SUPERIOR CITY
The Superior-Paradise Metropolitan Corridor is a large, highly developed metropolitan region located
along the Columbia River in the states of Oregon and Washington. The Corridor is in the center of an
even larger metropolitan axis that reaches from the Seattle region in Washington State down through
Olympia and finally along the Columbia River to Portland, Oregon and neighboring Vancouver, Washington.
The corridor consists of the "megacity" of Superior City, Oregon and the city of Paradise, Washington, along
with some of the municipalities neighboring Paradise, which are collectively called the "Paradise Cities".
HISTORY
Superior City was founded as Fort Superior in 1839 by Major Christopher Solomon and explorer Jebediah
Marks. The outpost grew rapidly as a trading center for prospectors heading for California in the 1850's.
With the construction of the transcontinental railway lines in the early 1880's, Fort Superior's future as a
major trading post became secure. The city was formally incorporated as Superior City in 1886 and continued
to play a role as central stopping point for prospectors during the Alaskan gold rush of the 1890's.
In the early 1880s the city, then still Fort Superior, was the center for illegal activity in the Pacific Northwest.
As the west had become settled many of the outlaws made their way north to Superior. The city was a haven
for gamblers, smugglers, and other unsavory types. The incorporation of the city, and the nearby Washington
Territory becoming a State, led to an increased federal presence and by the early 1890s law and order had
come to Superior City.
The 20th century saw Superior City become a major industrial city. A population and construction boom
led to Superior City being chosen to host the 1956 Summer Olympic Games, promising to turn the area
into one of the most prominent cities on the west coast. This dream was shattered in 1951, when a group of
super-villains held the city for ransom. When authorities refused to pay, the villains used advanced technology
to create a volcano that erupted and threatened to destroy the city (the volcano, now dormant, still stands
just south of the city and has been named Mount Superior). The city's masked heroes came out of retirement
and joined forces with the Justice Society to combat the threat. Most of the populace was saved and the
villains were defeated, but the victory had a steep cost. Much of the city center was destroyed and none
of the city's heroes were seen again after the battle.
No longer capable of hosting the Summer Games (which went to the runner-up, Melbourne), the people of
Superior City concentrated their efforts on rebuilding. A new Superior City was born from the ashes of the
old, a modern city that has since become a center for hi-tech industry with firms like Digitronix, Orion Robotics,
S.T.A.R. Labs (specializing in Vulcanology and Geology), and a division of Ferris Aerospace setting
up shop there. Biotechnology is also big in the area with firms like the Jensik Medical Institute having research
facilities here. Big business also has a presence in Superior City; Dark World Enterprises has its main North
American headquarters in Superior, and Pacific Industries has established a major presence in the city.
Both Lexcorp and Global Industries also have offices in Superior City.
Superior City celebrated its centennial in 1986 with the dedication of Centennial Park, a nature preserve
occupying most of Gray Island. Centennial Park contains a zoo; the Wild Frontier Water Park; an African safari;
and Memorial Plaza, which has statues of the heroes that helped save the city back in 1951. That
same year Superior City University was renamed Centennial University and it has since become a preeminent
medical, scientific, and engineering school in the Pacific Northwest. The centennial year also saw
the completion of Century Center, the Superior City Metropolitan Complex (aka the Metroplex), a sprawling
transport, communications, and recreation facility in the heart of the city's business district.
The city has just wrapped up the year-long Superior City World's Fair, and is in the midst of a reconstruction
phase, repairing damage from a recent takeover by an army of supervillains. Superior City is ready to
take its place amongst the great cities of the world.
SUPER-HUMANS IN SUPERIOR CITY
The history of super-heroes in Superior City stretches back to the early days of the settlement itself. It
was during the period just prior to its incorporation that Superior City became the home of the masked vigilante
called Renegade. Based on Gray Island the man known as the
Black Baron, who would become Renegade's chief
opponent, controlled the majority of the criminal operations in the area. The city's corrupt government was
backed by the Black Baron and this made Renegade the only source for justice in Superior during the late 1880's
and early 90's. He was sometimes aided by the mysterious gunslinger
Nightengale, a raven-haired beauty that
protected Superior's sister settlement, Paradise. Renegade's appearances dwindled as law and order was slowly
brought to the city. His last recorded appearance was in 1899, when he came out of semi-retirement to fight his
longtime enemy The Black Baron. Their final battle sparked an explosion and fire that destroyed the community
on Gray Island. The final fate of both combatants remains unknown to this day.
