City Info

[Claymore]

Welcome to Sky Valley

It's always seemed like an interesting idea to have a game that contains more
than one domain. This gives way to another layer of storyline options, including
inter-city politics, interaction of Kindred across the domains, and an
opportunity to lay out the areas entirely different from each other, using as
many game-setting-worthy ideas as possible that might not otherwise all fit in
one area. This includes both backstory and physical locations. This also makes
transportation influence more useful. And by calling these "tenurial domains"
and putting them under the same Prince, it takes advantage of the Regent and
Herald titles. And from there, a whole new layer to Kindred politics arises,
because each domain can have its own way of doing things, while still operating
under the same overarching structure both OC and IC. And with as many players as
this game now has, it's possible to do this without spreading the PCs too thin.
In fact, since I'm unwilling at the moment to simply shut my doors to new players
at the moment, this is really the only option to keep things from getting too
crowded. No room? We make some! =D
The domains will also be under different access groups. So they do, in a sense,
operate as independent games. However since they're under the same Prince (and
the same ST), there will be many corssover SLs.

The area known as Sky Valley actually encompasses two Kindred tenurial domains
that span over four cities. The first city, known as Serenity, is it's own
tenurial domain. Details as follows: (Please note that the Kindred backstory in
the 'game info' link was written before the second domain existed, and still
needs to be updated to reflect that. Most of it only applies to Serenity.)

I'd like to thank Greg Donovan for this kickass city map.


Years ago, this was a mining town. But over time as the mine started to dry up
and the workers had to dig deeper and deeper at a hurried pace just to keep up
their quota. So the subsequent cave-in didn't come as much of a surprise to the
locals, but it did shock the economy. There wasn't enough support to salvage
the mine, and it's since been abandoned along with most of the northern
industrial complex. What's left of that complex has since turned into a slum.

It wasn’t until the businesses in the newer portion of the city on the west side
moved in to take advantage of the river and preexisting rail system that things
started to flourish again. But by then, aside from the outskirts composed of
housing developments and apartment complexes, the east side had all but been
overrun with street gangs and thugs. The mayor wasn't able to keep them under
control, and ended up having to get funds for an additional police presence by
way of less than legal means. Businesses would offer kickbacks in return for
turning a blind eye to the mob presence taking over the west side. In the end,
one evil was merely traded for another. The only difference is now the
corruption is more out of sight.

This city is rotting from the inside out, and proved to be a perfect breeding
ground for those who aren't entirely Human. But it's more than that. There's
something about the land itself... the forest is always a thick green, and the
park flourishes as though it rains every day here. Crime isn't the only thing
that grows well here. But this element is seldom noticed.

---

The second Kindred domain spans over a chain of five islands. The first three
are individual cities, and the last two are privately owned. The domain itself
is referred to by Kindred by the name of the first and main island, Anasazi. The
Anasazi island is a bustling metropolis and center of commerce, with skyscrapers
and traffic jams galore. The second island out, Rocktown, is mostly a college
district. It's home to two universities, two community college, art museum,
several art galleries, and an old civil war fort that has since been converted to
a history museum.

It's also not quite as dense as Anasazi except in the downtown area. Since the
island has a lot of history to it, the locals have made an effort to preserve its
aesthetic value and instituted several ordinances that make it difficult for
contractors to plow down the woods for cookie-cutter homes. The streets are
thin, and on rolling hills. One would almost expect to see a horse and budgy
around every corner. And the civil war era stone buildings are scattered
throughout the island as either historical landmarks, or otherwise renovated and
still in use for some other purpose, despite the outside being well-repserved as
it once was.

The third island, Nahualli (I might change that name soon), is next to Rocktown,
but a little further out. This is a tourist hotspot, complete with a theme park,
aquarium, and a few popular beaches.

Due to the geography, the main Elysium for this domain are mobile. One is a
large yacht, and the other is a passenger train. However despite Nahualli's best
efforts, the rails only reach as far as the first two islands. An expressway
provides access to all three however, and due to tourism, it's fairly busy during
the day. Due to it being a dead end however, that highway is rather empty at
night.

The last two islands are privately owned. The very last one that houses a
lighthouse is the home of the Lancea Sanctum Prince. Unlike Serenity, due to her
proximity to the Anasazi domain, it doesn't actually have a Regent. However
unofficially, her Seneschal serves as such. And while Serenity is home to a lot
of political strife, specifically between Invictus and Carthians, Anasazi has
more tension along the lines of theological differences between the Lancea
Sanctum and the indigenous Circle of the Crone. The Ordo Dracul, as usual, are
off doing their own thing. However they're more prevalent here. And while the
street gangs and Italian Mafia have some roots in Serenity, Anasazi is home to
the Yakuza and are relatively unchallenged.