Bishop City
"City of Industry... City of Smoke."
Contents
History
Ask anyone that lives in Bishop City and they will describe it as a rotting Cesspool.
It was founded in 1658, by English Refugees ironically freeing the increasingly aggressive Puritan Rule under Oliver Cromwell. Landing in what would become Maine in the United States, it quickly began to fail economically. It lacked strong leadership as it was simply a group of Anglican and Arminian Refugees, instead established by a set of four, powerful and power-craving families: The Founding Fathers. They named it after that which they sought to defend, Bishops in the Church of England. Soon after, in the 1700s, the city had fallen on even harder times - it was easily adopted as a go-between location for recently unemployed Privateers - Pirates, trading between Canada and the Pirate Republic of Nassau in the 1720s. This brought some livelihood to the City with pirate ships passing through Bishop Bay. Even if it was highly criminal and poorly organised business, dragging the City even further into depravity. After the collapse of the Pirate Republic in 1722, business for Bishop City all but dried up, with the disenfranchised and poor turning to the Founding Fathers for help.
The Fathers, in a rare display of charitability, funded the city through these hard times, at the expense of their own fortunes - all part of a longer gambit, the inhabitants were now totally loyal to the Founding Fathers, all administration and judicial management was under their shadowy hand. Something which paid off with the start of the Industrial Revolution, when the Fathers set up extensive coal mines just outside the cities, replenishing their fortunes and coffers almost overnight. The rich wealth of Industrial resources brought immigrants flooding to the city, beginning an aggressive expansion which could not be controlled, setting up many of the poor areas of the city you see today. With a seemingly inexhaustible workforce at their disposal, the Founding Fathers had drained the areas around Bishop City dry of their resources by the end of the century.
Faced with no viable source of income in the modern economy, crime got involved for the first time ever. The Founding Fathers entered into "The Pact", designating a criminal industry for each of the families, which would also guide their economic development throughout history, and gradually bring all of the city's crime under the watchful eye of the Founding Fathers.:
- To the Summers went Industry and Weapons trade.
- To the Brookhyders went Entertainment and Human Trafficking.
- To the Hydes went Shipping and Drug Trafficking.
- To the Wilmots went Banking and Criminal Financing.
The Summers had a particularly sketchy record through the next century, with vague evidence connecting their industries to the Nazis, secretly supplying them with weapons to use against the allies, whilst also funding the Allies, playing both sides for their own gain. This established the Summers as the dominant family, a position they have retained, despite their close contender in the Brookhyders, with the two private armies frequently clashing over the ensuing decades.
With the 1980s, something changed in Bishop City, a hero appeared: Blackflight. This shook up the power balance between the Founding Fathers and regular criminals, with some criminals feeling bold enough to step away from the Founding Fathers sinister influence, like the Sideshow Syndicate or the Clergy of Blood - each having set up their own strongholds in the City. Blackflight began to slow dismantling of organised crime in the city, almost eradicating it all until he simply disappeared in the sullen year after the Battle of Detroit.
With Blackflight's disappearance, the power balance remained forever damaged, but the Founding Fathers still retained the dominant influence over the city. But, in the interfering years, philanthropic ventures have been set up, aimed at making life better for the people of Bishop City - such as the establishment of Hope Plaza by John Summers.
As of 2015, the Blackflight has supposedly reappeared, making city headlines yet again...
Geography
Bishop City is located in the US State of Maine (For fiction's sake, it is larger than Portland). It is a coastal city, actually established mainly on a peninsula in Bishop Bay, stretching to suburbs through the famous Bishop Bridge, a large suspension bridge extending over Bishop Bay. On the other side of the Bridge lies the airport and suburb areas. The total area of the city, including the bay area, is 1200km/sq. Technically, Bishop City sits on an island, with erosion having carved the peninsula away from the mainly land, with a very small stretch of water separating it - this area is bridged by Founders Bridge.
Laud Memorial Park
Named after British Archbishop William Laud, the park was originally meant to be a well-maintained green spot in the middle of the city. That lasted for approximately twenty years, until the Industrial Revolution set in. Whilst it looks comparatively nice compared to the rest of the city, the park is still rather poorly maintained and badly looked after. It's the hangout of bad youths out to score some drugs. Normal people to also visit the park, looking for respite from the day-to-day life in city. As such, during the day one can encounter dog-walkers, joggers and such like. Crime is less prevalent during the day, and it can actually act as a nice, romantic hangout during the Summer.
