San Francisco

Situated on the peninsula defined by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the San Francisco Bay that surrounds it to the north and east, the North American city of San Francisco was born of greed, hedonism, chaos, and violence. By the end of the 19th century, it rises as one of the most important ports on America's Pacific Coast, but it is still filled with corruption and dens of vice.

History
Sir Francis Drake first explored the San Francisco Bay region in 1579 on his voyage around the world, but the area was spared a permanent European settlement until 1776. Called Mission Dolores and founded by Juan Batista de Anza, it consisted of a fort and a community that surrounded it. With the passage of time, more settlers came to the region, expanding the settlement into a city, which was then re-christened Yerba Buena. In 1846 during the Mexican War, American Naval forces under the command of John Montgomery capture Yerba Buena. The next year the city received its third name: San Francisco, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi.

After gold was discovered in California in 1848 the sleepy port suddenly attracted treasure hunters, wild adventurers, eager criminals, and lawless desperadoes. Throughout the mid-1800s, the port was as violent as Dodge City, Deadwood, or Tombstone. Unlike those places, by the 1890s San Francisco still boasts many areas where the “wild west” remains wild. A large stretch of the city’s waterfront district is known as the Barbary Coast, named after a region of Africa’s shores infamously infested with pirates. It lives up to its name, having become synonymous with lawlessness, murder, drunkenness, prostitution, kidnapping, and corruption.

As immigrants from far-flung locations around the world, the population continued to grow, as did crime and violence. Vigilante groups took up arms to restore order to the city. However, sometimes these forces for order were worse than the outlaw gangs they existed to fight. Newcomers continued to flood in, especially from China and Europe, forcing local authorities to take greater action. Over time this rollicking port has become more cosmopolitan, especially since the completion of the railroad linking east with west.

San Francisco has grown into a major metropolis by the 1890s, though it remains a riotous place with a well-earned reputation for vice. The city is home to over 3,000 licensed bars, and another 2,000 unlicensed bars, despite having a population of less than 300,000.

Forbidden Lore
This land—originally held by indigenous peoples but stolen by ruthless colonizers—does not rest easy. California is known for its earthquakes, its ominous shifts and shaking. Most consider this a natural phenomenon, but some tales hint at primal beings angered by the fouling of the seas and so much greedy mining for gold. Stories also speak of haunted mines across the Mother Lode and other mountainous regions of Northern California. Whether the beings that haunt these mines are ancient spirits of the land, ghosts of miners killed by accidents or claim jumpers, or something else entirely, no one seems to know.

Many stories told by sailors making their way through the darker areas of the waterfront speak of ghosts haunting dangerous areas like the Barbary Coast. Most tell of barfight stabbings and spectral presences haunting the backrooms of saloons, but a few are more foreboding. The waters of what was once Yerba Buena Cove were filled-in with earth decades ago to expand land to build upon, and dozens or more ships were buried in the process—some were said to be pirate ships, whose captains or crews may still haunt the darkest corners of the Barbary Coast by night. Also, many of the unscrupulous millionaires who call the city home built their opulent mansions atop plots of land that once included graveyards.

Recently, these sea stories, as well as tales passed along by some of the less savory elements of San Francisco society, hint that something truly evil has arrived in the city by the bay. Though the waterfront has always had its mysterious disappearances, most point to the use of press gangs to recruit crews for the many ships that pass through this great port. Others describe infernal beasts that snatch the unwary in the dark of night.

The denizens of certain ethnic enclaves, especially Chinatown, often have good reason to take rumors of danger more seriously, given the small-minded hostility of some of their neighbors as well as other dangers. Such residents tend to share information in pursuit of mutual safety, and they often maintain lists of places to avoid, especially at night. Investigators may find them to be the most reliable source on matters related to various threats, whether supernatural or depressingly mundane.

The city has long been home to more than its fair share of vampires, thriving amid the city's depravity and vice and making use of a secret network of tunnels beneath the young metropolis. Early in 1890, Dracula attempted to set up a new base of operations in San Francisco, allying with a malevolent local qabal before traveling to the city himself. Fortunately, both times Dracula has tried to take up permanent residence in a foreign country, stalwart foes of the Red Death have stopped him, and Dracula was driven away. However, the network of evil he and his followers constructed remains. It still plagues the West Coast of the continent-- and perhaps an even larger portion of the world-- to this day.