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Vancouver (WOD)

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Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The 2011 census recorded 603,502 people in the city, while the Greater Vancouver area amount around 2.4 million inhabitants.

Gothic Punk Vancouver appears to be drenched in eternal rain and shadows. The American gothic gargoyles are replaced by neon signs and huge video boards that always carry the latest advertisements.

Media[]

CBUT (CBC)

CKVU (Citytv)

CHAN (Global)

CKNO (Knowledge)

CIVT (CTV)

Vampire: The Masquerade[]

Vancouver is an independent city under the control of Prince Siegfried. Siegfried has an extremely tight control on the local Kindred population, only rarely allowing Embraces or entry to other Kindred, keeping the population at maximal 20 permanent Kindred.[1] Killing a mortal, even accidentally, is a crime punishable by Final Death. Clan gatherings are forbidden to avoid conspiracies against the prince. Personal feuds are forbidden from influencing nightly activities and all Kindred are under strict instructions to not antagonize the Garou or their families.[2] His absolute rule and the brutal efficiency in which he enforces his laws allowed the Lupines to confront him and negotiate the Covenant, a non-aggression treaty between both races. The Lupines patrol the borders of his domain, slaying anyone who tries to cross the border.[3] Siegfried has no affiliation to the Sabbat, the Anarch Movement or the Camarilla, seeing them all as elements in the Jyhad. The sects leave him alone, fearing that any violent intrusion will result in Lupine violence.[2]

Siegfried maintains no Primogen council or other offices. The entire city has been declared Elysium.[2] Rumors tell that the Inconnu favour Vancouver as a meeting place when convening in North America.[4] Siegfried has a policy of keeping Brujah, Malkavians and Caitiff out of the city, believing them to be unstable and a threat to public order. Only in the company of a Kindred of another Clan are they allowed inside.[5] In secret, his own clanmate, the newcomer Stalest Coursain, plotted to overthrow him by conspiring with Guttooth, a Garou that claimed to be the priest of Gaia, to incite both sides into violence. The foundation of the Diefenbakker’s casino, however, was what would cause the end of coexistence. With the Garou considering the Covenant broken, the future of Vancouver’s vampires hangs in the balance.

Vancouver is also the site of the subterranean Great Library, a conjoint effort of the Nosferatu and the Malkavian Methuselah Necross. In it, multiple scrolls and books covering subjects both mundane and supernatural are stored. Access, however, is restricted and the Library is guarded heavily under thaumaturgical wards and ghouled elite soldiers that act as guardians.[6]

Werewolf: The Apocalypse[]

Vancouver is the site of the Great Caern, one of the most powerful Caerns in the New World. The city has been built around it, making it one of the earliest urban Caerns in the Americas. Since the Caern is one of Cooperation, the local Garou are forced to tolerate those of the Wyrm that do not act out its mandates. Every three months, the local Garou gather at the Lumberman’s Arch, which marks the heart of the Caern.[7]

Garou of all thirteen tribes are present within the city, forming the Sept of the Great Caern. Despite this, most tribes prefer to live in territories dominated by their own. The Glasswalkers even have a separate Caern within the city, the Smiling Buddha Caern, which is closed to everyone else.[8] The Sept is ruled via a council of representatives, with each tribe having a representative, though the Silver Fangs still carry enough authority to be considered the unofficial leaders, with the Glasswalkers as their advisors. The Council’s job is mainly jurisdiction and defending the Vancouver Compact.[9] The overall population of Garou is 360, with their members mostly spread around the city, preferring the suburbs.[9] The Vancouver Compact forbids open violence between the tribes, though conflicts over human resource exploitation and the stance of the local Garou has been present.[10] When Glasswalker Roger Daly managed to negotiate the Covenant between the Garou and the local Kindred, protests arose that believed that such an action would only serve the Wyrm. Daly, however, pointed out that the Kindred could be used to fight the Wyrm, using their corporate ties to restrain resource exploitation and fund reforestation.[3] The Covenant held for more than 26 years before it was broken. Above a Pit in the outskirts of the city, a casino has been built that is apparently under vampire protection. The Garou consider this a violation of the Covenant, especially since Roger Daly, the main defendant of the Covenant, was killed when he protected the Great Caern from being violated by Banes and Fomori. The Garou of Vancouver prepare now for a covert war against the vampires, asking themselves hard questions about trust.[11] The presence of the “Priest of Gaia (actually a Theurge named Guttooth), who counselled against the Covenant and the Compact and instead called for total war against humanity further caused a rift within Vancouver’s system, as many young packs were drawn in by the priest’s sermons.[12]

