History of the Port of Miracles

The Port of Miracles was awakened to its chimerical seeming in 1794, after Madame John's legacy miraculously survived the second Great Fire of New Orleans.
Originally kindled by the Court of the Ghede, the original names of those fae were lost to time, but rumors indicate that the leader was a Houngan priest named Father Beñat.
In the mid 1850's a woman named Elyse claiming to be oba, with the beauty of an Autumn sidhe arrived in New Orleans and partnered with the mortal Marie Laveau, inspiring her to dream. She joined with the Court of the Ghede, vastly strengthening the power of the lwa in the land as she bonded to this new soil. The dream said that was impossible. Perhaps she was not actually an Oba, but a sidhe? Perhaps the dream recognizes change and adjusts.
The Port of Miracles remained strong through hurricane and war, always hidden, always careful. It kept a steady court of souls that always returned to the sweet bayou shores.
It wasn't until the 1980's that the interloper Lisette Levay sought to steal the power of the Port of Miracles for her own. At first Lisaniettia was welcomed as a fellow practitioner of voodoo, but all too quickly she was uncovered as a con artist using smoke, mirrors and Soothsay to cover her lack of true connection to the lwa.
Just after Samhain in 1987 Lisaniettia challenged Countess Marie Laveau for dominance and was easily overcome and made to look the fool by the stable, long term countess. Lisaniettia vowed revenge and slunk into the bayou. In midsummer the next year a pack of hungry, oily, back wolf-men slunk from the swamps and attacked the Port of Miracles at night. The Court of the Ghede was torn asunder and Countess Laveau was mortally injured. Lisaniettia stole the Port of Miracles Pennons, and the freehold grew dim as she moved the seat of power into the Bayou, kindling Spirit Hall from the ashes. The survivors retreated into the dreaming and only two returned.
Papa Bernard stayed on as the freeholder as the Port went underground and very quiet, catering only to those fae who were local and knew where it was.
In Spring of 1989 Marie-Elise Delancey arrived in New Orleans from the silver pathway out of Magnolia's Grove. Despite seeming a newcomer, Papa Bernard immediately recognized her and welcomed her into the Port of Miracles. The balefire steadied and it lived on as a common freehold until 2009 when Marie-Elise was recognized as the Baroness of New Orleans and freeholder of the Port of Miracles.
As Lisette LeVay was deposed, Countess Odette Marceline took her place, eventually moving the county seat to Riverwatch in Baton Rogue and killing the fire in the Heart of Fire, leaving the Port of Miracles the only remaining freehold in New Orleans from 2009-2018 when Tristan MacLaren arrived and relit the Heart of Fire
Just before Solstice 2020, the heroes cleansed Spirit hall once and for all, returning the county pennons to the Port of Miracles as well as the stolen balefire. Marie-Elise Was restored to the rank of Countess in early 2021, and the Port of Miracles has been restored to its former glory.