Newport City

This is Newport City, a young port city in the north-east of the North American Confederation. Nestled to the banks of the Hudson River, it stretches to former suburban sprawls, barrens and wilderness that absolutely wants to kill you. Built on the ruins of former towns in New York State, the southern border of the sprawl nearly merges with the New York City Sprawl. But don’t you dare, calling an inhabitant of Newport a New Yorker.

But don’t worry about the surroundings. The city itself has some special features you should know about if you want to survive for over one night.

Once upon a Time

The history of Newport is short. Less than a century ago, where the sprawl now stretches was still green land, with scattered towns and a rural idyll that we can only see today on Holocards. Or in one of the tourist areas further north.

That changed first during the darkness that followed the Millennium Crash. People fled to the cities, settling close together. It wasn't long before people recognized that some were getting more back than others. The tension of the catastrophe built up over four years and finally erupted in the 2004 riots.

It fed the former middle class up that they didn’t get their money back. They destroyed the houses of the rich, their businesses, the local banks, and other symbols of the "new" world that relegated them to insignificance. The masses of those who had already been poor supported them and saw in the uprisings a way out of their misery.

The towns and villages that were a retreat of the upper class were destroyed. When the ruins cooled down, a group of anonymous investors appeared, and offered the build and finance for a new city. No need to say that the rebels accepted the offer and established the Newport City Zone. At least that’s the myth. But since there are no different voices, the people of the city treat it as truth.

The Investors built the foundation of the city. They built homes, shops and everything a city needed to survive. It was only a matter of time until the first corporations came and settled in the city, increasing the wealth even more. There are rumours that these corporations belong to the investors, but there is no proof. The people of Newport are too thankful to dig deep into the affairs of that unknown group.

Until today, the city experienced continuous growth. New businesses and corporations settled down. Currently, it is the north-eastern centre of Cybertech Development and New Media. The city also established itself as a centre for the Men's Right Comitee and the Anti-Feminist League.

Census 2070

Newport City

Population: 3.885.976 (December 2069)
Human: 70%
Elf: 5%
Dwarf: 5%
Orc: 10%
Other: 10%

Population Ratio (M/F)

Male: 65%
Female: 35%

Average Income: 30,000 CRE

Although the population of Newport City is still predominantly human, all species and cultures characterise the cityscape. Because of anti-feminist and equality-minded legislation, the city has for years been the destination of refugees seeking to escape harsh oppression. This also explains the unusually high proportion of men in the city’s population. The average income and average cost of living are slightly below average for the North American Confederation.

The urban population counts about 3.9 million inhabitants, criminals and faceless not included. A more realistic number would be around 5 million inhabitants. About 0.01% of the inhabitants are supernaturals, beginning with Vampires, Mages, or Changelings and ending with Werewolves or even Dragons.

Because of the less restrictive laws, prostitution and organized crime have a strong foothold in the city. The major crime organization seems to be the Irish Mafia, followed by the Triads. Current estimates place about 2% of the entire population in the organised crime environment.

About 45% of the registered inhabitants of the city work for one of the major corporations. An additional 35% either do day-to-day jobs or work for a smaller, local company. The other registered inhabitants are unemployed, or work in New York City.

Common day labourer jobs include simple assembly tasks, but also short-term security jobs. Of course, Underground illegal work is always a siren song promising high profits - and substantial risk.

Urban Settlement 6 by Jason Walton

Transportation

To the City

There are three ways to travel to Newport City. By plane, by car, or by train.

By plane, you can reach the city from all directions and eventually land at Newport International. The airport used to be a small airfield and has only developed into an international airport in the last 40 years, reducing the city’s dependence on New York City.

If you prefer the good, old-fashioned road trip, you can approach the city via the US Route 9W or the Interstate 84. Route 6 also leads to Newport City. While people arriving via plane are registered at the airport, the registration by travellers on the roads is automatically done by the Toll Stations of the Newport City Zone.

The East Coast Railway runs along the entire east coast of North America and Canada. This railway line also has a station in Newport City, Grand Central Station. At this station, arriving passengers are also registered and then transfer to the regional transport network.

In the City

Within the city, most residents of Newport use the classic car to get from A to B. The downtown highway that winds through the outer downtown districts has six lanes. However, this expansion is hardly sufficient to cope with the traffic at rush hour.

If you don't want to steer yourself on your way, you can rely on the support of GRIDassist, a software that steers fully automatically and obeys the traffic rules. Malicious tongues would claim that even a dachshund can drive with it.

Those who prefer to rely on public transport have the choice between the Ringmono lines, which serve all districts, and the metro lines, which serve the economically interesting areas of the city centre.

Within a single district, residents usually move around on foot, which leads to crowded pavements and increased pickpocketing, especially during rush hour.

Government

City Services

FIRE SAFETY: NeoSafety
GRID: ViralGrid
HEALTHCARE: NeHeSe
POLICE: NeoSafety
POWER: CleanPower
PUBLIC WORK: Newport New Media
WATER: CleanPower

Newport City doesn’t even try to look like the corporations don’t have any power in the city. The corporations that have their headquarters in the city also sit on the city council. In addition, there are four elected representatives of the registered residents. This board meets weekly and elects the mayor for 5 years.

Currently, the City Council comprises corporate representatives from NeoSafety, NeHeSe, Clean Power, Newport New Media, NewTech and Newport Transport. The elected mayor is Damien Harris, who enjoys a high approval rating even among the city’s unregistered residents.

The politics within the city are conservative, especially based on the current, women-dominated situation. For example, the city council has overturned the curfew for men, the ban on female prostitution has been lifted and local corporations have worked to ensure that every resident has access to health care and social services. Sounds too good to be true? It is. They usually link access to experimental treatments and drugs. But at least there is care available at all, and you don’t have to pay for it.

