Brainstorming Coastal City, Virginia

[Mark Rand]

All I have so far is it started out as a college town on the Northern Neck, on Chesapeake Bay slightly north of the Rappahaneck River and grew from there.

[Rich McGee]

I take it this is an imaginary setting planned for a Champions game?  Sounds like the first thing to decide on is what this college is (or was) and how long it's been around, since it's the origin of the city's existence.  We talking pre-Civil War?  Later?  What's it best known for?  Is it perhaps a historically Black college like Hampton, Norfolk State, etc.?  If so, that would set its opening date no earlier than 1882-ish.

 

Not that it's likely to matter, but one interesting historical footnote regarding the Northern Neck is that it was originally part of a land grant from Charles II during his exile, which led to a rather convoluted pre-Revolution political and legal feud between the Virginia colony proper and the grantees' families and eventually to a quite important post-Revolution legal case that first established the primacy of the US Supreme Court over state courts when it came to matters of federal law.

 

There is a non-zero chance that I had to write a few papers about the evolution of state versus federal law way back in the day and am still lugging bits of that research around in my gray matter. 

Edited December 25, 2023 by Rich McGee

[Scott Ruggels]

May have been a Confederate Coastal Installation, and the HBCU acquired the land 20 years later to use the drained areas and existing buildings as a start. Currently has a very eclectic mix of architecture, but all in red brick, and white trim.  One of the few Universities with its own port. Curriculum centers on Marine Biology, Environmental Law, Architecture, Marine Law and commerce.  Ceased being a pure black university after a vote in 1970. Surrounding town expanded in the 1920s. And again after the war. During the war, the port facilities were taken over by The Coast Guard, for submarine chasing. University is governed by a council of 6 deans.  

(My mother’s parents lived along side the Charles River Estuary, where I was taught how to sail and handle small boats, and be driven to museums all over Virginia, so I am familiar if not fond of the area.) 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Scott Ruggels

[Rich McGee]

48 minutes ago, Scott Ruggels said:

Surrounding town expanded in the 1920s.

Suggests there might have been some bootlegging going on during the Prohibition days.   By the 1930s that would have been winding down some, but organized crime being what it was something else probably started replacing the alcohol in smuggler's holds - one possibility being desperate refugees fleeing Europe (and Germany in particular) as the storm clouds gathered.  Prohibition ended as Hitler seized power, after all.  That all would have been put an end to once the Coast Guard took over during WW2 - or at least been forced to scatter elsewhere.  Doesn't rule out greatly exaggerated comic-book Nazi intelligence operations in the area for Golden Age heroes to contend with, perhaps with elements of the bootlegger gangs working in collusion and running agents and supplies ashore from submarines or "neutral" merchantmen.

 

Modern campaigns might have signs of the past in the form of former speakeasies as college bars or some rumrunner's disguised warehouse repurposed as an art gallery or theater venue, or even carved up into student housing.  And of course lairs for supervillains, or perhaps even hero HQ.     

[Mark Rand]

The university is also home to the Coastal City Oceanic Institute.  Their main research ship is the RV Judith Resnik (T-AGOR-30).  It's identical to Woods Hole's RV Atlantis and might carry a deep submergence vehicle.

[Mark Rand]

In addition to the University of Coastal City, which has its own port, the area is home to Coastal City University, which has schools in the health sciences, including a respected medical school.  It also has schools of engineering, business, law and fine and studio arts, drama, music, and dance departments.  It is also home to the Coastal City Planetarium, where the  Physics and Astronomy's astronomy classes are taught.  The planetarium itself is also open to the public.

[Scott Ruggels]

Frederick Douglas University is fully accredited. It is also offering adult continuing education classes in law, boat handling and navigation, water safety, history, and marine engineering.   It’s Mascot, is a Blue Crab with a Navy White hat. 

[Mark Rand]

The swank Birdmore Hotel is 20-stories tall.  There are tropical birds in giant cages in the lobby, and there are statues of swans out front in the fountain.  The whole hotel is filled with chandeliers and shiny brass.

 

The Coastal City Institute consists of the main branch of the Coastal City Public Library, the Coastal City Music Hall, the Coastal City Natural History Museum, and the Coastal City Museum of Fine Arts.  The music hall isn’t internally connected to the other parts of the institute.

[Mark Rand]

Virginia bars can sell alcohol from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m.   There are no restrictions at any time for club licensees.

 

The Light-Fingered Lady is a cat burglar-themed bar.  The staff there, and most customers, dress the part and talk softly.

 

Zorba’s is a Greek bar.  Belly dancers perform nightly from 9 p.m. to closing.

