Solaris City

The capital and beating heart of the Game World, Solaris City is the home of the movers and shakers of Solaris VII. The city, which is home to some five million people, is divided into six principal districts and, with the exception of the International Zone, each of those is considered property of one of the five Great Houses. They are the Black Hills (Davion), Cathay (Liao), Silesia (Steiner), Montenegro (Marik), and Kobe (Kurita). Each of the districts hosts a Class Six arena, where the top twenty MechWarriors battle each year to determine the championship. Residents of the sectors are actually still considered citizens of their respective nations, so Solaris City finds itself the home of many individuals who are persona non grata in their home nations, but still wish to remain citizens. Because of this phenomenon, the residents of Solaris City are often unrepresentative of the people from their parent nation.

Solaris City is ringed by a suburb known as Xolara, which itself is surrounded by Burgton. To the northeast is Roland Fields, while Bracken Swamp is to the southwest. Many native Solarans live in these suburbs, while Rasalhagians tend to live in Xolara. Periphery natives often call the outer suburbs home.

International Zone

The International Zone is governed by Solaris' central authority and primarily serves as a transportation and general utilities hub, in addition to various tourist attractions. The main spaceport is located in the International Zone, offering access to the mass transit system which criss-crosses the entire city. The Solaris Police Department is known for its professionalism and incorruptibility, though they are often unwelcome in other zones, while the Solaris Times provides a full listing of upcoming fights and their associated spreads.

Known Locations

• The local class-A HPG station falls within the purview of the International Zone.
• One of the landmarks of the city is the Star League Park where a statue of the SLDF General Amanda Klark can be found.
• Solaris VII spaceport

Black Hills

The House Davion sector is a study in contrasts, with the uphill mansions butting against the slums of the Lowlands to the east. The local police department is well-staffed, including a lance of light 'Mechs for civil disturbances. Popular points of interest include the Sun and Sword Hotel, the Silver Swan restaurant and Running Fox Country Club, though the biggest draw for tourists is the Boreal Reach arena, the most popular of the five Open Class arenas.

Known Locations

• The Comstar Compound is located in Black Hills.
• The infamous bar Seventh Heaven is located in Black Hills. It is a kind of bar known for the amount of techs that hang up there. Strangers are accepted, but it might get quite complex if not nightly impossible to get information from them.
• The Pelican is located in Black Hills.
• The Boreal Reach arena

Montenegro

The House Marik sector was originally an abandoned industrial zone when it was given over to them during the Reconstruction period, and while it has rebounded since then echos of that past remain with large areas of ruined factories and slums. This past was incorporated into the sector's Open Class arena, The Factory, built out of a decrepit manufacturing complex and numbering among the most popular of the open arenas. The zone's nightlife is another attraction, with establishments like Hanger 66 and The Riever drawing tourists and locals alike. The imposing Marik Tower implies a strong, central authority in the zone but, mirroring the League's politics, reticent provinces maintain their own offices separate and in defiance of this ordnance. Crime is rampant thanks to the most inefficient of Solaris City's independent police forces.

Known Locations

• Open Class arena: The Factory

Kobe

The House Kurita sector existed in something of a limbo for most of its history, after Urizen Kurita turned his back on Solaris City in response to SLDF Gunslingers turning the tide against Kuritan ronin in the First Hidden War. Kobe was finally recognized by Theodore Kurita in 3056, revitalizing the sector's economy as it could once again (legally) broadcast matches in the Combine. The sector's slums are tastefully hidden behind tall trees and hills, allowing tourists to visit the open-air Kobe Theater, stay at the Hotel Dragon or relax in the War Memorial Park without being offended by such sights. In competition with Monenegro's for second-most popular open arena is Ishiyama, a man-made mountain which looms over Solaris River.

Known Locations

• Open Class arena: Ishiyama

Cathay

The House Liao sector has a reputation for the highest standards of living in Solaris City, as well as for the criminal activity of the local triads. The highlands contain most of the sector's middle and upper class housing, as well as attractions like the Cathay Arms hotel and Sesame Inn restaurant. The Open Class arena known as The Jungle is an imposing pyramidal structure and central attraction in Cathay, though given the surrounding neighborhoods the required level of security often makes the arena's parking lot feel like an armed camp. The Maze and Rivertown neighborhoods along the riverfront are no-go zones for the sector's police force.

Known Locations

• Open Class arena: The Jungle

Silesia

The House Steiner sector is known for its fashionable Upper East Side and the luxurious condos of the Riverfront District. That the Riverfront has minimal police protection and abuts the poor districts of Cathy, yet boasts one of the lowest crime rates in Solaris City, has resulted in some theories that the local criminal organizations recognize it as "neutral territory". Steiner Stadium is one of the few arenas which allows its audience to view 'Mech matches live rather than on closed-circuit tri-vids, a result of the arena's unique lostech weapons barrier.

