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Disclaimer: GarouMUSH is a work of fiction. All characters, places and
events portrayed here or on the MUSH are fictitious, and any
resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This
includes references to its version of the Hanford Site which make no
attempt to represent conditions or situations prevalent at the real
site.
Summary
GarouMUSH is set in and around the fictitious city of St.
Claire in
Washington State. St. Claire sits at a point where the Columbia River
runs roughly north-south, and where US Interstate 90 crosses that river.
Originally a mining town in the mid-1800s, St. Claire has grown and
evolved into a modern
center of trade with roughly two million people. St. Claire has all the
facilities
(and problems) typical of a city that size.
The links below will take you to the relevant section:
St. Claire: Mundane information and history
St. Claire:
Supernatural information and history
St. Claire: mundane
information
and history
Early History
In 1847, two prospectors, Lan Gerlord and Jebediah Regan,
traveling
through the area on a long-term prospecting voyage, discovered a vast
silver vein in the local hills. The two made a small mine, managing to
avoid any trouble with the local natives.
By 1849, after a return to St. Louis, Regan and Gerlord
came
back to the area intent on getting rich. With them was a small group of
workers and other prospectors and, as word began to get out, the town
of St. Claire was officially founded by that small population.
In 1971, despite heavy campaigning, a proposal to
rezone the
east bank of the Columbia River between the Municipal Bridge and I-90
to allow industrial use failed. The corporation itching to get onto the
land, Hernandez Industrial Steel, blitzed the local media with
pro-rezoning, job-creating industry commercials. However, a coalition
of local
businesses and environmental groups got the measure voted down. Harbor
Park is a testament to this legacy.
St. Claire, while too young to have the character of
other
cities such as New York, Boston or Los Angelas, is not without its
big-city troubles. It has been subject to more than its fair share of
mass murders, crime, corruption, and poverty.
Sections of St.
Claire
St. Claire can be roughly divided into five sectors:
Northeast, northwest, central, southeast, and southwest.
Northeast St. Claire is the historic district, which
includes
the bay and represents the heart and history of the city. A number of
high-end businesses and well-established local firms make their homes
here, along with newer businesses that make use of the artistic
architecture or charm affiliated with things from the past. "Old Money"
families tend to dwell in this area. The financial district, also in
this area, is where the business powerhouses of St. Claire operate.
Northwest St. Claire is the affluent aspect of the
city, where
the wealthy--both "old money" and the "nouveau riche"--mingle. The
westernmost portion of the city houses a large number of well-patrolled
mansions and estates. Shopping areas tend to be high-class and a number
of private schools are located here, providing easy access for the
elite that wish to shelter their children from the ravages of the
public school system.
Central St. Claire is the proverbial midtown area.
Here,
government services and the majority of the city businesses exercise
their craft. It is also home to the burgeoning middle class of city
dwellers struggling to make ends meet while living the lifestyle of
credit and being only a couple months paychecks away from losing
everything. An art district also struggles to survive in this area.
Southeast St. Clare used to be in better shape before
the
interstate highway system, in the form of I-90 and the trucking
industry, ran roughshod over the local shipping industry. Dethroned
from its prior status as the major means of goods transportation to St.
Claire, the shipping industry has been significantly weakened and is
more cut-throat--and this is reflected directly with the southeast
section of the city. Wharfs and warehouses are in a poor state of
affairs.
Southwest St. Claire, life southeast St. Claire, has
long been
in a state of economic and moral decline. This section of town is
composed of old factories bordering on being closed down or condemned.
What work there is is tedious and low-paying. Most of the factories,
after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted,
promptly abandoned the area in favor of the much cheaper unskilled
labor available in Mexico--leaving behind a swath of marginalized
Americans. Littered with the dregs of society and intermingled with the
poor, southwest St. Claire is the part of town you don't go to at
night, and certainly don't go there by yourself. Everything about the
area is dirty and tired.
