The Regency of Ultra Aquam

The Regency of Ultra Aquam
A primarily residential area that contains a Mausoleum of Elder vampires in torpor. It is a quiet area that requires little maintenance, but anything that goes wrong will likely make ripples. Held by Regent Massiel Bautista, it is a Lancea et Sanctum Regency and is notably the only Regency in the city held by a Daeva.

Geography
To the north west of the city, Ultra Aquam extends beyond the outer ring road and is bounded by the River Wensum. It contains a large graveyard and a complex of civic buildings including the City Hall and Courthouse, as well as a psychiatric hospital. The area has a couple of middle-class suburban neighbourhoods and a variety of other housing, including Victorian terraces and townhouses often converted into flats for students or commuters who cannot afford to live more centrally.

History
Historically, torpored Kindred in Norwich were kept in the city centre, but during the bombing raids of the Second World War, it became clear that this was no longer an option. There was a scramble to move any torpored Kindred whose location was known out of the city to a temporary location in the Ultra Aquam area. A permanent Mausoleum was constructed in a large graveyard already present from the historical settlement of the area by minorities such as the Flemish Strangers as part of a project to maintain a landmark, and it became the resting place for the Kindred of Norwich.

The area was already a sparse residential area, and once the City Hall and Courthouse were moved nearby, it began to grow, becoming popular with commuters and students.

The choice of a Daeva for this Regency seemed an odd one after the fall of the Daeva, but Regent Bautista is widely known as a ‘good’ Daeva, one who keeps a firm hand on those members of the clan that live within its bounds.

Living in This Regency
Massiel Bautista likes stability. She welcomes, in fact encourages Daeva to become tenants in her Regency, but it is on the condition that they submit to a certain degree more scrutiny than other Kindred.

Bautista’s laws are:

• If you enter into an uncontrolled frenzy while in the bounds of the Regency, you are responsible for your actions and you must contact the local Baron or the Regent as soon as you are able and coherent enough to do so.
• Daeva within the Regency must confine themselves to feeding on a small group of humans or must not feed on the same human twice. Every Daeva tenant must provide details of their feeding habits while living in the Regency to the Regent.
• The Mausoleum is restricted to those who have permission from the Regent, the Baron of the Mausoleum District or the office of the Prince. Visitors must be accompanied at all times unless specific permission for solo visitation is acquired.
• Any Kindred who enters torpor within the bounds of the Regency is to be transported immediately to the Mausoleum and the Regent and Baron of the Mausoleum District should be contacted.

The penalties for breaking these laws vary depending on the law (and the degree of transgression). For instance, minor property damage while in frenzy will likely invoke a much lesser punishment than assaulting another Kindred while frenzying. The laws regarding Daeva function more as a check than a rule, forcing Daeva to discuss their feeding habits with another. Some see this as a nanny state, treating the Daeva like children who cannot control themselves. Others see Regent Bautista’s point, that it is worth the humiliation to have a safe place to live that isn’t the Storm Tunnels. In fact, the condition upon which Bautista was given the Regency (which she bid for so the Daeva would have a home in the city) was that she would monitor the feeding habits within it. Her rulership of the Regency hangs by that single thread, and she won’t risk it breaking.

So why would anyone choose to live under such rule? Well, Regent Bautista is one of the most respected Daeva in the city and prides herself on knowing who is who in the city, so is a useful friend to the forward-thinking Daeva. For other Kindred, the Mausoleum is a draw. Some have ancestors there they wish to communicate with, or maybe they wish to study torpor or Kindred history. Becoming a tenant in this Regency is a declaration of intent to work within the system and not cause trouble, which means it appeals to many. Living in a Regency that is further out from the city has its advantages as well as it disadvantages: as long as nobody does anything too dramatic under the Regent’s watchful eye, they remain largely autonomous from central oversight.

Districts
Lychgate

The Lychgate District is where the sleeping Kindred lie in a Mausoleum, torpored and waiting out the centuries until they can rise again. The Mausoleum itself is surrounded by slightly creepy, run-down Victorian town houses, mostly divided into flats that are used by students and commuters, though some are inhabited by people who have lived their for forty to fifty years.

Lychgate is ruled by Baron Johnny Suyuti, a Mekhet of the Ordo Dracul who specialises in torpor research and the history of the city, as well as being the guardian of the Mauseolum.

The one thing Baron Suyuti will not abide is unauthorised interference with the Kindred in the Mausoleum. He seems to take few things seriously, but he does take the sanctity of Kindred torpor seriously. He still mourns the loss of the Kindred who died during World War Two and has an interest in Kindred history, recording it where he can and working with (or having rivalries with) other Kindred who have the same goals.

Physical: Access +1, Safety -1. The Mausoleum is a sleepy area. The roads here are quiet, but the Mausoleum and graveyard might take a bit of effort to access and there’s little public transport out here. The worst you’re likely to run into here are kids, drug addicts or transients among the gravestones, but the street lighting and response time are not great.

Mental: Information -2, Awareness +1. The locals here keep themselves to themselves and don’t tend to congregate or build much of a community. Not enough happens around here to keep them very alert to danger. However, they will tend to notice things going too far amiss.

