Krasoa Islands

The Krasoa Islands are a colony and overseas state of the Kiravian Federacy comprising the southern half of the Avicii Archipelago, between Ugarit Bay and the Kindreds Sea off the coast of continental Ixnay.

Ionya Krasoa é axerka us ūrifararókiārka Kiravix Rektārká, ɣetrix déskax idrul Esoxorosk Avikíl, tuvis Yugarimonta us Dóntrafara, barras taserınd Ixnaīdask.

Etymology
The provenance of the name "Krasoa" is currently unknown, and may come from the undocumented indigenous language(s) of the islands, related to those spoken in Takatta Loa.

A theory attributing the name to a Tryhstian navigator named Fernão Crassoa gained currency during the 21010s and was commonly printed in reference works and local school textbooks until around 21194, when an exhaustive study by an élite team of historians failed to find written records of anyone by that surname dating from before the word was in use as a name for the islands. Nonetheless, a statue of Fernão Crassoa (modelled on an unknown subject) still stands in front of the Colonial Stanora building, and many parks, squares, and schools in the colony are named in honour of the spurious Crassoa. However, some families with ties to the islands do bear the surname Crassoa, as for many decades during Kirosocialism it was bestowed on children of unknown parentage raised in state-run orphanages.

Geography
The Krasoas comprise three major islands - Drakostea, Eastion, and Ixanar from north to south - as well as two smaller islands, A and B, and a numbers of smaller offshore islets.

The archipelago has a suptropical/Mediterranean climate with altitudinal variation. The mountainous interiors of the three largest islands are home to dense temperate forests known as the Haunted Woods (forest).

History
As early as they were described in writing by Occidental and Coscivian geographers, the islands that would one day be included in the Krasoa Colony were inhabited by Austronesian peoples related to the people of Takatta Loa. It is now believed that these seafaring Austronesian settlers displaced an earlier population when they migrated to the islands, whose descendants survive as the isolated indigenes of the Haunted Woods.

The Krasoa Islands were frequented by merchants from Sarpedon and Kiravia to trade for their exotic botanical goods. They subsequently became contested between Pelaxia, Kiravia, Caphiria, etc? during the Kindred Wars. Kiravian-backed forces failed in their goal of conquering the entire archipelago, but did consolidate control of the southern four* or whatever islands.

Initially, each island was governed as a separate colony, subject to the oversight of the Superintendant of Hāverma in Pribraltar. The islands were initially governed by the Bay Trading Company and the Kerēgulan Merchants of the Tropics under patent from the Kiravian government, but over time the Colonial College asserted greater and greater authority over the islands before finally declaring them a single colony under civil administration in [YEAR].

During Kirosocialist rule in Great Kirav, the Krasoas remained in the hands of the Federalist rump state based on Æonara.

Politics & Governance
As a chartered colony and overseas state, the Krasoa Islands are a constitutionally integral part of the Kiravian Federacy.

''Stoloímix axerkí us ūrifarax ārkí, é Ionya Krasoa vemtiáldas .... ''

The executive branch of the colonial government is structured as a normally exercising power collegially. The Executive College is chaired by the Governor of the Krasoa Islands, who is appointed by the Prime Executive of the Kiravian Federacy and confirmed by the Colonial Stanora. Also included in the EC are the President (elected by the legislature), the Auditor General (elected by the citizenry), who enjoy special procedural powers and (in certain circumstances) an internal veto on EC measures; as well as no more than five appointed cabinet ministers with full collegial voting rights, and a variable number of cabinet ministers with limited or no voting rights.

The legislative body is known as the Colonial Stanora.

Krasoa is subject to the Krasoa Islands Security Act, federal legislation that imposes special immigration, customs, and other policies on the islands.

