Siwa Oasis
"The least colorful city-state in the Republic, next only to Loyang in the southern hemisphere in filth per square centimeter" is the defining entry attached to Siwa Oasis in the 1933 edition of Terranovan Travel. Despite the epitaph by Popular Publishing's Newton office, Siwa boasts some of the most refined architecture in the Southern Republic. Built in the same time frame that saw Port Oasis rise on the banks of Lake Esperance, Siwa Oasis naturally has more similarities with its "elder sister" than a name. The city-states share the same defensive wall, harbor and four section pie layout that was the architectural norm at the time.
Following its destruction at the hands of the Marabou Marauders, Siwa was rebuilt by the famed architect Frederique Gillais. Gillais was instructed to appease the Siwans with little regard to the expense. Retaining the general layout, Siwa was refurbished with a Greco-Roman flare that consists of wide boulevards, colonnades, amphitheaters and temple-like facades adorning every building. When the construction efforts moved to the old wail, the remaining members of the Siwan council requested that the wall remain as it was. It became a monument simply known as "The Wall," no longer needed to defend the city, but to defend the name and spirit of Siwans from the forgetfulness of time.
The crescent-shaped harbor lies in the western quadrant, opening "The Wall" onto the majestic Siwa River. The interior city is bisected by four wide boulevards forming the spokes, while the old wall forms the rim of the wheel. The city's hub is the administrative sector, situated on the crossroads of the boulevards. The administrative sector consists of city hall, the city's Banque Republicaine and Exchange complex and the offices for the various energy consortiums. The remainder of the inner city is residential, accommodating a large population in an area that had been intended to house a populace one sixth the size. This feat is accomplished by Siwans' choice to build downwards and avoid the polluted atmosphere. Buildings whose structures appear to be two stories in height above the surface may descend six to ten levels bellowground. The wealthier citizens are housed near the hub of the city, with the districts declining in prosperity the closer they are to the city's rim.
Mirroring the old wall is the Siwa Defense Complex, forming essentially a new wall designed to be indistinguishable from the inner city. This defensive structure gives the outward appearance of a multitude of buildings, structure connected by hidden walkways and tunnels. The first crescent of buildings are the utilities, with the water filtration plant on the riverbank forming the northern tip and the sewage plant forming the southern tip. Between these structures lie the electrical relays and air filtration plants that make life in the underground city possible. Beyond, lie the life and bane of Siwa Oasis: its refineries. Oil refineries and holding tank complexes neighbor metal foundries and warehouse complexes in a sprawl of spewing smoke stacks. The industrial area is more than double the size of the inner city and extends as far as the gamma maglev line and the Republican Allied Rail depot. Beyond the maglev line, oil fields spread to the horizon, dotted with oil wells and wind turbines.
Demographics
Life in the Smog
The "City of Fallen Angels" darkens the sky over a portion of the Esperance Basin and fouls a segment of the Siwa River. The dark temper of the average Siwan befits his surroundings, making Siwa the most violent city-state in the Republic except for Saragossa. Cases of domestic violence, assault, murder and suicide are, on average, 10 to 15 percent higher in Siwa than in other Republican city-states. This is not to say that all Siwans are of violent intent, some do choose to defy their adversity in opposition to falling prey to it. It is these citizens that embody the spirit of "The Wall."
Siwans are generally denigrated as under-cultured "fallen angels" by more sophisticated Republicans. Indeed, relatively few cultural events grace the Siwan social scene, consisting mostly of popular entertainment and seedier underground pleasures. Locals see themselves, however, as the heart of the Republic. They know that their toil in factories and refineries fuels the greatness of the nation - a conviction they share with Timbuktu. The two cities are in fact quite friendly and travel between the two is quite common as is trade along the long subterranean rail link between the two industrial city-states.
Siwa and Timbuktu now share more than an underground railway. The underworld has proliferated of late, offering an illegal "pit" match league catering to the savage streak of the populace. This increase in organized crime activity has local law enforcement and corporate security corps joining forces, in an attempt to limit, if not eradicate, its influence from Siwan society. To control smuggling, inspection details have increased in size and might on both the Allied Rail line and the gamma maglev line. Street patrols have increased in firepower and frequency both in the city and under it, hoping to limit underworld movements. The addition of Black Mamba MP Gears to the underground city police force has given the edge to law enforcement in the latest clashes.
