Spirit History

From Gothpoodle

Revision as of 03:45, 11 July 2006

See also: San Francisco History, Vampire History, Mage History, Werewolf History

Native Period (pre-1776)

Hisil was dominated by the Court of the Mist, a brood of spirit connected to the bay and its environs, which had several factions. The foremost were the Spirits of the Bay (water and fish), the Spirits of the Hills (land and animals), and the Spirits of the Fog (air and birds). The few abstract spirits tended to be consumed by other spirits and the handful of artificial spirits clustered around human settlements and tried not to get eaten. The Earth Dragon was a slumbering leviathan, whom all spirits along the West Coast feared when it awoke.

Spanish Period (1776-1822)

This period saw an increase in the number of artificial and abstract spirits on the peninsula and they began to cluster together into their own informal brood in order to defend themselves from the spirits of the Court of the Mist. The presence of more humans in greater concentration also led to the formation of more loci, which were primarily exploited by the Spirits of the Settlements. The Spirits of the Hills were the most concerned by these new inhabitants, but were able to gather little support from the other two factions.

Mexican Period (1822-1847)

Little changed in the spirit world during this period except for the gradual growth of animosity between the Spirits of the Hills and the Spirits of the Settlements and the increase in the number of the latter. The changes being enacted upon the land by ranching and growing settlements also began to convince the other factions of the Court of the Mist that there might be reason for concern. Natural animal populations were being decimated and deforestation and pollution occurring.

Barbary Coast (1847-1906)

The Gold Rush changed everything. New spirits and loci appeared daily of disease, greed, gold, violence, and fire, not to mention those of new structures, vehicles, tools, and other artificial constructs. The earthquakes and numerous fires awoke these spirits as soon as they formed and the loci allowed them to flood across the Gauntlet in great numbers. In Hisil, it was war. The Court of the Mist attempted to stem the tide, but were overwhelmed at the voracity and numbers. Within the city, the newly born spirit of the city battle spirits of fire and disease which threatened its existence by directing the flood of Essence towards waking the Earth Dragon, resulting in four major earthquakes before the Great Earthquake of 1906.

Reconstruction (1906-1950)

The Great Earthquake and resultant fires destroyed the spirit of the city and lay waste to Hisil, unleashing a flood of spirits of death, fire, and despair and awakening the Shadow of every major building in the city. In the aftermath, though, the city spirit rose up from the ashes and rallied these newly awakened spirits to it. A massive battle ensued and

The Shadow also saw a reorganization with the rise of two courts, the Court of the Phoenix and the Court of the Dragon. The former was led by the spirit of the city and contained those spirits dependant upon it, while the latter formed around the Earth Dragon and contained spirits dedicated to the city's destruction.

Counterculture (1950-1980)

Two Ivory Talons packs formed in the city, The Setting Sun and the Street Lords. The former was founded by a local Neo-Nazi recruited by the Servants of the Great Fire and the latter was organized by Pure packs in Los Angeles. The Forsaken were able to drive the Pure away from the core of the city, but they remained on the periphery, digging in and securing territories until the city expanded to include them. Attempts by the Forsaken to uproot them were sabotaged by the need to police the spirits being spawned by the new radicalism and the backlash against it, including a resurgence of the old spirits of bigotry, fear, and hatred that were suppressed after the earthquake. A new pack finally ended up forming, called the Caballeros Dolores, to police the borders along the south side of the city. Later, the Keepers of Alcatraz pack formed during the Indian occupation of the island in order to deal with its significant spiritual blight.

Decline (1980-1990)

The outbreak of AIDS leads to a resurgence in the power of plague spirits as well as an infestation of Rat Hosts which the Pure use to their advantage, feeding power to the Earth Dragon resulting in another major earthquake. The event revealed the Servants of the Great Fire were continuing to plot the destruction of the city and the Forsaken. Conflict never escalated past small skirmishes with all of the other distractions. Eventually, the disease spirits are mostly contained but the Rat Host infestation is deep and, though a few major nests are destroyed, there are assumed to be more. In response to the outbreak, a new pack called the Rainbow Guard formed of homosexual members of the other four packs.

Dot-Com Boom (1990-2000)

The rise of the internet led to the formation of a new spirit court, the Silicon Court, as the Shadow was flooded with computer and data spirits. Their rapid rise led to a brief cessation of hostilities between the existing courts as areas of influences shifted and individual spirits tried to assess where they stood in the new landscape. During this time, the Uratha shored up their boundaries and territories solidified into the form they are in today.

Present (post-2000)

The Dot-Com bust had very little effect on the Shadow other than to introduce some more spirits of despair, decay, and fear. The Silicon Court was already established and the prevalance of computers and high-technology meant that it was thriving and had a reach that was global. The Uratha's local focus meant that they had little in common with the court, as a whole, though dealings with individual spirits were established. With the spirit world relatively calm for the moment, the simmering hostilities between the Forsaken and Pure threaten to erupt into outright war for the first time in a century.