Out of Character (OOC):
Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen
Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition
Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler
Assistant Storytellers: Hannah Nyland & Alex Van Belkum
Los Angeles:
The Lay of the Land (Part 1) - Downtown
Los Angeles:
The Lay of the Land (Part 1) - Downtown
Adapted from source material from the fan-made Los Angeles: City of the Damned and the video game - Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines.
Los Angeles, it should be understood, is not a mere city. On the contrary, it is, and has been since 1888, a commodity;
something to be advertised and sold to the people of the United States like
automobiles, cigarettes and mouth wash.
– Morrow Mayo
Los Angeles City Building Posts:
The problem with attempting to outline the City of Angels is the fact that its design and layout are somewhat haphazard. To an outsider the entire, massive urban sprawl might all be called L.A., and such an observation has some merit. But technically, many of these areas and suburbs are independent cities that have resisted incorporation into L.A., even as they have grown together as population continues to rise. For the city’s vampires, who arguably rule the supernatural community of L.A., it is much the same. While there is a Prince of Los Angeles, she only controls a finite amount of this metropolis. As one moves farther and farther from L.A. proper the power of the Court diminishes, until the city degenerates into a virtual no-man’s-land, an endless power vacuum where nomads and the unbound rule.
Downtown
Los Angeles:
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, as well as a diverse residential neighborhood of some 58,000 people. A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. A heritage of the city's founding in 1781, Downtown Los Angeles today is composed of different areas ranging from a fashion district to a skid row, and it is the hub of the city's Metro rapid transit system. Banks, department stores and movie palaces at one time drew residents and visitors into the area, but the+ district declined economically and suffered a downturn for decades until its recent renaissance starting in the early 2000s: old buildings are being modified for new uses, and skyscrapers have been built. Downtown Los Angeles is known for its government buildings, parks, theaters and other public places.
The city center is the center of economic power. A powerful confluence of leylines come together at the center of town creating powerful nodes. One of the most unique and odd things about Los Angeles is many of its major public sites are major hallows. These are the most stable hallows in the area and they don’t migrate like many of the other hallows in the city do. LA’s migrating and stable hallows are believe to be connected to the Ring of Fire Mystery.
Downtown is the heart of the vampire Praxis power base and it is recommended that you avoid it after dark. Many of the major businesses shut down and others stay open… creating pockets of sudden isolation and vulnerability for the commuters.
Site: City Hall
Los Angeles City Hall, completed 1928, is the center of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California, and houses the mayor's office and the meeting chambers and offices of the Los Angeles City Council. It is located in the Civic Center district of downtown Los Angeles in the city block bounded by Main, Temple, First, and Spring streets.
Completed in 1929, this building with its pyramid-shaped roof dominated the downtown skyline for many, many years and this unique feature is the location of its Aetheric hallow (5+ dots). As the location of both the mayor’s office and the city council it serves as the center of city politics, and for many years was under the thumb of the Invictus. The Carthians specifically targeted these Kindred in a previous Coup and since then have declared a quarantine around the building. Despite this it’s known to be infested with Ghouls and vampiric thralls, interspersed throughout the political machine by Prince Marsh. It is not known if any mages lay claim to this hallow because of its location in a heavily populated area and on account of the vampire spies so close at hand.
Site: The Pale Night
The oldest of all the vampire clubs, the Pale Night is a very unusual, but very upscale, coffee house/café in Downtown, the heart of Invictus territory. Owned and operated by Jacob Marin, one of the most powerful and influential of the Invictus regents, the Pale Night has long been a place where Kindred of quality gather to politic, cut deals, or simply relax over a cup of O-positive. Built along the lines of a European café with rich hardwoods and hammered glass (and of course no mirrors or chrome), the Night is a far cry indeed from the loud and often tacky bars that most vampires and their thralls haunt. Indeed, the elders of the Invictus much prefer it this way and the club has garnered Marin a great deal of respect and leverage.