 

Jake’s is a jazz bar.  The Jazz Angels, a six-piece all-female jazz band, plays there Thursday through Sunday nights.  The keyboardist switches between a Korg M3 synthesizer and a Yamaha CP-70M electric piano.  Other members play drums, guitar, trumpet, saxophone, and a clarinet.  The guitarist and keyboard player are the vocalists.

 

The Corral is a country-western bar.  The Cowgirls, a trio, plays there Thursday through Sunday.  One lady plays a violin.  The second plays an upright bass.  The third plays guitar.  The violinist hardly ever sings.  On Wednesday, Jody, who looks somewhat like the late Patsy Cline, performs her songs.

Edited December 27, 2023 by Mark Rand

[Scott Ruggels]

The bedrock of the community are the churches, and there are three main ones. 
 

First A. M. E. Church. Presided over by Rev Alpheus Ward.  Son of the civil rights hero, the late Rev. Bertram Ward.  You can expect a raucous, and Musical service, topped off with Reverend Ward’s firey, though sometimes humorous service, delivered in a call and response format. The Reverend has an insurmountable presence, much as his father did, and serves the lord and community with a fierce joy. Often asked for comment by the local media, he’s not shy about offering his opinion on Current Events.  The Church hosts the Eastern Seaboard Gospel Music Festival, usually the weekend before Easter. This Church used to be associated with the university, until protests against the Vietnam War forced the state legislature to separate after Rev, Bertram Ward’s refusal to moderate his approach. 
 

St. Christopher’s Catholic Church. This church started as a small congregation of Portuguese Fishermen, who used the port facilities soon after the Confederate retreat in 1865, the church now represents the white working class locally.  Part of the archdiocese of Norfolk, services are conducted by father Rafael Almeida, a local boy with a very extensive Jesuit education. Starting in a converted boat house, the congregation has remodeled and added to the structure over the centuries to produce a solid and tastefully beautiful place of worship that will attract the occasional tourist. Bishop Franklin of Norfolk is a frequent guest there. The church is associated with the Holy Cross Medical center, down town, with Father Almeida’s classmate, Father Santos serving as Chaplain. 
 

East View Baptist Church started during the war as Where the Coastguard officers and their families worshipped. With the end of the war, more and more employees of Murchison Marine Engineering filled the pews of this modest building, during the shipping boom of the 1950s and 60s. Reverend Charles Pierce was often at odds with reverend B. Ward at First A. M. E., Reverend Pierce was very careful not to insult, embarrass or belittle Rev. Ward. Stepping down from the pulpit in 1982, there have been a rotation of Reverends, none serving for more than five years. This is a very conservative congregation, but generous in times of disaster, yearly collecting clothing and blankets for hurricane victims. 
 

The Coastguard diminished their facilities after WW2, slimming it down to two Helicopters, and a small cutter, berthed at Pier 5. The Helicopters are state of the art CH-70 Sea Serpent coaxial rotor helix. Once a month a fuel barge from The Norfolk Navy Yard comes to top off the tanks at the Coastguard station. 

[Rich McGee]

Given the importance of the sea so far, does the setting include some publicly-known aquatic civilization akin to Aquaman's or Namor's Atlantis?  If so, perhaps they have an embassy or business in the city proper, or underwater nearby?  Perhaps an exiled or simply terraphiliac VIP lives in town, most likely on the shore?

 

Or is that too out there?  Not sure how high the "super-weirdness" dial is intended to be.

[Mark Rand]

1 hour ago, Rich McGee said:

Given the importance of the sea so far, does the setting include some publicly-known aquatic civilization akin to Aquaman's or Namor's Atlantis?  If so, perhaps they have an embassy or business in the city proper, or underwater nearby?  Perhaps an exiled or simply terraphiliac VIP lives in town, most likely on the shore?

 

Or is that too out there?  Not sure how high the "super-weirdness" dial is intended to be.

There probably are some publicly-known aquatic civilizations nearby in the Atlantic.

 

One area high school girl, who is a skilled swimmer and prefers to swim mermaid-style but is not on the girls' swim team has been called a "mermaid living on land" by the "popular" girls.

[Mark Rand]

The Tree of Life Congregation is an area Conservative synagogue.  On its grounds is a Biblical botanical garden that is opened and free to the public since 1987 from June 1 through September 15.  It now displays more than 100 plants once grown in ancient Israel, including cedars, dates, figs, olives, and pomegranates.  All are labeled with biblical verses, or their biblical name.  The garden also includes a waterfall, desert, and a representation of the Jordan River from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea.

