San Francisco

== History ==
When San Francisco was first settled in the 19th century (the area was inhabited long before that by local Native American tribes, of course), it quickly attracted miners, merchants, speculators, and other rough-and-ready types. As it became a thriving port town, it attracted angels and demons in nearly equal numbers.
For most of its history, San Francisco has been anything but divine. Called the "Barbary Coast" and known far and wide as one of the "wickedest cities on Earth," "a modern-day Sodom and Gomorra," demons had no trouble mingling with the debauched citizenry.
Some cities the size of San Francisco form only a handful of tethers, or none. Others are full of passion and humanity, for good and for ill, and seem to foster tethers more easily. San Francisco, youthful and unrestrained either by European powers or by the more traditional societies on the East Coast, generated new tethers almost yearly. Most were formed by singular events ~ a riot, an orgy, a prayer meeting ~ and faded quickly. Some persisted. For most of the city's history, there were constant tethers of Lust, Gluttony and Greed, and occasionally others. Angelic tethers were rarer, but Marc and Zadkiel were early influences here, and some other archangels had San Francisco tethers now and then, though few lasted.
The angels who lived in San Francisco were always optimistic, despite the city's rampant corruption and immorality. While many of the residents were hedonists, mercenaries, or slave labor (or indentured servants), there was always a silent majority of ordinary folks who just wanted to make decent lives for themselves. It was these people the angels catered to, choosing a non-confrontational approach with the demons in the city. Instead, they let humans oppose the corruption and vice, and in due time, their faith in humanity paid off. San Francisco never exactly became saintly, but the atmosphere of the city improved, particularly after World War II.
In the early part of this century, Los Angeles rose to prominence, and was lavished with diabolical attention. The politically minded princes turned their attention there, and neglected San Francisco. The militant archangels also concentrated their attention in Southern California, trying to hold onto their tethers and influence there. In this vacuum, Novalis and her protégé Zadkiel began working quietly to strengthen their positions in San Francisco. They were aided by Marc, who saw San Francisco as being more valuable to Trade than Los Angeles.
In the 1960s, there were five infernal tethers in San Francisco proper ~ one each to Factions, Fire, Gluttony, Greed, and Lust. In 1965, servitors of Belial burned down the restaurant that was Haagenti's tether, leaving four when angels of Flowers, Protection and Trade descended on the city in force in 1967. Coinciding with the Flower Power movement and the Summer of Love, the angels used a combination of social and economic pressure to weaken the diabolical tethers. The tethers to Factions and Greed expired despite their seneschals' efforts to keep them alive. Only Andrealphus's tether required more extreme measures to kill, and Zadkiel sent a team of malakim, accompanied by San Francisco police officers, to clean out the brothel and porn studio. The tiny tether to Fire in Golden Gate Park was slated for demolition by another team of malakim, but when the rest of the park became a tether to Flowers, this was made unnecessary; Belial's tether is now a small, pitiful infernal outpost. Novalis refuses to allow it to be destroyed, over the objections of some other archangels, pointing out that the physical site of the tether (a monument to the victims of the Great Earthquake of 1906) is important to mortals, and being so weak and surrounded by her own tether, it's no threat.
Since 1967, San Francisco has been a Heavenly city, where the Host is ascendant. Angels are able to move and function with little impediment, while demons are monitored and foiled regularly. This doesn't mean that Heaven controls San Francisco absolutely ~ there are still plenty of demons here, and they manage to stir up a fair amount of trouble. But though they've been trying for over 30 years, the demons haven't been able to stabilize a new infernal tether in the city.
Because of Novalis and Zadkiel's laid-back attitude, San Francisco is something of a haven for outcasts, who are allowed to live here in relative peace as long as they don't seem in immediate danger of Falling. This does not please Dominic, of course. Renegades also sometimes take shelter here, though they find San Francisco less inviting than the scruff community of Los Angeles. In San Francisco, though, they are less likely to be tracked down by the Game.
== Celestial Politics ==
=== The Host ===
The Host dominates San Francisco, so most archangels have a presence here. However, the most influential archangels are Novalis, archangel of Flowers; Zadkiel, archangel of Protection; and Marc, archangel of Trade. These three have the most powerful servitors and tethers in the city. As all of these archangels are in Heaven's non-militant camp, San Francisco is regarded as a divine sanctuary and supply base. Although loosely controlled (much more loosely than Dominic would like), the peaceful archangels have done a good job of keeping the demons from establishing any new tethers. Their policy is to watch, and minister, to known demons, rather than destroy them. As with demons in Los Angeles, the angels of San Francisco know that trying to exterminate all diabolical influences would mean constant low-level warfare, as every diabolical vessel killed would mean another demon will slip into the city and need to be identified before it could be dealt with. So, there is an unspoken understanding that as long as things don't get out of hand, a certain number of demons will be tolerated in San Francisco ~ the angels prefer to have a small number that they can keep an eye on and balk.
