After a hiatus due to me moving states, my group is about to re-start our super-hero Fate Accelerated campaign: #SuperZeroes. In true comic book form (especially following in the footsteps of DC comics) we decided to create a fictional city for the characters to inhabit. The city is Bearport, Oregon. The overall city write-up can be read here. As we close in on 2018 (and into the new year), I’m providing more details on each area and its neighborhoods for my players. My hope is that this also gives GMs and groups inspiration for creating areas in their games. The initial area detail belongs to Easton, the oldest and most overtly dangerous part of the city.
In Fate and Fate Accelerated characters and scenes are granted Aspects which can be used to create advantages and disadvantages within the narrative. Larger areas, like districts and neighborhoods of a city have Themes and Threats instead of aspects; these provide the ideas and an overall “feel” for the area, but don’t incorporate any positive or negative impact to dice rolls. For each neighborhood I plan to provide two themes and one threat. Easton, in particular, has darker themes along with their threats as this is the “Gotham” of the city—the area where crime is overt and where darkness metaphorically permeates the landscape. even in daylight.
Easton, or Old Bearport, occupies most of the eastern edge of Bearport, starting at the old docks in Daughton, down through the neighborhoods of Frostfield Heights and Moya Glen, to as far south as the now closed Albright Lumber Mill. Easton is the neglected black eye of the city and where crime has struck the hardest—especially in Daughton. The Russian Mafia, also known as the Bratva, made their stake in the city by entering through Daughton when it was a flourishing port, and though the older port does not do as much business as it used to, the Bratva has not released its territory. Easton is also home to the displaced L.A. gang, the Mimixcoas, and fighting between the two organizations sometimes will catch citizens in the crossfire. That said, Easton is also home to the Bearport Zoo and Shakey’s Arena, where one can watch the city’s Double-0 Derby Dolls dish it out against other roller derby teams.
Daughton
Theme: Every Street Is A Dangerous Alley
Theme: Anything For A Price
Threat: Caught In A Crossfire
Originally Fort Daughton, what is now known as Bearport began its life here as a British fur trading post in the early 1800’s. The fort grew into a town and took its name from the Tillamook area it used to occupy, “Gwaheh Nehus” which roughly translates to “where the bear drinks.” The original stone and mortar shipping yard still stands as a historical monument and the neighborhood it occupies bears the name of the old fort.
Daughton was Bearport’s primary hub through the 1800’s and into the mid-1900’s, but as cars and larger trucks became more commonplace, the use of the port became more and more difficult as many of the twisty, narrow roads were hemmed in by existing buildings, most of which were still in use. Even then, the port was notorious for use by smugglers—especially those taking American goods to Russia to sell in the black market. In 1952, a new port was proposed; a port to the east side of the city and which could more easily grow. In 1963, Opal Port, finished construction and Daughton’s fate was sealed. Though the ports remained active, the rise in criminal activity in the black market and drug trade steadily rose. In the 1980’s Bearport received it’s first taste of international organized crime as the Bratva began using Daughton’s docks for both import and export of illegal goods. They have been there since.
The Bratva uses Daughton as their primary gateway to the Pacific Northwest and northern California as they broker black market goods, weapons, drugs, and slaves. Though plenty of independent crime and smaller, local crime families existed, there was no arguing that the Russian Mafia were the crime lords of Bearport. That was, at least, until 2013 when the L.A.-based gang, the Mimixcoas, migrated to the city. (Why they were displaced from their home city is disputed, but the most prevalent rumor is that they lost too many turf wars in L.A.) Though primarily Hispanic, the Mimixcoas re-grew their forces by accepting those the Bratva would not take: people of color and “alternative lifestyles.” This general re-branding granted the gang enough power to challenge the incumbent organization. Though the Mimixcoas operation was limited to drugs and weapons, their portfolio has recently added bootleg goods to the mix. Territory wars between the Mimixcoas and Bratva are often brutal and bloody, and violence includes gunfire and arson.
