Second City

Domain Summary

Echoes of Chicago’s rich history of violence and destruction returned with the fall of the shroud. The Second City exemplifies the heyday of organized crime and political corruption, amidst a backdrop of a city showing the scars of the Great Chicago Fire, riots, disasters, and violence.

Life in the Domain

The Second City combines many eras of Chicago's rich and bloody history. The mob runs everything from the wealthiest legitimate businesses, down to tiny bodegas. The peasants all work for one of the bosses, in some capacity or another. Every noble has a racket, often more than one. Where those rackets intersect, things can get violent. The various gangs value their turf, and will defend them with violence if necessary. The bosses and higher title nobles usually allow it to run its course, but ensure that things don't go too far. They keep the domain running, and the under-bosses, lower-title nobles, pay up to them.

Dominant Races

Wraiths (NPC only) and Vampires, with few Fae and Shifters

Paradigm: Mages are rare in this domain. Euthanatos & Hollow Ones would be at home here, and the rare Syndicate who finds a business opportunity. Without many Mages to train them, Orphans can also awaken here.

Politics & NPCs

Look, ya mook, ya can’t stop crime. Best ya can hope for is to keep it under control, an’ dats just what we do ‘ere in the good ol’ Second City: we control it. We make sure all th’ criminally-inclined are under proper management an’ serving da Kingdom, instead of our enemies. Sure, we get a piece of th’ cut... dats just good business... but better us than someone who wants ta whack ya. So long as you remember that th’ true power of th’ Second City lies with the bosses and th’ politicians, you should be fine. Capiche?

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Costuming and Archetypes

1920’s Chicago Gangster, Flapper, 1960’s Chicago Activist, Dirty Bum, Hitman Mercenary, Blue Collar Worker

Umbral Realms

Low Umbra - Shroud 0 (Stygia - Shroud 2)
Middle Umbra - Gauntlet 9 (Scar, Wastelands - Gauntlet 7, Atrocity Realms - Gauntlet 8)
Dreaming - Mists 3 (Far Dreaming - Mists 6, Deep Dreaming - Mists 9) / Banality 7
High Umbra - Periphery 8

Historical Information

Before the War of the Dead, Chicago was the jewel of the Midwest. Good people, great food, and plenty of culture. We had corrupt politicians and cops, violence, and a terrible unemployment rate. But that's how it’s always been here. A city built from fire, blood, and sweat.

Read more: (Shroud Fall Second City)

After a massive vampire brawl for the ages, one of the not so ancient ancients, Adam, waltzed in with a crew. They made a deal with the Barons and Dukes, called Aldermen here. When the Shroud fell, history came... well... back from the dead. Legions of ghosts came storming through... but we were ready when human society fell. It was like history walked right out of the museums and protected this town, our town, the Second City. Wraiths attacked wraiths, while vampires herded humans to safety. They wrecked half the city, and the human population took a dive. But what we lack in the living we make up for with the dead. The old Chicago returned. Whole parts of the city changed. Old buildings took the place of the wreckage. You can walk down the street to a speakeasy that hasn't been standing in 90 years or turn a corner and end up in 1963. And trust me, ya don't want to go where the Haymarket Affair happened. Lots of angry dead people there.

There is one thing for certain in Chicago: Mob Rules. Long-dead criminals came out of the woodwork. Capone, Torrio, Bugs Moran, Dillinger, Patrick O'Neil... They all got piece if the pie; the Outfit, North Side Gang, Syndicate, and especially the O'Neils. They run this town, like the old days. They leave the general populace out of their games and give a little back to the city that makes them fat and happy. Of course, the Mob aren't the only guys saving our skins. Old Man Daley, Chief Russel, Pinkertons, Fred Hampton, and various concerned citizens look out for us, too. It’s okay though, the mobsters aren't so bad. Pay your dues, they go about their business, and you won't end up fueling the city’s ""electric"" plants (Soul Reactors). You can lead an almost-normal life and not ever see the wise guys. Otherwise, you're fucked.

We've rebuilt on the rubble of what was before... with a little help from the past. We got power, phones, trains, cars, crime, law, and farmlands to support the breathers. We pretty much got it all, at least what we need to survive. But there's still that grime here. It sticks to you... like history. And you know the one thing you can't do? Change the past.

Second City Joins Appalachia

Nobles of the Second City worked to establish a cross-continental railroad. They planned to use it as a means to spread their criminal empire into every domain in the kingdom. Yet others saw far more business potential in their plan.

War of Aether

The War of Aether hit the Second City hard. Many Wraiths fell to their Shadows, driven to embrace their darker halves by the Abyssal army. Helldivers under Lucy Carter stood fast against the darkness. They fought many of these former domain mates. Giovanni necromancers under Torrio kept these specters at bay. They fed captured specters into the soul reactors, turning them a tidy profit in the process.

Court of (Criminal) Empires

Second City crime lords, O’Neil and Torrio, saw the Court of Empires as an opportunity. Where politics goes, crime follows. The Court of Empires offered them a means to expand their business into every kingdom. By inviting criminals from every kingdom to a gathering in the Second City, they sought to establish a criminal network that spanned the globe... with themselves, of course, at the center.

War of Maelstrom's Rebuke

During the Court of Empires, diplomatic relations between Dischordia and Lazarus' Kingdom failed. Dischordian nobles learned of a dark ritual planned by the Prince Alyosha Buljiev. In response, Dischordia launched a coordinated attack on Buljiev's domain of Carpathia. Their attack, seen by Lazarus' Empire as unprovoked, precipitated the conflict. The hostility between the two kingdoms erupted into the War of Maelstrom's Rebuke.

The Sublime Cataclysm

The tides of the war began to turn to their enemy’s favor. The Dischordian lords of prepared a spectacular attack to bring a swift end to the conflict. Sultan Suleiman, a master of spirit magic, led the largest ritual the kingdom had ever seen. New Faith ritualists, students of the Arcane Academy, and a million occultists gathered from all domains aided him. The sky itself bled with the power they summoned. Chunks torn from the spirit realms themselves bombarded Lazarus’ Empire. As each realm struck, it laid waste to thousands of miles of Lazarus' territory. Millions perished in an instant, as the realms destroyed immense swaths of land.

Second City Under Siege

For months, the Grim Legion marched, unhindered, through Dischordia. They reached the Second City in the final month of the war, but the nobles had prepared for their arrival. They mobilized their defenses to meet the enemy head-on. The streets ran with plasm of wraiths from both sides, but the terrain favored those who called them home. Victory seemed certain... at first.