Not all archangels are pleased with this arrangement. The militant archangels ~ particularly Michael, Laurence, and David ~ think San Francisco is being wasted. It could be a vital staging area against Los Angeles and other demonic power centers in the Pacific, and Laurence believes that if the city's angelic guardians were more diligent and proactive, San Francisco could be made a truly divine city, the Paris of North America. Unfortunately, none of the militant archangels have any tethers in San Francisco.
Dominic hates to see any diabolical taint in Heavenly territory, and there is always at least one triad of Judgment active in the city, mostly harassing outcasts. Other angels regard them as an annoyance, as they frequently cause more trouble for angels in the city than the demons do.
At any given time, there are probably about 40-60 angels in the city of San Francisco. This is a very high celestial population density, especially given the city's small geographical size. The outcast population is unknown, but Dominic estimates it to be nearly half that number. (Most of the city's angelic residents think that number is exaggerated.)
Below is a short summary of each Archangel's presence and interest in San Francisco:
==== Blandine ====
She has a small tether in San Francisco, a coffee shop/bookstore in North Beach overlooking the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, with a cherub Friend of Sleepers named Chrysopylae as its seneschal. It's not very important or strategically located, but it gives her servitors someplace to meet. Novalis and Zadkiel would like to get Blandine more involved with the city, but she figures San Francisco's dreamers are doing well enough, and dreamers elsewhere (like in Los Angeles) need more help.
==== Christopher ====
Christopher likes San Francisco, and has a servitor here, but he's not a major presence in the city.
==== David ====
He has a couple of angels here, just to keep an eye on things and to be ready if the diabolicals ever try a surprise attack, but he considers San Francisco unimportant for the time being. If the angels here ever became more militant, David would become much more interested in the city. 
==== Dominic ====
Dominic is not happy with how casually Novalis and Zadkiel tolerate the presence of demons. He is constantly worried that angels in San Francisco will become corrupted by their easy life and by letting their guard down against the demons in their midst. He also dislikes the city's reputation as a haven for outcasts. He always has a triad of Judgment active in the city, and sometimes sends another triad, or even a third, when he feels a need for a "crackdown."
==== Eli ====
Eli has a small, almost unnoticed Tether in the Haight-Ashbury district, protected by an eloah named "Lester" Servus. He was known to frequent the city back in the 60s and has still been sighted here from time to time. Some believe he has a special interest in the city, others think it's just a place he likes to hang out from time to time.
==== Gabriel ====
Usually there are only one or two angels of Fire in residence in the city; they're plenty for handling the city's crueler population. Others pass through from time to time, but usually move on.
==== Janus ====
San Francisco is very popular with angels of the Wind, being a great place to blow through and have a wild party. It's too small to be a Wind servitor's permanent home, though, so none live here. There are a couple angels of the Wind who make regular circuits of the entire Bay Area.
==== Jean ====
The archangel of Lightning has several angels in town, as San Francisco has a lot of high-tech companies, and requires a lot of engineering to keep it running. He's known to have a few Soldiers and/or saints stationed here too. 
==== Jordi ====
Jordi doesn't have much to do with cities, but he has learned that liberal San Francisco (and nearby Berkeley and Stanford) is a fertile breeding ground for animal rights activists. So, some of his more politically adept Soldiers are usually active in the Bay Area, and there's often an angelic servitor or two around as well.
==== Khalid ====
The archangel of Faith is not known to have any angels in San Francisco, though some probably visit now and then.
==== Laurence ====
Laurence would very much like to have more influence here, but even the Catholic Church in San Francisco tends to be liberal and non-militant. However, there is a Purifiers chapter here. The Purifiers are a secret organization of Soldiers of God, sponsored by the Vatican and patronized by Laurence. They mostly hunt demons, and they keep those who live in the City constantly on edge. Novalis has made it clear that if the Purifiers generate too much violence, she'll make it difficult for them to do their jobs and possibly even force them to move their base of operations, so Laurence doesn't push them to do too much in the city (they're often out of town on missions elsewhere in the country).
Several angels of the Sword also live in San Francisco, including at least one Master of the Armies of God.
==== Litheroy ====
San Francisco has secrets, and there are at least two angels of Revelations in town, usually trying to sniff out hidden corruption and conspiracies.
==== Marc ====
Marc has a tether in Chinatown, but he almost places more value on the headquarters of his most important servitor in the city, Samriel, whose office is in the TransAmerica Pyramid. Along with Novalis and Zadkiel, he is one of the most influential archangels in the city, and he has almost a dozen servitors and quite a few Soldiers living here.
==== Michael ====
Michael hates to waste fighters in a city that's at peace, but he doesn't trust the demons, and he also wouldn't mind if his servitors could find a way to push the city's angelic residents into a more proactive posture. So, he keeps a servitor or two in town, just to keep an eye on things and watch for opportunities.
==== Novalis ====
The most powerful archangel in San Francisco, with the largest tether (Golden Gate Park, whose seneschal, Hallaren, is an ofan Master of Peace). She only has a few angels in the city, but they're all quite influential, and many Soldiers and saints of Flowers live here.
==== Yves ====
Yves is pleased with San Francisco's recent upward turn and keeps an angel or two on hand to help as needed.
