Sacramento, California

"Urbs Indomita (Indomitable City)" -- Sacramento Motto

Sacramento, California is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of government in Sacramento County. It is at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the Amerian River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central valley. It is the sixth-largest city in California, with a population of 485,199.

The City was named for the Sacramento River, which forms the city's western border. The river was named by Spanish calvary officer Gabriel Moraga for the Santisimo Sacramento (Blessed Sacrament), referring to the Catholic Eucharist.

Sacramento is the main setting for the Urban Arcana campaign.

Overview
Sacramento is an economically affluent area. Fitness is a big industry, and most of the city remains active year round, which is assisted by the region's mostly warm climate. The city is considered one of the leaders in "Going Green" in the United States. The city is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River, and has a deep-water port connected to San Francisco Bay by a channel. It is the shipping and rail center for the Sacramento Valley.

Much of the land to the west of the city (in Yolo County) is permanently reserved for a vast flood control basin, due to the city's historical vulnerability to floods. As a result, the greater metropolitan area sprawls only four miles west of downtown, but 30 miles northeast and east, into the Sierra Nevada Foothills and 10 miles to the south into valley farmland.

There are many theater venues, museums, art galleries and music halls in the city. Sacramento is known for its vibrant local art and theater scene. It also hosts the annual Sacramento Film Festival and the Sacramento Horror Film Festival.

Sacramento has a reputation as "America's Farm-to-Fork Capital", due to Sacramento's many restaurants that source their food locally from the numerous surrounding farms. It is also known for its beverage culture, with keystone events that include Cal Expo's Grape and Gourmet, Sacramento Beer Week and Sacramento Cocktail Week.

Overall, it is like a cousin to Portland and Seattle to the north; a large, active, economically and socially diverse city with a vibrant energy with a love for bohemian culture, with a distinctly Californian twist.

Climate
Sacramento has a Mediterranean climate, characterized by damp to wet, mild winters and hot, dry summers. The wet season is generally October through April, though there may be a day or two of heavy rainfall in June or September. Summer heat is often moderated by a sea breeze known as the "Delta Breeze". The temperatures cool down drastically at night.

The foggiest months are December and January. Tule fog can be extremely dense, lowering visibility less than 100 feet and making driving conditions extremely hazardous. Chilling tule fog events have been known to last for several consecutive days, or even weeks. During Tule Fog events, temperatures do not exceed 50 degrees.

Snowfall is rare in Sacramento, which is only 25 ft. above sea level. In the downtown area, there have only been three significant snowfall events in the last 50 years. During especially cold winter and spring storms, intense rain showers do occasionally produce a significant amount of hail. Snowfall that does fall in the city often melts almost on contact. During winter months, frost and ice are common.

Sacramento has been noted as being the sunniest location on the planet for three months of the year, from July through September. It holds the distinction as the sunniest month, in terms of percent possible sunshine, of anywhere in the world.

Education
Sacramento hosts dozens of public and private schools (K-12) and even more institutions of higher learning. Some notable institutions include:

--McClatchy High School: A high school in the Land Park area of Sacramento. Odessa Nulph, Sven Ellicott and Walt Chen number among its many students.

--California State University Sacramento

--Univeristy of California Davis

--UC Davis School of Medicine

--The Los Rios Community College District: Home to the American River College, Cosumnes River College, Sacramento City College, Folsom Lake College and others.

Medical
While there are many reputable medical centers in the metropolitan Sacramento area, the most famous is the UC Davis Medical Center, which is also a world famous research institute.

The Supernatural
Sacramento is home to several supernatura residents. Spirits and ghosts are common throughout the city, and Fae are well-known for being active in the flood control plains to the west of town. The Tule Fog events trigger whenever a True Fae moves between the Nevernever and the Material Plane. While most supernatural creatures try to use the fog as cover for their activities, the Fae are especially notorious for this. One does not summon a Faerie of any variety in Sacramento unless the Tule Fog is in.

Werewolf activity is higher than average, especially for the region, due to the number of werewolf packs that are found in the Sierras and the land south of the city. Vampire activity is notoriously low in California north of San Francisco, but this is especially true in Sacramento, due to its reputation of being so sunny.

Within the last 25 years, however, more and more sorcerers are finding their way to the city. This is due, in part, to the cohesion of Ley Lines in and around the city. Technically speaking, the entire valley is magically charged and this tends to help sorcerers with their work. The Order of Merlin has had an office set up for the last decade and their Loremaster for the Pacific Northwest--Maester Evinrude Quill--had his offices set up in Sacramento's Old Town district. Edgar Nulph, of the infamous Nulph family, has lived in Sacramento for about ten years and until recently operated an antique store known as the "Junk Drawer".

Supernatural activity has been booming within the last three years, ever since Virgil Lukas set up shop at his bar just southeast of town. Speculation is that the two events are related.

Early History
Nisenan and Plains Mohawk Native Americans had lived in the area for thousands of years. Unlike the settlers who would eventually make Sacramento their home, these Native Americans left little evidence of their existence. Traditionally, their diet was dominated by acorns taken from the plentiful oak trees in the region and by fruits, bulbs, seeds and roots gathered throughout the year.

The local Native American population was very in touch with the local Fae population, as well. Sacramento sits at the meeting place of Ley Lines (one of the largest such locations in the world) and along with easy access to the Nevernever, the valley was teeming with supernatural activity.

What evidence there is suggests the Nisenan people were very shamanistic people, akin to the druids of Europe, while the Plains Mohawk had a high Werewolf population.

Spanish Exploration
By 1808, most of the supernatural population had receeded when the Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga discovered and named the Sacramento Valley and the Sacramento River. The Spanish drank in the area's natural beauty.

