Five Years Later...

[undergroundmods]

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A lot can change in five years. Students who were at Redbright have now started their careers. People have moved out, moved in, started a new life together or apart. Some move on from the city while others return to it. But while the lives of its residents continue to grow and change, London remains as it has ever been: a focal point for magical power.

A tentative peace
The last five years have not been without conflict, both internal and external. The vampires have played with the politics of in-fighting and backstabbing. The werewolves have overthrown their leader and chosen a new alpha. The witches have suffered one scandal after another. And the fae have quietly engineered a small change here, a personal revenge there, until finally with Redbright and Hillingdon acting as neutral parties a peace agreement was reached between Circle Daybreak, the Islington Nest and the East End Pack. Their territories are still beholden to the same rules (e.g. vampires are still forbidden to enter East End territory and vice versa) but they are no longer in open conflict. Small steps, perhaps, but positive ones.

A delicate balance
The year is 2022. The balance of power in the city is now evenly split between the East End Pack, Islington Nest and Circle Daybreak, thanks largely to the rise of the werewolves and the new President Laura Roslin who simultaneously holds the post of Werewolf Representative.

Samantha Okeke lost her position as Witch Representative following allegations of corruption, and has been replaced by Diphylleia "Dee" Absin, a much more co-operative member of the Night Council. While Samantha has retained her title of Mother of Witches, there are rumours that she lost her powers during a confrontation with a powerful fae. Circle Daybreak firmly denies all such speculation.

The connections between the Redbright Institute and the Hillingdon Clan have grown stronger since the former is now perceived to be a more neutral force rather than tied to the Night Council, although Hillingdon certainly still has the less clean-cut image of the two.

Meanwhile, the Seelie and Unseelie Court have largely withdrawn from public life in the mortal realm except in isolated corners, though they claim the right to go where they please throughout the city. Consequently, there are no barriers preventing travel between the realms, which seems for now to be an acceptable compromise.

And after all, politics is the art of compromise.

Looking ahead
All in all, the vampire and fae presence in the city has reduced as the vampires move around and the fae decide that if they're invited it can't be that great a party anyway. The number of witches has recovered thanks to an amnesty allowing those who were once members of Circle Midnight to return (though the faction itself has not reappeared).

The biggest change that has been noticed first by staff at the Redbright Institute however is the increasing number of meta humans, in particular young meta humans, being discovered in the city. Often these are humans with no knowledge of the supernatural developing their powers for the first time. The reason why has yet to be discovered...

Comments

[cabins]

It has been an honor to watch Girl grow up and change. Laura's always had a soft spot for the young woman, happy to speak to her whenever she was in the Den. Which, despite being president, was quite often. Not her fault she also happened to be the Alpha.

Whoops.

"Girl!" Laura says warmly the second she sees her at the bar. Most people here don't see why this is a big deal. Just some weird American greeting the bartender in a probably rude way. Good thing Laura doesn't give a shit.

Gosh, she was proud of Girl. She was proud of all her students. Students, and her pack.

[thelastjoy]

The soft spot is returned, obvious in the way Girl brightens when she notices Laura has walked in. She's always had a healthy respect for the idea of an Alpha, always more so for the idea of a woman in that place after all the stories she'd heard of her mother. But respect and fondness were different beasts; she'd never been warm towards Kathrine in the way she could be with Laura. It inspires a fiercer kind of loyalty.

She makes her way to Laura, shot of vodka in hand that she sits in front of the Alpha. If anyone is going to get something on the house from Girl, it's someone from the pack. And now that she had legal means to give away alcohol, she took every opportunity to keep teasing Laura. "Thirsty?" Girl chirps, grin impish.

[cabins]

Laura had long ago learned that Girl was never going to forget their conversation in the park the day Laura went and got herself cursed. But she'd given up trying to dissuade her- it got her free shots.

And let her tell you: after a day as President of the Night Council? You needed all the shots you could get.

"Am I ever. How are you doing, Girl?"

[thelastjoy]

Once Girl sunk her teeth into something, she held on stubbornly. Naturally she'd remember something like this instead of anything from school. She had her priorities.

"Huh. Bad day dryin' you out?" She kept her tone casual, but there was interest in her eyes. It had taken a few years for her to care about the political sphere of the city, but with Laura in charge, Girl had become just a little fascinated.

"Ya know, same as always. Good. Bored. Still annoyed none of the strays 'round here will ever follow me home."

[cabins]

Laura chuckles, shaking her auburn hair just a little with the gesture.

"It's politics- we don't really do good days." She had wanted to avoid politics, when she moved to London. But apparently the gods had had other plans for her, and here she was, the fraking President.

"They'll come around. Try leaving out food for them, maybe?"

[thelastjoy]

"You have to have days that are better than others," she reasons. Girl knows Laura works hard, and for good reason, but that doesn't stop her from frowning. "You allowed to talk 'bout it?"

She wrinkles her nose, sigh wistfully. "I keep tryin' that. It's the gettin' them to come in part that stops me. Guess I'm just stuck findin' dates who already have cats."