Rochester
Contents
Rochester - Civil War Raked Port City[edit]
Brief (Mortal)History[edit]
Built on top of abandoned Roman fortifications, Rochester, England stands at a strategic position bridging astride the tidal Medway river on the Southeast coast of the island. The Medway joins the Thames estuary at a point further inland, making waterway travel, even as far as London, quick and convenient. This affords the city much in the way of commerce and trade, though it is still only a modest population of roughly 100 to 200 – it's hard to keep an accurate head count due to the goings on in the sewers.
The cathedral is dwarfed only by the castle nearby but is still quite large, and considerably more ornate. The cathedral boasts an impressive repository of books which the monks and priests have begged and borrowed from travelers passing through from lands afar. These include copies of some of Aristotle's works along with many texts on alchemy, mathematics, and medicine which made a stop off on their way north from the massive library in Toledo, Spain. The castle was renovated by the king in 1206, and it received some much needed repairs along with a new moat. Speculation abounded as to his purpose in this, but in the end only the king knows why these renovations were undertaken.
Brief (World of Darkness) History[edit]
The veiled population can comfortably assume that the city is solely supported on trade business, as the river provides a handy transportation thoroughfare to and fro for the busy inland port. There is a balance of humans to supernaturals of about 20:1, so every day life in the town is generally low key and most people stick to their trade guilds or other chores and business (or have gotten very good at sneaking around or avoiding the areas where the veiled are known to congregate).
The revolt against Henry II nearly 40 years ago brought more to this particular city than some would suspect. The ships full of troops shifting across the channel from Normandy carried stowaway rat kinfolk with them, and the conflict left a gap in the local population the Ratkin were all too eager to fill. Since that time, they have joined in the all out war over territory in the sewers. Both the local Bone Gnawers and the Nosferatu were already vying for control. When the Ratkin joined in as a third independent party, some of them offered help to one side or the other, for a price, but most of them tried to stake their own claim.
Since the Ratkin moved in, the human population has held predictably steady. The Rats ensure that bumper crops are either sold or traded off. When this is insufficient, they strategically spread diseased or ruined food to kill off the old and weak to make room for the younger generation. Due to this fairly regular culling, the Skeletal Legion has stronger ties to this city than many other legions. The wraiths from its ranks sometimes linger to try and warn others of spoiled food or other such dangers.
The general populace would normally avoid the sewers anyway, but there are some particularly nasty stories and urban legends floating around. Their intent seems to be to encourage children in particular to avoid the sewers when exploring, or risk disappearing like "Little Johnny". There is a branch of older aqueducts that even the supernaturals avoid. The stories vary depending on who in the underground you ask – a hungry beast, a particularly angry spirit, a very powerful and ancient recluse Vampire – but all know that none ever come back from that branch of tunnels, and all strictly avoid inhabiting anywhere near that area. Some are even known to leave offerings to try and appease whatever lurks there.
Mortal Lore[edit]
The veiled population have set up several different professional guilds for teaching and mastering crafting. These professions are typically kept within a family, but it is not unheard of for an old master to take up an eager apprentice if he has no one else to teach. In this case the student is expected to come prepared with a gift, an example of their current skill level, or both to have a good chance of being accepted as an apprentice. It is generally a good idea to ask around the guild as to what might be a good gift for the master in question before approaching with something that might be inadvertently offensive. Apprentices from within the family are accepted much more readily, and are frowned upon if they do not make an effort to learn the family craft.
Sorcerer Lore[edit]
The local sorcerers have more or less banded together for safety in numbers, and call their group The Civic Alchemists Guild. They make it a point to try and root out potentials at a young age when they are more open minded and malleable. Occasionally performing impromptu street shows where they seek both coin and a bit of infamy, they show off their skill. They also have a yearly "street alchemy festival" around harvest time that is specifically geared toward recruitment of the young and gifted. Cuthbert "Cuddy" Omand has taken the reins of the guild after his master's passing, as he is now the oldest and most knowledgeable of the sorcerers in the city. The group cares little for the source (real or perceived) of one's abilities, but focuses instead on honing skills and maximizing their usefulness, as well as teaching and learning from others. They are also very keen on knowing the absolute letter of the law, lest it be used against them.
Shifter Lore[edit]
The shifters living above ground in Rochester have shown that they are quite capable of being civilized and, though it is atypical, they hold most of the city's positions of power and essentially run the day to day operations. There are rumors that they achieved this initially with the backing of some skilled homid philosophers and politicians from many different tribes, including most notably the Warders of Man, Shadow Lords, and Silver Fangs; murmurs swirl that some of them may have studied at Cambridge and traveled to Rochester to bestow their knowledge on this "city sept." There are even rumors that they have cowed the local Vampire population and have them under their thumb with a black market shifter blood operation.
The current sept living there, Water's Edge, does not watch over a caern heart, but protects the city and its citizens as if they were living on top of one. The current Alpha, Maynild Kills-Without-Waking, is a Black Fury, and her position was hard earned and well deserved. However, due to the general lack of respect and standing of women in the general populous, she has a proxy Silent Strider, Senh Underfoot, who is her Beta and is trusted to serve as her voice in matters of business where her sex presents a problem. Technically, Senh owns and rules over the city and surrounding farmlands, but everyone locally knows the true ruler and pays her proper respect. Maynild's staff which keeps the city running is primarily Garou, Fera, and kinfolk, but there are more than a few unveiled humans who have earned her trust as well. She keeps a few Corax close by, well paid in glass jewels or whatever else strikes their fancy. She often dispatches them to quickly relay or receive messages, and has come to rely on them as stalwart partners in the city's day to day operations.
Vampire Lore[edit]
It is worth noting that the Vampires still hold the docks and shipping area on the edge of town in its entirety, so they may smuggle as they please. They have a strong, healthy network of ghouls to work the docks for them and do the heavy lifting. There is a hierarchy among them as well; they very slowly earn greater amounts of responsibility depending on their reliability and temperament in general. Eventually they may hope to earn the greatest respect of their masters and be allowed to ship and receive coffins, which occasionally contain Vampires wishing to travel with the utmost discretion.
Philip "Pip" Salvatori, a centuries-ancient Lasombra following the Path of the Merchant, has watched the city grow up around him. He rules the docks with brutal efficiency, carefully tending his flock. Brokering not only goods but also information has served him well. He has been working methodically on hand-picking and shipping Vampires from across the spectrum to what he feels is their "rightful home", all over the British Isles. Not many have a handle on his dealings and fewer still his grand scheme which has been centuries in the making.
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