Kattegat, New Jersey

Kattegat is a small town in southern New Jersey where Johnny Duke grew up. Believed to have been founded by Danish settlers, Kattegat is one of Jersey's oldest towns. Records have conflicting dates for its founding and while it is generally agreed that it was founded in 1846, local belief links it to a much earlier Viking settlement over which it was allegedly built. Indeed in its ancient past the town had been the setting of a violent clash between Viking explorers and Native Americans. 
The town had several elementary schools with Robin S. Cambpell Elementary being the oldest, as well as a Middle School which handled grades 6-8. For much of the town's modern history it would bus its High School age children to the nearby town of Black River where they would attend the regional Black River High. Johnny would discover later that in the time since he left for college Kattegat would build a new High School.
Less talked about but still widely known are the various mysteries which surround the small town. Kattegat is host to a large number of eerie places and unexplained events. Mystics attached to the Men of Learning have said that the town is a focal point of powerful energies that draw many strange beings to it. The veil between this world and the next is also said to be thin there, as there is a profound number of haunted locations in the town. In addition to this a large number of residents are Fighters (people able to channel Aura and use Power), and Wizards. 
== Kattegat's Landmarks ==
4 Maple Avenue
Also called the Duke House, this was the home of Ray and Carrie Duke where Johnny Duke grew up. Tucked away in the "Old Town" area of Kattegat, the house was old when Ray and Carrie moved there several years before the baby Johnny crashed on Earth. The house had a somewhat large yard and a separate garage that Ray would later enlarge and re-enforce. After the deaths of Ray and Carrie, ownership of the house passed to Johnny though by then he'd left Kattegat with no real interest in ever returning. Despite this he would use the money left to him by his parents to keep up payment of taxes and so forth on the house and entrusted neighbors with its care and upkeep.
Robin S. Campbell Elementary School
Formerly the Kattegat High School (the ediface of the building still has the stylized letter KHS on it), the school was named for a popular teacher Robin Campbell. Campbell had been an educator from New England who arrived in the town in the 40's and remodeled its education system. Carrie Duke worked here teaching 3rd and later 4th Grade. Johnny Duke attended this school as a child. While very few children ever had any idea, it was well known among adults that R.S.C.E.S. was haunted.
Tanner's Pit (aka the Gravel Pits)
A large tract of land owned by a crotchety old man called Tanner who leases the land out as a dumping ground. As its name implies, the Pits have a large number of giant holes dug around it. While these pits are ostensibly dug to be filled with garbage, the true reason for them is that Tanner is seeking a mysterious treasure he believes is buried on the property.
Marioluigi's Italian Ristorante & Pizzeria
A restaurant which offers high quality Italian food in Kattegat including Pizza, Pasta, Chicken and Seafood. It was founded in 1984 by a pair of Italian brothers named Mario and Luigi. Johnny Duke insists has the best pizza on Earth, and even after leaving Kattegat continually returned there to order a pie from them. When the Magnificent 7 came to Earth to escape Kruger, Johnny was excited to take his friends out to Marioluigi's so he could share his love of it with them.
St Mary's Church
An old church in Old Town Kattegat around the corner from Johnny's childhood home where the town's predominantly Catholic residents went to worship. It was a large stone building with gothic architecture and stained glass windows. The Church was paid for by the Lockwood and Grant families as a gesture of good will towards the town in its early history. Twice in the town's history, its steeple was struck by lightning and destroyed. Both times this was looked at as an evil omen. Carrie Duke would worship here and often dragged Johnny along as a child.
St. Christopher's Catholic High School
A Catholic High School where a portion of the town sends its children. It was secretly under the control of a shadowy group called the Illuminati who used it to gather and train certain extraordinary individuals. Johnny ends up here after being kicked out of Black River High. After Johnny killed Father Xavier (who was in actuality his uncle Roy Duke) and effectively destroyed the Illuminati, agents of the Men of Learning took control of the school.
The Jones Mansion
The Jones' had been one of the oldest families in Kattegat and their dealings with the merchants made them very wealthy. They used this wealth to buy a large swath of land on which they built a mansion. However one night the whole family was murdered and their house was burned down. As the decades went by, their property became overgrown and was abandoned. It was said that the family patriarch Jebediah Jones had been a warlock and that he fell prey to one of the demons that he summoned. Johnny Duke once battled an Eldritch Horror here.
Lockwood Manor
The Lockwoods were one of Kattegat's Old 4 Families (along with the Jones, the Grants, and the Meyers) and were far and away the wealthiest. The first known Lockwood made his money in real estate development and he was responsible for many of the first large scale buildings in the town. The house eventually fell to the last remaining Lockwood, May Hammer. After the death of her husband Ezra, she moved her family there. Lockwood Manor would later shelter the Magnificent 7 when they returned to Earth while on the run from the Vampire Horde.
