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The Underwood Industrial Empire
Flag
Motto: Audentes Fortuna Imperii
(Latin: The Bold are the Fortune of the Empire)
Population: 16.252 billion
Capital (and largest city): Underwood City
National Animal: Cardinal
National Religion: Unitarian Universalism
Official Language: English
Demonym: UIE
Government: Federal monarchy
- Emperor-President: Grand Admiral Joshua Underwood
Legislature: Congress of the Confederation
- Upper House: Council of the States
- Lower House: House of the People's Voice
Establishment: 1 October 1996
- Absorbed into Defileron: 21 June 2008
- Underwood City secedes from Defileron: 1 January 2011
- Confederation: 30 September 2015
- Industria Planitia admitted into confederation: 9 September 2018
Elevation
Highest Point: Black Mountain (16,414 ft)
Lowest Point: Amesport Harbor (sea level)
GDP (nominal): UIE$1,747 trillion
GDP (nominal) per capita: UIE$107,547
Currency: UIE dollar (UIE$)
Time Zone: UIE Standard Time (Corresponds with U.S. Eastern)
Drives on the: Right
Internet TLD: .uie
The Underwood Industrial Empire (U.I.E.) is a confederation of city-states united under a constitutional monarchy. It is located in The East Pacific, bordered to the north by 
The Restored Caymarnian Imperium of Defileron and to the east by 
The Democratic Republic of Caymarnia. The western and southern borders are open to the sea.
The U.I.E. was founded by self-proclaimed Grand Admiral Joshua Underwood, despite the fact that he had no naval experience whatsoever. While a number of towns arose under the U.I.E. banner, its main focus was Underwood City, intended to be Underwood's capital of capitals - so much so that it has been redesigned and rebuilt numerous times in the span of the last two decades. As the name implies, the U.I.E. has centered around industrial expansion, particularly in the use (and subsequent development) of computer technology and space-related programs.
In 2008, the U.I.E. was absorbed into the Empire of Defileron, with Underwood named as Chancellor and head of government. But things did not last; the Defileronian Emperor was assassinated in 2010, and Underwood proclaimed the Defileron Republic with himself as head of state, moving the government from Defileron City to Underwood City. The Empire eventually dissolved into civil war; by the time the dust settled, Defileron had collapsed entirely, and Underwood City was left as an independent city-state. Grand Duke Ivan Eduardovich Tsiolivosky, a member of the Defileronian Council of Nobles, established his own domain in the Caymarnian Mountains to the east of Underwood City, seeking to create his own autocratic society based on eugenicist thought; the "Pureblood Imperium" of Caymarnia was established shortly afterwards, with Ivan as its Emperor.
A number of other independent city-states emerged, continuing the socialist policies advocated by the former Defileron Republic; as time went on, they began looking to Underwood City for guidance. The leaders of fifteen of these cities met at the Temple of Governance in Underwood City, and signed a treaty re-establishing the U.I.E. as a coalition of the city-states. The Council of the States, as the conclave of the city-state leaders became known, then proclaimed Underwood as Emperor-President of the U.I.E., and began an expansion of the Temple of Governance to house a new parliament for the entire empire, as well as the city council of Underwood City itself. On September 9, 2018, the space program of the U.I.E. bore fruit with the establishment of its first colony on the planet Mars; that same day, in commemoration of this achievement, the colony - christened "Industria Planitia" - was inducted into the U.I.E. as its sixteenth city-state.
Grand Admiral Underwood and his Ambassador to the World Assembly, Dr. Alastair MacDonald, reiterated the government's opposition to what it believes to be the encouragement of nations to use nuclear weapons, largely due to the use of tactical nuclear weapons during the Defileron Civil War, which destroyed several districts of Underwood City before the Defileron Imperialist faction (consisting largely of isolated elements of the Defileron Imperial Army) was destroyed by the U.I.E. Army. With the restoration of Defileron under its "Undying Emperor" (a madman claiming to be the assassinated Emperor, according to the U.I.E. government), with a nuclear arsenal hidden somewhere in its war-torn, overcrowded borders, tensions are high on the U.I.E.'s northern border. Recent tensions have also arisen with Caymarnia, following the overthrow of the monarchy in that country and the establishment of a communist "Democratic Republic"; though the new Caymarnian government has emphasized it does not desire a conflict with the U.I.E., Grand Admiral Underwood has ordered the military to remain on alert in the event that situation changes.
