Final Fantasy VIII Fanfiction FAQ
<<home | <previous | next> | authors>>
Balamb City
Balamb Garden (SC)Balamb Garden is the first Garden established at the end of the First Sorceress War, specifically to train mercenaries to fight against sorceresses. Funding for the building of the Garden was provided by NORG, a renegade Shumi. It was built on top of an old bomb shelter, and incorporated significantly advanced technology discovered within the ruins, permitting it to lift from it's foundations and become an oversized, slow, but durable and efficient vehicle.
B-garden ranks second in size, behind the infamous Galbadia Garden. The Headmaster at the end of the Second Sorceress War was Cid Kramer, along with his wife, the former Sorceress Edea. It was the home base of the Fated Children during the Second Sorceress War, with SeeD Squall Leonheart rising to command the facility. Balamb Garden houses approximately 500 cadets, 200 SeeD, 50 staff members, and 30 instructors. It's located west-northwest of Balamb City.
B-Garden is the most famous of Gardens, noted as the training ground of most of the Fated Children, former school of the Traitor, Seifer Almasy, and home base of SeeD. Current funding is gathered from SeeD missions and as part of government allocations from Balamb and Esthar.
Fire Cavern (SC)
Sited on an old volcanic hotspot, the Fire Cavern is both a shrine to the pseudomaterial incarnation of the GF Ifrit and also a SeeD training facility. One of the requirements for the Balamb Garden SeeD field exam is to defeat Ifrit during a timed battle.
Shumi Village (J):
This subcontinent has been set aside by international treaty as Shumi homeland. Is considered a sovereign nation, but is demilitarized. No military bases, foreign or domestic, are allowed. As the Shumi rarely leave their underground cities, this has made the island, with its numerous fjords and caverns around the coastline, a haven for terrorist groups. Demilitarized status makes finding and neutralizing these groups a headache for other nations.
Kalada (SH):
(kuh-LAH-duh) Small fishing town a few miles north of the Centra Ruins.
Ashteran (EG):
(ash-TUR-ahn) Short name for most famous archaeological site in Centra. Conjectured full name: "Yetrai Teyrasta Hynelam Ashterantüm.” Supposedly the ruins of the ancient Centran religious center (like the Vatican, or Jerusalem).
Dollet:
Capital of Dollet, which survived the Galbadian invasion with the help of Balamb Garden’s SeeD mercenaries, igniting animosity between the two countries. Pop. 980,000.
Lindblum (SH):
(LIND-bloom) Small regency north of Dollet, one of the few that successfully resisted Vinzer Deling's early attempts at conquest.
Warren (MG)
A small town, barely outside of Dollet Proper.
Aprile (C):
(ah-pril-AY) Naval base on the Majirian Ocean, on the western coast. The base houses fast-attack and plasma missile submarines, as well as a detachment of frigates and destroyers. It has a drydock that can hold a Midgar-class aircraft carrier. Eight miles to the north is Aprile Naval Air Station, with its land-based naval fighter wing. Pop. 41,000 If Hope Dies
Brescia (C):
(BRESH-ee-uh) An industrial city on the southeastern coast, Brescia has a great deal of factories responsible for producing cars, planes, and textiles. Once a beautiful coastal town, it has evolved into a manufacturing center, and is no longer an attractive tourist spot. Its major employers are Pierson-Bartley Aerodynamics and Crae Industries. Pop. 223,000 The Brescia Anomaly
Bresnan (C):
(BREZ-nin) Naval base on the Celina Ocean, on the eastern coast. The base houses fast-attack and plasma missile submarines, as well as a detachment of frigates and destroyers. It has a drydock that can hold a Midgar-class aircraft carrier. Five miles to the south is Bresnan Naval Air Station, with its land-based naval fighter wing. Pop. 27,000 If Hope Dies
Capitolean (MG)
A city on the Northwest Neck. Birthplace of Dr. Odine.
Esthar Airstation (SC)
Esthar Airstation is a major civilian airfield and docking station for many suborbital aircraft. It is located on the outskirts of Esthar City proper. It's control towers serve as air routing and control points for the whole of Esthar, both civilian and military.
