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Author Topic: City Information and Discussion  (Read 2298 times)

Offline Bozwevial

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City Information and Discussion
« on: November 08, 2011, 10:02:20 PM »
So, bringing some of the stuff over from the old thread for reference. We can flesh more of this out as we go along.

Themes and Threats
Vienna is currently waging a battle against Shadows of the Past. Everyone wants to go back to the good old days, but no one will agree just when those were. While the politicians quibble endlessly over reform, restructuring, and the like, there are bigger things afoot. Supernatural factions have just as big an interest in the future of the city and have a considerable amount of power of their own to use. Besides, they know what the good old days were like. They were there.

All Erdreich Ist Osterreich Untertan. For some, it's a rallying cry. For others, it's jingoistic nonsense. Vienna is a giant smorgasbord of nationalities, and not all of them play nicely.

As if Vienna didn't have enough to worry about, it's the metaphorical Eye of the Storm. The city is littered with graveyards just waiting for a necromancer (or possibly even a Kemmlerite) to come in with a shovel, the Faerie Courts duel for control, and there are rumors that a sorcerer straight out of legend is somewhere out there.


Movers and Shakers
The Summer and Winter Courts are locked in combat for control over the city. Though Vienna's natural meteorological tendencies give Winter an edge, Summer is firmly entrenched and has various nature reserves scattered here and there, so the fight is mostly a stalemate. The Frost Saints are on the side of Winter, whatever they are (either mortals bound to the service of Winter or various Sidhe with the added punch of occasional saint worship).

Houses Tempelides and Gram, quick and dirty names for the White Court houses of Apathy and Wrath, have fairly major presences in Vienna, more so than Raith because we're tired of sexy vampires. They have their fingers in everything interesting and always play nicely, except when they don't, which is always. Of course, there are always the various and sundry vampires that we haven't mentioned. You know, the Red and Black Courts? And Skavis? They didn't stop being a thing.

The White Council, though based in Europe, is preoccupied with a major diplomatic incident. By that, I mean some idiot in America blowing up a few of the Red Courtiers. Their presence in Vienna is quite frazzled and wishes everyone would stop bothering them with inane shit, which is to say anything at all.

The Denarians, while not terrorizing innocent PIs in America, have various schemes to scheme and plots to plot in Europe, and they might feasibly show up in Vienna once in a while. Maybe.

Kaius' Numerologists, for lack of a better name, are a cult dedicated to the powers of not-really-math and the political agenda of our Habsburg-turned-vampire. Or perhaps they're a cult dedicated to stopping his agenda. Who knows? (Hint: You do.)

The Court of Winds, a collection of Wyldfae who enjoy meddling almost as much as...actually, probably more than anything. They are made of a surprisingly large number of fey ladies and would resemble a highbrow tea society if it weren't for the very real danger they pose to the unwary. Even to their nephew.


Locations
Café Donau
A café facing the Danube where the magical community holds its meetings.
The Idea: Riverside neutral ground.
The Aspect: Accorded Neutral Ground (Theme)
Face: Crotchety conservative wizard barkeeper Sigmund Klock.

Apart from that, we haven't discussed these too much. The imaginatively-named Blood Street and the intriguing but not often visited Viennese treasury have come up.


Faces
Otto II, Count von Habsburg, a Black Court Vampire turned on 11/11/1111 or 11/8/1111. Which one is it? He's probably able to kick your ass either way, but it might make a difference to his cult, which may not actually be his. Political agenda? Unknown, but probably related to the monarchy he used to rule in some way.

Doctor Faustus, although that's probably not his real name. Regardless, the rumors are pretty clear: Sorcerer, a very powerful, with less than saintly intentions, terrorizing the city in ways that manage to be spectacular demon-summoning spectacles and word-of-mouth at the same time. Of course, they're just rumors.

Kitty's mother, Mrs. Dachner. An ancient fox demon who is spectacularly manipulative, incredibly dangerous, and frighteningly capricious. While she has her daughter's best interests at heart, those best interests may best be sought by leading Kitty (and her friends) astray as part of an incredibly complicated series of gambits and schemes.

Sigmund Klock, the wizard with both feet planted squarely in the past. Don't confuse age and conservatism for weakness, though. Being able to enforce neutral grounds among the occult community is no mean feat, and Sigmund's been doing it for a long time. He's also friends with Leo's mentor, which might be a warning sign in and of itself.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2011, 10:07:32 PM by Bozwevial »
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Offline Bozwevial

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Re: City Information and Discussion
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2011, 10:05:31 PM »
Quote from: Agita
Okay, this is going to be a long post.

First, some background color on transportation, since that will tend to be somewhat important in a big city. Traffic is mostly ordered but intense towards the center of the city, and if you're only moving around within the core of the city it's generally not considered worth using a car unless you need it for unrelated reasons. Of course, for chase scenes or similar they still beat public transit out of the water. For when you're not in a hurry to get away from something that wants to eat your face, there's six subway lines (operating 24/7 as of recently), a bit over two dozen tramway lines (about half of the cars are still from the seventies or eighties, so they should pose little problem to young wizards), and even more bus lines, with some specially designated bus lines that circulate between midnight and 6 am. Further, there are a number of cycling roads crisscrossing the city, expecially on larger streets in and leading out of the inner city.

Second, on names for the WCV houses: Do you want to keep the latin names? If not, we could extrapolate some theme naming. Skavis is vaguely Slavic, Raith is American (also reflected in the first names we see), Malvora is obviously Italian (also reflected in first names). Red Court Vampires are Spanish/Latin American. That leaves French, Greek, German, and Scandinavian as obvious ethnic groups to pick up, if we stay Western (as the Jade Court has Asia). How about something like... House Tempelides for apathy (Greek, probably butchered, for something like "son of laziness") and House Gram for wrath (German, literally grief when used as a noun, or resentful when used as an adjective)?

Third, a few locations, since that part of our city sheet is looking a little empty right now.
The Central Graveyard
A huge graveyard in one of the outer districts, big enough to have its own bus lines. It's among the largest graveyards in Europe, and its dead outnumber the city's living population almost two to one.
The Idea Ghosts, corpses, and ambient necromancy everywhere.
The Aspect Due to the Dead? (Theme)
Face Torben Bäcker; Creepy Gravekeeper/Necromancer

St. Stephen's Cathedral
A gothic cathedral smack dab in the middle of the city. It has literal skeletons in the basement, significant numerology involved in its construction, and many legends of deals with demons surrounding it.
The Idea A center of faith at the center of sinister workings.
The Aspect ?? (Threat)
Face A clued-in/clueless priest?

Prater Park
A massive patch of greenery starting close to the middle of the city and going all the way to its outskirts.
The Idea Summer's biggest stronghold in Vienna.
The Aspect Refuge of Summer (Theme)
Face Fiddlerbursch; Mad Shidhe Violinist

Café Donau
A café facing the Danube where the magical community holds its meetings.
The Idea Riverside neutral ground.
The Aspect Accorded Neutral Ground (Theme)
Face Crotchety conservative wizard barkeeper

The Danube
A big fat river with an artificial island in the middle.
The Idea Magic that starts on one side stays on that side.
The Aspect Big Fat Metaphysical Barrier
Face ??

Lastly, I figured I'd write up some fluff on Dresdenverse fox demons. Veekie said it was good, so I'll just dump the writeups here. For those familiar with the source material, I took a few liberties.
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