This is going to take place in Random City, USA. (We can give it a real name if people want, but it doesn't really need to be defined.)
Random City, like many other cities in the US thanks to legalized vampirism, has many vampire owned/employed establishments; it also has a recently started animation company, preternatural catering clubs/establishments, and a preternatural safe haven that doubles as a preternatural Sure, it still is pretty difficult to be a lycanthrope, but it falls right in line with the rest of the country. It's in the Northeast - New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New England area - which, for those of you who are not from the US or are unfamiliar with that environment, means a temperate climate in which you see all four seasons. The winter thaw usually starts in early-mid March, with an average of 55-75 degrees (F) weather in the spring which lasts until about mid-May. At which point, summer takes over and can see temperatures as high as 110 degrees (F) occasionally with droughts or extreme thunderstorms. The drop off from summer to fall can sometimes be rather quick, but fall mimics the spring months temperature wise, growing colder rather than warmer, and in late September to early October, the leaves of the trees begin to change color. Winter thaw sets in usually in mid-November, but the first snow fall could happen anywhere between late October to late December; the temperature rarely exceeds high 40s during the winter, but warm spells reaching as high as the 70s are not unheard of for this region.
The Master of the City oversees all vampire establishments, though The Master does not take profit from any of them except for The Master’s own businesses; The Master merely wants to assure no one is breaking any laws, and has put out a kind request - that has seen brutal punishment when disobeyed - for anyone wishing to open a new business to approach The Master first.
What has been seen as something of a preternatural safe haven exists at the city limits, run by the lycanthrope group - the Blue Rose Pard. It was initially designed as a halfway house for lycanthropes and vampires, but as expanded to cover any and all wayward beings of the preternatural variety - or even normal humans that have simply had too close a brush with the preternatural world and need some protection for a little while.
They will take in any and all that request their help, though lycanthropes that could be part of one of the other groups (at least wolf, rat, and leopard so far) must be willing to acknowledge that being new to the group means they are subordinates to those of the Blue Rose Pard. There are a handful of master vampires here as well, able to lend guidance to younger or weaker wayward vampires. The safe haven is a mansion built to be a fortress, and can completely lock down to protect those within its walls in moments; the Pard will destroy any that mean to hurt those within.
Rumors have it that the Master of the City resides here, though it is unconfirmed.
Because of the difficulty in holding vampires, lycanthropes, or witches in prison pending trial, they are entitled to very little legal process. Once a judge is convinced that a supernatural being has used magic to kill, he or she may issue a warrant of execution without trial.
Supernatural beings are executed within 48 hours of conviction of causing death by magic, without delay or appeal.A number of preternatural actions are illegal or even capital crimes, including:
Vampires using their feeding off a human against their will (with or without hypnosis).Vampires turning a human into a vampire against their will. Vampires turning a minor into a vampire. Lycanthropes intentionally infecting another person, this is always illegal without consent, with consent it varies on a state to state basis. (with consent is okay for the RP)Witches/preternatural humans using their abilities in a malicious way (such as an animator using a zombie to kill someone, or a witch using charms Discrimination against lycanthopes is technically illegal in most states but common in practice. In some Western states, bounties are paid for dead lycanthropes (if proved by a postmortem blood test).
There are several anti-vampire/preternatural groups, each of which seeks to restrict vampire rights by legal means, and sometimes violent action against vampires and other supernatural beings, rather than the legal methods preferred by the first two groups.
As the major city in the region, it has recently started its own police task force to investigate preternatural crime; they investigate preternatural crime not just in the city but most of the cities in their county. Like other cities across the country adopting this task force, it is a low status force mostly filled with people who have upset their superiors, and rarely people that volunteer for it. It is mostly humans, though there is a known lycanthrope (closet lycanthropes may also be in the task force) that works in the task force. They are always looking for police officers (or people looking to become police officers) with preternatural abilities or experience (mostly meaning witches, psychics and other humans with preternatural knowledge). This is called the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team, or RPIT (pronounced rip-it) for short.
There are national groups formed within the last two decades in reaction to preternatural creatures getting rights.
Humans Against Vampires: This group is has been actively trying to get the rights for vampires overturn so they go back to being just another hunted preternatural group like before. They seek non-violent means to do so and although against vampires - they will not harm vampires or helpers, but will do things like graffiti and vandalize vampire owned business, homes, and establishments of people catering/friends with them.
Humans First: This group is a more extreme version of Humans Against Vampires, which was started by people who were once part of HAV and felt their methods to be too tame. They will actually attack vampires, their friends, and others as well as hate mail, petition, and more to get vampires rights taken away. They are also adverse to any and all types of preternatural including lycanthropes and psychic/magical humans. If they had their way, only humans and non-preternatural creatures would be left on earth.
