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"The whole damn place is filling up with water. Help us, you bastards."
—Last message from Tollen.

Tollen was a city in the nation of Tyrus. In 14 A.E., Tollen was sunk in a massive sinkhole by the Riftworm, under the direction of the Locust Horde, in an attempt to weaken the Jacinto Plateau and destroy Jacinto City. It took only 18 seconds for the city to sink and flood.[1]

History[]

Pre-Emergence Day[]

JACK looking for survivors

The city was located near Speyer, and was approximately two hours away from Jacinto City when traveling by King Raven. Long ago, when Tyrus was governed by nobility, Tollen was ruled by a duke for whom the Duke of Tollen's Regiment is named. The modern city was known for its dull, tall, and grim buildings and elevated highways, and was surrounded by suburbs and forest. It also housed the Tollen Dam, which powered Tollen and the surrounding cities.

Locust War[]

Following Emergence Day, Tollen managed to survive the initial Locust onslaught to some degree and remained under COG control. Dominic Santiago visited the city on several occasions during this period. It was eventually overrun by Locust and abandoned by the COG. Stranded then occupied pockets of the ruins. By 14 A.E., the COG had not ventured anywhere near Tollen in several years, and the only charts it still had of the area were six years old.[2] That same year, the nearby Tollen Dam, a vital regional power plant, was besieged by Locust forces trying to destroy the last power plant supplying the COG's industry in the region. Despite Delta-One's efforts to save the Gears defending it, the dam was overrun and all of its defenders were killed.

In the days after the Lightmass Offensive, the COG's geological survey manager received reports from refugees and Stranded that Tollen was flooding. Delta Squad, along with Sgt. Mataki, were dispatched via King Raven helicopter to recon the area. Upon their arrival, Delta Squad realized that water had not flooded the city; instead, the city had sunk and turned into a massive crater ten kilometers across, with only the edges of the city still standing. The lake was perfectly round, and appeared almost artificial. The Raven pilot thought it was caused by methane gas, and quickly flew away for fear of his vehicle going down. Baird, and perhaps Marcus, thought differently. Baird thought it was the Locust, although he didn't know how they had accomplished such a feat. It would later be discovered that the actions of the Riftworm were responsible.[2]

Interwar Period[]

Krzysztof-teper-kt-vista

Tollen's Outskirts, 27 years after being destroyed by the Riftworm

After the end of the Locust War and Lambent Pandemic, the reformed COG started gathering rubble from destroyed cities in order to recycle it when building new Settlements. Four tons were recovered from Tollen for the construction of Settlement 5.[3] Much of the Town Center district of Tollen had managed to survive the Riftworm sinking relatively intact, but was left abandoned rather than reoccupied. The drained reservoir of Tollen Dam was turned into a Locust mass burial site where thousands of Locust Shells were disposed of.

Swarm Invasion[]

When the Swarm emerged in 42 A.E., Tollen Dam and the nearby Osmium Mine Bravo, a smaller Locust burial site, became two Swarm Hives. Swarm creatures from the Tollen Dam Hive abducted the people of Fort Umson, including Reyna Diaz, the mother of Kait Diaz. Kait, assisted by JD Fenix, Delmont Walker, and Marcus Fenix, traveled to Tollen Dam after Marcus learned from the Swarm hivemind that Reyna had been brought there. They raided the dam, but discovered there were far too many Swarm creatures for them to confront without reinforcements. In the process, they restored power to the dam and all of the cities it supplied, including Tollen. Later that day, the group used DB Industries Mega Mechs with support from KR Three-Seven to battle through the Swarm occupying the ruins of Tollen Town Center and the dam, an offensive that became the first major battle of the Swarm Invasion.

Known Residents[]

Behind the Scenes[]

  • Tollen was the main setting for the viral website the Last Day, where a user can control a JACK unit and navigate the sunken city. However, the setting was a repurposed asset from the Ilima sinkhole level in Gears of War 2.

Appearances[]

References[]

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