Chapter1: Reader's Guide to the Solace Bay Region
Entry 14: A Reader’s Guide to the Solace Bay Region
“I’ve made a huge mistake.” - GOB Bluth
Well, since this is my first CJ, and since it is also my first time really playing SC4 (played it for a little when it first came out but it was too hard for me to get the hang of), I have been really learning how to effectively do both.
I originally wanted to create a massive country of many cities that all seemed alive and organic, much the way that CSG or Marsh’s cities do (both my first inspirations to write a CJ). While I still want to create the major cities of the country of Inakaye, I have really gotten to love story telling. And, since story telling takes time and is more of a microscopic level, I have found that it is easier for me to focus on one storyline at a time. Thus I chose Solace Bay (which I still don’t understand why? Because I have three other maps that I am so itching to build on, but had I chosen one of them I’d probably be itching for solace bay, haha).
Anyway, The first half of my ST journal deals with Inakaye as a whole. But then I move to Solace Bay. And there are several towns in solace Bay that I keep talking about. Still yet I just started using the banner of “Inakaye Chapter One: Solace Bay.” All of this is confusing I’m sure. And, since I have just started to get into the “good stuff” as far as the Solace Bay storyline is concerned (I hope you all like it at least), I have decided to write a thorough “Readers Guide to the Solace Bay Region.” Hopefully this update will clarify everything and everyone. It will also be a good sort of legend (that I update periodically) that can be useful for further entries.
I will now go through each important location and give some summary and a little on the important characters of each place.
Let’s start with Inakaye as a whole . . .
Inakaye is a continent/country far to the east of the known world. Look at this ancient map,
imagine that the world was indeed flat and that the borders of this map extended much farther into unknown waters. Imagine that there was apparent nothingness for thousands of miles on the eastern side of the map, and then there was a continent. That is where Inakaye is. Of course the world is round, and some aspects of this journal rely on the fact that that is the case. Essentially I am adding many thousands of miles of nothingness to the pacific ocean. It is very possible that there are still unknown continents that exist out there in the huge unexplored vastness of ocean(hint hint).
Here is a crude map of inakaye, (Fullsize: http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/3453/inakayelabeled.jpg) much like the ancient map you see above, this map was a first sketch that features all of the major features of the continent, but is not very accurate as to scale. As I get better at making images on the computer, I will attempt to make a better map.
History of inakaye can be found in my fist ST entry here.
Now we go through the major cities of Inakaye.
There’s Auen
Auen was the first settlement of Inakaye, and also the first city. It is currently (1910) the nation’s second largest city with a population of around 179,000. It is the seat of the federal government, which is ruled by a parliament and First Minister. As of the current game year (1910), the federal government does not exert it’s power very far and most governing power rests on the town/city level. As Inakaye grows, that may change. Auen is also the home of most of the country’s wealth and culture. However, it is really poorly planned out. it's as if the city planners had no clue as to how to build a city and just randomly placed large swathes of zones together without any clue as to the consequences of their actions.
Next is Duluth
Duluth is the grimy industrial capital of Inakaye. Most of Inakaye’s manufactured goods come from here. It sits in the middle of a regional slew of natural resources including coal, iron, lumber, clay, oil, tin, and copper. It is the largest city with a metro population of nearly 300,000. The conditions in most of the city are deplorable. There are areas near the old harbor that are becoming rather nice though with the increase of wealth in the area. It is also the region of Inakaye that has the most railroad tracks per square mile.
Next there is Mariston. (I am having issues choosing a map for the city, this is different from the original one, but I am currently not to in love with this one, so it may change again)
Mariston has become the major port of Inakaye. Auen lost nearly half of it’s trade to Mariston over the past ten years. Mariston sits at the delta of the Alexandra river and is connected by a waterway to Duluth and the Lake Audra trade route. Mariston is the third largest city at 159,000. Mariston also has the largest immigrant population and is also the fastest growing city. The city is having trouble building homes for the new immigrants, and there are tensions growing between Inakyans who have been in the country several generations and those that are newly arrived.
Next comes Wales
wales is a very small town and is very far north, but it has an abundance of oil which makes it a very important part of the country.
While there are other towns labeled on the map, none of then are cities as of yet and all have a population less than 12,000. They are mostly farming communities as well and lack the heavy industrial development of the cities mentioned above. I may mention them from time to time, but they are not crucial at this point in my CJ.
Finally we arrive at the subject of Chapter One: Solace Bay.
(which just to clarify means that The CJ is about the country of Inakaye. There will hopefully be many chapters. The first one deals with Solace Bay. Other chapters may be about other cities, or I may stick with Solace Bay, we shall see.)
The first thing I’d like to clarify is that Solace Bay is a bay and a city which is named after the bay that it sits in. I also use the term Solace Bay to refer to the Region as a whole. Furthermore, there is the Solace Bay Co, which is located in the city and pretty much owns the entire thing. Confusing right? Well, from now on when I use the words Solace Bay I will try to be clear as to whether I am referring to the city, the region, or the bay itself.
