Setting

Here you can find information on the general setting and atmosphere of the city, and a list of locations.

The City
Bete Noire. The City of Sin. Biblically, it's called Enoch, built by Cain to honor his son. Today, it's one of the three great cities of power -- the City of Death (Yellow Springs), the City of Light (Babylon), and the City of Sin (Bete Noire).

Description
The city itself is a collection of dirty, degraded slums. Buildings are filthy, badly-painted; there's trash in the streets, whores on every corner. Drugs are more common than food, and violence more common than either. The city borders a bay, with water murky and polluted, yachts for the rich anchored at the docks. In the opposite direction of the bay, a road into a forest.

New arrivals wandering the streets get lost all too quickly as the city draws them in. Cellphones stop working -- forget about GPS, and even compasses seem confused about which way is really north. And be careful, because a lost newcomer in Bete Noire is easy prey for any mugger, murderer or beast that wanders the streets.

Anyone in the city can try to leave. But before they get too far, the world simply shifts, and they find themselves right back where they began.

Mythology
Bete Noire both exists and does not exist, in any world. You can reach it by any road, by any path, but if it doesn't wish you to find it, you never will. Legend has it that the state of the world itself begins in Bete Noire, and that events in that dark city shape the future outside it.

Some seek this city their entire lives, hoping to find a way to influence the world around them. Some stumble upon it by accident, guided by little beyond the darkness in their own soul. You see, Bete Noire likes fresh victims. It makes a craft of taking the tainted and untainted souls and carefully tarnishing each and every one. Heroes -- heroes, the city likes especially. Some suspect that Bete Noire appreciates the challenge that a hero presents.

As soon as you arrive, you feel the taint of the city on you. The best resist it, as long as they can, but everyone has a darker side to their nature, and the pull is undeniable. The longer you're in Bete Noire, the more you'll need to satisfy that pull. The more you'll be drawn towards your own desires.

Regions
Under construction.

The Docks/Open Air Market
Hundreds of ships come and go every day from the docks. Cargo, passengers. Some accidental arrivals, most purposeful, and everything from little sailboats to giant tankers. Plenty of smuggling in the area, too.

Adjacent to the docks, the streets teem with stalls, a crowded market selling everything from food to jewelry to guns to prostitutes. The market is slowly spilling over onto the docks, as well.

Downtown
Dirty, dingy. The worst part of every inner city, translated into archetype and made reality.

The Hill
The Hill is the wealthiest part of Bete Noire. At the top, the Magistrate's Tower, the seat of government and the home of the city's leader; below it, mansions, exclusive clubs, and expensive restaurants owned and operated by the city's elite.

The Jungle
The city isn't without its scars. Stretching from the forest to near the center of the city is what the inhabitants call the Jungle, a network of wrecked buildings and shantytowns, centered on an apparently bottomless chasm. The Jungle comprises about fifteen percent of the total area of Bete Noire.

Little Gotham
One of the safer and more organised areas of the city. This is not to say it's lawful. But the crime is regulated, and mostly nonviolent. The area is controlled by the crime lord LaRue and his associates, many of whom are former residents of the city from which the area gets its name.

Tropical Island
This location manifested in late 2011 when a spatial tear opened up in the harbor. It is a veritable paradise, far removed from the gloom of the city, with a myriad of locations and interesting things to see. Fares to and from the island are offered by NPCs, with prices ranging from fair to ludicrous. Though at one time various fruits and natural resources (such as water) had magical side-effects, those things are rendered completely harmless.

Locations

 * See also: Residences, Yellow Pages.

The Church
Near the Magistrate's tower used to be a cathedral. A catastrophic explosion left it nothing but rubble; soon, even that rubble was cleared away. Now it's rebuilt, grander and greater than it ever was.

The Courthouse
There is no justice in Bete Noire beyond that provided by the Magistrate; nonetheless, there is a courthouse, in its overly elaborate, gaudy glory. Show trials, for the audience rather than for the accused, are the usual here, but since the formation of the police force, some justice has actually started to process.

The Magistrate's Tower
At the center of the city is a tower, easily twice as high as any of the other buildings in the city. This is where the Magistrate lived until it was taken over by Satan and Persephone. The Tower was destroyed once by Erik Lehnsherr (AU) in his attack against the city. Persephone rebuilt it and it is now more tree than building. She and Satan live at the top, in section of the upper floors that wasn't badly damaged when the Tower fell.

The Magistrate now runs as much of the city as she's able to through Satan's interference from a mansion, heavily guarded and magically fortified. This new building is not open to the public. The Magistrate is a fixture in the city, and even Satan's coup has not taken her from the forefront of citizens' minds. Everyone knows her face, everyone knows her title -- she's the ruler of this city. Her word is law, as it has been forever. She cannot be harmed by anyone, all force used against her is directed back upon the perpetrator without exception.

It is also the site of the city's government.

The Police Station
Newly built, the police station is probably one of the lest degraded buildings in Bete Noire. It's a very modern facility, designed for convenience and purpose. It is open twenty-four hours a day, and the Police Force, though small and seeking new members (IC Application here), is firm in pursuit of its goal.

