Ashanti
The very name of Ashanti evokes thoughts of pleasure and the beauty of the flesh. For this reason, some Northerners have branded it the city of sin; to the Southern Republic, it is a hub of liberalism. Known as the City of Light, Ashanti is a jewel on the shores of Lake Esperance, Its beautiful beaches, manicured roads and lavish hotels make Ashanti the resort capital of Terra Nova.
Founded in TN 530 by the Ecologen corporation, Ashanti was initially a scientific community which studied the marine life in Lake Esperance. Unfortunately for the scientific community, many corporate workers enjoyed the Caribbean-style vacations that Ashanti could recreate. Pulling an abrupt about face, Ecologen decided that it could profit from this location and Ashanti became the resort town of Terra Nova. Ecologen created a city that was a veritable playground for those able to experience it, and it prospered beyond the directors' wildest imaginings. The coming of the Marabou Marauders would change Ashanti in a way no one could have ever imagined. Refusing to surrender to the Marauders, the city suffered wholesale destruction and became a refugee camp overnight. The soldiers rampaged through the city, destroying every vestige of Ashantite culture and architecture. The greatest loss was the huge public library which contained thousands of novels and poems from Terra Nova's and Earth's greatest writers. Although rebuilt, much of Ashanti's prize architecture was forever lost and while today's Ashanti is a gem, it is a far cry from the Ashanti of old.
Willow Park occupies the central portion of Ashanti. It is the official landmark that commemorates the destruction of the public library and the invasion of Ashanti. Statues representing the city's valiant defenders and cultural icons grace the walkways of this large green space. The park's serenity makes it a haven for people who want to spend some quiet time outdoors. The downtown district harbors Ashanti's administrative offices and foreign embassies, as well as art galleries and the reconstructed public library. The Casino District, Ashanti's lifeblood, is home to over 30 casinos and gaming clubs. These houses boast games to please even the most demanding gambler. Anything from slot machines to 3-D Gear combat simulations can be found in the towering glass and steel complexes. This district also includeshundreds of shops that sell everything from useless trinkets to top of the line, overpriced sports cars.
The cultural center that is Ashanti is one of the most vibrant and innovative on the planet. From clothes and visual art to literature and architecture - and the list goes on - Ashanti is the place where rising stars want to get to, and where the divas of today attempt to hold their positions. The most famous names and the most celebrated faces grace the local runways, cawfee houses and villas.
Demographics
An Open Society
A hotbed of popular culture, Ashanti is the most liberal city on Terra Nova. Ashantites claim they have no prejudices and the people are in fact very tolerant of outsiders. They do look down on societies that do not share their open attitudes, however ; most notably the "automatons" of the Humanist Alliance and the "barbarians" of the Eastern Sun Emirates. The moralistic society of the North is also less than popular, although most Ashantites are welcoming to the few Northern tourists they receive.
Ashantites spend their days very much like other Republicans, working for a living and making no qualms about their desire to succeed. However, the celebrity status conferred on Ashanti, by virtue of its many famous inhabitants, has dragged the local culture down somewhat. In Ashanti, as nowhere else, the ethics of "live fast and hard, and die young if it suits your purposes" are parts of daily life. The Ashantite love of life extends only as far as Life is fulfilling and suitably entertaining. This fact has staked Ashanti with one of the grimmest statistics in the Southern Republic. The rate of suicide among Ashantites is almost triple the national average: not all is roses in this fast-paced city-state.
The most disconcerting aspect, from an outsider's point of view, of Ashantite culture is the predominance of nudity in the city-state. Most people live their daily lives completely naked save for fashionable accessories. Although a direct result of the high temperatures that Helios inflicts on Ashanti. this "nude living" has developed into a daily routine of sorts. As firm believers in the right to free love, which promotes the belief that sex and love are separate concepts, each enjoyable in their own rights, Ashantites are often cast as overly liberal, even degenerate, by outsiders. Many citizens use their free time to explore their sexuality. This has opened the way for a dangerous phenomenon. Etienne Durocher, the grossly corrupt Lord Chancellor of the Mekong Dominion, has used the sexual liberty of Ashanti as a cover to entice locals into his own dark fantasies. Agents of the Lord Chancellor entice ambitious Ashantites with promises of wild, erotic experiences and reward them by adding them to Durocher]'s personal slave rings.