Mortals are allowed in during the day when the Night serves as a true café, but banned from attending at all other times, though retainers or thralls are allowed if accompanied by their regnant. Indeed, anyone not of the Invictus and in good standing is discouraged, though Society Kindred can bring guests if they agree to vouch for their compatriots, a risk that some are willing to take in the hope of completing some backroom deal or another. In addition to a variety of drinks, blood in various flavors (from animals, plasma packs, and even fresh from the veins of blood dolls) is available, though the Masquerade is carefully maintained. The staff is heavily enthralled, if they are not already ghouls, and various obtuse phrases are used by patrons when ordering blood.
Marin himself has little direct involvement with the club, though he provides the capital when necessary and collects the lion’s share of the profits. Primarily he uses the club as a site to conduct his own business, as well as collect the secrets of others. Rumor has it that nearly every table and booth is thoroughly bugged and Marin himself reviews the tapes at least weekly.
Site: Evergreen Cemetery
Evergreen Memorial Park & Crematory is a cemetery in the East Side neighborhood of Boyle Heights. Evergreen has several prominent individuals of historical Southern California on its grounds. Many pioneers are interred here, names such as Bixby, Coulter, Hollenbeck, Lankershim, Van Nuys, and Workman. There are politicians, notably former Mayors of Los Angeles. The Garden of the Pines section of the cemetery is a memorial to Japanese Issei pioneers.
Evergreen is the oldest cemetery in the city, and has long served as the resting-place for L.A.’s “nobility”. The Workmans, Hollenbecks, Lankershims, Van Nuys, Coulters, and Bixbys have been lain to rest here, more or less quietly. A few restless spirits are known to roam the area, attracting mystics of all stripes. It has a powerful Stygian hallow (5+ dot) hidden among the headstones as well as an Avernian Gate.
Site: The Music Center
The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper Forum and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Each year, The Music Center welcomes more than 1.3 million people to performances by its four internationally renowned resident companies: Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and Center Theatre Group (CTG) as well as performances by the dance series Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center. The center is home to on-going community events, arts festivals, outdoor concerts, participatory arts activities and workshops, and educational programs.
The problem with attempting to outline the City of Angels is the fact that its design and layout are somewhat haphazard. To an outsider the entire, massive urban sprawl might all be called L.A., and such an observation has some merit. But technically, many of these areas and suburbs are independent cities that have resisted incorporation into L.A., even as they have grown together as population continues to rise. For the city’s vampires, who arguably rule the supernatural community of L.A., it is much the same. While there is a Prince of Los Angeles, she only controls a finite amount of this metropolis. As one moves farther and farther from L.A. proper the power of the Court diminishes, until the city degenerates into a virtual no-man’s-land, an endless power vacuum where nomads and the unbound rule.
Downtown
Los Angeles:
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, as well as a diverse residential neighborhood of some 58,000 people. A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. A heritage of the city's founding in 1781, Downtown Los Angeles today is composed of different areas ranging from a fashion district to a skid row, and it is the hub of the city's Metro rapid transit system. Banks, department stores and movie palaces at one time drew residents and visitors into the area, but the+ district declined economically and suffered a downturn for decades until its recent renaissance starting in the early 2000s: old buildings are being modified for new uses, and skyscrapers have been built. Downtown Los Angeles is known for its government buildings, parks, theaters and other public places. The city center is the center of economic power. A powerful confluence of leylines come together at the center of town creating powerful nodes. One of the most unique and odd things about Los Angeles is many of its major public sites are major hallows. These are the most stable hallows in the area and they don’t migrate like many of the other hallows in the city do. LA’s migrating and stable hallows are believe to be connected to the Ring of Fire Mystery.
Downtown is the heart of the vampire Praxis power base and it is recommended that you avoid it after dark. Many of the major businesses shut down and others stay open… creating pockets of sudden isolation and vulnerability for the commuters.
Site: City Hall
Los Angeles City Hall, completed 1928, is the center of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California, and houses the mayor's office and the meeting chambers and offices of the Los Angeles City Council. It is located in the Civic Center district of downtown Los Angeles in the city block bounded by Main, Temple, First, and Spring streets.