The Hospital
The city hospital is somewhat rundown and constantly underfunded and understaffed, and the staff that is there tends to be either apathetic or unscrupulous. Still, since the formation of the Department of Health quality of care has begun to rise and new policies are being written.

[[Media:Furors.png|Furor's Bar]]
There's one bar in Bete Noire that remains free of violence or faction. Neutral ground, as it were. This bar is Furor's, run by Dolf.  WARNING:  The character of Dolf in the Fallen Angel universe is a very late in life Adolf Hitler. All interaction with him is strictly voluntary, and logs containing him will have appropriate warnings.

Le Gode Hostel
This renovated luxury apartment building now serves as a safe haven for new arrivals in the city. It provides free food, shelter, and medical care (and sometimes employment or clothes) for two weeks, after which newcomers might be asked to help out around the hostel or donate when they can. They welcome everyone, be they werewolves, vampires, flesh-eating grues, or terrorists, as long as they avoid murdering/eating/exploding things on hostel grounds. (Comment here to be added!)

Italian
Located behind a narrow gap between two stalls in the Open Air Market, 'Italian' is a tiny, hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant run by a woman named Loretta. It serves the best Italian food in the city, but only has seven tables and a bar worth of seating.

Meat & Buns
A fantastic exemplar of the trashier side of Bete Noire, this is a combined fast food joint and strip club, for cheap needs of every kind.

Morninglory Cafe
Once located a block or so away from the Sanctuary, Morninglory's is fairly open and relaxed, with good tea, good and varied food, and okay coffee. Surprisingly, they also have pretty good service.

The Victoria Hotel
Newcomers to the city, if they're very fortunate, may find themselves at the Hotel, until they can find new accommodations. The Hotel looks like it used to be a beautiful place; now, the fading paint, the chipping marble, the dirty floors make it look more gaudy than elegant. The rooms are free, for the first few nights, but the owner of the Hotel takes her debts very seriously. She can find you a job. Just be careful that you read the fine print.

The Naked Bean
A fairly new coffee shop a bit south of downtown. Everything a good coffee shop should be; pretentious, well decorated and overpriced. But, the snacks and drinks they serve are rather tasty, even if the wait staff could use an attitude adjustment.

Ba'alzebub's
Run by Ba'al, Ba'alzebub's is a premium sex toy shop, with everything from formal wear to dungeon equipment to the basics. And the owner/proprietor is always glad to give new customers a few ... tips.

The Movie Theater
Owned and operated by Oliver Wood, the theater is a run-down dive that mostly shows old flickers and silent pictures.

The Sanctuary
Run by Adam Monroe, the club boasts a bar, a restaurant, an underground fighting ring, and, upstairs, certain private rooms, available for renting.

Boxer's Gym
The dingy alleyway entrance spelling out 'GYM' may not look like much, but inside is a worn, old but well-maintained gym. The owner, a huge man simply known as Boxer, deals personally with all troublemakers.

The Graveyard
Just what it sounds like -- a huge, wandering graveyard, with everything from flat stones worn smooth with the passage of the years to huge, elaborate, brand-new crypts. In one specific crypt, the largest of them all, you can find the drug dealer of Bete Noire: Asia Minor. Whatever drug, whatever kind, he'll find it. For a price.

The Library
Tucked away in the corner of a dingy building, the library is too small, crammed with shelves and moldering books. It's technically possible to find any title here, but don't expect any regularity with selection, organization, or topic.

The Newspaper Office
Working with a printing press that probably belongs more in the 19th century than the 21st, the newspaper office claims a run-down brick building near the center of town. The clanking of the press is audible, no matter where in the building you are, and the whole place smells vaguely of cigarette smoke, whether someone's smoking or not. The newspaper itself is underfunded, undersubscribed, and often has to resort to corruption just to stay afloat.

The Newspaper Warehouse
Some people aren't satisfied with the current newspaper. And so, through a combination of wishes, sponsorship, wheedling deals, and determination, Rachel Conway, among others, has created a competitor known as 'The Independent'.

Safe Haven
Currently run by Nicholas Rush, Safe Haven is an apparently innocuous warehouse, reinforced on the inside, currently home base to some very interesting projects.

The Animal Shelter
Run by Lance Blackthorn, the animal shelter is a combined shelter and clinic catering to the city strays and pets. The latter also accepts sapients with unique physiologies (eg, werewolves). It has a safehouse underneath.

The Hot Springs
Discovered by Ichigo Kurosaki, a natural hot spring located in the forest adjacent to the rift in the city called the Jungle. Currently being renovated into a functional onsen.

Nicki's Lab/The Science Cave
This lab, located just past the southern edge of the Jungle, is the headquarters of Team Science. It is owned by Nicki Rush.

The Overlook
A cliff overlooking the majority of the city, just outside its boundaries and before the forest proper. The only structures of notice here are a small collection of stones serving as a makeshift grave for Noah and a crudely-assembled, mostly abandoned hut.