The
St.
Claire Police Department (SCPD)
The St. Claire Police Department (SCPD) is most
vigilent in
patrolling the northern half of St. Claire, where the wealthy and
affluent homeowners and businesses reside. In addition to the SCPD,
private security firms are springing up in these areas. Additional
security is only a matter of cost, and the wealthy are willing to pay
for it.
Central St. Claire is patrolled less vigorously, but
certainly
not neglected. It is, after all, where most police officers and civil
servants reside. And a lot of commerce takes place in this region.
Southern St. Claire is very underpatrolled, but not
lawless.
Calls to 911 are generally responded to, though reports of "shots
fired" may have police units dispatched to the area intentionally
dawdle in order to avoid a shootout with a gang or other malcontents.
South St. Claire is where people go to get away with murder--in a
literal sense.
Regardless of where in St. Claire a crime occurs, if a
police
officer is injured, the entire wrath of the SCPD will rapidly descend
to deliver swift and brutal street justice. Forensics investigations
for officer deaths and injuries are extremely thorough and have a much
higher than average conviction rate--assuming the criminal doesn't
resist arrest. On the streets, it is said that the largest, most armed,
and best-funded gang in St. Claire is the SCPD.
The 'burbs
St. Claire has several suburbs, predominantly to the
west of the city. The city butts right up against its natural eastern
border--the Columbia river. Beyond the river to the east, the land is
largely forested with the exception
of Kent Crossing.
Kent Crossing
Kent Crossing, over the Columbia River, is about 10
miles away
from St. Claire. As real estate boomed between 2002 and 2006, this
sleepy rural town of 10,000 people has grown substantially to nearly
30,000 people as suburbs were added. Kent Crossing is becoming the
"bedroom community" of St. Claire--a place where the middle class can
buy a larger house and plot of land for much less than what they would
pay in the city.
The Kent Crossing Police Department (KCPD) does an adequate job of
patrolling the town and suburbs, but lacks the sophistication,
equipment, and funding that the SCPD enjoys. Much of the forensics work
for the KCPD is farmed out to the SCPD. There is some mild friction
between the KCPD and the SCPD, generally resentment/envy over the
SCPD's resources. Though the KCPD is rampant with the "good ol' boy"
network and there is almost blatent favoritism towards friends and
family of KCPD employees.
In 1993, large plots of land in Regan county and bordering
on Wolf
Woods National Park were bought by Aspen Demilune and a mansion was
constructed. The grounds remained untouched and in
her hands for only a short time, however. The multi-millionaire land
baron
disappeared without a trace later that winter. Almost two years
after Demilune's disappearance, and with the absence of a will or any
surviving relatives, her large tracts of land went on the auction
block. Most of the suburbs cropping up today are on these highly
desirable lands being rapidly converted into suburbs by people who want
to escape the city and get back to nature--so long as "nature" refers
to a nice yard and not dense forest with no amenities like electricity,
city water, and sewage.
Wolf Woods National Park
Wolf Woods National Park (WWNP) was initially formed in
1908
when a substantial chunk of land was ceded to the federal government,
then subsumed into the National Park Service with passage of the
Organic Act in 1916. Various additions of much smaller sizes have been
added up through 1994, when the park reached its current size. With the
recent growth in Kent Crossing, it is unlikely that the park will be
able to expand any more to the west, and may eventually lose land if
the government declares eminent domain to later support the
infrastructure of Kent Crossing.
WWNP is best known for the wolf packs being tracked and
monitored within its boundaries. However, the most popular attractions
with local residents are the camping and water recreation on Lake
Arthur. Fishing, swimming, and limited boating (boats with less than a
10HP motor) is permitted in Lake Arthur. SCCU also conducts
annual archaeological digs as warmer weather permits.
Peak season for WWNP is between May and August, with
the
winter months leaving the park largely deserted. Camp sites are
available for $15 per night, and camp sites with electricity are
available for $20 per night.