Completed in 1929, this building with its pyramid-shaped roof dominated the downtown skyline for many, many years and this unique feature is the location of its Aetheric hallow (5+ dots). As the location of both the mayor’s office and the city council it serves as the center of city politics, and for many years was under the thumb of the Invictus. The Carthians specifically targeted these Kindred in a previous Coup and since then have declared a quarantine around the building. Despite this it’s known to be infested with Ghouls and vampiric thralls, interspersed throughout the political machine by Prince Marsh. It is not known if any mages lay claim to this hallow because of its location in a heavily populated area and on account of the vampire spies so close at hand.
Site: The Pale Night
The oldest of all the vampire clubs, the Pale Night is a very unusual, but very upscale, coffee house/café in Downtown, the heart of Invictus territory. Owned and operated by Jacob Marin, one of the most powerful and influential of the Invictus regents, the Pale Night has long been a place where Kindred of quality gather to politic, cut deals, or simply relax over a cup of O-positive. Built along the lines of a European café with rich hardwoods and hammered glass (and of course no mirrors or chrome), the Night is a far cry indeed from the loud and often tacky bars that most vampires and their thralls haunt. Indeed, the elders of the Invictus much prefer it this way and the club has garnered Marin a great deal of respect and leverage.
Mortals are allowed in during the day when the Night serves as a true café, but banned from attending at all other times, though retainers or thralls are allowed if accompanied by their regnant. Indeed, anyone not of the Invictus and in good standing is discouraged, though Society Kindred can bring guests if they agree to vouch for their compatriots, a risk that some are willing to take in the hope of completing some backroom deal or another. In addition to a variety of drinks, blood in various flavors (from animals, plasma packs, and even fresh from the veins of blood dolls) is available, though the Masquerade is carefully maintained. The staff is heavily enthralled, if they are not already ghouls, and various obtuse phrases are used by patrons when ordering blood.
Marin himself has little direct involvement with the club, though he provides the capital when necessary and collects the lion’s share of the profits. Primarily he uses the club as a site to conduct his own business, as well as collect the secrets of others. Rumor has it that nearly every table and booth is thoroughly bugged and Marin himself reviews the tapes at least weekly.
Evergreen Memorial Park & Crematory is a cemetery in the East Side neighborhood of Boyle Heights. Evergreen has several prominent individuals of historical Southern California on its grounds. Many pioneers are interred here, names such as Bixby, Coulter, Hollenbeck, Lankershim, Van Nuys, and Workman. There are politicians, notably former Mayors of Los Angeles. The Garden of the Pines section of the cemetery is a memorial to Japanese Issei pioneers.Evergreen is the oldest cemetery in the city, and has long served as the resting-place for L.A.’s “nobility”. The Workmans, Hollenbecks, Lankershims, Van Nuys, Coulters, and Bixbys have been lain to rest here, more or less quietly. A few restless spirits are known to roam the area, attracting mystics of all stripes. It has a powerful Stygian hallow (5+ dot) hidden among the headstones as well as an Avernian Gate.
The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper Forum and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Each year, The Music Center welcomes more than 1.3 million people to performances by its four internationally renowned resident companies: Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and Center Theatre Group (CTG) as well as performances by the dance series Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center. The center is home to on-going community events, arts festivals, outdoor concerts, participatory arts activities and workshops, and educational programs.
Accessible directly by freeway, this three-theater complex has long served as a center for the classical arts in Los Angeles. Operas, plays, and concerts of all types have been performed here at one time or another. In the nights of the previous vampire Princes Hunt and Vistante, the Center served as an important meeting place and cultural center for the Kindred. It still does, but since the Coup the classical arts have fallen out of favor and is rarely used by the blood-drinkers. The Music Center now serves as a meeting place of Nameless
mages. Pulling a lot of mystical resonance from the powerful leylines (and
Infrastructure) from the freeway it is now the site of an artificially created
Arcadian Hallow (5 dots).
Site: Donato Tower (U.S. Bank Tower)
The tallest building in Los Angeles and the 7th tallest building in the country, the U.S. Bank Tower (once known as the Library Tower) is an important building in the downtown skyline and an important center of business in the city.
At the metaphysical center of Los Angeles lies the former US Bank Tower, now owned by the mysteries "Lord of Los Angeles." Leylines intersect, converging on the tower. The upper floors are a powerful sanctum filled with artifacts and miraculous decor of supernal making. It is said he knows everything that happens in his city. In a city of chaos his tower is the only bastion of the Pentacle, but he claims allegiance to no one and no order. Few have been invited to the sanctum and fewer have actually met Donato face to face.
