Octant 5 - Ares (AIR-ees)
One part military base and one part domestic center, the Ares Octant is the home of one of the most important places in Olympia, arguably even more important than the city center Hermes or administrative Octant of Zeus: The Gate. Gatehome, a borough unto itself, is the main entrance and exit from the city of Olympia and is both heavily trafficked and heavily guarded. Beyond the Gate itself, Ares is home to most of Olympia’s LOSTech weapons as well as modern technological weaponry and armor, including factories for the creation and repair of those weapons and armor.
Gatehome extends along the outer edge of the Octant and, obviously, includes the Gate itself, a massive mechanical marvel built out of the old Ark. Next to Gatehome is the Barracks, a catchall term for the Gatewarden's home base, and then finally, closest to the central hub of Hermes is The Factory District, where much of their supplies and ordinance is constructed.
Of all the various Octants, this is one of the ones with the lowest actual population. Gatehome does not have any housing, per se, outside of temporary billets for Rangers coming or going and while the Barracks does have lodging for the Watch it is not open for public use. This means that only the Factory District, of the three subdivisions in Ares, really has any ‘civilian’ space and even then, most of that is taken up by the factories and craft halls that manufacture arms and armor. There are, however, some smaller populations that have grown up in the Factory District in a series of smaller housing clusters, often called the “Stacks” for the vertical build of the small hovels stacked on top of one another.
It is incredibly common to hear a variety of military style abbreviations that remain a holdover from the Ancient World and perhaps more than the inhabitants' fair share of cursing.
To the Gatewardens, the people outside of Ares are “The People”, however some slang often refers to them as “Sheep”, under the watchful eye of the Sheepdogs. There is a notable point of social conflict between the people who live and work in the Factory District and the residents of the Barracks - being as close to the Gatewatch as they are, many Factory workers have also begun to view the rest of Olympia as “Sheep”, whereas to the Gatewatch, the Factory Workers themselves are Sheep.
Of note, calling anyone a sheep is taken to be incredibly rude given Olympia’s tradition and culture that, when emergency comes, everyone mans the walls and not just the Gatewatch - but such an emergency hasn’t happened in at least a generation.
Gatehome extends along the outer edge of the Octant and, obviously, includes the Gate itself, a massive mechanical marvel built out of the old Ark. Next to Gatehome is the Barracks, a catchall term for the Gatewarden's home base, and then finally, closest to the central hub of Hermes is The Factory District, where much of their supplies and ordinance is constructed.
Of all the various Octants, this is one of the ones with the lowest actual population. Gatehome does not have any housing, per se, outside of temporary billets for Rangers coming or going and while the Barracks does have lodging for the Watch it is not open for public use. This means that only the Factory District, of the three subdivisions in Ares, really has any ‘civilian’ space and even then, most of that is taken up by the factories and craft halls that manufacture arms and armor. There are, however, some smaller populations that have grown up in the Factory District in a series of smaller housing clusters, often called the “Stacks” for the vertical build of the small hovels stacked on top of one another.
It is incredibly common to hear a variety of military style abbreviations that remain a holdover from the Ancient World and perhaps more than the inhabitants' fair share of cursing.
To the Gatewardens, the people outside of Ares are “The People”, however some slang often refers to them as “Sheep”, under the watchful eye of the Sheepdogs. There is a notable point of social conflict between the people who live and work in the Factory District and the residents of the Barracks - being as close to the Gatewatch as they are, many Factory workers have also begun to view the rest of Olympia as “Sheep”, whereas to the Gatewatch, the Factory Workers themselves are Sheep.
Of note, calling anyone a sheep is taken to be incredibly rude given Olympia’s tradition and culture that, when emergency comes, everyone mans the walls and not just the Gatewatch - but such an emergency hasn’t happened in at least a generation.
Demographics
If there is one good thing about Ares it is that it is utterly cosmopolitan - every type of metahuman lives or works here because the Watch takes all. It is far more common to see dwarves, orcs, or trolls working in the Factory District given their physicality offers them some benefits to the physically demanding jobs there, but it is just as common to see them walking the walls with spurs on.
Government
For the Barracks and Gatehome, the internal structure of the Gatewatch holds sway - until it doesn’t. The Watch, as a general rule, will handle their business internally first in order to present a unified front to anyone outside their ranks; however, there are some crimes large enough that getting a reprimand, a demotion, or a good-old-fashioned-ass-kicking won’t solve. Notably, the city still talks about the semi apocryphal story of a ranger being dragged through the streets by the Watch and thrown onto the steps of the Themisian Court for charges of corruption - and if that particular corrupt ranger had had some boot-stomp marks on him by the time he got there, well, who’s counting?
Defences
The most extensive defenses are present in Gatehome, including a variety of larger scale weapons recovered from Raiders tribes or from the depths of an Ark. The Wall, created from the Olympian Ark itself, is the first line of defense due to the strange metal that seems to easily rebuff most munitions. Dotted along the rampants of the Wall, however, range a wide variety of mounted guns, missile launchers, and the like.