==== Zadkiel ====
The third member of the archangel triune that "rules" San Francisco. Zadkiel has an important tether at the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic, and most of the city's angelic "muscle" is provided by her servitors. Zadkiel has over a dozen servitors in San Francisco ~ more than any other Superior.
=== The Horde ===
Since known demons are watched and rarely allowed to get away with much, living in San Francisco isn't likely to enhance a demon's career. Permanent assignment to San Francisco has come to be regarded as a sort of exile. No high-ranking or Wordbound demons are based here. Instead, the local demons take orders from higher-ranking infernal nobles in the East or South Bay, and exist to cater to visitors, who are sent by their princes with specific missions. "Freelancers" who sneak into the city get to do the important work, and the locals are expected to support them as much as possible. Naturally, being constantly monitored by angels and having to act as errand boys for whatever outsider their prince sends to boss them around has made most of San Francisco's infernal residents a sorry, demoralized lot
Usually, there are about a dozen known demons in town. The angels believe there are usually probably another dozen hiding from the angels ~ the demons claim there aren't more than a handful hiding out at any given time, while Dominic thinks the number may be far greater. Renegades in town probably add another dozen or so to the diabolical population.
Below is the outlook for each prince in San Francisco.
==== Alaemon ====
The Prince of Secrets doesn't admit to having any servitors in town . . . but then, he wouldn't.
==== Andrealphus ====
Until the 60s, Andrealphus was the most powerful Superior in the city, and he wants "his" city back. He always has two known servitors in town, and is the most likely prince to be sneaking other infiltrators in.
==== Asmodeus ====
He has one low-ranking "official" representative, but almost certainly has other snoops hiding in the city. The demons are as sure of this as the angels.
==== Ba'al ====
Ba'al considers San Francisco unimportant, though he sometimes sends demons or Soldiers there just to distract the angels and probe the city for weaknesses.
==== Beleth ====
San Francisco has spawned some horrific nightmares and remains fertile ground for AIDS fears. Since she has no tethers in the city, Beleth doesn't exert too much effort here, but she has one known servitor in San Francisco.
==== Belial ====
Belial is incensed, after all the terrible fires that have raged in San Francisco, that his only tether is a pitiful monument surrounded by Novalis's much greater tether. Still, it is the only infernal tether in the city. He never sends known servitors to the city, refusing to play by the angel's rules, but often sends infiltrators in to cause trouble, for other demons as well as for angels.
==== Fleurity ====
Fleurity had a lot of influence in San Francisco back when it was full of opium dens, but that was also before he became a prince. Nowadays, he usually has a demon or two in the city, laying low and not attracting too much attention, one of which is a balseraph Captain of Chemistry named T'Quomah who holds onto his tether in the city ~ the bathroom lab at 1641 Virginia Street where Owsley (a.k.a., Bear) first cooked LSD.
==== Haagenti ====
Like Andrealphus, Haagenti was once very influential in San Francisco, but mostly through drug use, before his servitor Fleurity became a prince. He would very much like to regain a tether in the city but doesn't have any permanent servitors based here at the moment.
==== Kobal ====
San Francisco is full of Dark Humor, and Kobal has been known to pay the city a visit in person. He has one servitor here who's been assigned to San Francisco in perpetuity, a joke Kobal seems to think is very funny.
==== Kronos ====
Kronos is disgusted at his fellow princes who lost San Francisco; he often has covert agents helping Asmodeus' to undermine the Host's influence.
==== Malphas ====
San Francisco was once a hotbed of racial strife, particularly with the large Chinese community. Since he lost his tether in 1967, Malphas hasn't been able to regain his influence. San Francisco still has plenty of divisions, and Malphas usually keeps a servitor in town to try exacerbating them.
==== Mammon ====
Formerly very influential in San Francisco, Mammon desperately wants to regain a tether here but hasn't found any servitors with the right stuff to pull it off.
==== Nybbas ====
Nybbas really wants a tether in San Francisco. It's a major media market, and it's a threat to "his" city, Los Angeles. He has assigned several servitors who possess talent but not enough initiative, or who screwed up in a major way, to work in San Francisco, trying to strengthen the Media.
==== Saminga ====
Saminga believes San Francisco is entirely too peaceful, and it's of very little interest to him, except the AIDS plague, which has been a disappointment to him lately. He sometimes sends his less successful servitors here in exile.
==== Valefor ====
Valefor's demons love to make hit-and-run raids in San Francisco, and the better the heist and the more they can do right under the noses of angels, the more "coup" they earn.
==== Vapula ====
Vapula's not that interested in San Francisco, regarding it as an "angelic wasteland."
== Ethereal Politics ==
=== Celestial Bureaucracy ===
==== Guan Di ====
Guan Di has a tether at the Kong Chow Temple in Chinatown.
==== Mazu ====
Not far from Guan Di's tether is Mazu's tether at the Tin How Temple.
=== The Spirits of Pulp Fiction ===
Thanks to Dashiell Hammett and his stories about Sam Spade, apartment #401 at 891 Post Street serves as a tether to all the spirits spawned by the pulp fiction of the mid-20th century.
Category:Cities
Category:United States of America
Category:California
Category:San Francisco Bay Area