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:
Adapted from source material from the fan-made Los Angeles: City of the Damned and the video game - Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines.
Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen
Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition
Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler
Assistant Storytellers: Hannah Nyland & Alex Van Belkum
The Lay of the Land (Part 3)
North Downtown & South Downtown
North Downtown & South Downtown
“On thinking about Hell, I gather my brother Shelley found it was a place much like the city of London. I who live in Los Angeles and not in London find, on thinking about Hell, that it must be still more like Los Angeles.” – Bertolt Brecht
Adapted from source material from the fan-made Los Angeles: City of the Damned and the video game - Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines.
Los Angeles City Building Posts:
North
Downtown Los Angeles
Inglewood
North downtown L.A. represents centers of wealth and
power. This is where the rich and famous
live and work. Subsequently, it’s also
where the vampire covenant Invictus maintains its holdings along with mage
Seers of the Throne, Ministry of Mammon and Tempter Demons. North downtown includes Culver City, Baldwin
Hills, View Park, Inglewood, Beverly Hills, Beverly Crest, Bel-Air, Brentwood,
and Pacific Palisades.
City:
Inglewood
Bumping up against LAX, Inglewood is a highly contested
area supernaturally and as diverse in interests as the Airport nearby.
Site: Gage
Mansion
Gage Mansion
Antonio Lugo built several adobe homes within the boundaries of the Rancho San Antonio grant, and raised cattle. Olvera Street.
The Gage Mansion is the oldest surviving structure (or at least private residence) in the city limits of Los Angeles on Olvera Street and was built in 1818. Prince Hunt declared the mansion neutral ground for the Invictus in 1891 for reasons that are still obscure. Legend states that the Gage family were, in fact, the ghouls and blood bound servants of a powerful Invictus lord. This seems unlikely, though if their regnant disappeared it would explain the sickness and death that later plagued the family before its destruction. The Invictus commonly holds formal functions and gatherings here (as well as in several other historical, private homes), though rarely are guests from outside the covenant welcome. Stories suggest that a series of chambers beneath the house may serve as a tomb for the First Estate where vampires sleep deathlessly.
One of the adobe houses was built in 1795 and is the oldest house in Los Angeles County, still standing at 7000 Gage Avenue. It is the rumored Sanctum or meeting place of a Pylon of Seers serving the Ministry of Mammon.
City: Beverly
Hills
Beverly Hills is surrounded by the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood. Originally a Spanish ranch where lima beans were grown, Beverly Hills was incorporated in 1914 by a group of investors who had failed to find oil, but found water instead and eventually decided to develop it into a town. By 2013, its population had grown to 34,658. Sometimes referred to as "90210", one of its primary ZIP codes, it was home to many actors and celebrities throughout the 20th century. The city includes the Rodeo Drive shopping district and the Beverly Hills Oil Field.
Site: The
Supulchre
One of the newer additions on the scene, the Sepulchre is the
latest trend among the undead. Located in Carthian territory on Sunset
Boulevard, this club was one of the earlier nightspots to caters to the young
(such as it is in some cases) and countercultures, particularly the goth and
punk scene. All undead are welcome to
partake at the club, including Geist, Mummies (one has never come) the odd
Moros, and stranger things. The only
requirement is the lack of a pulse, unless you plan to be on the menu.
Interior of The Supulchre
Tastefully decorated with black marble and brass, the club is
designed to look like a mortuary, or a tomb, albeit one in which the dead have
risen. By and large the Sepulchre tries to avoid the cheesiness and shallowness
that tends to pervade such clubs, but even it cannot seem to resist poking fun
at itself in subtle ways.
While popular among young vampires, the club is
generally disdained by elder vampires, though even some of these august undead
cannot help but attend and chuckle under their breath. The popularity of the
Sepulchre is aided greatly by dint of its management, especially as it is an
open secret that Jocelyn Marsh, the Prince of Los Angeles, owns the club. The first floor is
open to all comers, mortal and supernatural alike, and projects a dark and somewhat
gloomy atmosphere, though in a blackly humorous way. It is a place of cheap
drinks, loud (generally macabre) music, and shadowed corners. Blood is on tap,
but only to those who know the appropriate codes, and all beings are reminded
to be mindful of the Veil, or else.
It is the lower
floor, however, that is for vampires and ghouls only and is the source of much
speculation. Only a select clientèle is allowed and if the stories are to be
believed anything goes. No one knows quite what that means, or at least they
aren’t talking, but rumors abound. And even if rumors like the Prince working
there as a dominatrix are probably just that, they still make for a great
story. The last blood-drinker who suggested this within earshot of Jocelyn
Marsh though isn’t expected to wake from torpor anytime soon.
 |
| Inglewood |
City:
Inglewood
 |
| Gage Mansion |
Antonio Lugo built several adobe homes within the boundaries of the Rancho San Antonio grant, and raised cattle. Olvera Street.
