Om
By far the biggest suburb of the City of Cartoons in both land area and population, Om considers itself the seat of civilization. It is where class and elegance go hand-in-hand with scientific innovation and artistic creation. In cooperation with University, Om has brought great advances in cyber- and biotechnology, as well as medicine. The suburb has led the way in the creation of advanced A.I. computer systems and has even recently seen the first successful production of new synthetic life forms since the time of the Final Wars. Om has even begun a long-term re-beautification project with the aim of repairing, rebuilding, or removing the numerous ruined buildings in the suburb, and making infertile land grow again.
Om is home to many of Taebur's biggest and richest companies, including the Beautiful World Organization, Mansen Corporation, and the Dizzy Corporation. Significant companies from other parts of Taebur also have offices here, including Amul Firearms, Discount Pharmaceuticals, and Gunpowder Zone.
Like the rest of the City of Cartoons, the vast majority of people in Om are poor, and the vast majority of the suburb's wealth held by the few rich elite. However, unlike other suburbs, the poor here live in a little more comfort. They have electricity and access to relatively clean water (at least comparatively speaking). The poorest slums are in the northeast along the west bank of the Red River. However, the Om Council is working to move people living there to more comfortable accomodations in other parts of the suburb. Many of these people are given jobs working on the re-beautification project, primarily as farmers.
The suburb has also recently begun work to rebuild one of the bridges crossing the White River into Alsun to allow for better connections between the suburbs. Currently, there are only two ways to get from Om to the interior suburbs (the suburbs between the White and Blue Rivers). One is to use the bridge crossing the Red River into Nort, then one of the bridges from Nort over the Blue River into Nadir. However, this is frought with the radiation dangers of the two rivers.
The other way is to go south into Durma and cross the bridge there into Kala. This way has its own dangers, namely the inhospitality of the Durmans and Kalans.
Demographics
The rich elite of Om are almost entirely pure-strain humans, and a great deal of racism ensures that they remain almost entirely so. The richest families will not hesitate to disown family members who marry stock humans or worse, mutants.
The common populace, however, is a mixture of stock humans, mutants, and synthetics. In particular, Om welcomes and highly encourages synthetics to move there (even if it doesn't allow them positions of authority), offering them higher pay than organics doing the same jobs in return for allowing scientists to study them. This has resulted in Om having the highest population of synthetics in all of Taebur with close to 10,000 synthetics total.
Government
Om is run by a council composed of the top executives of the most powerful corporations. The exact number of people on this council can vary, but it is generally in the vicinity of a dozen or so. Although no one member is officially in charge, executives of particularly powerful companies can exert more influence than others. Currently, Derk Mansen and the CEO of Dizzy Corporation (a man known only as Wally) vie for the greatest influence.
Om
Type: Old TownPopulation Level: 10 (152,000 adults)
Force: 13 (+1)
Mobility: 8 (-1)
Resilience: 13 (+1)
Learning: 20 (+5)
Awareness: 12 (+1)
Command: 16 (+3)
Wealth: 68
Reputation Bonus: +12
Skills: Computer Use (data and operation systems) (5) +14, Computer Use (artificial intelligence) (5) +14, Computer Use (biotech systems) (1) +10, Craft (chemical) (1) +8, Craft (electronic) (1) +8, Craft (mechanical) (1) +8, Craft (metalworking) (1) +8, Craft (nanotech) (1) +8, Craft (pharmaceutical) (5) +14, Craft (structural) (1) +8, Craft (textiles) (1) +8, Craft (visual arts) (1) +8, Craft (writing) (1) +8, Diplomacy (10) +16, Intimidate (5) +11, Knowledge (business) (5) +12, Knowledge (earth and life sciences) (1) +8, Knowledge (physical sciences) (1) +8, Knowledge (politics) (5) +12, Knowledge (tactics) (1) +8, Knowledge (technology: advanced) (1) +8, Knowledge (technology: archaic) (1) +8, Knowledge (technology: Pre-War) (1) +8, Knowledge (technology: nanotech) (1) +8, Knowledge (theology and philosophy) (1) +8, Linguistics (1) +8, Perform (all 9) (1) +7, Profession (1) +5, Repair (5) +12, Research (1) +8, Treat Injury (5) +11
Feats: Advanced Communications, Advanced Manufacturing, Advanced Engineering, Archaic Engineering, Archaic Manufacturing, Archaic Weaponsmithing, Automated Defences, Biotech Usage, Electricity Generation, Hospital, Medical Expert, Nanotech Usage, Pre-War Engineering, Pre-War Weaponsmithing, Surgery, Synthetic Repair
Benefits: Characters are not likely to have an allegiance to Om. Instead, they will likely have allegiances to organizations and people in the suburb.
