La Jolla (pronounced "La Hoya," meaning "the jewel") is a wealthy coastal suburb just north of San Diego. However, residents prefer to keep theirjewels as secure as possible - La Jolla tends to make sure outsiders stay outside.
La Jolla was founded in the late 1 800s by settlers coming overland from San Diego. La Jolla was originally a resort for wealthy San Diegans, and La Jolla has always been known as a rich place. By the late 20th century, it had grown to a thriving, small suburb of nearly 35,000 people.
The Great Quake of 2015, and the Food Riots that followed soon afterward, devastated La Jolla. Many of the wealthy, however, were able to survive in their heavily-guarded homes after illegally purchasing large quantities of relief food. After the Food Riots ended, the wealthy and those few who had settled there from other parts of San Diego seceded from San Diego and established La Jolla as an independent and self-sufficient community. The town wall was completed in 2020; because of it La Jolla survived the Mexican Invasion of 2026 relatively intact.
La Jolla is truly self-sufficient. All water and food supplies come from La Jolla's own desalinization and algae-growth plants, and a small fusion power plant provides power, using hydrogen derived from seawater. La Jolla is kept secure and isolated by a town wall and heavy land and coastal patrols.
La Jolla has been able to survive as long as it has as an isolated enclave, due to its uniquely defensible nature. It is bounded by the ocean on the west and mountains on the north and east. Although the southern defense is not assisted by natural barriers, it is heavily fortified and well-patrolled.
The government is a straight plutocracy - political power is directly proportional to wealth. Each $500,000 of net worth allows a resident one vote, and candidates for office must have a net worth of at least $5,000,000.
The wealthy pay heavy taxes, which allows the government to provide everything from health care to security forces at little or no additional cost to all residents.
La Jolla is dominated by Mount Soledad, which rises to the east and forms a very effective barrier against any attack. The dashed line on the map indicates the approximate western boundary of the mountain; it rises gradually to an altitude of nearly 800 feet in the east, abruptly terminating into Rose Canyon (where Interstate 5 is located on the map). The town wall in the east runs along the top of the ridge overlooking Rose Canyon. The extreme northern end of the mountains within the walls rises to a fairly large mesa, which extends quite a distance. Torrey Pines Road, which is one of only three good routes to the north, comes north through Pottery Canyon. The other two are La Jolla Shores Drive, which runs north near the coast, and the La Jolla Scenic Drive North, which is little-used. La Jolla Scenic Drive North was originally intended to connect to a bridge spanning the "valley" through which Ardath runs, but the project was never completed.
La Jolla has several garages, all of which offer complete services for vehicles and weaponry. There is one facility dedicated entirely to the repair and maintenance of gasoline engines, which many of the wealthy prefer. This facility also sells gasoline. Uncle Al has a showroom here, and there are several new- and used~ar dealerships. Gold Cross has an office here, to see to the needs of the wealthy. It is not a complete cloning facility, but has refrigeration units, a heliport and a helicopter constantly on alert, to quickly transport the temporarily deceased to a full Gold Cross Center, usually the Coronado facility.
There is a no-Duelling ordinance in La Jolla (the residents are very leery of the thought of madmen blowing each other up in close proximity to their homes and offices). This ordinance is strictly enforced by the police. All visitors will have their vehicles checked and all vehicular weaponry disarmed. Hand weaponry of all calibers is mostly legal, though running around with a high-powered hand weapon will likely earn you the close attention of the police.
Though there is no arena in La Jolla itself, there is a small one at UCSD which serves as a training ground for its NCADA team. There are, of course, many arenas and plenty of street duelling out in the rest of San Diego. In general, La Jolla is a fairly quiet place. Individuals looking for action would be best advised to head for downtown San Diego.
