Clubland

//This is part of the Hangover city, Liverpool, uk setting// =Clubland=

 "You'd 'ave to be on drugs to live in that mad house."

The term Clubland is a little miss leading as it implies an area of the city. In fact it is more of a concept and tends to move to follow the mortal crowds as they move from bar to casino to nightclub as fashion dictates. Through the history of the city a number of locations have laid claim to the title clubland; often more than one at the same time, as different areas supplied the needs of those of different social standings. In the early days it was focused around the docks, providing to the sailors wanting to celebrate their time ashore. Later the richer cliental collected in the large houses around Toxteth park whilst those of lower standing occupied the inns in the city centre. As the rave scene built up the old warehouses along the dock road became the focal point. Now there are a number of locations that fall under clubland; the student clubs around the universities, the night clubs in the city centre, and the drug houses in inner city ghettos. Additionally all those Faerie glamours, magical potions and white court skills make for a very interesting and competitive drugs scene. Groupies collect around the source of the current ‘flavour of the month’ only to move on as something new comes on the scene. Clubs open up and close down as the mortal authorities move in as part of their never ending “war on drugs.” Throughout this time Clubland has been under the attention of the White Court Vampires who have used it as a feeding ground. Other members of the covenant have turned a blind eye to this as they all accept that the Vampires have to feed. There is an assumption that mortals entering the domains know by their reputations that they are letting themselves in for trouble and thus choose to take the risk in return for the pleasures they may find, and as such are 'willing' under the Covenants definition. Most of the Covenant assume that Clubland is Vampire only territory but in practice this is far from being the case.There are lots of other 'people' showing interest in the mortals activities here and use them for their own ends: It was in a clubland gambling den that McKenzie encountered the mysterious Madison and sold his soul (if his claims can be believed). There are a large number of Faerie who enjoy the delights of the clubs, as they can safely 'let their glamour down' sure that any mortals watching will put it down to hallucinations. It is also a good source of mortals that may prove happy to make a deal with a Faerie in exchange for creative talent and power. Clubland is also considered a safe area for some of the wielders of magical forces who do not want to work under the restrictions of the Guild whilst practicing their arts. The Wizards of the Guild avoid it, not wanting to get caught up in any White court draining activities. Thus any deviation from the rules of magic go unnoticed. Finally, and most importantly, most of the supernatural races - including wizards- come into their power with puberty. This can make for a collection of very confused adolescents. For as long as anyone can recall, ‘clubland’ was where these children were sent to ‘get over it’ away from ‘normal polite society’. Here they could find other like minded (or afflicted) individuals that understood what they were going through and thus offer mutual support. It is not just the supernatural that fall into this regime, ‘Clubland’ has long been more tolerant of things like Homosexuality or mixed raced relationship that the mortal Zeitgeist. Clubland is a place where a changeling can grow horns with out anyone really caring; where an over enthusiastic young sorcerer can ignite a curtain and just get a bucket of water thrown over it; and a white court vampire can wake up from their first real feed and there will be some one around to quietly dispose of the body. Like Vagas - what happens in clubland, stays in clubland. Still this makes for a lot of strange bedfellows as people who would not give each other the time of day in the ‘outer world’ are bound together by events they all would rather no one else knew about.

Officially Elijah, as Vampiric Prince, has dominion in Clubland, but it is much less than he like to believe. Also his interests tend to extend only to what he can get out of it, and as long as his supply lines are not disturbed he pretty much leaves it to its own devices. That said, many of the physical locations are owned by him through cover companies, and he skims a financial profit from rents. He has a number of 'drug mages' whose job it is to come up with new products for the clientele, and any profit form those dealing also enters his coffers. Additionally he has a fairly large number of enthralled Vampire who move through the club 'feeding' off those indulging in his products who attend him shortly before dawn to pass on their collected energies and keep him topped up.

