"Long Beach can turn out to be a real street fight. In order to do well, you need to keep your paint on the car and not leave it on the wall. You do it by not getting involved in other people's disasters. Because everything occurs on that one long straight, people get desperate to make things happen. You will see desperate moves, and that's what takes people out — trying to stick their nose in where there's a wall and you and not enough space for them. You'll see them, two by two, just go straight to the walls."
(Bill Auberlen)
The District of Long Beach is part of the Encirclement. It occupies the mortal communities of San Pedro, Long Beach, Seal Beach, and Harbor City. The Port of Los Angeles is one of the busiest, most productive ports in the world. It is a center of trade and commerce, and endless are the streams of trucks traveling in and out, carrying goods to and from the population of the Southland. The area also has a Naval Base on Terminal Island (closed in real life but open on the MUSH), as well as a Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach. The northern reaches of the District of Long Beach are contiguous with South Central, and share many of its less charming aspects. As you get closer to the water, the areas improve some, with the Belmont Shore and Naples Island being quite expensive real estate. Downtown Long Beach and its immediate environs are typical Los Angeles urban zones: commercial zoning with apartments, crime and drugs, and people driving BMWs in and out of secure parking structures. The area immediately south of the Civic Center - Shoreline Park and adjacent areas - is quite a tourist attraction and includes the Queen Mary, the Spruce Goose, a Russian Submarine, and the Aquarium. Long Beach has a great deal of Los Angeles's heavy industry as well, including major oil refineries and processing plants. Like the rest of the city, it's a clustered mix of different ethnicities, languages, and religions.
Long Beach History
Under the Treaty of La Ciegena the Long Beach District was an autonomous Domain.
Compared to the rest of the city, the Domain of Long Beach was a fortress. Prince Elaine Pruitt of Clan Ventrue (now Clan Elder under Prince Emerson) ruled the area firmly, decisively, and brooked no interference or insubordination from anyone. She maintained tight borders with heavy mortal and immortal security, and ruthlessly punished those caught trespassing. The borders of Long Beach were the most often closed in the city. Hunting grounds were said to be at a premium, with punishments ranging from dismemberment and cauterization to final death for infractions. The vampires of Long Beach often participated in the politics of the other domains, and could often be found in Elysia.
Once a year, Prince Elaine threw a gala ball on the Queen Mary, to which all vampires of reputable standing were invited. This was the only time outsiders were welcomed in the domain save for official business. As Long Beach did not offer persistent Elysia, Elaine instead employed a corps of ambassadors to represent Long Beach in the other domains. These Ambassadors carried similar status and responsibility of Keepers in the more open domains. The two most prominent ambassadors were Amelia Atherton, Ambassador to Santa Monica, Acriella Demars, Ambassador to South Central and the Downtown Ambassador, Indrajit.