 

 

Rabbi Solomon M. Kaplan is the synagogue’s spiritual leader.  His wife, Sarah, sometimes referred to by the Yiddish term Rebbetzin, is the choir teacher and director at nearby Woodrow Wilson High.  She is also the soprano in the synagogue choir.  Harry P. Silver is the synagogue’s cantor or chazzan.  He leads the congregation in songful prayer and is the teacher of the bar mitzvah class.  His wife, Rachel, is the contralto in the synagogue choir as well as the Torah reader and shofar blower.  Their daughter, Deborah, works in the religious school office, assists the sexton, and serves as the Youth Congregation’s cantor, Torah reader, and shofar blower.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9 by Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Regarding our high school "mermaid", her first name is Emma, she has dark-brown hair, is the lifeguard for swimming meets, is the TA for weekend swimming classes, and has a custom mermaid tail that she wears while performing at events over the summer, one event is the area regatta.

[Scott Ruggels]

iWhen Confederate General Elijah Cameron, tan the Facility, he insisted on a solid railway connection with the rest of the Confederacy, shipping lumber and Iron goods to the repair facilities, and docks, and shipping smuggled goods from Confederate blockade runners back to the interior of the confederacy. Trackage from the  Virginia & Tennessee railroad soon cross crossed the port area. 
 

Infortunately the battle between the CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor did not break the blockade appreciably, but that did not mean the General was idle. He used the rail connections to squire red Bricks from Atlanta, and concrete from South Carolina. With the hundreds of millions of bricks, he built out the infrastructure and the extensive star fortifications, keeping the Union Navy at bay, and allowing Confederate ships to repair and refit unmolested. This state of affairs existed until early 1865, when the rail lines were cut by Union troops under General Sherman, and the port itself placed under siege by General Nathan Shipley. With the route to the sea covered by the guns of the ubiquitous Star forts, General Cameron loaded functional ships with tools and machinery and sent them south. Non functional ships he set ablaze quayside. General Shipley rolled in massive siege mortars by rail and commenced to shell the facilities, and defenses but the port held until. February 18, 1865. On the night of the 17th, a low slung rounded back shape emerged from the fabrication shed, hissing and spitting, as it’s experimental high pressure steam engine pushed it forward, and out of the waterfront, and into the dark Chesapeake. The low slung ironclad vanished from history, but it’s architect did not. Elijah Cameron re-appeared years later in the U. K. working for Vickers as a marine propulsion engineer, passing away In Edinburgh in 1922.   The garrison surrendered the port the next day, but a lack of a conspicuous number of senior officers present. The Union was now in possession of a fortified port, nearly a small city of many undamaged buildings. 

 

A year or two later the port was scouted by Ferdinand Coelho. Living in town at the time were families of refugee slaves that paused in their movement north, falling under the leadership of Julius Robinson, an educated freeman with ambition. Soon the Portuguese families arrived and started fishing and crabbing in the fertile bay, while the former slaves started to pick up work repairing damaged buildings, and converting the bay barracks to apartments and shops. There were still stacks of unused bricks that were stacked in the rail yard along with damaged freight cars, that with a little work could be made useful again. Relations between the Portuguese and the black residents was cordial if distant. In 1867, Coelho reworked the fabrication building on the waterfront into a crab and fish cannery.He negotiated with the Norfolk & Elizabeth City RR to transport cans, as well as fresh fish on ice to Norfolk, Richmond, Washington aD. C. and as far west as Memphis. Even today Coelho Foods is a respected brand. Former slaves were employed by the cannery and the local economy improved, attracting more business, and the port was becoming a real town.

 

Schools were established, and the offspring of the former slaves gained the benefit of a classical education. Julius himself had a thirst for knowledge, but in the Jim Crow South he had little opportunity unless he made it himself. Julius was instrumental in setting up Black schools in the early days of the city, and had to put together a teacher's college to get an adequate amount of teachers for their schools.  Seaboard Normal College was established in 1868, and staffed with instructors from various Boston institutions, reccomended by Frederick Douglas. However Julius Curiosity and thirst for knowledge allowed other subjects to be included, including nautical themed professional development, and business management. Buildings were purchased as the College grew. Upon the death of Frederick Douglass, the college was renamed Frederick Douglas University, and re organized. With a growing endowment from earnest, and somewhat prosperous alumni, the campus grew, the red brick buildings becoming grander and more ornate.  Julius passed away in 1934, leaving a legacy of solid education in Coastal City. 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Scott Ruggels

[Mark Rand]

Located on the Northern Neck near the mouth of the Rappahannock River, Lancaster County is part of the Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace wine-growing region recognized by the United States as an American Viticultural Area.  Lancaster County is the most densely populated county in the Northern Neck.  The largest town in Lancaster County is Coastal City, Virginia.  The county’s area code is 804.

