World of Darkness Southampton

Overview

Geographically, Southampton in the World of Darkness is cosmetically identical to the real Southampton. The same districts exist; the same towns circle the city. The same motorways run to London, Portsmouth and the rest of Britain. However, beneath it’s outward appearance, WoD Southampton is murkier than the real world.

A city rich in history, with roots dating back to Roman times, it is now one of the major cities on the South Coast, both as a financial and industrial centre but also as a commercial and entertainment nexus. In the World of Darkness it retains these qualities but differs significantly in a number of ways, reflecting the influence the Kindred have had over it in the last few years.

The most significant difference is the higher rates of crime in Southampton. In the World of Darkness, Southampton is one of Britain’s hotspots when it comes to both violent and petty crime. A couple of years ago the overstretched Hampshire police force almost reached breaking point with a number of terrorist attacks, a serial killer, brutal murders and, on one occasion in November 2002, outright gang warfare, which led to a curfew having to be introduced for several months. Since then things have improved with crime rates dropping off, providing a lull and the police replenishing their forces with new recruits. However, most people have little confidence in the police to prevent this from happening again and remain scared of a return to recent violent history.

Petty crime is also high in Southampton, particularly prostitution. In fact Southampton is renowned in the South of England as being the place to go to find an ‘escort’ for the evening. From brothels, to cheap hookers, to high-class prostitutes, Southampton has the market covered. Perhaps more telling is the very discrete service the city runs – very few raids or busts occur, making Southampton not only a very vice popular city but also a very vice safe city.

Protection and drugs are the other two major problems in Southampton. Whilst most of the city centre is safe from this problem, virtually everywhere else is fair game. Split between a number of syndicates, believed to be made up of various Italian descended families (who have been seen to war on each other), a group of Hong Kong Triads and some more local street gangs, most areas of Southampton are fought over at one time or another. The only exception to this problem is St Mary’s. Up until two years ago, St Mary’s would have been considered a dangerous place to walk by the mortal populace, mainly due to race-motivated crimes. In the last eight months or so crime in St Mary’s has come to a virtual stand still, and the district of the city seems blessedly free of the protection and drugs that blight everywhere else. What is stranger still is the lack of any significant change that has happened on the surface. Whatever has caused this peace has obviously been acting behind the scenes of St Mary’s populace.

However, crime, whilst a major problem, does not rule the city’s inhabitants. Southampton, it’s surrounding towns and industrial estates, house a great deal of high and low tech industry, ranging from electrical goods and financial institutions to vehicle parts and construction agencies. Whilst Southampton has seen it’s fair share of problems in the last few years this has not hampered it’s growth to the extent that, in the World of Darkness, one of the major attractions to living in Southampton is the availability of work, from low level construction to high placed corporate positions. This expansion looks to continue into the next few years thanks to a number of tax breaks and loopholes created by the council.

Speaking of the council, local government in Southampton is actually very similar to the real world. Apart from the problems keeping crime down, the council has managed to stay relatively scandal free in the last few years and has instituted a number of well thought out policies. There has been very little infighting amongst council members and the general populace are mainly happy with the way their city is run. The only really common complaints are over the police and the health service.

Southampton’s emergency services span a wide range of quality. The fire service is hailed as one of the best and most experienced in Britain. A cynical man might suggest this is due to the higher than average number of fires that the service has had to deal with over the past few years, but you won’t hear many of Southampton’s citizens complaining about the speed and efficiency of their boys. The hospitals too have undergone a transformation in recent months. Following a public enquiry into blood bank management in the city, which resulted in a number of dismissals, new management both in the public and private sectors have pulled the service around and it is now setting a new example for excellence and efficiency.

On a brighter note is Southampton’s budding media industry. Housing both BBC offices, Meridian’s headquarters and a number of local newspapers, the city produces a good number of quality journalists who move onto bigger and brighter things every year. The industry is further boosted by excellent support from both universities in the area, who have done a great deal to assist in it’s development.

The city's spiritual needs are covered by a panoply of religions. Almost all of the major religions have a centre of worship in Southampton, with Catholicism, various protestant churches and Islam being the most followed in Southampton. A number of churches have suffered mishaps in the last year but religious leaders are quick to brush over these problems pointing to the increased numbers of Southampton’s citizens attending churches and mosques, a direct contradiction to the National trend. Of course sarcastic journalists have suggested that the city's high crime rates have done a great deal to encourage this but the various church leaders will hear nothing of it.

Beyond this there are all sorts of urban rumours floating around Southampton about various secret cults, Masonic lodges and a whole panoply of bizarre secret societies. Laughable perhaps but who knows what other secrets are hidden from the city's mortal eyes?