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========================= VANUATU / BALI HA'I ========================= |
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Location: South Pacific Ocean > 1,090 miles east of northern Australia, 340 miles northeast of New Caledonia, > east of
New Guinea > southeast of the Solomon Islands > west of Fiji.
Status: Anglo-French Co-dominium.
Ruler: Mayor/President Ferdinand Chevillard (France); Minister Reginald Dwight (United Kingdom).
Capitol: Franceville (French), Port Stanley (British).
Other Communities: Mele, Port Havannah (Efate); Aname, Aneitum, Port Patrick (Aneitum); Wea Sisi,
Port Resolution, Kwamera (Tanna); Port Sandwich, Port Stanley (Malakula); Dui Dui (Bali Ha’i);
Lake Rear, Narovorovo (Aurora); Tutuba, Talomaco, Pallier, Tassmatta (Holy Spirit Island); Waumarama (Aragh).
Comments: This archipelago of volcanic origin, also known as New Hebrides, consists of the large
islands of Holy Spirit, Malakula and EFate (Sandwich), and the smaller islands of Malo, Bali Ha’I (Aoba),
Aurora, Aragh, Ambrum, Epi, Shepherd Island, Erromanga, Tanna, Aneitum and the islets of High Rocky Island,
Isla Nguna, Isla Leleppa, Isla Narapo, Isla Mau, and Isla Deception.
Two small islands at the extreme southern end of the island chain—Matthew and Hunter—are claimed
by France as part of New Caledonia.
The municipality of Franceville on Efate was established during this period. In 1878 Britain and France
declared all of the New Hebrides to be neutral territory, but the lack of a functional government led
to rising discontent among British and French colonists. The French were especially inconvenienced
because French law recognized marriages only when contracted under a civil authority (the nearest
being in New Caledonia), whereas British law recognized marriages conducted by local clergy. The jumbling
of French and British interests in the islands brought petitions for one or another of the two powers
to annex the territory. The Convention of 16 October 1887 established a joint naval commission for the
sole purpose of protecting French and British citizens but claimed no jurisdiction over internal
native affairs. Called the British-French Codominium, it was a unique form of government, with separate
governmental systems that came together only in a joint court.
Melanesians were barred from acquiring the citizenship of either power and were officially state-less;
to travel abroad they needed an identity document signed by both the British and French resident commissioners.
Many called the confusing condominium the "Pandemonium" because of the duplication of laws, police
forces, prisons, currencies, education, political parties, and health systems.
Visitors to the island must choose between British law (stricter but with more humane prisons) or French
law and French prisons (somewhat uncomfortable but with better food).
It is also common for drunken plantation owners to gamble using the `years of labor' of their
Melanesian workers as currency. Islanders are lined up against the wall at the mercy of their employers' dice.
Not unlike America's Wild West, occasional gunfights and public guillotining can occur.
The arrival of Americans with their informal demeanor and relative wealth during the Spanish-American War
was instrumental in the rise of nationalism in the islands. Additionally, there arose a belief in a mythical
messianic figure named John Frum that was the basis for an indigenous cargo cult (a movement attempting to
obtain industrial goods through magic) promising Melanesian deliverance.
The term ‘Vanuatu’ is a native Melanesian name for the islands meaning ‘islands in the sun’. There is
no actual island named Vanuatu, which is why the island of Vanutu is often confused with this chain.
Of particular note is the mist-shrouded island of Bali Ha'i, just barely visible from Holy Spirit Island.
The extinct (dormant?) volcanic cone is topped by two small lakes. It is thought by the native islanders to be a
mystical place. The native village of Dui Dui can only be visited by special permission from the native chief.
Population: 34,800.
Languages Spoken: English, French, Bislama.
Religions: Christianity (Protestant and Catholic); folk religions.
Aims: Unified government, independence, possible modernization (though natives resent increasing
de-forestation for more plantations).
Allies: France, United Kingdom, United States.
Enemies: Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Spain.
Points of Interest: Bali Ha’i, Roy Mata Burial Mound, Mount MacDonald, sea caves of Undine Bay.
Resources: copra, coconuts, cocoa, coffee, taro, yams, fruits, vegetables, beef; fishing; timber,
lumber products; basalt, emeralds.
R&D: Three separate inventors/scientists are known to have set up extensive secret laboratories (and lairs)
somewhere on Vanuatu, apparently due to the abundance of geo-thermal energy sources: ‘Mad scientist’ Doctor
Vanadium Steel, Dr. Willhemina "Billie" Horrible, and Professor Agamemnon Tiberius Vacuum.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:21, Sat 12 June 2021.