TalossaWiki:New Citizen's Guide

Congratulations on becoming a citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa. This is an honor extended to few, and you should bear it with pride. Remember that within you is vested the immortal Talossan spirit: a man's room is his kingdom! The sky is the limit!

Seeing that now that you are one among the ranks of the mighty, you might want to consider getting involved with the country. It is every citizen's prerogative to remain uninvolved and merely happily spectate (as long as you vote in national elections), but most people get the full enjoyment out of Talossa when they get to work in playing around with the full extent of our institutions. There are any number of ways to get involved:

• Join a political party! Talossa is blessed with a multi-party system of governance. Take a look at the parties currently registered with the Chancery, and see if there is one that interests you.
• Become a lawyer! With a thorough knowledge of the laws of the realm, you could apply to join the Royal Talossan Bar Association the next time admissions are open. Someday, you might even get to argue in front of the Cort Pü Inalt, the highest (okay, okay, the only) court in the land!
• Volunteer in a Ministry! Every year, the Seneschal appoints a number of Ministers to help govern. They regulate the Ministries of Culture, Defence, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, Immigration, Justice, and Stuff. Take a look at these Ministries and see if any interest you... most of them will be glad for the help.
• Enlist in the military! A great way to build good will and learn about Talossa is to join the Royal Guard or the Navy. At minimum, you will be required to conduct a monthly training exercise with your mates. To sign up, see the Join Up section on the Ministry of Defence page. Your new country needs you!
• Join an organisation! Talossa has a rich cultural heritage, beginning with the colorful beadwork of our mythical Berber forebears and descending to the brilliance of our current savants. There is a Royal Talossan Opera Company, the Aßociù del Futbol Talossan (or Talossan Football League), the Gremiour Talossan dels Zesegneirs Telaragneschti (or Talossan Web Designers Guild) and even more. See if something interests you at the groups page.
• Run for office! Eventually, when you are confident and involved enough, it might be nice if you considered serving your country in elected office. Talossa holds regular provincial and national elections. It might behoove you to start off at the provincial level, helping your fellow citizens within the province, before one day moving on to the Cosa or even the Senäts.
• Learn the language! One of the greatest cultural strengths of Talossa is our unique language, with its own grammatical structure and thousands upon thousands of words. You can find out about the history and rudiments here, read some of the works of literature in Talossan, or try translating some words yourself.

In addition to these fun ways to get involved, you can also personalise your Talossan experience. Try some of these things:

• Get a coat of arms! As a Talossan, you are formally acknowledged as being of gentle blood, and thus eligible for a grant of arms. The College of Arms is delighted to help all new citizens consider and apply for a coat of arms. They even have a page on how to get started! Word of advice: follow their instructions to the letter... they are known for standing on ceremony.
• Decide on a Wittenberg avatar and personal text! On Wittenberg, the official Talossan forums, everyone gets to choose their own picture avatar and personal text, which will appear below their name. As a new citizen, by default your avatar will be a Talossan flag and the text, "Citizen of Talossa," but you may wish to personalize this. Until you get a grant of arms, at which point your avatar will generally be your coat of arms, you can choose any picture you wish. Simply login and go here, click "Modify Profile", select "none" in the Avatar field, and then input into the "Avatar URL" field the address of whatever picture you wish. Be aware that it must be 100 x 100 pixels or less, and in the JPG, GIF, or PNG formats. It is highly recommended you host your avatar picture on a free image-hosting service such as ImageShack, rather than "leeching" someone else's bandwidth.
• Get an email address at kingdomoftalossa.net! It's snazzy, cool, hip, and a number of other adjectives with positive connotations! Also, it couldn't be easier! Just email the current email system administrator, our beloved sovereign His Majesty King John, and tell him what you would like your email address to be (such as your name or commonly-used nickname) and he will set it up for you. Thanks, Your Majesty!
• Get an official identification card! Show off your new citizenship to your friends and family. A great way to get more people involved! Simply follow the instructions provided by the Ministry of Stuff to get your identification card today!

There you have it... a rich and vibrant world, just waiting for you to explore it and help out. And just remember this: every one of these institutions was created by someone who was once a new citizen, just like you. If you don't see something you like... make something new!