Rapet, Kodia, Egon and Nobo plus a couple dozen smaller islands make up the Garden Isle Archipelago (though sometimes the term is inclusive of the nearby and closely related the island group called “The Trailing Isles”). These islands are dominated by old extinct and eroded volcanoes, and are warm, wet, lush and tropical.
The Garden Islands are the major breadbasket of the The Inner Archipelago, not only providing staples of fruit and grains, but also more exotic cash crops like cotton, tobacco and dyes and spices. Ethnically they are almost entirely First People, with very little Annish or Mythran blood. The old ways are strong in the Gardens and the old magics are stronger, Garden Islander Hoodons and sorcerers are legendary.
A few years ago these islands were all but slaves of various merchant houses including the infamous Garden Island Trading Company out of Pader. They were dominated by massive plantations owned by foreigners where their populations were forced to work for slave wages. With the death of the King of The Antilles, and the subsequent War of Antillian Succession the Garden Islands revolted in mass, massacring the Company men, then driving off the Antillian forces sent to relieve them, and finally fighting off an attempt from The Republic of Haven to step into the void afterward.
While completely weak at sea, their magic and martial skills are strong and they still maintain a constant military readiness with regard to their neighbors. They bear no love for the The Merchant Houses of Haven, The Twins or The Antilles, and their small ports are open to Piracy. Kodia Town is second only to Skull River Bay as the most notorious pirate haven in the Isles. While the Garden ports are open to piracy they are not entirely effective in their ability to provide a safe haven. The Inner Archipelago occasionally puts their quarrels aside to muster a fleet to burn the Garden Havens out, and the merchant houses and nearby states freely violate Garden Islands harbors, ignoring the Garden Islands' claim to sovereignty.
Recently one war chief, out of Kodia, is gaining in fame and notoriety, there is rumor that the Garden’s may unify behind him and elect their first High King in five hundred years.
Inspiration
In addition to the same 17th century Caribbean inspiration of the overall The Thousand Isles, the Garden Isles pull specifically from Haiti. There physical description comes from Hawaii most specifically the island of Kauai .