Meyer's Liquors
A liquor store run by Pete Meyer, a junior member of the Meyer family. A well known secret around town is that the store is the front for an illegal operation where the Meyers will smuggle drugs and other illicit goods.
Down the Hatch Pub
A strip bar run by "Old Man" Horace Meyer, patriarch of the Meyer family. According to Johnny it was something of a rite of passage for a young man to manage to gain entry to the bar under age. The dancers there frequently double as prostitutes and the backrooms have facilities for this purpose. When the Magnificent 7 returned to Earth, Johnny went there with his friends and was horrified to discover that a girl he'd had a crush on in high school was now dancing there and instantly recognized him. 
The Tracks
A long abandoned train station that once ran through the town. On some nights a train whistle can still be heard and a phantom engine can be seen.
Kattegat Youth Center
A building created by the township as a place for its youth to congregate. It is a popular setting for dances and events. Here Johnny fought and defeated a girl who had been possessed by a poltergeist that tried to use her to ritually murder the collected teenagers so that she could summon a demon.
The Bluffs
A housing development that was constructed as the beginnings of a retirement community. Several houses were built before the developers ran out of money and the area was abandoned. It has become a popular hangout for teens and its sewers were once the home to a vampire coven which had moved in to Kattegat. Its sewers also granted access to an interlacing series of caves which run under Kattagat which June dubbed "the Kattacombs."
The Kattacombs
A cave system which runs under the town. Various places within them had strange carvings and paintings on the walls, though it was unclear who left them there. The Kattacombs are permeated with a strange energy that was able to befuddle Johnny's Aura Sense abilities when he and June became trapped down there. While it seems to be the home to strange beasts and ghosts, it is unclear if they're real or hallucinations brought on by the strange energies which flow through there.
The Docks
As its name implies, these are the docks which lead out into Kattegat Bay. In old days merchant ships used to dock there, but now is only a place that fishermen and hobbyists will set out. A popular hobby in Kattegat is going crabbing in the bay. Across the bay the Castle Lighthouse is visible. Johnny once battled a giant crab monster here.
Kattegat Public Library
A repository of books and records, the Public Library is one of the town's oldest structures. Hidden deep within its stacks is a collection of arcane literature. The Librarian, a meek middle aged man called Mr. Higgins is a member of the Men of Learning and a powerful wizard in his own right.
Rahn Field
A baseball diamond on the back road of Water Street named for a local named Lou Rahn who went on to become a popular major league baseball player. Johnny had his first fight with Max West here.
Kattegat High School
A public High School built in recent years. Its team is the Kattegat Cougars.
The Kattegat Old Guy
Not a location, but a fixture of the town nonetheless. The Kattegat Old Guy is an old man with unkempt white hair who wears blue sweat pants, a sweat shirt, and during colder months a blue puffy jacket. He can be found walking all over the town, turning up miles away at a speed not thought possible by someone at his age and with his gait. He rarely interacts with anybody, no one has ever spoken to him or successfully approached him, though he will occasionally shoot a smile at people who see him from across a street. His identity is unknown, no one knows where he lives or exactly how old he is. Even elderly residents of Kattegat will swear they've seen him walking around town since they were small children.
The Tree on the Hill
The Tree was a favored hangout spot of Johnny and June when they'd get out of school. Located on a big hill on the outskirts of Kattegat, it offers a grand view of the entire town. However, its out of the way location made it unpopular as a common hangout place. The tree which tops the hill is very large and very old. On its trunk numerous people have carved their initials over the years, including ones that say JD+JH. Presumably this is about June and Johnny, though neither remembers ever carving it there. It is later revealed that the Tree had been a favorite spot of Johnny's since he was little and where he would often go to be alone. He was the one who first showed it to June, and he would bring Kara there during one of their early trips to Earth. The spot exists in Johnny's mind as his "happy place" and he would often daydream about being there.
The Quiet Place
Not so much a location in the town but an extradimensional pocket space accessed through it. The true nature of the Quiet Place cannot be fully understood by humans and it instead manifests in manners that their minds can comprehend. Despite this anyone who enters finds it to be utterly confusing. It is peopled by a number of spirits who often appear to a person in the vague shape of someone they know, but there is always something alarmingly off. A spirit from the Quiet Place called BILL was behind the murder of Lani Parker in the mid 80's, and when Johnny and June were lost in the Kattacombs, June accidentally entered where she met spirits she described as the Juggernaut and the Imp. Other spirits in the Quiet Place are GEORGE, who seems to be a foil to BILL, the Housekeeper, the Vagrants and another who is either Lani Parker or a spirit that has assumed her shape. While trying to apply words like good or evil are difficult, BILL is understood to be truly malevolent and the other spirits work to keep him in check. Due to his demonic nature, Johnny Duke is unable to enter the Quiet Place, though he can vaguely sense the energies it gives off and was able to recognize Mr. Parker as possessed by BILL when he met him. AEGIS believes that the Quiet Place is the source of the strange energies that permeate Kattegat. 