Olympian strategy, as a general rule, favors a measured response and makes a point to not roll out the LOSTech weapons at the first opportunity - however nor will they refrain from doing so. Given a large enough threat, enemies of Olympia can expect to face the entire GateWatch and many civilians equipped in LOSTech battle armor with plasma rifles and personal force shields, let alone futuristic vehicles and wall-mounted massive laser cannons.
Of course, the largest defense here, by far, is the Gatewatch itself. With numerous rangers on guard on the walls as well as stationed at Gatehome, or in rotation at the Barracks, should something happen that threatens the city, then whatever it is will find out how quickly the phrase ‘one Horror, one Hunter’ doesn’t apply to Oylmpia’s safety.
Olympian strategy, as a general rule, favors a measured response and makes a point to not roll out the LOSTech weapons at the first opportunity - however nor will they refrain from doing so. Given a large enough threat, enemies of Olympia can expect to face the entire GateWatch and many civilians equipped in LOSTech battle armor with plasma rifles and personal force shields, let alone futuristic vehicles and wall-mounted massive laser cannons.
Of course, the largest defense here, by far, is the Gatewatch itself. With numerous rangers on guard on the walls as well as stationed at Gatehome, or in rotation at the Barracks, should something happen that threatens the city, then whatever it is will find out how quickly the phrase ‘one Horror, one Hunter’ doesn’t apply to Oylmpia’s safety.
Industry & Trade
The primary export of the Ares Octant is weapons and armor. On paper, this is religiously tracked as most of the equipment goes to the Watch or the Oracles; however, in actuality there is a large export trade of both weapons and armor - some legal and some not. It is not unusual for the average Olympian to own weaponry, given the difficult nature of life outside the Wall, however there are any number of reasons why someone might want to acquire equipment illegally either due to wanting something bigger than they would normally be allowed or due to their own criminal record.
That being said, any LOSTech weapons or ‘military grade’ items like large scale explosives, canons, recovered vehicles, and the like are explicitly not traded out of Ares and are kept under near-religious lock and key at the Armory in Gatehome.
That being said, any LOSTech weapons or ‘military grade’ items like large scale explosives, canons, recovered vehicles, and the like are explicitly not traded out of Ares and are kept under near-religious lock and key at the Armory in Gatehome.
Infrastructure
While this is not a poor section of the city, by any means, nor is it the glamour and wealth of others. The majority of the Octant, from Gatehome to the Barracks, is kept in a neat and clean professional manner and maintained by the combined services of the city and the Watch themselves. While the Factory District is a little more Spartan and bare, there remains a certain pride in the Factory workers and owners to maintain the appearance of Ares.
Notably lacking is entertainment - while the Barracks does have things like kitchens, televisions and radios, no one comes to Ares for fun. Watchmen and Factory workers, when off duty, go into Hermes or beyond for good food and entertainment
Districts
Guilds and Factions
Outside of the Gatewardens themselves, the only other main ‘faction’ of people is a group calling themselves “The Union Boys". This group of Factory District workers is one part worker’s union, one part black market smuggling ring, and one part mafia. On the surface, the Union Boys stand up for the Factory Workers to make sure they aren’t overworked or not given proper pay and credit for their contributions to Olympia’s safety - under the surface, however, they are responsible for much of the Black Market trade that goes out of Ares and into the other districts, at least as far as weaponry goes.
History
While the Gate has always been part of Olympia, the Octant was formally founded as the base of the Gatewardens in 64 DF by Ranger-General Michael Bass. His goal was to make sure that the Gatewatch always had somewhere to live and, further, that it would be between the outside of the city and the people inside. Since then, while the area has expanded into the three districts of Gatehome, The Barracks, and the Factory District, there have been notably few incidents in the history of the place, often running with near military precision - if one can ignore the occasionally far too rowdy commotion from off duty Rangers blowing off steam.
Points of interest
The Gate / Main Street: The road leading into Olympia and down the center of Ares is heavily guarded and armed with a variety of checkpoints for people coming into, or out of, the city.
The Armory: Located at Gatehome, the Armory is a heavily guarded location where the Watch stores its largest and more destructive weapons, LOSTech, and the like. Access is strictly regulated and controlled by the Gatewatch.
The Factory District: where much of the supplies and ordinance is constructed.
Oracle Academy : Where the Oracles send their cadets for training.
The Armory: Located at Gatehome, the Armory is a heavily guarded location where the Watch stores its largest and more destructive weapons, LOSTech, and the like. Access is strictly regulated and controlled by the Gatewatch.
The Factory District: where much of the supplies and ordinance is constructed.
Oracle Academy : Where the Oracles send their cadets for training.
Architecture
No one goes to Ares for good architecture - the buildings here are utilitarian, simple, and often built to be defensible. Flat grey buildings stack against each other and intermingle with concrete and plasteel security doors or checkpoints.
Founding Date
64 DF
Founders
Population
Wokers: Medium, Residents: None
Inhabitant Demonym
Sheepdogs
Location under
Characters in Location