Visitors and hikers are strongly advised to stick to
the
trails and for their own safety to avoid any wolves or other wildlife
that they might encounter. Park rangers are very vigilant about hauling
and expelling people who break the rules or endanger the wildlife or
forest.
St. Claire: Supernatural information and history
The
Caern of
the Wheel (1826-1944)
In 1826, the Wendigo re-awoke an ancient tribal Caern
near the
Columbia river. This Caern, like some other Caerns of the Pure Ones,
was once a Medicine Wheel with the four aspects of the Wheel dedicated
to the four seasons. For reasons known only to these Wendigo, when the
Wheel was re-opened it was re-dedicated to the four elements instead of
the four seasons--the beginning of a long history of unconventional
aspects surrounding this unusual caern. Hints of the original seasonal
nature of the Wheel were still evident in each of its four elemental
aspects. It was called, simply, The Caern of the Wheel and was known as
a caern of Visions.
Even among the Wendigo this caern of visions rolled
counter to
many of their traditional beliefs. While most Native American medicine
wheels run clockwise, for reasons known only to the spirits and,
perhaps, the first Wendigo, the Caern of the Wheel runs
counter-clockwise. To move clockwise around it is to go against the
will of the very totems that gave it strength.
In 1940, there were reports of a caern to the north
being
destroyed under odd circumstances, told by second-hand witnesses
as there seemed to be no survivors. Two more caerns in Washington State
were destroyed in the next two years, all with no known survivors.
Then, in 1944, the Wendigo running the Caern of the Wheel simply
vanished without a trace, leaving St. Claire's Glass Walkers and Bone
Gnawers as the only Garou in the immediate area.
There were no clues left as to where the Wendigo went,
and the
caern had become dormant. None of St. Claire's Glass Walkers or Bone
Gnawers had the skills required to awaken a caern--much less determine
if it was destroyed--and the destruction of other caerns in the area
had left the Garou presence in the State of Washington greatly
depleted. Furthermore, the kindred presence in St. Claire grew stronger
as the Garou presence weakened. The Glass Walkers and Bone Gnawers were
eventually infiltrated, exposed, and either fled or were destroyed by
the vampires within the city that had long been held in check by the
combined forces of the Gnawers, Walkers, and Wendigo.
The Caern of the Wheel was abandoned.
The
Caern of
the Wheel Renewed (1993-1996)
<>In the spring of 1991, a Freebooter pack from the
Sept of
Gaia's Bones, Seneca Falls, was searching in eastern Washington, and
made a major find: the ancient site of this slumbering Caern. A Strider
who had been traveling with the Freebooter pack was dispatched to
return to Gaia's Bones with the news. Confident that the Furies would
soon arrive to open the caern, Seneca Falls continued on their path,
looking for other new caerns.
Unknown to Seneca Falls, the Strider returned immediately to The Caern
of Ptah rather than going to Gaia's Bones. A council of Striders was
hastily convened and, for reasons of their own, a Elder of that tribe
was sent with a scouting party to the dormant caern. Amidst an emerging
turf war with the local kindred, the Caern was re-opened in November of
1993. The Garou called themselves the Sept of the Wheel Renewed and
they found themselves guardians of an extremely powerful Caern--and a
mystery. The Caern had two totem spirits linked to it, that of Magpie
and that of Buffalo; they were aware that there was once a third totem,
but the Wendigo had left no clue to its identity and no Wendigo visited
the caern.
Finally, almost exactly a year after the site was re-opened,
members of the Wendigo tribe returned to the Caern of the Wheel Renewed
as did the third totem, Cougar. But it was not a warm homecoming for
the Wendigo, who attempted to claim the caern as their own and wrest
power away from the multi-tribal members of the new sept. Grossly
outnumbered, the Wendigo had to compromise and admit that the caern no
longer belonged to just their tribe.
