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Necropolis: Hamilton
Hamilton By Night
Hamilton By Night is a campaign setting in the World Of Darkness. Hamilton is located in southern Ontario, Canada. It is run by a good fellow by the name of Arawn (The campaign, not the country!). You can gather more information, at Hamilton By Night the offical web site.
Setting
Hamilton is Gothic-Punk at its best. Some of the buildings have a few extra gargoyles, a couple of pillars, and its seems to always be night-time, of course. This adds the "Gothic", the relentless seething undercurrent of rebellion provides the Punk. No one cares that much about the goings-on of day-to-day life; gang fights don't even make the evening news anymore.
The core or downtown of Skinland Hamilton has died. It's run-down, and lost much of the business so vital to a healthy city. The more popular areas are on its outskirts, like Ancaster Power Centre (A sorta Giga Plaza the size of a suburb), Limeridge Mall, and the seemingly endless selection of restaurants on Upper James Street. Probably the only sight that hasn't changed is the giant Industrial forest of factory complexes and smokestacks which litters the city's northern shores; it almost impossible in this area to tell if you're in the Shadowlands or not.
Hamilton sits on the western corner of Lake Ontario, and you can always see huge tankers parked in the docks of Hamilton Harbour. Another interesting point of Hamilton is that half of population sits on an escarpment. The city located on the so-called "mountain" is at best 30 years old, most locations having being built in the last decade. The Shadowlands are quite different.
The citadel is located at the site of the James Street Armouries. With the 3 foot thick walls, the Armoury is already a citadel in its own right, and is home to Canada's oldest Light Infantry Unit. A giant wall surrounds the Necropolis, protecting it from the occasional Maelstrom, of which there seems to be a limitless supply, growing worse each time. The is wall is made of the alloy Nightsteel, which makes it a beacon which can be seen as far away as Oshawa. The wall extends from the escarpment just east of Highway 401, heading north until it reaches the Main Street Cathedral. From there it follows down York, and then up to the harbour, and surrounds the industrial area. It then, avoiding the newer suburbs, heads back south to meet the escarpment again. The Mountain's buildings in the Shadowlands are very faint, with only a few haunts that tend to have a high Shroud rating. Many outcast lives in these areas, but are unprotected when a Maelstrom comes. The east end, which is not directly under the Necropolis control, is home to many of the Heretic and Renegade groups. Entire apartment buildings have been known to become Haunts, even a few of the factories.
Much of Hamilton Harbour is a large Nihil, beyond which the Tempest flows. Not many venture into the miniature Tempest, because some wraiths have reported seeing spectres being dragged away or swallowed up by something rather large.
Finally, the west end, a strange phenomena. The shroud rating here at nights seems very low. It is the home of the Shadow of the Beast, one of the "happening" places at night. It's patrons include wraiths and supernatural creatures alike, and has one the lowest shroud ratings in the city (Around 4). Many strange events happen here, on almost a regular basis.
With Hamilton constant production of metal, much of the unrefined ore is destroyed. The Artificers have created a process of mixing soulplasm with this relic ore to create Darksteel. Nightsteel is about the same strength of soulplasm, but only requires a little soulplasm. This has given Hamilton over three times the resources of other Necropoli. This has been used to create it huge wall and Hamilton's own Machine Corp. The alloy gives off a faint glow, but with the large amount to make the wall, it becomes very bright.
Alliance
Hamilton has one outstanding feature that makes it stand out from the surrounding cities: its Alliance. The last stronghold of the Camarilla in eastern Canada. Both Montreal and Toronto have fallen under the sway of the Sabbat. The same fate nearly befell Hamilton, too, if it weren't for a set of twins. One claimed Princedom of Hamilton, the other became the Glass Walker Alpha. The two created an alliance between the Kindred and the Garou. Soon afterwards, Changelings, Mages, and the Guilds joined the Alliance as well. The Hierarchy, choosing to follow the Dictum Mortuum , would not get involved with the problems of the Skinlands. This has given much power to the various Guilds, who now control much influence in the Necropolis. It has also created a shaky alliance between all the guilds, much like it has for the various Tribes, Clans, and Traditions. But this is more to keep up the appearance of strength to the Hierarchy than anything else. The five major factions of this Alliance meet on matters of dire importance at the "Shadow of the Beast", the local Elysium (with its prime ruling, "Do not harm another vampire while in an Elysium", has been expanded to include all five groups in the Alliance). The group has representatives from all the Clans, Tribes, Traditions, Kiths, and the 13 Guilds. This group is known as the "Council of Many".
Necropolis: Hamilton