== Nearby Settings ==
Black River
A large township near Kattegat which serves as the County Seat for Hazzard County. Where Kattegat is a small town, Black River is far larger with a number of big businesses and establishments, including a large mall and a movie theater. For a very long time Kattegat would bus its High School age children to Black River to attend Black River High. In the mid 50's, Black River was beset by a number of serial murders. The perpetrator was never caught.
Castle Island
A nearby Island which is connected to the mainland by the Kattegat Bay Bridge (despite its name, access to the Bridge is actually through Black River and not Kattegat). Castle Island is a popular vacation spot and is known for its beautiful scenery and good surf. There is a small amusement park and arcade on the Island called Paradise Island where Johnny worked for a few summers. Castle Island is best known for the Castle Lighthouse on the north side of the Island.
Hicksville
A neighboring town to Kattegat, Hicksville is somewhat infamous as being particularly poor and backwards. Apart from a shopping center in the town square with a few chain stores, most of the town is made up of low income housing and trailer parks. Despite this, it is somewhat peaceful compared to the numerous strange happenings that occur in Kattegat and most people of Hicksville are very suspicious of anyone coming from the neighboring town.
McCloud Air Force Base
Home to the 69th Air Base Wing, McCloud is a base run by the United States Air Force a short trip away from Kattegat. Opened in 1939, the Base saw extensive use during World War II with flights going to and from Europe. In the aftermath of the War, the base was secretly repurposed and overhauled to investigate the strange occurrences in Kattegat and its surrounding area. While most of McCloud's personnel are unaware of this mission, many of its practice drills and operations are actually for the purpose of observing unexplained phenomena in the town. In addition to this, an unknown number of its officers and science personnel are actually from AEGIS. A Space Pod carrying the infant Karyu was tracked from McCloud, but by the time agents arrived to investigate the crash site Ray and Carrie Duke had already left with the baby saran. The Space Pod exploded once the Dukes had gotten a far enough distance away, and its pieces are still held at McCloud.
== Trivia ==
- Kattegat was officially founded on Friday the 13th in November of 1846, but the area itself was settled well before then. At the time the area was comprised of several small villages with Kattegat being the oldest and largest. When the town was incorporated these smaller villages where absorbed to create Kattegat Township. 
- A race of fish monsters lives in Kattegat Bay. They normally lie dormant, but once a century they awaken to terrorize the town. Some residents are actually descendants of them, with their fish genes activating and taking them over when their brethren awaken. These half breeds will collect victims to sacrifice to their ancestors. Castle Lighthouse was initially erected as a fortress against these monsters, but over the years its true purpose has been forgotten.
- Modern Kattegat was founded by 4 families, the Lockwoods, the Grants, the Jones' and the Meyers (the town was already peopled by Danish immigrants and unofficially called Kattegat before these families arrived). Each were powerful presences in the area that would become Kattegat and it was their influence that unified the settlements together. All 4 families still maintain a presence in Kattegat, though time has not been kind to all of them. The Lockwoods last surviving heir is May Hammer who still maintains her family's position within the town. Though the name will die with her, the blood of the Lockwoods will continue in the Hammer Sisters. The Grants maintain a comfortable existence in the town having branched out into the insurance market. The Meyer family were initially smugglers who controlled the Docks, but over time found themselves forced out of the shipping business. The fortunes of the Jones's collapsed along with Jones Mansion and the remaining family members are scattered throughout the town in a state of poverty. Both they and the Meyers are looked down upon as townies and are involved in general mischief and petty crime.
- The mysterious forces which permeate the area draw all sorts of creatures to it. Additionally, probabilities are messed with so literally anything, no matter how unlikely, is possible in Kattegat. The energies there draw extraterrestrial visitors, and there were some among the Men of Learning and AEGIS who suspected that the spacepod bearing the infant Johnny Duke was pulled there.
- A notorious murder occurred during Johnny's childhood when star pupil and town darling Lani Parker turned up dead. A dizzying investigation lead by the erstwhile FBI Agent Dean Carter revealed a seedy underside to the town and that Lani Parker was more troubled than anyone could have guessed. Agent Carter was eventually contacted by the spirits GEORGE, the Juggernaut, the Imp and a shade of Lani herself from the Quiet Place who attempted to help him through a series of cryptic clues. Ray Duke ended up drawn into the investigation and discovered that the killer was a sinister entity possessing Lani's father that had escaped from the Quiet Place.
Category:Places
Category:Places on Earth