Post by amisi on Apr 15, 2009 10:15:47 GMT -5
Created by Stormcrow. Updated/Modified by Flame
Name of Island: Cinna Island
Society: Cinna Kingdom
Size of Island: Medium Sized
Location: South Blue, at least 150 miles from the nearest island.
Climate: Cinna Island is oddly enough not as hot as one thinks. A rather humid island in what would normally a very hot climate due to a tropical environment, breezes blowing in from the east actually happen to keep the island nice and cool. That being said it can be quite breezy which is troubling at time and Cinna Island gets an extraordinary amount of rain every year. Generally on a day it rains it will keep raining all day and one will not see the end of it until the day after. Rain comes in clear skies and in dark skies so how it looks is no clear indication of the weather.
Island Appearance: Cinna Island is a scenery of rolling hills, from all angles the land rises on hills from sea level up a few hundred feet up. At range it can seem picturesque, with grassy knolls or sugarcane covered hillsides it is rather beautiful. Along the shores white sand beaches would make it seem almost a little resort-like.
At the main port of Santa Barbados which is built onto the side of a large hill the town spreads out from the docks on the beach. It rises up the hill and across the hill in levels spreading out from a few buildings near the top of the hill and multiple buildings near the bottom at the shore. Two roads lead out of Santa Barbados, both are visible from the bay. One turns around the hill to the small marine base which looks out on the ocean with its own little dock, the other heads in land toward the capital of Royal City.
Flora and Fauna:Flora: There are only three prominent types of plant life on Cinna Island (assuming you are counting flowers people plant to beautify their houses). The first are the palm trees that really manage to give Cinna Island a rather tropical feel. Found most commonly along the beaches as well as along the main walkways of the capital of Royal City and Santa Barbados. Then there is the sugar cane, Cinna Island is the largest producer of sugar cane in all the blues. With basically all agricultural land dedicated to the production of sugar cane, they make three kinds of it here. The usual sugary kind, but also one that is a little spicy and one that is a little sour. Its a little odd but the variance is what some people come for. The last of the prominent types of plant life is grass, tracts of open land unharmed are generally all open plains of grass. The grass here is soft on the feet but due to the humidity and the constant rain can tend to be rather muddy and slippery to step in.
On one hill in particular it is just steep enough that if one loses his/her balance they'll find themselves sliding down onto the sand beaches below.
Fauna: The animal life of Cinna Island is extremely limited, due to the mass destruction of the original habitat to make way for sugarcane fields, almost none of the original animal life has survived here on Cinna Island. The only thing that truly did survive was the birds. Mainly inhabited by seagulls who circle in wide loops around the island as they search for food, Cinna Island also gets its fair share of the larger more troublesome pelicans. Of course the waters around Cinna Island are filled with life, all sorts of fish both big and small make their livelihood out here.
Inhabitants:The inhabitants of Cinna Kingdom are generally all human. There is no species here except those that specifically go to Cinna Island, none began here but humans. The inhabitants of Cinna Island are a laid back bunch, if only because of the humidity of the island keeps many of them from being overly active. During the harvest season many actually like to harvest their sugarcane in the rain for the sake of not overheating while doing so.
The marines of the Cinna Kingdom are only a token force. Much fewer than would be required to properly protect Cinna Island especially given how far the Island is away from the other marine bases in the South Blue. It is likely an oversight due to a minimal amount of piracy passing through Cinna Island.
Prominent Organizations, Groups and Establishments:The King's Honor Guard
A set of one hundred men who are at the King's personal beck and call they protect the palace of the king as well as the king himself. Profusely loyal to the king and a proud group of people they will not stoop to doing such simple jobs as policing neighborhoods in Royal City and thus leave that job to the marines. The King's Honor Guard is led by a man by the name of Macario Delgado.
Cinna Kingdom Marines
The Cinna Kingdom Marines are split into two forces, one the main force which inhabits a large building in Royal City, and a small force at the marine outpost at Santa Barbados. The main force in Royal City is made up of some four hundred marines under the command of Captain Ciro Alejus. Captain Alejus is also the overall commander for Cinna Kingdom. At Santa Barbados there is but a token force of perhaps thirty marines under the command of Lietenant Commander Galo Dias.
The marines of Cinna Kingdom act as a police force for the country which has no true army to speak of only a king's honor guard. There are often patrols of a few marines that pass through the two towns multiple times a day, leaving and coming in from their respective headquarters. The marines of Cinna Kingdom also have two ships at their personal dock near Santa Barbados. One is a large warship meant for the transport of soldiers elsewhere. It has fallen somewhat into a state of disrepair due to Cinna Kingdom generally being too far away to properly respond. The other is a small chasing boat, fast and easy to outmaneuver what are the generally larger pirate ships it can be run by a minimal crew and is used to chase down and catch pirates.
