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(oWOD - V:TM): Red River by Night

The Red River Metroplex is a sprawling metropolis that was born out of the ashes of the former city of Fargo.

Straddling the intersection of I-29 and I-94, running some distance alongside the Red River of the North, and hosting one of the major divisions of the Northern Pacific Railroad, its nickname, 'Gateway to the West', is well earned.

The city was a decent place to live since it was first founded as the city of Fargo in 1871, but there was nothing there to attract the Kindred, save those who preferred isolation or the chance to be the big fish in a very, very small pond.

Two events changed all that.

The first was back to back natural disasters, the Fargo Tornado of 1971 and the Red River Flood of 1972. A massive tornado devastated the northern part of the city, ripping it to shreds. Reconstruction efforts were hindered by record snowfalls later that same year, which lead to the flooding of the city in 1972, severely damaging the western part of the city. It seemed Fargo was destined to go the way of so many frontier towns in the western part of the United States, doomed to wither and die on the vine.

However, even as its obituary was being printed, the seeds for the city's rebirth were being sown, half a world away. United States foreign aid to Israel during the Yom Kippur War triggered economic retaliation by the OPEC oil cartel, who nearly quadrupled oil prices. Along with the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, this lead to a widespread economic recession, as high unemployment coincided with high inflation in the United States.

Historians would later mark the turning point of the 1973-1974 Stock Market Crash as December 6, 1974. The cause of this turnabout was easy to discern. On December 7, 1974, EOG Resources announced it had struck huge reserves of oil in the Bakken Formation near Parshall, North Dakota.

The discovery of huge reserves of domestic oil lead to an 'oil rush' as companies raced to exploit the Parshall Oil Field discovery. The country as a whole had a vested interest in ending OPEC's stranglehold on oil production, and one of President Ford's earliest domestic policy successes was the coordination of national interests with corporate interests in the extraction of North Dakota's rich oil reserves.

Only a few years ago Fargo was on its deathbed, a pale shadow of itself. However one thing neither tornados nor floods had been able to destroy was the simple fact that it straddled both a major east-west and north-south highway, as well as being the nexus for numerous rail lines and sitting on a river that was capable of trade with Canada (also hurting from the worldwide economic recession).

Federal tax dollars poured in to undo the damage caused by Mother Nature, and the corporations couldn't build fast enough to support their operations in the western part of the state. A strange conglomeration of company town, disaster relief area, federal base, and rustic country city, the old city of Fargo was rapidly absorbed into the new developments that were being built in and around it. Eventually the combined efforts of these strange bedfellows came to be known as the Red River Metroplex.

Almost overnight, the former city of Fargo was transformed from a dying ghost town into a vibrant metropolis. Although it was originally built on oil wealth and federal grants, as companies became more invested in the city they began to put down roots. The projected oil reserves were enormous, so the corporations weren't going anywhere, and success has a way of attracting success.

By 2013, the Red River Metroplex has become the fourth largest city in the United States, trailing only New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and its sprawling urban landscape brooks no challenges to its self-proclaimed title, 'King of the New American Frontier'.

From the perspective of the Kindred, the Red River Metroplex sprang into exist pretty much overnight; in truth, it was that way for much of mortal society as well.

Its sudden rise to prominence meant that neither the Camarilla nor the Sabbat anticipated its growth, and as such neither had their hooks firmly established when the city began its ascent. Indeed, the few Kindred that were in the city prior to the discovery of new oil reserves in the Bakken Formation were looking for a way out.

Even as the mortals rushed to exploit the oil, the Kindred rushed to exploit the new population explosion of mortals. With few of the traditional power structures firmly in place, disenfranchised Kindred everywhere began flocking to the city, which became a land of opportunity for both human and Kindred alike.

In this case, Camarilla, Sabbat, and Anarch alike suffered from 'second-mover disadvantage'. None of them had the home field advantage, and they all arrived roughly at the same time. Needless to say, a peaceful settlement was out of the question, and a 'Wild West' mentality sprang up in the city. Each of the three factions has a significant presence within the city, and each of the three factions is looking to kick the other two out and become the only game in town, by any means necessary.

For the Kindred of the city, Red River represents something not seen among the Damned in a long time: true opportunity. With the Camarilla and Sabbat racing to establish control, and the Anarchs fighting to see their dreams of a free city live on, the city is ripe with opportunity for any individuals who are willing to take the risk to move in and stake their claims. Red River is a place where anybody looking to be somebody has a shot at putting down roots and watching their power grow, and there have proven to be no shortage of Kindred willing to move to the city and take their shot at the big time.