The Independent State of Caledon

Well, it's time to announce Caledon in the Political forums thread.

In the inimitable style of the US Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook, please allow me to introduce the country.



Background

Caledon is a small, expansionist Monarchy, supported by an aristocracy of landed gentry.

Members of the Aristocracy assume the role of Steward for a short period of time if they wish (half a month), in the order in which they held land in Caledon. There is no king.

Stewards may have real power, which is granted to those who have a *demonstrated* record of responsible, stable behaviour. Initially, such power consists of access to the Region / Estate controls for the entire country.

Khashai Steinbeck I, our first Steward, will have such power.

Technology is approximately that of the 19th Century, though some astonishing breakthroughs have provided for incredible wonders.

Ground vehicles, airships, and even a device known as a 'telehub' are made possible through the power of exotic material properties and the wonders of Steam Technology.



Geography

- Location: The Far Western Sea

- Area: 131072.0000000000000 square meters (so far, expanding rapidly)

- Maritime Claims: 10 surrounding void sims (so far, expanding rapidly)

- Climate: Temperate Coastal

- Terrain: Low land dotted with streams and ponds; a few hills

- Elevation Extremes: Sea level (21m) to approximately 30m; it varies a bit

- Natural Resources: 30,000 prims; the creativity of citizens

- Land Use: Mixed Residential/Commercial (village style) and occasional Industrial

- Natural Hazards: Rolling Updates, Client Upgrades, Asset Server Crashes



People

- Population: 35 or so Landed Gentry, another 100 friends around, expanding

- Age Structure: varies from young twenties to "old enough to know better"

- Population Growth Rate: about a sim-full a month so far, maybe 50-75/mo

- Sex ratio: This is Second Life - it changes by the minute

- Fertility Rate: Really, really, really high it seems; I dare not enquire further

- Ethnic Groups: All manner of humans, Furries, Goreans, some aliens

- Religions: Christians, Wiccans, Buddhists, Atheists, Agnostics, more.

- Languages: English, Tagalog, German, French, Japanese, Spanish, American



Government

- Country Name: Independent State of Caledon

- Government Type: Monarchy

- Capital: Merely the residence of the Steward (think: 10 Downing Street)

- Legal System: Steward following sim rules (or sim owner on appeal)

- Diplomatic Representation: Steward, or Steward-appointed Ambassador

- Flag Description: Black/Red/Green tartan with gold bars; state name



Economy

- Imports: clothing, architecture, furniture, vehicles, ships, scripting professionals

- Exports: clothing, architecture, furniture, vehicles, ships, scripting professionals

- Expenditures: 2 sim's worth of tier, and growing

- Reserves: months of tier in reserve

- Currency: $L, though land rates vary based upon the more stable USD



Communications

- Internet: 100%

- Media: a national newspaper/website is in the works now.



Transportation

- Rail: None yet, but in planning stages

- Roadways: roughly 500m of roadways

- Ports and Terminals: Port Caledon planned for 4th sim

- Merchant Marine: 2 foreign-made tall ships (Jesrad's): Venture and L'Espadon



Military

- none. We may have a few bobbies with ban powers if we get griefers



Transnational Issues

- International Disputes: We are currently at peace with all, as far as known.

- Refugees: Many, from all over the grid. We are a nation of immigrants.





For a more intimate introduction to Caledon there is a Grand Opening late, late tonight (1 April 2006, 11pm SL time) with fireworks, dancing and more.

Hello there

Out of curiousity at the moment only, I'd like to ask about your land. I've heard that you are expanding and making more such sims? In the future will you announce their arrival or will they be kept and sold privately? I saw that your first sim, Caledon 1...is absolutely beatiful and offers great views of the water that's NOT part of the end of the sim...very nicely done

What type of pricing are you asking for? Are the tier payments part of a group or directly to Linden Lab?

Thank you for your reply in advance

Excellent, jokes for linguistics students.
Im gonna pop in some time - but better brush up on my Tagalog first.

In 19th C style I hope your Bobbies will reprimand indecent behaviour such as bare arms, or ladies garments that dare to reveal a touch too much ankle.

Hi! I'll reply a bit demurely, as this is the Poly Sci forum not classifieds. So contact me in-world please, or touch the Welcome to Caledon sign, you can get info there. The lack of information out there is because I have a waiting list about 3 sims long right now and advertising would cause more frustration than good

People seem to respond very positively to the idea of a small nation-state, and our government is real enough - our first Steward has real access to the sim's estate controls.