The Drug mages.
There are a number of practitioners of the arcane using Clubland as a base of operations. Some of these, like G-Man and Cassandra, are using their skills as a means of gaining fame, power and money. They collect around them a following of obsessed mortals, attracted by the pleasures they offer. Most are experts in ritual, using it to great potions or amulets that sell to the raver communities. Although few reach the level required to be considered a wizard there is enough of them for a healthy ‘darwin-esk’ competition which means the clubs are well supplied with new drugs and trinkets. A few of them have the backing of external agencies, like Elijah or Faerie of the Royal court, giving them access to better resources, but many of them are ‘home brewing’ and proud of the fact.

The Lone Magicians
Also with in the Clubland community there are a number of individuals who are using the cover of the club to practising their art without being over looked by the guild. Some are wizards who fell out with their Guild mentors and have left, or been kicked out of, the organisation. Others are Self taught sorcerers who have avoided being recruited and are figuring things out for themselves. Others do not have the skill or power required by the guild for full membership, but who are specialists in their own field and do not want the Guild interfering in their work. For the most part these are not a group and work in paranoid isolation; always nervous that another practitioner may be steeling their ideas, or might turn them into the guild. However they can occasional be bribed, cajoled or persuaded into action if the course is well paying, or more rarely noble, enough.

White Court of the Clubs.
The Zanders have not being in power for very long, there are plenty of vampires who remember what it was like under the old system and would rather go back to it. However they are clever enough to know that moving against Elijah and his power base when he is so closely linked to the High Council and the Royal court lies some where between futile and fatal. These old families are lying low, using the clubs to breed and rebuild a power base independent of the High council. Through the drug scene they have ties into the groups all over the world, most of whom are mortal and unaware of the true nature of the scousers they are dealing with. This is giving them not only access to the classic black market, such as weapons and criminal links, but also into the rich and powerful via addicted individuals in high level positions in legitimate organisations across the globe. Following the economic collapse, Liverpool has become quietly known as a good place to lie low if you have the money to pay for the protection. Along side this undercurrent there are the White Court Virgins. Clubland is seen as a ‘safe’ place to practice their skills as they come into their power. Many of these are subtly tested by the ‘rebellious’ White Court, only being brought into the clubland community when their loyalty is assured.

Changelings
Just as the white court who are unhappy with Elijah as their prince hide away in the clubs there are a collection of Wyldfae and changelings who are not happy with the Fisher King and Royal Court. Their objections put them in one of two camps: the ones who feel the Fisher King is clearly Senile, not fit to rule, and the fae of the city would do better with out him; and the changelings who frankly don't care who rules them, because they wouldn’t listen to them any way out of principle and just want to kick back and have a good time with all these juicy mortal playmates. But Fae being Fae, they often change which faction they are in depending on how drunk they are at the time. Also in the community are Mortals and Faerie who have made their choice and stepped away from or into their powers, but are still drifting through the lifestyle unwilling or unable to leave that part of their existence behind. This can lead to strange to over hear conversations including such phrases as “You wouldn’t say that if I was still a troll!”

Mortals
Clubland uses Mortals like cars use oil; Usually there is a steady level in there which only needs ‘topping up’ after some major disaster, and only very rarely are the ‘disasters’ down to the actions of the Supernaturals. More commonly a crack down by the local authorities will reduce the numbers in the clubs. There is always a drop in the summer as the students vanish off back home or to their festivals. Occasionally areas which are being used by clubland with be ‘redeveloped’ by the council or big corporations and the scene will go quiet as new venues are hunted out and word gets out again. The supply and price of some of the drugs fluctuates in response to world events or police raids, although the Zanders try to even this out as much as possible to deter marketer-ring. Most mortals are blissfully unaware of the activities going on around them. Taking street drugs, notoriously unreliable for cleanliness or accuracy in their labelling, means that anything strange they witness can easily be explained away as hallucinations. “Crap man, can you not spell? I wanted E, you’ve got K, there is a woman over there who is seven foot tall, blue with horns.” Etc. Occasionally incidents do occur and the clublanders are left with the option of bringing a mortal ‘into the fold’ or “removal of memory patterns with extreme prejudice by use of a 9mm slug to the brain”. Given these people are the playmates and pets of the supernaturals the former is more common than you might expect. There are a number of ‘mortals’ with in the community who are aware of what is going on and trusted to keep their mouths shut - even if in some cases this is assured by an addiction that only their ‘owner’ can feed. These individuals find work in the clubs as security, bar tenders, dancers etc. As they become more skilled and trusted they can rise to more important positions, providing mortal club owners with names that can appear on the liquor licences (For some reason the council is reluctant to give a liquor licence to some one with a date of birth stated as 1873), or looking after the finances as they can officially prove they exist and thus open bank accounts and sign legal documents. In short Clubland is more reliant on mortals than its supernatural communities would want to admit. Organised they could have a lot of power.