The Bearport Police Department has been unable to make much progress in their fight against crime in the Daughton area. They are stymied by the same issues that prevented growth. When every street is more like an alley-way, criminals have plenty of shadowed spaces to do their dealings and escape routes.
Though dark and dangerous, the port and neighborhood is still home to many, especially the smaller business that can’t afford the fees of Opal Port. To some, the protection money and blood is still a smaller price to pay than the fees, taxes, fines, and bureaucracy of the larger harbor. And there is safety to be had in Daughton, if one is escaping more official adversaries or oppression.
Notable Places and Landmarks
- Fort Daughton – The old fort was originally of wooden construction but stone and mortar walls were added as the harbor grew in popularity and use in the 1800’s. This is one of the primary tourist stops for history buffs.
- Fort Daughton Cemetery – If history buffs look to the fort for knowledge, ghost chasers look to the Fort Daughton Cemetery for thrills. The cemetery plots include the pioneers and early traders who died of natural causes, disease, or were killed during the trade wars. The Fort Daughton Cemetery brokers a heavy trade in ghost stories.
- Ursa Avenue – 4 blocks of Ursa Avenue are lined with warehouses. During the afternoon and early evening the warehouses open to become “The Market.” Here, the smaller businesses and artists sell their wares alongside bootleg and black market goods. Those in the know can also find drugs, weapons, or people for sale at “The Market.”
- Crimp Tunnels – Built to move goods from the docks to local hotels and taverns in the 1800’s, the Crimp Tunnels were also used as havens for illegal gambling, trade, and brothels, as well as kidnapping and slavery. Though many of the tunnels have been sealed, there some are open as tourist attractions. And, of course, other tunnels have retained or regained their crime-ridden second purposes.
Frostfield Heights
Theme: Old Paint and Older Scars
Theme: Fighting Back
Threat: The Edge of Collapse
Frostfield Heights is the neighborhood of homes and parks south of the port area known as Daughton. Before the city expanded westward, people would work in Daughton but live in Frostfield Heights. The early history of Bearport saw the British waging war on the Tillamook Native Americans as they expanded their territory. Though it had more peaceful growth in the 1900’s, many still believe the land is cursed. And, if it is, the curse is biting its fangs deep into the district even now.
Where Daughton is often noted for its gang violence, Frostfield Heights’ sorted history includes more personal murders, boasting three serial killers to have inhabited the neighborhood in the past century plus.
Between 1889 and 1910 Millicent “Golden Gravedigger” Danvers operated as a murder-for-profit killer; assassinating suitors, her children, witnesses, and investigators primarily for life insurance money. Reports estimate her body count to be around 30-50 people with her methods varying between poison, arson, and knives. She was arrested in 1910 and committed suicide before going to trial.
In the 1952 another serial killer by the name of Levi Jasper was arrested for 6 murders by axe in the Frostfield area; he confessed to the murder of 33 other victims along his travels as a railroad worker and most evidence corroborates his confessions.
Frostfield Heights was also home to Ray Purvis, the perpetrator of the Albright Mill Massacre, a supervisor who killed 6 and injured 12 before shooting himself in 1993 after the closing of the Albright Lumber Mill was announced.
Despite,or perhaps to spite, the overflow of violence from Daughton and its own bloody history, and even though the buildings show their age (with little construction in the past 40 years), the people who make their homes in Frostfield heights live life boisterously in their neighborhood. Every weekend sees at least one block party or event and there is a tight-knit family feel to the neighborhood.
Notable Places and Landmarks
- Bearport Zoo – Bearport’s only zoo makes its home in the southwest corner of Frostfield heights. While not as large as the Oregon Zoo in Portland, the Bearport Zoo includes not only a petting zoo, but also an Oregon Animal play area, where visitors may get an up close view of native animals like sea otters, steller sea lions, pygmy rabbits, and western pond turtles.
- Shakey’s Arena – In the northern center of the neighborhood is Shakey’s Arena, a smaller sports venue that’s home to the Double-0 Derby Dolls, the city’s premier roller derby league.