On 16 August 2021, the Congress of the Confederation voted to remove the U.I.E. from the World Assembly, citing an "increasing incompatability between the aspirations of the Empire and the contradictory nature of the edicts passed by the World Assembly". Their seat was immediately occupied by the new Caymarnian regime. In December, the Great Skytrail Flood - a massive overflooding of the Twin Rivers confluence, where the Skytrail River (running east from the Blackstone Mountains) and the Trinity River (running from the south coast to the west coast) met - wiped out most of Underwood City south of the Skytrail, leaving only the Imperial Center and Ministry Row districts north of the river more or less intact. Thankfully, the Ministry of Public Safety and Disaster Relief was able to evacuate the affected region, but the damage resulted in the loss of the city's Old Town and University Row districts; the ecological upheaval also resulted in the formation of Skytrail Lake, which is now where the Skytrail River ends.
Government
The government of the U.I.E. is what is referred to as a "federal monarchy", in that a group of smaller nations (or in this case city-states) are combined into a state ruled by a monarch, known in this case as the "Emperor-President", as he is both sovereign of the entire U.I.E. and primus inter pares among the leaders of the U.I.E.'s city-states. Grand Admiral Joshua Underwood, who has been the unopposed and perennially-reelected mayor of his self-named capital of Underwood City, has been the Emperor-President since confederation, and is likely to remain so for life due to public acclamation. There are some who thus believe the U.I.E.'s publicly democratic leanings, as opposed to the openly authoritarian regimes in Caymarnia and Defileron, are a sham - that Underwood has power just as absolute as his neighbors. The difference is that he has a fair more robust civil rights record than the Tsiolivosky regime that previously ruled Caymarnia or the "Imperial Regency" in Defileron, and that he also maintains a parliamentary system to act as advisors to his leadership. Underwood himself admits that he is something of a "benevolent dictator".
The bicameral parliament is known as the Congress of the Confederation, and meets in the Temple of Governance in Underwood City. The upper house is the Council of the States, made up of the leaders of each of the U.I.E.'s city-states. The Council elects the Emperor-President from among its members, though as previously mentioned, they tend to lean towards the leadership of Underwood City under Grand Admiral Underwood. The lower chamber, the House of the People's Voice, seats five representatives from each of the city-states to enact laws for the approval of the Council. The original membership of the House was 75, the Council 15; these were increased to 80 and 16, respectively, with the induction of Industria Planitia, the U.I.E.'s first Martian colony, as a full city-state.
Ministries
The U.I.E. government is separated into several distinct ministries (abbreviations, where applicable, in parentheses), all answerable to the Council of the States. The headquarters of the ministries are located in Underwood City, unless otherwise noted.
Arts and Culture: Grand Admiral Underwood has had a keen interest in history and the arts for most of his life, and vigorously promotes museums and galleries for the enjoyment of the people. The centerpieces of this are the Museum of Imperial History in Underwood City, home to the ministry's main office, and the Blackstone Mountains Museum in Illuminopolis.
Defense (MINDEF): The centralized bureaucracy of the U.I.E.'s armed forces. It is divided into three sub-ministries, for each of the major forces: The Army, headquartered in Underwood City; the Navy, headquartered in New Providence; and the Air Force, headquartered in Montagne Noire.
Education: Oversees the U.I.E.'s university system and the education ministries of the city-states. Its headquarters is in Illuminopolis, on the campus of Blackstone University.
Health: Oversees all major hospitals, specialist clinics, and medical schools (in partnership with the Ministry of Education), as well as the municipal health ministries.
