Siwa Oasis
North of Port Oasis, along the gamma maglev line, is what initially appears to be a grim parody of the Republic’s beautiful capital. Siwa Oasis was built during the same period as Port Oasis and shares much of the same street layout and architectural style. Siwa Oasis was once a city of stately marble structures, but today, grime covers the white marble of the colonnades and forums, smog blocks the light of the sun, and brownish slime fouls the once-majestic Siwa River. During the early colonial period, Siwa was an agricultural community, but as time went on, the town’s economy shifted towards heavy industry. Siwa Oasis is now the center of metal and petroleum refining in the Southern Republic.
Siwa’s citizens call themselves “fallen angels.” The populace has a sense of the city’s past glory and its undignified present. Economically dependent upon the city’s industries, Siwans are unable to remove the blight from their home. Those that could do the most to preserve the city have grown lax, for the very wealth they derive from the city's institutions isolates them from the worse effects of the environment. This constant irritant tends to darken the mood of the populace, giving Siwans an unsavory reputation.
Although the city is grim and unpleasant to look at or to live in, most Siwan citizens are content to remain where they are, thanks to the free health insurance provided by the government. Although some of the internal tax revenues are diverted to pay for the plan, it is the infamous Health Tax imposed on exported products that finances the Siwans’ health insurance. Siwans also benefit from an impressive underground city of living complexes. Built to escape the industrial pollution of the traditional city, this rapidly expanding complex houses much of the city’s population and many more are on the waiting list. The Well, the underground shipping district, serves as the subterranean complex’s center-piece and attracts shoppers from some other cities as well.