Oldtown

Oldtown is a particularly run-down area of Lost Angels. Typified by slums, flophouses, and derelict or condemned tenement buildings, it’s a testament to the hard times the city is trying to leave behind. The closer the borough extends toward the ruins of old Lost Angels, the worse the squalor becomes. Starvation and deprivation are rampant in Oldtown, and the borough has the city’s worst crime rates.

Closer to the Holy City, things improve slightly, and the old municipal buildings of the city’s early days after the Flood stand, now converted to cheap office spaces, a faded and crumbling monument to Oldtown’s better days. Surrounding this low-budget commercial center, a number of no-frills businesses have sprung up. There are diners, bars, and a handful of stores in the area, and a few apartments and motels manage to keep a reasonably clean image from those who live and work in this rough, once-proud area.

• The Harbor: The shipyards are Oldtown’s proudest feature. One of the few places in the borough that doesn’t appear to be condemned, the amount of shipping the harbor handles is phenomenal. The overwhelming majority of those employed in Oldtown work in or around the harbor. An armored train runs from the docks to the railhead inside the walled city. This train is used to transfer all material to and from the docks, and is always protected by four flights of Guardian Angels. In addition to the sheer volume of trade the port handles, it has a thriving shipyard that makes huge freighters for shipping lines around the world.

• Universal Imports & Exports: One of many nondescript office buildings in Oldtown’s slightly decrepit business district is a plain-fronted office building with a small brass plaque next to the door advertising the office of Universal Imports and Exports (Lost Angels).

• The Red House (?) not much is known about the Red house...but people say it is a lot of fun to visit. 

Mazedge

Mazedge is the southern-most borough of Lost Angels. The cheaper northern neighborhoods are populated by hard-working but poor factory workers, domestic workers, and other manual workers.

To the south of the residential belt lie the factories themselves, typically built close to the edge of the higher Maze walls.

Further southeast, where the sprawling conurbation begins to grow sparser and the factories give way to wasteland and dereliction, the scattered homesteads are instead occupied by prospectors. These hardy miners still work the deadly rock faces of the Maze channels.

Interesting Places in Mazedge borough

• Brigance Fields: This area on the outskirts of Mazedge, where the city dissolves into the wilderness, is home to the Brigance Fields. Here Nicholas Brigance picked up acres of lands for nickels and almost immediately struck oil. These fields are highly secure and he makes sure he is the only one profiting from these fields.

• The Gunn Factories: Herman Gunn’s Celluloid Works comprise three huge, imposing brick factories that tower near the edge of the Maze cliff wall. Two of the factories produce a massive range of celluloid products, from decorative household items to billiard balls to cellulose nitrate for use as smokeless powder or explosives.
  
  The third factory runs three shifts, working constantly to supply hundreds of miles of celluloid film each day to the studios. The voracious appetite of the motion picture industry for film keeps Gunn’s business in fine shape, allowing his scientists to research new and unusual uses for their volatile product

• Hard Times Café: The Hard Times is a plain, simple café/diner, run by Manfred Ripien. He has one mean Shepards Pie. Many of the miners and factory workers get their grub here.

• Haunted Holes: The area surrounding Lost Angels was built on land that for years had been picked over by prospectors. As a consequence, the earth below Mazedge is a catacomb of tunnels, mines, and holes.
  
  In several locations throughout the Lost Angels area, old air vent holes lead to dark chasms below. While many have been covered, some remain open. Sometimes, at night, it is said sounds can be heard from deep beneath. What they are, no one knows. 

Movie Town

Movie Town

“Movie Town” is the area of Lost Angels where most of the big studios are located, but it has come to be synonymous with the entire movie industry as well.

Most of the major movie studios and their lots make up this area. These large walled compounds house the offices, sets, and stages that make up each of the major studios. In addition, there are numerous smaller studios and several vacant lots. The majority of these lesser businesses are situated on Burbank Avenue—known sarcastically throughout the industry as Poverty Row. 

Surrounding these is a dense cluster of cheap housing, cheap diners, and cheap bars, all frequented by equally cheap patrons. In the midst of the glitz and glamour of the movie industry, Poverty Row and its environs are a stark reminder of the tawdry side of Tinseltown. Any vice can be indulged in the all-night speakeasies and ask-no-questions motels, and being seen in the area after dark is usually considered grounds for divorce! Not that I would know of such places....ahem.

The majority of the southern part of Movie Town is given over to low rent accommodations that house the wannabes, has-beens, and never-weres the movie industry leaves in its glorious, terrible wake. Here, too, the bit-players and writers live; the people without whom there would be no movies, but for whom there is no credit. From the dazzling heights to the squalid Burbank Avenue—and everywhere in between—Movie Town has an air of desperation about it, as if everyone knows how crazy the whole thing is, but nobody dares say it out loud.

