Around and about in Uppsala by Night
Uppsala is not a large city by any accounts...spread out - yes,
large - no. However, the city is full of interesting
locations. here you'll find details of just a few of them, and
how the kindred make use of them.
The City
Uppsala lies 70km to the north of Stockholm, and about halfway
between the two lies Arlanda international airport. Regular buses run
from the airport to Uppsala. Uppsala is also linked to Stockholm by a
rail link, which takes roughly an hour, though the station is located
on the city's west side, as are most of the shops and several of the
city's main tourist attractions relating to the famed biologist Carl
von Linne. A few university departments are also located on this side,
along with large residential areas, mostly occupied by non-students,
with the exception of a couple of blocks. The major shopping streets
in the city are also located on this side of the river, centered around
Stora Torget. These streets are largely pedestrians only. To the south
of the city the east bank becomes an industrial area, and then there are
two large university department campuses at Glunten and Polacksbacken,
where the Engineering, Mathematical and Computing departments are housed.
Two edifices dominate the city, the castle - built by the almost
deified King Gustaf Vasa, who's remains lie in the other landmark -
the very beautiful cathedral, with it's distinctive twin spires at the
western end. Not far from the cathedral sits the Main university,
which is now more of a centerpiece for ceremonies though lectures are
still held here. Also within a short stroll of the cathedral is
Carolina Rediviva, which is the main university library, lying in the
shadow of the castle, reputedly positioned so as to give a commanding
view of the cathedral. Following the main road - Dag Hammerskolds vag
- past the castle goes past the university's Biological gardens and
onto the modern architectural carbuncle that is the Biologisk
Medicinsk centrum (B.M.C.) and the Teknologisk institut.
Also on the western side of the river lie twelve of the thirteen
student nation buildings, in two clusters : on St Lars gatan are
Sodermanlands Nerikes nation (Snerikes), Smalands nation, Upplands
nation, Goteborgs nation (site of many happy memories for the author)
and Vastmanlands Dalarna nation (V-Dala), with Kalmar nation close by.
The second cluster is of Stockholms nation, Varmlands nation,
Gastrike Helsinge Nation (G.H.), Ostgota nation, Vastgota nation and
Norrlands nation. The second cluster lies to the south of the cathedral
near the castle, the first to the north.
A walk to the north of Carolina goes to the Ekonomicum, the large
building that houses departments of business and humanities. To the north
of this point lie residential areas, with the same to the west, though the
latter - the districts of Ekeby and Flogsta - have many students living
in them.
To the far north of the city lies Gamla (lit - old) Uppsala, where the
first church is located, alongside several burial mounds thought to date
from Norse times, popular with tourists and picniccers.
You will find pictures of many of these places in the
history of Uppsala. Get a map of Uppsala by clicking here.
A kindred perspective
Elysiums:
Ragnar has declared the following buildings Elysium. Hunting may be
conducted in these areas, but they are open to all and conflicts
within them will not be tolerated:
The Cathedral, The Castle, Ekonomicum, St Par's and Forum Gallerien
Malls, Biologisk tradgatan, Universitetshuset and the Bus/train terminal.
Ulrika has been putting pressure on Ragnar to add her club to the list.
Ragnar's rules of residence are pretty much the same as those of any
city of any size - keep to the traditions, and don't go killing anyone
if you can avoid it. If you do kill someone then clean up your own
mess or you will be punished. He also requires that all the kindred
of the city meet once a week, one hour after darkness each Wednesday,
in the Cathedral.
Havens and feeding grounds:
Most - but not all - of the kindred of Uppsala rely on the student
population for their sustenance, and use major residential areas,
university buildings or one of the thirteen student Nations. The
nations are thirteen establishments originally founded centuries ago
that were intended to bring students from the various regions of
Sweden for which they are named together, but which have now become a
collection of loosely linked student unions, with bars, restaurants,
study areas and so forth provided for members of all nations to use.
It has been clearly laid out by Ragnar, in consultation with the other
kindred who has claim to which feeding grounds, and in several cases
the kindred use their feeding ground as a haven as well. The
allocations as they stand currently are as follows:
- The five nation houses that are found on St Lars' gatan are the sole
property of Ragnar for feeding, though he spends the daylight hours in
a cellar beneath Universitetshuset.
