Dakana: State of the Kingdom address

[angrydurf]

So with Black Panther out and in theatres there might be some interest in our own little corner of African supersecretsuperpower.  And not JUST because I wanna make a Dakanan I thought we might start to make sure we have a vision of hte state of Dakana and it's interactions with the rest of the world, timeline, how much 3E Dakana we want to incorporate.

 

So without further ado:

 

What have people done so far with it in site canon so we can make sure that doesn't get trampled on?

I have 'Doctor Daka' as a member of hte Jungle patrol and ally of Johnny Danger.  Between the two of them they brokered a deal for Danger International to work with the Dakanan Government for trade, etc.  Never made it explicit how open this made Dakana but it is a line there for potential PC interactions.

 

What is the internal dynamics of Dakana, who is the current White Lion?

3E in it's general cycle and update of canon PC's had M'balla replaced by his daughter Tefiri I think.  THis would make the current White Lion a young woman and an NPC (Probably).  Do we want to maintain that or keep the mantle open for a potential PC and have M'balla remain the current White Lion but an aging one.  What is the internal political structure of Dakana?  Are they an alliance of tribes like Wakanda or a singular entity, I don't believe it is explicit in the books anywhere so we can pick what works best for our set up.

 

How open is Dakana?  What is known about it?

From my reading Dakana is not as closed off as Wakanda and it is known they have high tech and Daka Crystals.  But are they openly trading?  Limited trading brokered through Danger International or Other Governments?  How does tourism, security, aid to the rest of Africa work with Dakana right there?

 

How has Dakana's presence and power in central Africa affected the political and economic situation of the continent as a whole?  Have they halted the bloodier civil wars and ethnic cleansings before they happened do they provide aid?  take in refugees? 

 

 

Thoughts welcome!

[Ari]

I am the only person who even began to use the 3e Dakana setup. In it the Red Hyena was renamed the Red Lion and was going around the world stealing daka crystals. I operated under the assumption that M'Balla had stepped down and Tafari had taken up the role to the displeasure of the older guard. 

 

Otherwise, nothing much at all. The only other Dakana-centered thread was Kill A Man. 

Edited February 19, 2018 by Ari

[Tiffany Korta]

It's Tafari which is a terrible name that just means First Born Daughter, I may have done so research about this! Like I said in chat I'm maybe interested in a teenage White Lioness, as long as it doesn't affect you ideas obviously Durf.

 

Looking at the 2e Freedom CIty book Dakana very much mirrors the movie version of Wakana, though it's been about 20 years so it's probably more established in the international community. To be honest the MCU version of Wakanda is not a bad shorthand for how we can make Dakana work.

[Thevshi]

So, to add more detail on what I have brought up with AA in chat, it has been established that Tsunami’s real mother is Murjana al-Darsha, Typhoon’s oldest daughter, and now lives in Dakana after marrying a Dakanan nobleman.  Tsunami just has not followed up on this information yet.  So, there is some potential for some intrigue in the country.

 

On some of the other things, the books do say that Dakana has a lot of money due to controlled trade of their crystals, and it would make sense that this is, or at least has been, facilitated by Danger International. 

[Tiffany Korta]

So I've been doing a little digging around the net and I thought maybe we could have a system in Dakana similar to the Akan clans, the Ausua. So the Lion's and Hyena are actually clan names, with plenty of other animals for the other families!

 

So the eight clans alongside the King or Queen make all the decisions of the nation, not unlike a similar movie nation really.

 

What do people think, too much a like?

[Ari]

Well considering they're a very advanced civilization shouldn't the clans thing be mostly a formality, not to mention a very vague distinction given the relatively little intro of outsiders and such to the land meaning everyone must have a pretty tangled family tree?

 

Maybe it's more like political parties with them forming their policy in more or less accord to some ancient hero who obtained the power of Animal X and had such and such focus during their rule of Dakana. Like, currently the White Lions are in charge and they traditionally were about protecting the borders and pushing for the security and power of Dakana over other concerns?

[Tiffany Korta]

To fit with Dakana's mix of modern and traditional it could be that the entire clan votes based on the recommendations of there clan leader.

[Thevshi]

Well, not sure we want to change the history of White Lions being the kings/queens by saying they just happen to be in charge currently. 

 

I think the country having different clans is more likely than it being distinct political parties.  Otherwise we are pretty much making the country more Western in organization and style if we strip away more traditional elements. 

[Ari]

African history spans thousands of years, no reason the White Lions had to have always been in charge. And the whole implicit nature of them being more 'advanced' ties into Western expectations already so I don't see how following the examples of quasi-mythical founding leaders is any worse a step.

[Thevshi]

I don't see why being highly advanced means Dakana has to be more Western in organization and style.  Not sure its a good look to take the setting's highly advanced African nation and make it more Western.

[Tiffany Korta]

Yeah I'd like to keep as much of the African flavour as we can

[Ari]

I mean more Thevshi that making the 'clan' thing more in the style of political parties and/or philosophical movements doesn't seem to me like such a problem, while making it about Power Families gets weird real fast. 

[Avenger Assembled]

This is one of those thorny problems: 

On the one hand, an absolute monarchy or near-absolute monarchy would obviously be a repellent place in the real world. On the other hand, so would a society with masked superpowered vigilantes bringing their own brand of justice to the mundanes. So we're left balancing genre conventions with human rights necessities. No one wants the White Lion to be elected by a majority vote in parliament or have to worry about a no-confidence vote- but nobody wants the White Lion to have to go beat up striking union members either. 