Movie Studios and Lots

• 20th Century Fox: This giant company was formed by the merger of 20th Century Pictures and one of the early movie pioneers, Fox Film Corporation. The subsequent merger with Twentieth Century saved the ailing studio and gave Twentieth Century a chain of movie theaters through which to easily distribute its pictures. Daryl F. Zanuck reigns as the head of production at the studio, focusing primarily on biopics and musicals, with great success.

• Columbia Pictures: Founded by brothers Harry and Jack Cohn along with Joe Brandt, Columbia started life as CBC Films. It focused on low-budget comedies and short films, and gradually worked its way up as Columbia Pictures to the second tier of motion picture companies. The biggest movie to date produced by Columbia Pictures was It Happened One Night starring Clark Gabel and directed by Frank Capra.

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM): The infamous partnership between Marcus Loew, owner of Goldwyn Pictures and Metro Pictures, with Louis B. Mayer to form the powerhouse MGM studio has spawned a massive conglomerate that has facilities all over the world. Despite their immense global presence, the business is still ruled with an iron fist. Every penny spent anywhere in the world must be accounted for and woe betide a producer who is too free with the company’s dime. The MGM lions, it is said, eat well when someone blows their budget.

• Paramount Pictures: Paramount Pictures was the first company to distribute films across all states, North and South, throughout the First World War. Founded in 1912 by Adolph Zukor, a merger four years later with two other companies combined the directorial talent of Cecil B. DeMille, the connections of Jesse Lasky and Sam Goldwyn, with the drive and acumen of Zukor. 

• RKO Pictures: RKO rose to prominence after its merger with KAO, a company that owned a string of theaters throughout North America. The studio made a number of successful films, but it was really the work of its Chief Technology Officer, a patent scientist named Kevin Stoner, who made RKO one of the “Big Five.”  He is also responsible for bringing beautiful sound to the Motion Picture industry, silent films have finally come to an end.

• United Artists: Founded by actors for the benefit of actors, UA is a smaller player, but growing in importance and very much a rising star. Run by no other Mary Pickford she was a promient silent movie star in the early 1920s. She was pretty much put out of the acting business when now current Mayor Kevin Stoner helped invent sound for the movie biz.

• Universal: One of the oldest movie studios still operating, Universal was founded by Carl Laemmle in New York. Facing legal trouble from Edison’s numerous patents relating to movie cameras, Laemmle shifted his operations to the West Coast. Universal found the winning formula with their introduction of monster features in the 1930s. These enduringly popular pictures have found a loyal audience and continue to be a successful staple of the studio’s output.

• The Tank: The Tank is one of the most elaborate and impressive movie lots Movie Town can boast. Situated on the outskirts of the city, on the northeast edge of Movie Town, the facility houses the world’s largest water stage. This massive building is used to film aquatic scenes and movies featuring marine creatures. Thus such movies as “The Monster of the Maze” and “It Came From the Deep” thrilled and terrified audiences with their incredibly realistic scenes of attacking monsters. 

Entertainment or Interesting locales

• The Final Draft: This small dingy tavern is open all hours and is a favorite hangout for writers—both screenwriters and their journalistic counterparts. Any writer can put a finished draft of his screenplay behind the bar to drink free with his friends for a night, and numerous copies of famous picture screenplays adorn the walls of the establishment. News writers find the dark, private atmosphere to be a good spot to meet sources, and the bar staff are very understanding of the need for privacy—even offering several small rooms where important meetings can go unobserved.

• Shultz’s: This drugstore/soda shop/coffee house is a favored haunt of all manner of musicians, screenwriters, directors, and other yet-to-make-it movie folk—especially while they are between jobs. Shultz is a friendly, patient, long-suffering owner be sure to say hello to Mr. Shultz when you visit!

• Movie Town Tattler: This rag is foremost among the scurrilous scandal papers that chases down salacious stories about stars and starlets and publishes sensational headlines with racy images and the flimsiest of evidence. Actors and Actresses detest this paper as they say its ALL LIES!

Midtown

Midtown

Midtown is a relatively well-to-do area, home to the professional businesses: the lawyers, bankers, financiers, and accounting firms; the marketing and publicity experts; the agents and brokers who make the money work. As one of the more affluent areas, Midtown is also a thriving retail area where the latest fashions from Back East are on sale, and where fine dining and elegant nightclubs offer a glamorous night out where the stars come to be seen.

• Angel Detective Agency: This office is home to an important detective firm that operates throughout the city. Angel employs a number of private detectives in all boroughs and the Midtown branch acts as a head office for the firm for billing and legal issues. If trouble is brewing and the police aren't paying attention, or maybe the police don't believe you. Then you should head to the ADA to get the help you need.

