The City of Los Angeles

"The smog was heavy, my eyes were weeping from it, the sun was hot, the air stank, a regular hell is L.A."

-- Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums




Though most humans would never know just by looking at it, the so-called "City of Angels" is very much a City of Demons.

In the beginning, Los Angeles was not occupied by any more demons than other cities around the globe, but as time passed and the fallen realized the depth of the city’s influence worldwide, a kind of latter-day "gold rush" occurred. Fallen from across the world made their way to Los Angeles, each one eager to bend the movie studios and production houses to their will. These demons quickly moved to enthrall any influential mortal they could find, from government officials to powerful gang leaders in South Central. With the recent appearance of what appears to be the lost Prince of the fallen, Lucifer himself, Los Angeles is now a veritable mecca for demonkind.

On the whole, Los Angeles was a literal banquet of Faith for the angels of the Abyss, replete with multitudes of souls either so shallow or so desperate that they would sell their souls without a second thought to anyone who could promise them what they wished. As the number of demons in the city swelled to over a hundred, territories shrank and competition for the richer prizes increased. In most cases such confrontations were resolved without conflict as the fallen involved fell back on the rules of rank and precedence that allowed the Infernal Host to function during the war. As the old "pecking order" became increasingly prevalent it also became apparent that it was only a matter of time before one demon or another took the next logical course and laid claim to Los Angeles as its lawful tyrant. Seeing the writing on the wall, a Devil named Spentu Mainyu, one of the first demons to arrive in the city, assumed the title and formed the City of Angels’ first infernal court. In reality, the court itself was little more than a façade, with ministers who were handpicked for their rivalries and feuds with one another. The result was an artifice that seemed to impose order, while in reality allowing Spentu Mainyu enough influence and protection to continue his campaign to seize control of the city’s entertainment industry.

The City of Angels is a study in stark contrasts. The fabulous wealth of L.A.’s media elite and the superficial beauty of its celebrities clash with the abject poverty and seething violence of the barrios. Los Angeles is very much a city of dreams - a gateway to wealth and fame for a few hopeful souls, but the superstar lifestyle is not without its dangers. Hollywood’s best and brightest succumb to drugs, alcohol and their own runaway egos, sowing the seeds of their own destruction even as they reap the bounty of their success. It’s a place where souls were bought and sold long before the fallen escaped the Abyss, and the demons themselves are no less drawn by L.A.’s promises of glory and power.

Los Angeles teems with souls willing to cut any deal they must in order to grab the elusive promise of stardom. The cult of celebrity is an overpowering intoxicant to the starved spirits of Hell. Tormented demons stalk the corridors of production companies, haunt the trendy clubs and set themselves up as spiritual counselors in a city that is all too easily lost in the glamour of the Next Big Thing. In L.A., the fallen fight the depredations of their own kin as much as the cynical, exploitative machinations of the entertainment industry itself. Whoever controls Los Angeles also controls the images flowing onto every screen and television around the world, for good or evil, and the potential for change embodied in the city is too great to ignore.


L.A. Statistics

Nicknames: The City of Angels, La-La-Land, Tinseltown.
Founded: September 4, 1781.
Total Area: 501.55 sq mi (1,299.01 sq km). Land: 469.49 sq mi (1,215.97 sq km); Water: 32.06 sq mi (83.04 sq km).
Population: Approximately 3.9 million for L.A. Proper. The Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area houses nearly 13 million.
Pop. Density: 8.304.22/sq mi (3,206.29/sq km).
Racial Demographics: Hispanics: 38.1%; Whites: 37.6%; African Americans: 16%; Asians: 6%; Native Americans or Pacific Islanders: 1.3%, and Other: 1%.
Supernatural Demographics: 99.99% of the city’s residents are mundane humans; 0.01% of residents are supernatural beings or Awakened humans (Vampires, Werewolves, Changelings, Demons, Mummies, Mages, etc). This number does not include Wraiths or the Imbued, nor does it include supernaturally-enhanced individuals such as Ghouls, Kinfolk, and Thralls.
Religious Demographics: Non-Religious: 43%; Roman Catholic: 27%; Protestant (various denominations): 23%; Jewish: 1%; and Other: 6%.
Wealth Level: Median household income is $69,778, which roughly meets the national average. 14.2% of Angelinos live below the poverty line, and the city is estimated to have a homeless population of almost 50,000.
Districts: L.A. has hundreds of neighborhoods and districts. Among the most famous ones are Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Venice, Encino, Van Nuys, and Bel Air.
Waterways: The Los Angeles River is 51 miles long and has a number of tributaries. L.A. County has 83 reservoirs that provide drinking water to the populace.
Demonym: Angelino.
Mayor: Karen Bass.
Government: Mayor-Council-Commission.


