A well-heeled area mixing corporate and big business areas with high-profile private medical and scientific institutions, the library and Norwich’s biggest city park. An area for up and comers who have enough money to play the high stakes. Entrenched and nepotistic, it is filled with a multitude of overlapping old boys’ clubs. As with any such area, there are rumours of ethically dubious activities and it is not even a secret that some of the Kindred here engage in social experiments in which humans are seen as merely ‘population’ and ‘resources’. It is governed by Simone Garisenda, a Nosferatu of the Ordo Dracul.
Geography
Blackfriars is positioned slightly to the north of the city centre and borders the Arcology, making it one of the finest pieces of turf in Norwich. It contains the Blood Bank and borders RAF Coltishall, which is a strict no-go area under the Prince’s decree. The ongoing feud between Samuel Asinelli and Simone Garisenda is made even more intense by the fact that their Regencies border one another. In fact, one of the landmarks of the Regency is Garisenda’s tower, which has been continually built higher and higher in varying architectural styles since before World War Two to compete with Samuel Asinelli’s tower in the bordering Regency.
History
Before World War Two, this was a quickly evolving area that had influence from the Norman and Anglo-Saxon areas of the city. It was a hub of trade and civic duty, as well as being the site of a Dominican Monastery, for which the Regency is named.
The bombing of World War Two destroyed many of the old buildings in this area. However, following the Blitz, the Two Towers were left almost miraculously intact, and Simone Garisenda weathered the changes in leadership just as well. She quickly established herself as a person the Prince would find useful to have on side, not least because when the city put the Blood Bank in place, it somehow ended up in her Regency. She risked a lot of her own resources on rebuilding the Regency she now oversees and it paid off, with Garisenda's bizarre mix of medical and scientific expertise, business sense and avant-garde leadership creating a thriving centre for banking and private medical research in the city centre.
Living in This Regency
Simone Garisenda is a Regent who likes to see innovation, and as long as people don’t make a mess she won’t bother to meddle. After all, she has people for that.
Her laws:
- You are responsible for keeping the Traditions and cleaning up after yourself if they are broken.
- The Blood Bank is sacrosanct. Do not interfere with it (or any of its associated environs, people or processes) unless authorised by the office of the Prince or the Regent.
- All experimentation must be conducted under controlled conditions with a minimum of collateral damage to life (including Kindred), magical or supernatural conditions (including feeding grounds) or property. You are responsible for ensuring the safety of your experiments and innovations.
- Any contact with diseased individuals or any suspicion that disease might have entered the Regency’s environs directly or indirectly should be reported to the Baron or Regent immediately.
This attitude is both why Kindred choose to live here or choose to avoid this Regency: Garisenda’s laws both give license and consequence, so it is popular with members of the Ordo Dracul and Clan Nosferatu, especially given that Garisenda is a prominent member of both groups.
Besides that, as long as Kindred are willing to live within the laws and the Traditions, it is a potentially profitable area of the city with links to the Arcology and plenty of ways to get contacts in the business or medical communities.
Districts
Temple Fortune
Ruled by Baroness Carmilla Fitzgerald, a Mekhet of the Invictus, this is the home of many of the banks, stockbrokers and insurance companies of Norwich and the site of the Blood Bank. Baron Fitzgerald is the Sanguine Notary for the city and the business manager for the Blood Bank, a hefty responsibility.
The area is relatively quiet by night, as the majority of local business goes on during the day, but some of the companies with an international presence and the stockbrokers have a presence at night. After work many of the business people can be found in Bank Plain, which used to be the old banking district until Temple Fortune eclipsed it.
The Blood Bank itself is a very old building that survived the bombing in the heart of a shiny new apartment complex (which provides the Feeding Grounds to maintain the ‘red standard’). It has a much higher level of security than the buildings around it.
Physical: Access -2, Safety +3. Temple Fortune has an understandably high level of security: after all, it is a rich area with a lot of money changing hands. This also makes it one of the safest places to be in the city. There are cameras everywhere and the security is high-tech.
Mental: Information +1, Awareness +1. Baron Fitzgerald cracks down hard on anyone who endangers the security or activities of the Blood Bank and its Feeding Ground, and the dangers of insider trading and corporate sabotage mean that the local Kine are a little paranoid. However, many people around here have a price: it’s just a very high one.
Social: Prestige +3, Stability -3. The area is wealthy and prestigious to live and work in due to high rent and good jobs, but it is quiet at night. The stability of the banks and businesses here are often hanging by a thread, and with a few of them going under, the whole place could become a wasteland of shuttered offices, and few here will leap to defend their erstwhile colleagues if they see a chance to advance.
Downtime Hunting Quality: Sparse (2 Vitae)
Available Feeding Ground dots: 2
The Hospital District
Norwich Hospital is located in this District. It is an NHS hospital with a proud history but these days the building and services are suffering from national cutbacks and many of the local private centres are benefiting from patients who can afford to switch over. There are numerous other NHS hospitals and medical centres in Norwich, but this is the big central hospital.
The most notable other building in the area is the Thomas Browne Centre, a private medical research centre specialising in hematology. Surrounding it are upper middle class townhouses and a number of private scientific and medical research facilities.