- Sven lives and feeds mostly in the expansive house of Norrlands nation,
on the banks of the river, though he also lays claim to Gottlands
nation, the smallest of the thirteen nations, who's house is the only
one on the east side of the river.
- Christina lives and feeds in Carolina Rediviva, which has been
designated the Tremere chantry building. Fredrik also fed and lived here
before his disappearance.
- Ulrika lives and mostly feeds in her club - Babylon.
- Seth's haven is a bit of a mystery, though he is thought to reside
in the cemetery on St Johannes' gatan. He lays claim to the rights of
feeding at Kalmar nation on Svartmangatan - appropriately this means
dark man's street.
- Per lives in the student housing estate on Sernandersvag, in one of
the 16 blocks of flats to be found there. It is thought he moves
around these a lot to hide his haven. He feeds from the resident
students, or from the residents of the nearby residential areas.
- Stefan finds his refuge beneath the streets, where he apparently
feeds on rats and other vermin. None of the kindred have ever seen him
partake of human blood.
- Pieter spends all his time working at BMC -- the university's centre
for teaching and research in the Biological and Medical sciences. He
feeds on students he finds in the confusing web of corridors and rooms
therein. It is no surprise that students often feel they have lost time
wandering the corridors.
In addition to these designations, hunting rights to the city's various areas
have been divided among the residents as follows:
- Ragnar - Svartbacken, Tunabackar, Kvarngardet, Löten, Nyby, Gamla Uppsala,
Gränby and Hällby
- Pieter - Eriksberg, Ulleraker, Narby
- Christina - Centrum, Kungsängen
- Per - Flogsta, Berthåga, Kvarnbo, Stenhagen
- Stefan - Årsta, Fyrislund
- Ulrika - Fjardingen, Kåbo
- Sven - Fålhagen, Salabacke
- Seth - Kungsgärdet, Rickomberga
- Fredrick - Centrum, Boläderna, Brillinge
In addition to these areas, there are several unassigned areas, mostly those to
the far south of the city, down to the banks of lake Mälaren, which are usually
ignored by the kindred due to their distance from the city center. Occasionally
one or other of them will go to Gottsunda or Sunnersta, though these trips are
rare.
In fact, it is rare that the kindred even bother with these restrictions, and
hunt freely accross the city, except in the areas claimed by Per...he
pedantically demands permission from anyone wanting to hunt in his areas, so
most leave them alone. It is more a matter of protocol than anything else that
the city is thus are divided. Despite this, Ragnar still keeps a map of the
boundries between each kindred's hunting grounds.
I'll try and produce this map somehow at some point in the future.
Notes on Uppsala :
All the kindred dread summer. Darkness never truly comes, though
there are a couple of hours when the sunlight is weak enough and the
sun low enough in the sky to be safe. At this time of year the
university closes and a good proportion of the vitae sources in the
city disappear. There are enough normal kine to provide, but getting
at them is very much harder. The kindred are almost completely
inactive over these months, though in July and August there are
considerable numbers of tourists in the city who are easy prey. The
city is pretty much dormant when the university is out of term, and
the kindred feel much the same.
There are several festivals in Uppsala. Most of these are the
same as those accross Sweden, but also each nation has special nights
and festivities several times a term. One event in paticular warrants
mention. Valborg is the 30th of April, and is a day to welcome the
spring. It involves all the students getting riotously falling over drunk
all day, starting with champagne breakfasts and finishing the next
morning. Students from all over Sweden come to Uppsala for the day,
and the whole city is packed. By the time kindred rise the parties will
have moved to the Nations, where many drunk students will be making
happy fools of themselves, and the streets will be paved with broken
glass from smashed beer and wine bottles. The nations are guarenteed full,
so hunting is easy if the kindred don't mind imbibing a lot of alcohol in
in the blood.
Transport in Uppsala is by your own power. Most students use
bicycles, as these are best for cheap transport through streets not
really designed for motor vehicles. Most ordinary residents will use
Bikes in the city and use cars for longer journeys. Uppsala has a fine
Bus service which will take you to most places,but this is not cheap.
Stockholm
Much as the kindred in Uppsala dislike it, Stockholm's politics often
spill into Uppsala, and the two cities' histories are much intertwined
More than once a fugitive has hightailed it from the capital into
Ragnar's territory to escape the vengeance of the city's Prince.