- The Murder Tour – Visitors and residents to Bearport who appreciate the macabre may also ride a bus through Frostfield Heights that highlights the serial killers who once lived in the area as well as some of the spots of their murders. The tour does not discuss the earlier history and violence against the Native Americans who once made the land their home.
Moya Glen
Theme: The Grand Expanse That Wasn’t
Theme: Standing Alone
Threat: Monsters In The Basements and Crawlspaces
Moya Glen was developed in the 1920’s with the intention to be a new area for both the workers of the Albright Lumber Mill, as well as the more affluent citizens living in Frostfield Heights. While it attracted the former, the richer inhabitants of Bearport instead migrated to the other new neighborhood of Sunstone.
While it’s never fallen into disrepair or fell prey to the violence of the oldest Bearport neighborhoods, Moya Glen never quite became the next booming area of the city that planners hoped. It was, and remains, a sleepy little neighborhood at the edge of town. It’s still considered part of the city, primarily because public transportation still winds its way from Moya Glen to downtown.
Crime in Moya Glen is low, compared to other areas of Easton, and primarily consists of petty larceny and vandalism. Those in the know, however, do speak of a darker side to the neighborhood, one of alcohol abuse and domestic violence; crimes that often go unreported.
Notable Places and Landmarks
- The Thunderegg Club – One of Moya Glen’s oldest taverns has been a Mecca to the PNW’s blues and jazz bands since it was opened in 1926. Though it’s changed ownership many times over the decades, its doors have never closed for more than a week and it boasts live music nightly for a minimal cover charge.
- Tillamook Art and History Museum – As if to apologize for the sins of its ancestors, Bearport established the Tillamook Art and History Museum in 1978. The museum details the history of the natives and showcases both ancient and modern art of the Tillamook people.
Albright Lumber Mill
Theme: The Abandoned
Theme: Snakes And Splinters
Threat: What Lurks In The Darkness
Albright Lumber Mill was established by Mortimer Albright and the Albright Family in 1918 to accommodate growth not just for the city, but the surrounding area. The mill included a small living camp, where many of its workers could rest or sleep, allowing the workers the “opportunity” to work multiple shifts. The camp also originally included a cafeteria and store. Both the camp as well as the goods provided to workers were paid for out of the wages of the workers, often reducing their paychecks to scraps.
In 1937, Lucy Albright took control of her father’s estate and ended the practice of what she deemed indentured servitude and not only reduced the prices in the company store, but also made the camp and cafeteria free for the mill workers. She introduced pensions to the payment structure. In her will she granted shares to the Albright Company to not only the supervisors, but all long-term workers. Lucy Albright passed away in 1956, leaving behind no direct heirs to the family name.
The mill operated successfully until the late 1980’s, but due to shareholder infighting and lack of technological improvement they could not compete with more recent lumber mills like Heron Logging in the east. In 1993 the mill announced it would be closing its doors, leading to the Albright Mill Massacre committed by then supervisor Ray Purvis, who used an automatic weapon, firing at co-workers, killing 6 injuring 12 more before taking his own life.
The lumber mill has been closed for almost 25 years, and while the buildings still stand, most of the windows have been smashed by nature or vandals, and modern graffiti is the only sign that human life even visits. The place is more at home to rattlesnakes, ticks, scorpions, spiders, and the occasional cougar.
Notable Places and Landmarks
- The Old Mill – For those willing to skirt the law and brave the dangers that the wilderness returned to the area, the Albright Lumber Mill buildings still stand and much of the equipment, though broken and rusted, still sits in cobwebs and shadows.
- Lucy Albright Memorial – While technically in the southeast corner of Moya Glen, the citizens of Bearport see the Lucy Albright Memorial as the last living extension of the Albright Lumber Mill and Albright family. The memorial includes a museum of the Albright family archive, dating back to their origins in Austria, as well as a history of the mill itself.
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