• The Blue Dahlia Nightclub: The Dahlia is among the most popular nightclubs in all of Lost Angels. Frequently booking big-name singers and lounge acts, the club is regularly attended by the rich and powerful of Lost Angels. Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and even the great Billie Holiday graced their presence here. Drop by and get one of their famous drinks, "The Bees Knees".

• The Cotton Club: One of the foremost nightclubs in Midtown, the Cotton Club is a place to see and be seen. As with most nightclubs, camera girls and guys roam the floor taking pictures of the couples relaxing in the booths. Prints of the photograph can be delivered to the table within the hour (in an attractive presentation box) or mailed at a later date. 

• The Deadline: This late-night drinking establishment is the favorite hangout of journalists and movie writers. The high-backed booths create a secretive atmosphere, while the dim lighting is gentle on bleary, blood-shot eyes. Drinks are reasonably priced for Midtown but don’t expect good food here. The only dinners served at the Deadline are poured from a bottle.

• The Hearst News Building: Among the other fine buildings in this part of town stands the impressive monument to Hearst’s ambitions. The Hearst News Building is a Mission-Revival design office building that houses most of the journalists writing for Hearst’s many papers, and from the massive printing presses deep in the basements of the building, multiple editions are released daily (with occasional evening editions when the situation warrants). After City Hall, it’s the tallest building outside the Holy City’s walls.

• Frustrum & Lynch: One of the premier legal firms in the movie industry, Frustrum & Lynch handles the corporate and private affairs of a great many movie moguls. Their impressive offices in Midtown boast a substantial number of works of art in the office suites of the senior partners, while the walls of every junior partner’s office is decorated with signed photographs of the biggest players in Movie Town.

City Hall: The tallest, most impressive building in the five boroughs, City Hall is the administrative center of secular Lost Angels. The building is home to the offices of Mayor Stoner, the District Attorney and his deputies, the representatives of the five boroughs, and the Council Chambers, where the Council of Lost Angels meets regularly.

Eastside

Eastside

You'll find most of the middle class here. Countless repair shops, celluloid companies, lighting suppliers, costumers, make-up businesses, and electrical firms dot the industrial region. Many small homes on tree-lined streets. It's our cute suburbia. here are some interesting spots to visit:

Interesting places on the Eastside

• Luigi's: The BEST Italian restaurant in this or any other city outside of New York. Be sure to leave room for a cannoli.

• Pierce's Monster Cosmetics: Jack Pierce, is famous for the Monster Frankenstein. This is where he lives and also has his studio here as well. For a modest fee, you can sign up for a private tour and small lesson on how to apply makeup like the stars get!

• Kilbride's Books: Devlin Kilbride, a man of adventure. Has been to the congo, rode the Amazon river, visited the great wall of China, and many more accomplishments. He now shares his stories and books that he acquired from faraway lands! Be sure to stop in for a chat and read a book or two in the reading room.

Neighborhoods in the Eastside

• Mason Park: also known as Little Italy, this part of the neighborhood is mostly made up of ranch-style houses with of course consisting of Italian descent.

• Acacia Court: one of many residential areas in the Eastside, this is a planned neighborhood comprising single-story homes with spacious, well-kept yards. Families here tend to be young, with hardworking, ambitious husbands working mostly in the Midtown firms. The wives plan and have social events.

• Liberty Field: This barren area is mostly wasteland which rumor has it has been bought by a wealthy patron who intends to turn it into a thriving aerodrome and expand air links to Lost Angels. For now, though it's fenced in and off-limits.

The Holy City

City of Lost Angels

The Holy City (Tours ONLY)

Heart of Lost Angels, a circular district surrounded by 40' high obsidian walls. Four main entrances to the city. The main gates are massive brass structures reclaimed from the old cathedral recovered and reconstructed. You can tour the Holy city for two hours at one of the three times: 9am, 1pm, or 5pm. Be sure to see the following:

* Extended passes are available but you must apply for it ($2 a day fee per person)

• The Cathedral of Lost Angels: This beautiful church was closely modeled on the old. It has a huge gothic edifice, dripping with ornate stonework, festooned with gargoyles, and with flying buttresses spring from every wall. Its a MUST see to any newcomer to the city. It gives Notre Dame cathedral a run for its money! Be sure to see the giant rose windows above the north, south, and west doors! The famous mural painter of Diego Rivera painted the ceiling of the famed Judgment Day triptych.

• The Exchange: Like busy little bees these operators who work here make sure communication goes clean like a whistle in our metropolis. This tall building with thin arrow-slit windows has a monastic air about it.

• Lost Angels Hospital: Five-story stone building built in classical style, heavily on the fluted columns and statuary. Care here is free of charge but you'll leave healed and a believer! 

