Welcome to Minneapolis - A Brief Setting Description

[Admin]

Before getting started with character building, I think that it is useful to have an idea of the game's setting. So, relax and get comfortable while I give you a little bit of information about the city.

Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota and is situated beautifully on both banks of the Mississippi River. It's difficult to talk about Minneapolis without taking into account her closest neighboring city, Saint Paul. The cities lie so close together that they are known as the 'Twin Cities' to locals and visitors alike. Minneapolis alone boasts a population of approximately 400,000 residents, while the total Twin Cities metropolitan area has a total population of close to 3.8 million.

The city contains an abundance of natural beauty in the form of parks, green spaces, wetlands, and numerous lakes. Also littering the metropolis are art museums, universities, live theaters, professional sports venues, world-class hospitals, and beautiful churches. Beyond that, Minneapolis is also an economically prosperous city. It is considered the second-largest economic center in the Midwest, just after Chicago. The city houses the headquarters of five Fortune 500 corporations. With a well-educated population, a bustling tech industry, a strong cultural scene, and high university development investments, Minneapolis is considered an attractive place to live for both young professionals and families.

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

Now, this information is simply facts. Neatly gathered data and attractive tidbits that one would give to a tourist. Facts are not the city. They're not the whole truth. And unfortunately, in the World of Darkness, the truth is not nearly as appealing.

When you step foot on the street the first thing you will notice are the towering buildings of gleaming glass illuminated by cool lighting. The amber streetlights surrounding you cast a sickly glow on the grimy sidewalks. Homeless huddle in narrow alleyways seeking warmth around meager trashcan fires. Their eyes are hungry and cold, or frenzied and desperate. You pass through modern, cosmopolitan districts filled with exclusive clubs. Just outside there are lines of beautiful, young people impatiently waiting for entry. You breathe in crisp air that is tinged with the tang of pollution. You continue onward and find a multitude of once-beautiful city parks in disrepair; their flowers drying and brown, their grass overgrown. A police cruiser slowly drives past. They are always restlessly patrolling, cars with tired officers behind the wheel desperately hoping this will be a quiet evening, and knowing that it won't be. Among all of this, the hungry dead wander among the living. They slither by, unseen and unknown, and feast on the lifeblood of both the city and her inhabitants.

This is where you will try to carve out a home. Perhaps you will seek power, or atonement, or revenge, or peace. Maybe even just slide your way down into damnation with a smile on your face. The possibilities are endless. Welcome to the Twin Cities.