The Shattered Refuge
Owner: Nosferatu Clan (Primogen Silas Moore as overseer)
- Rat King: Oswald Mendoza
Location: A sprawling World War II-era bomb shelter complex beneath Savannah, accessible through hidden entrances scattered across the city.
Description:
The Shattered Refuge is an extensive underground labyrinth that serves as the central haven for the Nosferatu Family in Savannah. Originally constructed as a bomb shelter during World War II, the complex has been repurposed into a fortified sanctuary, its twisting corridors and hidden chambers perfectly suited to the Nosferatu’s need for secrecy and shadow.
The upper levels of the complex retain much of their utilitarian design, with stark concrete walls, exposed piping, and dim lighting. These areas house communal spaces for the Nosferatu, including meeting rooms, storage areas, and training spaces. As one ventures deeper, the shelter becomes more elaborate and eerie, with personal quarters carved into the walls and chambers adorned with grotesque sculptures and arcane markings.
The heart of the refuge is Silas Moore’s personal chamber, an expansive, dimly lit hall filled with ancient tomes, artifacts, and a sprawling map of Savannah’s underground. This chamber serves as both a command center and a vault of the Nosferatu’s accumulated secrets. Every corner of the refuge hums with a faint, unsettling energy, as though the shadows themselves are alive and watching.
The Nosferatu have fortified the Shattered Refuge against intrusion, with traps, hidden doors, and false paths designed to confuse and deter outsiders. Its location beneath the city makes it a place of strategic importance, allowing the Nosferatu to move unseen and maintain a quiet grip on Savannah’s underbelly. For those invited into its depths, the refuge is a testament to the Nosferatu’s resilience and ingenuity—though few leave without feeling its oppressive weight.
The Shattered Refuge - Necropolis
The Heart (Central Hub)
The central hall of the Shattered Necropolis has been remodeled. What once was a large concrete bunker has been clad in polished wooden veneer. An ancient boilerroom provides warmth both to the space and to the communal supply of Vitae that is pumped from stored kegs through brass piping to the taps of the bar. Countless nooks, booths and chambers adjoin the large central chamber, which is adorned with historic finery.
The furniture would be of exquisite taste if new, but has been worn in by many owners as it passed from estate sale to antique shop and back again, until finally being abandoned by the mortal world and brought here, to be restored and cobbled into the mosaic of comfort. One would not say the place was fashionable, but it couldn’t be denied that every piece had been remade and customized to provide comfort to its new owners.
Standing inside the Heart, one could almost forget they were deep underground, nestled within a writhing mass of catacombs, sewers and service tunnels. Let others think the Nosferatu dwell in squalor; the comforts of our Heart are ours alone.
Mechanically, the Heart provides one Dot of Safe Place to all residents. In addition, each resident may draw from the communal blood supply Vitae equal to their Clan Status +1 per week.
Veins
At recommendation of the Prince, the Necropolis should be focused on Protection, both for the everyday safety of the Clan and their holdings, and as a last bastion for the Kindred of the city as a whole should it ever be needed.
Due to the sprawling nature of the Shattered Refuge, with it’s many tunnels and accessways crisscrossing almost the entirety of Nosferatu Territory, residents of the Necropolis Benefit from a +5 modifier on rolls to reach safety while they are in Nosferatu Territory.
In order to enjoy this benefit, and the other amenities provided by the Necropolis, all residents carry the Burden of patrolling of the catacombs at least once a month, repairing defences, clearing traps, and dealing with any “unwilling guests”, either by conveying them to the surface safely or procuring them to maintain the blood supply of the Heart.
Residents
The Rat King is responsible for overseeing the maintenance of the Necropolis. They enforce the rules, maintain the Heart’s bloodflow, and otherwise assure everyone falls in line.
For the Storytellers - More information on Residents can be found on pg. 74 of Better Feared.
Clots - Supernatural Hazards
Locations like Necropolis tend to spontaneously develop their own bizarre and dangerous phenomena. In the case of the Shattered Refuge, the maze of sewers, tunnels and earthworks have taken on a life of their own, and truly become Catacombs.
The area surrounding the Necropolis proper is difficult to navigate, and this helps discourage or trap casual intruders. Strangely, it doesn’t seem to matter how large a Necropolis with this Clot actually is: There’s always enough room for someone to lose their way…
System: Navigating the Catacombs requires an extended Wits + Investigation roll, with 10 successes as the target. Each roll represents an hour of wandering whatever mad structure the Catacombs represent. These places are inevitably dark, musty, and choked with cobwebs or other debris, inflicting a 3-die penalty on all Perception rolls. Residents of the Necropolis do not have to make this roll most of the time, but it may still be required if they’re distracted or in a hurry. In such a case, a resident can add Clan Status to these rolls, representing how familiar they are with the Catacombs and the Warren in general.
Merits
Residents of the Necropolis are afforded access get to two special merits that they can purchase as they would any other. Should a character lose standing or favor with the Necropolis they can choose either to keep the merits they have purchased but lose all benefit they provide (until they have regained their favor or standing,) or they can refund them as per Sanctity of Merits and reinvest them elsewhere.
The Shattered Refuge gives access to:
Honeycomb (• to •••••)
Tags: All
Effect: Most Necropoli are full of hidden passageways, but this one has spread its tendrils all throughout the surrounding area, giving its residents ready access to all sorts of unexpected places. For each dot of Honeycomb, your character knows two hidden exits from the Warren into the world beyond. These egress points can be anywhere that hasn’t been purchased as a Safe Place by another character. Such passages are well-hidden, and any mundane rolls to notice them fail if someone isn’t actively looking for them.
Drawback: Traveling these tunnels is stealthy and secure, but it isn’t fast. Travel must be done on foot, usually single-file, and the routes are often circuitous due to necessity and paranoia. When using this Merit to travel to a destination, add half again the amount of time it would usually take to walk there.
Dark Hub (•)
Tags: Control, Information
Effect: The Internet has been a mixed blessing to Kindred in general, but an absolute boon to the Nosferatu, who take full advantage of the ability to trade secrets and ruin lives without ever meeting anyone face-to-face. The Dark Hub is a chamber in the Necropolis packed with humming servers and flickering monitors. On any Computer roll made within the Necropolis or the surrounding area to acquire services from the Internet, your character exceptionally succeeds on three successes.
Tumbling Down - (For the Storytellers)
Residents who commit offenses against the Necropolis, such as by extracting more then their fair share of Vitae or not carrying out their Burden, will be afflicted by the Necropolis Pariah condition (pg. 79, Better Feared.)
Enemies of the Necropolis might seek to undermine or attack it. If the Heart is rendered unable to supply blood for a week or more, and the Focus of the Necropolis, in this case Protection, is broken, then the Necropolis falls. All characters then lose access to any merits granted by membership, and every resident loses a point of Clan Status as news of their failure spreads.