Karedonia

Karedonia is an island-kingdom in the Caribbean.

History

Karedonia is a young country. The nation was created by the supervillain Joe "Gizmatic" Wilkins, who conquered the a small Caribbean island previously known as "Sao Monica" with the help of a robot army and other advanced weaponry sometime during the Reagan administration. Wilkins chose Sao Monica because the island's dictator wouldn't offer any real opposition and wouldn't be missed, it had no real economy to speak of, and it was located near several hydrothermal vents, which were signs of volcanic activity in the area. Afterwards, Gizmatic used his advanced technology to create an artificial magma bubble and raise the seabed, enlarging the island and giving access to minerals. By 1995, the self-crowned Emperor Wilkins had consolidated his hold enough to be allowed to address the United Nations.

Geography and Geology

Karedonia is one of the Lesser Antilles. Roughly 80% of its area (about the same as the entire island of Trinidad) is raised seafloor, suggesting that the total area is about 2300 square miles (close to 6000 km²). Apparently a bit more than 1600 square miles (4150 km²) of that are highlands, with the highest point, Mount Wilkins, being the tallest mountain in the Lesser Antilles at 6400 ft (1950m) high.

Most of the island rests on a 'bubble' of magma that is kept stable only by Emperor Wilkins' technology. If that bubble ever pops, the resulting explosion will be the least of the consequences; two-thirds of Karedonia's landmass will suddenly sink into the Caribbean, which is predicted to result in a mega-tsunami capable of wiping out most of the Caribbean coast of South America, along with Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the southern coast of Cuba, and a large part of the rest of the Antilles. The bubble-stabilizing equipment consumes about 3/8 of the electricity generated on the island and is said to be controlled by a "dead man's switch," which makes the idea of assassinating Emperor Wilkins a very chancy proposition. The only other person known to understand the equipment, besides Emperor Wilkins, is his heir Jobe.

Government

Karedonia is a constitutional monarchy, but the real power is kept by the Emperor. Internal security is done by an incorruptible robot police force, while protection from external invasion is warranted by their possession of advanced weaponry, possibly including nuclear weapons and the threat of a mega-tsunami. Although the country is not officially at war with any other, foreign relations aren't particularly good, partly due to Gizmatic's past, and partly because of Karedonia's liberal laws making it a haven for many activities that are illegal in other countries. A 60 Minutes piece on ‘The Orc Mines of Karedonia’, aired in 2005 didn't help things.

Despite all concerns, though, Emperor Wilkins seems satisfied with his current domain and has not displayed any interest in expanding his kingdom, and has essentially abandoned his criminal past. The country's economy is very healthy and it supposedly has a an excellent record regarding race relations and support for native peoples and practices.

Economy

Like in many Caribbean countries, considerable part of Karedonia's money comes from tourism. Under Wilkins, the country focused on very upscale resorts, in particular attracting a public that, despite having plenty of funds, is unable to spend their vacations in other places due to the minor problem of being hunted by the law. Karedonian time-share villa/lairs are also available to the discerning supervillain.

Mining also has an important role. The raised seabed offered the opportunity of extracting minerals from the virgin seabed. Mining is possible due to the biological modifications performed on the miners, nicknamed "Orcs" due to their monstrous appearance, allowing them to work efficiently under the enormous heat of the magma shell. Initial miners were condemned prisioners, but later volunteers were accepted. Currently, Karedonia is the world's fifth largest exporter of cobalt, manganese, osmium, scandium and palladium, and the ninth largest exporter of various sulfides, besides other byproducts of mixing magma and very cold seawater to desalinate the water and generate cheap electricity.

Other services frowned upon in other countries -- such as anonymous numbered bank accounts and anonymizing Internet services also contribute to local economy. It's known as the world's largest tax evasion haven, money-laundry, illegal weapons warehouse, open-air black market, stolen goods bazaar, and illegal drugs refinery.

But the greatest asset the country has is the Royal Family themselves. Both Emperor Wilkins and Crown Prince Jobe have developed numerous innovations which foster the local economy -- such as the aforementioned mines, made possible only by Gizmatic's seafloor-raising tech and Jobe's biomodifications -- or are licensed abroad. The Gizmatic industries export a wide assortment of weaponry, and under Jobe's influence Karedonia could soon become the biotech version of the Silicon Valley -- not least because the requirements for human experimentation are very relaxed.