Pacific Heights
As prisons go, Pacific Heights is perhaps the most
luxurious the world has seen. Its lavish residences provide
homes for technology barons, bank presidents and, in the
modern nights, those Kindred sufficiently useful to the
New Promise Mandarinate.
Any Kindred who makes a clear effort on behalf of the New Promise Mandarinate earns a shot at Pacific Heights. Assignment to this M-T Sector is a priority among Kindred intent on pursuing a lengthy unlife in San Francisco. The district is large, the Kindred population small and the havens, while expensive, remain affordable by those with four or more dots in the Resources Background. Pacific Heights is comfortable and sits close enough to the city’s hub of power that the more politically minded Kindred consider it a perfectly respectable base from which to lobby the Kuei-jin.
The Pacific Heights Sector is bounded by Chestnut Street to the north, California Street to the south, Scott Street to the west and Van Ness Avenue to the east. It includes the popular Union Street Shopping district, Alta Plaza, Lafayette Park, Pacific Medical Center and the University of the Pacific. Add in several hotels and other tourist draws, and you have exceptionally rich feeding grounds for the resident Kindred.
Relocation to Pacific Heights is no small matter. It requires significant effort, political finesse and subservience to the Quincunx. Speaking Chinese (any dialect, though the Quincunx prefers Mandarin) sets Kindred far ahead in the running for a cushy Pacific Heights reassignment. The Quincunx’s representatives find English bland and don’t like using it. They automatically upgrade any Kindred familiar with their native Tongue from “barbarian” to “ potential tool.” These Kindred must truly believe, or at least convince the Quincunx they believe, the New Promise Mandarinate is the way of the future, is better than the Camarilla and is worth the dedication of effort. They must willingly advocate the Quincunx’s position to other Kindred and apprise the Mandarinate of the Camarilla’s position and — ideally — strategies. Ventrue, prized for their persuasion skills, earn priority status for allocation to Pacific Heights.
Understandably, Camarilla loyalists look askance at vampires assigned to Pacific Heights, the inference being that only those vampires who betrayed the Camarilla and became the Quincunx’ s lapdogs dwell here. Even Wee, a known Camarilla supporter, is the target of occasional barbed comments, most often by those who simply envy his comfortable existence and haven.
Surprisingly, only a little more than half of the Pacific Heights Kindred actually “sold out” to the Quincunx. While many are there because of their various services on behalf of the invaders, the Quincunx assigns some specifically to bring them under suspicion by other Kindred. Still others dwell in Pacific Heights because they’ re too important in the Kindred power structure.
The Kuei-jin do not maintain a strong presence around the Pacific Heights M-T Sector, nor may Tong members venture there for any reason. The Kindred assigned here have too much to lose by straying from their “reservation.” The Kuei-jin do launch occasional spot checks, however, to ensure the Kindred do not abuse the so-called freedoms the Quincunx so kindly gives them.
On those occasions when a Kindred is demoted and banished from Pacific Heights to a less desirable M-T Sector, the Quincunx’s agents turn it into a grand spectacle of shame and drama. The Quincunx distributes special writs dictating the event with brutal embellishment. They require the area’s Kindred to gather and watch the offending vampire leave, often only carrying the contents of one box. The Quincunx destroys, confiscates, or sells the vampire’ s remaining possessions. They want San Francisco’ s entire Kindred population to know this Kindred in question is a disgrace to the New Promise Mandarinate. The results are surprisingly effective since the vampires in this M-T Sector are already suspect, and earn the animosity of vampires in the poorer Munificent Transitioning Sectors. Even those Kindred who despise the Kuei-jin as invaders go out of their way to avoid public humiliation.
Pacific Heights boasts the best feeding opportunities in San Francisco currently available to Kindred. The Kuei-jin deliberately keep the Kindred-to-mortal ratio low here to maintain this particular luxury element. The irony is that most, though not all, the Kindred assigned here possess large herds and don’ t particularly need to take advantage of the sector’s feeding opportunities. Still, it’s nice to know it’s there.
The greatest drawback to the Pacific Heights M-T Sector is its impact on vampiric social existence. In the absence of the traditional citywide Elysium, the only vampires one often sees are members of one’s own sector. That’ s little consolation when that comprises perhaps six other individuals, particularly when their political affiliations are in question. Exacerbating the situation is that Kindred from the other sectors hesitate to speak with the Kindred assigned to Pacific Heights for fear of being in league with perceived traitors. The net effect is the Kindred in Pacific Heights feel as though they exist in luxurious isolation.
While the Kuei-jin claim they keep Pacific Heights thinly populated with vampires to maintain higher-caliber feeding territory, the Quincunx’s opponents suggest Pacific Heights is all about shifting the Kindred’ s loyalties to the Kuei-jin. By making the representatives of the Quincunx the only social alternative and appearing sympathetic to the concerns of that sector’s Kindred, the Kuei-jin ensure that high-status Kindred become strongly motivated into transferring their loyalties to the Quincunx.
The Pacific Heights M-T Sector is the goal toward which all Kindred should work as part of the New Promise Mandarinate. While few Kindred actually believe the Kuei-jin’s stance, they’ re not beyond playing the game to earn luxury housing assignments and good feeding grounds. Kindred are nothing if not pragmatic.
