Timeline for Cobalt City Fiction can be found here.
Masks, an original de la Vega story set in Cobalt City and available only online is located here.
The Star of New England, Cobalt is a mid-sized city, close in scale to Boston. Scene of some of the Revolutionary War’s stranger battles, Cobalt City has a long Cape and Cowl tradition, with some heroic identities, such as the Huntsman, stretching back hundreds of years. Comprised of several distinct neighborhoods, it holds on to the historical character of the city, while being a bastion of scientific progress. It is widely accepted that Cobalt City is the center of this world’s super-hero community.
The Districts of Cobalt City
Made up of eight distinct neighborhoods bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and divided by the Cape Cod Canal, the districts of Cobalt City are: Cannonade, Downtown, The Hollows, Karlsburg, Morriston, Parkside, Regency Heights, Quayside.
Must see sights include Lafayette Park and the Lafayette House, Fox Point Lighthouse, Liberty Grand Theater, a ride on the Cobalt Civil Monorail, the Forbidden Palace Casino, and the home of the city’s premiere super-hero group the Protectorate – The Keep, complete with gift shop and museum of the Cobalt’s super history.
The Cannonade – Occupying the curve of Cobalt City along the north bank of the river which separates it from Quayside to the south, the Cannonade district is largely characterized by the waterfront park and sturdy, old buildings originally built for military and cannon emplacements. The buildings have long been repurposed, turned into condos and apartments with galleries and bistros tucked in their shadows, to give the neighborhood a quirky, Bohemian character. The cannons which used to line the battlements along the waterfront have been decommissioned, and the wide promenade was turned into one of the city’s two large parks.
The Hollows – Between the river to the south and the theater and Parkside district to the north, the Hollows is an area which somehow missed out on the gentrification of the city’s other neighborhood. Packed with liquor stores, gun stores, pawn shops, strip clubs, and dive bars with poorly-maintained apartments above, the war on crime has largely taken a cease fire in the Hollows. The only people who go into the Hollows after dark are tourists or people unfortunate enough to live there.
Karlsburg – In the western foothills that mark the end of downtown, the neighborhood of Karlsburg is a defined by the warehouses and train yards in the south, and the tightly packed ethnic neighborhoods in the north. Between them is a swath of streets twisting through the hills making up the middle and lower-middle class spectrum of the city’s economy. The lines between Little Bavaria, Little Paris, Little Moscow, Little El Salvador, and Little Morocco have long since blurred, and now the whole melting pot is known by the collective neighborhood name. While it can be difficult to find your way around, the locals take pride in their specialty shops and ethnic restaurants.
Lafayette Park – A large oblong of a park located to the west of Cobalt City’s financial district, Lafayette Park was dedicated to the famous French general who helped defend the city from the British during the height of the Revolutionary War, at great loss to his troops. There is a cemetery reserved for heroes of the city located in the center of the park. A statue of Lafayette stands on a hilltop in the midst of the graves. There is a band shell in the northen quarter of the park, used for large, public concerts. The park itself consists largely of paths through wooded areas broken up by the occasional small meadows and handful of playgrounds.
Morrison – Bordering downtown to the north, Morrison is made up of quiet suburbs, urban sprawl, and the bio-tech campus of the University of Cobalt City. Tidy, tree-lined streets, strip malls anchored by big box retailers, and good public schools are the norm here.
Parkside – This narrow strip of neighborhood consists of an area three blocks to the east and west of Lafayette. The tree-lined Parkside Boulevard borders the park on the west side, while Lafayette Avenue borders the park on the east. The neighborhood is prime real estate, with luxury apartments and brownstones decreasing in value the further they are from the park itself. Gourmet restaurants, exclusive clubs, and high-end boutiques are the primary businesses in this neighborhood.
Quayside – Across the river to the south of Cobalt City, Quayside is connected by a pair of bridges on either end of the district. Largely an industrial neighborhood, gambling was legalized in Quayside in the mid-20th century to spark the economy. While the city eventually prohibited new casinos from being built, the half-dozen which had already started up were allowed to continue operation. Few people actually live in this neighborhood, most only commuting in for work or the draw of the Forbidden Palace and other, smaller casinos. Quayside has the largest Asian population in the city.
Regency Heights – Occupying a bluff on the south-east corner of the city, directly east of Quayside, the Heights is a wooded enclave of expensive estates and country clubs. The Regency Supper Club, located amid a cluster of expensive boutiques, spas, and small park spaces provides as much of a heart of the neighborhood as the Heights can lay claim to.
