HISTORY:

    Approximately 45 million years ago, a meteor estimated at 15 miles in diameter struck the Pacific Ocean 450 miles southwest of the Islands of Hawaii. The meteor is believed to be related to the Chicxulub meteor that is famous for creating the Yucatan Crater.
    The impact created a bowl-like depression in the sea floor, causing the edges of the impact crater to rise up out of the ocean, creating a new island in a matter of seconds. Millions of years of erosion and weathering wore down the massive protrusion of rock, creating the geography that Solace is known for today. The original single island wore down into two main islands, surrounded by some 30 smaller rocky islets. The center of the depression filled in with millions of years of sediment and rock slides, creating the central archipelago.
    Solace was first settled by humans roughly 50 years before early sea-faring people discovered Hawaii. Anthropologists have discovered remnants of ancient cultures which are similar in nature to those of the surrounding Pacific Islands. The descendants of those original settlers still live in isolated villages along the otherwise unsettled coasts of the islands of Solace.
    European explorers first came to Solace in 1782. Captain James Cook is credited for giving the island nation is name, having remarked that he had never felt such solace and peace as he did when he sailed the inner archipelago. During the 1800s, a massive influx of various European settlers washed upon the shores of Solace, drawn to its naturally protected harbors and resources.
    The natives of the islands had mostly stayed to the coasts, leaving the center of the islands untouched. Few game animals had made their way to the inner archipelago, and the abundance of wetlands made for intolerable mosquito populations. The natives signed a treaty with the foreigners, granting them unlimited access to the inner islands so long as they remained there, leaving the mountains and coastlines to the natives.
    The first major colony was established on a large island within the Outer Harbor by the Dutch, called New Gelderland. The colony grew into a fort, as Spanish and English armadas began to eye the island as a prize location for deploying and refitting fleets. Years later, when Dutch power began to wane, the fort was abandoned in 1830, and the colonists moved deeper within the inner bay. The English fleet immediately seized control of the fort, shortened the name to Gelder Island, and established a second fort on the island within the Inner Harbor, which they named Battle Mews. During the next 100 years, waves of Asian and European immigrants flocked to the islands, rapidly turning the central archipelago into a thriving city.
    The British effectively controlled the islands until 1939, when the Japanese launched a major invasion. With most of the English fleet engaged with Germany in the Pacific, the islands fell easily into Imperial control. Unlike in many other conquered territories, the Japanese were not brutal overlords to the residents of Solace. The sheer logistics of controlling an enemy scattered over such a large area, separated by so many winding waterways was deemed a waste of manpower, and therefore, cooperation with the conquered people was considered the logical choice. The Japanese took over the deep water portages of the Inner and Outer Harbors, and allowed the residents of the inner archipelago to safely conduct their daily lives, so long as they sold the islands natural resources to the Empire at a reduced rate. Throughout the war, the natural defenses of the Outer and Inner Harbors protected the Imperial Fleet, and the strongholds built upon Gelder Island and Battle Mews were virtually impregnable. The United States tried, and failed disastrously, several times to dislodge the Japanese from Solace. At last, they simply blockaded it, effectively imprisoning the Imperial Forces there. At the conclusion of the war, those Japanese that wished to remain were granted clemency, and allowed to move to one of the less settled islets of the inner archipelago. The United States retained military bases on Gelder Island and Battle Mews until 1995, when their 50 year lease expired.
    At the end of the war, the residents of Solace agreed to U.S. Terms on becoming an official territory of the United States. The long years of war had decimated the economy, and America was willing to supply financial aid, and purchase immense quantities of Solace's agricultural products. The following years saw Solace's first steel and concrete bridges erected, as well as their first asphalt paved roads. A tremendous influx of American immigrants brought modernization that Solace sorely needed. The first non-military automobile arrived in Solace on December 24, 1952, an American gift to the prime minister.