Shortly thereafter, an archaeological dig unearthed the remains of nine
dead native american warriors who, curiously, appeared to have died
within 50 years' time. The Wendigo identified them as the "last
stand" pack of Garou for the previous incarnation of the Wheel
Renewed--and they'd been packed under Cougar.
Unearthing these bodies unearthed an old threat.
The
Ice
King and the Ice King's return
The full story did not unfold until the Ice King, the
original
threat that had driven off the Wendigo and destroyed multiple caerns in
Washington State, was finally defeated.
The Ice King, a creature from Malfeas, had destroyed
several
Wendigo Caerns in pursuit of the destruction of a Wendigo Garou
bloodline. The seers of the old Caern of the Wheel were able to divine
that the Ice King was coming after some Wendigo at the Sept, not the
recently revived Caern itself.
Hoping to save the Caern, the Wendigo packed their
belongings
and left, accompanied by Magpie and Buffalo. Ten warriors remained
behind with Cougar and all but one was lost as they, threw themselves
in vain against the Ice King. Only the sacrifice of Cougar himself was
enough to halt the enemy's advance.
When the Wendigo returned to the location of the last
stand,
they could only discern that both Cougar and the enemy were lost. They
declared the place cursed, buried their dead, and closed the Caern.
Fast-forwarding 50 years to 1994, the revival of the
caern,
and the return of the Wendigo, the Ice King reawoke and was destroyed
with the newly combined might of 13 tribes working together. Most of
the Wendigo that had come back to the caern died in the fight to
destroy the Ice King.
Saul
ben
Isaac damages the caern
In the spring of 1996, a worldbender named Saul ben
Isaac
began to establish links to places of power in St. Claire. He chose the
caern itself as the site of one of his attacks and his minions pierced
the holy site's wards and began to draw power from it. The caern was
severely damaged in the attack and reduced to just half its previous
strength.
Saul ben Isaac was eventually tracked down to a pocket
umbral
lair and destroyed by the Wheel's Garou and a handful of mages residing
in St. Claire, who lent their grudging help (with grudging acceptance
by the Garou) in the final battle.
In the aftermath, the Garou happened upon a piece of
ancient
knowledge in a far away Strider caern. Hopeful, the Garou ventured into
the Deep Umbra to retrieve this powerful, mysterious fetish from
minions of the Weaver, who had seized its Wyld power for thier own.
After recovering the fetish and bringing it back to the caern, the
spirit inside the fetish destroyed the Wheel's old triat of totems:
Cougar, Magpie and Buffalo. As Buffalo died, the Caern died with him.
The Caern
of the
Hidden Walk (1996-present)
Saddened, angry and confused, the sept made plans to
leave
this formerly hallowed spot and find someplace else to serve Gaia. But
one by one, signs that not all was lost began to appear. Eventually,
the Wyldling spirit was called back to the spot of the Wheel, and was
bound into the very land itself, causing a myriad of changes: a new
totem: Aeolus (Fog) and a new landscape.
Still trying to cope with their new environment, the
Garou of
the former Wheel chose a new name, making a completely new start. The
Caern of the Hidden Walk was selected by a group of Elders, so named
for the mist shrouded valley in which the Caern lay.
Consumer of
Stone
awakens
Little did the sept know that by the very act of
transforming their
caern, they unleashed a hidden and ancient evil from a long slumber. In
the 1870s, when the Caern and the surroundings belonged to the Wendigo
keepers, they battled an ancient and powerful servant of the Wyrm
called Consumer of Stone. It took many lives before a strong Wendigo
ahroun and a wise Wendigo Theurge devised a rite to imprision the
spirit inside of an old and powerful relic, a medicine wheel. The Rite
was performed and the object was buried in the far away caves in the
mountains, drawing its warding strength from the very land where it
lay.
As the Hidden Walk erupted from the ashes of the Wheel,
the
landscape changed. The bonds that once held Consumer of stone were
weakened and it began to stir. By an unhappy coincidence, the old relic
was found by a group of college students while out camping. The relic
was taken to the local collage, SCCU, for further study.
