Iora

Overview
Situated on the pristine Azur Bay on the continent of Saltus, Iora is the capital of Terra, the Alpha Centauri, and the closest thing Earth has ever produced to a rival.

Founded in 2204, Iora has quickly grown into one of the largest mega-cities in the FPE. Thanks to the initial colonists' focus on sustainability and self-sufficiency, the city has developed with utmost importance on its integration with nature and its aesthetic appearance that defy standard architectural conventions. Adding to its natural integration, Artemis Spaceport, constructed from the hulls of the colony ship FPFV Artemis, is located nearly 10km away from Iora's central business district to cut down on congestion and pollution that plagued many Solar colonies at the time of its founding.

Constructed on a river delta and shielded by towering rock pillars and cliffs, Iora has been naturally divided into several districts. The CBD and sparkling highrises of Downtown are immediately visible to any new arrivals, with Centauri Tower shining like a beacon in the light of the binary stars. Across the Varuna River is a middle-class residential district known as Hampton, home to some of the Federation's most well-known parks and education facilities. Across the other side of Downtown and the Segeta River is Saigai, named after the extreme efforts in land reclamation it took to build there. It's the closest Iora has come to a low-income, residential-industrial area.

Iora is commonly considered the cultural capital of the Federation, often to the dismay of Earthers and those who hold centralist ideals. However, no one can understate the influence that Iora has and will have on the Federation. If you want to know where humanity has been, you visit New York. If you want to see where we're going, visit Iora.

Etymology
Native to the cliffs and rock pillars of Iora, is a species of bioluminescent cricket-like creatures that emit a blue hued light when ready to mate. In the late months of spring on Terra, these crickets take to the skies to feed on smaller insects and find mates, lighting up the evening skies over Iora with dancing blue swarms of light. These cricket like creatures were noted as being very similar to the Earth genus Iassus.

Oram is the latin word for coast. Blending the word Oram with the word Iassus to integrate the two unique features of the city the colonists now called home, Iora was pronounced the official name of the city in late 2204.