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Dresden Files RPG, Springfield - The Obscurely Ostentatious Ozarkian Obelisk.

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FuzzyDan:
Alright, assuming that some retooling of my work schedule goes off as planned I have been lobbying to run DFRPG for the RPPR crew set in our own hometown where the PCs work for/with an organization with a base of operations in Hammons Tower.

Summary

Springfield, Missouri, the third largest city in the state, is quite small by national standards.  It is a college town and the national headquarters of the Assemblies of God.  It is a place where the business world rubs against the rural.  It is a town in conflict with itself every day, and the general public is unaware of the day-to-day goings on of the behind-the-scenes.  The area is full of history and folklore about its past, some of it is dismissed as "just a story," while others are found to be horrifically true.

I'm here to tell you the "stores" can be just as horrific as the "truth."

I am Mirra Glass.  You may call me Ms. Glass, or Director Glass.  You survival as a field agent diminishes significantly if I hear you referring to me as Mirror Glass.  If you are not a field agent at that point, you may find yourself immediately transferred to such a position and rushed to a hotspot.  You have joined the Obelisk in order to aid our efforts in keeping the Supernatural Predators of the world from causing undo harm to the good people of this region.  From vampires, werebeasts, and warlocks to the run-of-the-mill exorcism or demon hunt, all of these types of threats have hounded Springfield for generations.  However, we find ourselves with sightings and events happening at an ever-increasing rate.  Our People in R&D have offered three different theories as to why this is going on.  They thought they would be clever and give them fun names, but don't get attached to throwing them about the office.

I.  "Big City Livin', Small Town Values."  The city of Springfield wages a war against its own identity.  Have you looked at national election maps?  In a sea of red voters, this town is a varying shade of purple depending on the year.  You have a bar for every church that shuns drinking.  You have a people clamoring for individual rights but voted to keep a smoking ban in place.  College campuses keep rocking the boat on the towns social norms.  Springfield is growing and inadvertently drifting out of being rural and becoming more urban.  Urban areas tend to hide some of the nastier Supernatural entities better, but the more concentrated population puts more eyes upon them.  It is said that some organizations are vying for a foothold for when the town has its next population explosion.  Others think that this inherent conflict of humanity is sending a signal to the Predators that this herd is prone to infighting and thus weaker, making it more attractive. 

II.  "Ozark Ectoplasmic Oil Boom."  Some say that the worst consequences are the unintended ones.  Springfield's flow of traffic is one of them.  As it happens, the major roads that border the town run a close parallel or right on top of every major leyline in the area.  Over the years, the "efficient" gridwork of the city roads has connected all these major roads together beyond just their normal intersections.  Since the leylines themselves similarly do not intersect so close together, Springfield has not been a true supernatural nexus.  However, this traffic grid has finally intertwined these lines and redirected them to the small pockets of power that dwell within the city proper.  This whole has become much greater than the sum of its parts and the latent magic in the air has spiked dramatically.  As such, this Grid has artificially created a nexus point and wellspring that any Supernatural Half-wit wanting to make a name for themselves desperately wants to tap.  Not to mention any and all of the other pocket of power that have lain unnoticed until recently.

III.  "Our Faith is Failing, but we'll never admit it."  My mentor in the supernatural taught me long ago that True Faith can ward off the majority of Supernatural Threats.  Some of our contacts in the ParaNet have stated that setting up wards in this area used to be incredibly easy.  It was as if the dominence of Christianity in this area had so permeated the ground that anything that would run from such faith had simply decided to hunt elsewhere.  The AG headquarters and the James River Assembly may frustrate some, but frankly, if their faith has been keeping the baddies at bay, I'll gladly deal with a protest full of close-minded religious zealot over a fully-manifested demon any day.  However, within the last decade that natural foundation has been growing less stable, the natural wards of Faith are becoming less secure while Pastors clamor for a larger share of growing congregations.  For whatever reason, the dam they have built is cracking, and if we can't do anything to fortify the City, we need a plan for when the day when the Walls Finally Come A'Tumblin Down.

That's enough of the Introduction.  We have some long-time Members and Allies of Obelisk here, please introduce yourselves to the new Associates and they will introduce themselves in turn.  Who wants to go first?

Cthuluzord:
I want to play in this game so bad it makes my teeth vibrate.

PaperGangster:
I'm with Caleb on this.  Dan, you glorious man, you had me at the alliteration.

edwardian_adventurer:
I think this is the best analysis of Springfield that I have ever read.

clockworkjoe:
well i'll play the guy who doesn't know shit about the supernatural but has bizarre luck or some dumb power like that  8)

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