Gateway

# The City of Gateway

Gateway, IL is a city of transitions and transformations, a liminal space between the old and the new, the east coast and the western frontier. Nobody goes to Gateway, but everyone goes through Gateway on their way to somewhere else. The city is home to a disproportionate number of barbers, lodging houses, stables, and doctors. Factories and workshops produce airships and wagons, news is plentiful, and anything you could want will probably come through eventually.

Gateway has a population of roughly 225k.

Gateway is a scandalously progressive city. Its position as a non-place means that the only people who stay there are people who aren't going anywhere. The outcasts and the wanderers try not to judge others, since many of them know how it feels to be judged harshly and unfairly.

The mayor of Gateway is Freddy Hull. Incumbent Cathak Devins will take his place on January 1, 1894.

The local paper is the Gateway Courier.

Gateway is located halfway between Chicago and St. Louis, and people from both cities tend to get into scuffles with one another in Gateway.

The city of Gateway was incorporated on Saturday, February 4, 1843.

* "Uncle" Carmine Bianchi owned a trading post, and his willingness to open his home to travelers led to people staying. Eventually the trading post grew into the City of Gateway. The original trading post was later converted into the Vault of Curiosities. Although he had no political ambitions, the citizens of Gateway respected and listened to him until he left suddenly on Saturday, May 20, 1893.
* On Friday, October 1, 1880, a luxury dirigible went down in Gateway. The gasbag was beyond repair and the airship dock was badly damaged, but the gondola of the ship remained largely intact. Uncle Carmine acquired the wreckage and the ruined portion of the dock and had it transformed into the Gentle Landing tavern and hotel. The surviving sections of the dock were renovated and expanded. The influx of workers for the large construction project and the popularity of the hotel led to rapid expansion of the city, with the hotel as the dividing line between Old Gateway and New Gateway.
* Old Gateway is home to the very rich and the very poor. Old money families live in sprawling mansions mere blocks from squalid slums full of people who can't afford to move away. New Gateway is a rapidly growing city, buzzing with industry and home to the middle class and the nouveau riche.

## Locations

### Old Gateway

* Gentle Landing Hotel (owned by Uncle Carmine Bianchi, held in trust for the benefit of the city by Father Gaius Prosper)
	+ The Gentle Landing is built from the wreckage of a luxury airship that crashed into the old airship dock.
	+ Most of the Gentle Landing is welcoming to all and has a lively crowd at all hours of the day.
	+ The gondola itself is largely closed to the public, although the banquet room can be reserved for parties and events.
* Gateway Airship Dock (public)
	+ A large portion of the old dock was purchased by Uncle Carmine and turned into the Gentle Landing. The rest of it was renovated and expanded into the modern dock.
* Open Hearts Prayer Center (public)
* Burned down tree (public)
* Vault of Curiosities museum (public)
* Old Manor (owned by Abelie Vargas)
* Colloquy Anomalous Jewels (owned by Araki Giovanni)
* Dry Dock saloon (public)
* Refuge Church (owned by Father Gaius Prosper)
* Skin Deep Tattoo Parlor (owned by Marilyn Ballister)

### New Gateway

* The Mad (public)
	+ Short for Madhu Bethlehem Clockwork Factory
	+ Rumors of unethical practices and worker disappearances. No real evidence of wrongdoing.

## Kindred

* Gateway is controlled by the Anarch Movement. It is also home to a few independent Kindred and welcomes the occasional Camarilla visitor. It is situated between the Camarilla cities of Chicago and St. Louis.
* Uncle Carmine was the Baron of Gateway until his disappearance. None of the other city officers have been serving for more than two and a half years. In 1890, a team of four Hunters infiltrated Gateway. They spent months putting down roots and gathering information. On Wednesday, August 20, 1890, they made their move, slaughtering the city officers during the day. They underestimated the security surrounding Uncle Carmine's rooms at the Gentle Landing, however. They escaped the guards, but they didn't make it out of the city before nightfall. On August 21, three of them were found by mortal authorities in the Open Hearts Prayer Center. One had been burned alive in the doorway, and two were mad with fear and had to be restrained and institutionalized. The fourth Hunter was never found. Neither of the surviving Hunters have been able to say anything comprehensible about what happened that night.
* Elysium is located in the Old Manor, owned by Abelie Vargas. It is presumed to be Masquerade safe.
* There is an intense rivalry between Chicago and St. Louis, both Camarilla cities. Gateway is a de facto neutral zone between the two. Both cities are constantly trying to woo the citizens of Gateway to their side while undermining the other, which leaves large portions of Gateway society in a state of flux.

### Customs

* Unlike neighboring Chicago and St. Louis, the Kindred of Gateway do not automatically reject those who choose to follow alternate Paths of Enlightenment. Incompatible morality is up to the individuals to work out.
* The first Baron of Gateway referred to himself as "Uncle", and the current Baron is continuing that practice.
* Like most of the Anarch Movement, the city of Gateway looks harshly on anyone who would deprive others of their freedom. At best, blood bonds are a necessary evil. To some, they are a fate worse than death. Lower level blood bonds are seen as distasteful even when freely given, and anyone who forces a blood bond or holds a full bond will find it difficult to find friends in the city. Keeping ghouls carries a harsh stigma, but it is not grounds for total rejection.
* Most positions are elected by consensus or a vote. The only exception is the Courier, who is appointed by the Uncle.
* It is encouraged, but not mandatory, for visitors to be introduced to the Uncle. If you aren't introduced, you aren't protected.