 

What I personally would do with Dakana is make it a recent constitutional monarchy - perhaps an innovation of the White Lioness's father or grandfather. It has ethnic divides _and_ it has political movements, the two are often the same but not always. Dakana should look like Wakanda but it should also owe much to Botswana and its heroic royal family. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana (And Meiji Japan for that matter, or an Ethiopia where things went well instead of badly.) The White Lion(ess) has enormous potential power because of the popularity of the royal family (and perhaps through the local traditional religion?) but generally defers to Parliament - or even Swiss-style direct democracy, since they probably have the small size and technological sophistication to make it happen.  

 

 You couldn't have an MCU-Killmonger roll in and take over - but you could let the Red Hyena and her followers be like more hostile versions of the MCU-M'Baku. If the people backed Red Hyena for the throne  (and if Red Hyena won the challenge), what would the White Lioness do? These are the sorts of dilemmas that makes things interesting...

 

At least, those are some of my ideas! You guys may have different thoughts. 

 

 

 

[Ari]

AA that's a very good idea. M'Balla as basically Lighter and Softer Haile Selassie Jr. Red Hyena could have opposed his reforms increasing the power of the non-nobility of the kingdom.

[Avenger Assembled]

Sounds good - gives her a solid angle. 

 

I also like the angle of giving her a Killmonger-style focus on the oppression of women in other African nations (albeit one she wants to deal with in villainous ways) as a way of making her almost-but-not-actually the hero - but that's up to you guys! 

[Tiffany Korta]

Okay how about something like this:

 

Government
Dakana is split into a series of clans, each named after an ancestral animal that embodies and protects them. Since the foundation, these clans have sat in council to decide on policies of the entire nation. Each clan chooses who can represent through a popular vote, different clans have slightly different traditions in such matters but the choice is always done democratically.

 

Under the rule of M'Zale the council was reorganised giving power to all the lesser clans and reducing the influence of his own clan, the White Lions have a representative like any other and the King or Queen must follow the wishes of the council. On important matters of the whole kingdom, everyone gets to vote on the decision.

 

Apart from the White Lions the most powerful and influential clan are the Red Hyena's led by Makeda, who whilst is no longer the Queen has influence among many of the clans. Makeda is one of the main proponents of expanding Dakana's influence beyond its borders both culturally and through force of arms.

[Avenger Assembled]

Wild idea - make Dog and Tortoise tribes to tie into Watchdog and Danica if they ever visit.

[KnightDisciple]

Hm, that was sort of the same suggestion I thought of, Tiff! 

 

One thing in my mind is that you can probably change Tribes/Clans if you really feel like it, though probably not easily. If nothing else you can marry into one? It's definitely not a caste system.

 

Maybe the Royal has the ability to assume "crisis leadership" with some inherent checks and balances (requires Council approval, can be revoked by the Council, they cannot force any Council members out, etc.). The idea being that the monarch is there to assist in crisis management?

But there's also mechanisms for removal of the sitting Royal; doesn't have to be a fight-to-death challenge, but some way to say "this person be cray cray, they need to go". 

[angrydurf]

What if we make hte White Lion/kingship more of a spiritual position than governmental?  So it still holds political sway and one might be both the white lion and the government head as M'balla was for years but he's focusing more on matters of state and tiffs character with her untypeable name takes on the mantle.  That can explain why she's white lioness and still in high school and also why she's not needed actively governing.

 

The governance itself could be through a council of clan heads and maybe the clans have their own individual systems of selecting leadership from democratically to heredity or a meritocracy of some sort.  The council can and does empower an executive to act in it's name but can withdraw support and tradition dictates that is usually the white lion or the former white lion dependant on age and such.

 

I think that gives us a White Lion that achieves it's powers through merit.  Without having the nations leadership be based on best fistpunching.

[Avenger Assembled]

And you could have some sort of duel in there - if there's a notion of trial by ordeal (and hey, in a superhero setting, the Lion god might for-real withdraw his/her favor from a candidate unworthy of them). 

[Tiffany Korta]

The Akan have it set up so you can't marry into your own clan, so if we say that there's a healthy flow of people between the various clans. They have it go matrilineal, but we can always have the couple choose which clan they want to be a part of, it's probably how the major clans keep there power and influence. 

 

It looks like the White Lion(ess) main focus is defending Dakana, so maybe they only get brought in when the kingdom is threatened. It would also explain why M'Balla gave up the mantle, so he actually is now a part of running the country. I'd suggest that this is one of the things M'Zale changed with his big reforms in the 70's.

 

As for the ordeals to become White Lion(ess) I was assuming a series of trials to test mind, body and spirit, maybe with no punchin' at all! It would explain why two sixteen-year-olds had any chance against a 20-something Baako.

[Exaccus]

Maybe it does have a combat but it tests for courage and conviction as much as pride and cruelty, the outcome not being as important

[angrydurf]

The trials of the white lion are just a series of standardized tests on civics governance and ethics!  Baako is just mad because he forgot his Number two pencil.

 

More seriously I think the trials don't need to be combat but are generally more about being white lion than king/queen/ruler.  Both in outcome and in what they test.

[TheAbsurdist]

Well it can spiritual combat with the totemic White Lion.

 

Or literal, per Maasai.  At least that's what the guy who taught me to boosts cars said he had to do as his test of manhood.

[Avenger Assembled]

"You failed the combat trial, Baako!" "B-but-" "You beat up two teenagers! What kind of king would do that?!" "SIGH." 

 

Some sort of combat trial as part of the overall contest does seem cinematic, just not the whole thing.