Important Details About the Arcane Town of Redbower: Part 2
I’ve told you a bit about The Village district in Redbower so now it’s time to talk about The Lights. As you can imagine it’s quite different from the original part of the town.
The vampires have lived at the edge of town since it was first created but it wasn’t until electricity reached Redbower that they decided it was time they designed and built their own space. They wanted something to rule over, to govern, but at the same time, they weren’t ready to give up the security of Redbower itself.
Vampires like cities rather than towns and they built The Lights to resemble some of the cities they’d seen on their travels. Vampires like to travel. I’m generalizing I know and there’s always an exception to every rule but it’s true that the vampires of Redbower didn’t really settle down there until The Lights was established.
It looks as flashy as you would expect any vampire hangout to be. It’s quite dead (see what I did there?) during the day, but at night, well, that’s when the excitement happens. And when I say excitement, I really mean danger. No human in their right mind would go wandering about The Lights at night time. No witch or werewolf either.
Let’s take a quick tour of The Lights
When you come to the end of Archive Street in The Village you meet Radu Street. It’s unofficially known as the border to The Lights. The first thing you’ll notice is the Elder’s Council building. You can’t miss it, it’s huge. The Elders live in apartments behind it with a courtyard, complete with fountain in between the two blocks. It’s all as palatial as you’d expect.
On the right side of the Elder’s Council building there’s business offices and right by the river is a block of apartments. There’s actually a handful of humans living in those apartments but they’re all well aware that vampires exist and know how to keep themselves safe.
On the left side of the council building is Main street. That’s where you’ll find The Quill & Query and a few other businesses. There’s a coffee bar that serves blood along with coffee and a few pastry treats. Vampires can’t eat them of course, but the cafe’s open during the day for visitors. Most of the businesses on Main Street are open 24 hours a day for any humans that want to venture out there.
On the next block over is where the nightlife really kicks off. There’s nightclubs, bars, and restaurants. Even though vampires don’t eat food, they enjoy the whole ambience of a quality restaurant and they do have exotic bloods and mixtures to drink. Vampires can drink alcohol but it doesn’t really have an effect on them. Many deals have been negotiated and concluded in the restaurants of Redbower.
On the edge of The Lights, near the forest, is more vampire housing. This is where the mansions are. Of course, many traditionalist vampires like to dwell in crypts in the graveyard at the end of The Village and there’s probably a few more living in dugouts in the forest. Away from the werewolves, of course.
Vampires don’t like werewolves and they really don’t like witches. To be honest, they’re not really keen on each other. I have to wonder if the reason the Arcane Guild can’t make a decision about coming out is because of how unapproachable the vampires are. That, and the constant turf wars that break out.
Are they monsters or are they still partly human?
That’s a question I get asked a lot. The vampires in Redbower are more monsterlike than human. Most of them have lived so long on top of the food chain that they’ve forgotten what it’s like to be human. They’re very dramatic creatures, suspicious and remarkably self-absorbed. They don’t like to deal with emotions even though they can be violently passionate.They like to scheme, to plot and to plan and they love to make a good deal. But mostly, they like to have their own needs met. Immediately.
Again, there’s always the exceptions to every rule and some of the vampires in Redbower are staunch supporters of the revealment movement. They’re the ones that do a good job of mimicking human traits and behavior but whether or not they genuinely still feel human at all, is anyone’s guess.
And no, in case you’re wondering, none of them sparkle. They growl, hiss, fight and bite, but they definitely don’t sparkle. Make no mistake, vampires are dangerous. No matter how perfect and composed they look.
I think I’ve covered the highlights and lowlights of Redbower now. Feel free to comment below if you have any questions. I’m particularly fond of Redbower and I love talking about it! But, of course, that’s easy for me to say, I don’t live there.
