Paletown

Paletown, USA- a small town in the more remote reaches of the country, not a sleepy hamlet or village but nowhere near as big as a bustling metropolis, it's all too average in terms of it's citizens and culture. A couple of school districts, a post office, a few grocery stores, the county jail, all the staples you'd find normally. While it has it's sources of infrastructure, it's ultimately a small town that is growing, albeit slowly. It's never had a very good tourism program, though, and is largely disconnected from world events at large, which residents say has stymied the growth of a town that would otherwise be much larger than it currently is. It doesn't help that it's not along any major trade routes or not close to any major cities. The only real tourism it has is a storied history and an oddly high amount of "haunted" locations, according to locals. It brings the question to why anyone would live there, really.

ᛏᚦᛖ ᛏᚱᚢᛏᚦ

Really, why would anyone build a city there? It's a very well-kept secret, actually: This is because Paletown was founded by refugees. Not necessarily disenfranchised people escaping religion or government, no. Rather, Paletown is the biggest bastion of refuge for sentient nonhuman entities. Things the average human would consider monsters and fables- the vampire, angels and demons, shambling undead husks, youkai, magic, and myth walking alongside man! They all hide it, of course- but the existence of Paletown makes much more sense if and when that fact is discovered. Paletown is the border between the normal and what lies byond the pale, and that's how it got it's name. The vestiges of cunning dragons, mischevious kitsune, devious devils, and their ilk that still live into the modern day find their home in Paletown, using magic to go about their lives right under the noses of humans. Glamouring spells are a hot commodity for many of the residents, making them look, feel, and seem human to others. Further, their economy is mostly founded upon magic- rarely in the open of course, and if so being a very hokey hole in the wall establishment with faux-magical gag gifts. However, the world still uses magic every day, in ways the average person would never even bother to think about, and humans can't produce or utilize it- so their market is secure. Of course, there are still humans, as it is a heavily human-dominated world- even in Paletown, the greatest concentration of them on the planet, there's still a 15% human population. Those humans don't even realize that there's a nonhuman population, however, and for the most part all of them consider it a normal, mundane town in conventional ways. Sure, strange things happen from time to time in Paletown, but most people consider it the random "Hauntings" that the town is known for proper. There's so little push for tourism, because they don't want it- sure, a few humans don't hurt, but more is a liability, because it increases the chance of the extrahuman population being exposed. They don't need to advertise for their true audience- Paletown is the biggest extrahuman settlement on the planet. It's hard-pressed for them to NOT know about it as is. The whole network is a large undeground community, hidden in plain sight- in a town that's not so small that rural farming communities might think they're aliens, or so big that there's enough humans to catch them slip up. It's the perfect farce. One may ask how they understand which of them are humans and which ones aren't, though. The answer is simple, and wraps back to the thing extrahumans have and humans don't- magic. But, to explain further, it's important to understand the history. Magic has always been there. While it's been largely scrubbed from history, and derided as fairy tales for so long that humans now think it's true, it's been an intrinsic part of the world since it's inception. Some often wonder why all the stories of mythic creatures and magic come from millenia ago- the simple truth is that they were fact at that point. However, at some point, some event in history caused humans to lose touch with magic- the seventh sense, numbed to them, as if blind or death. They blamed non-human races for this, as they continued to retain their capability for magic. As such, wars happened, crusades to eradicate the pagans and godless heathens. Humanity won through numbers, and technology- and history tends to be written by the winners. While their numbers were greatly diminished, and many were on the verge of being wiped out entirely, most extrahuman entities banded together and began to live in secluded, isolated colonies for many years, and progressed their use of magic over time alongside the technology of the humans. Paletown is one such colony, that arrived in the new world of America before major colonization- the age of French fur trading was largely used to transport them there. At the time, it was simply known as Pale- and now, it's grown into the largest extrahuman hub on the planet in modern days, which is a huge melting pot of it's own unique kind. Welcome home.

ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ ᚺ ᛟ ᚹ ᚹ ᚺ ᚨ ᛏ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚱ ᛖ ᚹ ᚺ ᛖ ᚾ ᚹ ᚺ ᛃ

This is a glorified altlist, essentially, as well as a quick reference for the default setting these characters reside in. I am always willing to play within this setting.