Justice: Responsible for all courts and prisons at the imperial level. The Imperial Judiciary, the U.I.E.'s supreme court, is housed in the ministry's headquarters building in Underwood City (which also houses the U.I.E.'s largest prison, sardonically called "Ministry Row" after the region of the city it's in).
Public Safety and Disaster Relief (PUBSAFE): Oversees the police and fire-rescue services throughout the U.I.E., as well as all first responders to natural and man-made disasters.
Space Exploration and Settlement (SPEXSET): The U.I.E.'s space agency. Its headquarters is the Alan B. Shepard Launch Base in Amesport; other facilities include the Imperial Center Launch Base in Underwood City, the Blackstone University Launch Base in Illuminopolis, and the Black Mountain Launch Base in Montagne Noire. The Shepard and Imperial Center bases are the primary links between the terrestrial U.I.E. and the city-state of Industria Planitia on Mars, while the other bases focus primarily on orbital satellites and deep space probes.
State Security (STASEC): The U.I.E.'s domestic and foreign intelligence service - referred to by some critics as its secret police, given that the term "Ministry of State Security" was used by a number of Communist dictatorships for just that purpose.
Transportation: Responsible for the maintenance of the U.I.E.'s roadways, railways, and airports, as well as the buses, ferries, and subways.
The City-States
The Confederated City-States are as follows:
-Underwood City: Grand Admiral Underwood's self-named capital of capitals, Underwood City is the largest of the U.I.E.'s city-states, located on the shore of Skytrail Lake. As the capital of the confederation, virtually all of the U.I.E.'s government institutions are based there; the Congress of the Confederation meets at the Temple of Governance in the downtown district, known as Imperial Center, while most of the major government ministries - Defense, Health, Justice, Transportation, Arts and Culture, Public Safety (law enforcement), and State Security (secret police/espionage) - have headquarters in the district known appropriately as "Ministry Row"; the Ministry of Education also has an office here, while its main headquarters is in Illuminopolis. While there is a city government, known as the Minister-Presidency of the Capital, it is widely understood that all decisions regarding Underwood City are made solely by Grand Admiral Underwood himself. Since the Great Skytrail Flood in 2021, work is being done to expand the city to house the thousands made homeless by the loss of most of the city south of the former Skytrail River.
-Amesport: Located on the southern end of the Trinity River, Amesport is named for American Civil War general Adelbert Ames, who was raised as a sailor. Amesport is the largest seaport in the confederation, its harbor serving as the main water-based commercial hub for the rest of the U.I.E. It is also the location of the headquarters of the Ministry of Space Exploration and Settlement, as well as the U.I.E.'s primary spaceport, the Alan B. Shepard Launch Base, which makes regular trips to Industria Planitia on Mars.
-Illuminopolis: Referred to as the "City of Light", Illuminopolis' bright name comes not from its overuse of electric lighting, but from the "light of knowledge" of the city's many museums, science centers, and universities. The city's spires are built high in the Blackstone Mountains, not far from the border with Caymarnia. Blackstone University, the U.I.E.'s largest college, is also the headquarters of the Ministry of Education.
-New Avalon: Located downslope in the Blackstones from Illuminopolis, New Avalon is sometimes considered to be "Illuminopolis in miniature", as it also focuses primarily on educational facilities, but is not as built-up as the larger city-state.
-Northgate: The main border crossing between the U.I.E. and Defileron. Following the rise of the "restored Caymarnian Imperium" there in the summer of 2022, the city government has sealed the border, and Imperial Forces Base Northgate has been established as the headquarters of the defense against any potential invasion from that quarter. Partly due to the shared threat, IFB Northgate also houses a brigade from the Caymarnian Army.