Site: The 777 Tower
777 Tower (also known as Pelli Tower) is a 221 m (725 ft), 52-story skyscraper designed by César Pelli in the Financial District. Developed in 1991 by South Figueroa Plaza Associates, the building contains approximately 1,025,000 sq ft (95,200 m2) and a three-story Italian marble lobby. The
exterior is clad with sculpted white metal and glass. The tower is adjacent to the 7+Fig Shopping Center and was purchased from Maguire Properties by owner, Brookfield Office Properties.
It is also the site of the nascent Carthian Court, the seat of the vampires in the city. The Old Court, which was located at the Los Angeles Museum of Art, was supposed to represent the ties of the Invictus to the history and high culture of the city. After the Coup of ’76, the Carthians looked for a new location to hold Court, seeking to break with tradition and provide a visible symbol that times were changing. Eventually they settled upon the U.S. Bank Tower, convinced they could hide Court functions under the guise of business meetings. On the first Tuesday of every month, formal Court is held on the 13th floor of the tower. A floor that, according to the official blueprints, does not exist.
Site: Aon Center
Aon Center is a 62-story, 860 ft (260 m) Modernist office skyscraper at 707 Wilshire Boulevard in downtown. Designed by Charles Luckman, site excavation started in late-1970, and the tower was completed in 1973, the rectangular bronze-clad building with white trim is remarkably slender for a skyscraper in a seismically active area. It is the second tallest building in Los Angeles, the second tallest in California, and the 31st tallest in the United States. The logo of the Aon Corporation, its anchor tenant, is displayed at the top in red.
The Cheiron Group maintains one of its major headquarters here. The Cheiron Group is a conspiracy of hunters that exist as a company dedicated to capturing and experimenting on dark monsters to benefit their own technology and investments. To the public, Cherion is merely another multinational, albeit one that offers affordable medical supplies and pharmaceutical products, even after the lawsuit. Inside the company, there is a different story. Cherion's purpose is to gather and study as many supernatural creatures as they can, often with the same cold, uncaring manner as when they swallow up a smaller company into their conglomerate. For Mages, the group attempts to study and understand what makes them different from normal people, the nature of Awakening, magic and the nature of the soul itself.
Site: Confession
Confession is a nightclub in Downtown, managed by Venus Dare. It is located in a large former gothic church, hence the name. It also is said to have connections to the Russian Mofia and a S&M dungeon in the basement.
Accessible directly by freeway, this three-theater complex has long served as a center for the classical arts in Los Angeles. Operas, plays, and concerts of all types have been performed here at one time or another. In the nights of the previous vampire Princes Hunt and Vistante, the Center served as an important meeting place and cultural center for the Kindred. It still does, but since the Coup the classical arts have fallen out of favor and is rarely used by the blood-drinkers. The Music Center now serves as a meeting place of Nameless mages. Pulling a lot of mystical resonance from the powerful leylines (and Infrastructure) from the freeway it is now the site of an artificially created Arcadian Hallow (5 dots).
Site: Donato Tower (U.S. Bank Tower)
At the metaphysical center of Los Angeles lies the former US Bank Tower, now owned by the mysteries "Lord of Los Angeles." Leylines intersect, converging on the tower. The upper floors are a powerful sanctum filled with artifacts and miraculous decor of supernal making. It is said he knows everything that happens in his city. In a city of chaos his tower is the only bastion of the Pentacle, but he claims allegiance to no one and no order. Few have been invited to the sanctum and fewer have actually met Donato face to face.
Site: The 777 Tower
777 Tower (also known as Pelli Tower) is a 221 m (725 ft), 52-story skyscraper designed by César Pelli in the Financial District. Developed in 1991 by South Figueroa Plaza Associates, the building contains approximately 1,025,000 sq ft (95,200 m2) and a three-story Italian marble lobby. The
It is also the site of the nascent Carthian Court, the seat of the vampires in the city. The Old Court, which was located at the Los Angeles Museum of Art, was supposed to represent the ties of the Invictus to the history and high culture of the city. After the Coup of ’76, the Carthians looked for a new location to hold Court, seeking to break with tradition and provide a visible symbol that times were changing. Eventually they settled upon the U.S. Bank Tower, convinced they could hide Court functions under the guise of business meetings. On the first Tuesday of every month, formal Court is held on the 13th floor of the tower. A floor that, according to the official blueprints, does not exist.