The Devil's Night Riots

On October 30, 2022, Los Angeles was rocked by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck the city during rush hour. The quake devastated the Tri-County area, cutting power and water lines to 90% of the city and starting fires that the city authorities were powerless to stop. In the ensuing chaos, many of the city's supernaturals tore through the ravaged neighborhoods. In particular, a duo of Earthbound demons sent their servants to sow carnage throughout L.A., wielding demonic powers with abandon and effectively reaping boundless supplies of Faith from the traumatized human populace. These acts of horror and violence further provoked the Angelinos into spasms of looting and arson that quickly coalesced into huge, uncontrolled riots. Billions of dollars of damage and hundreds of lives were lost over the next six days, prompting the governor of California to declare a state of emergency and activate the National Guard. Despite the presence of armed troops on the streets, the riots continued unabated, fueled by the malevolence of the Earthbound and their cults. The more the National Guard troops tried to suppress the riots, the more inflamed the crowds became, creating a vicious cycle that showed no signs of ceasing. After five days the city was still in flames, and the city government feared that Los Angeles might not survive.

Then, at 11:00 PM on November 3, in a plaza near the ruins of City Hall, three-hundred Guardsmen and nearly a thousand rioters were stunned into silence by a vision of radiance and power not seen since the world was young. It was an angel, terrible in its beauty and majesty, blazing like a newborn star over the seething multitudes fighting in the plaza below. People forgot what they were doing and fell to their knees, overcome by the sheer wonder of the sight. The light of the angel’s revelation could be seen from all over the city, and for the space of a single heartbeat a hush fell over the ravaged downtown area. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the vision was gone. Looking back, city officials mark that moment as the high-water mark of the riots; after the appearance of the angel the city seemed to return to its senses, and the violence quickly tapered off. What’s more, local churches, mosques and synagogues were flooded with multitudes of people, young and old, their faith in the divine lent new power by the image they’d seen. No mortal understood the meaning of the vision — numerous theories would circulate in the days and months following the riots. Cell phone videos and eye witness interviews also made the rounds on social media and internet forums.

Most demons suspect that the angelic being responsible for the Devil’s Night miracle could have only been the Son of the Morning himself. For the fallen, the possible appearance of Lucifer during the height of the riots creates a crisis of faith. Since that night, many demons have been drawn to L.A. in hopes of finding their lost Prince, though many of them are unsure what they will do once they find him. They are no longer the innocent idealists that turned their backs on heaven; they are embittered survivors of a terrible war and an apparent betrayal by their glorious leader. Lucifer’s appearance forces many of the fallen to revisit old beliefs and ask painful questions: Why did you abandon us, Lucifer? Where have you been? Is it for this sterile, heartless world that we endured millennia of damnation?


The Infernal Court of Los Angeles

The Court of Los Angeles was born out of equal amounts of necessity and opportunism. In the early days of the demons’ return to Earth, the dozen or so fallen living within the city had sources of wealth and Faith aplenty to occupy their energies and keep outright competition. But as demons worldwide grasped the significance of the power and influence concentrated in Los Angeles, the pace of new arrivals in the city swelled from a trickle to a raging flood. It became clear to the "native" fallen of the city that a critical mass was fast approaching; as competition for the city’s riches increased, more and more demons fell back on the Court - a system of rank and status that kept order in the Old Days.

Confused by the changes in the world, many of the returned fallen flock to Courts to grant them a sense of safety and familiarity, though these organizations are rarely united. Courts involve complex games of politics and power, most of which originated among demons during their long imprisonment in Hell, where they had nothing else to do than to plot against each other. Most greater cities have at least two Courts that fight one another and vie for supremacy. Some smaller courts have been enslaved by others and are forced to pay tributes. Each Court is lorded over by a Tyrant, who oversees the Court's affairs and keeps the whole thing from coming apart. While Tyrants are the ultimate authorities in their territory, they are still obliged to their infernal superiors who remain trapped in Hell. In the Old Days, Dukes or similarly powerful demons usually claimed the title of Tyrant, but nowadays, many lesser demons have carved out small domains for themselves and taken on the title.

In Los Angeles, the current Tyrant of the city's Infernal Court is a demon named Spentu Mainyu. One of the first demons to take form in the City of Angels, he had quickly realized the potential power inherent in the city’s entertainment industries and went about solidifying his grip on L.A.’s many television and movie studios. He gathered allies and seized control over all local demonic activity.

