Regent: Maxwell Phillips (Ventrue Invictus)
Geography
Lakenham is situated to the south of Norwich, and continues to expand into the countryside.
History
Old Lakenham dates back to the 18th century, and the trainlines have remained to provide a bustling atmosphere in a relatively small area. It has gone through several attempts at gentrification, but it’s never quite stuck, and remains a run-down area in contrast to the more opulent and modern places in the city.
Maxwell Phillips was assigned the Regency a few years ago, having amassed public kine recognition for his philanthropic efforts. Rumour suggests that Prince Lockwood assigned him the Regency to distract him from using his kine influence to undermine her - but of course there are always such scurrilous rumours about Ventrue in power.
Living in This Regency
Maxwell Phillips is a high profile figure and you cannot exist in Lakenham without regularly encountering him or his associates. Known as “Max” in kine circles, he is a jeans-and-hoodie wearing young activist. With an unsettlingly intense earnestness he provides regular soundbites about the difficulties youths face on the streets, campaigning and lobbying for greater resources for those in need in the Lakenham area including food banks, soup kitchens and refuges.
Ostensibly having lived on the streets as a child (he can produce several witnesses of this at the drop of a hat), Maxwell’s mortal reputation is of a passionate philanthropist now with the financial backing of sponsorship and government grants. In reality, Maxwell is an old Kindred whose efforts date back to the 19th century (and whose old-money finances were gained through less than salubrious means). His herd of social activists patrol the Lakenham streets to catch those in need who might have slipped through the net, and as for those who don’t appreciate his goodwill … well, they end up appreciative in the end.
Although Maxwell would like to present the Regency to be as stable and calm as himself, the reality is that kine infighting makes for a volatile atmosphere. Law and order is a major factor in this Regency, with a great deal of tension existing between the police force and street criminals. Maxwell is very adamant that Kindred should not be caught breaking kine law, as this causes problems with mortal authorities - however, that’s not to say that they can’t do it, as long as it’s subtle.
A major place of note is the Norwich Police Headquarters, which is situated in this Regency. Cynical residents have suggested that the police station being here causes more trouble than it solves, and low-level street crime is nothing compared to what the rich of Norwich get away with.
Kindred choose to live in Lakenham for any number of reasons. It’s cheap - in both kine and Kindred terms. Maxwell welcomes well-behaved Kindred with open arms, particularly those in troubled circumstances. Plus, its shabby atmosphere suits Kindred who may not feel at home in leafy suburbs or shining skyscrapers.
In addition, the Regency boasts two Racks: the Lakenham Clubs (more detail below), and the Norwich Bus Station. With huge numbers of anonymous travellers coming through every night, and plenty of shadowy alleyways nearby, the bus station can provide a quick fix for a hungry Kindred in need of a snack.
Laws:
- Do not be caught by the police breaking kine laws. Depending on the severity of the crime and the hassle it causes, a blood payment must be made to the Regent in recompense.
- Do not kill or physically torture humans. If a human is killed by accident (eg during feeding), this must be reported. Unreported death, or torture, may result in banishment from the Regency.
- Do not feed on professional athletes, as they are under the jurisdiction of Rebekah King (see The Cricket Park for more details) regardless of location within Lakenham. Blood fines will be enforced for breaking this rule.
Lakenham Tower Blocks
Baron: Townsend Beasley (Ventrue Lance)
Townsend projects a vague, unworldly demeanour, and wouldn’t at first glance be an obvious choice for Baron. Nevertheless, they care for the tower blocks with the studious focus of a gardener pruning their borders - and also have an unerring ability to keep the frequent ruckuses firmly within the borders of the blocks.
The tower blocks make up a sprawling estate which is for the most part pretty run down, but boasts community camaraderie (and very cheap rent) that encourages a lot of humans to stick around. As for Kindred rent, Townsend’s rates are fairly decent, though there is an element of undercutting going on between the tower blocks Old Lakenham (see below).
Physical: Access -2, Safety -3. Generally a key or swipe card is needed to get into the blocks, and the doors are often broken anyway. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can run into trouble either with locals or with the police, who are keen to crack down on whoever they’ve decided is a malcontent tonight.
Mental: Information +3, Awareness +3. Residents tend to be chatty and fairly welcoming if you approach them the right way, and their closely-packed mode of living means that they are keenly aware of what’s going on in other flats, floors and even blocks. The gossip mill runs rife here.
Social: Prestige +2, Stability +3. For those who live there, the area is well-regarded, though wealthier people from other parts of the city might prefer not to visit. Bonds in the community are strong, and some families have been close for generations.
Downtime Hunting Quality: Average (3 Vitae)
Available Feeding Ground dots: 3
Old Lakenham - The River
Baron: Olive Pocklington (Gangrel Invictus)
Beside the river, there are constantly new and in-progress building projects, not all of which ever reach fruition. Nevertheless, residents are moving to newly built estates, along with nice cars, 2.5 children, and anti-skateboarding petitions. Olive Pocklington has been working hard to gentrify the area, and is very keen to show off just how much she’s getting done.
