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Old 08-09-2011, 09:47 PM   #25
Jason
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Boston, MA
Default Re: In Nomine Virtual Atlas

As long as we're sharing...

I came up with a list of confirmed Tethers, suspected/hoped for Tethers, and other places of infernal and ethereal interest in Philadelphia. Unfortunately that list has no divine Tethers, because that's a heretical campaign with no angels. Some of these could be pretty easily swapped, though, or turned from places of interest to angel hangouts. Descriptions snagged directly from the custom Google Map I made some months back, all based on real places/events...

Independence Hall: Freedom Tether. This is the site where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were ratified, now depicted on the back of the $100 bill. It has recently expanded into the adjacent Independence Mall since the Liberty Bell's move outside (where it's freely visible for any to see). This is the most powerful Tether in the city, but anyone wishing to use it for travel back and forth between Hell must deal directly with Corinth, a Free Lilim appointed as Seneschal for a few years while she works off a Geas to Lilith. The Tether links directly to the Guildhall of the Free Lilim in Hell's Shal-Mari Principality.

Pat's & Geno's: Gluttony Tether. The locus for this Tether includes the two most famous cheesesteak restaurants in Philly – Geno's, with its gaudy, Vegas-style facade, and Pat's, with its comparably humble decor and typically longer line. It's a popular site to work off dissonance, as demons can "serve" the Tether just by hanging around drunk and pressuring newcomers to heap on the Cheez Whiz.

The Rocky Steps: Dark Humor Tether. After years of overweight tourists running up the stairs like idiots, mimicking a pop-culture figure from a series of stupid movies, and then leaving without even checking any of the art inside the building, this Tether was pretty much a lock for Kobal. This links directly to Kobal's palace in the Shal-Mari Principality of Hell.

Forum Theater: Tether to Lust. The theater at 22nd and Market manages to hold strong even as expensive condos and a Trader Joe's go in across the street. Andrealphus enjoys this foothold in the city, but has minions staked in Delilah's on Spring Garden too, just in case. Demons of Lust generally avoid Club Atlantis, though, finding the wannabe sorcerers among the clientele a bit lame. The Forum Tether links directly to Andre's bordello in Hell's Shal-Mari Principality.

Adult Anxiety Clinic: Rumored Tether to Nightmares. Temple University's Adult Anxiety Clinic helps many people deal with their social interaction phobias. The acute terror felt by those who visit but do not leave feeling cured, however, may have been sufficiently powerful and concentrated in one place long enough to have formed a Tether, which would explain why several different Servitors of Nightmares can be seen passing through Philly regularly. (In a canon game, this could be a Tether to Lightning, Flowers, Protection...)

The Family Court: Rumored Tether to the Game. Despite the best efforts of lawyers, judges, social workers, and others, the Philadelphia Family Court represents damning rules and strictures to too many who pass through its doors and metal detectors. It's rumored to be a relatively weak Tether to the Game, with reports of a probable locus in a waiting room simultaneously occupied by juvenile delinquents, sex offenders, and parents in danger of losing their children. The room's walls are decorated with murals offering a stern Protestant message that those in attendance need more hard work and moral character.

Philadelphia Free Library: Rumored Tether to Fate. Budget cuts nearly forced the closure of public libraries in Philadelphia in 2009, which may have improved chances that this repository of information would become sufficiently unusable to lock in a Tether to Fate. Funding was found to keep it open, however, and the close proximity of a rumored Family Court Tether may make a Tether improbable here. (In a canon game, this could be a Tether to Destiny, and the Game might be trying to disrupt this by muscling in next door.)

The street you don't cross: Rumored Tether to Factions.
Years ago, Malphas had a moderately powerful Tether to Factions along the Schuylkill River, marking the division between Center City and West Philadelphia, and the symbolic division between races and economic classes in the city. That Tether has since been wiped away by the University of Pennsylvania's aggressive takeover of the "University City" district of West Philly. Rumor has it, though, that the Tether never disappeared completely -- it just moved, and keeps moving, to whatever landmark that middle-class locals point to as the street you never cross when you walk at night. If there is still a Tether to Factions in West Philly, its Seneschal is unknown.

Deering Family Massacre Site: Rumored Tether to Death. It's been over a century since Antoine Probst massacred his employer and his whole family with an axe in 1865, and the barn where he stashed the bodies is now completely rebuilt as a parking lot and storage facility just south of I-76, off the Delaware River. For a long while, this was a powerful Tether to Death. Today, however, no clear Seneschal occupies the area. If any Tether still remains, it's an extremely weak one.

Lex Street Massacre Site: Hoped-for Tether to Death or Drugs. Saminga was furious when what has been described as the worst mass-killing in Philadelphia history, the Lex Street Massacre, did not immediately result in a Tether to Death. The former crack house was razed and replaced with a two-family house with a white picket fence. Just in case, Saminga has a Servitor of Drugs in his employ watching the site at Lex Street.

Comcast Center: Hoped-for Tether to the Media or Greed. Comcast's new corporate center is not yet a Tether to the Media, but it may only be a matter of time. Nybbas' Soldiers are already busy within it. The building also employs a few of Servitors of Greed (one in service to the Media, and a couple working for Citizens Bank, the building's second largest tenant after Comcast). Rumor has it that Mammon could try to make a play for the Tether himself, given the chance.

Philadelphia Refinery: Rumored Tether to Technology or Fire. Ever since ENIAC left the University of Pennsylvania, Vapula's strongest openly-recognized Tether on Earth to date left with it. It was long rumored that the Sunoco Philadelphia Refinery -- the longest running petroleum refinery in the world -- might have been a more secret and secure Tether, but a fatal 1975 fire has led to speculation about whether it now belongs to Vapula or Belial. Regardless of how benevolent its owning company may see its aims of providing more affordable energy to surrounding communities, the rows of tanks and stacks belching flames 24/7 suggest something more sinister about industrialization to onlookers. (And speaking of ENIAC, in a canon game, you could always say that Lightning stuck around UPenn.)

Harry's Occult Shop: Location. Harry's Occult Shop was founded as a pharmacy in 1917 by Harry Seligman, a practical businessman who realized that his clientele was more used to folk mysticism than medicine in its health remedies. He augmented his stock accordingly. It eventually passed into the care of a relative, Josiah Ward, a real-deal master of the occult and paranormal investigator (now retired). Josiah lets some of his close friends and freelance "paranormal consultants" use his upstairs apartment as a sort of headquarters and a space for poker night. Most of the local aspiring sorcerers think the place and its proprietor must be a joke. They are mistaken. (In a canon game, this would make a lovely divine Tether. Given that the store is dedicated to selling "protective balms" and herbs for "white magic" and such, it would be delightfully ironic if it were a Tether to Flowers, given that there's a giant painting of the Archangel Michael on the side, hovering over demons with sword in hand, and gorgeous graffiti-style letters around him.)
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