Corporations

Today, fourteen corporations are based or do business in the city, six of which have their headquarters in Newport City. Specifically, the resident research corporations are behind the popular, major cybertech and body modification brands. In addition, NeHeSe (Newport Health Services) is one of the largest drug manufacturers and testers in the world - circulating wildly popular combat drugs.

NeoSafety

NeoSafety had its beginnings as a small security company in the 1990s in New York City. After the founding of Newport City, the company’s headquarters moved to the city, where they remain to this day. NeoSafety operates a military academy on the outskirts of the city, where the corporation also trains security personnel for other corporations.

In the city area, NeoSafety is responsible for firefighting and police services. They also organise security for the smaller, local businesses.

Clean Power

The Clean Power group emerged from the nuclear power plants of the 1990s and specialises in researching and marketing various alternative energy sources. The main area of research today is cold fusion, which was rejected by the extreme pro-environment groups. Only last year, there was an extremist attack on one of the power plants that is researching the utilisation of nuclear waste from the past century.

The electricity supply for Newport City comes from various experimental plants around the city.

NewTech

The name NewTech is completely unknown to most citizens today, even though they laid the research foundations for modern cybertech and biotech. In the early 2000s, NewTech developed the first neural interface to control prosthetic limbs for the war-disabled and physically impaired, restoring their physical mobility. Today, NewTech continues to research new, more compatible cybertech and BioWare that find their way to market under other names.

One of the largest cyber clinics in the region deals with experimental cybertech for study.

Newport Health Services

Newport Health Systems is still the largest pharmaceutical company in the world. They develop and produce medicines and drugs of all kinds, which circulate under their various labels and are extremely popular both on the street and with corporate troops. They closely linked the experimental use of new medications to Newport City’s free medical system.

Besides local doctors’ surgeries and clinics, NeHeSe operates a mobile response unit that is limited to fee-based contracts. These contracts are popular, especially for "Covert Ops Specialists".

Newport New Media

Brave new world. Out of a series of small social media corporations emerged the modern megacorporation Newport New Media, which offers hosting services, public relations, ar-games and new social platforms. In Newport City, the group not only maintains its headquarters, but also the largest server centre in North America. Customised advertising and the development of software for weapon systems are among the lesser-known activities of the megacorporation.

Unsurprisingly, New Media is the largest employer in the region.

Newport Transport

Never have so many goods were moved around the world as today. Newport Transport is not only responsible for the city’s public transport system, but is also one of the major players in the international movement of goods. Among the group’s biggest assets is its ownership of the port area in Newport and further south in Baltimore.

The company operates internationally today, as it did at the time of its founding in 2010. Goods are mainly transported by sea, air or on the remains of the rail system. In some areas, Newport Transport also manages the postal system.

Places of Interest

NEWPORT AQUA MUSEUM: Because of pollution and global warming, many marine species are now considered extinct. The Newport Aqua Museum is one of the few aqua parks where such creatures are bred back to be released into the wild once a way is found to clean up the habitats for them. The Aqua Museum is often the target of terrorist attacks where some animals are stolen and released into the sea without consideration.

INDUSTRY GRAVEYARD: Anyone who has always wanted to know what happens to decommissioned machines, or who has always wanted to gain some more or less legally, cannot get past Industry Graveyard. In the city’s barrens, the entire site is littered with the steel remains of times gone by. Recently, more and more Plastic Steel ruins have been added.

NEWPORT SCIENTIFIC REACTOR: On the outskirts of the urban area, there is a large space cordoned off with barbed wire, walls, and electric fences. On this site, there are several reactors and buildings of different ages that make up the Clean Power research site. The company’s administration is also on the site, which has repeatedly become a target for radical groups.

NEWPORT CENTRAL STATION: Newport Central Station is a run-down railway station in the city's north. They built it in 2004 in the Art déco style. Today, every millimetre of wall space is covered with advertisements and posters, many of which are smeared with graffiti and gang tags. They also covered the outside in these tags. The entire station smells of urine and vomit, and half the lights regularly fail.

Important Districts

Harbour

Freighters are docked here, something is always loaded or unloaded and people are running around. In a dark corner, a local gang member may deal with combat drugs. A group of street kids inhabit a large, long forgotten container. The whole district smells of dirt, fish and salt, but the local stores don't offer anything you would want to eat - at least if you prefer knowing what you are eating here.

The Harbour and the local gangs are controlled by Clan Brujah and belong to Newport Transport.

Newport University Campus

The Newport University offers some strange study fields, like occultism, Native American lore and rituals, or shamanism. Besides that, there are more conventional fields of study, like Corporate Law, Business & Public Relations, Physics or Medicine & Cybernetics. The University is one of the most diverse in the whole eastern part of North America.

Several corporations sponsor the Newport University Campus, which is controlled by Clan Ventrue and Clan Tremere. The Campus Library is an Elysium of the city.

Downtown District

The city’s Downtown District is not as large as New York City’s, but it has its share of banks and corporate headquarters, which is not negligible. Chrome and glass characterise this area of the city, as well as skyscrapers designed to mimic old 1920s architecture. If you are looking for the hottest upper class clubs, you will find them in Downtown.

Clan Ventrue controls this area that is not owned by a single corporation. The nightclub Blood Doll is owned by the Daeva Harpy Cassidy Fork and is considered Elysium.

Hudson Heights

The Hudson Heights neighbourhood is a mixed-use neighbourhood, with many upper-class residential buildings, but also boutiques, galleries and elegant restaurants. The neighbourhood serves the social centre of the upper class and has the highest level of security available in the city. Being seen here armed or without the financial background can quickly become unpleasant.

Much of the real estate here is owned by Newport New Media, and the district is controlled by Clan Daeva and Clan Toreador.