As part of my continuing promise to deliver significantly less content with 70s super-Ela than D&D Ela I think what I might do is make narrative posts on Monday and Friday and have Wednesday for backgrounds posts. When I was thinking about where to kick this story off I thought of someplace like Madripoor. Then I decided to just call it Madripoor. It’s already an expy of Singapore, no reason to get meta-removed another level. Unless I get sued by Marvel.
Madripoor
The city of Madripoor is the capital and lone urban area of the Kingdom of Madripoor, located in the southern portion of the Strait of Malacca, southwest of Singapore. There is no official data but most estimates put the population of Madripoor around 9 million, making it one of the most densely populated places in the world.
Madripoor is controlled by a cartel of influential individuals and families that reestablished the government after the death of the King and the dissolution of the parliament during the Japanese Empire’s invasion in 1942. A treaty constructed under the influence of the United Nations in the early 50s secured Madripoor’s sovereignty, ending years of occupation.
After independence Madripoor saw a population explosion as refugees from other Japanese Imperial conquests, having lost both home and property, flooded into the “free” city. Madripoor does not extradite criminals making it a haven for people fleeing political or criminal issues as well.
Dutch political scientist Amelia Guttmann described Madripoor as a “non-aligned crypto libertarian pseudo republic”. Heiress Robin Hayworth said that Madripoor was “a great place to be rich”. Travel author Kimble Anders called Madripoor “the closest thing I’ve seen to Hell on earth away from an active battlefield”.
Languages
The major languages spoken in in Madripoor are Indonesian, Malay, English, French, and Filipino.
Economy
Madripoor is home to the most luxurious and expensive hotels and high-end service industry in the world, while also possessing one of the most severe wealth inequities in history. This economic polarization has effectively divided the city into the ultra-modern haven of the very rich and powerful, and the domain of the hopelessly poor.
Madripoor grew prominent as a transshipment hub port during the days of wind-powered shipping. In modern times this aspect has declined but it remains a duty-free port with a high volume of re-export trade.
For several years, Madripoor has been one of the few countries with an AAA credit rating and the only Asian country to achieve this rating. Madripoor attracts a large amount of foreign investment as a result of its location, skilled workforce, low tax rates, and advanced infrastructure. Despite market freedom, Madripoor’s government operations have a significant stake in the economy, contributing 44% of the GDP. It is a popular location for conferences and events.