In the late 1930's and early 1940's Superior had more than its share of "Mystery-Men", beginning
with the appearance of the second hero in the city to be called Renegade. The new Renegade was soon joined by
the likes of the Red Bee, Atlas, Ladyhawk, and the time-lost hero Patriot. These heroes eventually banded
together as a team, which the media called the Adventurers, to
battle the Nazi super-agents of Vendetta. While
theoretically they were all members of the war-time All-Star Squadron, in reality only the Red Bee was known very
well outside of Superior since he was also an occasional ally of the Freedom Fighters. During the later years of
World War II, Patriot left the team to join American soldiers on the front lines in Europe, and near the war's
end in 1945 he returned to his proper time period. The remaining members of the group had all retired from crime
fighting by the late 1940s.
The Adventurers came out of retirement in 1951 when a group of villains calling themselves the
Legion of Doom, led by the
Brain Wave and Renegade's chief nemesis, the Iron Mask, attacked the city. The villains threatened to destroy the
city unless paid $100 Million. When the city balked at the demands, the Brain Wave responded by using his advanced
technology to create a volcano in outskirts of the city which promptly erupted, sending molten rock hurtling toward
the densely populated areas of Superior. Together with the Justice Society, the Adventurers stopped the Legion of
Doom and saved the city, but at a price.
Early in the battle, the Renegade was caught in a collapsing building, suffering crippling injuries. Unable to
locate his nemesis, a frustrated Iron Mask took his anger out on the Red Bee, snapping the hero's back like a
twig and killing him instantly. Atlas died holding back the lava flow, giving his life to buy enough time for the
people in its path to be evacuated. Ladyhawk's final fate is a mystery, but she was never seen again after the
battle.
It was decades before super-heroes were again seen in the streets and skies of Superior City,
during the brief resurgence of costumed vigilantes some
twenty-five years before Superman and the Justice League came on the scene. The first to appear was the
mysterious Shadow, later followed by Paradise's new flying protector Sparrowhawk. Afterward came ace
archer Quarrel and his sidekick Scattershot, and super-speedster Nightracer. The heroes would occasionally team up,
but never all at the same time, or in any official capacity. The reign of this heroic age lasted about a decade.
Scattershot went into semi-retirement fice years after his debut when he went to attend university in his civilian identity and
two years later the Shadow retired from crimefighting. A year after that the villainous Dr. Trap begin his killing spree against
costumed heroes and villains. Among his victims over the next two years were Quarrel and Nightracer. Sparrowhawk was
presumably killed around the same time, as she has not been seen since shortly after the death of Nightracer.
The appearance of Superman a decade and a half later ushered in the Modern Heroic Age. Eager for Superior City
to have its own hero, Mayor Davis Overbrook arranged for decorated police officer Nicholas Young to be transformed
into the superhuman powerhouse Apex. Apex's presence in the city inspired others and he was soon joined by the
likes of Paragon, Olympiad, Lynx, and Astra. Together they formed the Centurions
and, with help from youthful heroes Whiz Kid and Edge, defended the city from all forms of evil. Chief among the Centurions'
adversaries were the Slaughterhouse Seven, led by Apex's opposite number,
the insane Carnage. Lesser known than the Centurions, a group of misfit heroes called the
Unknowns fought the stranger, more off-beat threats to Superior City.
Tragedy struck the Centurions in the mid-1990s when Astra was killed by the Slaughterhouse Seven in the villains'
most vicious assault against the city. A year later Olympiad died, killed by the Monitor's anti-matter wave during
the Crisis. Shortly after, during Darkseid's attempt to destroy Earth's heroes, the people turned against the city's
defenders. Enraged mobs, backed by Darkseid's forces, attacked members of the Centurions and the Unknowns. Lynx and
Paragon were killed, Apex was thrown into a coma, and all of the Unknowns died or fled the city. Only Whiz Kid and
Edge were left, having been kept out of the fight by their mentors.
The tragedy did not end there, though. Using the people's guilt as a catalyst, the Slaughterhouse Seven erased
everyone's memories of the heroes, and of themselves. Hidden from a world that no longer remembered them, Carnage
and his allies started a scheme that would take years to reach fruition, but if successful would make them rulers
of the world.
In the wake of the detonation of the Gene Bomb by the alien Dominators, hundreds of new super-powered individuals
were created across the country. Many of them gained powers that were of little use, or worse, were physically
deformed by those powers. These outcasts wanted nothing to do with being heroes or villains and instead banded
together in metahuman "ghettos" in various major cities. In Superior City, these individuals made a new
home for themselves in the caverns beneath the city in an area now called the Dark City.