There are about 20 Black Furies that live in British Columbia. About 5 live in the Greater Vancouver area. Fifteen of them belong to the Gaia's Justice Sept. Another Sept, the Valkyries Sept, lives on the northern slopes of Grouse Mountain.[9]

Mage: the Ascension[]

The Syndicate’s Special Projects Division has established the Diefenbakker’s Casino Construct within the city. Protected by a small amalgam, the Pit Bosses, this casino acts as a cover for Pentex, who use the casino’s location atop of a Pit to create Fomori. Since Diefenbakker’s was backed by the Syndicate’s operators in Toronto and produced quite a lot of money, most high-ranking Syndicate members were content to look the other way.[13] One of the holy sites of the Verbena is near the city.[14]

The Celestial Chorus cabal, the Interfaith Outreach, operates in downtown Vancouver.[15]

Wraith: The Oblivion[]

Changeling: The Dreaming[]

Vancouver is part of the Kingdom of Northern Ice of Concordia.[16]

Kindred of the East[]

The Kuei-jin have a small community in the local Japanese population. Their sponsors are House Bishamon, who use the wave of immigration to smuggle their agents to the city. The main purpose of the Kuei-jin population within the city is intelligence gathering.[17] Since 1997, expatriates from Hong Kong have fled to Vancouver to avoid the bloody conflict between the Righteous Devils of Kowloon and the Endless Whirlwind who both fight over control of the future of the Flame Court. So far, House Bishamon has accepted these refugees, but worries if the increased Kuei-jin presence could draw out hostile reactions from other factions, especially since the latest acts of aggression from the Quincunx.[17]

Hunter: The Reckoning[]

Vancouver has a presence of Imbued, under them notorious figures like Rigger111. The Vancouver Imbued are known to cooperate with other Imbued and sometimes forming teams to take on greater threats. Their main target are Werewolves.[18]

Mummy: The Resurrection[]

Demon: The Fallen[]

Description[]

Transportation[]

Vancouver has an affordable and relatively effective rapid transit system. At its heart is a bus system that covers the center of the city, linking the downtown core with the suburbs. Bus service shuts down between about 3 and 5 in the morning. SeaBus is a ferry that runs from a terminal on the north side of downtown across Burrard Inlet to North Vancouver. The ferry runs every ten minutes or so.

A relatively new addition is an Automated Light Rapid Transit System known as Skytrain. This system runs on special roadbeds that are sometimes are grade, but more often elevated. No human intervention is needed, unless the computer running it has crashed. Skytrain runs from the SeaBus terminal at the north of downtown right out to Surrey, one of the major suburbs. Currently, the Skytrain stations are becoming gathering spots for gangs. Crime at these stations is on the upswing.

Locations[]

Most of Vancouver's streets are aligned almost perfectly north-south and east-west. The streets of the West End are offset by close to 45º. Downtown, streets actually run north-east-southwest. The North Shore mountains are easily visible from just about everywhere in the city, serving as a useful landmark.

Vancouver has a variety of hotels, ranging from five-star hostelries with rooms starting at $200 per night to establishments that could only acquire a one-star rating if they stole it. The less respectable hotels are usually found in two or three story buildings with seedy beer parlors on the ground floor. They often advertise rates by the day, week or month.

West End / Downtown[]

Hotel Vancouver[]

Completed in 1939, the Hotel Vancouver at the corner of Burrard St. and Georgia St. in the downtown core was, for its time, the epitome of the luxury hotel. The hotel was built out of smooth, gray stone. Its steeply pitched copper roof has been weathered to a striking green color. The Hotel Vancouver has played host to the rich, the famous and the merely pretentious for decades. There's little reason for that to change in the near future. The Timber Club on the ground floor is a rich looking place of dark wood and candlelight. The Spanish Grill is a little more casual, although nobody could forget it's part of a luxury hotel. The Hotel Vancouver offers a wide range of convention and special function facilities, from ornate, mirror-walled ball-rooms to conference rooms with state-of-the-art audio and video equipment.

Pan-Pacific Hotel[]

If the Hotel Vancouver is a 1930s image of the luxury hotel, the Pan-Pacific is the same concept updated by half a century. Completed in 1986, just in time for the World's Fair, the Pan-Pacific is different from the Hotel Vancouver in many ways. While the Hotel Vancouver is cozy, with rather rococo design elements, the Pan-Pacific is clean, crisp and almost unadorned, with lots of open space. The ten story tall lobby is striking, with escalators, a waterfall, two restaurants, and a piano bar. The view of the North Shore mountains through the glass curtain wall is unforgettable.

