SAN FRANCISCO TETHERS
DIVINE TETHERS
There are currently 5 Divine Tethers in San Francisco, and 4 more in the surrounding Bay Area.
San Francisco
CREATION
A corner on Haight Street where the Diggers held one of their most successful Free performances. It has no Seneschal, and probably would have faded long ago if not for the close proximity of Novalis' and Zadkiel's Tethers. It's a popular spot for street performers, who gain 1 Essence for any improvisational performance art in this location.
Weak (2 Forces, 1 Essence per hour)
DREAMS
The Lighthouse Bookstore, a quiet bookstore/coffee-shop of the sort San Francisco is famous for, in North Beach. It has a magnificent view of the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Several authors and poets have held particularly inspirational readings here, creating a Tether in the late 80s. While safe enough because of the city's climate, it is a rather weak Tether. Anyone who spends time browsing books or listening to a reading in the shop will usually spend that night on Blandine's side of the Marches.
Weak (3 Forces, 1 Essence per 10 minutes)
FLOWERS
Golden Gate Park. The largest and most powerful Tether in the city. All angels are free to spend a week in the park, picking up trash, helping people out, or just enjoying the scenery. Each week will erase 1 point of dissonance.
Strong (18 Forces, 1 Essence per round)
Novalis once had a second Tether in the city, the Digger's "Free Store." When the store closed in the 70s, the Tether faded.
PROTECTION
The Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic, 558 Clayton Street, founded on June 3, 1967. It is very close to Golden Gate Park, and the two Tethers are Friendly to one another.
Strong (12 Forces, 1 Essence per round)
TRADE
The former business office of Look Tin Eli, in Chinatown. Look Tin Eli was an American-born Chinese who undertook the rebuilding of Chinatown following its destruction in the 1906 Earthquake. White developers did not want to let the Chinese rebuild, but Eli obtained a loan from Hong Kong, and convinced the city council that Chinatown should be rebuilt explicitly as a tourist attraction. Thus the theatrical Chinatown now known to the world, crafted by hired Anglo architects, saved this ethnic neighborhood in a peaceful transpacific financial deal.
Average (10 Forces, 1 Essence per 2 minutes)
Bay Area
ANIMALS
The Farallon Islands, 30 miles offshore, barely visible on San Francisco's horizon. These islands are a nature preserve, where boats are forbidden to land (the shores are extremely dangerous in any case), and no humans reside. The only structure on the islands is a Coast Guard weather station. Several endangered species make their homes here; it is a breeding ground for many species of migratory seabirds, as well as various sea mammals. The Seneschal is a Seraph Vassal of Animals who rarely leaves the islands.
LIGHTNING
The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC), the legendary lab where much of the technology and computer protocols that dominate the industry, and would eventually form the Internet, was born. The Seneschal is an Elohite Master of Lightning.
PROTECTION
Zadkiel has another Tether at People's Park, in Berkeley. The Seneschal is a Mercurian Vassal of Protection who lives among the homeless.
STONE
Mt. Diablo, a 3849-foot peak in the East Bay. From the top of it you can see the whole of Northern California on a good day. For thousands of years it was the site of gatherings and worship by local Indian tribes. Now it is a state park, and a popular spot for hiking and camping. There is a museum, observatory and park station at the summit. The Seneschal is an Elohite Friend of Stone who has been here since before any Europeans arrived.
INFERNAL TETHERS
There is only 1 Infernal Tether in the city of San Francisco, but 7 more (mostly weak ones) in the surrounding Bay Area.
San Francisco
FIRE
Monument to the victims of the Great Earthquake, located in Golden Gate Park. It's surrounded by Novalis' Golden Gate Park Tether, and very weak, but it's the only infernal Tether in the city. A mere gremlin is its Seneschal, as Belial long ago gave up assigning more important demons here.
Weak, 1 Force, 1 Essence per 12 hours)
Bay Area
DARK HUMOR
A frat house in Berkeley that has repeatedly been the scene of humiliating hazing rituals, drunken parties (often leading to incidents of rape), and occasional brawls with police and neighbors. The Seneschal is a Shedite Knight of Dark Humor who's been "attending" UC Berkeley since the early 60s.
DRUGS
A crack house in East Palo Alto, with a Calabite Knight of Drugs as Seneschal.