Esthar City (West, Central, North, and East), pop. 2,350,000
Esthar City is the largest city on the planet, and the capital of the nation of Esthar. The city is divided into four districts, each with it’s own particular atmosphere, and all interconnected by tube lines. The reign of Sorceress Adel the Red is well remembered in Esthar City, along with the revolution led by Laguna Loire. Pop. 2,350,000
West: A major center of industrial activity, and the location of most of the maintainence facilities of the city. Some major military production centers are located along the outskirts of West.
Central: The location of most of Esthar’s government facilities, including the Presidential palace
North: A suburbian/residential area. Location of most of the populace. Considered to be one of the better areas to live in the world, although North is no stranger to ghettos and run-down areas.
East: Location of most of the commercial areas, including the Esthar Mall. Along the eastern edge of the town, there are many gathering areas for those who venture across the dangerous, monster-infested countryside.
Esthar Sorceress Memorial (SC)
The Sorceress Memorial was originally an abandoned shrine to those with the gifts of Hyne, dating from the Age of Hyne. Before and during the First Sorceress War, it was a common stopping point for Sorceress Adel. After the infamous sorceress was overthrown by Laguna Loire, it was converted into a prison/containment facility for sorceresses under the guidance of Doctor Odine and by the direct authority of the newly-elected President Loire. Adel was imprisoned there, and eventually sealed in her sarcophagus and launched into orbit.
Sorceress Memorial is isolated from casual visitors, having no direct contact with any nearby town. It lies due east of Lunar Gate, and west-southwest of Esthar Airstation. A small ESDP crew still lives in the Memorial itself, supplied by air and maintaining the Memorial in case it should be needed again.
Great Salt Lake (SC)
The Great Salt Lake is a shallow seabed located near the Esthar Terminal of the Trans-Oceanic railway. It's known as a graveyard for many unusual and extinct species. A shallow, extremely salty lake lies at the heart of the seabed, and one of the few entrances through the cloaking device that hid Esthar between the end of the First Sorceress War and the Second Sorceress War lies at the western end. There are no permanent inhabitants of the Great Salt Lake, although archaeologists often set up camp in the seabed, and a few intrepid miners mine the bed for calcium salts and rare minerals required for the production of superconducting matrices used in most of Esthar's advanced technology.
Lunar Gate (SC)
Launching platform for all of Esthar’s civilian space-travel. It’s maintained by a crew of 300 ESDP personnel. Four magnetic-surge launch tubes are used to drive capsules into orbit.
Lunatic Pandora Laboratory
Palinet (C):
(paw-lin-ET) Esthar’s Las Vegas, a gleaming jewel of a city teeming with casinos in East Central Esthar; main avenue is Gabbiani Parkway, upon which sits the Esthacy (the city’s largest hotel and casino), the Adelade, the Gaia, the Tesla, the Incendie, and the Audentia, among others; has its own airfield, subway system, and other city services (hospital, police, and fire, etc.); protected from wandering animals by an electronic shield that detects and subdues anything analyzed as not being human; tourist spot draws millions from around the globe every year. Pop. 177,000 The Brescia Anomaly
Sorenson (J):
(SOAR-en-sen) Small city on the south coast of Esthar, on the north peninsula which closes off a bay southwest of the Centran Chocobo forest. Look on the world map and you'll see what I mean. Primary port between Esthar and southern Galbadia. Totally destroyed by the Galbadian invasion of Esthar at the start of Sorceress War I, it was rebuilt immediately after during the reconstruction of the Southern areas, which were ravaged before the Estharian military managed to expel the Galbadian forces. Only 23 of the original population of 1,543 survived the city’s demise. To this day Esthar maintains that the Galbadian forces committed horrible atrocities in and around the city. A fishing and tourism center (the city is well-known for its wonderful seafood), most of this quaint, friendly city’s buildings are small, with no need for the urban sprawl of skyscrapers or office buildings. Many tourists flock to The Graves of the Innocents, a large cemetery built to honorably bury the remains of those found nearby in mass graves after the Galbadians left the Estharian continent during the First Sorceress War. Pop. 35,000 Totality
Tears’ Point (SC)
Tear's Point is a massive power-generation facility, located southwest of Brescia. The plasma generators stationed there generate power for the whole of Esthar. Several miles south of the generator complex lies the town of Tears Point, Pop 3,200, a peaceful, beautiful company town, the home of most of the generator employees and former residence of one Senator Garibaldi Eason, the leader of a notorious anti-war faction within the Estharian Senate.