Ragnar is tired of having to reason with the hotheaded Tremere ruler,
especially with his dislike of the Stockholm Tremere.
Stockholm is firmly in the grasp of the Tremere. Many years ago a Ventrue
prince, Marius, ruled, but with his growing age he grew senile, and in the
last years of the 18th century the Tremere pontifex of Scandinavia took it
upon himself to remove what he saw as a hinderance to the smooth running of
the city and the country. This led to a war between the two clans, with the
other clans - most notably the Malkavians - playing both sides. It is said
that the well known distrust the Stockholm Chantry bears to The Malkavian
stems from that clan's constant side switching.
Over the first years of Tremere rule, the Swedish population dropped
dramatically due to emmigration to the new world. The Ventrue, now
completely outlawed on pain of blood hunt from Stockholm and holding
the city of Malmo as exclusively their own, blame their rivals for this,
decrying the Tremere loudly. In return the Tremere blame the Ventrue.
A Brujah scholar resident in Stockholm, Sigmund Bengtsson, has dared to
try to defuse the situation by pointing out the huge influence of Get of
Fenris lupine kinfolk in the moves. The Tremere and Ventrue both say this
is rubbish, despite huge evidence supporting the theory.
The elder Malkavain of Sweden, the second longest kindred resident of
Stockholm, blames space aliens.
The Tremere have managed to turn Stockholm into a fine and beautiful city,
certainly one of Europes finest Capitals. This is due in no small part to
the Tremere influence used to keep the country neutral during the world
wars, as per the instructions they recieved from Vienna. Stockholm was
never attacked and thus much of its older architecture is still intact.
It is through their rule that Sweden has its reputation as a clean and
efficiently run country.
Recent politics in Stockholm has centered on problems with Sabbat and
diablerists, mostly thought to be linked to the disputed city of Helsinki.
There have also been disputes over werewolf and Giovanni influences in the
city. The Ventrue influences in the city have also been on the rise since
the early 90s, when Prime Minister Olof Palme was assasinated. While the
Sabbat and Lupines have also been blamed for this, the Ventrue are widely
thought to have been responsible. It was certainly they who brought about the
entry of Sweden into the EU, and it is whispered that they control the current
Prime minister Goran Persson, with the Tremere causing problems in his government
to try and shift power back in their direction.
Important Stockholm Kindred
The Kindred of Stockholm are mostly Tremere and Toreador, though there is
a significant group of Brujah also resident in the city. The Tremere rule is
so solid because the Brujah are a fragmented group - scholars who care little
for the political wranglings of the city or younger vampires, thought by some to
be anarchs, but really merely ones who are enjoying their immortality - and the
Toreador are oo busy squabbling among themselves to put together any serious
push for power. In addition to this there are no Ventrue whatsoever in the city,
and any who dare enter are subject to Blood Hunt.
There are only a handful of Nosferatu and Malkavians, though the elder Malkavian,
Andreas Blomqvist, wields considerable influence through his media ties, ZTV
and the Aftonbladet newspaper and the Nosferatu rule the city's underground
rail network. The lone gangrel of the city is also the oldest kindred in the city,
1600 years he guesses. he leads a solitary existence in the Djurgarden area, in
the Skansen open air museum and zoo.
- Prince Matthias Vannar, 6th generation Tremere.
Pontifex of Scandinavia and Northern Europe.
- Elizabet Andersson, 7th Generation Tremere Primogen, Seneschal.
Controls the Tremere clan's myriad influences in Stockholm.
- Marcus Hoglund, 7th generation Tremere, Sheriff of Stockholm.
(Sire to Fredrik, Grandsire to Christina.)
- Camilla Lundqvist, 7th Generation Toreador Primogen, Keeper of Elysium.
Many influences in the city center, especially the theatres and cinemas.
- Sigmund Bengtsson, 8th generation Brujah Primogen.
Major influence over the University and Karoliniska Institute.
- Lasse, 8th Generation Nosferatu Primogen.
Runs the city's transport network from T-centralen.
- Klos, 6th generation Gangrel.
Oldest kindred of the city.
- Pia Pholman, 9th generation Toreador Harpy
(sire to Ulrika).
- Andreas Blomqvist, 9th Generation Malkavian elder.
Major Media influences.
Uppsala By Night