Kindred
Safe Haven for All
Yes, a bar, Darien. Our kind's presence in this region has grown, cousin, far beyond what it was when you settled here years ago. They need a place of safety, where they may be themselves without fear...who better to give it to them than the vampire safe from her own clan?Kindred is a bar unlike any other in any part of the world. It caters to any and all that manage to make it through the wards that protect its doors, whether they be mortal, vampire, witch, wolfkin, or hunter. Safe passage is a guarantee within the walls of the bar, allowing those who know what lies underneath the veil of normalcy to exist peacefully for a time. Money, drinks, and deals of all kinds can change hands here without fear of repercussions of any kind within the building itself.
Haven in the West
At the back of a rather shady-looking, three-story apartment building on the west side of Bigby Fork, a stairwell leads down from the sidewalk to a sunken basement doorway that looks like it came from a medieval tavern. Just above the door there is an old, unlit neon sign that reads The Catshack in looping cursive is still attached to the stone of the wall - a relic of the equally shady club that briefly occupied the basement in the 1960s. Since the 1980s, there has been a brass plate attached to the wall to the right of the doorway that declares the space as KINDRED in tall capital letters, with text underneath the name proclaiming it as Accorded Neutral Territory by Blood Oath of the Elders as well as Leaders of Clan, Sect, and Pact.
Triple-Warded Protections
There are three layers to the protections laid over Kindred.
- The first layer of protection involves the outer protections on the bar, which are laid into the brickwork itself using witchwords cast by Elias Mufhet, a witch who was Turned in the 1800s. These bricks have been removed, enchanted, and replaced around the door as well as around the building at its base, creating a circle around the whole of the basement. Not only does the magic of the spellwork provide protection to the building itself, it also shields the entrance from any that aren't aware of its location. To anyone who does not know what the door of Kindred looks like, it appears as an old bricked up basement doorway and its high set windows are dark with age.
- The second layer of protection involves the inner protections on the bar, which are set through a variety of witchwords spread throughout different surfaces of the bar. These surfaces include: each table, each chair, the bar counter, the jukebox, the doors (including the front door) and the high set windows that look out at street level. Set by Jude Moffat, a witch rescued by Elisabeth Bongam as she passed through Chicago on her way south, these protections make the elements inside of the bar more resistant to damage. They will also, at times, lightly shock those who are attempting to do damage to them.
- The third layer of protection does not come from magic but from the bar staff itself. Elisabeth Bongam herself mans the counter whenever the bar is open, pouring drinks and providing conversation or advice in turn while also perfectly willing to break up a fight. Eiríkr Brandson, a vampire of Simus' line, stands as the bouncer for the bar with an imposing muscled figure gained from being a Viking warrior in his mortal life. Those who occassionally work different jobs at the bar include Jude Moffat, Hou Zhao Yun, Sarah Moffat (Jude's daughter), and Sam Bonham (Elisabeth's several greats nephew from her brother Meyler).
Inside Kindred
The inside of Kindred is fairly typical for a basement bar. All of the walls are either fully exposed brickwork or halfway exposed from underneath old plasterwork as old as the apartment building above it (which was built in the 1950s) with high set windows set all around the walls that look out onto the street level. Framed posters, old and new, hang on the walls throughout the bar, advertising bands of all types and ages as well as events long past (most of them being originals from such events). The tables and chairs are all mismatched older pieces purchased from local thrift stores or flea markets in the area, accounting for twenty tables total and around eighty or so chairs.
There is also the jukebox, a Wurlitzer 1015 OMT, set up just inside of the door to the right. Directly opposite the door when entering is the bar counter, which also looks like it was an old piece of furniture put back into use judging by its rusty nails and old chipped paint still clinging to the dark wood. Behind the bar is a large, old mirror - an original from the basement's previous occupant - with a door on either side that lead to two small rooms. One is slightly larger than the other and is used as the bar storage area. The other, smaller one is used as an office with a computer that monitors the security cameras, a small desk and office chair, two filing cabinets, and a small loveseat that is frequently used by those needing a break.
History
When her child and lover Hou Zhao Yun came down with wanderlust in the 1960s as the world began to drastically change once again, Elisabeth Bongam set out to find something to occupy her time with. She did her own travelling, going to see her family over the course of two full decades. In New York City, she explored the night life with her sire's bloodbrother Malloy and his child Yen Xiang Jun and discovered the expanding presence of bars that catered to their kind. After visiting Italy briefly to speak to her sire of her sudden desire to create such a place of safety, Gnaea Abella encouraged her child to find a place that truly needed such a thing. "What is your dream, daughter mine?" Gnaea had asked as they laid in bed side-by-side. "A place of safety. For all of us who Know Things, hunter and hunted alike," Elisabeth had replied. "A bold dream," Gnaea had mused, "but you are bold as well. Make it happen."
When Elisabeth decided to visit her mother's younger bloodbrother, Darien O'Connell, in the early 1980s, she found a region that was slowly growing with their kind but with little of a support system. This place, she suddenly knew, was where she needed to be.
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