Some say that she’s gunning for Regent over Maxwell, and after all, Olive is from a good family - why would she put up with such a relatively unprestigious area for long? Rent here is cheap, and she openly aims to attract Kindred who can provide the area with more prestige.
Physical: Access +4, Safety 0. It’s easy to wander in and out of Old Lakenham - there are no official kine borders - but the heavy police presence results in tension.
Mental: Information +2, Awareness +2. Local papers have been set up and there is a burgeoning community feel, though it’s not fully established yet. People are beginning to have burglar alarms and security lights on their dwellings but tend to think of untoward happenings as someone else’s problem.
Social: Prestige +2, Stability +1. The area is growing in popularity, but there still isn’t much of a feeling of camaraderie between the residents. Those who have been living there a long time see the newcomers as interlopers, while the newcomers tend to look down their noses at the long-term residents.
Downtime Hunting Quality: Sparse (2 Vitae)
Available Feeding Ground dots: 3
The Cricket Park
Baron: Rebekah King (Ventrue Ordo)
A major landmark in the area is the Lakenham Cricket Park, a park which has been in existence for a long time and escaped the major Second World War bombing. In the last ten years the park has spread to form a modern sports-focused district, with indoor and outdoor gyms, leisure centres, and swimming pools in close proximity. While not a residential area, the district is nearly always busy at night, whether with late-night and pre-dawn dog walkers and joggers or after-work gym bunnies.
Rebekah is a keen-eyed social engineer, and takes much of the credit for the shift in the district’s focus. She promotes sports and physical prowess, and word has it that she engineers kine into greater and greater physical feats. What she does with any failures is anyone’s guess.
Somewhere along the way an arrangement has been made between her and Maxwell Phillips that professional athletes of Lakenham will not be touched by other Kindred. Non-professionals, on the other hand, are fair game.
Physical: Access +2, Safety +2. The Cricket Park welcomes visitors with open arms. However, individual buildings such as gyms and sports centres, as well as parks after hours, are less easy to access without permission. Security in and outside the leisure centres ensures that visitors are well-behaved.
Mental: Information +3, Awareness +3. The focus of the district is sports and recreation, but there are also plenty of gym and athlete recruiters keen to talk to visitors about local gossip - anything to get more attendees. There isn’t much of a neighbourly feel, as the vast majority of people live elsewhere, and are often focused on their own activities, but cameras and alarms are a high priority for those running their businesses here.
Social: Prestige +3, Stability +3. The Cricket Park is a popular destination in Norwich, and Rebekah makes an effort to keep things under control.
Downtime Hunting Quality: Average (3 Vitae)
Available Feeding Ground dots: 3
Lakenham Clubs
Baron: Emmanuel Sayer (Ventrue Invictus)
If you’re down on your luck, want a walk on the wild side, or simply don’t fancy the glitz and pretention of Bank Plain, this is the place to go. Sleepy and dirty by day with the occasional partygoer sleeping off the previous night, but noisy and bustling at night, it’s the perfect place for a kine to lose themselves for a few hours or a Kindred to get some feeding done. This is one of the Racks of Norwich, and as such is ripe for feeding.
This district used to be clusters of pubs and had a more wholesome atmosphere, but with the influx of nightclubbing and more party drugs into the city during the 1980s, a grimy area of partiers sprang up. Nowadays there’s a wide variety of clubs and bars, some of which with better reputations than others.
Emmanuel Sayer is rumoured to be a relative of Maxwell Phillips, though nothing has been publicly disclosed - unusual, for Ventrue. His manner is very mild and soft-spoken, sometimes off-puttingly so, and puts across a very non-threatening, naive demeanour; nevertheless he has an encyclopaedic depth of information about who’s doing what in the district, so clearly has more going on than he appears.
Physical: Access +4, Safety -3. Designed for easy access, and with shuttle buses ferrying clubgoers here and there, it’s easy to get into this district. The less salubrious clubs have little in the way of security equipment, though some have heavies who are keen to stamp out trouble. Those who don’t know what they’re doing can quickly end up getting into trouble - or have trouble find them. Despite, or because of, frequent police raids, tensions run high here.
Mental: Information 0, Awareness -3. You’ll find graffiti and hastily plastered up posters around the place, but most people aren’t keen to spread information without incentive. Most clubgoers are focused on having a good time, and club and pub proprietors and workers are keen to turn a blind eye to disturbances.
Social: Prestige: +1, Stability -2. Despite its rough and ready atmosphere, the area is still a big draw and is well known in the city. It can be volatile, however, with scraps between gangs and between locals and police sometimes escalating into full-blown fights.
Downtime Hunting Quality: Abundant (4 Vitae)
Available Feeding Ground dots: 4
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