Founding
Sacramento became a city through the efforts of Swiss immigrant John Sutter, Sr; his son, John Sutter, jr and James W. Marshall. Sacramento grew quickly thanks to the protection from Sutter's Fort, which was established by Sutter in 1839. During the California Gold Rush, Sacramento was a major distribution point, a commercial and agricultural center and a terminus for wagon trains, stagecoaches, riverboats, the telegraph, the Pony Express and the First Transcontinental Railroad. The city was named capitol in 1879.

Modern Era
The city's current charter was adopted in 1920. As a charter city, it is exempt from many laws and regulations passed by the state legislature. The city has continued to expanse over the years.

Early in World War II, the Sacramento Assembly Center was established to house Japanese Americans forcibly "evacuated" from the West Coast under Executive Order 9066. The camp was one of fifteen temporary detention facilities where over 110,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of them US Citizens, were held while contruction on the more permanent War Relocation Authority was completed. The assembly center was built on the site of a former migrant labor camp, and inmates began arriving on May 6, 1942. It was closed after only 52 days, after an unspecified incident, and the population was transferred to the Tule LAke concentration camp. The site was then turned over to the Army Signal Corps and dedicated as Camp Kohler. After the was and the end of the incarceration program, returning Japanese Americans were often unable to find housing, so 234 families temporarily lived at the former assembly center. Camp Kohler was destroyed by a mysterious fire in December 1947.

In 1967, Ronald Regan became the last Governor of California to live permanently in the city. A new executive mansion, constructed by private funds in a Sacramento suburb for Regan, remained vacant for nearly forty years.

In spite of military base closures and the decline of agricultural food processing, Sacramento has continued to experience poulation growth in recent years. Primar souces of population are an influx of residents from the much more expensive, nearby San Francisco Bay Area, as well as immigrants from Asia and Latin America.

In 2002, Time magazine featured an article recognizing Sacramento as the most diverse and integrated city in America.

Despite a devolution of state beaucracy, the state government remains by far Sacramento's largest employer. The City of Sacramento expends considerable effort to keep state agencies from moving outside city limits. In addition, many federal agencies have offices in Sacramento.

Neighborhoods
The city groups most of its neighborhoods into four areas:

Area One (Central/Eastern)
Alkali Flat, Boulevard Park, Campus Commons, Sacramento State, Dos Rios Triangle, Downtown, East Sacramento, Fab Forties, Mansion Flats, Marshall School, Midtown, New Era Park, Newton Booth, Old Sacramento (see below), Poverty Ridge, Richards, Richmond Grove, River Park, Elmhurst, Sierra Oaks and Southside Park.

Old Sacramento
The oldest part of the town beside Fort Sutter is Old Sacramento, which consists of cobbled streets and many historic buildings, several from the 1850s and 1860s. Buildings have been preserved, restored or reconstructed, and the district is now a substantial tourist attraction, with rides on steam-hauled historic trains and paddle steamers.

The historic buildings include the Lady Adams Building, and having survived the Great Conflagaration of 1852, makes it the oldest surviving building in Sacramento other than Fort Sutter. Another surviving landmark is the B.F. Hastings building. The "Big Four" building, built in 1853, was home to the offices several prominent figures and businessmen of the day.

Old Sacramento is often compared to New Orleans' French Quarter, and for good reason.

Many witches and sorcerers have found refuge in the historic neighborhood, and it is called "Monster Town" by those in the supernatural know.

Area Two (Southwestern)
Airport, Carleton Tract, Freeport Manor, Golf Course Terrace, Greenhaven, Curtis Park, Hollywood Park, Land Park, Little Pocket, Mangan Park, Meadowview, Parkway, Pocket, Sacramento City College, South Land Park, Valley Hi / North Laguna and Z'Berg Park.

--McClatchy High School is located in Land Park.

--Both Sven Ellicott and Walt Chen are residents of South Land Park and Land Park, respectively.

Area Three (Southeastern)
Alhambra Triangle, Avondale, Brentwood, Carelton Tract, Colonial Heights, Colonial Village, Colonial Village North, Curis Park, Elmhurst, Fairgrounds, Florin, Industrial Park, Fruitridge Manor, Glen Elder, Glenbrook, Granite Regional Park, Lawrence Park, Med Center, North City Farms, Oak Park, Packard Bell, South City Farms, Southeast Village, Tahoe Park, Tallac Village, Vintage Park, Churchill Downs and Woodbine.

--Colin Fairbanks is a resident of Colonial Heights.

Area Four (north of the American River)
Ben Ali, Del Paso Heights, Gardenland, Hagginwood, McClellan Heights West, Natomas, North Sacramento, Northgate, Robla, Swanston Estates, Terrace Manor, Valley View Acres and Woodlake.

Public Locations
Sacramento boasts an extensive park system consisting of over 5,000 acres of parkland and recreation centers. The city features a collection of smaller parks in the Downtown District (including Crocker Park, Pioneer Landing and Southside Park). Popular parks outside of the central core include American River Pakway, which spans 23 miles along the American River, and William Land Park.

Sacramento is also home to many sports centers and stadiums, notably for their NBL and NHL teams, which many locals treat like a religion.

Businesses
The following section contains notable businesses features in the Campaign:

--The Junk Drawer [Closed]: An antique store in Old Sacramento, owned by Edgar Nulph as a front for his vault of dangerous magical items.

--The Drowsy Poet: Edgar Nulph's bookstore in the Downtown area. Contains a tea bar.

--The Ugly Mug: A cafe in Old Sacramento that specializes in an eccentric number of teas and a wide cereal selection. Open 24 hours, frequented by Odessa and her friends.

--The Hard Rock Cafe: A restaurant located near downtown. A favorite eatery of Odessa.

--The Ace of Clubs: A biker bar located southeast of town.