The Pan-Pacific is part of a complex that includes a huge trade-show facility called the Canada Place Trade & Convention Center. The main display area is kept under reinforced fabric "sails" that are one of Vancouver's major landmarks. A large cruise ship terminal is nearby. The Prow restaurant, a four-star establishment that charges five-star prices, is at the northern point of the Canada Place complex. Diners have a perfect view of the harbor, the SeaBus terminal, Stanley Park and perhaps a cruise ship approaching or leaving its berth.

Luv-A-Fair[]

Just over the Granville Street Bridge on Seymour Street, Luv-a-Fair is a large black building. Its name is in neon lights on the front. The windowless club opens around 7 PM and closes, like most nightclubs in Vancouver, around 2 AM. The building houses one of Vancouver's most popular night clubs and has become one of Vancouver's most popular feeding grounds for Kindred. The club is host to patrons who can best be described as looking freshly dead. With faces paled by make-up and clothing limited to unrelieved black, the patrons often wait in line for hours before being allowed inside. They then squeeze themselves onto a vastly overcrowded dance floor to listen to the latest alternative, industrial and house music. The overcrowding inside makes feeding easier for Kindred. It can take five minutes, sometimes longer, just to make one's way to the bar from the dance floor. Some visitors to Vancouver find descriptions of the crowding at Luv-A-Fair hard to believe, but most of them are true. As a guideline, think of a place which could comfortably fit a hundred people, then cram triple that number into it. Patrons frequently dance on top of the speaker stacks, not only motivated by self-display, but also because these areas are often the only clear spaces. The "urban myth" that someone once died on the dance floor of the club and didn't hit the ground for five minutes is an exaggeration, but not by much.

Of course, Vancouver has laws that should prevent this kind of situation. For reasons beyond the ken of most club habitués, these laws are never enforced. The Fire Marshal has never closed the place down or even chided the managers for blatantly flaunting maximum occupancy laws. Visiting vampires, particularly those from smaller or more conservative cities, are often absolutely astonished by conditions at the club. Garou are generally just disgusted. Daring vampires wishing to feed in this establishment can take a bit from several dancers without an extreme risk of being noticed. Like Graceland, Luv-A-Fair is owned by Siegfried, the Kindred Prince of Vancouver. It's managed by one of his ghouls. The top floor of the club houses several offices in which the prince can usually be found. There are always some Kindred in the club, mingling on the crowded dance floor or relaxing at one of the tables. For those who are paranoid in confined places with lots of people, it may be important to know that there are no windows in the building and that the only two entrances to the club are through metal doors guarded by the largest and meanest bouncers in the city. Kindred who are new to the city will be told about the club and the easy prey to be found there. Although the prince's nightclub is a popular place to feed, many older vampires prefer to go elsewhere for hunting or feed on their herd.

Graceland[]

Graceland can be found in the warehouse district of the city, near the intersection of Homer Street and Smithe Street. When it originally opened, the only access was through an unmarked door off an alley; when its managers decided to go "up-scale," it got a street-front door and even a neon sign. In the Gothic-Punk world, however, the alley entrance is the only one, as a matter of atmosphere. The nightclub is very much like Luv-A-Fair. The main difference between the two is that the crowd and the music are a little different. Graceland's patrons don't look "freshly dead," and there isn't much black in their wardrobes. The music leans more towards house and away from the grinding industrial sound. Claustrophobes should know that Graceland is also windowless and often very crowded, although not quite as packed as the other nightclub.

Characters[]

References[]

  1. ↑ WTA: Dark Alliance: Vancouver, p. 85 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 WTA: Dark Alliance: Vancouver, p. 44 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 WTA: Dark Alliance: Vancouver, p. 45 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  4. ↑ WTA: Dark Alliance: Vancouver, p. 49 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  5. ↑ WTA: Dark Alliance: Vancouver, p. 92 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  6. ↑ WTA: Dark Alliance: Vancouver, p. 20 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  7. ↑ WTA: Dark Alliance: Vancouver, p. 23 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  8. ↑ WTA: Dark Alliance: Vancouver, p. 17 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 WTA: Dark Alliance: Vancouver, p. 54 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  10. ↑ WTA: Dark Alliance: Vancouver, p. 42 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  11. ↑ ”WTA: A World of Rage, p. 11 Buy it from DriveThruRPG! Now in Print!
  12. ↑ WTA: Dark Alliance: Vancouver, p. 72 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  13. ↑ MTAs: Technocracy: Syndicate, p. 65 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  14. ↑ MTAs: Tradition Book: Verbena, p. 41 Buy it from DriveThruRPG! Now in Print!
  15. ↑ MTAs: Tradition Book: Celestial Chorus, p. 77
  16. ↑ CTD: Nobles: The Shining Host, p. 51 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 KOTE: Shadow War, p. 93
  18. ↑ HTR: Hunter Survival Guide, p. 103 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
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