Campaign:Equinoctial/NewAuburn

The Map

RAWK_LAWBSTAR's fictional town in Washington County Maine for Equinoctial and Contagion.

New Auburn

Founded as a mining town a year before the outbreak of World War 2 when prospector and geologist Eugene Auburn discovered a rich ore deposit of iron, nickel, and copper beneath the local mountains; the smattering of mica only helped to sell the site. During the war years New Auburn saw rapid growth as many of the industries that were integral to America's war effort set up to exploit the area's mineral wealth and ease of shipping from Eason bay, allowing from almost everything to be set up on site.

After the war, the arms manufacturers slowly shifted toward more peacetime manufacturing, allowing the town to continue to a full fledged city that would eventually rival the Portland area in population. Incorporating the old fishing town of Pendleton in the mid 70s and Wendel Cove during its eastward expansion in the late 80's. Today New Auburn has a population of approximately 325,000 people.

Auburn Hills

Located on the foot hills of Mount Askaskwi, Auburn Hills is the site for most of New Auburn's mining activity. Majority of the mines are underground and make use of shaft mining techniques to dig deep into the Earth leaving much of the surface of the area only marginally impacted save for the surface facilities, warehouses, train yards, and other such businesses that help support the mining operations. There are a few open pit mines and quaries and even a few adits as well as numerous closed tunnels whose numbers seem to grow ever year.

Auburn Industrial District

The Auburn Industrial District was the original backbone of the city along with the mines, home to numerous factories and mills that helped supply Allied forces on the European front during World War II during the city's infancy and has always been known for its notoriously bad water contamination issues. Now the Industrial district is home to a mix of rampant urban decay with dots of thriving industries that managed to roll and adapt with the times such as Basilisk Armory Munitions and the Monolith Technology Corporation. Many of the old mills and foundries still operate succusfully to this day, churning out steel that provides the backbone for urban growth in the area.

Bennet's Corner

Formerly the homes to the more wealthy and elite from the time of New Auburn's founding, Bennet's Corner has lowered from being the retreat of the high society to the homes of the common men and women as time has past, devloping into a nice primarily residential district with a ditinct feel of yesteryear. Some of the better schools have been established here and New Auburn University technically used to consider part of the neighborhood before it became large enough to warrent its own standing.

Bluefield

Once covered with pathes of trees and blueberry farms, now home to urban middle class of New Auburn. Bluefield used to be a suburb of New Auburn but during the expansion in the 70s and 80s but was quickly sandwhiched between the growing city and Wendell, leading to it being a curious patchwork of dense urban space and tree-lined suburban neighborhoods.

Downtown

The beating heart of modern New Auburn, holding the financial and business hubs of the city as well city hall. In an effort to display itself as a player in the modern world and up with the times, Downtown is a densely packed urban center with towering sky scrapers of glass and steel, almost the entirety of the growth is fueled by the local mining industries. Day to day the streets are bustling with people going about their lives, at least in the warmer parts of the year; come winter most take to the many skyways and tunnels to escape the cold, leaving the streets to be braved by those who don't mind the biting weather. Together, tunnels and skyways connect almost every building in the district save for the few remaining older buildings that haven't been acquired by corporate interests of the development board (leaving the number of structures under 6 stories to be counted on a single hand).

Lobster Islands

Not exactly part of the city per se, the Lobster Islands are a collection of islands a couple miles south out in the bay and are known for the sizable of quantity of lobsters that dwell in the area. There isn't much on the islands save for a few uninhabited rickety old harbors and cabins that date from decades back when the island was used as fishing outpost. The area is the subject of a local legend amongst the area: supposedly the area is inhabited by a cryptid known as the Maine Lobsterman that attacks and drives out anyone who enters the area. The legend is taken seriously by most of New Auburn's fishermen, as those who go there usually suffer some mishap or damage to their boats which is proof enough to most people. Many of the more adventurous youth of the city often make trips to the island to test their mettle and examine the legend themselves, which further promotes the legend. The power of the legend is stretches far enough that most local restaurants near the coast don't serve lobster.

Lumina Park

Lumina Park is the city's primary shopping and entertainment district with a healthy mix of upscale housing and business districts along with a smattering of parks. Lumina park centers around Lumina Lake where the largest concentration of theaters, restaurants, stages, bars, shopping arcades, and other such diversions resides, all neatly planned out around the Lumina Municipal Park. The business parks and centers tend to be on the west side of the neighborhood nearest Downtown while residential areas tend to be closer to Warrenton. Lumina Park also contains a number of marinas where the affluent keep their boats and is the city's connection to Pebon Island, either via ferry or the Siguan Bridge.

Old Town

The original location of the fledling town that has now sprawled into a modern metropolis. Old Town west containing much the initial industrial development and the eastern half housing business and residential centers. Old Town was the hub of the city from the 40s all the way to the late 60s until the locus of the city began to shift southward toward the coast and causing the area to largely degrade save for a blocks that held on to their status as high brow locales of the elite. In modern times, Old Town East has undergone a large degree of gentrification bringing back up the property values thanks to an influx of people in the last 15 years that has served revitalized the district. Unfortunately Old Town West has only seen an improvement near the river, the remainder being left to industrial uses and low income neighborhoods, with the border of the Aubern Industrial District being particularly bad.

Pebon Park

The island New Auburn's primier park, with the vast majority of the island unmolested by human development save for the Pebon Park Bridge and small amount of development on the northern tip, mostly entertainment and eateries. The top third of the island contain more traditional park spaces such as sporting areas, playgrounds, amenities, and gardens while the remainder of the park is generally untouched save for hiking and bicycle trails and the sporadic cabins, campgrounds, and the like. The shore of the island is dotted with docks. moslty just simple wooden ones to allow for boat access at various points, however there is the Siguan Marina located near the Siguan bridge that connects it to the mainland where a majority of recreational vessals are kept.

Wendel Cove

Prior to New Auburn, Wendel Cove was a sleepy fishing town nestled in the picturesque. After the war when New Auburns growth took off, the town became a destination for the well off of New Auburn to retreat to and relax and remained the quiet getaway up until it was annexed by the city in the 80s. Wendel Cove still maintains much of its old picturesque atmosphere along with more modern additions and amenities. The area is home to several well to do middle class neighborhoods, tourist hot spots, coastal attractions, and several bustling marinas.

Wharton Industrial District

Unlike the Auburn Industrial District, the Wharton Industrial District is mainly comprised of light industry, though there still are some heavy industries that have facilities in the area that take full advantage of the closer access to the proximity of the shipping facilities in the harbor. There are also a smattering of office parks looking to take advantage of the lower property values. While a step above the Auburn Industrial District in terms of quality, it still leaves much to be desired when compared to the eastern parts of the city. The district also contains the majority of public housing in the city, built in the undeveloped pockets during the 70s to provide affordable housing for the city's poor.