 

Both the RV Judith Resnik, a Thomas G. Thompson-class oceanographic research ship, and the DSV Proteus, an Alvin-class deep submergence vehicle, are owned by the United States Navy but leased to the Coastal City Oceanic Institute.  Commander Bill Owens, USNR, is master of the Judith Resnik.  Cora Peterson is chief pilot, and chief mechanic, of the Proteus.  Like many DSV pilots, she plays music during the descent.  In her case, it’s The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a.

 

Andrea Winslow is a pilot of the area medevac helicopter.  Melody Samuels, RN, CFRN (Certified Flight Registered Nurse), is her usual flight nurse.   Deanne Marshall is their usual flight paramedic.

 

 

[Rich McGee]

31 minutes ago, Mark Rand said:

Like many DSV pilots, she plays music during the descent.  In her case, it’s The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a.

What, not Bowie's Under Pressure? 

[Mark Rand]

2 hours ago, Rich McGee said:

What, not Bowie's Under Pressure? 

Cora likes classical music.

[Mark Rand]

Maestro Jennifer Collingsworth, the President’s niece, is Woodrow Wilson High School’s orchestra teacher and conductor.  Ms. Alexandra McGregor is her TA.  Rumor has it that she’s actually a Secret Service agent protecting Jennifer.  If she is, most of the women dressed like Stage Crew while the orchestra is either performing or rehearsing in the auditorium are also Secret Service agents.  At least one isn’t, she’s Mrs. Jo Anne Forbes an English teacher and the Drama Club wardrobe mistress, who the Stage Crew call “Aunt Joanie”.

 

School orchestras and choirs are divided into five groups.  Orchestra 1 and Choir 1 are the novices.  Orchestra 5 and Choir 5 are the ones that perform for the public.  Orchestra 5 members include Michelle Karpman (concertmaster), Melody Valentine (timpanist and principal percussionist) and Lauren Kay (principal oboist).     

 

 

[Rich McGee]

30 minutes ago, Mark Rand said:

Melody Valentine (timpanist and principal percussionist)

Josie and the Pussycats fans will be unsurprised that she's good on drums, but if the others are refs I'm missing them.

[Mark Rand]

8 minutes ago, Rich McGee said:

Josie and the Pussycats fans will be unsurprised that she's good on drums, but if the others are refs I'm missing them.

Lauren is from one of the 4E books of normals.  Michelle is, I think, Sailor Neptune's first name in one of the English Sailor Moon dubs.

[Scott Ruggels]

The Mermaid Stories.

 During the Hurricane of October, 1897 witnesses reported  seeing a swimmer in the high surf near what would become Beach Boulevard. The swimmer dragged another figure ashore, and pulled them up beyond the surf lie and in the lee side of a brick beach cottage. Then the swimmer dove back into the surf. The witnesses then approached the seated figure. He was Dominick Mariani, a fisherman and crabber, who's boat had broken up in the heavy seas generated by the Hurricane. What he had been doing out there he would not say, and most fishermen, seeing the signs in the skies, beached their craft, and Stayed home for the week.  The Hurricane lasted 60 hours and pushed the water 8 feet about the high tide line at Norfolk. His friends joked about him getting rescued by a mermaid. Sightings of a female swimmer with Raven hair were reported by other boaters, often her waving to the passing boats, but her identity was never determined.  All sightings ceased after  October of 1903 when another tremendous Hurricane hit the Central Coast of Virginia. These stories were the source of the Coelho Mermaid Mascot, drawn by  Charles Dana Gibson, and used on the fish and crab cans of Coelho Foods, until a redesign in the late 1950's, whereupon they gained their current cartoon Mermaid Mascot, and Commercial spokes person.

 

The Bavinetsky Murders.

 

Lady Irina Bavinetskaya was a notable Medium, and Mystic, playing her trade from the salon's and halls of the rich and famous all up and down the Atlantic coast.  For a modest fee, she would schedule and conduct seances, and had a reputation for being quite accurate. regardless of what the  reader might think of "spiritual matters, there were some frightening irregularities in her last séance. 