Several years later a new wave of heroes made the city their home, beginning with the third man to assume the
identity of Renegade. Within a year this Renegade had been joined by
several others and formed a new team, the Enforcers of Justice. More heroes
soon followed, including the New Adventurers.
The rise in the number of younger super-powered individuals in Superior City in the last few years has led the
city to join with the federal government and the private sector to found Superior
City Academy, a private high school specially equipped and staffed to handle super-powered students. In addition
to the normal curriculum, super-powered students are also trained in the use and control of their powers.
Recently, the plan set in motion years earlier by the Slaughterhouse Seven finally came to fruition. Sealing
the city inside an impenetrable dome Carnage and his allies, and a veritable army of super-powered criminals, took
control. Only through the combined efforts of all of the city's super-heroes was Carnage thwarted and his army
defeated (see Total Carnage).
Superior City's relationship with its heroes is generally a good one. Since its centennial the city has held an
annual week-long festival honoring its heroes called, appropriately enough, Hero Week.
Buried beneath all of this is the Secret History of Superior City.
GEOGRAPHY
The Superior City Metropolitan Area consists of 12 boroughs plus Mount Superior State Park. The boroughs
are each municipalities that were merged into the "mega-city" in 1985, with the exception of West Superior
and Metro Superior, which together were the original Superior City but were split into two boroughs during
the amalgamation process.
Across the Columbia River from Superior City lies its sister city, Paradise, and its surrounding municipalities.
SUPERIOR CITY
WEST SUPERIOR
West Superior contains the core of the original city, much of which has been rebuilt since the 1951 disaster,
as well as newer developments to the south. The borough is divided into nine municipal districts: Fortress Hill,
Islandview, Westgate, Athens, Market Square, City Center, Solomon Heights,
the University District, and Maple Ridge. West Superior is bounded on the north and west by the
Columbia River, on the East by the JFK Memorial Freeway, and to the south by the southern end of the West Side
Highway and part of the western end of the Waid Expressway. Westgate is home to Superior City Academy.
CENTENNIAL UNIVERSITY
Centennial University was founded in 1958 as an amalgamation of several smaller schools that had been damaged or
destroyed in 1951. Originally called Superior City University, the school started out as mainly a liberal arts
university but added science and engineering faculties in the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1986 the university was renamed Centennial University and a large influx of donations established the
university's Medical Center and School of Biomedical Engineering. The increased funding also allowed the other
faculties to modernize their facilities and lure top researchers, faculty, and administrative staff from other
universities and the private sector.
Today Centennial University is one of the top educational institutions in the country and the Medical Center's new
trauma center is regarded as one of the best in the world, ranking alongside Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Paul
(Nightmare) Maxwell is a trauma surgeon at the Medical Center.
Other highlights of the campus are the High Energy Physics Lab, which houses a cyclotron; the Starlin Observatory,
which is mainly for undergraduate and public use now that the Mount Superior Observatory is complete; and the Museum
of Cultural Anthropology's permanent "Super-Heroes in Society" and "Native American Cultures"
exhibits.
Centennial University is separated from Olympic Park by the man-made Lake Olympia. The lake is all that remains of
an artificial river and lake system designed to handle the water events of the Olympic Games. The canal connecting
the system to the Columbia River was destroyed in 1951, but the lake area remained relatively intact. During the
reconstruction the lake was completed and now serves a major recreational area in the heart of the city.
METRO SUPERIOR
Metro Superior is made up of the area east of the JFK Memorial Freeway and represents much of the new development
that emerged in the city's growth after the 1951 disaster. The area is divided into 11 districts: Downtown,
Riverside, Midtown, East End, Olympic Park, Cathedral Hill, Hell's Gate,
Centennial, Southgate, Triangle, and Edgeworth. Though it is located inside Midtown,
the Metroplex is sometimes considered a separate district. Metro Superior stretches from the Columbia River in the
north to the Waid Expressway in the south, and from the JFK Memorial Freeway in the west to Boundary Road in the
east.
METROPLEX
Commonly referred to as the Metroplex, the Century Center (officially the Superior City Metropolitan Complex) sits
at the heart of the city's Financial District covering nearly 6-square blocks, bordered to the north and south by 5th
and 11th Avenue South and by Tower Street to the west and Metropolitan Boulevard to the east. The Metroplex consists
of a transit center that combines a railway and bus station, a sports facility and fitness center, a hotel, three
office towers, a conference center, and a massive three-story mall. Rising above the Century Center is the 1,500-foot
spire of Century Tower and the whole complex is built above the underground two-story central transit station that
forms the core of the SPARTaN rail system. Enclosed in the area between the transit station and hotel is a large
open-air park.
