Orinon City History
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Stonetown was
originally settled by the Core Commonwealth as a
stop-over destination on a major trade route. Zyfinbek
mercantile played a major role in its settlement,
providing many supplies, consulting, and manpower as
Orinon city grew.
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"Generations"
| Original Settlement |
The original Orinon City
settlement was founded by Xander Orinon, who volunteered
for the colonization mission as part of an early
retirement package from the Core Armada. While
officially appointed by the Core Armada through standard
channels, Orinon is said to have hand-picked the
colonists from friends, family, and former shipmates
throughout his career. He had a fairly stout retinue of
scientists and engineers assigned to him.
The
original buildings consisted of a small Administrative
building, the city walls, and smaller garrisons where
the Garrison and Justice buildings now stand. Most of
the preliminary buildings were easily assembled, prefab
steel structures that housed those brought to establish
farming on the settlement. These were rapidly replaced
by permanent stone buildings. The architecture was
simple and predominantly composed of stone block
quarried from under the city itself, which also served
in the formation of the town's original "pit" sewers.
Several of the original stone buildings still stand and
are now designated as historical sites.
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Bjaki Embassy |
One original stone
buildings functions as both the Bjaki embassy and
trendy apartments. The original stone
building served as a lodging for new arrivals
on-world. It was subsequently purchased by
Zyfinbek Mercantile and converted to storage
facilities, a main-floor addition being added to
increase the space. |
| During
the first expansion of Stonetown, a huge brick
addition was built and the building converted to a
factory. It was sold to the Bjaki and declared a
historical landmark early in Orinon's Growth era
when Zyfinbek moved its facilities to the edge of
town, helping to establish the Industrial Sector
of town. The Bjaki representatives rent out the
upper floors of the factory as trendy apartments. |
Another original stone building is currently the home to the upscale restaurant
Diaffany.
Architecture: Simple, square, stone-block
buildings.
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| Stonetown |
The first expansion of
Orinon city. The crude pit sewers were replaced with
proper facilities running closer to the surface and
draining into Lake Uskatan at a proper waste
facility.
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The Administrative building was
collapsed and rebuild into the grand, towered
building still standing today. The east barracks
was expanded into the Garrison and the west
barracks converted into the justice
building.
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The Garrison -- Concept Render |
Both
were smaller than their present incarnation. New stone
buildings began to appear, using locally quarried block
and brick. In the now established city, architecture
became more complex and ornate. Construction began and
was eventually completed on Orinon Station and Orinon
Platform.
Settlement and farming spilled outside of the
city walls as those sent by the Commonwealth to
establish Lucena Base and Orinon Station came planetside on
leave
One of the more popular bar/hotels of the era, Sweet
Earth, was established just outside the walls of
Stonetown. It was one of the primary spots for orbital
workers to come and unwind on leave. It can still be
seen today as a historic site, host to several shops and
restaurants on the ground floor and trendy apartments in
the old hotel upstairs.
Near the end of the era, with the completion of Orinon
Station and Orinon Platform, trade ships began to stop
for fuel, refit, and accommodation. Drayquin Design
entered into agreements with Zyfinbek mercantile in the
rapid production and deployment of a deep-system
facility and small shipyard.
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Stonetown Administrative Complex
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Architecture: More ornate and liveable stone
block and brick buildings.
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| Growth |
Orinon City finally began
to realize her potential as enough trade was pouring
through the orbital and system-based facilities that it
was beginning to move planet-side. Zyfinbek Mercantile
established a set of pre-fab buildings east of town
called Freemarket. Traders were free to land and relax,
ply their wares, and establish facilities to repackage
materials bound for various destinations. Cheap,
processed building materials in the form of polymers and
metals began to flow through Orinon city and make its
way into the local architecture. An expansion to the Justice building brought
it to where it is today.
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Justice Building |
In one tragic incident, a tribe of hostile Ith swept
east out of the plains and ransacked part of what is now
the Old Village, burning crops and doing what damage
they could to the farmhouses on the edge of town. They
were quickly repelled by city forces. Orbital scans
showed the Ith withdraw into the desert and disband so
they were left to their own devices. On contract from
the Core Commonwealth, Zyfinbek Mercantile, and local
merchants, Volto-Avaiga established the Bragons Pass
settlement to prevent further surprise incursions into
the Uskatan Highlands. Many of the old ruins have been
left in place as historical markers, many of which are
claimed to be haunted. Tours are available at the Cudgel
Museum in the Stonetown Administrative Complex.
Architecture: Varied, more space-age polymers and
metals combined with stone. "Old futuristic"
style.
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Plateau
(Up to modern) |
A generation or so ago,
Orinon City reached a point where she was finally comfortable
with herself. There was a slow movement of goods and
consumers onto and off of the planet, a decent
agricultural community to keep the city in food, and a
quiet balance struck the city. Aside from from the
occasional removal for architectural renewal, most of
the cities buildings remained as they were with no new
growth or recession. The most notable was the Governor's
Inn, a nano-hotel grown out of the rooftop of the
Administrative Capital Building in Stonetown. The
Volto-Avaiga Amalgamation also constructed a modern,
high-security office facility which houses its local
administration also includes offices for rent.
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Volto-Avaiga Office Complex |
In light of the quiet, people had the time to debate
whether this was good or not, whether more trade should
be brought to the surface and growth again encouraged or
whether this was an idyllic balance that shouldn't be
tinkered with. The UTP began to filter quietly into the
system and members of the Spinward Confederacy snuck in
close behind them. The settlement of Marolia was
established far west of Orinon City and Bragons' Pass.
This age of rest and reflection also so the formation of
the Orinon City Museum in the Capital Administration
Building.
Architecture: Varied, nano-based construction of
solid stone and space-age materials. "New
futuristic" style.
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