The park is a centerpoint in the city, with the famed Corporation towers bordering each side of the park. Hyde Shipping to the North, Summers Industrials to the East, Brookhyder Entertainment to the South and Wilmot Banking to the West. The towers are rather awe-inspiring to look at, making the area somewhat of a tourist spot.
The Avenue of Progress
The Avenue of Progress is the judicial heart of Bishop City.
Located in the East, in Wilmot territory, it forms of the Central Business District of the City. Crime is all-but non-existent here. Landmarks include City Hall, the Police Headquarters, the Star Chamber Courthouse and Wilmot Banking Tower. The streets are also lined with numerous high-end shops and restaurants, tailored towards the Middle Class workers that occupy the area, as well as tourists looking for the shopping areas of the City. Police are actually effective in this district, compared to others.
There is housing in the Avenue of Progress, along the sides there are Middle Class apartment blocks for those that can afford it, forming a commutable distance for workers that form up the judicial and administrative work force in the City; many are dedicated to their jobs, but corruption is rife in this area.
Summers Manor
Summers Manor is the ancestral home of the Summers Family in Aristo Hills, known for its lavish parties and intricate layout - as well as being the pinnacle of wealth within the city, a product of the Summers' successful industrial business. It is currently occupied by the Elderly Mary Summers and James Summers, warming into the old age with a veritable army of servants. John Summers, wealthy Bishop City Socialite, does not actively live in the house, preferring to remain in the City. But he does visit it for parties and other social functions.
Brookhyder Tower
Brookhyder Tower is a large tower overlooking Laud Memorial Park and Hope Plaza, plastered with video screens - it is a media focal point in the city, with films and news alerts streaming through it all the time, it's similar to Times Square in New York City.
It's also the headquarters of Brookhyder Entertainment, forming the managerial offices and a front for criminal activities, with smugglers frequently coming into the tower under the guise of business. It is an instantly recognisable, bright part of the Bishop City Skyline, appearing on many postcards as the tallest, flashiest building in Bishop City.
Club Hightop
Club Hightop is Bishop City's answer to Club Caprice.
Located at the top of Hightop Tower, entrance being available only to the absolute highest of Bishop City society. It is known for its original cocktails and high quality of service, as well as its astounding views of the city due to its spherical shape. Whilst not being exclusive to superheroes, as there are very few in Bishop City, it -is- exclusive to the high society of the City - having to be a visitor or person of substance to even make it past the bouncers, much less the first floor.
The Irish Quarter
Given the early links to English Catholicism, Bishop City was surprisingly welcoming towards Irish Catholics, who fled oppression under the English protectorate. Nestled between Industrial Mile and the Stuart Improvement District, many of the Irish immigrants are working class factory-men; of a higher social status than their contemporaries on each side of the Quarter. Crime-wise, the Irish Quarter had always remained separate from the rule of the Founding Fathers, part of a deal struck in the early years of the City. The Irish Quarter has its own Crime Family - the Buckley Crime Family, almost as old as the Founding Fathers themselves, but restricted entirely to the Irish Quarter itself.
The Buckley Family actually acts as a strange form of informant for Blackflight, offering him information on other criminal movements in exchange for him not completely decimating their criminal businesses. An arrangement that seems to work... For now.
Bishop International Airport
Bishop International Airport is the main airport located just across Bishop Bridge, it is high-tech and lavish; the completely opposite of most of the City. Upon crossing Bishop Bridge, most shuttle buses will take people from the airport straight to Showtime Walk, blocking out most of the deprived areas of the City, in favour of showing the flashy and upper class areas.
Security in Bishop International Airport was stepped up in 2006, when the Sideshow Syndicate decided to storm in and perform a violent massacre of many tourists, sending the tourism industry of Bishop City plummeting for over a year. No other terrorist attacks have ever been report on the Airport, crime is minimal and tightly controlled by the Brookhyder and Hyde families, who rely on the airport for their commerce.
Funtime Pier
Funtime Pier is an abandoned amusement park, underneath the Bishop Suspension Bridge. It's the Stronghold fortress of the Sideshow Syndicate, fashioning their own caste-based society within it. Crime is rife here in it being an illegal settlement comprised entirely of the poor and destitute, as well as Psychopaths and murderers. People don't travel down there by choice, and very few will walk out again.