During the final days of the Second Sorceress War, the Lunatic Pandora facility was stationed over the generator complex itself, drawing power for the eventual activation of the Crystal Pillar within Lunatic Pandora itself. The activation caused the massive invasion of lunar monsters, known as the Lunar Cry. The Lunar Cry infested the Esthar countryside with monsters, and destroyed the city of Tear's Point. Since then, Tear's Point has been rebuilt, but it remains a symbol of the Galbadian atrocities during the Second Sorceress War and the crimes of Seifer Almasy.
Tear's Point is famed as the point-of-initiation of Time Compression, and the place where the famous Fated Children began the endgame of their heroic bid against the Ultimys, ending the Second Sorceress War.
Population 9,000. Independent city floating on the Majirian Ocean between Esthar and Galbadia, beside the Trans-Oceanic Railway. Six wharf areas for shipping and a large urban railway station. The city is ringed by a large highway around the upper section.
Deling City (SC)
Deling City is the capital of Galbadia. The city is noted for it’s antique architecture, fine wines, the Morian Arch in the central park, and as the home city of one of the most notorious and bloodthirsty dictatorships in the past five centuries. Pop. 1,550,000
Deling Launch Terminal (C)
Army Orbital Technology is based here. This sprawling complex is the site of Galbadia’s space exploration efforts. It has seven launch pads and a central launch center. Think NASA Mission Control at Kennedy Space Center. If Hope Dies
D-District Prison (SC)
D-District Prison is a Level-5 secure containment facility, located nearly due south of Deling City. Security is maintained by "screwing" the three central towers of the facility deep within the desert sands, using hydraulic motors to turn the outer casing of the towers. The prison is independently powered by a large fusion generator. Maximum prisoner capacity is 300 inmates, guarded by a staff of fifty. D-District prison is noted as the repository of many of Vinzer Deling's political adversaries and "war criminals".
Fiedrictston (MG)
A Suburb of Deling City.
Galbadia Garden (SC)
Galbadia Garden was the third Garden established after the First Sorceress War. As most of it's funding was provided by the government of Galbadia, it served as both a SeeD training facility and a Galbadian officer school. Many soldiers of the Polaris Company were ex-SeeD students of G-Garden. It is the only other Garden known to become mobile.
The Headmaster at the beginning of the Second Sorceress War was General Martine, a former Galbadian soldier. The facility serves 750 cadets, 500 SeeD, 55 instructors, and a staff of 100. G-Garden is infamous as the battle platform of Seifer Almasy during the Battle of the Gardens, the Galbadian high point during the Second Sorceress War. After the Garden Battle, the facility disappeared, heading off under limited power to locations unknown.
Galbadia Missile Base (SC)
The Galbadian Missile Base was the ultimate display of Vinzer Deling's military spending prior to the Second Sorceress War. Ultimately designed as a cruise missile platform, it carried an armament of 64 Guardian-class long-range cruise missiles, an excellent delivery platform for HE or nuclear warheads. The missile base was mostly destroyed during the Second Sorceress War due to the actions of SeeD Selphie Tilmitt.
Halliben (EG)
(HALL-uh-bin) The Galbadian Film industries' greatest triumph! If there were to be any Hollywood, this would be it. Located about 150 miles east of Deling City.
Peladin (MG)
A wealthy area on what they like to call "Galbadia's Fashionable Shore".
Renley (MG)
A small costal city, the next largest next to Deling City itself. It is famous for its seafood restaurants, and Renley Crabs are renowed all over the world.
Reskin Harbor (J)
(RESS-kihn haarbur) Major Galbadian port and shipyard on the east coast just south of Dollet, spread around an inlet from the Majirian. Home Port of the Galbadian Navy. Site of major battle between Estharian and Galbadian forces during the late stages of the Estharian invasion of Galbadia in the closing months of Sorceress War II. Lots of port and shipyard facilities near the water. As far as construction styles, it is mostly comprised of industrial buildings, some commercial skyscrapers in the south- and northwest of the city, major military complexes in between and civilian housing sprawling on the outskirts. Reskin has a heavy complement of defensive emplacements in the form of Defender Ground Missiles and AAA guns. Protected by one of the largest and most advanced radar systems in Galbadia. Think something similar to Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia. Pop. 531,000 Totality
Terrence (MG)
Birthplace of Julia Heartily, and that's all it could possibly be famous for.
