WoD Europe:Mage Bergen

By: (Somebody Else) - [Disclaimer: This setting supplement for Mage: The Awakening is unofficial, and not endorsed by White Wolf in any way, fashion or form. Any characters and factions that do not exist in real life, and which I didn't invent out of whole cloth, belong to them. It is available free of charge to everybody, on the condition that they not attempt to profit from it. This document is a work of fiction based on reality, and should not be regarded as factual. Use your common sense - ain't no such thing as vampires or mages.]

Bergen, Norway - population of some 250,000, most known for its cold wind and rain. This city, and this country, represent an unusual setting for your Mage: The Awakening chronicle, with some interesting challenges for Storytellers, players and characters alike.

Bergen is a city of cold wind and rain, where the architect's and the city planner's greatest challenge is to secure their creations against the downpour. It's a city of loud, outspoken people mixed with immigrants of every nationality, including those from their own country; a city with a dark and vicious history, filled with bloodshed, pain, and disaster, wherein the Black Death found its first purchase on Norwegian soil, a city which has thrown off these tormentors but is not unmarked. In the modern era, this city has all but forgotten the ancient conflicts and alliances which molded it into its current form. But not completely.

Here, Sleepers rub shoulders with the Awakened in the secure knowledge that the horrors of the world are far, far away, while under their very feet meet the emergency committees to prepare for the Coming Storm.

This book will provide you with the tools necessary to create or play in a chronicle set in this city, geared towards a game of Mage: The Awakening, and will detail three main aspects of Bergen: The mundane Bergen, as it exists outside the World of Darkness; Awakened Bergen, with structure and society explained; and the rest of Supernatural Bergen, with additional personages and factions. It's important to note that the contents of the latter category are entirely optional, and exist in order to provide the Storyteller with options for her chronicle - their entries are entirely self-contained, and will not be referenced elsewhere. Consider them to be samples, if you are so inclined.

Fact

Norway

Norway was settled millenia ago by two distinctive peoples, who would become the Norwegians and the Saami. It is a constitutional monarchy wherein the royalty has little to no power, legally and in practice, where the royal family is the only vestige of aristocracy left, and the Parliament – Storting in Oslo provides the actual government.

Today, the Norwegian number some 4.5 million people, stretched across some 385.000 square kilometers – some 12 Norwegians per square kilometer, putting Norway's population density in the lowest 20% worldwide. This, coupled with the generally mountainous and nigh-intraversible terrain, has had a profound effect on the Norwegian psyche – lending itself to a certain introversion of expression, and the overcomsumption of alcohol, since when you only see even your closest neighbour on Sundays you will probably take up every opportunity for a good party.

Oil was struck in 1969, turning Norway from one of Europe's poorest countries to one of the world's richest practically overnight, another facet of the modern Norwegian mentality, which couples the decadence of the nouveaux-riches with the solidarity and stolidity of generations of farmers and fishermen. It's a country where summers are cool and short, and winters cold and long, and where the sea still claims more than its fair share of lives, but also a country where the extensive social service system ensures that everyone has access to the resources required to lead a decent life, and not just existence. Norway may top the UN's list of best quality of life year after year, but do not let that fool you: Where the light shines the brightest, the shadows are the darkest, and somebody always falls between the cracks.

Bergen – The City Between The Seven Mountains

Most famous for its rain, Bergen is notably not famous for its snow – which really explains quite a bit about the climate. Winters are mild and summers often cool, with both strong winds and rain in both seasons. Boasting a population of 250.000, the city has a very long history, having been founded in 1070. The city itself is located in the south-western part of Norway, and occupies most of the Bergen peninsula, but also stretching beyond that in places. It is the administrative center of Hordaland, one of Norway's 19 fylker – the largest administrative unit below the national government – and has also been, for a brief time, capital city of Norway. It is sheltered from the North Sea by the islands Askøy, Holnsøy and Sotra, and is surrounded by the seven mountains of Lyderhorn, Damsgårdsfjellet, Løvstakken, Ulriken, Fløyen, Rundemannen, and Sandviksfjellet. It and the surrounding area also forms its own municipality (Or kommune).

Theme

The main theme is ancient secrets - Bergen is a city with a long history, and much of that is unknown to Sleepers. Quite a bit of it is only hinted at even in the annals of the most learned Mages. Such dark happenings as witch burnings, city fires. and plagues have all carried deeper secrets, for though a disaster is sometimes just a disaster, quite often the secrets of history are of a darker nature; for, in the World of Darkness, the secrets of the past cast dark shadows indeed. It is quite likely that more than a few secrets of mind-boggling nature and immense danger remain.

The ancient stories of fickle creatures dwelling beneath the hills, slaying the unwary; warriors charging into battle wearing the pelt of a wolf; dead fishermen returning in broken boats, helping sailors in need and killing those not; the suspicions of consorting with less-than-savory powers which led so many to die in flames; strange hermits with the power of stopping the flow of blood from any wound, no matter how severe, with a mere prayer - were all these merely myths and superstitions... or did the ancestors know something we didn't, feel something we can't?

Mood

The mood is that of bracing for the storm - recent events have brought Bergen to the center of attention for parts of the international supernatural communities quite abrubptly, and there are quite a few factions out there that want a piece of what's been built up there - Mages, Hunters, as well as other... things are stirring, aiming for the Awakened of Bergen. The storm is coming. And the Awakened leadership of Bergen are not ready for it.

But do all threats truly come from without?

Geography

Area 2

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