Yes, we are expanding, I wasn't given a choice. When you get 10-20 IM's a day demanding to know when the next sim is coming out, you tend to open more sims

I've been scrambling for financing. If I "sold" (heh, really questionable term) land for $L 5 per meter, I could easily open a new sim every few weeks for the forseeable future. But I'd rather not charge that high, unless the incoming folk get very mad that I am denying them land and would rather pay. Given time I'll have enough to finance more sims without anyone's help - I'm guessing at least two more sims this year just on my own (or maybe even more).

Thank you for the compliments. Next up is Caledon Highlands and then, a seaside Port Caledon. I'm really excited about the Highlands because it gives me an excuse to finally put a Hogwarts-style academy on a rocky cliff across a lake.

That's planned to be more of a 'fun' thing than anything else and open to all of SL. What's a small nation without an academy and its traditions? The founding faculty names will astound and please many (and teach real SL-related subjects!) - but I'm not going to spill the beans just yet. You'll just have to wait to get sorted

Ah, and we don't have bobbies yet - but might. We need some cool hats! So watch out if you flash some ankle

To the puny and wretched citizens of Caledon:

We, the minor despotic republic of Newfie's Imagination, do hereby claim in the name of the properly elected high-god-king of Newfie, all of Caledon's land and minion for Newfie's personal ownership and whimsical terror.

To avoid a fate worse than death (which will be described in an upcoming memo), please remite exactly 327 Linden$ to Newfie, plus a freshly baked cake. Chocolate cake is preferred, marble rye cake will be an immediate declaration of all-out war.

A war tribunal will be held in the upcoming days to determine if your wretched lives wiill be spared, or will be shown pity and given a swifth death. Our Minister of War-type-deeds-and-stick-rattling is gung-ho on the slow painful death, but it's been a slow week for him and he's getting antsy.

Prostration and cowering in abject terror will begin at 0700 hours tomorrow, after which will be followed by eating of the cake. Do not make feebly attempts at insolence, or you will not be permitted to partake of the cake.


- High-God King (your lord high muckey-muck) Newfie

I think it would be great if you were able to keep expanding due to the quantity of demand. If need be, then charge more for what the people want I think your vision is outstanding and wish you the best of luck in the future. I intend to visit and click onto that sign. Thank you for your input

/me leaves a cake of soap on Newfie's doorstep with a note attached that reads: "With Love From The Caledonians," and sits back to watch the fun begin.



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Government (updated)

- Diplomatic Representation: Steward, or Steward-appointed Ambassador and Phoenix Psaltery, Feted Ambassador to the Minor Despotic Republic of Newfie's Imagination.


Transnational Issues (updated)

- International Disputes: AT WAR! with Minor Despotic Republic of Newfie's Imagination.



Which all in all doesn't mean much, other than I wouldn't recommend going AFK in Caledon...

And to think all of this could have been avoided, for the price of a shrubbery.

Please note that the Grand Patriotic Battle and BBQ of Newfie vs. Caledonia has been rescheduled due to overcast conditions. However, the live rock band has agreed to stay on-stage for the duration of the massacre.

Requests for bludgeonings will be handled in order of receipt.


- Newfie

Do the bludgeonings come with a stern talking-to, or does that cost extra?

I think its gone beyond talking-to... I think we may be on the verge of true diplomacy 19th C style.
Only a matter of time before Desmond anchors his gunships off of the coast of Newfie's Imagination, and fires a warning salvo into his basal ganglia.

Gunships? Nah. At least, not until we get those admiralty hats!


"Grand Patriotic Battle and BBQ of Newfie vs. Caledonia"

We are SO doing this! ^_^

Though we may well end up with a pistol duel and some virtual chicken. Hey, any excuse, right?

As a member of the landed aristocracy of Caledon, and as a gesture of friendship, I would be happy to act as second for The High Despot Pendragon were he to accept the challenge of a duel.

EDIT: Sorry, I meant...

As a puny and wretched member of the landed aristocracy of Caledon......(etc, etc.)

http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

Question, not mentioned in the CIA World Factbook Profile...Sim PG or Mature? I'm guessing PG if you are worried about ankles...

Steam, are you talking sort of Fullmetal Alchemist, or Thief: The Dark Project...

(sorry I'm at work and can't go see this place yet.)

Oh, they are Mature sims, certainly.

You should see some of the corsets and Victorian calf boots for sale in the shops...they whisper nothing if not pure sin! And I saw a lady in the park with her hair up in the most attractive, provocative manner, showing most of the neck. Certainly she knew the effect she had on all the men!