- Century Tower: the soaring spire of the Century Tower is one of the most distinct features of the
Superior City skyline. There are four entrances to the Tower: from the Park, from the Conference Center, from
Office Tower A, and from the Mall. All four entrances lead into the Rotunda and the city history exhibit. Here
visitors can see exhibits about the Tower's construction and accounts of the history of the city. A bank of
elevators lead to the top of the Tower and there is also a double-helix spiral maintenance staircase. At the top
of the Tower is a 4-star revolving restaurant and an observation deck, both of which offer spectacular views of
the entire city. On top of the Tower is a large communications array which hosts several television and radio
stations as well as wireless communications providers.
- Century Center Mall: nearly every kind of store imaginable can be found somewhere within this
three-story shopping nexus. In addition to a two-story Electronica music store and Pegasus Entertainment, the
largest comic and games store in the Pacific Northwest, the Mall has three separate food courts and a large
multiplex movie theater.
- Transit Station: the Metroplex serves as the main transportation hub for the area. The top floor of
the two-story Transit Station serves as the main bus terminal for passenger travel, while the first floor handles
passenger rail traffic along the elevated tracks that pass through the center of the city heading south. The two
sub-levels of the Transit Station serve as the hub for the SPARTaN subway and light rail system that services both
Superior City and the neighboring Paradise Cities.
- The Underground: beneath the Metroplex are a maze of utility tunnels for the complex and a central
access point to maintenance tunnels for the SPARTaN network and the city's water, sewer, power, and
telecommunications system. The Underground also contains a secret entrance to the Dark City.
ORIENTAL DISTRICT
Often thought of as Superior City's unofficial thirteenth borough, the Oriental District is actually three separate ethnic neighborhoods situated
next to each other: Chinatown (Chinese), Little Tokyo (Japanese), and Little Saigon (Vietnamese).
Chinatown:
Chinatown is the oldest of the three sections of the Oriental District. The neighborhood began as a separate settlement in 1885,
created to handle the influx of hundreds of Chinese workers and their families forced out of Rock Springs and
Zenith City in Wyoming by miners. Chinese immigrants coming through the
Pike Island immigration center were relocated to the settlement as well. With the city's first major expansion at the beginning of the 20th Century,
the settlement was absorbed and became Chinatown.
Crime in Chinatown was until recently controlled by one gang, the Jade Dragons,
but the Dragons lost most of their influence in the recent Gang War. Since then the Tongs have been slowly assuming the role
of dominant criminal power in the area. The area also has its share of costumed heroes, most notably the twin heroes
Yin and Yang. Up until his recent departure, the area's most prominent hero was
Yellow Flame.
Little Tokyo:
In the late 1940s many Japanese and Japanese-Americans who had lost their homes after being incarcerated in Internment Camps during
World War II began building new lives for themselves in Superior City. In the reconstruction efforts after 1951 the majority of these people
settled in the area now known as Little Tokyo. Initially a low– to modest-income area, Little Tokyo saw a major influx of immigrants and money
from Japan in the 1980s. Today Little Tokyo is by far the most modern part of the Oriental District, clean narrow streets glittering with neon
that would make any Japanese feel right at home. What little crime there is in Little Tokyo, mostly high-end, is controlled by the Yakuza.
Little Tokyo's resident hero is the Neon Samurai.
Little Saigon:
The most recent of the three neighborhoods, Little Saigon was born from the arrival of "boat-people" refugees fleeing Vietnam in the
1970s and 80s. With most of the immigrants being poor and ill-educated, the area is not very well-off, a stark contrast to neighboring Little Tokyo.
Little Saigon's residents are beginning to make a concerted effort to clean up their home, an effort made easier with the recent defeat of the
Jade Dragons criminal gang.
GRAY ISLAND
Gray Island, in the Columbia River between Superior City and Paradise, was once home to a small community of shops and craftsmen
but by the late 1800s had become the center of illegal activities for the new city. Gray Island was home to many gambling establishments,
brothels, and opium dens and had several hidden ports where boats smuggling weapons and other goods could dock and unload. The Black Baron,
who controlled most of Fort Superior/Superior City's criminal activity and also backed the corrupt city government, lived on the island on
a large estate patterned after a southern plantation (the Baron was originally from Louisiana). From his estate the Baron controlled his
criminal empire. The community on the island was destroyed in the final battle between Renegade and the Black Baron in 1899 when a large stockpile
of weapons and explosives was accidentally detonated.