The Gage Mansion is the oldest surviving structure (or at least private residence) in the city limits of Los Angeles on Olvera Street and was built in 1818. Prince Hunt declared the mansion neutral ground for the Invictus in 1891 for reasons that are still obscure. Legend states that the Gage family were, in fact, the ghouls and blood bound servants of a powerful Invictus lord. This seems unlikely, though if their regnant disappeared it would explain the sickness and death that later plagued the family before its destruction. The Invictus commonly holds formal functions and gatherings here (as well as in several other historical, private homes), though rarely are guests from outside the covenant welcome. Stories suggest that a series of chambers beneath the house may serve as a tomb for the First Estate where vampires sleep deathlessly.
One of the adobe houses was built in 1795 and is the oldest house in Los Angeles County, still standing at 7000 Gage Avenue. It is the rumored Sanctum or meeting place of a Pylon of Seers serving the Ministry of Mammon.
The Gage Mansion is the oldest surviving structure (or at least private residence) in the city limits of Los Angeles on Olvera Street and was built in 1818. Prince Hunt declared the mansion neutral ground for the Invictus in 1891 for reasons that are still obscure. Legend states that the Gage family were, in fact, the ghouls and blood bound servants of a powerful Invictus lord. This seems unlikely, though if their regnant disappeared it would explain the sickness and death that later plagued the family before its destruction. The Invictus commonly holds formal functions and gatherings here (as well as in several other historical, private homes), though rarely are guests from outside the covenant welcome. Stories suggest that a series of chambers beneath the house may serve as a tomb for the First Estate where vampires sleep deathlessly.
One of the adobe houses was built in 1795 and is the oldest house in Los Angeles County, still standing at 7000 Gage Avenue. It is the rumored Sanctum or meeting place of a Pylon of Seers serving the Ministry of Mammon.
One of the newer additions on the scene, the Sepulchre is the
latest trend among the undead. Located in Carthian territory on Sunset
Boulevard, this club was one of the earlier nightspots to caters to the young
(such as it is in some cases) and countercultures, particularly the goth and
punk scene. All undead are welcome to
partake at the club, including Geist, Mummies (one has never come) the odd
Moros, and stranger things. The only
requirement is the lack of a pulse, unless you plan to be on the menu.
 |
| Interior of The Supulchre |
Tastefully decorated with black marble and brass, the club is
designed to look like a mortuary, or a tomb, albeit one in which the dead have
risen. By and large the Sepulchre tries to avoid the cheesiness and shallowness
that tends to pervade such clubs, but even it cannot seem to resist poking fun
at itself in subtle ways.
While popular among young vampires, the club is
generally disdained by elder vampires, though even some of these august undead
cannot help but attend and chuckle under their breath. The popularity of the
Sepulchre is aided greatly by dint of its management, especially as it is an
open secret that Jocelyn Marsh, the Prince of Los Angeles, owns the club. The first floor is
open to all comers, mortal and supernatural alike, and projects a dark and somewhat
gloomy atmosphere, though in a blackly humorous way. It is a place of cheap
drinks, loud (generally macabre) music, and shadowed corners. Blood is on tap,
but only to those who know the appropriate codes, and all beings are reminded
to be mindful of the Veil, or else.
Site: The Home of the Unknown Star
Home of the Unknown Star
An example of just how strange L.A. can get without setting off anybody’s weirdness alarm. This house on N. Roxbury Dr in Beverly Hills but doesn't have an address anymore. It is from the era when many famous stars lived along this street. The house is now vacant but somehow always looks well kept, even though nobody ever sees anyone go in or out. It appears on many Maps of the Stars and on star-gawker tours, but the celebrity who once is lived here never named. And yet, nobody seems to notice this absence. They “ooh” and “ahh” just the same as they pass by, feeling like they’ve brushed against past glory as they move on to the next home of the stars. So, just what is this place? Old Infrastructure? A glitch in reality? Was the movie star the Cover for an unremembered angel or demon? The mystery has yet to be solved.
The Buffer
Zones
Griffith Park Observatory
The buffer zones of Los Angeles consist of lots of places
of where urban meets the wild and becomes urban wilderness. Rich is mystical sites these places are known
to have werewolves, Circle of the Crone vampires and spirits. Other buffer areas include Silver Lake, Echo
Park, South Beach, Elysian Park, West Lake and Glendale.
