Otome Row: Places and Setting

It is 2012 or Year 20 of Hinao Era – thirty-four years since the conclusion of the Sixty Years War and the start of the Cold War. Since then, most of the fallout zones left by the detonation of spin bombs have stabilised. Their reconstruction gave rise to the War Accountability and Reparation Provisions where entities both Amaharan and foreign are given unrestricted access in efforts of reconstruction. Owing to numerous legal loopholes, the exact sovereignty and jurisdiction within these areas remain uncertain to this day. Within the so-called WARP Zones, the rule of law is weak and competition is unforgiving. The difference between have and have-not can be stark as day and night and whether it is hell or heaven depends on one's position and attitude. The largest, most important and most infamous of these zones is the Jura Megalopolis.

Located on the southern shore of the Ryunan Peninsula facing the Jura Strait, the Megalopolis is one of the largest cities in the world and its busiest and most important port. Though heavily spin-bombed and still peppered with major anomalies, the territory's strategic location assured its quick revival and regrowth. With a third of the world's shipping passing within sight of the shore, the Jura Megalopolis is vital to the world's economy, yet its legal status makes it inviolable by official forces, especially in this era of Cold War tensions. Today, the Jura Megalopolis is a hub of spies, unsavory corporations and above all, crime.

Territory

The Jura WARP Zone is approximately a beveled, enlongated right triangle with an area of over 700 sq. km. Despite or because of its reputation, the population has grown rapidly since the war, resulting in very high density and a tendency for hub areas with the money to build upwards. Whether from the sea or nearby mountains, the Jura Megalopolis has a very compelling skyline. At the edges of the territory, lack of space brings slums and buildings right to the international borders.

In the west, slums and barrios come right to the edge of the Celebes Republic, an exotic pot of a dictatorship tolerated because it opposes communism. Despite the threat of nasty wildlife, landmines and guerillas or guards randomly shooting folks, parts of the jungle are often stripped or poached for food, wood, or drug cultivation. In two areas near extant villages, the border could even be said to be blurry, a state of affairs tolerated so long the local general or rebel leader gets a cut.

The northeastern border faces the People's Republic of Ryunan, former Amaharan territory turned communist hellhole since its occupation and annexation by the People's Confederation of Lotus Asia. Despite post-war treaties, the Ryunan DMZ was reoccupied a mere seven years after the war by rebranding an entire army division into a supposedly civil border-and-customs unit. Here, spartan housing blocks abut directly on walls of concrete and barbed wire beyond which is stark rainforest punctuated by clear logged areas, guard towers and even bunkers. This longer and more exciting border has only one official crossing. Yet, despite iron curtain efforts, human trafficking into the Megalopolis continues through various methods.

Just across the Jura Strait lies the theocratic Emirate of Midena, a member of the Caliphate. The Francian imperial colony of Menden and several other states (mostly small bits and islands) are also nearby.

Districts, Wards and Landmarks

Central Jura

Central Jura is basically the endgamge core of the Jura Megalopolis, a district packed with skyscrapers, mysteries, people and money. A few of the most powerful gangs are concentrated in this area, which covers approximately a quarter of the total area of the Megalopolis.

03 Ring Route

In the underworld, 03 Ring Route is better known as "The Wall". It is is an elevated highway that surrounds Central Jura so dubbed because it is the limit beyond which most gangs are ruthlessly smashed should they attempt to encroach on the superpowers' territories.

Megastructure

The Megastructure is a giant engineering plate laid over the ruins of the pre-war city of Jura after the end of the conflict. It underlies the majority of the present Jura Megalopolis, namely beneath all of downtown and about half the remaining area. Its presence masks the natural streams and rivers that had previously existed and converts the older landscape into massive catacombs, sewers and undercity.