The Sugar Cane Coalition
The Sugar Cane Coalition is the guild of sugar cane farmers who own and farm ninety percent of the sugar cane on Cinna Island. A guild with houses in both Royal City and Santa Barbados it works together to keep the sugar cane business thriving. It also works with the king to keep from a poicy of overtaxation as it had a better grasp on the economics of the kingdom than the king himself. The Royal Family of Cinna Kingdom and the Sugar Cane Coalition work hand in hand to keep this island the generally happy and well to do place that it is now.
Trends:Fashion
The fashion for both genders, male and female is to wear very light clothing. Even with the predominance of rain in the forecasts, it is just more comfortable to wear less clothes and lighter clothes. Thus to make up for it one will often see residents walking around with parasols/umbrellas, not only to guard themselves from the sun in the day but also the rain when it comes, and it always comes.
Specifically with men it is common to wear short and a button up t-shirt for those who are trying to look nice and just a regular t-shirt otherwise. Some of the more lax people don't even wear that and just put on a tank top. For women, mini-skirts plus a t-shirt is the most common, for those who find that too skimpy, sundresses are also worn commonly around. Both males and females wear sandals generally. There is no particularly trendy hat just anything that provides shade which is usually the parasol.
Politics
Cinna Kingdom takes a very lax style of looking after its citizenry. After joining the world government they've allowed much of the policing to be done by the marines. This has led to the Kingdom becoming a rather free nation, there is a minimal tax on anything which is used to pay the king as he technically owns all the land. As a member of the World Government the Cinna Kingdom is obviously anti-revolutionary and such propoganda has kept the civilians in check to keep from any major revolutionary movements starting up.
This is helped in general by the lax job the royalty and the marines do at keeping people in line. In general life is pretty nice in Cinna Kingdom.
Industry
The industry of Cinna Island is solely in sugar cane and the different varieties which they produce on the island. While there are shops that sell most everything in the two cities of Cinna Kingdom nearly everything else is imported from somewhere else. Cinna Island however is the world's leading producer of sugar cane exporting it all over the world it is virtually famous solely for this. Which is part of the reason why Cinna Island is on the trade map. Though it would be anyways because it sits on a major trade route.
Cuisine
While in general the seafood on Cinna Island is very good the products Cinna Island is most none for is its sugar cane products most of them coming in all three flavors. This includes off the street straight cane, sugar cane juice, sugar cane shaved ice, and fried sugar cane pulp. The last of these being the sugar cane being pulped and then fried with oil and flour to create sweet puff like creations. Others exist but those four are easily the most popular sugar cane dishes on Cinna Island.
NPCS:King Mondus Cinna
King of Cinna Island and one of the members of the Reverie, King Mondus Cinna is a laid back man unconcerned about how his subjects rule themselves so long as he gets his own check. He is well liked by his citizenry as he goes out and walks among them at times enjoying the weekly markets in Royal City. He is a fairly kindhearted king listening to his peoples problems at times even though in the end it is the marines who do anything about these problems. While the whole Honor Guard follows him around he only allows three of them to be around him at any given time, one of which is almost always the Captain of the Honor Guard.
Macario Delgado
Leader and Captain of the King's Honor Guard, Macario Delgado wields a single broadsword and wears a thin breastplate atop his chest while on duty. Otherwise he wears rather plain clothing revealing his humble upbringing as a sugar cane worker who enjoyed dueling with other kids with broken pieces of sugarcane when he was a child. A singly superb swordsman as a fighter he is known to have fought marine captain Alejus to a standstill every time that they fought. A humble and extremely loyal man Macario is surprisingly at the ripe age of twenty-six. He stands rather tall with an only medium size build which hides his true strength.
Captain Ciro Alejus
Captain Alejus is the leader of the Cinna Kingdom Marine forces. Stationed at Royal City he oversees the Royal City and Santa Barbados branches of the Marines. Directly controlling those at Royal City he is charged with the policing of a city of thousands with only four hundred men. A man meant for the job he is charismatic, wise, cunning, all-in-all a natural leader. Good at delegating jobs he is also an excellent fighter. Wielding a combat knife or simply fighting with his hands and feet he and Macario are together the strongest fighters living on Cinna Island. A calculating man when you meet him he will freely talk and generally try and weasel information out of you in the ways one might least expect it.
Lieutenant Commander Galo Dias
The commander of the Santa Barbados branch of the Marines he sits directly under Captain Alejus in the chain of command. With thirty-some marines under his command and jurisdiction over all of Santa Barbados as well as two marine ships he has a lot to control with very little. A large imposing man, Commander Dias is more the type to strike fear than to lead by charisma. Wielding two brass knuckles he formerly worked in a Grand Line division until he was transferred here. Commander Galo is slightly overconfident and impetuous, and generally lacks the better judgement of his captain. A proud upholder of justice he can at times go farther than his captain has allowed him to.
Town(s)/Village(s)/City or Cities:Royal City
The capital of Cinna Kingdom, Royal City is easily the larger of the two cities upon Cinna Island. Home to nearly three quarters of the population of Cinna Island, Royal City is set at the center of the island a whiles away from the ocean. At the center of it is the royal palace, taking up the space of four city blocks it a massive building which houses not only the royal family but much of the King's Honor Guard within its complex. Standing before the palace is an open square approximately half the size of the palace itself this square is the home to the weekly markets where merchants from all over bring in products to sell to the population. And directly opposite from the palace, across the square is the headquarters of the Cinna Kingdom Marines. A street passing through the market area is the main street of Royal City.
