The city of Ogygis (oh-JEE-jis) is the capital of a small empire in the southern hemisphere of Mars, south of the mighty Coprates Valley. The cities of Ogygis, Logrania, and Nereidia are all subject to the mad whims of Prince Haldis the Golden, who has a reputation for cruel despotism and ruthlessness even by the low standards of Mars. The Empire of Ogygis is said to be actively acquiring Terran technology, and the Prince's agents are rumored to be present in many Martian cities. The Ogygisian archives were apparently of some interest to the Russian ethericist, Professor Olsza.
The city of Ogygis itself probably has about a hundred thousand inhabitants, and (based on similarly placed and sized Martian nations) the Empire no doubt supports at least a couple dozen medium-sized war kites or screw galleys, plus a few larger vessels and many smaller ones.
Geographically, the Empire of Ogygis is set on a former seabed, surrounded by the 'continental shelf'; there are no canals entering the area through the Bosporos region. The only functional canals into or out of the area pass through the high escarpments east and west, presumably via locks or other ancient mechanical systems. The highland areas beyond the escarpments are controlled by numerous High Martian tribes, and apparently contain rich forests of Liftwood. To the south is the polar icecap.
Annual changes in temperature on a planet are caused by a combination of two factors: axial tilt and variable distance from the Sun. On Earth, axial tilt determines nearly all of the annual variation, because Earth's orbit is nearly circular. But Mars has the highest orbital eccentricity of any planet [except Pluto, undiscovered in 1889]; the distance from the Sun to Mars varies from 1.64 AU to 1.36 AU over a martian year. This large variation, combined with an axial tilt slightly greater than Earth's, gives rise to seasonal changes far greater than those we experience even in the coldest areas on our own planet. The southern icecap roughly follows the 'antarctic' circle (29.5 degrees from the South Pole). During the roughly six-month-long summer of the southern hemisphere, the Flood season, many natural channels in the old seabed are filled with water, and the dead canal leading from the ice cap to Abonia is temporarily awash. The Ogygisian weather is temperate in this season, and probably provides multiple growing periods. The weather during the southern hemisphere Winter, however, is no doubt marked by harsh, cold winds from the north and heavy snows, as the waters of Mars return to the polar cap to be frozen again.
The only exports of note are various spices, and of course liftwood obtained from the surrounding highlands. It seems likely that trade is entirely by either merchant kite or land caravan (via the Bosporos).
The Canal Martian residents of the Empire of Ogygis all speak Thaumasian, part of the Gaaryani family of languages (related to the trade language, Koline). This language is also spoken in Nectar and the Lower Coprates.
Here is a map of the area.