-Eastgate: The main border crossing between the U.I.E. and Caymarnia, on the opposite side of the Blackstone Mountains from New Avalon. The relations between Grand Admiral Underwood and Emperor Ivan Tsiolivosky were relatively cordial despite their differences of politics, and both nations cooperated to build a high-speed rail line that connects Eastgate to Underwood City in the west and Magna Caymarnia, the Caymarnian capital, in the east. This project's future was in question for some time, as Ivan's abdication in favor of his son Vladimir (who proved to be a paranoid lunatic) and the subsequent revolution that overthrew the monarchy led to an instability of relations between the U.I.E. and Caymarnia. Such relations have since stabilized following the declaration of the Caymarnian Democratic Republic, and the project recommenced in early 2022. The track from Eastgate to the capital (now called Caymarnigrad) was completed in March 2023.
-New Underwood City: Built along the Skytrail River between "Old" Underwood City and New Avalon, New Underwood City was built in response to the attack against the original city during the Defileron Civil War, with Grand Admiral Underwood fearing that the original city would be completely destroyed. Though the original Underwood City survived, the "New" designation was maintained, and it has become a prosperous part of the U.I.E. in its own right.
-Montagne Noire: French for "Black Mountain", centered around the solitary peak of that name near the U.I.E.-Defileron border, Montagne Noire seceded from what remained of Defileron and joined the confederation, placing itself in the crosshairs of Defileronian irredentist groups in the region.
-New Providence: Settled at the southern side of the Trinity River Delta on the western coast, New Providence is the headquarters of the U.I.E. Navy, and is the largest shipbuilder in the confederation.
-Brigantia: A smaller seaport on the U.I.E.'s southern coast.
-Trinity River: The city formerly known as "Sandsedge" is along the coast on the northern side of the Trinity River Delta opposite New Providence, at the edge of the Great Glass Desert - a nuclear-devastated region near the border between the U.I.E. and Defileron. Trinity River is a major oil and mining center, providing metals and fuel for the U.I.E. shipbuilders in New Providence and for the space program based in Amesport. With the region around the city making a limited ecological recovery, the government of Sandsedge elected to have a "more brandable name", and so renamed the city for its main waterway. The Trinity River, named for the nuclear-vitrified patches of glass (broadly designated as "trinitite", after the U.S. Trinity bomb test) scattered across the desert, is met by the Skytrail River west of Underwood City.
-Dusthaven: Deeper in the Great Glass Desert is Dusthaven, which - though in a "hot" (radioactive) region - is also a major oil refinery city, built on the ruins of a Defileronian military base. The area around Dusthaven is also used as one of the two hostile environment training grounds for the U.I.E. Army, the other being a plateau in the Blackstone Mountains south of Illuminopolis.
-Noonday Island: An island city off the coast of Amesport, which operates as a major tourist destination and the U.I.E.'s main cruise ship port. The name comes from the bright lights of the casino-hotels and other establishments, which give a feeling of a "city that never sleeps".
-Heartswood Valley: An alpine ski resort in the foothills of the Blackstone Mountains, and also a center of the U.I.E.'s lumber industry.
-Frosthaven: A major mining town in the Blackstone Mountains, north of Illuminopolis. Together with Trinity River, it provides metal for the New Providence shipyards and the spacecraft facilities in Amesport.
-Industria Planitia: Due to its heavy emphasis on space exploration, the U.I.E. has settled a colony in the Elysium region of Mars. Christened Industria Planitia, or "Plains of Industry", the new colony was admitted by the Congress of the Confederation as the sixteenth city-state on September 9, 2018. Some critics of giving a Martian colony equal standing with the terrestrial city-states point out that the new city-state is not even on the same planet as the remainder of the U.I.E., the total population numbers less than two thousand (making it the least populous city-state), and that the residents are all "transplants" from the other city-states; at best, it would be considered a "getaway destination". Grand Admiral Underwood, however, believes that in light of Earth's increasing deterioration, the destiny of the Empire - and the human race - is in the stars. Industria Planitia receives regular cargo runs of supplies and personnel for its scientific research and construction facilities from the Shepard Launch Base in Amesport, as well as the Imperial Center Launch Base in downtown Underwood City.
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