Meet Christine Rose, the proud leader of the United Caribbean Federation.
In the early 1400's, a rich merchant named Alexandria_Rose established her base of operations in Sylvania, a island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. From this island about half the size of Ireland, there arose a new Kingdom that made a fortune housing the traders, colonialists, and national ships traveling between the old world and the new. This Kingdom which was to establish its own foothold in the world came to be known as Sylvania. In its early history, Sylvania suffered a great calamity when it was sacked by Nordic Vikings. These villains terrorized the people and robbed the land of the wealth they had worked so hard for, leaving Alexandria dead and her realm abolished.
These Vikings began a long reign of anarchy and terror in Sylvania. Instead of being used for a base to generate wealth, Sylvania was the perfect place for pirates to settle down to a life of raiding the seas. Settled perfectly in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, barely a day went by without stories of a new ship being plundered, a colonialist ship being captured and their occupants enslaved, or something much worse.
Yet it took only 7 years for the realm to end. For Alexandria's daughter, Victoria Rose, brought up an army of close followers and mercenaries she had gathered from traveling the lands of Europe. Intense diplomacy had kept the great kingdoms of old like England and France from intervening in her little island. Promises of riches and fame brought mercenaries all across the land to join her side in battle. And at the end of it all, Victoria led a 'borrowed' fleet from her ancient Dutch homelands to destroy the evil forces corrupting her home. It took nearly another 7 years to fully restore it, but to Victoria it didn't matter. Sylvania was under its rightful ruler once more.
Settling down to a quiet life and taking a lover for her own, Victoria turned her attention to her realm. After rebuilding her nation and placating the starving people with food and provisions, Victoria began to look outside of her realm and dream of expansion beyond those shores. For the Rose family was an ambitious bunch, never content to rest on their own laurels for too long. While the great Kingdoms of Europe far beyond her own strength colonized the New World with their massive populations and overwhelming wealth, Victoria instead turned to the outlining islands in the Caribbean and South America and she began to have dreams of expansion. While the great nations of Europe indeed began to forge their Empires, these little islands would need good government as well wouldn't they? Settled in the humble abode of her sturdy castle, Victoria began to have dreams of the future...
500 years later...
Centuries have passed since we last heard of Victoria Aelina Rose and her realm of Sylvania. And while Sylvania is still held among the royal holdings of the past, in order to survive into the present the Kingdom of Sylvania had to evolve.
Gone are the medieval practices of yesteryear and onwards towards freedom, capitalism, and democracy. As the realms of the new world rebelled against their Kings and Queens and the ideals put in place by Napoleon Bonaparte began to take root, the realm of Sylvania was not immune to the changing times. At first came the petitions. A desire for more autonomy from the crown, a demand for rights to property, and an outcry to not be taxed at all. Then came the peasant militias, the ambushes upon loyal Sylvanian troops that had promised to protect them. Despite her greatest of intentions, the Queen of Sylvania became a figure to be loathed and hated.
And at this point, it's important to note that Sylvania had a much harder job controlling its holdings than other nations did. Not only was Sylvania a small island nation to begin with, but most of its holdings it had gathered as time passed were all islands of varying sizes with a very diverse and populace of many different cultures and backgrounds of life. And quite frankly, Sylvania had nowhere near the manpower to control all of these islands to make sure everyone behaved! More than any other kingdom in existence, Sylvania depended on the good will and behavior of the citizens to sustain its power and keep the realm from falling under the influence of the power-hungry European Empires. And if the islands of Sylvania began to declare their independence, one by one, there would be nothing that the realm could do in order to stop it. It lacked the manpower to put down rebellions. So there only was one option.
Compromise.
Out goeth the medieval realm of Sylvania. In cometh a new political entity known as the United Caribbean Federation. To score such a union between islands was a political coup for the Sylvanian royal line. The people were granted sweeping civil and legal rights and limited standards for autonomy within the islands that included a local parliament for each island by whom the citizens elected officials every six years. In exchange, the Royals secured the all-important power of the purse and the ability to draft and train a standing army. And most importantly of all, the Royals secured the ability to declare war on any nation that it required with that army, giving the Royals an air of central authority that was required to keep the collection of islands under control.