Let me put it this way. When Mary Poppins took some off-hours, do you honestly think her naturally stern, disciplined demeanor was left behind?

Whatever the case, those that knew her were able to sweep chimneys with a smile on their face for several days afterward. So you tell me.




With regard to Steam Technology, there are many flavours... and it is only going to increase.

Caledon Highlands is going to be online in less than ten days, and some of the residents opening that sim are among the wildest inventors, alchemists, and scientists that the grid has ever known.

I'm not sure you would want to be caught out on the moors too late at night, due to their collective efforts...

I have found the citizens of Caledon very agreeable and genteel people. I have also found the quality of the local artisans very good.

I would highly recommend people to stop by sometime.

Well, I shall say its not the place of the bobbies to take care of such matters. Bobbies and the soliders of the crown are only to deal with those that break laws.

However, any lady commiting such shocking acts as displaying herself so openly will indeed need to deal with her own shame and guilt.
Guilt, I say!

*grins* j/k, but I couldn't resist =D

I have also found them clever and ingenius, I suspect that they will win the L prize to reach the SL moon.

*happy Desmond*

Thank you! We do try!

I was about to make a 'Caledon Update' here anyway... so here goes.



Caledon has so INCREDIBLY exceeded any expectations I had ever had, it's mind boggling.

Saturday night (SL time), one of the residents (Furia) challenged me to a chess match on Caledon II's avatar-sized chessboard. A number of friends stood in as pieces on both sides, and well, green mapdots seem to have this magnetic effect on each other...

I was trounced. Pathfinder Linden sat in as the White Rook, but with all the lovely ladies around my concentration was shattered.

Due to a profound blunder on my part, Pathfinder was taken by Furia's pawn Serra, who then became the second Dark Queen. I was mopped up in short order, in spite of a short lived wild attack by both Mystical and I on the Dark King.

So what happens when you have over a dozen people standing around after a chessmatch?

Caledon's sky darkened to midnight, somebody hit the Darkwave station, and the chessboard turned into a dance floor - one of the wildest, most spontaneous Period Goth parties I'd ever seen in SL. And everyone was already dressed for it!

So that was Saturday night. I'm still shaking it off... but on with the "plan"!



Land:

We are adding another sim, Port Caledon. No, this isn't an ad - odds are you can't get in anyway because the waiting list for Port Caledon is already so long we may lose a few on it.

I've been in deep consultation with the Steampunks, with regard to a light rail system between the port, and and something just Mind-Bogglingly Incredible that may come about... perhaps before January 2007. *sly grin*

My part in it is actually very minor - but the synergy may result in a really, really cool pinnacle of multi-sim collaboration.


The Nation:

As hinted at by the expansion, we are working on building a cohesive, continuous 19th c. country and continent.

While we still look a bit fragmented perhaps, this will slowly change and we are looking at twelve sims as a short term goal over the next... well, we don't know. Originally, we were thinking 2 years. At the current rate, eight months if not less. Beyond that? If there is demand for Caledon, it will grow. (I think it's gonna)

Rights of the landed gentry are held in high regard; nobody just goes in and starts terraforming on anyone's land. But as land changes from one person's control to another, small things are done. Which is very gradual now, because our land retention rate is so high.

We are trying to shape a continent and 'country' that people will be proud to be a part of.


Finances:

Yesterday I made a *major* change in the way I 'play the game' - I invested 500 USD of my own money in Caledon.

Our books were rock-solid before as you can easily infer from my monthly rates and capacity. But adding a 4th sim that won't 'pay itself off' for a number of months might dip us uncomfortably low unless I charged a $L 6 per meter entry fee for Port Caledon. I felt that was too much to charge at this time.

Call me a liberal, call it social engineering, but I'd rather have the people that *want* to be a part have a good chance, not just the people who have the cash.

Charging a lot would eliminate a few incredibly creative people that *I* wanted to be able to get in. Floating some buffer of my own, and pulling it back out in 2 months as the sims start to pay off seemed to be the fairest, best way to allow this.

This 4th sim will be 5000 USD in sim orders alone spent on "Caledon" inside of 3 months by it's residents and I - about 90% of the money I have ever made in SL has gone directly into Caledon. We are all in it together, and I feel really good about chipping in a 'real' 500 USD for a little while.


Issues:

There are a few things I'd never even considered before starting Caledon - but one learns as one goes.

I guess these can be called 'decrees' - having been discussed by the Stewards, some residents and I. Remember, we ain't no democracy.


