Now that you've had a week to plan, this is the official role call post for the AU. Please reply to whatever header your character is included in with a summary of their role in Portland, with your character's name in the post subject. You can just copy and paste summaries used in the plotting post if you like, though for the same of mod plotting I would ask that you name and bold any of the following in your descriptions:
Organizations: If your character is in a group or organization of any kind, please bold it! This will be important for the dispensing of IC clues and NPC attention.
NPC Connections: If your character has a powerful NPC of any kind that they are connection to, please list and bold them. The mods will be writing some of these NPCs into the metaplot, and we can't do that if we don't know they exist!
Meetup Points: If your character runs or is affiliated with anything that could be considered a supernatural hangout, it would be useful to make them easy to find, for the sakes of people who want to know what kind of places will be available in Portland for their characters to hang out.
Confirming your concepts in this post is not mandatory, but I would super appreciate anyone who does. If you do not reply to this post, your character will not be tied into the metaplot. Additionally, I will give everyone who does reply a +2 AC point bonus to their next activity check, per character they reply with.
Reply to this comment with any organizations that you've made up as part of your backstory. This mostly means supernatural organizations, but any specific group you've invented that would have a sway in the setting should be noted. Please note that if you are making your character the boss of a large, powerful organization, you may be required to spend AC points on it.
The Sanctuary is just that, a sanctuary and a refuge for any and all non-human creatures or those with strange abilities in this world. Helen has chosen to call them Abnormals, not freaks or weirdos, or monsters.
Abnormals.
When there are dangerous Abnormals loose, the staff of the Sanctuary are on hand to forcibly secure and contain them for the safety of the Abnormal in question and to preserve the safety of Abnormals and Humans city and indeed worldwide.
This helps keep what peace the Sanctuary can between the two delicately balanced worlds.
But for the most part, if they're well-mannered, everyone who comes to the Sanctuary is allowed free run of the place. The Sanctuary Network itself was created by Helen sometime in the late 1800s to early 1900s and is currently run by the very same woman. Helen, in this AU, is angel guardian-warrior, who also does both those things in addition to her Sanctuary duties. Any and all of the supernatural beings in this world are welcome at the Sanctuary be it for safe haven or other reasons including to learn about their powers in a safe place, or if dangerous, need or choose to be contained.
Helen has also set up, over the period of time she's been running the Sanctuary, various safe houses and refuges for people who might not be comfortable going to a place full of other Abnormals or might not get along with certain other species. There are, admittedly, those who might not be comfortable in her angelic presence, though that, like a great deal in her life, does little to dissuade her from her goal of aiding.
She also has a program set in place to aid the Changeling Network that consists of an outreach and intake/placement program. She provides food, clothing and bedding for anyone in need and regularly does runs herself or has other staff do so on her behalf.
United or The Order for short, The United Order is a still-growing faction of supernaturals and psychics of all types, doubling as a support group as well as a rebel group to defend against enemies of all supernatural people, e.g. Torchlight, government coverups, etc. Largely, however, it's meant to provide a supportive community for all supernaturals, as well as a network to stay in touch. Those who have phones and computers share that information, but their leader isn't present online much.
It doesn't matter what flavor of strange you are; everyone is welcome. Their leader is a homeless changeling named Allen -- just Allen. His home base is Destiny Village, and it's there that he conducts many of his business meetups. He holds group meetings -- therapy, gossip, whatever you want to bring with you -- at the water park and Renzo's club, Crossroads. One-on-one meetings are typically done at a cafe or Destiny Village in Allen's tent. Or cardboard box. It varies.
He's currently looking to enlist warrior types. The rebel side of the Order is looking to expand.
Connections -- If any homeless supernaturals need supplies -- food, clothes, shelter -- Allen advises them to drop by the Sanctuary. If, for whatever reason, they don't want to deal with them, Allen will borrow supplies himself and hand them off.
Allen himself uses his own homeless network in order to gain fresh information off the streets. He peddles this information to the Sanctuary (through Helen), the Changeling Network (through Axel), Pearl's biker gang, Greg the Rose Queen's pet warlock, and the demon that hardly anyone knows as Psi. All in return for information and mutual favors. Sherlock comes to Allen for information every now and then when he's working a case, and Allen requests news on missing persons and murder cases for supernaturals in return.
Allen has his hands in a lot of pies.
