Boston, Massachusetts

*"Sicut patribus sit Deus nobis (As God was with our fathers, so may He be with us)" -- Boston Motto*

**Boston, Massachusetts** is the capital and most populous city in the state of Massechusetts in the United States. One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston was founded by Puritan settlers from England in 1630.

It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston. Upon US Independence, it continues to be one of the most important ports and cultural centers in the United States.

For a more complete view of Boston, **go here.**

## Overview

**Boston** is the largest city in New England, the capital of the state of Massachusetts, and one of the most historic, wealthy and influential cities in the United States of America. Its plethora of museums, historical sights, and wealth of live performances, all explain why the city gets 16.3 million visitors a year, making it one of the ten most popular tourist locations in the country.

Although not technically in Boston, the neighboring cities of Cambridge and Brookline are functionally integrated with Boston by mass transit and effectively a part of the city. Cambridge, just across the Charles River, is home to Harvard, MIT, local galleries, restaurants, and bars and is an essential addition to any visit to Boston. Brookline is nearly surrounded by Boston and has its own array of restaurants and shopping.

Several historic sites relating to the American Revolution period are preserved as part of the Boston National Historical Park because of the city's prominent role in the conflict. Many are found along the Freedom Trail, which is marked by a red line of bricks embedded in the ground. Several historic sites relating to the American Revolution period are preserved as part of the Boston National Historical Park because of the city's prominent role in the conflict. Many are found along the Freedom Trail, which is marked by a red line of bricks embedded in the ground.

Boston is an extremely diverse city and shares many cultural roots with greater New England, including a dialect of the non-rhotic Eastern New England accent, more commonly known as the Boston Accent and a regional cuisine with a large emphasis on seafood, salt and dairy products.

 Culture

### Parks

Boston's park system is well-reputed nationally. Its 2013 ParkScore ranking tied with **Sacramento** and **San Francisco** for having the third-best park system in the country. Some famous parks include: **Boston Common**, Boston Public Garden and Franklin Park.

### The Arts

Boston has been called "The Athens of Ameirca" (which is also a nickname for Philadelphia) for its literary culture, earning a reputation as "the intellectual capital of the United States". In the nineteenth century, Ralph Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, among others, wrote in Boston. Some consider the Old Corner Bookstore to be the "cradle of American literature"; the place where these writers met and where *The Atlantic Monthly* was first published.

Music is afforded a high degree of civic support in Boston. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is one of the "Big Five"; a group of the greatest American orchestras. Symphony Hall (located west of Back Bay) is home to the orchestra.

### Religion

Boston has been a noted religious center from its earliest days. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston serves nearly 300 parishes and is based in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross (1875) in the South End, while the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts serves just under 200 congregations, with the Cathedral of St. Paul (1819) as its episcopal seat. Unitarian Universalism has its headquarters on Beacon Hill. The oldest church in Boston is **First Church in Boston**, founded in 1630.

## The Supernatural

Boston has been a hot-spot for paranormal activity since before the coming of the Pilgrims. The original inhabitants of what is now known as Boston were the Masschset Indians, 3,000 of whom lived around a Boston Bay that was much larger than the one current residents are familiar with. The 20 small villages around the bay benefited from the presence of an unusually dense network of ley lines, which in turn promoted the formation of Hallows and spirit loci. The flow of energy through the bay was healthy, keeping resonance with stagnant emotional qualities from collecting, resulting in good hunting and long lives among the Massachuset. Witches, Mages, and Skinwalkers alike among the natives took advantage of this good energy.

### Mages

The settling by the Europeans ended the golden period of the Massachuset people, but the powerful focus of magical energy made the city desirable by incoming mages and witches alike. As time passed and the city grew, many disparate mages arrived and spear out north and west, founding communities like "Liberty Hill".

Several mage circles are rumored to exist in the city. While one or more magical families are known to live in Boston, though nobody knows if these whispers are true. If they are true, these groups are so well connected and hidden well enough that several investigations by the Hoffman Institute have yielded no tangible results.

### Werewolves

Werewolves coming in from Ireland also settled here, like many of the Irish. In the earliest days, nearly a dozen disparate packs populated the Boston area, each fighting each other for territory and food. While various packs held dominance over the neighborhoods from time to time, there was never any real cohesion.

#### The Three-Clover Pack

Wars between packs have always been brutal and the werewolves were able to accomplish little because of it. However, one pack has always seemed to stand above the rest--the **Three-Clover Pack**, cousins to **Clan Four-Clover** in **Dublin**. These Irish wolves work as smugglers and have their hands in a number of criminal cookie jars around the Boston metro area, though their territory is centered around Southie.

While always very powerful and influential, the Three-Clovers were not considered to be "werewolf royalty" in the area until August of 1949, when the Alpha initiated a city-wide assault on four of the other major packs in the area. The attack was brutal and bloody, targeting even the wives and children of the other Alphas. The survivors from the four surviving packs swore loyalty to the Three-Clovers, who then threatened similar treatment to any packs who didn't follow suit. Most of the packs in the city didn't want to cross what was now the most powerful wolf in the city, and those who resisted were decimated by the end of the year.

This move also afforded the Three-Clovers the manpower, territory, and resources their newly-acquired packs used to have. This expanded their criminal empire, turning them into the most powerful organized crime family in the city.

In modern times, the Three-Clover pack is one of the few supernatural institutions that exists in the United States. There is an uneasy peace between the werewolves, hunters, and groups like the Hoffman Institute; as long as the Three-Clover don't cross a line, the humans will stay out of it for the most part, in the interests of preventing an all out war.

### Vampires

Surprisingly, Boston has never been a city that was friendly toward vampires. Due to the high concentration of wolves and wizards, vampires found the city too much trouble and left; many settled in Philadelphia or New York City, while many others went south to Virginia, North Carolina, or later to Louisiana or Georgia.

In modern times, vampires are still rare to find in the city. Those who call the city home either know which areas to steer clear from--no vampire goes to Southie and few hunt in Gibborim territory--or find themselves meeting a violently premature end. The most common area in the city to find vampires is in Allston-Brighton.

### Skinwalkers

These shapeshifters were once common in the area and highly respected among the Massachuset people. In modern Boston, they have been practically wiped out, with only a handful remaining, mostly out of obligation or a sense of legacy. They keep a low profile and stay out of werewolf territory; the lycanthropes were among the top of the list of reasons Skinwalkers were hunted to near-extinction in the region.

## Trivia

* **Sam Hudson** and his younger sister, **Lucy Hudson**, were both born in Boston.