Cestlep is an independent city-state and the de facto capital of The Oceanykan Federation. It is located in southern Oceanyka and its territory goes as far as the metropolitan area extends to, although within its sphere of influence also lie the Cestlep Outskirts, as well as the nominally independent city-states of Rhineburg (Port Augusta) and Little Britain (Kangaroo Island). It is a city of contradictions—sophisticated and cultured at its centre, violent and anarchic at its edges. Glistening corporate towers cast shadows over decrepit slums, while neon-lit entertainment districts share borders with crime-ridden backstreets. Cestlep is a place of power, profit, and peril, where fortunes are made in boardrooms and blood is spilled in alleys.
Its government is led by the Mayor of Cestlep, elected by the city's 17 boroughs, and directly subordinate to the President of the Oceanykan Federation. These 17 boroughs are as follows, in order of affluency:
- Borough of Adelaide (Cestlep Centre) – The crown jewel of Cestlep, this borough houses most of the Oceanykan Government 🪃, including The Oceanykan Council, and countless skyscrapers brimming with corporate offices. It is heavily patrolled by the Federal Police Metropolitan Force, Oceanykan People's Army Military Police, and elite PMCs. Beneath its shining, techno-futuristic facade, corruption festers, and the rich grow richer while the masses suffer.
- Borough of Adelaide Hills – An affluent borough filled with corporate enclaves, luxurious mansions, and exclusive social clubs. The elite live in gated communities guarded by high-tech security forces. Due to its proximity to Cestlep Centre, many of the upper and middle-upper-class commute from here to wherever they work.
- Borough of Whoresmouth – Cestlep’s entertainment and nightlife hub. It is infamous for its casinos, drug dens, and brothels, many of which are controlled by powerful crime families, frequented by the upper and middle-class. Foreign tourists prefer the moniker "New Vegas", but Oceanykans would rather use the borough's true name.
- Borough of Seafort – A heavily industrialised borough serving as the city’s primary shipping hub. It is a chaotic sprawl of loading cranes, container yards, and ship terminals. Many criminal organisations maintain a hidden presence here.
- Borough of Bellspire – The financial heart of Cestlep outside of Adelaide, home to banks, stock exchanges, and major corporate headquarters. It is patrolled by corporate PMCs.
- Borough of Port Wakefield – An old port district, still vital for trade. It is lined with shipyards, loading docks, and warehouses. Smugglers, pirates, and corporate raiders operate rather freely here. Narcotics cartels control much of the underworld.
- Borough of Blanchetown – A heavily militarised zone, heart of the Oceanykan People's Army. Their garrisons, supply depots and training facilities lie here, as well as a major airport. Civilians are not restricted from entering the borough, but most of the infrastructure is military-oriented.
- Borough of Riverton – A working-class borough with crowded housing estates. It is home to Cestlep’s industrial workers, who travel daily to the factories. Its slums are slowly becoming gang-dominated, but the Federal Police has enough of a presence to deter an outright takeover.
- Borough of Kzpafos – A sprawling industrial wasteland where massive superfactories churn out steel, building materials, ammunition, vehicles, and synthetic chemicals. The air is thick with smog, and labourers here rarely live past their fifties. The streets are ruled by union gangs and corrupt factory bosses.
- Borough of Rorkanai– Cestlep’s largest petrochemical hub, filled with refineries, gas plants, and sprawling chemical processing facilities. Frequent explosions and fires are common due to lax safety regulations.
- Borough of Lyndoch – A massive residential sector for the working class, passing through some hard times. Its streets are lined with food stalls, black markets, and crumbling public infrastructure.
- Borough of Independence – A brutalist residential sector built for industrial workers immigrating from the countryside during the Oceanykan Civil War (at the lower possible cost), filled with crumbling superblocks that house thousands. Its overcrowded conditions make it a haven for street gangs, drug dens, and rogue corporations.
- Borough of Goolwa– The centre of Cestlep’s underground economy. Black markets thrive here, selling stolen goods, all sorts of drugs, weapons of any type, smuggled tech, and counterfeit IDs. There is also a functional port. Arrangements between the Mafia and major gangs keep Goolwa surprisingly peaceful.
- Borough of New Buckhingham– A decaying residential and commercial district, once one of the most affluent boroughs in Cestlep, but now long abandoned by the wealthy. It is dominated by criminal syndicates and rogue PMCs running extortion rackets. Many corporations hire private armies to "reclaim" parts of Greytown.
- Borough of Queensjewel – A crime-ridden district controlled by human traffickers, arms dealers, and narcotics syndicates. It is notorious for its sprawling red-light districts. How many of their employees are volunteers is up to anyone's guess.
- Borough of Paradise Beach – A cold, bleak borough filled with derelict factories and crumbling housing. It is plagued by gang warfare and drug epidemics. Inter-gang conflict has prevented any of its numerous groups from securing the borough.
- Borough of Paklaztos – A district of abandoned rail yards and crumbling industrial estates, famously home to raider clans and cannibal cults. The borough is a no-man’s-land, occasionally used by the Federal Government for live-fire target practice.
Each of the boroughs nominally elects a Borough Mayor, though how democratic this process is varies wildly. For example, in Bellspire it is typically the oligarchs who choose who rules as mayor, in Kzpafos it is typically the trade unions, in Riverton there is an actual democratic process and in Paklaztos it is traditionally decided by a deathmatch.