The Under

[Malachite]

 

The Under

Captain Nola, the spirit of the city, has never explained what or even where the Under actually is. No one’s sure if she just doesn’t know or if explaining the mysterious place would somehow unmake it - or if she just likes watching people squirm while they try to figure it out. Any of three are just as likely as the others, and in the end it doesn’t really matter. The Under both parts magical city and safe haven for the supernaturals of New Orleans to gather away from the omnipresent eye of the Tesla Cabal. 

 

The main entrance is aboard the Spirit of New Orleans, the river boat that Nola captains. The boat is publicly billed as a fun “haunted boat” experience and spends nearly all it’s time moored off a dock in the French Quarter. The door that leads down into the lower decks of the boat is marked “Staff Only” - and ensorceled so that only supernatural beings can actually open it into the Cabin District of the Under. There have been a few interesting accidents of people that didn’t know they were supernaturals getting a real big, real quick, introduction to the Sable Krewe that way, but for the most part it has worked just fine. The boat in its entirety is spelled to be uninteresting to Cabal members. The more powerful mages can likely overcome it, but then they have Nola to deal with. After the last standoff ended with Hurricane Katrina and the people of New Orleans still refusing to abandon their city and heritage, the Cabal has walked more softly around it’s dealings with the area. 

 

The Under has numerous districts - so called because they’re sections of the Under that move together when the Under decides to rearrange itself. Here are some well-known districts, feel free to add new ones during gameplay. Please send me any details you want for the new district and I'll update it here. 

 

Sunbright has a warm and bright orb floating over it that replicates sunlight. Long arguments are had about where the orb came from. Despite the warmth and plant-growing properties of the orb, it isn’t true sunlight. Bed-and-breakfasts popped up in the district as it became a popular vampire vacation spot and tourist attraction.

 

Crystal Bridges always has water flowing through it - the Under sports several waterways that haven't really been named because they move and generally lack distinct features to determine which one is where now - with literal crystal bridges growing over the banks. 

 

The Tower district is a mage stronghold where they once tried to build a tower tall enough to find out if there was an actual ceiling to the Under. Something happened and there's different claims about exactly what. There's a large marble tower broken off and scorched at the top of what's left. All the towers left in the district are required to be shorter than that - in fact, it became a requirement of all buildings in the Under. No one tries to reach whatever's at the top of the Under anymore. The Broken Tower is the sole province of Madelaine, a known and powerful mage of the city. 

 

Snowgarden is a district that is always cold. Sometimes it snows and no one can figure out how or why. In the center of the district there is a garden that grows supernatural plants that are all winter or cold related. It’s beautiful, but staying in the garden too long can lead to frostbite or death. There are guards that clear the garden out every hour or so. 

 

Thornbrush is the goblin market in the Under. It makes changelings somewhat nervous, as true Thorns can be found growing there, but the district otherwise acts just like the others - growing and shrinking as needed and moving about with about the same regularity as the others. There are Hedgegates in Thornbrush and in fact those are the only entrances that seem to exit to a different place out of Thornbrush (as opposed to an entrance/exit on Earth). 

 

The Cabin district is the district directly around the entrance from the Spirit of New Orleans; it feels like the dock city New Orleans started as. Buildings are made of shiplap and dark tar, the lighting is torches, gas lamps, and paper lanterns. The air always smells of spices, alcohol, and seawater, and the best cajun food and drinks come from here. Even the actual city Above has a hard time competing. 

 

The Night Flower district is so named not for plants but for the business of the most famous of residents: Puck. He runs a combination of night club, bar, brothel, burlesque show, and pretty much any other flavor of sensual, seductive, mind-altering experience people would like to have. The complex is called the Gardens. He’d long referred to his employees as the ‘Guild of Night Flowers’ and many of the rooms in the building complex are named after specific flowers - often actually after the working names of those that serviced the rooms. Puck himself is an integral part of both New Orleans and the Under’s survival and growth. He runs a network of people across the world that help supernatural refugees get from one place to another, set up new identities, and even find final haven in New Orleans. He also fairly regularly puts out calls for orphaned children in need of new families. 

• If players need some ‘in’ to the Under, Puck is there to provide. The specific bar/dance club area that most people socialize in is called the Butterfly Garden.