Hope Plaza
Hope Plaza is the result of Philanthropic efforts by John Summers to make the City a nicer place. It hasn't been corrupted yet, but then again it is fairly new. It is a modern recreation square, flashy and new; comparable to areas such as the Renaissance Centre in Millennium City or Times Square in New York. It is currently 15 years old and draws many tourists. It is located in the entertainment districts in the South of the City, a fairly upper class area of the city. The area does what its namesake suggests, gives hope to the non-criminal, downtrodden citizens in the city, as well as providing a major source of tourism income and entertainment, frequently hosting music gigs, parades and other shows for the benefit of whomever is around - all largely funded by John Summers and Brookhyder Entertainment.
Showtime Walk
Showtime Walk is located in the South of the City, stretching from Brookhyder Tower all the way to the Southern Waterfront, owned almost in its entirety by the Brookhyder Family, save for Hope Plaza.
The area encompasses several city blocks worth of hotels, cinemas, bars, strip clubs and other forms of entertainment; including the Bishop Doves Football Stadium. The area also encompasses the South Docks, filled with ferries and showboats pulling into the city filled with richer tourists to bring tourism income, leading the tourists into the flashy, tourism sector of the city.
Crime in this sector is actually fairly light, really only petty crime by desperate scum drifting in from other areas. The Brookhyders deliberately keep crime down in order to encourage repeat visits from tourists, thereby boosting their income. Discreetly, they also manage human trafficking in the same area - using it to fill out the backrooms of their strip clubs for clients willing to pay that bit extra.
Stuart Improvement District
Formerly known as the Stuart Housing District.
It's named after Charles Stuart, deposed king of England. It was supposed to be a middle-class housing area, before construction of the area was abandoned. The area is now a lower-class slum, compared to the Court of Miracles from 18th Century France. It was here that Ringleader managed to form the original Sideshow Syndicate, which is now based in the nearby Funtime Pier, underneath Bishop Bridge. Only the poor and destitute live here now.
Recent years have seen the area renamed the Stuart Improvement District, with efforts spearheaded by Summers Industrials and Brookhyder Entertainment to redesign the area into a modern, lavish housing area - possibly as an attempt to strike back at the Sideshow Syndicate and stop the area hanging open like a wound on their pride and their city.
Aristo Hills
Aristo Hills. It doesn't take a genius to realise that Aristo is a contraction of "Aristocrat". It is the aristocratic area of the City, located on the Northern outskirts of the city, very few people manage to live this far outside the city due to financial issues. A signature landmark is Summers Manor, on the top of the hill, overlooking the 'glittering' city.
Crime is usually almost entirely absent from this area; no criminals are brave enough to try and raid the houses of any families that live on Aristo Hills. Besides, they're too far out of the way for it to be lucrative.
Industry Mile
Industry Mile is, as the name implies, the Industrial Centre of Bishop City. Stretching from just East of Summers Tower, all the way to the waterfront in Bishop Bay.
All manufactured goods are produced within the area by Summers Industrials, with various specialised factories dominating the landscape. It is also home to low-rent housing for the workers that live near it. The working conditions in the factories are largely sub-standard with the workers also being paid very little for their jobs. Each factory is overseen by a Summers Family Enforcer, who also manages the illegal activities that the Summers Family also indulges in.
Health facilities are sorely lacking in the area, but they are present. The subpar Bishop Bay General Hospital is located near the docklands, but it is typically visited as a move of desperation rather than a first line of intervention, as it is currently sorely underfunded.
The East Docklands of Bishop City are also located in this area, with shipping connections to other states along the Eastern Seaboard and worldwide.
Crime is rife in Industrial Mile, both organised and petty, as a result of the sheer deprivation in the area. Health problems, mostly connected to respiratory issues, are also higher in this area of the city, simply as a result of the smokestacks and lack of environmental control in the area.
Notable Citizens
John Summers - He's wealthy, flirty and a philanthropist. John Summers is considered one of few "White Knights" in Bishop City, running several charitable endeavours in his later years. In his 20s, he was a renowned, irresponsible playboy among the Bishop City tabloids, often making headlines for his reckless antics. Heir to the Summers Industrials fortune, he currently sits as a board member, acting as their representative to other companies for deals and production contracts. He always seemed odd among his fellow socialites, seeming to somewhat care for the city. Nonetheless, his family connections have left him subject to scorn from the particularly downtrodden throughout his life.