So come join the Order. Because he's probably already harassed someone you know about it.
A five-year-old cat cafe located in downtown Portland that is really dedicated to its theme. It's popular among university students, tourists, and couples. Part of the place's allure is the popular rumor that some of the cats are weres, faeries, or royalty cursed into cat form.
The place has both permanent cats and a rotating list up for fostering or adoption; glamour shots with the cats' names are pinned on a bulletin board in the back. There's both an area for eating and mingling with the cats, and an area behind a glass partition so people can watch the cats being played with (or the people playing with them, if you're that kind of creep) and where orders are taken and drinks prepared. The staff are mostly human with a tolerance for weird shit happening and not asking questions, which is good because half of the cat population just disappears at night (stepping home to their owner via enchanted catflap) while the others are kept in kennels at the back or picked up by the shelter they're on loan from.
The cafe's owner is commonly rumored to be a cat shapeshifter or faerie, but it's actually just a quirky witch named Magdalena who specializes in transfiguration magic and really likes cats. She particularly loves gossip and rumors, and will happily trade them with patrons -- though she naturally makes no guarantees as to the accuracy or quality of the information she shares. What does she look like, an information broker?
Since Magdalena's about as fickle as a cat herself, she doesn't hold any loyalty to any particular faction. While she's happy to cause low-level mischief, she does place a great deal of work into making her establishment a neutral venue. This means no fighting or harassment of other patrons will be tolerated on the premises ... unless, of course, one desires to spend an indefinite amount of time on all fours. The cafe is warded with a charm to to transform any individual attempting to cast hostile magic or attack someone else on the premises into a cat, though 1. it's only reliably effective against normal humans (meaning anyone else might just get stuck with cat ears and tails), 2. effects only last a day. Also, you'll automatically be banned from the premises for the rest of your life, so have fun with that.
Edited (updating to reflect details on plurk, if people wanna use em) 2017-06-04 22:28 (UTC)
The Renegades is Pearl's coven and biker gang. It is mostly people who are considered outcasts for one reason or another, but predominately consists of those changelings who were once human/mage and might be persecuted for one reason or another. For some reason, it is also mostly women.
Pearl formed this group, but it doesn't actually do much in terms of influence. Mostly it's there as a support group and is usually only about 10-20 members. The rest they send on to The Sanctuary or other places that take in others. She tries to keep them out of her personal Summer Court business as much as possible. Think of it a bit like Robin Hood's merry men...
CROSSROADS is an underground (literally) nightclub [ ref, ref, ref, ref ] located more or less across the river from Old Town Chinatown. It takes up the entirety of the basement of a warehouse owned by the demon Renzo. The warehouse space above it is reserved space for more private affairs (for all your blood ritual or satanic wedding needs or something) and, at the very top, a penthouse apartment for the demon owner himself.
The club itself is open to all, good and evil, living and undead, entirely plain jane human and supernatural creature alike, and more often than not the patrons visiting the club are in the know or, if not before, soon will be. Crossroads is geared towards the supernatural population of Portland and Renzo only asks they follow the very basic rule of "If you're going to fight or kill or eat someone, please take it off the property first". For those not willing to follow something that basic, Renzo employs a band of lesser demon and warlock thugs who are more than willing to show you the door. For those who are, there's something there for everyone, be it the awesome jams of some weretiger DJ to blood on tap. How this place keeps its doors open while providing things like the latter, well, you're better off not knowing, yeah?
The changeling network started as a phone tree more than anything else, watching for amber alerts and escaped changelings and arranging for them to be placed with families who knew about the supernatural and were sympathetic to the plight of changelings. Now it's a full-on organization, working with the Sanctuary to place changelings in safe homes at a much larger scale, re-integrating changelings, seeking information on past identities to allow for reintroduction to birth families where possible, teaching glamour, and attempting to better the position of changelings and their defenses against the true fae. All trustworthy changelings and sympathetic supernaturals are welcome, as are mundanes who are both aware of and sympathetic to changelings.
The flower shop Hinawa owns, it's a pretty normal little hole in the wall, but in addition to selling pretty floral arrangements, she also sells herbs and flowers for medicinal and magical purposes!