Site: Aon Center
Aon Center is a 62-story, 860 ft (260 m) Modernist office skyscraper at 707 Wilshire Boulevard in downtown. Designed by Charles Luckman, site excavation started in late-1970, and the tower was completed in 1973, the rectangular bronze-clad building with white trim is remarkably slender for a skyscraper in a seismically active area. It is the second tallest building in Los Angeles, the second tallest in California, and the 31st tallest in the United States. The logo of the Aon Corporation, its anchor tenant, is displayed at the top in red.
The Cheiron Group maintains one of its major headquarters here. The Cheiron Group is a conspiracy of hunters that exist as a company dedicated to capturing and experimenting on dark monsters to benefit their own technology and investments. To the public, Cherion is merely another multinational, albeit one that offers affordable medical supplies and pharmaceutical products, even after the lawsuit. Inside the company, there is a different story. Cherion's purpose is to gather and study as many supernatural creatures as they can, often with the same cold, uncaring manner as when they swallow up a smaller company into their conglomerate. For Mages, the group attempts to study and understand what makes them different from normal people, the nature of Awakening, magic and the nature of the soul itself.
Site: ConfessionConfession is a nightclub in Downtown, managed by Venus Dare. It is located in a large former gothic church, hence the name. It also is said to have connections to the Russian Mofia and a S&M dungeon in the basement.
The multitiered space, designed to resemble an illuminated cathedral, is owned by prominent L.A. promoter Robert Kennedy (Greystone Manor, AV and 1Oak LA), along with Sunset Entertainment Group‘s Chris Breed and Alan Hajjar (White Lotus, Green Door, the Sunset Room) Boasting delectable cocktails, a full meal menu - and even an actual manned confession booth.
Site: Discreet Distance, LLC (D.D.)
The Bradbury Building
D.D. is a demon-run private eye firm that caters to entertainment companies and other large, entrenched businesses. That however, is only its public front. Its real goal is identifying Infrastructure and selling that information to demons in a position to do something about it, such as sabotage or infiltration. With offices in the famous Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles (most well-known for its appearance in Blade Runner), D.D. hires freelance demons to run down leads and spend tedious hours spying on targets.
Most of its detectives are humans who believe they are being hired to spy on Hollywood stars or to collect blackmail on executives. And they are. Their demon bosses — mostly Inquisitors — then sift through their findings and flag whatever catches their eye, whatever stinks of the God-Machine. Most of D.D.’s work is dull and never leads anywhere, like most detective work. Still, its demon owners feel it is necessary. So many false leads and dead-ends, and yet, sometimes, pay dirt: secret Infrastructure, and even a revealed linchpin now and then.
Surviving as long as it has by keeping a “discreet distance” from its own demon detectives, should an angel or other agent of the Machine catch one of their freelancers, they are difficult to tie back to the agency. Still, it has happened. The former offices were destroyed when an angel, pretending to be a freelance demon, traced back his employers. The firm changed its name (to its present D.D. configuration), moved to the Bradbury Building, and started over.
Lesser Notable Supernatural Hotspots
- Skyline Apartments
- Empire Arms Hotel
- Hallowbrook Hotel
- The Tower Theater - previously known as Nocturne Theatre
- Venture Tower - "Ventrue Tower" An Invictus owned skyscraper
- Dignity Health California Hospital Medical Center - Abandoned Hospital, supposedly haunted
Lesser Notable Supernatural Hotspots
- Skyline Apartments
- Empire Arms Hotel
- Hallowbrook Hotel
- The Tower Theater - previously known as Nocturne Theatre
- Venture Tower - "Ventrue Tower" An Invictus owned skyscraper
- Dignity Health California Hospital Medical Center - Abandoned Hospital, supposedly haunted
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