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The
Kindred City
The Ordo Dracul
On Michigan Avenue,
near Columbia College you can find yourself in the shadows of the lions of the
Art Institute. Many kindred in Chicago
know that the various Loop campus buildings of Columbia College
are the home of Ordo Dracul chapter meetings and that the Ordo has contacts at the
Harold Washington Public Library Center nearby. The Art Institute is a lesser known extent of the Dragon’s presence near the lakefront. There’s
an aweful lot of history on display at the Art Institute and a hell of a lot hidden in its storage rooms. Some Dragons come for inspiration, others come to meet and deal with other Chicago
occultists and arcane antiquarians. A mage cabal called the Mercurials have a definite presence, even though it is thought to fall in
Prince Maxwell’s personal territory.
“There are two things expected of lowly dragons; to learn the Coils
by getting a tutor, and swear a Great Oath”
When common courtesy requires the covenant as a whole to provide suitable fare for guests, ceremonies
or honorees, there’s usually competition between it’s better-placed members to get the honor of providing victuals. Typically these victims survive: either
they’re willing blood dolls brought in by Daeva or others with more natural charms, or they’re led in broken-willed,
by Ventrue who can make the victims forget the experience afterwards.
Invictus
On Michigan
Avenue in downtown Chicago there stands a modern-day
Gothic castle, 36 stories high, complete with gargoyles and flying buttresses. This
is the Tribune Tower, the seat of the First Estate’s power. The tower is where the Invictus’ thralls come to meet with their masters.
It is a common sight to see aldermen, politicians, industry giants and wealthy socialites entering and
leaving the tower at all times of the day or night. (The Tribune Corporation
owns the Chicago Tribune, The Red Eye newspaper, WGN radio, the Hispanic paper Hoy and a few television stations.)
Elysium are usually tense because they’re
surrounded by rival predators, and they’re trying to make an impression. Modes
of dress vary wildly, almost surreally, from filthy parkas to corsets no living woman could wear to antique costumes to the
sharpest edge of modern fashion.
Lancea
Sanctum
There are the Fundamentalist hardliners, lead by Solomon, and then the Moderate mainstream lead by Sylvia
Raines. The fundamentalists dominate the highest ranks of the organization, and
they completely control the Inquisitors. Before Birch, the Inquisitors
were moderates, now they’re hardliner fundamentalists, at least when speaking in public.
Sanctified moderates actually do most of the covenant’s proselytizing, outside the Temple of the Dark Crusader. But by the same token, most
sanctified kindred in Chicago attend the Temple,
not just because it’s central, but because it is, frankly, more in keeping with what attracted them to the Lancea Sanctum
in the first place: monumental traditionalism and a sense of belonging.
Secondary Sanctified chapels (meaning,
lead by moderates like Sylvia Raines) can be found throughout the city.
“Coincidence is the spirit’s
telegraph line”
Circle of the Crone
Most Acolytes are just this side of unaligned, attending Winnowing and maybe Samhain
rites, learning the rudiments of Crúac but often neglecting their responsibilities to their covenant. Many acolytes are secretive about their covenant affiliation, and do not wear it on their sleeve.
The core faction of the Circle, accounting for just over half of Chicago’s
Acolytes, is overseen by the Hierophant, Rowen. She is a high priest of The Three. Most of the
Acolytes worship or at least acknowledge The Three: The Crone (called Lilith by some), the Horned King, and the Great Beast.
Lilith is the ruling principal, who represents spiritual testing and judgment, the
balance of light and darkness, and the power of blood, fertility and sacrifice, life arising from death. The Horned King is the lord of shadows, death and winter, and the master of the wild hunt. The Great Beast is primordial chaos, hunger madness, the seed of frenzied rage that resides within each
Acolyte’s unbeating heart.
The Hierophant is the primary spiritual guide and teacher of Crúac in the area. In Chicago, the Circle also includes the
Tender, whose job is to point out where the covenant is failing to embody its philosophies. Frequently, this means acting as the Hierophant’s spy and informant. Chicago’s Tender
is a mekhet ancilla named Ashly Wainwright. The other covenant officer is the
Crucible, who acts as something of an enforcer for the Hierophant, he is a Gangrel
named Lazar Soto, but Rowen is powerful enough that she rarely hesitates to take care of her own enforcement.
Carthians
The
Chicago Carthians are often lumped in to two philosophical camps: those who see unions as the ideal system and those who see
organized crime as a more lucrative and empowering option. More Carthians belong
to the former camp, but the latter camp is more active. Mcuh of the Carthian
territory is assign in the North West side, as well as Jefferson
Park, and Irving Park. The Carthian
influence also stretches into the North West suburbs that lie between the city
and O’Hare airport, the crowning jewel in the Carthians crown.
“He was in such a hurry to mutilate his soul that he never paused to
understand the incomparable power of a soul untarnished and whole.”
Places
of Interest
‘Antique
Bookbinding and Repair’ - It’s location is kind of a mutual secret between the Acolytes and the Dragons,
underneath a converted warehouse building in Printer’s Row, owned and operated
by Kim.
University of Chicago - <Kindred, Ordo Dracul Territory>
Northwest university – <Kindred, Invictus territory>
Southside (south of the loop) – <Kindred, Strong Carthian presence,
Gangs>
Alder planetarium – <Mages>
Filed museum of Natural History - Large Occult archives and relics in the Lake front(Burnham Park)
Downtown - The Rust Belt
or Loop, referring to the circle that the commuter train the 'L' make around downtown.
Multi-leveled Streets - In
some parts of the city, the street's are two and three levels deep, the most famous is Lower Wacker Drive, a wide, low
ceilinged expanse of asphalt and steel located beneath some of the city's best know buildings. Wacker has intersections,
stoplights, parking spaces, pedestrians and even a few store fronts on its lower levels.
Union Station - Historic
train yard <Werewolves>>
Graceland cemetery
- <Werewolves>
Shedd Aquariums - <Kindred*>
Lake Meadow
Condominiums - South side, built on the site of Fort Douglas
Rumors - A private club
near the pier
Stickney - Home to the cities waste managment
plants <Kindred, Invictus/Regent Mike Czarneki>
O'Hare International Airport - Hundreds
if not thousands of people everyday. <Kindred, Carthians/Regent Julie Walsh>
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