Known Locations

• Open Class arena: Steiner Stadium
• Thor's Shieldhall - Located at Arnulf Street and Cosgrove Street. Arguable the best known Solaris sports bar in the Inner Sphere, where the reigning Solaris Champion is given the seat of honor on the champion's dais in the exclusive Valhalla Club.
• The Skye Mall - Completed in 3061, the twelve-story complex was the brainchild of Ryan Steiner, who gave final approval shortly before he was assassinated in 3056, with his estate choosing to continue on with the project as a tribute to him. Its first level a extensive food-court and holovid multiplex, the next six floors an endless array of retail stores with the remaining floors a mix of high-end restaurants, business offices and a broadcast news station.

Xolara

During the Star League Xolara was part of the heart of he City's industrial zone, but the collapse of the Star League triggered a spiral of decay that culminated with the Marik nuclear bombardments in 2903 as it levered entire neighborhoods and destroyed what had been called a model of urban planning.

But life is hard to kill and during the past 300 years life has returned to Xolara... but not equally:

• Some 'Mech design and production firms have returned returning live to some neighborhoods.
• In other places of Xolara gangs and thungs reign among the ruins, unchecked by any kind of authority.

Known Locations

• The Hartford Gardens arena
• The King of the Mountain arena

Burgton

Burgton comprises several communities and small villages spread out beyond the sprawl of Solaris City and Xolara. Minor arenas dot them, as do some small 'Mech design firms. Here gangs are free to operate as there is no police patrolling.

Towns of Burgton

• Dowagiac: The oldest town from Burgton with 950 inhabitants is also one of the larger. It started as a 'Mech production center's low-cost housing for their employers. When the League died so suffered Dowagiac. Now only a handful of family-owned firms do business there.

• North Pier: Was known ad Solaris City's wast dump. The conversion of these dump into a 'Mech arena brought money to the area and triggered its economic rebirth. Visitors now come to see the matches and even some of the monuments. Several former Free Rasalhague Republic refugees fleeing the Clan Invasion as well as some Lyrans doing the same have flooded the town. Travelers are now warned to avoid the Pier at night.

• Joppa: On 3050 this town was little more than a wayside bar and a munitions works. And then all changed. In 3053 the town had grown to a small ans secretive community. Rumors run wild on who this group of secretive residents come (Clan defectors, outcast...). All agencies in the Inner Sphere have sent investigation teams, but nothing has been discovered on them.

• Kalamazoo: The village originated to cater tourinst visiting the crash site of the Star League- era DropShip Trident. But the past two centuries haven't been keen to the place. This town has degenerated into a den of cutthroats and killers, an unofficial assassins court for Solaris VII. Several gangs operate here. The locals also operate several small 'Mech arenas, which are really nothing more than open fields outfitted with grandstands for spectators.

Known Locations

• The Scrapyard arena located in North Pier
• The Huntsmen Stables Stablehouse in Joppa

Bracken Swamp

The swamplands outside Burgton have been always a sparsely populated region of Solaris. During the Star League era it housed the massige sewarage-treatment plant, now lost with the decline of the technological expertise to mantain it.

Today only one arena and a few small communities of fugitives make a meager living here. Very few outsiders venture into the Bracken Swamp except those visiting the 'Mech arena.

Towns of Bracken Swamp

• Beal City was founded more than 40 years ago by the entrepreneur Kassandra Van Beal (a pirate), and lies deep in the Bracken Swamp, hidden by dense flora and near constant mists. The village's buildings rest on stilts sunk into the shallow swampland which makes the residents traven to and from via rope bridges and small boats. The majority of the inhabitants are fugitives from Solaran or Federated Commonwealth authorities.

• Rowe: Taking its name from arena's owner Rowe Julian, the village itself remains far from properous as the arena it is the only supporting business. Most of the families either work for the arena or a few of the related business around it. This is a rural community lacking basic municipal services, where villagers live in houses set on high stilts anchored in the mashy ground and with small boats as the only means of transportation.

Known Locations

• The Pool arena located in Rowe

Roland Fields

Rolands fields is sparsely populated that was part of the planet wildlife preserve during the Star League, though after the fall in went neglected. Nowadays it hosts several testing locations where Stables and 'Mech design firms can put their machines to test.

Known Locations

• The Mud Pit arena.

Bibliography

• Main Event
• Unbound
• MechWarrior's Guide to Solaris VII
• Solaris: The Reaches