This District is ruled by Baroness Victoria Harvey, a Gangrel Lance business leader with an interest in medical science and herd control. Her rules are generally fairly minimal, but she requires contact details from all that live within her District and has them sign a disclaimer upon entering into a tenancy agreement saying that they will contact her or a representative immediately if they witness, cause or in any way become aware of an unreported breach of the Masquerade. She also requires that any Kindred experimentation be certified by someone higher up in that person’s covenant, to make sure it is not going to cause trouble, and be conducted with all due discretion.
Physical: Access -1, Safety +2. The hospital is relatively accessible but also has constant security presence and lots of cameras. The private medical and scientific facilities have tightly-controlled security due to the value of their research on the open market. The area is quiet during the night and generally fairly safe.
Mental: Information -3, Awareness +1. The organisations around here are secretive about their activities, but they also act as companies with websites and employee lists. The hospital is less secretive but still handles a lot of personal data, so has to maintain a certain degree of control. However, you can largely pass unnoticed around here unless you draw attention to yourself.
Social: Prestige -2, Stability +2. The residential areas are often cheap flats, and while working at the private companies is prestigious, there are likely a lot of very bad things going on under the gleaming business chic and shiny smiles of the companies around here. The facilities around here close ranks if there is even a hint of scandal, and will often protect one another on the basis that investigations tend to spread.
Downtime Hunting Quality: Average (3 Vitae)
Available Feeding Ground dots: 2
Avellana Park
A charming city park, this area is a popular spot for walkers and families. By night, it often hosts performances, fairs and events. Of course, it is also filled with nooks and places that could potentially be used for clandestine meetings and goings-on. There are an unusually high number of hazel trees in the park.
Cheverton Memorial Library is a sombre library built in the 1980’s to provide new facilities for housing the city’s archives and special collections. It is a beautiful building that is nearly flawlessly designed in a nineteenth-century neoclassical style, but with very modern facilities and a strong base for local charity works. However, the building has not been updated in many years and as such could do with some sponsorship. It can be no coincidence that it shares a name with the late Prince Sebastian Cheverton, though he had been dead for many decades before it was built.
This District is ruled by Wilt Corylus, a Gangrel Circle of the Crone. He is an odd Baron for such an area, but he once did a service to the city and all he asked for in return was a ‘small patch of ground’. He has turned this ground into a vibrant park and has refused to let it go, even when others have offered to buy him out. It can of course be no coincidence that the greenhouse on the park grounds specialises in poison plants.
Physical: Access +4, Safety -2. This area is publicly accessible and sees many passers-by every day and night. While there are some no-go areas, very few places have significant security. With that comes danger: there are muggings in the streets or dark parts of the park late at night, and this is the only District in the Regency where opportunistic thefts are common. During festivals, pickpocketing is also common.
Mental: Information +3, Awareness -2. The library is designed to provide information, and nothing here is particularly restricted until you start looking into personal or business information. However, the limitation is that the information available here is mostly accessible from any computer or good reference library and is relatively harmless. If you want to search local news databases, it’s great; if you want to learn secrets about corrupt politicians, not so much.
Social: Prestige -2, Stability +1. Everything here is publicly funded and so there isn’t much chance of it changing quickly. It is a fairly quiet and unassuming area to live in. It is generally a good neighbourhood with a fairly strong police presence, so the chances are that if anything is obviously wrong, someone will interfere or call the authorities.
Downtime Hunting Quality: Average (3 Vitae)
Available Feeding Ground dots: 4
The Spire District
The Spire District is ruled by Ralph Toppes, a Nosferatu Invictus, who keeps an eye on the media to watch for any Masquerade breaches. He projects the appearance of a savvy media mogul, almost to the point of being an archetype.
This District encompasses a section of the city that was cleared by the Council (including some less desirable housing, against the wishes of residents) following World War Two. The Spire is Britain’s second-tallest skyscraper, built in Norwich city centre in the early 2000s. It is super modern, but it also mirrors the architecture of the Cathedral and the Norman roots of the city. It is currently the base for Anglia TV.
In the immediate surroundings of the Spire are other media outlets and companies such as the magazine company The Mustard Club (formerly Tillet, Colman, Copeman and Jarrold).
This is also the base of operations for a number of Norwich’s big businesses and as such is a highly sought-after area for offices. However, it is usually relatively quiet at night and has only a handful of residential areas.
Physical: Access +1, Safety +1. Getting into the area is no problem but the media and corporate buildings are restricted and have good security. It is relatively safe area, with low level crime but nothing serious.
Mental: Information +3, Awareness +3. If you want gossip, scandal and blackmail, the media outlets and big business areas are the place to be. While you might have to grease some palms, this is one of the places that has its finger on the pulse of the city. Of course, that comes with certain disadvantages: word travels fast around here, and there are a lot of people eager to break a big story, so you’d better not let too much slip.
Social: Prestige +2, Stability -1. The scribbling classes are not popular among a lot of those they target, so they are often under threat of legal action or being closed down. The businesses in the area have to bet big to make money, which makes their positions tenuous at best. The community spirit around here varies between kicking others off the ladder and a strange kind of solidarity, depending on who you are and what you’re threatening.
Downtime Hunting Quality: Average (3 Vitae)
Available Feeding Ground dots: 3
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