The Collapse is the butt of every underworld joke, whispered nervously and then dropped immediately after the nervous laugh. Years ago, a group of plain ol' humans had too much money and, surprise surprise, wanted more than what they'd been handed. After the Severing, the former snotty bridge-club turned its focus to the occult and demon worship. Eventually just talking and reading about the subject and trying in vain to get demons to come to brunch, the group decided that the best thing to do would be to summon one, forcibly, via ritual.
It's common knowledge that the ritual actually succeeded, and now the group is more or less enslaved and in debt to the demon they summoned. It's a classic case of just desserts, and would probably be way funnier if the group wasn't so financially and supernaturally powerful. The humans pull the money around, the demons pull the humans around, and if there's something white-collar and shady going down it's likely that The Collapse is involved somewhere.
There is tension between the human and demon sides of The Collapse, but the humans aren't stupid-- they know who owns them. They get sore if their obvious whipped status is pushed in their faces.
++
Mister Knotley is the original demon summoned by The Collapse. All in all, he's not a totally bad guy to be under the thumb of-- unless you're his warlock in which case you're extra special and doing all of his errands both legal and illegal, normal and supernatural. He has a special team of warlocks who he tasks with luring people into the collapse or convincing them to sign deals with his fellow demons. He swears there's no quota, but everybody knows there's a quota.
He's the eerily calm type-- he's been around the block more than a few times and isn't terribly interested in getting into drama with anybody. Unless they're trying to take his warlocks in which case he will throw down and throw down hard. But still calm and classy. He likes gin and tonics, matching his pocket squares to his ties, and pointedly taking a roll call at every mandatory meeting of The Collapse and noting loudly who is absent. He doesn't like that stupid trend of having mismatched dishware, people interrupting him, and (surprise surprise) angels.
Features Visible by Non-Mundanes: six small horns, two pairs of canine teeth, scales on the sides of his face, talons Abilities: Mind control, super strength, corruption, hell fire
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livinglot2017-05-24 01:43 pm
⇨ ORGANIZATIONS
HELEN MAGNUS | THE SANCTUARY NETWORK: PORTLAND
Abnormals.
When there are dangerous Abnormals loose, the staff of the Sanctuary are on hand to forcibly secure and contain them for the safety of the Abnormal in question and to preserve the safety of Abnormals and Humans city and indeed worldwide.
This helps keep what peace the Sanctuary can between the two delicately balanced worlds.
But for the most part, if they're well-mannered, everyone who comes to the Sanctuary is allowed free run of the place. The Sanctuary Network itself was created by Helen sometime in the late 1800s to early 1900s and is currently run by the very same woman. Helen, in this AU, is angel guardian-warrior, who also does both those things in addition to her Sanctuary duties. Any and all of the supernatural beings in this world are welcome at the Sanctuary be it for safe haven or other reasons including to learn about their powers in a safe place, or if dangerous, need or choose to be contained.
Helen has also set up, over the period of time she's been running the Sanctuary, various safe houses and refuges for people who might not be comfortable going to a place full of other Abnormals or might not get along with certain other species. There are, admittedly, those who might not be comfortable in her angelic presence, though that, like a great deal in her life, does little to dissuade her from her goal of aiding.
She also has a program set in place to aid the Changeling Network that consists of an outreach and intake/placement program. She provides food, clothing and bedding for anyone in need and regularly does runs herself or has other staff do so on her behalf.
Allen Walker | The United Order
It doesn't matter what flavor of strange you are; everyone is welcome. Their leader is a homeless changeling named Allen -- just Allen. His home base is Destiny Village, and it's there that he conducts many of his business meetups. He holds group meetings -- therapy, gossip, whatever you want to bring with you -- at the water park and Renzo's club, Crossroads. One-on-one meetings are typically done at a cafe or Destiny Village in Allen's tent. Or cardboard box. It varies.
He's currently looking to enlist warrior types. The rebel side of the Order is looking to expand.
Connections --
If any homeless supernaturals need supplies -- food, clothes, shelter -- Allen advises them to drop by the Sanctuary. If, for whatever reason, they don't want to deal with them, Allen will borrow supplies himself and hand them off.
Allen himself uses his own homeless network in order to gain fresh information off the streets. He peddles this information to the Sanctuary (through Helen), the Changeling Network (through Axel), Pearl's biker gang, Greg the Rose Queen's pet warlock, and the demon that hardly anyone knows as Psi. All in return for information and mutual favors. Sherlock comes to Allen for information every now and then when he's working a case, and Allen requests news on missing persons and murder cases for supernaturals in return.