Disputes over who owned the land prevented much further development until the late 1970's when construction began to turn the whole island
into a massive park, akin to New York's Central Park or Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The island is currently home to a zoo, botanical
garden, African safari, and a water park. These attractions were collectively christened Centennial Park during the city's 100th birthday celebrations.
Memorial Plaza, also located on the island, was set up in the 1980's as a tribute to the heroes who helped save the city back in 1951.
The island itself is named for Robert Gray, the explorer who discovered the mouth of the Columbia River.
RICHMOND
Richmond is the wealthiest borough of Superior City. Home to the captains of industry and wealthy engineers from the city's high-tech
community, Richmond is where the upper-class live and play. Richmond is made up of three districts, Shell Beach, Bristol,
and Hunter's Gate.
PORT HOPE
Port Hope's main industry before amalgamation was tourism. This area has managed to keep that small-town feel while providing big city
perks and is seen by Superior City residents as the place to get away to without actually leaving the city. Port Hope maintains a quiet, relaxed
atmosphere and is the site of several spas, bed and breakfasts, and country inns and attracts weekend tourists from the Superior-Paradise area
and nearby Shadyside as well as visitors from further afield. Nearly every stop along the SPARTaN transit network has a "Visit Port Hope"
advertisement.
The tranquil scenery of Port Hope has always been a beacon for people seeking peace and quiet. Prior to the arrival of European settlers,
members of the region's Native American tribes often came to the Port Hope area on vision quests. In the late 1800s a monastery was established
that still exists today. The rolling green hills are also home to a Buddhist temple and several small compounds belonging to a variety of
New Age groups, as well as a private psychiatric hospital.
MERCY ISLAND PENITENTIARY
Mercy Island is named for the Sisters of Mercy mission that once existed on the island. Established in the mid-1890s, the mission served
the sick and the poor of Superior City. In 1919 a mysterious illness swept through the mission. Fearing an epidemic if it spread, a mob of
panicked citizens set fire to the mission and blocked off any means of escape. Everyone in the mission perished in the blaze.
The island remained deserted until the 1940s, when authorities built a maximum security prison on the island. When the tectonic forces
unleashed in the 1951 disaster split the island the prison, which was located directly above the fracture point, dropped into the newly created
fissure. Most of the prison staff and some prisoners were rescued, but many others drowned in their cells as the building sank into the water.
In 1953 construction began on a new maximum security prison located atop the cliff near where the original had once stood. In the 1990s
this prison was refitted to house super-powered criminals. Among the prison's most infamous inmates at this time were the villainous Slaughterhouse
Seven, led by hero-turned-villain Carnage.
Over the years the Slaughterhouse Seven secretly seized control of Mercy Island Penitentiary, diverting resources to construction of a
massive base beneath the prison itself. From that point on any prisoner or employee was covertly brainwashed into being Carnage's slave.
This went on for several years until recently, when Carnage was ready to strike. He sent his mind-controlled army out and seized Superior City.
After a brutal fight Carnage and his army were defeated by the combined forces of the city's heroes and in the process his headquarters, and the
prison, were destroyed. Now a new Mercy Island Penitentiary has been constructed on the site of the old.
LEWISTON
Lewiston is a mid-sized city that combines the best from two worlds. With a world-class technical college, an industrial park that is the center of
a bustling agriculture and food industry, and a wealth of cultural and economic opportunities, Lewiston has all the best features of a major city. Its
friendly atmosphere, abundant green space, and one of the lowest crime rates of the boroughs, however, means it is also a close-knit community
that residents are proud to call home. There is a friendly rivalry between Lewiston and Clarksville that goes back to the founding of both
original towns in the 1840s.
The city was badly damaged in the disaster of 1951 but was swiftly rebuilt in the aftermath. The restored Lewiston became an idyllic 1950s
town, on the surface at least. For most of the decade there were racial tensions and a few families driven out over suspicions of them being
"Communists". Things boiled over in the 1960s and the campus of the Wilkerson School of Engineering became a hotbed for Civil Rights and
anti-Vietnam War protests.
In the 1970s big industry came to Lewiston and the town was never the same again. The influx of workers for the new industrial farms, meat packing
plants, and other agribusiness concerns led to a demand for new housing developments. This created a rift in the populace between the
residents holding to the older, small-town lifestyle and the newcomers. Crime skyrocketed and tensions were high.
