New Corsica
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The view soars over the rolling dark blue waves of the Gulf of Mexico, and your eyes drift upward, seeing city lights highlighted against a twilight sky. A lighthouse stands in a craggy island, a centuries-old spear of iron and brick piercing into the night. Beyond it, the vast metropolis sprawls against the seacoast.
A light rain fills the air as you look upon this place, halfway between the dreams and nightmares of a thousand architects. Monuments of tarnished bronze and pitted rock are dwarfed in the stone and glass towers. Vast sprawls and ghettoes fill the worst edges of this city, while in vast mansions the richest live in a world of chiming champagne glasses and richly lit ballrooms. The evidence of once proud French heritage rots in the old quarters, as seas of neon glow light up the club districts. On the coastline, the refineries and plants - the demons of industry - pour poison into the sea and sky.
Then you realize it is no metropolis, it is a noctropolis - a city of night. It is the city of darkness, of the purest gothic. It is New Corsica, the City of Gateways.
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The City
New Corsica lies on the Louisiana’s gulf coast, somewhere between Houston and New Orleans. It is the last point where the forests of East Texas meet the deep swamps of Louisiana. Most of the city lies on a large island just barely off the coast, a shelf that fell off the main continent millennia ago. Conceptually, it is the penultimate city of darkness. It seems uncomfortable under the harsh light of day, and the clouds often gray the sky. If the rain is the crying of angels, then every day the heavens look upon New Corsica and weep.
New Corsica is a city that has never been touched by the sprawling decadence of the late twentieth century. Tenements still house the poor, while the rich seclude themselves in palaces of wealth and grandeur. The newsstands still spot every corner, and the newspapers are the way the populace gets its news and culture. Television is not the order of the day, though Action News can be seen covering all the great gala events and hideous disasters. And businessmen never gave up their dress hats, though practically they are all the better to stave off the frequent rain.
The culture of the youth has not stood still, however. The culture of pop and hip-hop has never truly taken hold here - its bubblegum flavor is too sweet for this city to stomach. The sound of metal and industrial booms from the clubs of Foundation Boulevard. Leather jackets, metal studs and unnatural hair colors mark the truly ‘hip’ of New Corsica. The young understand the darkness that dwells here, and they embrace it when their parents simply live with it.
History
French colonists founded New Corsica in the late 1600s. The name originally referred to the island most of the city now occupies. The settlement itself was simply called ‘Le Bastion’ or the Fortress, referring to the large fort that guarded the entrance to the Everett River, a tributary of the Mississippi. It soon became a center for trade and commerce with Indians and various pirates who sought refuge here to escape Spanish authorities. During this period, the French erected the famous New Corsica lighthouse that stands to this day. Much like its close relative New Orleans, New Corsica became part of the slave trade shortly after its purchase by the United States. The ports around New Corsica Island and on the other side of Gate Bay sprawled, as sugar, cotton and slaves were traded heavily during this period of prosperity. Several large squares throughout Old Bastion were built for the sole purpose of slave auctioning. Most of them still stand, and their dedication marks still serve as a dark monument to this period of New Corsica’s history.
During the Civil War (or the War of Northern Aggression as some locals are quick to call it), the fledgling Confederate Navy attempted to use the old fortress and bay as a staging ground. However, early in the conflict the Union moved several frigates into the area. What few warships the Confederacy could muster were quickly put out of commission. The old French fortress proved much more stubborn, sinking several ships and landing boats with the cannons installed by the Confederate Army. Scores of Union marines were killed on Bastion Island, as the Union Navy battered the fort with cannon. Historians credit the will of the Confederates manning the fortress to the fact that every one of them was a New Corsican native. In the end, the Union battered the fortress until it was rubble and very few prisoners were taken.
The following decades were hard for the city much like it was hard for the rest of the South. However, the 20th century brought on new promise, and New Corsica quickly became a center for shipping and the industries that come with that. During the period of the World Wars, it became a center for refining and chemical processing, and the area known as Industry Shores was developed. New Corsica quickly became the largest city in Louisiana, the sprawling metropolis we know now.
Districts
- Bastion Island
- Bay View
- Castle Cliffs
- The Docks
- The Dregs
- East End
- Foundation Blvd
- Industry Shores
- Little Haiti
- Little Warsaw
- Newgate
- Old Bastion
- Tenement Quarter
- Town Center
- Warehouse District