In the 1970s, he was involved in a well known kidnapping, taken from his family on his 15th birthday by apparently anonymous kidnappers, only to be later saved by his family's well-armed bodyguard group. None of the kidnappers survived. What the public didn't know was that this was a power play between the Founding Fathers; the experience opened the young John Summers' eyes to the true extent of crime in his city; he left the city shortly after.
Upon his return, he was greeted with much fanfare and news exposure, integrating into the party scene. What people didn't know was that John had been training to save his city; training to become the vigilante Blackflight - a secret still unknown to this day.
Ever since the Battle of Detroit, John Summers retreated more from the party scene - whilst still appearing from time-to-time, he was vastly less active than previously; instead opting to focus more on his charitable endeavours, like the popular Hope Plaza.
Notable Heroes
Blackflight: Blackflight was Bishop City's original protector and possibly most well-known one. Regarded as an Urban Myth both in his original career and much after it, he operated predominantly in secrecy. Using an advanced arsenal of technology and highly trained Martial arts skills, Blackflight rooted out much of Bishop City's organised crime throughout the 1980s, only to disappear in the year following the Battle of Detroit. Blackflight, to the very few that met him, was cold and detached, focused only on the goal. In a fight, criminals feared him for his overt aggression and mind-games through his lack of speech and noise. Many apprehended criminals also developed symptoms of PTSD in his earlier years after encounters with him.
Recently, Blackflight his resurfaced in Bishop City again, with theories suggesting that it is due to the increased Sideshow Syndicate activity throughout the country.
What no one knows is that Blackflight is, in reality, John Summers, wealthy businessman of the Summers family and Bishop City socialite.
Notable Villains and gangs
The Founding Fathers: The Founding Fathers are the founders of Bishop City, and masterminds behind all crime within it, at least originally. They proclaim that they have control of all of the sectors of crime, punishment and administration in the city - all in secret, through their extensive web of influence. The Founding Fathers are also deeply political and cutthroat, each trying to control the other's territories, save for the Wilmots, who thrive off of the conflict to grow their own coffers. However, when a threat does appear, the Founding Fathers do have means with which to deal with it... Together. And it is a force to be feared. "The Paladin".
The Summers: The Crime Family in charge of weapons smuggling in Bishop City, as well as industrial manufacturing as a front. Their gang members are the best armed of all the Founding Fathers.
The Brookhyders: The Crime Family in charge of Human Trafficking as well as entertainment within the City. The gang is the largest of the Founding Fathers, employing foreign smugglers and mercenaries.
The Hydes: The Crime Family in charge of Drug Smuggling in the City, as well as shipping as a front. The gang has a lot of support among the youth of Bishop City, no drug addicts wanting to rat out their dealers of course.
The Wilmots: The Wilmots the criminal financiers in the City, as well as the bankers of the city. The Wilmots employ solely foreign mercenaries instead of having a formal gang, bringing in a highly trained private army of soldiers from South America.
The Sideshow Syndicate: Ringleader's own personal crime organisation, based out of Funtime Pier in the Stuart Housing District - compared by some to the Court of Miracles on 1700s France, an area for the poor and destitute. Upon the appearance of Blackflight, Ringleader was able to play upon the deprivation and poor conditions on the area to rally the desperate, psychotics and even local Founding Fathers Enforcers. Together they have formed a violent and uncontrollable rabble of murderous and selfish impulses, all taking Circus-like personas to fit Ringleader's ideals.
Bloodlust: Bloodlust is a deluded Schizophrenic from Hudson City. Worshipped as a child by his mother, he developed a messiah complex over time - alongside highly violent tendencies. In his teenage years, these violent and disturbed tendencies did not mix well with Paranoid Schizophrenia, pairing with his Messiah Complex. He came to believe he was sent to Earth by God himself. He soon left Hudson City, coming upon the desperate Bishop City. He started a bloody killing spree through Bishop City, eventually happening upon the old Bishop City Cathedral, installing himself in there as a base. The media dubbed him Bloodlust, for his excessively bloody manner of killing people with his bare hands.
