Kingdom of the Seven Isles

The Kingdom of the Seven Isles is located in the northwest Pacific.

History
The origin of the inhabitants of the Seven Isles is a mystery. Their own myths state that the isles, along with its people, were a unique creation of a young god, stifled in his creativity by the older gods. The islands have been separated from other land masses since before the breakup of Pangaea, and as a result, have a rather unique ecology. Archaeologists report that the oldest signs of human habitation date back to at least 500 BC.

In ancient times, each island was a separate kingdom, and many times individual islands were fought over by rival kingdoms. Over time, each island became consolidated under a single ruler, and gradually, the king of Kretsak-tsen (大島) came to gain prestige.

By around AD 1200, the islands had made contact with China, from which they acquired literacy, along with cultural influences. Chinese characters were adopted by the Islanders.

With Chinese influence, the kings of Kretsak-tsen sought to imitate the Chinese Imperial System. The other kings were subdued under the control of the Kings of Kretsak-tsen. Contact with China waxed and waned over time, as Chinese power waxed and waned.

The islands dropped from history after around the 15th century as China turned inward, and the islands' rulers preferred a more isolationist lifestyle.

In 1807, the islands were rediscovered by the British, who introduced the Roman alphabet, along with attempts to introduce Christianity. The islanders, for the most part, rejected Christianity, though a small number of Christians exist even today.

The islands remained fiercely independant, and, having little in the way of useful resources, were largely ignored by the British. They fell under Spanish dominion around the 1820's, and passed to Germany after 1898, and thence to Japan after World War I. The islands were skipped over by the Americans during WW2, and passed through that war largely unscathed. After Japan's surrender, the islanders declared themselves independant, though they were placed under US administration for a time.

Language
The language of the Seven Isles, known as Mbranet-kwar (literally "Our Language") is an isolate, unrelated to any other language. Each island has a distinct dialect. The earliest texts date only back to the 13th century, when Chinese characters were adopted.

By the 15th century, attempts were made at adapting Japanese kana to the native language, for inflections and words without Chinese characters. This proved unwieldy, and when the first Europeans visited the island in the early 19th century, the Roman alphabet was seized upon, quickly replacing the unwieldy use of kana. Chinese Characters remain in wide use.

Over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, a large number of foreign words entered the language. In the second half of the 20th century, a "purification movement" has arisen seeking to eliminate, as far as practicable, all foreign words from the language. It has had some minor success, but many foreign words remain strongly engrained.

Political System
The current political system is a mixture of the traditional and the modern. The head of state is the King, and each island, with the exception of Kretsak-tsen, has a hereditary Prince. The kingdom also has an elected Parliament. The individual islands possess a modest degree of autonomy. A major political issue today is the conflict between the Centrists and the Localists. The kingdom possesses a constitution, modelled partially on that of the US, and partially on those of Japan, in addition to other influences.

Economy
The economy is primarily on a sustinence level, with agriculture and fishing providing the major source of employment. Tourism, primarily from Japan and the United States, has been growing in importance.

Currency
The currency of the Seven Isles is the Tovak (銀; plural Tovar, 銀々) divided into 16 Kabrekar (singular Kabrek), in turn divided into 6 Libvar (singular Libvak; 銭々). The Tovak is pegged to the US dollar at the rate of 35 cents to the Tovak. There are periodic proposals to decimalize the currency at 100 New Libvak to the Tovak, but the government remains highly traditionalist. Prices are given in the form X Tv, Y Kb, Z Lv. Every island mints its own coins and prints its own banknotes, all of which are legal tender everywhere in the Kingdom.

Coins

 * Libvak
 * ½ Kabrek (3 Libvar)
 * Kabrek
 * ¼ Tovak (2 Kabrekar)
 * ½ Tovak (4 Kabrekar)
 * Tovak
 * 2 Tovar
 * 5 Tovar

Banknotes

 * 10 Tovar
 * 20 Tovar
 * 50 Tovar
 * 100 Tovar
 * 250 Tovar