    In 1974, the citizens of Solace were on the verge of revolution. The populous' unease with American politics had reached the boiling point, forcing the territorial government to take drastic action. Strong diplomatic ties were secretly established with the Soviet Union, China, and several South American countries. With political backing secured, Solace declared independence from the United States on January 1, 1975. The United States reacted with outrage, and threatened military action to prevent Solace's succession as a territory. The Soviet Union and China vowed to defend Solace, and after a great deal of saber rattling, the United States reluctantly recognized Solace's independence.
    The newly formed nation of Solace prospered, and over time, managed to secure an amicable, if somewhat tenuous, relationship with America. Solace's open door policy on immigration caused its population to swell from roughly 4 million in 1975 to over 10 million in 1985. Solace had become a leader in technology, medicine, and engineering. With all of its economic success came unforeseen and calamitous problems.
    Few formal building codes had been established, and the city grew wildly and haphazardly. The population density was greater than all but the world's most crowded cities, and the aged utilities were at breaking point. On March 15, 1985, disaster struck. A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck just 4 miles off the southern coast. The estimates from the disaster were unfathomable.
    Nearly 80 percent of the structures collapsed or burned. The utilities grid was utterly destroyed. More than one million people were killed as a result of the calamity. A further 500,000 died from exposure, malnutrition, or lack of medical care. Over three and a half million people simply left Solace, unable to face the task of rebuilding. Countries from all over the world rushed in aid, as the disaster had been the worst in human history.
    The catastrophe, though devastating, did present Solace with two remarkable opportunities. The first was the discovery of a new mineral that permeated the earth beneath the islands. Geologists had been brought in to sample cores from the bedrock of Solace to make certain new buildings were on solid ground. What they discovered changed the Periodic Table. Attributed to the meteor that had struck millions of years ago, and the resulting temperatures and pressures of the impact, an ore unlike anything ever seen before was unearthed. The new material was named after the geologist that discovered it, Dr. Stritan. The metal would be called Stritanium.
    Metallurgists studied the find, and were amazed by the properties of the new metal. It was stronger than steel, lighter than aluminum, naturally resisted oxidization, did not become brittle in extreme cold, and did not warp in extreme heat. When alloyed with steel or aluminum, it added its own unique characteristics to the new alloy. It was deemed a wonder metal, the find of the century, and there was enough of it below Solace to rebuild half the cities of the world.
    Which created Solace's second opportunity; to recreate the city on an amazing scale, the likes of which the world had never seen before. The government of Solace secured deals with companies from around the globe, and using funds from the sale of the ore, Solace contracted the most ambitious architects and engineers to rebuild the shattered city.
    Thirty-one bridges, 500 miles of high speed Mag-lev train rail, 2000 miles of commuter Mag-lev train rail, 5000 miles of new roads, 25 parks covering hundreds of acres, 50 museums, 100 hospitals, 1000 libraries, 2000 schools, the world's largest airport, 1000 buildings over fifty stories tall, 500 buildings over seventy-five stories tall, 100 buildings over 100 stories tall, and the crown jewel in the reconstruction project, a 200 story tall cylinder shaped building, flanked by four identical 150 story tall cylinder shaped buildings at the heart of the city, where the government offices and residences would be located, were all constructed over a 15 year period.
    More than five million people moved to Solace to undertake the overwhelming number of construction projects, completely erasing the population loss the city had experienced in the earthquake. On March 15, 2000, the final piece of the rebuilding effort was ceremoniously lifted into place. The Keeper, Solace's great hero, carried a golden spire to the top of the 200 story Solace Central Tower, marking the city's official rebirth.
    Since 2000, Solace has become one of the world's great powers. It has also become a haven for those gifted with super powers, as Solace enacted the world's first pro-super hero legislation. Called the Benevolent Vigilante Act, the law deputizes all those with powers who swear an oath to uphold Solace's constitution and protect its citizens.
    Solace is known around the world as the City of Dreams.