And so the Queen of Sylvania became a Presidential Dictator, a title she would have never been able to assume had she not won the trust of the people before the outbreak of the New World Revolutions. Established in the early 1800's, allied with Brazil and the USA, and protected under the Monroe Doctrine...the United Caribbean Federation was able to survive until now. Around the 1950's, a girl named Christine of the royal Sylvanian line became President.
This is her story.
These Vikings began a long reign of anarchy and terror in Sylvania. Instead of being used for a base to generate wealth, Sylvania was the perfect place for pirates to settle down to a life of raiding the seas. Settled perfectly in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, barely a day went by without stories of a new ship being plundered, a colonialist ship being captured and their occupants enslaved, or something much worse.
Yet it took only 7 years for the realm to end. For Alexandria's daughter, Victoria Rose, brought up an army of close followers and mercenaries she had gathered from traveling the lands of Europe. Intense diplomacy had kept the great kingdoms of old like England and France from intervening in her little island. Promises of riches and fame brought mercenaries all across the land to join her side in battle. And at the end of it all, Victoria led a 'borrowed' fleet from her ancient Dutch homelands to destroy the evil forces corrupting her home. It took nearly another 7 years to fully restore it, but to Victoria it didn't matter. Sylvania was under its rightful ruler once more.
Settling down to a quiet life and taking a lover for her own, Victoria turned her attention to her realm. After rebuilding her nation and placating the starving people with food and provisions, Victoria began to look outside of her realm and dream of expansion beyond those shores. For the Rose family was an ambitious bunch, never content to rest on their own laurels for too long. While the great Kingdoms of Europe far beyond her own strength colonized the New World with their massive populations and overwhelming wealth, Victoria instead turned to the outlining islands in the Caribbean and South America and she began to have dreams of expansion. While the great nations of Europe indeed began to forge their Empires, these little islands would need good government as well wouldn't they? Settled in the humble abode of her sturdy castle, Victoria began to have dreams of the future...
500 years later...
Centuries have passed since we last heard of Victoria Aelina Rose and her realm of Sylvania. And while Sylvania is still held among the royal holdings of the past, in order to survive into the present the Kingdom of Sylvania had to evolve.
Gone are the medieval practices of yesteryear and onwards towards freedom, capitalism, and democracy. As the realms of the new world rebelled against their Kings and Queens and the ideals put in place by Napoleon Bonaparte began to take root, the realm of Sylvania was not immune to the changing times. At first came the petitions. A desire for more autonomy from the crown, a demand for rights to property, and an outcry to not be taxed at all. Then came the peasant militias, the ambushes upon loyal Sylvanian troops that had promised to protect them. Despite her greatest of intentions, the Queen of Sylvania became a figure to be loathed and hated.
And at this point, it's important to note that Sylvania had a much harder job controlling its holdings than other nations did. Not only was Sylvania a small island nation to begin with, but most of its holdings it had gathered as time passed were all islands of varying sizes with a very diverse and populace of many different cultures and backgrounds of life. And quite frankly, Sylvania had nowhere near the manpower to control all of these islands to make sure everyone behaved! More than any other kingdom in existence, Sylvania depended on the good will and behavior of the citizens to sustain its power and keep the realm from falling under the influence of the power-hungry European Empires. And if the islands of Sylvania began to declare their independence, one by one, there would be nothing that the realm could do in order to stop it. It lacked the manpower to put down rebellions. So there only was one option.
Compromise.
Out goeth the medieval realm of Sylvania. In cometh a new political entity known as the United Caribbean Federation. To score such a union between islands was a political coup for the Sylvanian royal line. The people were granted sweeping civil and legal rights and limited standards for autonomy within the islands that included a local parliament for each island by whom the citizens elected officials every six years. In exchange, the Royals secured the all-important power of the purse and the ability to draft and train a standing army. And most importantly of all, the Royals secured the ability to declare war on any nation that it required with that army, giving the Royals an air of central authority that was required to keep the collection of islands under control.
And so the Queen of Sylvania became a Presidential Dictator, a title she would have never been able to assume had she not won the trust of the people before the outbreak of the New World Revolutions. Established in the early 1800's, allied with Brazil and the USA, and protected under the Monroe Doctrine...the United Caribbean Federation was able to survive until now. Around the 1950's, a girl named Christine of the royal Sylvanian line became President.
This is her story.