Hawaii

“We learned early that the sea is not enough. So we claimed the sky.”

Hawaii is an island kingdom raised not on land, but on altitude. Once a scattered archipelago at the edge of the Great South Sea, it has grown into a volcanic bastion whose peaks and platforms command the skies above half the world. Where other nations fight for borders and resources, Hawaii fights for position. Height is power, and Hawaii has more of it than anyone else in the southern world.

The islands themselves are jagged and alive. Volcanic ridges rise sharply from the sea, crowned with fortresses, airship towers, and sky-harborage carved directly into stone. When The Meteor fell, it threw huge landmasses into the sky around Hawaii, and most never came back down. Hawaii does not live in fear of its floating lands. It builds upon them. Cities climb upward rather than outward, bound together by lift-rails, tether-lines, and constant aerial traffic.

Hawaii survives by selling what no one else can offer reliably: permanency in the sky. Its Shardisite-powered sky-navy patrols trade routes, escorts convoys, and intervenes in wars far from home. Floating Hawaiian islands are leased, not given. Contracts are strict. Hawaii does not conquer territory. It rents mobile bastions.

Pilots, marines, engineers, and privateers find steady employment guarding sky-lanes, hunting leviathans, or flying under foreign banners for Hawaiian coin. To live in Hawaii is to live with constant motion. The sea below is endless. The sky above is never empty. Leviathans pass beneath trade routes. Storms rise without warning. Airship wreckage is a familiar sight on distant waves.

In a world where land is broken and borders bleed, Hawaii has chosen the only frontier left that cannot be truly occupied. The sky.

Hawaii is ruled by a constitutional monarchy, though the balance favors the crown. The monarch commands the sky-navy directly, a power no parliament has ever successfully challenged. Civil authority exists, but military necessity always takes precedence.

The throne is currently held by Queen Kaulana I, a ruler known as much for personal command as political restraint. She is often seen in flight gear rather than court dress, and her authority is reinforced by visibility. In Hawaii, leadership is expected to be seen in the air.

Law is naval and martial in character. Discipline is strict. Justice is fast. Civilian courts exist, but offenses involving airspace, fleet assets, or contracts fall under military jurisdiction without exception.

Hawaii’s greatest strength is its air-navy. Its fleets are lighter, faster, and more maneuverable than those of any other power. Pilots are trained from childhood. Crews rotate constantly through live deployments. Innovation is driven by necessity, not vanity.

Airship hearts are guarded obsessively. Sabotage attempts are met with overwhelming force. Entire operations have been launched to recover a single lost core rather than allow it to fall into foreign hands. Hawaii understands that the sky belongs only to those who can keep it.

The navy is neutral by doctrine, but not by outcome. Hawaiian intervention has tipped wars, collapsed blockades, and preserved regimes that could pay. This has earned the kingdom both gratitude and resentment in equal measure.

Religion in Hawaii is practical. The Choir is respected as guardian and witness. The Legion is acknowledged as a force of resolve and endurance. Neither dominates. Divine belief here centers less on worship and more on omen and balance. Storms, eruptions, and flight failures are read as signs, not punishments.

Priests serve alongside navigators and engineers, interpreting the sky as scripture. Miracles are rare, but warnings are common. Hawaii does not claim divine favor. It claims attentiveness.