Tomb of the Unknown King (SC)
An ancient tomb, dating from the Age of Hyne. The reasons for building the tomb are unknown, along with the culture and society of the ancient city-state who built it. Home of the pseudomaterial incarnation of the GF’s Brother and Minotaur. The inside is a maze-like warren of hallways, occasionally opening out on beautiful watergardens. Some ingenious hunters hunt the halls for rare and dangerous creatures for the refinement of Adamantium.
Costa del Sol (SH)
Recently opened resort town situated along Mandy Beach near Timber.
Jejun (C)
(ji-joon) Jejun was a coastal city with a gorgeous white sand beach and beautiful tropical plants located in the lowlands between Winhill and Timber. Its location on the Railen Seat should have been a prime tourist spot, with its charming buildings and ancient wall, all of which was built in the time Jejun was a strong fortress some centuries ago. From a mile away, one would never know that this pleasant-looking beach town was an awful place, with thieves and warlords conducting definitive negotiations on its violent streets. If you and your clan were wiped out, you lost the negotiation. There was a street battle here almost daily, and even the Galbadian army had learned that Jejun was best left to its own devices. Three years ago when the fighting became especially bloody, a regiment of Galbadian Elite Soldiers led by Command Leaders had been inserted to put an end to the rivalry between the warlords. Galbadia’s finest soldiers were routed in three days of intense house-to-house fighting and their bodies dragged through the streets by the locals. The army withdrew from the city a week later and had not been back since. The military still maintained a heavily-defended base a mile outside the city but had never again made an attempt to settle things in the town. Jejun has a thriving black market, selling everything from guns to the occasional armored vehicle. Pop. 58,000 If Hope Dies
Einlend (J)
(EYN-lind) Capital of Trabia. Located on the south coast of Trabia, directly north of the Balamb fire cavern. Trabia can be thought as analogous to either Canada or Russia in our world. Einlend is kind of like Washington, DC, placed where Moscow is: Lots of government buildings in the classical style and national monuments, including the Dollet War Memorial, a monument to Trabia's victory over an attempted invasion by the former Dollet Empire shortly after it began to decline. Most of the government buildings are constructed from brown marble (white marble would blend in too easily with the snow), since this stone gives a wooden quality to the structure, a nod to the Trabian wood-frame buildings built before the planet's industrial revolution. Also like the United States capital, most of the people who work in Einlend commute from its rather extensive suburbs. Traffic is a major problem: due to the city's northern location, it is covered in ice and snow almost all year round. Pop. 850,000
Kijasai (MG)
The largest city in Trabia, even above the capital, but only in recent years. The city used to be distinguished by a slightly glottal accent, but that has diminished with the influx of tourists-turned-townspeople.
Reston (C)
(ress-tin) Though Einlend is the capital, some houses of government are located in the suburb of Reston, about thirteen miles from the Einlend city center. Pop. 120,000 Tigard Flail
Toronto (SH)
Progressive Trabian city located south-southeast of Trabia Garden.
Trabian (SC)
(TRAY-bee-en) The old capital of the Kingdom of Trabia. Noted for Trabian Castle, a repository for relics dating back from the Age of Hyne. Located on the north shore, and inhabited mostly by archaeologists and maintenance workers for the castle, this city sees its population swell with tourists during the summer months. Pop. 2,200
Huskarl (C)
(HUSS-krul) Dirty town of 14,000 on coast of the Railen Sea directly south of Winhill. Huskarl is a dangerous place, rife with bandits and thieves. Little good business is conducted here, though it is a smuggling route into Winhill, and from there, to Galbadia. Pop. 14,000 Broken
Winhill (SC)
Capital of the city-state of Winhill. A small town, set into the foothills of a mountain range, it’s considered a pleasantly rustic town, if a little distrustful of outsiders. The governer of the city-state is Markkon Zeilgr. Pop. 1,200