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Cities all have souls. Everything is reflected in the Three Umbrae; the mortal, decaying aspect in the Low Umbra, the spiritual, living aspect in the Middle Umbra and the essence, the secret soul of things, in the High Umbra. Unlike the reflections in the other Umbrae, the High Umbral reflection does not reflect the actual thing and how it currently is, (its accidence), it reflects the essence, the unchanging metaphysical core of the thing. And this reflection, or true nature, naturally affects and is affected by the material thing, being its soul.
Cities are unusual because they are manmade, but on a scale to rival that of many natural features. Only nations and ideologies are bigger. This gives their souls tremendous power, but still puts them in the reach of human hands. Normally the souls do not change except very slowly under a very long time, or when powerful events change the city. But they can often be affected somewhat by large movements, or the activities of the Awakened.
It is not unusual for the souls to find embodiment in landmarks or other things. If these landmarks are hurt, the soul (and the city) suffers. Typical examples are the Little Mermaid of Copenhagen, the EEC headquarters complex in Brussels, the Mosque of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Many of these serve other mystical functions (the EEC headquarters are an hotbed for NWO, Syndicate and Tremere activity, the Golden Gate bridge is somehow linked to the secret schemes of the Craftmasons and close an circle around the Bay Area). Often lesser known places are influenced too, in a complex network over the city. The soul doesn't exist in the landmark per se, but is linked to it. Some mages have found that to communicate or perceive the soul seek out significant landmarks and seek it there.
Some rare cities have never developed their own souls. Brasilia is a good example. Created entirely by the Technocracy to become an ideal city, they kept it completely spiritually blank and no soul could develop. People didn't move to the city, the great highways were empty and the plazas echoed with silence. To become alive the city needs its soul, and if its soul dies, so does the city.
Most cities in the Old World are so old that their souls have become too powerful and static to change by any means; they are spiritual beings in their own right and independent of human will. Some can even defend themselves against change, like Kyoto. Younger cities, especially the ones in the New World, have not yet developed their true souls, and can be strongly affected by the schemes of the Awakened. During the middle ages the Craftsmasons were apparently seeking to focus these souls into the Cathedrals, in addition to their other occult uses. It is even possible for an Awakened to become the soul of the city, to identify himself with the soul to such an degree that they merge and become one. This mystical union both gives tremendous power and binds the soul of the city in the material world - if the lord of the city is defeated, killed or otherwise hurt, the city will suffer too. "The land and the king are one".
The lord of a city reflects it in many ways, and gains a subconscious understanding and power linked to it. He will know if something is going on, and have an intuitive feeling for what to do. Influence, usually on a very subtle level, will come easily to him, and sometimes he can affect events just by existing. At the same time, he will be somewhat limited by the shape of the soul he represents; some courses of actions are simply not possible or too hard to use. Being the soul of an powerful city also means that the city will affect you strongly, giving you some of its properties.
To actually become the soul of a city requires extraordinary means. The old soul either has to be removed/reshaped/defeated so that the new soul can gain ascendancy (the way of the conqueror), or the ambitious being has to seek out the soul, learn its secrets and gradually unite with it by mutual reflection and understanding (the way of the defender).
The way of the conqueror requires a lot of temporal power, planning and ambition. The old core of the city has to be found and excised, the mystical landmarks changed or removed and a new city created from the skeleton of the old. This process can take years, but in the end the city must have changed its character to conform to its new lord. One example of this is Stockholm; in the late 60šs the Technocracy demolished parts of the central city and replaced them with a new downtown, and outside the city they extended functionalistic suburbs. The new soul of the city, personified in the grey glass monolith at Sergel Plaza is truly technomantic. Of course, the Technocracy did not see this as an attempt to replace its "soul" (such things do not exist), instead it was just urban planning for the future, an attempt to create a new and better city (which is the same thing).
The way of the defender is more subtle, and sometimes walked unwittingly by the Awakened. This is especially true for the kindred Elders, who shape their cities by their actions, thoughts and power for centuries, and are themselves shaped by them. The dreams of Methuselahs sometimes merge with the souls of the cities they sleep under.
In some of the youngest cities, the Soul has never developed on its own, and instead has passed from one lord to another. One example is Las Vegas, where the occult rulership (closely linked to the powers of randomness and money) has passed down a succession of mobster mages. It is said that to become the new ruler, the old ruler has to be defeated in a mystical card game.
In some cities the Awakened struggle against each other to shape the Soul of the city. In Paris, there is a struggle between the Sons of Ether and their allies on one side, and the Technocracy on the other side. The new buildings along Champs Elysee and especially the new triumph arc are a magickal strike against the power of the Eiffel tower; beside locking down the quintessence flows they are intended to give a new image to the city, something the Sons of Ether desperately opposes.
Up to the Spirit PageAnders Sandberg / nv91-asa@nada.kth.se