Site: Griffith
Park and the Greek Theater
Located to the east of Hollywood, Griffith Park is one of
the oldest, and probably most well-known, parks in Los Angeles. It is also a
potent mystic site and considered sacred by members of one particular vampire
covenant: the Circle of the Crone. As such, these vampires closely guard the
area and do not suffer outsiders to enter save in very specific circumstances.
While the park’s Greek Theatre is considered a neutral meeting place, and thus
more “public,” the park itself is closed to supernatural outsiders. For it is
here that these Acolytes perform their most sacred rites and ceremonies, sacrificing
vessels, shedding blood, and engaging in acts that would probably send others
into an apoplectic fit. The deepest heart of the park is also the home of a
large Mandragora (a blood-bound vampiric plants) garden communally “fed” by all
Acolytes, and from which the Circle’s leader, called a Hierophant and her
closet attendants harvest Lachrima (the mystical blood from Mandragora) for
various rites and rituals. Some speak of the “Blood God of Griffith Park,” a
spirit, demon, or god (depending on whom you ask) that sleeps beneath the soil
and is the source of this nest’s power. It might even be true, though no one
has ever been foolish enough to try to dig it up.
The Greek Theater
Located within Griffith Park, the Greek Theatre is an old
and important cultural center for Los Angeles, although it has certainly
declined in popularity in recent years. Plays and other events are still
performed here, though strangely enough public performances are never held at
night. Occasionally private nocturnal gatherings are rumored, however. At night
the monsters of the Circle of the Crone come out to play, for they consider
this entire land sacred. The Theatre itself is an important site for the
covenant and has been used for decades as a meeting hall as well as a temple to
perform their bloody rites – a role which the entire park has served on more
than one occasion. As a sign of silent solidarity, the Theatre also hosts the
monthly Rants, massive meetings open to all vampires within the city where they
may voice their concerns and opinions directly to the Prince.
It is without a doubt that the location that is now
Griffith Park is charged with mystic power. But the exact type and source of
that power remains a mystery, though numerous stories exist. Many believe that
something sleeps there; occult scientists offer more mundane explanations of
ley lines and geomantic nexuses, and still others believe the land is cursed.
Stories told by sleepers lend some credence to this. In 1863, Don Antonio Feliz
died of smallpox and left all his lands to Don Antonio Coronel. Don Feliz’s
blind, 17-year-old niece, Dona Petranilla, finding herself left with nothing,
was said to curse Don Coronel. In the years that followed, a mysterious series
of disasters did indeed strike the various owners of the land that would later
become Griffith Park. Colonel Griffith, the last private owner of the land,
turned the entire 3,000-acre property over to the City of Los Angeles in 1896
to serve as a public park. Seven years later, Griffith was convicted of the
murder of his wife in a Santa Monica hotel.
During rare astrological events a verge opens near the
hiking paths behind the Hollywood sign that lead into a Supernal Verge of the
Primal Wilds. In that verge lies the
Body Orchard, a grove of flesh trees made from its victims and whispering
flowers. At the center of this grove is
an Atavism, an ancient tree spirit from the supernal realms.
Site:
Forest Lawn Mortuary
Forest Lawn Memorial Park — Hollywood Hills is one of the six Forest Lawn Southern California cemeteries. It is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90068, in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is on the lower north slope at the east end of the Santa Monica Mountains range that overlooks North Hollywood, Universal City, and Burbank, and the overall San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles.Forest Lawn — Hollywood Hills is a park dedicated to the preservation of American history and hosts high-profile events such as an annual Veterans Day ceremony attended by dignitaries and other VIPs. Los Angeles Magazine described it as a "theme-park necropolis", paraphrasing Jessica Mitford, indicating "Forest Lawn’s kitsch was just a sophisticated strategy for lubricating the checkbooks of the grieved."
Site: Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery
Abbey of the Psalms
Strange lights and sounds have been reported in the
vicinity of the Abbey of the Psalms, a mausoleum in Hollywood Park Memorial
Cemetery where an Avernian Gate stands. The mausoleum is said to be haunted by
a glowing specter thought to be the late actor Clifton Webb of the original Mr.
Belvedere series. Webb died in 1966. He is also said to haunt his old house in
the Hollywood Hills. The park is a known
haunt of Sin-Eaters and there are markings that blatantly display messages
through the Twilight Network.
South Downtown Los Angeles
South downtown LA is predominately controlled by
unaligned vampires and the Ordo Dracul. Definetly the shader side of Los Angeles.
