Olivawk

Olivawk is a major Tasnican industrial city. A proudly blue-collar town, the city is perhaps best known as the ground contact point for the Void Bridge. The city sits near the Habari hills, nestled between the ocean and the upperlands forest; it's the northwest corner of the Quad.

The Rust Bucket

Olivawk became a boomtown during Tasnica's industrial revolution. The nearby coal mines provided fuel for the furnace of heavy industry. The city grew rapidly, and built large wooden workers dormitories that came to be known as the Termite Mounds. The steamstack industries covered the area in soot and smog. Crime was rampant. Powerful businessmen and crime bosses jockeyed for power over a corrupt city government and Senate seats.

Today, the city has improved somewhat. Pollution is much reduced due to clean magitek fuels. The local mines are less important, though still tapped for valuable metals and geothermal energy. However, much is the same. The city is still dominated by manufacturing industries. The local government is still corrupt, and the Senate seat is still essentially for sale. The city has one of the highest crime rates in the Republic. The inefficient and corrupt police force has led people who can afford it to hire Centurion Security Services or other firms for protection.

In spite of all this, the city burst with vitality, with lots of beer halls, dance parties, and a large local grunge music scene. Local cuisine is heavy, greasy, but also hearty. Coarse isn't the same as uncultured.

The town has a few gleaming skyscrapers near the Void Bridge, but most of the city is red brick and concrete. Native Olivawkers defend the towns "rugged charm" while visitors decry its sheer ugliness.

Almost every Tasnican corporation involved in manufacturing has facilities in Olivawk. Atreus makes its headquarters here, and although the company has fallen on hard times, it is, by definition, a huge player in the local economy and politics.

Stairway to Heaven

The Void Bridge is a massive space elevator, linking to the space station of Contac in geostationary orbit. An enormously expensive project that took years to build, the Void Bridge was finished only when Seraphim plastic, advanced in gravitics, and the Watts space construction robot made it possible. The Void Bridge is one of the modern wonders of the Web--which is a big reason why the Tasnicans built it.

The huge initial outlay for the Bridge has slowly been paying itself off, as per trip it is a cheaper way to transport bulk cargo into space then conventional craft. Almost everything from Tasnica's possessions in the Core that's "going up" is shipped to Olivawk to take a trip up the elevator. Loading and maintaining the elevator is a huge business in the city. Smuggling cargo (or people) on board is also a huge illicit business.

The Bridge rises well over any other building in Olivawk skyline; and, on a clear day, can be seen from any of the other cities of the Quad.