Big Apple Dead
Factions
The majority of wraiths in New York City call themselves freewraiths, paying only lip service to the Hierarchy claiming dominion of this necropolis. Some actually join organizations that oppose Stygia. But besides individual freewraiths with no real allegiance, the Hierarchy is the most powerful force in New York City’s Shadowlands today. Although Stygia only controls Manhattan, the other smaller organizations cannot claim control of any borough, and can barely hold onto whatever neighborhood they squat in that year.
Stygia
Facing a diverse variety of enemies, the Dark Kingdom of Iron has clutched onto the potent Haunts of Manhattan and little more. New York City was chosen many years ago as the new Seat of Thorns for the Emerald Lord. But he left to tend to business in the Old World in the early 1990s, and what gains the Stygians made in retaking the necropolis from the Heretics and Renegades slipped away without his guidance. Now the Anacreons hope to get as much back as possible, since rumor has it that the Deathlord will be returning soon. Having placed a forward Citadel near the southern tip of the Bronx (Yankee Stadium), the Hierarchy aims to conquer that borough first and reestablish easier lines of reinforcement and travel (since the Byway bridges are always chancy routes). The main Citadel is on the other end of Manhattan, based out of Castle Clinton in Battery Park.
Guilds
All of the Guilds are prominent in this major necropolis. Above all, the Masquers, Artificers, and Pardoners stand out the most, in part due to their usefulness to the afterlife and the Hierarchy. Chanteurs and Sandmen both have strong followings, while Monitors and Usurers help keep the books (so to speak) for the LCMN and Stygia.
The Masquers are found around Greenwich Village in Manhattan’s southern districts. The Sandmen and Chanteurs share Haunts in Midtown and the Theatre District. The Pardoners can be found in any church and cathedral in the city, but their central headquarters is considered to be Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, located Midtown on 5th Avenue. The Masquers work out of Parson’s School of Design, also on 5th Avenue, but much further south in the Village. Usurers and Monitors can be found in Hell’s Kitchen and Little Italy, but many are also located on Staten Island.
Heretics
Only a few Heretical movements have any steam in New York City, and most of them are isolated to the necropolitan borough of Queens. On the Rockaway Island islet south of the island worships the Brotherhood of Husayn ibn Ali, using Fort Tilden as their Haunt to pursue their own Islamic paths to Transcendence. The large Cemetery of the Evergreens in eastern Queens is where the Awakeners have staked their claim and work their puppeteering magics to prepare a race of deadly Risen Dead warriors. In the Astoria District of northwestern Queens lurks the circle of the Oracles of the Kabbala, Jewish wraiths pursuing numerological truths.
Renegades
A number of Renegade Gangs run through New York’s outer boroughs, namely Brooklyn and in parts of Queens. They also maintain some presence in the Bronx and even Harlem (north Manhattan). The LCMN (La Cosa Morte Nostra – the Dead Mafia) virtually controls Staten Island. The Concrete Shadows hang out in Washington Cemetery, found in central Brooklyn. The Smoky Chains haunt the Greenwood Cemetery in western Brooklyn, while the Dead Poets are over in the Old Gravesend Cemetery in south Brooklyn. The StormRiders launch their relic bikes out of the Fort Hamilton District near the Byway bridge from Brooklyn to Staten Island, found westerly on Brooklyn. And none of them get along any better with each other than they do with Stygia.
Others
There are few other Restless forces in the New York City necropolis. In Chinatown, a small family of Jade Kingdom Reapers secretly harvests the choice Enfants to recruit for a future attack. But on the Shadowlands of the American East Coast, Qin Shihuang is more interested in conquering Boston first. So this is a very small outpost indeed, the better to avoid Stygian notice!