City: Hyde
Park
LA Public Library in Hyde Park
Hyde Park is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles. It was "laid out as a town" in 1887 as a stop on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's Harbor Subdivision, which ran from Downtown Los Angeles to the port at Wilmington in a westward loop. The city of Hyde Park was bordered by 60th Street on the north, Van Ness (now 8th) Avenue on the east, Florence Avenue on the south, and West Boulevard on the west.
Site: The
Last Round
This rundown, ramshackle watering hole is, quite
literally, a pit located in the Downtown area. Looking more like a biker bar
than the chic clubs that dominate much of the city, the Last Round nevertheless
is thought of fondly by the Old Guard of the vampire Covenant known as the
Carthian Movement, and by many of the New Guard Carthians as well. While never
a politically important site (at least never officially important) like the Chinese
Theatre or LAX, the Last Round was nevertheless a popular site for young
vampires to relax, blow off steam, or rage against the system in relative
comfort and safety. In the last few decades most of the Old Guard have moved on
to new pursuits, but a few still gather here. These nights it is the fiery New
Guard that haunts the halls of the Last Round, raging against the system much
as their predecessors and sires did.
The Last Round
There is no specific policy banning mortals here, but few
are brave enough to enter it. The Last Round has a reputation of being, “mad,
bad, and dangerous to know,” and this it not an entirely unfair reputation.
Some might call it a knife and gun club, but fang and claw might be more
appropriate. The bar has no real security, not even a bouncer, and fights are
all too common. Drug- and alcohol-laced blood is widely available in a variety
of “flavors” and few restraints are placed upon the patrons, though there is at
least some talk of keeping the Masquerade. Some even keep this in mind, though
few are foolish enough to display anything too supernatural to the occasional
mortal that wanders in. Although to be fair, few mortals who wander in wander
out again. All in all the bar serves its purpose beyond simple nostalgia.
Despite its past and attendance, the place is run by an unnamed
Tempter Demon and the bar attendance has expanded to include any supernatural
being that needs to rabble or blow off steam.
It’s a place for socialists, talk of revolution, communism, progressive
government, democracy and raging against the (God-) Machine.
Site: LA
Museum of Natural History
Museum of Natural History (Front)
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (abbreviated NHM) is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States, Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and artifacts and cover 4.5 billion years of history. This large collection is comprised not only of specimens for exhibition, but also of vast research collections housed on and offsite. The Museum is actually an association of three Los Angeles area museums;
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park and the William S. Hart Ranch and Museum in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California. The three museums work together to achieve their common mission: "to inspire wonder, discovery, and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds."
 |
| Griffith Park Observatory |
The buffer zones of Los Angeles consist of lots of places
of where urban meets the wild and becomes urban wilderness. Rich is mystical sites these places are known
to have werewolves, Circle of the Crone vampires and spirits. Other buffer areas include Silver Lake, Echo
Park, South Beach, Elysian Park, West Lake and Glendale.
Site: Griffith
Park and the Greek Theater
Located to the east of Hollywood, Griffith Park is one of
the oldest, and probably most well-known, parks in Los Angeles. It is also a
potent mystic site and considered sacred by members of one particular vampire
covenant: the Circle of the Crone. As such, these vampires closely guard the
area and do not suffer outsiders to enter save in very specific circumstances.
While the park’s Greek Theatre is considered a neutral meeting place, and thus
more “public,” the park itself is closed to supernatural outsiders. For it is
here that these Acolytes perform their most sacred rites and ceremonies, sacrificing
vessels, shedding blood, and engaging in acts that would probably send others
into an apoplectic fit. The deepest heart of the park is also the home of a
large Mandragora (a blood-bound vampiric plants) garden communally “fed” by all
Acolytes, and from which the Circle’s leader, called a Hierophant and her
closet attendants harvest Lachrima (the mystical blood from Mandragora) for
various rites and rituals. Some speak of the “Blood God of Griffith Park,” a
spirit, demon, or god (depending on whom you ask) that sleeps beneath the soil
and is the source of this nest’s power. It might even be true, though no one
has ever been foolish enough to try to dig it up.
 |
| The Greek Theater |
Located within Griffith Park, the Greek Theatre is an old
and important cultural center for Los Angeles, although it has certainly
declined in popularity in recent years. Plays and other events are still
performed here, though strangely enough public performances are never held at
night. Occasionally private nocturnal gatherings are rumored, however. At night
the monsters of the Circle of the Crone come out to play, for they consider
this entire land sacred. The Theatre itself is an important site for the
covenant and has been used for decades as a meeting hall as well as a temple to
perform their bloody rites – a role which the entire park has served on more
than one occasion. As a sign of silent solidarity, the Theatre also hosts the
monthly Rants, massive meetings open to all vampires within the city where they
may voice their concerns and opinions directly to the Prince.