The Solace Bay region is special because it is the location of an ~8km isthmus between the north ocean and Lake Audra. It is also “the” major eastern settlement at this time in the country (slowly people are moving east and several settlements have sprung up even further east but I have yet to mention them yet in the CJ). The isthmus and the location set it up as a perfect place for a crossing of trade spheres.
Now we will go into each major settlement and briefly describe it and then give a description of each of the major characters in that live there.
Let’s start with Solace Bay.
Solace Bay started as a stopping point for sailors on their way to Wales. It then became the site of the Solace Bay Lumber Co. Which was the company that supplied Wales with most of its construction material. The company continued to expand its markets by building factories to build other wooden products like furniture, rifle stocks, and yes, toothpicks; it further expanded with the addition of the Iron Hills Mining operation and the rail link to connect Solace Bay with the mine. The population has exploded over the past ten years but the settlement has still not chartered (though it is in the process of chartering). The city is known for it’s extreme pollution and awful living conditions, but it has jobs a plenty and people still keep coming . . .
Major Characters:
Robert Wyant and James Wyant: Owners/founders of the Solace Bay Co. They live across the bay from the City in the wealthy neighborhood of Wyant’s Landing. They came to the region from Duluth and were intent on Becoming farmers before they started the Lumber Co. almost by accident (they had just cleared a field for their farm when a whaler who was just passing through offered to pay a good deal for the lumber so he could build a house in the settlement of Wales far to the north). They have not been getting along for the past few years and rarely interact except at board meetings. They are probably in the top ten richest people in Inakaye. Robert is rather wise and pragmatic. James is determined, but wrathful, perhaps even violent.
Daniel Johnson: Speaker of the Solace Bay Co. Board. VP of the company. very intelligent, very persuasive, but also fairly goodhearted for an Industrialist.
Black Francis: Leader of the Brotherhood of Derrik, an underground worker's organization that is very mysterious in it's goals, but is possibly revolutionary.
Major Events: Solace Bay Riots, April 30th, 1910 See entry Chapter1: April, 30th 1910. Started due to raising of tax rates. many buildings were destroyed, many people killed. caused Robert Wyant to leave Solace Bay.
The next town is Lake Maureen
Lake Maureen is directly to the south of Solace Bay. It was originally started as a farming community that provided The Solace Bay settlement with food. It quickly grew into a small town with many shops and businesses. Recently, it chartered as a town with the Inakaye Government in Auen, and has grown quite quickly over the past two years under the leadership of its first mayor. Inhabitants of Lake Maureen have grown to resent the rowdy and pollutive Solace Bay to the north and have been trying to keep it from creeping any further south. This is much to the annoyance of Robert and James Wyant of the Solace Bay Co. who wish to expand their company in every direction.
Major Characters:
Mayor McKinley Morganfield: The first Mayor of Lake Maureen. Been in the area for 20 years, came with parents and brothers from near Duluth, but was only 12 at the time. Owned a general store in town, but recently gave it up to contribute all his time to mayoral duties. Very calm and patient man, Believes strongly in education and in attracting trade and business to the region. His opinions on The Solace Bay Co are quite negative, but he is wise enough to realise that he and his city are powerless compared to the Company and it’s city. He continues to try and organise and develop the town of Lake Maureen to increase its legal and economic power.
Jake and Genevieve Newson (used to be Nelson./Hudson): Star crossed lovers who ran off together from homesteads south of Cape Winston. Own a farm on the South Shore of lake Maureen. Recently gave birth to a daughter named Joanna.
The next settlement is Havalina
Havalina is a small farming community located on the shores of lake Audra to the south of both Solace Bay and Lake Maureen. It is of mention because McKinley Morganfield recently built a road there to open up trade to Lake Maureen from Lake Audra. There are no important characters here yet.
Next is Cape Winston
Cape Winston began as a fishing village, but then farms and a town began growing up around it. It is now home to a fish cannery and has begun to slowly grow into a town. It is not officially chartered yet. There are no Characters here either.
Lastly I want to bring up the Burton Homestead again.
This was the first settlement in the this area of Inakaye. The Burtons have been living here for over 100 years. Members of the Burton family have dispersed throughout the country.
Major Characters:
Jeremiah Burton: Current head of the Burton Household, still remembers the good old days when there was no one around.
Elijah Burton: Jeremiah’s son. Future head of the household. Married to Elsa Rally, and has two kids, Aaron and Shannon. Recently Elsa’s cousin Gary Rally, from Cape Winston, cleared a farmstead near the Burton farm. Jeremiah was pissed because he’s a grumpy old man.
While there are other towns, you can see them on the map. I don’t have anything particular to say about them right now. I hope that was clarifying. I was thinking of just editing the first post and placing this in there, but I don’t think it fits there as it pertains only to the most recent posts and the ones that are to come. I say, let the past be past and will leave it as a monument to my progress.
I have been looking through a lot of other journals and I can see where mine is lacking in clarity and thoroughness. I have also been evaluating other people’s playing styles and trying to improve my own. I doubt I can achieve the greatness of those who inspire me (solely because I do so many other things in my life), but have found this whole CJ experience to be quite enjoyable, so I see this post as sort of a clean up of the past and a look to the future of Inakaye. I hope that those of you who have enjoyed my journal continue to do so. Thanks so much for your comments, it keeps me writing!
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