It was opposition to the forced amalgamation of Lewiston into the new Superior City that finally ended the troubles. Both groups in the city
came together to fight the amalgamation. In the end they lost, but the result was a unified population that had learned to put their differences
aside. This united front has resulted in the close-knit community Lewiston has become.
In the last few years Lewiston has seen a rise in UFO sightings and reports of strange mutant creatures. The earliest appearances of these
phenomenon also saw the first appearance of a team of power-armored heroes to combat these creatures. These heroes, called the
Iron Brigade, are a complete mystery and seem to focus their efforts solely
on defending Lewiston from its strange invaders.
Lewiston is divided into three municipal districts: Bellevue, Spring Grove, and Westwood.
CLARKSVILLE
Clarksville is the sister/rival city to Lewiston. Both were founded at the same time in 1846 when a group of settlers were unable to agree on
whether to name their new home after Meriwether Lewis or William Clark (the leaders of the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition). The two groups
split and settled in two different locations, which led to a rivalry between the two cities that has varied in intensity over the years. Since the two
were amalgamated into the larger Superior City the rivalry has somewhat subsided, but still simmers below the surface.
Like its sister city Lewiston, Clarksville was badly damaged in the disaster of 1951. Much of the reconstruction efforts afterward focused on
restoring the numerous historical sites that were damaged or destroyed, efforts that still continue today, more than fifty years later.
Clarksville is a town that is very proud of its past, sometimes to the detriment of its present. The borough is made up of three districts: Eagle
Falls, King's Cross, and Pioneer Ridge.
AURORA
Aurora is the industrial center of the city. Numerous steel mills and manufacturing factories are located here. Prior to 1951 the area that is
now Aurora was mostly undeveloped land with a scattering of farmland. It was during the post-1951 reconstruction boom and the construction of
Columbia International Airport that brought industrial development to Aurora. Almost the entire area is zoned solely for industrial purposes
with only a scattering of housing developments near the western and southern borders of the area. Aurora is broken up into four districts,
Alexandria, Delphi, Olympia, and Sparta; plus the Columbia International Airport.
MERIDIAN
Meridian is the center of Superior City's high-tech industry. Computer, biotechnology, and advanced research firms all make their home here.
The region is divided up into four sectors, Babylon, Daedalus, Century, and Vanguard.
BROOKDALE
Brookdale, located on the east end of Superior, is viewed by people from other boroughs as being generally strange. Despite its size, Brookdale
has always seemed somewhat isolated from its neighbors. The city was highly resistant to being amalgamated into Superior City but lost a
four-year legal battle with the state to keep it separate. There are rumors that the city is cursed, or that it was built on sacred Native lands, but
there has never been any proof of any real supernatural phenomenon in Brookdale. The borough is made up of the districts of Westbrook,
Fern Hill, Meadowvale, and Sunnyside.
MOUNT SUPERIOR STATE PARK
Mount Superior was created during the 1951 disaster when the super-villain Brain Wave and his allies began manipulating tectonic forces in
an attempt to destroy the city. The sudden and drastic shifts in the fault lines and lava flows caused an 8,532-foot peak to rise up south of
the city. Afterward authorities named the new mountain Mount Superior. Despite its unnatural origin the mountain is fairly normal and attracts
climbers and skiers from across the region.
Though not an active volcano, the mountain's unusual nature make it susceptible to geological activity. Scientists from
S.T.A.R. Labs are continually monitoring Mount Superior for signs of volcanic activity. The mountain
is honeycombed with caves and tunnels, some of which connect to the larger caverns beneath Superior City itself that make up the underground
Dark City.
The mountain and surrounding area was made a State Park in 1968 to prevent unscrupulous developers from moving in to the area.
MOUNTAINVIEW
During the formation, and eruption, of Mount Superior in 1951 the area that is now called Mountainview was covered in lava and volcanic
ash. The result of this was to turn much of the area into extremely arable land. Several farms and ranches have sprung up in Mountainview
in the 50 years since the disaster. There are also many pristine forests that have emerged in record time since the disaster.
Mountainview was the location of the underground cave that served as the original headquarters
for the Enforcers of Justice, and of the cabin that was the home for the hero Digit for a time.
LIBERTY
The borough of Liberty was created during the amalgamation process in 1985. It consists of several small rural communities, several of
which had become virtual ghost towns after the 1951 disaster. Many family farms had been devastated by the sudden change in the region's
geography caused by the tectonic manipulations. When the reconstruction boom started in the city proper most of the families moved to Superior
to get jobs. Since amalgamation there has been a conscientious effort to get people to move back to the area. The borough is made up of the
districts of Raleigh and Prescott.
