Good evening, my fellow Kindred,

Last month, we told you to prepare your best clothes, and the time has come to reveal why. This month, we'll discuss the main locations in the game and how we approach their creation. It's an interesting topic, mostly because our game world operates in real-life locations. We already discussed the reasoning and details behind our decisions in earlier diaries (you can find it here and another one about worldbuilding here), so I will not delve deeper into that, focusing on unique locations only.

What is wonderful about Las Vegas is that you can find everything there. Themed casinos are a long tradition. Some of them just offer general vibes consistent with the theme they are representing, and some of them have really elaborate structures to illustrate the theme, or even shows that are played daily. If you want some examples, you can look at Luxor, Treasure Island, Caesars, Circus Circus, New York - New York... you know that they even have an Eiffel Tower in there? It's like taking a worldly journey... but it takes place in just one region. Is that go ahead, and you can find everything the world has to offer.

The game takes place in 1986, so most of those casinos will not exist, and those that do are often trademarked, so we need to be careful not only with the naming, but with the design too - just to be safe. We also amass a lot of historical references to use, redesign, and create those historical spots. So while you will not see the direct representation of such places, we aim to create locales that will be memorable, immersive, and consistent with general vibes. Also, as you'd see, we intertwine our own canon with the Las Vegas canon from earlier editions.

Most of the casinos in Vegas are landmarks of one sort or another that are recognizable even outside of Las Vegas - especially by the tourists. But such busy and rich places usually draw the attention of one kind or another, especially in the complicated World of Darkness. While not all of the casinos will be a vampiric domain - mostly because of the fact that they draw a lot of attention, and Kindred usually avoid it - the vampiric influence will still be there. Let's present you with two of the most prominent ones:

Golden Lion

A crown jewel of Fremont Street, the Golden Lion sits at the heart of downtown Las Vegas. It's a monument of ambitions build to be the biggest and the best casino of it's era. The hotel grounds reach even to the bus and train station, allowing the guests to quickly accommodate and start their journey through the city itself.

Erected in 1970 atop the ruins of the old Union Pacific station, the Golden Lion is far more than this for the Kindred. This is also the heart of the Kindred domain in the Las Vegas area, the Prince's seat where audiences are held and newcomers pledge their allegiance. There are also rumours that under all the glamor and gold beneath the ground, you can find an entire labyrinth of panic rooms, secret stashes, and vaults that guarantee Prince's safety. But as it is with rumours, it may just be a fiction as well as a fact. Prince doesn't talk about it - the same goes for her closest associates.

The Lion's birth marked more than civic development. It was the declaration of power. When the new Prince seized the city in 1970, the gleaming edifice was less a crown than a challenge: a display of power worthy of any Ventrue. At least this is what Kindred are saying when Prince herself or her Sheriff doesn't listen. It casts a long shadow over Fremont Street. Not only as a deterrent but also a warning that Prince Douglas reigns here, and she is watching from the heights of her monumental pride.

As with many Vegas establishments, the hotel offers services both open and discreet. There are restaurants steeped in excess, crystal-blue pools, bingo parlors humming with quiet desperation, bars that never close, and gaming halls always brimming with chips and coins. More prominent guests may also find escorts there. All fully legal, despite the persistent rumors and the audits meant to catch them out. The Lion is always golden on its word. To the guests and to the staff as well. At least on a first, shallow glance.

As for the staff itself, security here is a private company led by Jeremy Holloway. Handpicked by the Prince's as head of her Mortal security. They call themselves the Claws, and as with big cats' paws, they are invisible if they are not needed, only to show up when someone needs to learn their place. They not only observe the guests but also fish out any Kindred newcomers and encourage them to meet with the Prince as quickly as possible. A task that is quite easy with the train and bus stations on the casino grounds.

Golden Lion is full of sublime art, mostly with it's neon shaped as a lions head with a mane that cascades gold down the building facade to rest at the paws of a golden statue resembling a prideful lion holding a sceptre between his paws. Locals and tourists alike speculate what the sceptre means, but noone knows that it's a sing of it's owner adorned at the base with a plaques commemorating important events that only Kindred can translate. The casino, as its owner remembers everything worth remembering and does that in silence, being not only a silent watcher, but also an instrument in the city's rule.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum has marked the Strip since 1966, quickly becoming a staple in the city's landscape. It looks like a Roman dream of old being reborn in the desert. Its sweeping curves and stately colonnades rise like an oasis of marble amidst the scorched Nevada sun, promising the same sanctuary ancient legions sought on distant shores.

This small enclave of peace isn't as calm as it looks. The fight inside of it isn't waged with blood and steel, though. The conquest is of chance and numbers. Victories are measured with chips and coins, giving spoils to those bold enough to defy the odds or wrestle them from the chance's arms. From its beginnings, the Colosseum's fusion of classical grandeur and flowing modern forms made it an icon. A seamless blend of antiquity's monumentality with the sleek elegance of the new age.

That fame came at a price. Its first years were turbulent. Beneath the glare of chandelier light, Kindred turned the casino floors into a modern-day arena where you fight with cunning and acumen to win over the opposition. They circled each other like gladiators of old, masked smiles hiding sharpened ambition. The arena was barely visible to Mortals, but the more intense it got, the bigger the risk of the Masquerade breach. That struggle gave the casino a lot of attention, forcing Prince Benedic - a ruler before Prince Douglas - to take action and avoid a looming Masquerade catastrophe. He named the Colosseum an Elysium, a sanctuary where everyone needs to set their differences aside and adorn a mask of neutrality. This fight could only had one winner too and this one was named a Keeper of the Elysium, Anthony Sebastian Sands.

Sands did more than guard its peace. He also shaped its future. As an architect not only by trade but also his nature, he expanded the Colosseum with each reconstruction, wanting to achieve the ideal that every other casino may just dream of. More rooms, lush gardens, pools of shimmering blue, refined dining halls, and ever-more opulent gaming floors. Each addition was not only a sign of his dominance over the place, but also an effort to reach his view of perfection.

But that didn't end the grudges. Quite the opposite. They still linger and fester. Other participants from the Colloseum arena still remember the nights when it was theirs to claim, before Sands wrested it from their grasp. They speak little of it in the Keeper's presence since his will is law within these walls. A single misstep, a breach of decorum no matter how small, is enough to see one expelled from his marble sanctuary. Sands demands the same flawlessness from others that he demands of his own work... and in his Elysium, perfection is the only true currency.

We hope that those descriptions entice your appetite for more! Maybe you can guess what locale was our inspiration? Or maybe you have any questions or want to share your thoughts? Feel free to do it on our Discord server!

Cheers and see you next month!