The Clergy of Blood: The Clergy of Blood are a violent and deluded group of dedicated followers - cultists believing that Bloodlust was the Messiah sent by God to liberate the righteous of Bishop City from their cruel and unfair life. They are excessively violent, preferring ancient weapons like axes and swords compared to modern firearms, known for butchering their victims. The Cultists wear robes, akin to monks from Medieval periods. They base themselves out of Bishop City Cathedral, a rotting wound from a terrorist that was never healed. A veritable fortress, almost impossible to siege.
The Buckley Mafia: The Buckley Mafia is an ancient group of criminals in complete criminal control of the Irish quarter. They aren't known for their violence, believe it or not. Instead they're fiercely protective over their area and will protect it from any infringements. They're capable combatants, led by a mysterious leader who rarely shows his face. The mysterious leader owning much of the Irish Quarter as a landlord. The Buckley Mafia has reached an agreement with Blackflight to act as a sort of Information broker for him, in exchange for him not dismantling the Mafia's operations and organisations. They're effective and seem to stick to their deal, offering Blackflight information on criminal dealings that aren't connected to the Founding Fathers.
Administration
All administration is handled by City Hall in the Avenue of Progress. As is typical in Bishop City, it is corrupt. All mayoral candidates are secretly vetted by the Founding Fathers before they are appointed in their position. Anyone that moves against the wants of the Founding Fathers typically ends up publicly assassinated in gruesome manner, a warning to the next person to step into their role. This effectively keeps any honest aldermen scared, and the corrupt ones in power, resulting in a poorly managed administration - more fond of secretly protecting crime, rather than stopping it.
The current Mayor is new to the job, Alan East. He's a welfare nut, wanting to improve the living conditions of those in Bishop City. He does bow to the whims of the Founding Fathers, but he is allowed to pursue his own agenda on the side, some of his new housing reforms having improved life for some of the most deprived in Bishop City.
The City is divided into several boroughs for easier management of policies, through the use of Centralisation.
Law Enforcement
Ask citizens of Bishop City, and they'll respond:
The BCPD is a largely corrupt institution, acting mainly as support to criminals rather than protection to citizens. This is because it is secretly under the control of the Founding Fathers, and thereby inadvertently guards their business, even if they are unaware that they do it. The police force's main HQ is based in the Avenue of Progress area of Bishop City, and many of its members take backhand bribe; those that don't usually end up fired... Or worse.
The police force is ironically well armed, supplied by Summers Industrials, its SWAT teams are at the pinnacle of technology, at least within Bishop City - however, they are frequently deployed in riots and against citizens rather than against criminals. They're also deployed against vigilantes, attacking them rather than allowing them to stop crime. The BCPD are the Founding Fathers primary method of deterring and defeating vigilantism, rather than including their own criminals in the fight against them.
The current Police Commissioner is Daniel Matthews, the son of the previous commissioner Evan Matthews, who was unfortunately killed in action in 1992. Daniel Matthews holds a personal anti-vigilante stance, holding them responsible for the lack of order in the city. He is not, however, a corrupt cop - believing strongly in the ideals of law and order, refusing bribes from the Founding Fathers, even if he is wholly aware of their existence.
Crime and punishment is mainly carried out through the Star Chamber Courthouse, known for its ineffectiveness in most court cases.
Prisons in Bishop City include:
- The Thomas Forsythe Hospital for the Criminally Insane
- The Whitehall Prison
- The Whitehall Young Offenders Institute
Media
Media in Bishop City is largely run by the Brookhyder Entertainment Corporation. It's deployed through the secretly censored Inquisition News Network, broadcast out through various video screens in the City. It is largely anti-heroism and plays down the extent of crime within the city, painting it as the exaggerations of crazed bloggers and such.
On the newspaper side of things, there are two Newspapers which contend with each other, at least of face value:
- The Bishop City Inquisitor - The 'official' newspaper in Bishop City, financed by Brookhyder. It maintains the same attitude as the News Network, anti-vigilantism with little focus on crime - praising the current institution of government and anyone following the Founding Fathers whims.
- The Private Eye - An apparently independent Newspaper, secretly smuggled onto the streets by sympathetic people. It is anti-establishment and pro-independence, an anarchist paper. Seeming to be the polar opposite of the Inquisitor, it is secretly run by the Brookhyders in order to provide some variety and root out people who secretly oppose the Founding Fathers secret rule.