FATE
Kronos has the most powerful diabolical Tether in the Bay Area; the MEPS Processing Station in Oakland. The Seneschal, a Habbalite Baron of Fate, has a Role as an Army Colonel, and is one of the most powerful demons in Northern California.
LUST
The Ginza massage parlor, in Mountain View, which caters to many Silicon Valley computer nerds. The Seneschal is an Impudite Captain of Lust, and Andrealphus' highest-ranking Servitor in the Bay Area.
NIGHTMARES
The Winchester Mystery House, San Jose. A weak Tether, as the house has become a kitschy tourist attraction. The Seneschal is a disgruntled Djinn Knight of Nightmares who works as a caretaker at the site.
THEFT
Valefor has two Bay Area Tethers; one is a street in Oakland where carjackings occur every month, the other is an underground warehouse in San Jose which angels have been unable to locate.
FORMER TETHERS
Many other Tethers have formed in the past in the Bay Area, but most have been temporary. Some of the most recent and powerful ones are still important locations to their Superiors.
FACTIONS
Racial tensions have frequently erupted in San Francisco, particularly between whites and Chinese. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, numerous anti-Chinese laws were passed, restricting their rights and ability to immigrate or participate in the economy. Chinatown was often subject to rioting by angry white workers, and for a long time, Malphas enjoyed a Tether in Chinatown, a Chinese laundry which was also a former Tong headquarters, first created when white rioters ransacked the place and killed three Chinese. This Tether became weaker as race relations improved following World War II, and Novalis and Zadkiel's Servitors succeeded in permanently breaking its connection to Hell in 1967.
FIRE
Many great fires have erupted in San Francisco. Following the Great Earthquake of 1906, much of the city was devastated by fire. Belial's Tethers have been frequent, but rarely enduring, partly because other Princes harass him as much as the angels do, particularly Servitors of Gluttony (the rivalry between Belial and Haagenti is particularly severe in San Francisco). He does currently hold the only actual infernal Tether in the city, though -- see above.
FREEDOM
The Red House, in West Marin (north of San Francisco), a former "Digger" residence. The anarchic inhabitants were devoted to total Freedom, including freedom from any rules, authority, or shared responsibilities. The Tether formed in the early 70s, but gradually weakened as the Diggers faded from memory. When the actual owners (former Diggers themselves) finally returned and evicted all the freeloading inhabitants, asserting legal authority and bringing order to the dwelling, the Tether broke.
GLUTTONY
San Francisco has always had a big appetite. In the previous century, Haagenti had a potent Tether in a notorious opium den, but it was closed down around the turn of the century. After that, he had a series of short-lived Tethers in other opium dens, saloons and restaurants. They had a habit of being closed or sometimes burning down (sometimes thanks to angels, sometimes thanks to demons of Fire, and sometimes by coincidence). Ironically enough, a Servitor of Belial torched Haagenti's last Tether in the city in 1965, so the angels didn't have to take it out during the Summer of Love. It is known that Haagenti has several Servitors and Soldiers in the city, still trying to create new Tethers, but so far they have always been foiled.
GREED
Like Haagenti, Mammon has had several Tethers in San Francisco over the years. The first was formed when Samuel Brannan sparked the Gold Rush in 1848 by marching up and down the streets of the city shouting the discovery of gold on the American River. That Tether stabilized in a surveyor's office. As the city changed and buildings were knocked down, burned and rebuilt, his Tethers shifted, but until the 1960s, he always had a Tether in the city. The Flower Power movement badly undermined him, and his Tether faded without a battle during the Summer of Love, 1967.
LUST
Andrealphus has always had a strong influence in San Francisco, dating back to its "Barbary Coast" days. At times, he had more than one Tether in the city at the same time. His Tethers were the only ones that needed to be removed with violence during the Summer of Love -- Zadkiel sent some of her Malakim to take out the demons, and her Soldiers helped enforce city zoning ordinances, a move that doesn't make all of Novalis's servants happy, but they accept it as a necessary evil. In the 1970s, gay bath houses became frequent incipient Tethers, but the Host always managed to locate them and foil their formation. Even today, Andrealphus is the Prince with the strongest influence in San Francisco, and angels have to be ever-vigilant to prevent SOMA sweat shops, events like the annual Exotic Erotic Ball, and massage parlors scattered throughout the city from becoming new Tethers to Lust.
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