 

The Sandringham-Alard family had purchased one of the islands just off the coast, that General Cameron turned into one of the defensive star forts during the Civil War, and in the center of it, built Sandringham Castle, a mediaeval fantasy castle of red brick stone and concrete that they used as their manor.  Staffed with servants, and a small number of Sailors for the various water craft they kept to travel to the mainland, or transport goods to the great house, the  Sandringham-Alards seemed to have it all. However Cynthia Sandringham-Allard was distraught as she had received word that her college aged Son, Michael had vanished in a hike in Germany's Black forest. She engaged the services of Madame Bavinetsky so as to determine the fate of Michael. With a guest list drawn up, including a few of Michael's local friends, the séance was scheduled for October 17th, 1898.  After dinner, and once the servants had cleared the table, and locked the doors, the ritual started. Servants reported strange voices, shouts, and other odd noises coming from the locked roo, until around 10:30 AM, when there was a collective scream, followed by a profound silence. The Servants unlocked the doors, and found Madam Bavinetsky unconscious and unable to be roused. However all the guests dead. their bones, organ, and blood removed, leaving a slightly browned, dry, skin hide, intact and still within their clothes, with every button and hook in place.  The police were called, and arrived hours later, but they were unable to rouse Madame Bavinetsky, who remained in a coma for 21 month, before passing away. Michael re-appeared in Europe just before Christmas, and took a Deutch-Amerika liner back to the U.S.  Inheriting the Sandringham-Alard fortune, he still sold the island and house to the U.S. Army's Coastal Artillery command in 1912.  This would not be the last time that such gruesome ends would strike someone in or around Coastal City.

 

 

[Rich McGee]

22 minutes ago, Scott Ruggels said:

The Bavinetsky Murders.

Huh.  The Visitant must have been unusually hungry that night, it usually leaves more than just the skin. 

 

Probably had more of an appetite when it was still fairly young.

 

 

 

 

[Scott Ruggels]

The Media Landscape

 

WEBD 89.7FM (Named for Abolitionist W.E.B. Dubois)>  went on the air in 1958. with their first Broadcast being on Good Friday,  broadcasting the Gospel Music concert from First A.M.E Church, and they have broadcast the festival ever since. Through the 60s they used Identifiers sung by the First A.M.E gospel Choir. People said they would just about jump out of their chairs, when the Choir would harmoniously shout, "WEBD Weather!!" The University Journalism department took an active role in the radio station, sending reporters with tape recorders all over the south to document the events of the Civil Rights movement, Including a sit down Interview with Re. Martin Luther King in November of 1962. In 1968, WEBD became an NPR affiliate, and would produce content for NPR on occasion. They still will broadcast "Morning Edition" at the top of the hour until 9am, and "All Things Considered", from 4pm to 6:15 pm. These days they broadcast mostly music during the day, a mix of Hip-Hop and Old Skool. During Spring Break, they go "Comercial Free", and will commit to "Booty SLam", where teams of dance and hip hop DJ's will spin EDM and Hip Hop Records for the students.  The Good Friday Gospell concert still announces the beginning of Holy season. Sundays are for journalism and public affairs broadcasting. (Which causes the students to switch over the Norfolk Radio stations).

 

WCVC 95.3 FM Was an ABC Affiliate for years, first going on the air in 1964. Once known for it's musical selections, it is Now it's a Cumulus affiliate, playing news talk, and financial advice on weekends. People still lament the loss of the music, especially Eldon Rigg's Lullaby Show, nine to Midnight, playing dedications. 

 

WKOR TV. 46  A UHF Station once known for  University Sports, and cheap Horror movies on weekends late at nights. They would also sponsor Horror nights at a Bijou Theater in Down Town. A few times they would satirize the earnestness of 1960's WEBD broadcasts, complete with Gospel Harmony Idents, and satiric commentary. Children of the 60's remember it would broadcast all the best cartoons. It went off the air permanently when Digital change over occurred in June.  2007. THe repository of taped sports games and broad casts were donated to the University Library following it's shut down.

 

FDTV (Fred's TV) Is a cable channel that broadcasts University sports events, City Council Meetings, and Public Affairs information. It's part of the local XFINITY package, and tends NOT to black out local games.

Edited December 29, 2023 by Scott Ruggels

[Mark Rand]

6 hours ago, Rich McGee said:

Josie and the Pussycats fans will be unsurprised that she's good on drums, but if the others are refs I'm missing them.

Although there’s no guitarist named Josephine “Josie” McCoy, there is a Valerie Brown.  Like the one on Josie and the Pussycats, she’s African-American and highly intelligent.  However, she’s not a musician.  She’s a Stage Crew member, an amateur astronomer who has been to Space Camp, and an AP Physics student who wants to become an astronaut.  Valerie always runs the lighting, sound and video systems during big productions.