Site:
Forest Lawn Mortuary
Forest Lawn Memorial Park — Hollywood Hills is one of the six Forest Lawn Southern California cemeteries. It is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90068, in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is on the lower north slope at the east end of the Santa Monica Mountains range that overlooks North Hollywood, Universal City, and Burbank, and the overall San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles.Forest Lawn — Hollywood Hills is a park dedicated to the preservation of American history and hosts high-profile events such as an annual Veterans Day ceremony attended by dignitaries and other VIPs. Los Angeles Magazine described it as a "theme-park necropolis", paraphrasing Jessica Mitford, indicating "Forest Lawn’s kitsch was just a sophisticated strategy for lubricating the checkbooks of the grieved."
Site: Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery
 |
| Abbey of the Psalms |
Strange lights and sounds have been reported in the
vicinity of the Abbey of the Psalms, a mausoleum in Hollywood Park Memorial
Cemetery where an Avernian Gate stands. The mausoleum is said to be haunted by
a glowing specter thought to be the late actor Clifton Webb of the original Mr.
Belvedere series. Webb died in 1966. He is also said to haunt his old house in
the Hollywood Hills. The park is a known
haunt of Sin-Eaters and there are markings that blatantly display messages
through the Twilight Network.
South Downtown Los Angeles
South downtown LA is predominately controlled by unaligned vampires and the Ordo Dracul. Definetly the shader side of Los Angeles.
Hyde Park is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles. It was "laid out as a town" in 1887 as a stop on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's Harbor Subdivision, which ran from Downtown Los Angeles to the port at Wilmington in a westward loop. The city of Hyde Park was bordered by 60th Street on the north, Van Ness (now 8th) Avenue on the east, Florence Avenue on the south, and West Boulevard on the west.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (abbreviated NHM) is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States, Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and artifacts and cover 4.5 billion years of history. This large collection is comprised not only of specimens for exhibition, but also of vast research collections housed on and offsite. The Museum is actually an association of three Los Angeles area museums;
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park and the William S. Hart Ranch and Museum in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California. The three museums work together to achieve their common mission: "to inspire wonder, discovery, and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds."
South Downtown Los Angeles
South downtown LA is predominately controlled by unaligned vampires and the Ordo Dracul. Definetly the shader side of Los Angeles.
City: Hyde
Park
 |
| LA Public Library in Hyde Park |
Site: The
Last Round
This rundown, ramshackle watering hole is, quite
literally, a pit located in the Downtown area. Looking more like a biker bar
than the chic clubs that dominate much of the city, the Last Round nevertheless
is thought of fondly by the Old Guard of the vampire Covenant known as the
Carthian Movement, and by many of the New Guard Carthians as well. While never
a politically important site (at least never officially important) like the Chinese
Theatre or LAX, the Last Round was nevertheless a popular site for young
vampires to relax, blow off steam, or rage against the system in relative
comfort and safety. In the last few decades most of the Old Guard have moved on
to new pursuits, but a few still gather here. These nights it is the fiery New
Guard that haunts the halls of the Last Round, raging against the system much
as their predecessors and sires did.
 |
| The Last Round |
There is no specific policy banning mortals here, but few
are brave enough to enter it. The Last Round has a reputation of being, “mad,
bad, and dangerous to know,” and this it not an entirely unfair reputation.
Some might call it a knife and gun club, but fang and claw might be more
appropriate. The bar has no real security, not even a bouncer, and fights are
all too common. Drug- and alcohol-laced blood is widely available in a variety
of “flavors” and few restraints are placed upon the patrons, though there is at
least some talk of keeping the Masquerade. Some even keep this in mind, though
few are foolish enough to display anything too supernatural to the occasional
mortal that wanders in. Although to be fair, few mortals who wander in wander
out again. All in all the bar serves its purpose beyond simple nostalgia.
Despite its past and attendance, the place is run by an unnamed
Tempter Demon and the bar attendance has expanded to include any supernatural
being that needs to rabble or blow off steam.
It’s a place for socialists, talk of revolution, communism, progressive
government, democracy and raging against the (God-) Machine.
Site: LA
Museum of Natural History
 |
| Museum of Natural History (Front) |
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park and the William S. Hart Ranch and Museum in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California. The three museums work together to achieve their common mission: "to inspire wonder, discovery, and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds."
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