Pages
Like any city of its size, The Edge has a booming commercial sector. The entrepreneurial urge runs deep when there are few limitations on creative license in the business community, and a benevolent Peace Force willing to turn their backs on unusual transactions (as long as the hands clasped behind their backs are filled with appropriate cash donations!)
Once an important and influential part of The Edge, the Plaza and Painted Rocks Barrio, which surrounds it, was torn from reality by a dimensional upheaval and now exists solely in a SurDimensional pocket just to the left of conventional existence. They have retroactively been erased from standard reality and history. This is extraordinarily inconvenient for its inhabitants, but not immediately fatal.
The attached document is incomplete; probably a first draft. Its veracity is in doubt. It may be misinformation, or disinformation, or meta-disinformation (true information disguised as misinformation to throw people off the track and encourage "debunkers" to cloud the waters) or meta-meta-mis-disinformation.
You may very well have, but did not realize it. We tend to stay out of the news. We, the government of Al Amarja, beileve it is best to avoid the public eye, so that we can limit erosion of our beautiful and unique culture and world views from some of the more insidious forms of tourism. Still, we recognize that tourism does increase local stores' revenues, and in order to keep a safe balance, we have limited our exposure while at the same time, letting a precious few know of our way of life, in the hopes that only those who respect our ways will want to come to Al Amarja to relax. One of our more avant-garde ways of drumming up publicity for ourselves was to let a game company write about us instead of a normal everyday travel agency.
Talk to Atlas Games for more info. They've got a wonderful sense of humor about this. Also, this explains this site. Although we spend much time hiding ourselves, we have decided that a web presence, buried some place inconspicuously, would allow us to give more information to those who already know to look for us. If you have stumbled across this site by accident, congratulations. As always, contact the Director (see below) for more info.
Please direct all comments to the Director of the Center for Al Amarjan Culture,
Paul J. Lareau.
(Understand, however, he is only a Quisling Administrator, and doesn't know very
much about what is going on, and will have to ask his Pharoah superiors.)
© 1996 by John Miguel Baker, used with permission.
Found errors? Have suggestions? Send us a message right here!
EMAIL - PAUL J. LAREAU - HOME PAGE
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