Castlebridge

[Phantomdoodler]

Castlebridge is a large fictional town where I shall be setting my British supers game, reputed to be a possible location of Camelot. It has a rich history and is the location of the headquarters of Unit 13, a special govermental department that investigates supernatural threats. It is also the home town of the teen superhero Albion, and boasts a fine university.
Castlebridge benefits from a rich history, and victorian invention, these two worlds neatly bisected by the river Wyme. The old town, built on the higher land to the rivers northern edge, has the castle itself, Castlebridge Cathedral, georgian terraces and parks, and is home to the university and the wealthy patrons of the city. The less affluent southern half, which was obliterated in the martian attacks of 1891, and consequently rebuilt, is the industrial heart of Castlebridge. Millennial Park with its thriving technological industry, modernist architecture and trendy shopping arcades, sits under the contemptious glare of old town.

[-HF-Aardvark892]

Excellent description! This really sounds unique and interesting.

[Phantomdoodler]

cheers. My aim is to create a city that has various british elements , such as historic monuments, victorian factories, a cathedral, university, catacombs etc, as well as modern face - its influenced by other british cities - Nottingham, Bath, London, Manchester, York, Canterbury etc . In a way it sort of captures all of them. I also wanted it to have a whole host of story ideas, so you have everything from an ancient castle with catecombs, to a high tech industrial park.

[BASHMAN]

... and Martian artifacts.

[Phantomdoodler]

Of course Unit 13 has a very secure hold of any such items, and in no way would any of them ever get into the hands of a supervillain.....

[Phantomdoodler]

Castlebridge is a large city, lying to to the north of London, known for its extensive castle ruins, university and technological industry. Heavily bombed during the second world war, Castlebridge is a city of two halves, bisected by the river Wyme. Old town, the ancient original city to the north of the river, houses the castle itself, the university, cathedral and various ancient landmarks and buildings of historic note. Affluent town houses eventually give way to the rolling countryside of Castlebridgeshire, noted for its ancient standing stones, and the nearby hamlet of Eldritchstone, with its dark history of witchcraft and strange sites. The fact that Eldritch Wood happens to a portal to Arcadia may account for some of these sightings.
During the second world war, much of the city south of the river was heavily bombed, leading to an extensive rebuilding program in the 1950s. In 1999, the new city was renamed Millennium Park, due to its technological industries. It houses a number of government and INTERSECT facilities and testing laboratories. The powersuit superheroine the Green Knight, also has offices here, Unsurprisingly, as an environmental protester, The Green Knights facilities are incredibly environmentally friendly.

Unit 13
Operating from a hidden base under the castle, Unit 13 is a secret government taskforce, dedicated to investigating supernatural or extraterrestial phenomena, and threats to Britain. It contains a number of artifacts of an extremely sensitive nature, stored several hundred floors down...
Department 13, as it used to be known, was set up in the 1880s, to investigate the vast number of spiritual events and practices of the time. Most of these proved to be hoaxes, but when an interdimensional entity began preying on the prostitutes of Whitehall, the Queen personally requested more resources to be made available. When the same aliens attempted an invasion over the skies of Windsor Castle, a couple of years later, Department 13 operatives were able to deal with the threat, and keep it secret from the public at large. Unit 13 today, is run by Gideon Blakely II, a stern man is late 50s, and the direct decedent, and namesake, of the original founder of Department 13.

HOOD
Aside from a few Arcadian escapees, or the odd alien invasion, the greatest threat Unit 13 faces are from the Hermetic Order of the Obsidian Dawn, or the HOOD as it has come to be known. HOOD is an evil organisation dedicated to using magic and occult practices to bring about a new era of cleansing darkness. Rather worryingly. several HOOD members have positions of power, believing that only occult rituals can save the planet. The fact that such rituals are likely to bring the end to all life on earth is largely lost on most HOOD operatives.

The Hellfire Club
Lead by the charismatic vampire Lord Byron, the Hellfire club is a loose affiliation of supervillains who delight in causing mayhem and destuction for their own amusement. Despite the title, not all Hellfire Club members are devil worshippers, but they all have a warped moral code.

INTERSECT
When URGENT was formed, it was clear that the rise of supervillain crime was beginning to spread across the globe, not just in the states. The European Union began to develop a response to supervillain threats across Europe Its solution was the International Security Taskforce, or INTERSECT as it was soon known by, Operating closely with INTERPOL, INTERSECT facilities were set up across Europe, providing invaluable resources to contain and deal with superhuman threats. Recent financial cutbacks in Britain, have lead to a slight scaling down of INTERSECT funding to its facilities, which the Supervillain community is completely aware of. In the past 6 months supervillain- related crime has increased by 10%, and the British Governments "Big Society" solution is to encourage Superheroes to form their own superteams to deal with local problems.

[Samuraidad]

What a great setting! Do you plan to publish it at any point?