• The Reliquary: Two-story structure built next to the Cathedral with a similar Gothic style. Inside, is the remains of the bones of the Elders recovered after the Flood, along with other relics. It is guarded at all times by our own Guardian Angels!

• The Museum of the Flood: This just opened up only a few years ago! It houses many artifacts of the old days, some models of the old buildings, and dioramas featuring life-size models of the inhabitants.

• The Rock Factories: This is what keeps the city churning and in business! Hellstromme industries and the rest of the CSA and USA get their refined ghost rock right from here. Rumor has it that this place is guarded more than the legendary Fort Knox in Kentucky!

• The University of All Angels: UAA is a nationally recognized body, offering degrees in a wide range of subjects, but particularly excelling in Medicine, Business, and Philosophy. Green UAA buses bring students who do not belong to the church to the university from their accommodations daily. The faithful and secular are taught together, and the church does not force their beliefs on them. It's a wonderful place to get an education!

The city of Lost Angels

Sister Judith's Cathedral on Wilshire Boulevard

Every time I make a picture the critics' estimate of american public taste goes down ten percent.

~ Cecil B. DeMille

A Dark History of Lost Angels

• The city of Lost Angels was founded on Ghost Rock after the Great Quake that rocked California.
• Survivors of the shattered coastline rallied around a charismatic leader, Reverend Ezekiah Grimme. Grimme and his followers raised a great city that boomed in the ghost rock rush that followed.
• Food was scarce during this time and Grimme and his loyal followers resorted to cannibalism. He used his vile parody of a pious man and lured in refugees and harvest them for their meat.
• The unholy pilgrims soon reached a site selected by their leader and began building the center of their new church. Thus the City of Lost Angels was born, and Grimme's faithful slowly gained a herd of human cattle upon which to feast.
• Everywhere BUT the Holy City had food...the western lands were ravaged and remained barren. More and more refugees came to be slaughtered.
• Some old manuscripts say there was a plague surrounding the Holy City and it was Grimme's doing
• Grimme denounced the raging rail wars and forbade the rail barons passage across his lands, and the priceless harbor of Lost Angels. This was known as the Edict of '77. The city declared themselves independent of both North and South, and the Commonwealth of California was born.
• Shan Fan to the North of LA is also independent of the North and South
• 1880, however, the rail barons finally made it to LA despite Grimme's attempts to stop them. Dr. Darius Hellstromme unleashed his secret weapons, consuming the city and its surroundings in flame as he dropped a series of ghost firebombs.
• The scientific power from Hellstromme ended the Great Rail Wars and Grimme started to lose control of the city.
• Grimme hatched a series of events for one last-ditch effort to get back control of the city. He was going to have his followers and most powerful disciple put together a nefarious feast. But, unknown to this day, was a group of heroes thwarted his plans and flooded the whole city and killed the followers and Grimme.

From the Depths of Despair

• A young lady by the name of Sister Judith Prosperi was a follower of Grimme but had not known his foul nature until later. Legend has it she wept when the great city was destroyed by the flood and her tears split the ground open and a salt river spang forth. Clearly, Judith had been touched by the hand of the Almighty!
• She was dubbed the Angel of Mercy, she gathered the other disciples and helped as many as they could. Many trials and tribulations came across her and her followers but they weathered the storm.
• The agnostics settled on a promontory overlooking the ruins called "Perdition". Sister Judith concentrated on permanent structures that would withstand the next disaster. Where Perdition remained more transient, figuring they'd just have to rebuild everything after the next disaster anyway.
• As time went on more and more people migrated to Lost Angels. very few wanted the diligent, reserved life of the flock so Perdition swelled in months, spilled off the high ground and surrounded the city proper in just a few years.
• Most of the transients were less law-abiding, many were thieves or fortune hunters to get rich quick.
• Judith, felt threatened so she and her followers built a 40' obsidian wall around the cathedral and the wards radiating out from it. 

Council of Elders

• Secular forces grew jealous of Sister Judith flock's control and wealth of the city. Sister Judith negotiated and with some skullduggery, she gave the non-believers official representation
• The Council of Elders was formed:
• Patriarch(Judith), four bishops, four deacons, and the secular mayor of Lost Angels who speaks for the Town Council.
• The  Town Council, in turn, represents the rest of the city-state with Councilmen elected from Oldtown, Midtown, Mazedge, Movie Town, and Eastside.
• Four bishops responsible for the 4 wards in the Holy City
• Four deacons manage Ecclesiastical, Judicial, Pastoral, and Financial Departments
• Some say the secular voice is greatly outvoted and they don't feel they have much of a say in the matter of great importance.
• 1890 CSA and USA officially partitioned California and recognize Lost Angels' independence once again.