PARADISE CITIES
HISTORY
Native American tradition holds that the Paradise Cities area has always been considered a beautiful, idyllic and tranquil location; factors
which often led to conflict between nomadic tribes over control of it. According to legends recorded by the early European explorers, the Thunder
Bird sent a tribe of warriors to end the conflicts. From that point on these warriors were the defenders of the land and no other tribe dared
transgress the Thunderers' laws. According to the legends it was these warriors that led the united tribes of the area against the evil
Spider-People that tyrannized the region. Until recently this story was thought to be pure myth, but recent archaeological evidence unearthed in nearby
Superior City seems to prove that there was a tribe of spider-worshippers in the area centuries ago. This had led scholars to begin
re-evaluating discoveries associated with the early European settlements in the area.
The first permanent settlement was a built around a sawmill established in what is now Longview in 1846. Initial growth for this part of the
region was based on the shipment of lumber south to California out of the newly-built docks in Port Columbia. Native legends about a near-mythical
warrior tribe kept settlers from venturing further west from the settlement at Longview.
That changed in 1848, when a man named Jacob Pearson saw the beauty of the land and declared it akin to the Garden of Eden. Pearson,
leader of a small Puritan religious sect, sent word back east for his followers to join him. In 1849 Pearson and his followers established the
Paradise settlement. The settlement remained fairly isolated, with only occasional trade with Longview for essential supplies. In 1851, after several
months with no contact from Paradise, a group from Longview went to investigate. They found the Paradise settlement completely deserted,
with no trace of what had happened to Pearson and his followers. Local Natives believed that Pearson's group had offended the Thunder warriors and
been punished. Other stories later came out, one of the more outrageous being about settlers who claimed to have seen a Bigfoot leading a group of
demons through the woods near the Paradise settlement around the time contact was lost. To date the official explanation was that the Paradise
settlement suffered an outbreak of some disease that quickly wiped out the population. The absence of bodies is generally attributed to predators.
Whatever the case, the original Paradise settlement came to be called "Pearson's Folly" and the area given a wide berth.
A few smaller settlements were established during the 1850s, mostly for the transient population passing through on their way south for the
California gold rush and later the professional miners heading south when industrial gold mines were established. The majority of the population
growth was occurring in the Longview and Port Columbia settlements and the Paradise settlement stayed abandoned.
In 1889, with statehood imminent for the Washington Territory, construction began on a bridge to connect the transcontinental railway terminus
in Superior City with the terminus in Tacoma. The influx of workers greatly increased the population of the settlements west of Longview,
though the "Pearson's Folly" site was still avoided. In 1892 the settlements were joined together as the new city of Paradise. In 1896
gold was discovered in the Klondike and with the rail bridge completed the new Paradise became a waypoint for travelers heading north.
The early 1900s saw the birth of the farming communities of Trinity and Ascension to the west of Paradise and a rapid growth of Paradise
itself. Eager for space, the city government finally took over the site of the original settlement, which had lain abandoned for over 50 years.
The core site was turned over to teams of archaeologists, who managed to salvage some of the original structures. The original settlement
became an historical site centered around the restored buildings while the rest of the area, now called Avalon, was turned into parks and housing.
The construction of the Silver River hydroelectric dam provided enough electricity to fuel rapid industrial development. Longview and Port
Columbia became a major ship-building center during World War II, producing hundreds of ships for the war effort. The industrial growth combined
with tourism helped offset the decline of the lumber industry in the area.
Aside from a few minor tremors, the Paradise Cities were generally unaffected by the tectonic forces unleashed on Superior City by the
Legion of Doom in 1951. The reconstruction efforts in Superior were an economic boom to nearby Paradise, but the effect was short-lived. Once
Superior City was restored businesses and people flocked there and caused a recession in the economy of the Paradise Cities that took over
a decade to recover from.
The creation of the amalgamated "mega-city" of Superior City in 1985 led politicians in the Paradise Cities to fear another recession as more
businesses left Paradise for Superior. This led to an ill-planned and ultimately failed attempt to amalgamate the Paradise Cities (Paradise,
Trinity, Ascension, Longview, Kelso, and Port Columbia) in 1989, though Longview and Kelso would merge into the amalgamated city of Longview
nearly a decade later.
Today the Paradise Cities are unified only in the tourism brochures. Internal political struggles between the major cities continue to keep the
Paradise Cities in the shadow of neighboring Superior City.
