Cape St. Joan

Cape St. Joan, colloquially known as Port Joan, is a major city located at the U.S. West Coast in Oregon. Founded by settlers in 1851, it is Oregon's third largest city by population. The next big city to the south is Gullford.

Demographics

Having seen a massive influx in jobs and population during the 1920 all the way up to the 60s, the city's growth has slowed compared to its surroundings since. At the moment, it boasts a population of roughly 300,000 people, making it Oregon's third-largest city behind Portland and Salem . It also has the highest per-capita number of supers in all of Oregon State, both before and after "D-Day" .

Government

After the last election in 2019, Mayor Andrew Rivera (R) was elected for a first term, with plans of running for a second term in 2023. Originally elected in the wake of D-Day, he has been running the city on a combination of strict super regulation policies and economic incentives aiming to revitalise the failing parts of the local economy.

Defences

The city is protected by not one, but two teams of sanctioned supers, one employed by the city, the other as contractors by both the city and the local businesses:

• The "Capes", or officially the Cape St. Joan Superhuman Association for Public Security , employed by the city directly. Situated in the city skyline's most prominent building, the "Capetower" , they maintain the most patrols in the city. Their youth outreach program is home to many promising young supers. Original plans to abolish the local sanctioned super program were abandoned after D-Day.
• The Knights of Arc are a team of sanctioned supers operating under their parent company Fairchild Security Solutions, Inc. . They are paid for jointly by both the local government, the State of Oregon and the local businesses for priority protection of their facilities, employees and personages.

Industry & Trade

Originally a small trading port, the city has seen a rapid economic boom after the 20s, a slow but steady decline following the 60s and has only stabilised into a dangerous equilibrium in the last 30 years.
The former main industries of shipping and shipbuilding have almost faded entirely into obscurity, leaving thousands unemployed. While new jobs have since been created, the lack of overlap in skills and education between their requierements and the dockworking population has created a sizable underclass with almost no social mobility. Mismanagement of both economic incentives and misspent educational investments have maintained and propagated this problem all the way into modern times.
Cape St. Joan also boasts one of the countries widest wage gaps between the rich and poor, leading to social tension.
Amongst its many businesses, the city is home to the so-called "Big Five", a group of five especially prominent and influential businesses. They are, in order of date of foundation:

• Overton Transports & Logistics LLC. (formerly Overton Shipping), the towns biggest transportation company, and one of the few managing to survive the decline of the port. Founded 1911.
• Cross Energy Holdings (formerly Cross Oil), originally an oil supplier that has since branched out into coal, nuclear and green energy. It also owns various other energy supply-related companies all across the States and even some overseas. Founded 1913.
• Starscale Enterprises, an electronics and software company. Founded 1967.
• Medicure Pharmaceuticals, a pharmacy company that lingered in obscurity until its meteoric rise beginning in the 90s. Founded 1974.
• Fairchild Security Solutions, Inc. , a Private Military Company that branched out to employ sanctioned superhero teams. Contracted by the town and its businesses to protect the city. Founded 1999.

History

Founding

Founded in 1851 by settlers, Cape St. Joan was built on the northern side of Lynwood River that flows into the Pacific Ocean. The city gets its official name from the Cape originally situated west of the settlement (though it has since been engulfed by the growing town), as well as the surrounding coastline, that the first Christian settlers in the area named after the Catholic Saint.

Growth & Development

Originally a small settlement of little relevance, the economic boom of the early 20th century saw the city grow rapidly as it became one of the major trading ports in Oregon State. Supported by its sheltered position, warm climate and excellent connection to the inland via the Lynwood River which is navigable many miles upstream, the towns demand for workers - and thus its population - saw a rapid increase after World War 1.

This economic development was further boosted after the discovery of oil fields south-east of the city. Businessman Richard Cross became one of the town's main employers next to the harbour-centric industries when he establishe Cross Oil and used the local facilities to export his product all across the West Coast. In the wake of this economic boom, further major businesses formed or relocated into the city.

During World War 2, after the attack on Pearl Harbour, Cape St. Joan served as a major supplier of oil and fuel to the U.S. fleets stationed all over the pacific as part of the war effort.

