Salsiccia

Salsiccia is a Stivalian city-state on the southernmost point of Ymiron. It's the capital of the world governing body, The System. As the seat of government for the entire planet, Salsiccia's primary industry is administration, and its main export is hot air.

Salsiccia was once a single city in the Salsiccian Archipelago, but over time it grew to not only cover every island in the archipelago, but also encroach onto the mainland ever so slightly.

Real estate in Salsiccia is so precious that it does not hold financial value, rather it is rationed out by the ministry of habitation. Only those with official business are even allowed to sleep in their carriages overnight in Salsiccia, since any space big enough to park in is at a premium.

In order to reduce any disruptions to the administration of The System, the local justice system is legendarily efficient. It is possible to commit an offence in the morning, appear before a judge by lunch, and begin your lifelong prison sentence just in time for tea. As a result, there is a very nearly zero rate of criminal activity in Salsiccia, although it should be noted that "very nearly zero" is not "zero".

### Local Currency

Unlike other parts of the world Salsiccia maintains its own currency, "requisition" (abbreviated as 'req'). Requisition is a special closed currency which allows the local government to distribute resources so as to avoid oversupply or shortage, since the city can handle neither. All of Salsiccia works as a well-oiled machine, and the flow of req is a big part of that.

Req is only used to pay for specific things like lodging, entertainment, or services. Anything truly essential to life, like food or drink, is paid for by the city itself. No matter the restaurant or street vendor, they will serve any patron then simply bill the city.

Req is a digital-only currency, since having paper money or metal coins would affect its efficiency, and it's not meant to be used outside the Salsiccian archipelago anyway.

It is not possible to convert bits into requisition, although it is possible for private citizens to convert whatever requisition balance they have into bits as they leave the city. Politicians who leave the city have their requisition balance erased and receive no compensation. This policy is to ensure private citizens receive a proper cash payment for their time spent working in Salsiccia, and encourage them to return. The reason politicians are not able to cash out, is because nobody likes them and this encourages them to stay the hell away.

Req is non-denominational.

### History

Salsiccia was made the systemic capital by sovereign decree in the year 0 AU as part of the Articles of Implementation, The Sytem's earliest written constitution. It was chosen from among several potential world capitals due to it being made up of many small islands, which themselves were connected by a well-developed system of bridges, walkways, gondoliers, and lift locks. This allowed dignitaries from nations who didn't like each other to be placed in different parts of the city, and separated by multiple bodies of water, while still keeping them within reach for meetings and committees.

Shortly after becoming the world capital, Salsiccia's local culture was severely affected. The entire city was now devoted to catering to the hundreds of thousands of diplomats and officials who came from outside Salsiccia to conduct important business. The current culture of the city is most assuredly "Stivalian", but the finer touches of what it means to be "Salsiccian" stopped being about the city and its people, and instead became about the city and its position.

Salsiccia is THE global metropolis, and THE hub for international cuisine and culture, and perhaps the only thing that unites its native citizens is that they all wish to keep it that way.

### Local Government

Salsiccia's municipal government is overseen by the first ministry of the great parliament. This means that the first minister of the great parliament is also the lord mayor of Salsiccia. This is affirmed shortly after each new first minister's appointment by a free and fair direct election, although by convention the people of Salsiccia vote by simply putting their blank ballots into the voting box, and the first minister runs unopposed. This demonstrates that the Salsicciani reserve their right to participate in the democratic process, but defer to the wisdom and authority of the sovereign.

As a result of this bizarre tradition, the lord mayor of Salsiccia has, on more than one occasion, been a write-in candidate with very few votes. Famously, lord mayor Ouaf-Ouaf (who ruled from the year 196 to 207) was likely a dog of some kind (possibly a chihuahua or perhaps a pomeranian), and lord mayor Meuh (who ruled from the year 846 to 851)was almost certainly a cow. Neither of these lord mayors received an appreciable number of votes, and it's quite possible lord mayor Biscuitwhiskers (who ruled from the year 546 to 552) received only one.

The lord mayor appoints a local council, which is structured into ministries as opposed to wards or boroughs. The ministries then go about their business administering to the city's various functions. The term of a lord mayorship is tied to their appointment as grand pensionary, and the term of a council is tied to that of the lord mayor who appointed them. By tradition, they all retire and do not seek re-appointment after a grand pensionary is dismissed from the first ministry, acting as a kind of "soft term limit". In certain cases, such as the council under lord mayor Ouaf-Ouaf, the entirety of the council is known to have stayed on and sought re-appointment, reasoning that their time spent on the council up to the dismissal of lord mayor Ouaf-Ouaf "didn't count".

## Trivia

* Salsiccia's role as the capital of the planet Ijzeria is only administrative. Only the legislative arm of The System is housed in Salsiccia, the Grande Palais de Justice exists elsewhere, and there are many executive capital cities scattered throughout the planet.
* Salsiccia was the first in-game location to receive a permanent name; although it was always intended that it would be re-named. "Salsiccia" was only ever meant to be a placeholder name, but eventually too much time had passed.