Allen has his hands in a lot of pies.
So come join the Order. Because he's probably already harassed someone you know about it.
Lambert | Toe Beans Cat Cafe
The place has both permanent cats and a rotating list up for fostering or adoption; glamour shots with the cats' names are pinned on a bulletin board in the back. There's both an area for eating and mingling with the cats, and an area behind a glass partition so people can watch the cats being played with (or the people playing with them, if you're that kind of creep) and where orders are taken and drinks prepared. The staff are mostly human with a tolerance for weird shit happening and not asking questions, which is good because half of the cat population just disappears at night (stepping home to their owner via enchanted catflap) while the others are kept in kennels at the back or picked up by the shelter they're on loan from.
The cafe's owner is commonly rumored to be a cat shapeshifter or faerie, but it's actually just a quirky witch named Magdalena who specializes in transfiguration magic and really likes cats. She particularly loves gossip and rumors, and will happily trade them with patrons -- though she naturally makes no guarantees as to the accuracy or quality of the information she shares. What does she look like, an information broker?
Since Magdalena's about as fickle as a cat herself, she doesn't hold any loyalty to any particular faction. While she's happy to cause low-level mischief, she does place a great deal of work into making her establishment a neutral venue. This means no fighting or harassment of other patrons will be tolerated on the premises ... unless, of course, one desires to spend an indefinite amount of time on all fours. The cafe is warded with a charm to to transform any individual attempting to cast hostile magic or attack someone else on the premises into a cat, though 1. it's only reliably effective against normal humans (meaning anyone else might just get stuck with cat ears and tails), 2. effects only last a day. Also, you'll automatically be banned from the premises for the rest of your life, so have fun with that.
Pearl | The Renegades
Pearl formed this group, but it doesn't actually do much in terms of influence. Mostly it's there as a support group and is usually only about 10-20 members. The rest they send on to The Sanctuary or other places that take in others. She tries to keep them out of her personal Summer Court business as much as possible. Think of it a bit like Robin Hood's merry men...
CROSSROADS NIGHTCLUB
The club itself is open to all, good and evil, living and undead, entirely plain jane human and supernatural creature alike, and more often than not the patrons visiting the club are in the know or, if not before, soon will be. Crossroads is geared towards the supernatural population of Portland and Renzo only asks they follow the very basic rule of "If you're going to fight or kill or eat someone, please take it off the property first". For those not willing to follow something that basic, Renzo employs a band of lesser demon and warlock thugs who are more than willing to show you the door. For those who are, there's something there for everyone, be it the awesome jams of some weretiger DJ to blood on tap. How this place keeps its doors open while providing things like the latter, well, you're better off not knowing, yeah?
And try not to let anyone from Torchlight in...
Changeling Network
Sunflower Station
THE COLLAPSE & MISTER KNOTLEY
It's common knowledge that the ritual actually succeeded, and now the group is more or less enslaved and in debt to the demon they summoned. It's a classic case of just desserts, and would probably be way funnier if the group wasn't so financially and supernaturally powerful. The humans pull the money around, the demons pull the humans around, and if there's something white-collar and shady going down it's likely that The Collapse is involved somewhere.
There is tension between the human and demon sides of The Collapse, but the humans aren't stupid-- they know who owns them. They get sore if their obvious whipped status is pushed in their faces.
++
Mister Knotley is the original demon summoned by The Collapse. All in all, he's not a totally bad guy to be under the thumb of-- unless you're his warlock in which case you're extra special and doing all of his errands both legal and illegal, normal and supernatural. He has a special team of warlocks who he tasks with luring people into the collapse or convincing them to sign deals with his fellow demons. He swears there's no quota, but everybody knows there's a quota.
He's the eerily calm type-- he's been around the block more than a few times and isn't terribly interested in getting into drama with anybody. Unless they're trying to take his warlocks in which case he will throw down and throw down hard. But still calm and classy. He likes gin and tonics, matching his pocket squares to his ties, and pointedly taking a roll call at every mandatory meeting of The Collapse and noting loudly who is absent. He doesn't like that stupid trend of having mismatched dishware, people interrupting him, and (surprise surprise) angels.
Features Visible by Non-Mundanes: six small horns, two pairs of canine teeth, scales on the sides of his face, talons
Abilities: Mind control, super strength, corruption, hell fire