Government
Politics of Passion
The political structure in Ashanti is quite simple in comparison to other city-states. The city is governed by a majority municipal government headed by a mayor. The opposition is currently formed by the alliance of two smaller parties who hold in total one third of the seats in the Chamber of Law. The chamber's task is to pass laws which help promote the culture and high standard of living of Ashantites. In addition, the chamber is also the official link between the Estates General and the city's population. The current mayor, Galepe Mahorda is a staunch supporter of Louis Philippe deRouen, and has patterned many of her city's internal workings to parallel the reforms the Prime Minister has introduced at the national level over the past decade.
Unfortunately, much of Mahorda's laudable effort is being undone by the shadowy maneuvers of Etienne Durocher. From his seat of power in Hsi Tsang, the corrupt Lord Chancellor has targeted Ashanti as his political playground and foothold in the Republic itself. Using loyal supporters (including members of Les Témoins ), Durocher has become the patron of a cadre of corrupt Ashantite politicians and businessmen. They mask his presence, while he maneuvers them into power.
There is presently a scandal which has rocked the city chamber to its very foundation. The committee charged with overseeing fair play and healthy competition between the casinos has been accused of perjury and corruption. Many members of the council are involved, and local investigators have not ruled out the mayor or her immediate entourage from their list of suspects. The opposition sees it as an opportunity to force the mayor's party from office. DeRouen, who wants to see his political ally remain in power, has ordered SRID to assist in the investigation. Local and national investigators have yet to make the connection between the accused committee members and whoever is pulling the strings.
Industry & Trade
- Tourism
- Fashion
Tourism and Fashion
Beautiful beaches and intense nightlife make tourism the major industry in Ashanti. Everything is seemingly geared towards pleasing the visitor and something to suit anyone's taste can be found at a moment's notice. There is so much to do that no one can fully experience Ashanti in a single visit; those who have tried are said to suffer from sensory overload. Oddly, it is families who visit Ashanti that spend the least money, as parents spend much of their time with the children and not in the shops and casinos. To remedy this situation, the city has recently begun to offer free adventure camps for children, liberating the parents from responsibility so they can spend their time injecting dinars into the city. So far the plan has worked wonderfully, and preliminary reports show that the increased spending of the parents is more than double the costs of running the camps.
Ashanti's secondary industry is fashion and the city i s neck in neck with Port Oasis as the home of avant-garde style. All manner of clothing can be found gracing the displays of the exclusive shops, especially on the boardwalks which line the beaches. Interestingly, although many Ashantites choose to forgo the use of clothing, some of the most inventive designer minds come from this city, and the labels which they create are sold across the Southern Republic. There are ready export markets in the Eastern Sun Emirates and the Mekong Dominion, where there are both the demand and the dinars needed to sustain the purchase of these top fashions.
Points of interest
The Lost Tomes
Sheltering the strewed corpses of its valiant defenders, Ashanti's main public library burned, and with it went millennia of history and culture. This is the accepted view of the library's fate; fortunately the art of scavenging and collecting war trophies are a mainstay practice in any military campaign. The Marabou Marauders knew full well the vast literary and scientific treasure that lay nestled in the building. With its defenders dead and the civilians scurrying for safety, the Marauders were able to infiltrate the building and retrieve some texts before the structure burned to the ground.
Many have speculated about the contents of these manuscripts, from the farcical comedies of great writers past, to ancient knowledge of genetic manipulation unmatched by current medical technology. Some have gone so far as to suggest these documents hold the key to the genesis of GRELs, or even the dreaded Prime Knights, supersoldiers from Earth's past.
The intense speculation over the contents of the lost tomes has provided book hunters with more than adequate funding. The two largest contributors are the city of Ashanti itself and various cultural councils throughout the AST. SRID has also secretly given some funding and has placed agents in several expeditions to make sure that all vital information falls into their hands. The intelligence directorate's interest in the tomes has become known in book hunting circles, fueling beliefs that the lost tomes contain knowledge with military applications rather than just academic and cultural works. The elders of Ashanti do their best to counteract these rumors. Mekong Dominion Lord Chancellor Etienne Durocher has also supplied funds to many Ashanti book hunters through a front corporation. He hopes to add a variety of treasures to his personal collection. Recovering the lost tomes is also a high priority among traditional Ashantites and Durocher knows that by obtaining these prizes he can further secure his covert hold on the city. His occasional bouts of megalomania also raise his hopes that tales of the Prime Knights are correct, for he sometimes dreams of building his own army of supersoldiers
Maps
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Ashanti
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