Lore of Cirno Bay
This is the lore of Cirno Bay, a city located in West Zeta.
Pre-industrialization
For a long time, Cirno Bay and the nearby tundra was inhabited by fairies due to its location next to Misty Lake. Yukimura, a small settlement located where present-day Gensou District is in was the only permanent settlement where humans lived in, as the fairies, a threat to humans hampered expansion into its outskirts. Additionally, frigid weather was also a problem in pre-industrial Cirno Bay and was also a factor preventing expansion.
Even when the humans managed to claim the outskirts for themselves, it rarely lasted long enough. Even with the weapons the humans managed to obtain through traders from the outside world, the frequent occurrence of storms and blizzards made it hard to claim the outskirts for 2 months or longer.
Despite the deterrents hampering exapnsion, the humans managed to chase the fairies away and braved the weather in order to establish Yukimura Shrine, which still stands today. It is currently a tourist attraction.
According to a book written in 1886 by Raymond Reed, titled "An Account of Yukimura and The Outskirts" during the onset of industrialization says that Yukimura Shrine is "exotic-looking" and that Yukimura is bustling with lots of people working and it mentions "Mystia's Izakaya", located near Yukimura Lake, which according to Reed, "has the best tasting food I've tried".
With the industrialization happening during the late 1800s in the outside world, it wasn't until one day in late 1890s when Mr. Tanaka, the owner of a shop noticed "unknown industrial products" and told some people about this finding. Word spread around the town and the inhabitants were shocked. According to Bunbunmaru News the day after the finding, it told of the events that happened: "Unknown Things of Mystical Origin Found! Is The Fairies About To Meet The Fate?" Some of the people, such as Shigeru Tsujitani, who later become the first mayor of modern Cirno Bay, chased the fairies out of the outskirts with these new things, and new settlements emerged in its place. This included Naka-Yukimura, Kawashiro and Fubuki.
20th century
The population demographics of Cirno Bay in 1915.
In early 1900s, the many settlements in the outskirts and the original settlement merged to form the modern Cirno Bay. The first mayor of Cirno Bay, Shigeru Tsujitani pursued a policy of encouraging development in the outskirts and trade with the outside world. This policy would result in the industrialization and massive expansion of Cirno Bay, and advertisements placed in the outside world encouraging people to move to Cirno Bay. One advertisement said: "The Greatest City of West Zeta!". These advertisements would result in Cirno Bay's population increasing massively, from 4,753 in 1895 to 98,432 in 1915. The first railroads came into the city with Cirno Bay and Kompaku Terminals being built to serve the trains from all sides.
Local engineers and engineers hired abroad were employed to design and build the terminals and connections linking the stations together. Konrad van den Berg, an engineer from Wazamawazi who designed the Kompaku Line said in Gensokyo Broadcast Network: "The stations and railways of Cirno Bay is simply very striking and magnificent, and no city could rival Cirno Bay in terms of railway infrastructure." The Kompaku Line, an elevated viaduct is an remnant of the early railroad days and is now an attraction visited by over 2.5 million people in 2021. It was originally built in 1916, and was abandoned when a new tunnel was built under Yukari Road in 1954 before being restored and opened as an attraction in 2008.
During the 1920s, a golden age for Cirno Bay's economic development, the first skyscrapers were built and an financial center was established in the area around Kompaku Terminal and Fubuki District. Additionally, the Hieda National Library was established, which became one of the biggest libraries in West Zeta, with a lot of pictures and books documenting Cirno Bay's history.
Modern day
As Cirno Bay progressed further into the 20th century, it slowly grew from a small town formed from the merger of several settlements into a big city. This was accelerated by further expansion to the south, and improvement of public transport. This included the construction of the metro and the expansion of the south with dense townhouses and apartments.
In the 21st century, there was many advances allowing Cirno Bay to become the shining gem of West Zeta. This include revitalization of neglected districts, such as Kawashiro District, where the original Kawashiro HQ resided, but Kawashiro moved to Hinanawi Town in 1975 to better take advantage of its reputation of access to railcar factories, and sat abandoned for a long time until Nijisanji MRT Division moved in in 2019 and the opening of CASCU Warprail Museum.