Government
Pollution and Corruption
The Siwan political scene is dominated by a powerful coalition of local enterprises, the state bureaucracy and elements of the underworld. The Coalition for Rightful Environmental Exploitation has gained a powerful foothold in Siwa thanks to the membership of Werpston Excavations, a leading local oil drilling firm. Although no other Siwans corporations are members of CREE, many support their agenda of limiting environmental legislation. CREE'S influence on the local scene is so powerful that its leader Jan Mach is thought to have hand-picked Mayor Farsil Dertmin as the head of the Siwan Progress Party, virtually guaranteeing his election as municipal leader. Indeed the SPP, with a rigid pro-business platform, has controlled the city government since the TN 1840s. The Republican bureaucracy allows the SPP and its corporate masters to control Siwa - ensuring it remains an industrial hell-hole - because they see the city as a sacrificial Lamb, its beauty tarnished for the greater power of the Republic. They did help fund a lavish underground city where citizens can live away from the smog, however.
Mayor Dertmin owes much to organized crime, as well. The Rostov Family of Port Oasis has extended its criminal web into Siwa and has used bribes to control many key members of the city government. Dertmin himself counts Jarl Rostov (the head of the Siwan branch of the family) in his circle, although he does not advertise the fact. The Rostovs, of course, are behind recent crackdowns against crime and smuggling, which conveniently target their competitors.
There are some signs of hope in Siwa, however. Jarl Rostov has been somewhat less skillful than his Oasian cousins in bribing the right officials in national law enforcement. Several SRID Public Interaction Unit agents who have been frustrated by the lack of progress against the Rostovs in the capital have sensed that Siwa might be their Achilles heel. The law enforcement sweeps arranged by the crime boss to target his enemies have provided excellent cover for a small number of agents dedicated to taking him down. This unofficial task force, led by Lieutenant France Perus, has also received help from those seeking to deal with CREE. SRID Sergent Maistar Bukmin has been especially helpful, bringing with him a large body of evidence of CREE misdeeds over the last decade. This group of agents must act carefully, however, because they are not sure just who among their superiors and aides are receiving bribes from the Rostovs or CREE. Many members of the "Perus Group" have spotty political records and have a tendency to prioritize the successful completetion of a case above their careers.
Industry & Trade
- Metal and petrolum refining
Districts
The Underground City
The depths beneath Siwa Oasis have become known as the underground city, built to provide living space for the populace, with a certain amount of refuge from the hazards of pollution. The subterranean portion of Siwa grew as the external living conditions worsened, leaving the buildings of the outer city to be replaced by yet more refineries. This trend became a vicious circle with the demand for subterranean accommodations exceeding the construction rate, leaving thousands of citizens on a 2 to 3 cycle-long waiting list.
The underground city is a marvel of modern architecture, in the sense that it is invisible to tourists until they are introduced to its byways by locals. Providing shelter for 80 percent of the populace, the under city far exceeds the surface city in living space. The under city complex mirrors the surface city in layout and exists six to ten levels below the surface. The basement buildings descend to a manmade cavern that provides transit between the four quadrants, via the cavern floor at the 10th level and a series of walkways and catwalks on the 6th to 9th levels. The core of the under city is the shopping district known as "The Well," an open plaza lined by boutiques, restaurants and clubs extending from the 10th to the 6th level. A Roman bath pool forms the center of Oasis Park on the plaza floor, providing greenery and comfort to shoppers and visitors. Travel in the under city is simply a ride on the public monorail system sunken into the floor of the 10th level, running in both directions on the four sub-boulevards and encircling The Well.
The existence of the subterranean city is unique in the Southern Republic and is only possible due to the non-porous rock that forms the Esperance Basin. The solidity of the basin's rock formation allows for not only the accumulation of water on the surface, but also a sturdy medium in which to anchor the subsurface structures. The utilities that provide life support for the under city are located on the surface, outside of the Siwa Defense Complex. The air filtration plants remove pollutants from the atmosphere by pumping the air destined for the under city through a series of water/charcoal filters. A similar procedure is used in the water filtration plants with the addition of chemical anti-pollutants to reduce the toxicity to an acceptable level. Power is supplied to the under city by a series of surface relay stations that gather electricity from the wind turbine installations outside of Siwa Oasis and augment this supply with power generated from the gas generators in the outer city.
The underground city has been the major residential area in Siwa for over a generation now and some Republican officials are beginning to be concerned by the psychological effects of underground life. The Humanist city of Gardena - also built largely underground - is infamous for the grave agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) and xenophobia (fear/hatred of outsiders) of its citizens and the same tendencies are beginning to appear in Siwa. The underground city is a marvel of architecture that could be a point of civic pride on the national scene, but Siwans cultivate their image as "Fallen Angels" living in an industrial wasteland and rarely talk about the hidden beauty of their city to visitors. Some observers have begun to wonder whether Siwans do not actively want to discourage tourism and be left alone in their stone womb. Some Republican officials see this as a danger to national unity.
Maps
-
Siwa Oasis
Comments