In Nomine Portland
Overview
Portland is a city like many cities in the USA, and for that matter in the world. It is not dominated by either Heaven or Hell. Nor is it an active battleground, for in the current era of the Cold War, those are very few. It is caught in the stalemate of the War. There are always maneuverings, but not much outright combat. It does not have anything like the angel/demon truce found in Austin; angels and demons tolerate each other out of necessity, not out of any negotiated peace. However, the regular celestial residents on both sides are leery of upsetting the balance, and will only do so wit great planning and forethought.
Locations
The Atherton Arts District
This is a (fictional) region in northern Portland. It's a part of Portland that is undergoing rapid gentrification. Historically, it had a lot of low-income housing. Atherton St. was the main drag. It sported thrift stores, markets, liquor stores, and the like, but it also had a smattering of local restauarants, funky bookstores, art galleries, clubs and music venues, and the like. Although it was the stereotypical "multicultural district" (read: where the poor people ived), as is often the case it attracted the "starving artists" who turned it into a vibrant community. This, in turn, attracted investors and middle-class hipsters who wanted to be able to live near or visit the district, but who also wanted their suburban comfort.... The district has recently been transforming. Block by block, property values have been rising, as developers buy houses and either rebuild them, or upgrade them. Likewise, some blocks of Atherton street have become hip and trendy in the urban liberal upper-middle class way (very attractive to many drawn to Portland), while raising property values such that some of the former local restaurants and artists can no longer afford to be there.
Zadkiel's tether is about half of a mile away from what most consider to be the edge of this district.
This district is roughly here in Portland, although of course it doesn't exactly show up on Google Maps in our Universe....
No Dinero
This is a community arts organization, formally a non-profit, that is headquartered in a delapidated building on Atherton St. Formally, they are squatters, as they lost the city's grant of the land a few years ago. However, it remains a spot were a number of artists and activists gather, and where a few of them live, and is one of the places actively resisting being turned into something much more yuppie-compliant. (Heaven & Hell, p. 122.)
Heavenly Tethers
- Northern Brewing Company
- This Tether to Creation is at one of the many microbrewries that
can be found in Portland. There is a restaurant where one can order a
typical (but well-prepared) range of pub food. In one of the front
windows are the large vats used for brewing the beer. Although it's
not one of the better known microbrewries, it is one of the more
creative ones. It does have a few "fan favorites", but the staff is
frequently trying out new and experimental recepies, some of which
work better than others.... The seneschal is the Seraph of Creation
Khamroiel, who has the Role of Kevin Roe, a brewmaster at the
microbrewry. Google
Map.
- The Shakespeare Garden at the International Rose Test Garden
- A small tether to Flowers which has moderately strong influence,
as a result of Portland's identification as the "City of Roses". The
Seneschal is Ophelia, an Elohite of Flowers. Map
of the Gardens ; Google
Map.
- The People's Garden
- An abandoned lot that was turned into a garden and "junk art"
venue by local residents, as well as a safe place for neighborhood
kids to play. It is now a tether to Protection. (Heaven &
Hell, p. 123.) Google
Map
- Larch Mountain Basin
- This is a very old and fading Tether to Fire, in the basin of an
extinct volcano. It's about 15-20 miles East of the edge of Portland,
in Mt. Hood National Forest. The seneschal is Lawiatala, a Malakite
of Fire who is largely uninterested in modern human society. A
celestial from much older days, she does not keep up with the fast
pace of change in society today. Some of her fellow servitors of Fire
believe that she is just counting time until the Tether fades
altogether, and she fades with it.Google
Map.
Infernal Tethers
- Madam Rosaira's
- This strip club in Portland is a tether to Lust. It is only a few
blocks away from the Creation tether. Some grouchy Dominicans mutter
that that is probably not a coincidence.Google Map.
- Damien Forrest's House
- This house in a residential district in Portland was the home of a
serial murderer who was never discovered or caught. Several deacades
ago, there were a series of murders of drifters and homeless people,
over the course of several months. Although some noticed, it never
obtained much media attention. Damien Forrest, the murderer, was
collecting the bodies and burying them underneath the dirt floor of
his basement. As these ineffable things, go, it formed a potential
Tether to Death. As the potential tether was forming, there was a
brief battle on the scene between an angel of the Sword and several
servitors of Death, but the noise did not stop the tether from being
stabilized. Forrest himself was killed by the angel during the
ruckus, and some speculate that that might have, somehow, served to
mitigate the effects of the Symphonic disturbance on destabilizing the
tether. The house is now viewed as "creepy" by many of its neighbors,
and the neighborhood kids share many stories about the horrible things
that have happened there— including the true story about Damien
Forrest, although adults tend not to believe it. The Seneschal is
Arakh, a Habbalah of Death. Google
Map.
- The Happytimes Textile Factory
- The first two floors of this building are the headquarters for the
Equality corporation, and from the street that's all that this
building appears to be. The textile factory itself is in the first
basement, and that is the locus of this tether to Greed. (Heaven
& Hell, p.123). Google
Map.
Characters & Groups
- Ahazia, Cherub of Protection, Seneschal of the People's Garden
(Heaven & Hell, p. 115.)
- Mahari, Balseraph of Greed, Seneschal of the Happytimes Textile
Factory. (Heaven & Hell, p. 116.)
- MP, president of No Dinero (Heaven & Hell, p. 121).
- Angela Nkrumah, Secretary of the Board of No Dinero (Heaven
& Hell, p. 121).