The colonial defence forces are the Colonial Guard (ground and air forces) and the Krasoa Colonial Navy, which functions as a and. One notable unit of the Colonial Guard is its Defence Motorways Patrol, which provides assistance to motorists with disabled vehicles. Staffed mainly by reservists, the Defence Motorways Patrol was created during [time of international tension] when there were credible fears of war with Pelaxia and Governor Ɣrampianus Risson ordered that reservists be stationed at rural roadway intersections to provide visual confirmation of the passability of the roads in case of bombing and be ready to clear the roads of civilian traffic quickly should the roads be needed by military vehicles. Today, the DMP functions mainly as a highway safety patrol offering roadside assistance to motorists, removing, and supporting first responders in handling roadway emergencies.

Law
Krasoa is one of several federal subjects with marital fusion, whereïn a married couple is treated as a single, unified entity for the purposes of civil law (though not criminal law). It is also rated the sixth-most difficult Kiravian federal subject in which to obtain a divorce by the Association of Kiravian Marital Attorneys, with its courts requiring high standards of proof for marital fault, mandating extensive efforts at counselling and reconciliation before beginning dissolution proceedings, and recognising none of the "loophole faults" used in some other states to approximate divorce by mutual consent (which does not exist in Kiravia) or otherwise expedite the process.

Furries are shot on sight.

Economy
Agriculture is the historic mainstay of the Krasoan economy. Citrus fruits, olives, oilseeds, grapes, and products derived from them (olive oil, soaps {see below} and medicaments, wine, etc.) were and remain major export earners. Processing of food, beverage, and agricultural products is the largest component of the and provides jobs for thousands of Krasoans.



is a major industry and source of employment, though since the end of Kirosocialism the large industrial soapworks have declined in favour of smaller operations selling market-diversified products, many of which are artisanally crafted. A growing number of small and medium soapworks in Krasoa are coöperatives. Krasoan soap is highly regarded in Great Kirav and Sydona and is increasingly sold abroad. Several traditional types of Krasoan soap have been granted geographic designations and other intellectual property protections by the Kiravian government.

Citrus cultivation, esp. limes.

The explosion of the essential oils market in recent years has been a boon to the islands' economy.

During the Kiro-Burgundian Gin & Tonic Race, the Colonial College tried to establish plantations in suitable areas of Krasoa, to obtain a domestic supply of cinchona bark from which to extract, in order to bypass the effective Cartadanian monopoly on the substance. These efforts were frustrated by difficulty in obtaining the necessary land and smuggling saplings out of Cartadania. As such, the Krasoan plantations were slow to reach maturity and were not targeted for arson by Burgoniesc saboteurs like their counterparts in the Melians and Saint Kennera. Kiravia's eventual defeat in the Gin & Tonic Race led to the Colonial College selling off the plantations, and most of the land was converted to other uses. However, a few sites remain, owned by a local private company, Sovakaīn Tonics of Krasoa SAK, which produces artisan tonic waters for the Kiravian market.

The agreeable climate and pleasant landscape of the islands has nurtured a growing tourist industry based on and wine tourism, beaches and marine recreation, and destination weddings.

According to a 32-page profile printed in the weekend edition of the Primóra Moon, another growing but low-profile source of income in the Krasoas is the "VIP real estate" and "quiet retirement" sector, which chiefly involves the sale of comfortable and well-appointed country homes to wealthy individuals, mainly from continental Ixnay and Audonia. As described by an unnamed Krasoan real estate agent who was interviewed for the article, this industry caters to a diverse array of clients, including ousted and disgraced former politicians, foreign lesser nobility and cadet princelings of deposed royal houses, and white-collar criminals. There is usually an element of involved, aided by the islands' proximity to Pribraltar, privileged access to the Pribraltarian financial system, and the fact that many Pribraltar-based banks have branches in Krasoa. This business model was first developed in the Melian Islands, where disused manor houses on coffee plantations in the uplands and secluded beach villas were sold to many foreign buyers with similar needs during the 21190s.

Points of Interest
Haunted Woods