Social: Prestige -1, Stability +1. You live here if you want to be in a nice area but can’t afford to be closer into the city. Most of the people who live here are students or commuters who don’t tend to be around all the time. The houses are run-down, a bit more olde-worlde than charm, and no-one causes much trouble because there isn’t much reason to do so. The locals will probably not respond to a scream quickly but they will eventually investigate.

Downtime Hunting Quality: Sparse (2 Vitae)
Available Feeding Ground dots: 3

Shady Oaks

Shady Oaks is ruled by Baron Dominic Quincey, a Daeva of the Lancea et Sanctum. Shady Oaks is an upper middle class surburban neighbourhood with lots of secrets behind closed doors (and a neighbourhood watch). It has a good school and is largely self-contained.

Baron Quincey is a charismatic figure who has worked his way into the community and uses his charm to extract secrets from the suburban gossips.

Physical: Access +1, Safety +2. The people who live in Shady Oaks can afford good security, the streets are well-lit and the police response time is quick. Between this and the Neighbourhood Watch, the local teenagers can wander the streets in relative safety. The transport routes into the city are relatively good if you have a car, though the streets here can be difficult to navigate. There is limited public transport access.

Mental: Information +3, Awareness +3. You can get the gossip here if you know the right people to ask and the right things to say, but it’s a two-edged sword. The curtain-twitchers see all, and while they’re likely to leap to non-supernatural conclusions, it might get back to other Kindred.

Social: Prestige +2, Stability +3. Shady Oaks has a population mixed between families, retirees and high-powered-career-people, but they all have their place firmly in the echelons of the upper middle class. It is generally a ‘good’ community, with very exclusive schools, but the web of scandals, lies and mutual loathing covered with smiles means that it could all come tumbling down so easily. Of course, that also means that the people here are very good at covering things up - and they will often ‘support’ one another just to get the latest gossip.

Downtime Hunting Quality: Average (3 Vitae)
Available Feeding Ground dots: 4

The Asylum

The Asylum District is ruled by Baron Harland Pembroke, a Ventrue of the Ordo Dracul. Despite the District's archaic name, St. Augustine's Psychiatric Hospital is a functional modern hospital specialising in mental health. The building was a Victorian asylum but the facilities are now updated and the hospital has a high commitment to security. Surrounding the hospital is a poor neighbourhood which is sparsely populated. St. Augustine's has a good, if secretive, reputation these days but it also has its fair share of ghost stories and tales of awful things happening.

Physical: Access -3, Safety -2. Getting to the hospital is not the problem - getting in is much more difficult. The houses nearby are security-conscious as well, partly due to thus-unsubstantiated paranoia of living near an asylum. The dangers here are much less to do with the patients (though logic never stands in the way of a good ‘escaped lunatic’ story) and more to do with the amount of petty crime that goes on around here. The hospital may be well-maintained, but the neighbourhood is not very safe.

Mental: Information -2, Awareness -1. Staff members and residents are close-lipped and uncomfortable with talking to strangers. If you do get much in the way of information, it is more likely to be a ghost story about the asylum than it is something genuinely useful, and you never know how much to believe. Within the hospital there are cameras and staff who will notice you, but outside it, many people here are either distracted by their own concerns or have learned to look away from a lot of the crime that goes on in the neighbourhood.

Social: Prestige -3, Stability +1. Things don’t change much around here, and that is what makes it such a crushing place to live in. The hospital is occasionally threatened with closure because of lack of funding. This neighbourhood is definitely not a place someone would choose to live if they could go elsewhere, but it does provide decent housing for a low price for those trying to make their lives better.

Downtime Hunting Quality: Sparse (2 Vitae)
Available Feeding Ground dots: 2

Blyth Civics District

Blyth Civics District is ruled by Baroness Penelope Reid, a Gangrel of the Ordo Dracul who is a criminal psychologist. This District is primarily made up of administrative buildings and contains City Hall, County Hall and the Courts. There are also some residential areas nearby and the area acts as a community within itself, the number of Council staff needed outside the city centre at City Hall and the Court House meaning that there are shops, cafes and even a few restaurants thriving locally.

Physical: Access +4, Safety +3. While the Civics District is well outside the city centre, it has extremely good public transport routes due to the number of staff who commute regularly as well as ample parking. It also has a regular police presence due to the Courthouse and, while the area is quiet at night, it is not a particular target for criminals. On the other hand, it is considered a risk target for demonstrations and politically-motivated attacks.

Mental: Information +3, Awareness +3. This is definitely a good place for information on matters to do with the City Council and justice within the city. It will all be behind locked doors and the official story, but you can discover a lot by talking to the right people. However, given the amount of CCTV and security around the area, there is a high likelihood of someone noticing you.

Social: Prestige +2, Stability +2. While it is not particularly prestigious to live or work here, it is a respectable area of the city with a significant chance of getting further up whichever ladder you are climbing. People here clique together - after all, it’s who you know - and support each other.

Downtime Hunting Quality: Average (3 Vitae)
Available Feeding Ground dots: 2