GEOGRAPHY
The collection of municipalities across the Columbia River from Superior City is often referred to as the Paradise
Cities. The Paradise Cities Metropolitan Area consists of several municipalities that, unlike the amalgamated city of
Superior, retain their own municipal governments. There is, however, an effort at the local and State levels to amalgamate
the region in order to compete with the more economically dominant Superior City. The recent amalgamation of Longview and
Kelso, and the refusal of Port Columbia to be a part of this new amalgamated city, has shown this will be an uphill battle for
the politicians.
PARADISE
The city of Paradise serves mainly as an industrial center, though it does have a thriving tourist industry as well. Originally the primary
industry of the city, lumber is now a distant third behind the chemical and metallurgical plants in the city. Recent economic incentives
have attracted a handful of high-tech startups but Paradise is a long way from seriously competing in the technology arena with its sister city of Superior.
Other industries in Paradise include food-processing plants and machine and railroad repair shops.
Paradise has its own curious history of costumed adventurers, related to but unique from the richer heroic traditions of Superior City. The
first traditional costumed "hero" was the enigmatic Nightengale, a contemporary of the first Renegade. By all accounts a raven-haired beauty, little
else is known about her. Nightengale was more or less a phantom, appearing seemingly from nowhere to deal with threats to the area around
the new Paradise settlement. Reports of Nightengale dwindled as the Paradise settlement grew and the last confirmed sighting of her was in 1895.
During the 1940s Paradise’s resident hero was the winged Ladyhawk who worked both alone and with Superior’s heroes in the Adventurers. Ladyhawk
vanished after the Adventurers’ battle with the Legion of Doom in 1951. The next hero, another woman, was Sparrowhawk in 1965 and like her predecessors her
final fate is a mystery, she disappeared in 1975. Paradise’s current resident hero is another winged heroine, the armored
ArcAngel.
The city is divided into eight districts: Newcastle, North Paradise, Union Hill, Fairfax, Oak Point,
Downtown, Avalon, and Brentwood.
TRINITY
Trinity lies across the county line from Paradise. The area actually consists of two separate municipalities, Trinity and Ascension, which
are separated by the Trinity River, a small offshoot from the Columbia River. Both municipalities are relatively small, mostly family-owned
farms with a central town area, and each has a population of about 10,000 people.
CYPRESS CREEK
Cyprus Creek is the site of a nuclear power plant that generates electricity for the surrounding area. The town is a planned community
built at the same time as the power plant in the mid-1990s and designed for the plant’s workers and their families. The Dynergy Corporation, a division
of Global Industries, owns and operates the plant. Global also has several research firms in the area.
LONGVIEW
The amalgamated city of Longview is a combination of the cities of Longview and Kelso. Residents of Kelso contested the amalgamation
but the State government in Olympia overruled the opposition. Authorities had hoped to use the amalgamation as a blueprint for combining all the
cities in the area but the continued resistance is making that an unlikely event for the time being. The city is made up of Longview Heights,
West Longview, Columbia Heights, Highland Park, Rio Vista, Aberdeen, and Kelso.
NEWTOPIA
Newtopia is an urban experiment built by the Eden Corporation. It is the ultimate planned city and is inhabited entirely by employees of the
Eden Corporation, their families, and support personnel. The members of the city government are all company employees as are all other municipal
workers, including police and firefighters. Everything in the city is owned and operated by a division of the Eden Corporation, and outsiders
are not welcome.
The area was primarily cropland which was damaged by volcanic ash from the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens in 1980. The land owners accepted
the Eden Corporation’s more than generous offers for their land and Eden began construction of the Arcology and its support infrastructure.
Construction took almost twenty years, with the Arcology being designated as officially self-sufficient on New Year’s Day 2000.
PORT COLUMBIA
Port Columbia is home to a major port on the Columbia River and is a rival of Longview for shipping business. Port Columbia was originally
going to be amalgamated with Longview at the same time Kelso was, but the city residents voted down the proposal despite efforts of the State
government. Recently, though, this has begun to look like it was an empty victory as the amalgamated Longview has been getting the majority
of the big shipping business lately. The city is beginning to take a measure of revenge, though. As Longview continues to grow into a
more industry-heavy city, Port Columbia has been turning itself into the kind of green, tourist-friendly location that Longview once prided itself
on being.
Extensive landscaping taking place in the last few years has resulted in a string of beautiful parks weaving their way through the city. A
number of bed-and-breakfast establishments have appeared lately to cater to the growing tourist crowd. Port Columbia has also been working
on its cultural offerings and has added a number of museums and theaters that are proving to be a hit with visitors.