Most shopping and banking can all be done on this street with the majority of the rest of the area of Royal City dedicated to housing its massive population as well as a set of grocery stores and restaurants set among the housing projects which have spewed up all over town. Surrounding Royal City on all sides are vast tracts of cane sugar fields. And apart from the main road which leads from Royal City to the port of Santa Barbados there is not much else to see than those very same cane sugar fields. Another building also stands out, a large arena not too many blocks from the palace is the home of the Honor Tournament which is hosted twice a year. In this tournament all my participate and earn a position as a member of the Honor Guard if they win. Many times current and former honor guard join the tournament. Captain Alejus has won the tournament once but turned down the offer.
Santa Barbados
Placed against the side of a hill, Santa Barbados is the main port of entrance to the Cinna Kingdom. It looks down on one of the few bays on Cinna Island and the only one large enough to be a proper harbor. A somewhat quaint village, buildings here are built of stone and clay, done in nice tans and light reds the houses can look quite picturesque lined up as they are in rows. A town of a few hundred residents it rises up the hill with two main roads. One passing along the dockside connecting the town itself to the beaches below. Called the boardwalk, it is a wooden path filled with stalls for all sorts of cane sugar sweets. On the city side it is filled with rather touristy shops. The other main road also runs from the dock going up the hill it splits off in two directions near the top. The road is lined with general stores, stores for civilians and travelers alike, the bank, and the town center where some minor management of Santa Barbados goes on. The road splits in one direction toward the marine base on the opposite hill and the other towards Royal City. It is a nearly two hour walk to Royal City from Santa Barbados.
Santa Barbados is often fairly rowdy, within its residential districts one will find bars a plenty placed at nearly every corner they cater to the many people who stop by also having the same specialties that one might find at the stalls. Just over the hill is the Santa Barbados Marine Post. A large dome-shaped outpost it sits overlooking the sea. Able to easily house the thirty or so men who work in it it is slightly too large for them. In charge of it is Lieutenant Commander Galo Dias.
Island Map: No Map This Time
Missions: N/A
Island History:Three Hundred Years Ago
The first settlers land on the unspoiled lands of what would later be come to known as Cinna Island. Landing where Santa Barbados now stands the island at the time was covered in dense rainforests with patches of sugarcane growing on the edges in different areas of the island. Seeing that the island was plentiful in its resources the settlers decided to start up their colony there.
Two Hundred and Fifty Years Ago
The first town of Santa Barbados is founded on the side of the hill overlooking the bay. Slowly expanding it rises up the hill all the while clearing rainforest for agricultural ventures. However the issue suddenly arises that the ground is not bountiful enough to grow most plants and vegetables on Cinna Island. The only thing that grows well here is the strong and hardy sugar cane plant.
Two Hundred and Twenty Years Ago
As the sugar cane industry grows and it becomes a product on the global market new trade routes open passing through Cinna Island which has already become one of the world's foremost sugar cane exporters. With money and goods coming into Cinna Island the population of Santa Barbados burgeons upwards to the point that the small town can no longer handle the large population.
Two Hundred Years Ago
With the money of the richest sugar cane baron, Lord Del Cinna, a large portion of the Santa Barbados population pushes inland clearing more rainforests to make way for the building of a larger city more capable of dealing with the growing population of Cinna Island. Clearing a large are of rainforest they begin construction on what will eventually become Royal City.
One Hundred and Forty Years Ago
Royal City is officially founded, at its center the giant palace of Lord Del Cinna who has at this point essentially become the benefactor of Cinna Island and is made king. Royal City is made the capital of the island and the island and its land are officially named after him as Cinna Island and Cinna Kingdom. Thus did the real work begin on Cinna Island as they began clearing the vast tracts of rainforest still around to make way for the continuously growing sugar cane market.
One Hundred and Thirty Years Ago
Cinna Kingdom officially joins the World Government. It's business with sugar cane expands beyond the South Blue and into other regions of the world. The island at this point has nearly been cleared of all rainforests and sugar cane begins to be grown on all land areas not already appointed for some other purposes.
One Hundred Years Ago
After a few years of pirate raiding on Cinna Island and the weakened military finding it harder and harder to deal with them, the marines are called in. Immediately they begin the construction of their main base in Royal City and a small outpost near Santa Barbados.
Eighty Years Ago
As construction completes and the marines fully make their mark on the island. The Royal Army is dissolved to let the marines take their place. The strongest men of the royal army however are retained and form the Honor Guard.
Now
With the production of two new types of sugar cane, the economy continues to grow even though apart from the grassy parks set aside by the king there is no other place to expand the sugar cane growing. Cinna Kingdom now sits comfortably as one of the nicer places in the South Blue to live.