The Infernal Court consists of five Ministries, sometimes known collectively as "The Pentarchy." Each Ministry manages an element of the Court's affairs and answers to the Tyrant. The Infernal Court of L.A. consists of the following Ministries:

The Ministry of Dragons: Also called the Censors. The Ministry of Dragons has the task of questioning and challenging authority. They must always watch for signs of corruption and betrayal. They are empowered to investigate everyone within the Courts. They primary purpose, however, is weeding out those incompetent enough to be noticed by them. Demons are encouraged to be circumspect in their dealings and the Censors make sure that the rebellious spark in every demon that drove them against God is channeled to constructive means. Every Dragon is always watched by his peers in the Court, eagerly waiting for missteps that can be used against them, subjugating the censors to the same mechanisms they enforce.

Demons of all Houses are found within the Ministry of Dragons. Of the factions, the Luciferans and the Cryptics have most representation, but other Factions also occasionally have interest in the office of a Censor. The senior minister of the Censors is called "Lord Inquisitor."

The Ministry of Eagles: Also called the Watchers. The Ministry of Eagles specializes in information of any kind, be it mundane information about the mortal infrastructure and political landscape, lost lore from the ages before their imprisonment, or supernatural activity that could threaten the Court. To this end, they use any means necessary, be they powers or well-placed mortal Thralls. The Watchers understand that information rules this age and that by controlling information, they can secure their position.

Watchers were originally also teachers, archivists and spies. Their fellow fallen carefully watch their actions, trying to feed them discrete information (or misinformation) to sway their opinion. It is in the power of the Ministry to withhold information they deem too dangerous to use, but should it become clear that these information could have been useful for the Court, the repercussions can become severe. Among the Fallen, Slayers and Fiends are among the most populous members of the Ministry of Eagles, often those with contact to the either the Luciferans or the Cryptics. The senior Minister of the Ministry is called the "Most Vigilant Watcher."

The Ministry of Aurochs: Also called the Warders. Originally, the Warders would defend high-ranking Fallen against assassination attempts from the Host. Now, they protect their individual Courts, most often against rival Demons. They must work with the Ministry of Dust to protect against threats from the Inquisition and other Demon Hunters. Additionally, Warders act as judges in the case that the laws they protect are broken. As higher-ranking Demons can overrule their edicts, and a high fee is placed for anyone who spots a Warder who abuses his authority, most Members of the Ministry of Aurouchs are careful to give themselves the appearance of respectability. They are often very traditional and conservative, knowing that the other four Ministries rely on them for protection.

No Demon of the Ravener faction is to be found in the Ministry of Aurochs. The strongest Factions are the Luciferans, followed by the Faustians and Cryptics. The senior Minister of the Warders is called the "Lord Harrier."

The Ministry of Lions: Also called the Swords. Competitors to the Ministry of Aurochs, the Swords are more like elite soldiers than bodyguards. Since the open use of violence and shows of force is restricted compared to the Age of Wrath, the Swords have to operate carefully to fulfill their duties. Most use the covers of gang-violence, mugging and similar acts of "random" violence to masquerade their greater activities. Although the other Ministries regard the Swords as blunt tools, they can work with remarkable precision to uproot threats to the Court before they grow too strong, like cells of Raveners.

In most Courts, the Ministry of Lions is one of the most influential, given the martial prowess of its members and their strategical acumen. Their force of personality also gives them enemies, who are often happy to give them enough rope to hang themselves. Among the Fallen, Devourers and Devils are among the most populous members, often those in contact with the Luciferans or Faustians. The senior Minister of the Ministry is called the "Lord-General."

The Ministry of Dust: Also called the Guides. Originally, the Guides had the purpose of shepherding the mortals during the Rebellion, look to their needs and make sure that the alliance between mortal and rebel Elohim stayed strong. Since their banishment, the Guides have found a world where mortals not only do not believe in demons, but also actively fear them. As a result, their duty has changed. The Ministry of Dust manages mortal media and institutions, keeping them away from Court infrastructure as well as increasing the general amount of Faith within the population, either by supporting religious institutions or running the city down so that people cling even more tightly to their beliefs.

Faustians and Reconcilers are the Faction that are most prominently represented in the Ministry of Dust, as both seek out mortals to further their agenda. Among the Fallen, the Namaru and the Lammasu are the most numerous members of the Ministry of Dust, with the Annunaki being close second. The senior Minister of the Ministry is called the "Speaker of the Fallen Tower" or the "Guide of the Blind."