1) We think it's cool to roleplay a kid if it's nonsexual. We think it's cool if you want to express love to another consenting adult. BUT the combination of roleplaying a child combined with sexuality is not for Caledon.

We aren't gonna go around knocking on doors, we won't judge you as a person. You can come and go as you please, even be a citizen. But just don't "age play" in a sexual manner in Caledon, you'll be asked to stop.


2) Racial slurs, hate speech, stuff like that - as much as I may change my mind about visitors who were banned, as much as I believe everyone gets a second chance - there are some lines that once crossed can't be uncrossed.

Unbanning those who have made racial slurs sends a message to the community that such things aren't 'important'. We aren't uptight over an inappropriate joke or two, but call someone a racial slur, even somewhat veiled, and you are gone from Caledon and ain't comin' back.


So that's what's going on with us!

We may take a deep breath after the fourth sim rolls out. The demand for land is crazy high, but we have the Caledon Academy of Virtual Wizardry to open, a trolley to put in, a Port town to build, and we need to see if there really is gonna be a 'summer slump' or not.

We want to 'do it right' and try to truly become the Rose of the Western Sea - a place where all of SL can visit and have fun.

My dear Mr. Shang:

I just wanted to add an observation that this is suggestive of why I have become a regular in Caledon--the fact that any hindrance to the formation of a Caledonian military or paramilitary organization is niether an issue of the slow growth of a local military/industrial complex (ie: we have no House of Krupp yet), nor the lack of an indigenous warrior caste, it is the direct result of a sartorial shortage!

To sum up, we just ain't got the proper chapeaus yet.

I do note that I happen to have one of the surplus bobbie uniforms in my inventory, left over from the London 1905 sim (may even still have the little hand lamp too somewhere in all this cultter, but I think I am currently using it for a paper weight/curiosity), though as I recall, the uniform helmet wasn't the most appealing piece of headgear you ever saw.

But I digress (as usual).

This does make me concerned that once some enterprising individual or firm has fabricated the necessary cranial covers, that the people of Caledon may be encouraged by their sudden advantage in military headwear technology (MHT) to assume a more agressive posture on the international stage. I hope not. That periodically could interfere with tea time.

It is quite true, we are running at a titfer deficit.

As the representative of Cecropiana*, a small outpost of the hidden nation of [TOO SECRET TO NAME ISLAND], I offer neutral ground for the exchange of diplomatic meetings between representatives of Caledon and Newfie's Imagination.

It is a quiet and restful place on the coast, handily situated for the berthing of ships, being next to the ferry port. Actually, as it's liable to subsidence it most probably will be completely underwater soon anyway. There is in the meantime a range of casual seating for visitors, with a choice of lemonade or champagne for refreshment. Bare ankles are not a problem but PG clothing is a must.

*Cecropia (49,21,31)

Well, non-governmental plans ARE underway...the first stage steam launcher is easy enough to construct, but the problem is finding large solid fuel rockets. We did locate a rather large island with an established chinese settlement (since they have such ingenous fireworks), but rather than selling us rockets their Empress keeps trying to sell us land. Quite confusing....


M. Deckard,
Deckard & Quinn, Co. Caledon Highlands.

The one night I take off and play Oblivion... Heard about it, wish I had been there.




I consider myself lucky to have made it into the Highlands on such a nice-sized plot.



Honestly, some of the greatest things in history have been done for 'liberal' reasons, as much as RL and Ingame capitalists will rant and rail. I'm far more impressed by this methodology than many of the 'rich come first' areas out there.



And this, this is the PRIMARY reason I sold out on the mainland and moved to Caledon Highlands. Based on my AV, I catch a hell of a lot of grief in many places and am outright unwelcome in others, no matter how I closely I follow customs and clothing standards of the area / period. When I first came into Caledon, I explored a few times but avoided the locals...no idea whether it would be a repeat of other themed areas I had been to (verbal and/or push abuse by their neanderthal occupants). But it quickly became obvious when a few residents came looking to say hello, that Caledon was unique in its openness...no 'I am more victorian than you' or 'your AV messes up my immersion!'. Just friendly folks with a common interest.



Let me know if you need any help or anything built. Be glad to lend a hand, even though I am not that good at building.

M. Deckard
Deckard & Quinn, Co. Caledon Highlands

Hmm. Rocketry in a 19th century setting. Interesting.

/me casts Desmond as the lead in the remake of Jules Verne's "From The Earth To The Moon"



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