Economic Decline

In the late 1960s a combination of increased competition from the rapidly growing Gullford, as well as coast towns all over California, increasingly cheap transportation by plane, as well as a series of mismanagements on part of the local administration started the slow decline of Port Joan as a point of logistic interest. While companies like the Cross Energy Holdings maintain relevance, the local dockworkers and shipwrights saw many of their employers close down, leading to a spike in unemployment and a rising numbers in crime, including a new rise to prominence of organised gangs.

It was this high crime rate that attracted an unusually high amount of Supers , both criminals and vigilantes, to Cape St. Joan after their appearance in the 70s. As new businesses were incentivised and established, the city became more and more divided between its wealthy and poor parts, with unemployment in certain groups of the population remaining high despite jobs being created again and the city's population overall rising as well.
While briefly sporting the highest amount of super teams on the West Coast before being overtaken by Los Angeles, and later San Francisco, the city was amongst the first to adapt its own team of sanctioned supers for its defence, forming the Cape St. Joan Superhuman Association for Public Security shortly after congress passed the Human/Superman Regulations Act bill.

The city's economy finally stabilised in the early 90s, though the economic balance of its citizens remaind precariously tilted.

D-Day

In 2018, the terrorist Jane Doe carried out a series of acts of terror against the city, culminating in "D-Day" . With over 2000 people dead and the single highest count of super casulties of any single terrorist attack in the United States to this day, the incident remains amongst the most shocking attacks on American soil of the new millenium.

Geography

Cape St. Joan half lies on a peninsula that stretches into the ocean and forms a natural bay on the southern side, although parts to town reach further inland up to Lynwood River, which flows from the northeast.
Much of the surrounding area to the Northeast is covered by small forests, while south of the river, across Lynwood Bridge, there are more open areas.

Natural Resources

The city surroundings north of the Lynwood River are brimming with forests, many of which are part of national parks and reservations. Lumber production is facilitated upstream of Lynwood River and sent down by boat to be shipped into the world from Cape St. Joan. South of the river and further inland lie the original oil fields that started the rise of the Cross Energy Holdings, though only very few of them haven't dried up yet. The sea west of the city used to be rich in fish, but pollution of the waters has caused the schools to migrate further around the city. While fishing still is possible, it is not viable on anything but an industrial level.

Trivia

The Jefferson state movement considered Cape St. Joan as a potential candidate of the proposed state of Jefferson in their 1941 proposal.

Maps

• 

  Cape St. Joan

Alternative Name(s)

Port Joan

Type

Large city

Population

300,000

Inhabitant Demonym

St. Joanian

Included Locations

• Alcott High
• Cliffside
• Downtown
• East End
• East Park
• Gaffers Street
• Jim Campbell Middle School
• Merchant Town
• Riverside
• The Gutters

Owner/Ruler

Andrew Rivera

Owning Organization

Oregon

Characters in Location

• Aaron Miller
• Abigail Miller
• Adherent
• Ameliorator
• Analogue
• Andrew Rivera
• Antipode
• Cassie Lynn Wales
• Ceto
• Charlotte Stenet
• Clingon
• Cloud
• Compassion
• Copycat
• Daniel Wales
• Elliana Fairchild
• Eris
• Esther Cross
• Eureka
• Exchange
• Franklin Miller
• Friction
• Generosity
• Geppetto
• Holly Blake
• Honor
• Hooker
• Ishtar
• Jessica Park
• Joel N. Cross
• Jonah Stenet
• Leah Moore
• Legion
• Leyline
• Lucas Cross
• Mark Bowman
• Marksman
• Mashup
• Matthew Cross
• Moonwalk
• Natasha Torlopova
• Parrot
• Patchwork
• Remote
• Roman
• Ruth Cross
• Samantha Miller
• Scatterplot
• Seon-ok Park
• Sierra Rogers
• Six Shooter
• Soma
• Speedrun
• Stalker Girl
• Tantrum
• Tunguska
• Umbra
• Viola Stenet
• Wallflower
• Wisdom
• Yamila Miller