The Yank and Felix.
The yank is practitioner focusing in ritual - most specifically the creation of potions. Even more specifically Potions that will create the ultimate high. He arrived in the country around three years ago after breaking away from his mob boss owner. There was some level of 'unpleasantness' as the mob boss sent an assassin after him; but it was resolved during some complicating negotiations in the VIP box of Anfield Football stadium. He has created a drug that he claims to be the ultimate experience; Stronger than cocaine, more hallucinogenic than acid, more explosive than ecstasy and like getting a personal visit from god. It is also created from components that are 100% legal. However so far all 'mortal' attempts to reproduce it have failed and he remains the only source Physically the Yank (He does not acknowledge any other name now) is a large muscular black man who occasionally wears a kilt. He has not yet got a grip on the unique culture of Liverpool, nor indeed the slang spoken here and it is not uncommon for him to stop a conversation in mid stream and demand for a translation. Felix is a natural born scouser who attracted the attention of Faerie who gifted him (may be cursed him) with synchronisity- the art of being in the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time. This property has resulted in felix pushing his luck on more than one occasions and as the Yank has observed it is something of a wonder he is not dead yet. Despite his regular protests that he "'ates fucking Yanks!" it is clear his fate is tied to the imposing black man, and all attempts to get away from him has failed. He seems to have given up and now acts as a reluctant tourist guide for their permanent visitor. Felix is short, with dirty blond hair. Typically he wears a badly fitting suit over a Liverpool football shirt. He employs what could be described as colourful language and swears as often as he draws in breath.

Violet and Angelo
Violet is a middling Sorcerer. Her skills are good but she has always struggled in gathering the power she needs to enact the effects. As a result she has specialised in thaumatic rituals where the time limitations have less of an impact. Things have changed recently as she has paired up with Angelo; a gruff changeling, who was attracted into club land looking for a playmate. Angelo is a source of the power Violet desperately seeks. Although he has not managed to access the faerie magics that his blood carries, he has learnt to collect the energy and gift it to Violet so she can use it in her magic. To assist in this Violet has had a number of glyphs tattooed onto Angelo's body, which glow slightly as she draws out the power. In fact Violets problem is that she is a White Court virgin, and she is trying to gain energy in a way that is incompatible with her basic nature. Angelo is a horny young goat and so has excess sexual energy to spare. He is 'feeding' her exactly what she needs.

David Rankin
David is a white court Vampire of the Raith Family. He is the oldest survivor of the Raiths and thus their defacto leader. He would have inherited ‘the Princeship’ if Elijah’s manoeuvrings had not been so successful, but he claims he has little interest in the politics of the city and is happy to leave all that rubbish to Elijah. Of course there is a high probability he is lying. He runs a franchise of highly successful massage pallors catering to the requirements of 'discerning gentlemen of the city', and has done for the past century. His highest class emporium operates from and old georgian building on Fenwick street, but he has ‘outlets’ all over the city catering to every level of need; from the footballers looking for a way to waste there thousand pounds a second income on a good time, to the street walkers in the ‘tolerance zone’. There is also an escort service which David stocks from his own descendants, thereby ensuring a high standard of girls to appear on the arms of his clients. This gives him ears and eyes in some of the more exclusive mortal arenas.

Clubland Game Mechanics