Meanwhile, unknown to the sept, a powerful vampire in
Seattle,
Ashley Turner, as she was now known, had an old score to settle with
the Garou in Saint Claire. Her husband, the late James Bartholomew, had
been slain in the great battle which sealed the spirit away as he
himself attempted to turn the spirit to his own ends.
Although the medicine wheel eventually returned to the
Garou
who were, by now, aware of what it was, and what it could do, the
damage had been done. The medicine wheel shattered during a ritual
designed to help restore its power, and Consumer of Stone was once
again free to roam the Umbra. Consumer of Stone proceeded to cause
considerable damage to the sept and the bawn. The only hope of
containing the powerful spirit resided in the hands of the mysterious
and powerful vampire, Ashley Turner. Turner posessed the amulet that
her late husband had previously crafted using powerful blood magick,
intending to use the amulet to enslave Consumer of Stone's will to its
bearer.
The amulet was eventually stolen from Turner and
fashioned
into a new fetish in a huge mystic rite that envolved nearly the entire
sept. Consumer of Stone was once again locked away from the Realm with
the aid of the amulet, the garou, and assistance from a powerful
Wendigo spirit. Consumer of Stone lies dormant, but not dead, as it was
too powerful to be destroyed.
The Power Plant
blight
Every city has several blights, and St. Claire is no
different. The
largest, nastiest, most obvious and lethal blight was the power plant
that generated the majority of power for the city. Numerous raids by
the sept failed to make an impact and eventually it was simply avoided.
It grew in size, becoming even more formidible, and then it exploded
one day in 1999--like an overripe pus-filled boil. The collective banes
and fomori spread throughout the city like a cancer, using the
already-tainted sewer systems as highways to relocate, settle into new
places, and begin forming multiple smaller blights or reinforcing and
strengthening existing blights.
The explosion cast the entire city into darkness and chaos. Military
forces were pulled in and curfews were implemented to deal with civil
unrest and looting. Power was eventually restored some months later,
and only protests from residents kept the new power plant from being a
nuclear-powered one instead of traditional fossil fuels.
A glade child was transplanted to the spot of the power plant in hopes
that it would help to ward off banes and help to heal the blighted area.
Black
Spiral
Dancer invasion
In May of 2002, a massively coordinated strike by Black
Spiral Dancers
launched attacks on several caerns in the Northeastern United States.
Two caerns were destroyed and another two--including the Hidden
Walk--were lost to the BSDs. The BSDs used diversionary tactics to draw
off the main force of Garou from the caern, then used their main force
to assault the caerns from another direction--effectively drawing off
the caern's defenders and leaving only a skeleton group to defend the
caern itself.
Other caerns managed to repell the attacks at significant losses,
rendering aid in retaking caerns out of the question as a follow-up
attack would wipe out the caerns that survived. Numerous kinfolk were
also slaughtered wholesale at these septs, particularly in the
urban-dwelling tribes. Paranoia was rampant.
The Garou were able to retake the Caern of the Hidden Walk in early
July, driving off a giant oil-slick bane. The caern had been rendered
dormant and defiled by the BSDs, and over a year of work was needed in
order to revive the caern and try to mend the damage done by the BSDs.
Hilliard
Memorial Hospital blight
Hilliard Memorial Hospital was one of the larger hospitals
in
Washington, with over 300 physicians (many of whom are specialists in
their fields), and numerous SCCU medical and nursing students interned
at Hilliard.
Hilliard was also the largest blight in the city of St. Claire after
the power plant exploded. Like the power plant before it, the blight
had grown too large for the garou to have any hope of defeating. It
caught fire, burning numerous physician and patients, and burned to the
ground. This released numerous banes and fomori back into the city to
go seek out new places to corrupt and fortify, creating an untold
number of new and undiscovered blights within the city.
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