Editing Bridging the Divide (section)

=Pitch=
'''''San Francisco is a city divided.'''''

''A city barely 200 years old,'' but one deeply conscious of the many facets of its history. Built from waves of settlers driven by hope, hope for refuge or for profit. Some found their hopes fulfilled, others were disillusioned, but all formed a part of the city's culture. Lacquering upon those who came before, like a pearl growing layer by layer. Those cultures co-exist, but not always peacefully or simply. A city perpetually in transition. Neighborhoods are perpetually in flux, transformed by new inhabitants and the whims of city planning. A volatile economy decays and swells with the transformations of technology, disturbing the city order. A tightly packed city, one of the smallest major cities in the US by size, but one of the most densely populated.

''These are reflected in the shadow world of the supernatural.'' Each wave of settlers has brought its own company of beings beyond the merely human, and they do not rub elbows with any more ease than their mortal companions. Changeling and mage and vampire watch each other warily, conscious of their territories but too busy of their internal struggles with new generations of their own kind to lash out. Domains remake themselves in the wake of power struggles, and new secrets emerge into the light. 

''Above all, San Francisco is a city divided by its very nature, for it is a city which resists power.'' Whether it is a reflection of the human culture within it, some sort of supernal reflection of the geological divide underpinning the city, or more mysterious in origin, no hand ever rests steadily on the reins of power within the city. Those who hold power too long inevitably fall, frequently leaving chaos in their wake, and each supernatural community must grapple with this reality in their own way.

For the Mages, this has evolved into an elaborate yet subtle game. Rather than assume too much authority, and risk their own destruction, the most powerful among the Wise of San Francisco prefer to work through proxies. While they may not hold the positions of rulership themselves, they pull the strings. Or so they would believe, but it is rare that those pawns do not have ambitions of their own. The game is particularly tense at this point in time, as the Hierarch of the city has vanished, and the power vacuum left behind is only beginning to fill. The movers and shakers jostle to put their own people in position, but there is no time for leisure. San Francisco is the site of a simmering detente between the Pentacle Orders and the Iron Throne, and the Seers have been consolidating their own grasp on the outer portions of the Bay Area. San Jose is almost entirely their domain, and the Pentacle find themselves being herded into ever tighter confines. They can hope that their opponents are themselves divided, but while downfall is assured for those in power the time of its coming is uncertain. 

'''Into this turmoil of politics, secrets, and the arcane, a new cabal will be thrown. Hopefully they can survive.'''