The Duchy of the Delta Crescent is a Kithain Fief in the Kingdom of Willows coinciding with the state of Louisiana.
Overview[]
The Duchy of the Delta Crescent, ruled by Lisette Levay, the Voodoo Queen, includes the entire state of Louisiana, including her most colorful city, New Orleans. The trans-Mississippi southern duchy sits just across the river from the Duchy of Magnolia's Home on the east; the the west, the Sabine River and Toledo Bend Reservoir form a border with the Kingdom of the Burning Sun. The Duchy of the Ozarks (Arkansas) lies along "the Crescent's" northern edge, while its southern coast fronts the Gulf of Mexico and provides the setting for the Mississippi River's grand plunge into the sea. Boasting a rich French heritage in addition to later Spanish and English influences, the Crescent's changelings form some some of the most culturally diverse members of the Kingdom of Willows.
Physical Geography[]
While most Kithain think of "bayou country" in connection with the Duchy of the Delta Crescent, the landscape of this southern duchy contains considerable diversity. To the north, near Nachitoches, lie great stands of pines and loblolly. Small groups of Nunnehi remain within this forested region. The duchy's center consists of fertile farmlands watered by the Cane River, ideal for the plantation society that evolved there before the Civil War. Many sidhe and a few trolls claim freeholds in this part of the Crescent. In the south, however, the bayou reigns supreme: great marshlands drenched in a multitude of lakes and trans-sected by the Inter-coastal Waterway. The many hidden places of the bayou country hold secret sluagh freeholds along with Nunnehi enclaves.
Major Cities & Landmarks[]
New Orleans[]
The sultry presence of the bayou vies with the wild decadence of New Orleans to cause a chaotic jumble of potentially conflicting dreams. Supernaturals of all kinds have flocked here, some drawn by the allure of voodoo, others by the mystique of life in the Big Easy. For many changelings, the omnipresence of "all that damn wrought iron!!!" makes living in certain parts of the city difficult, and gives rise to the conviction that New Orleans serves as a headquarters for a particularly active group of Dauntain. Rumors also abound that New Orleans is in the control of the Shadow Court.
The most heavily visited section of the city is the French Quarter, steeped in the atmosphere of its Creole culture. Notable places in this romantic, historic district include Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop (now a local bar and favorite hangout for redcaps, trolls, and nockers), the Voodoo Museum (patronized by many of the city's eshu and sluagh), and the Musée Conti Wax Museum (a center for the city's Unseelie sidhe). Pooka flock to the Audubon Park and Zoo, while many sidhe and satyrs enjoy the beauty of the grand mansions of the Garden District. A clique of changeling culinary artists hold dinner meetings in the city's famous restaurants... among them K-Pauls (Chef Paul Prudhomme) Louisiana Kitchen. Music enthusiasts among the Kithain frequent Pete Fountain's Club (in the Hilton Hotel) and Presentation Hall (a haven for traditional jazz).
Acadiana[]
Settled by French refugees expelled from British Canada in the 17th century, the land that encompasses the vast stretches of bayou country supports one of the most unusual cultural enclaves in the United States. The Cajuns have a distinctive cuisine (blackened meat and eye-watering spices), music (heavy on the accordions and washboards), and philosophy ("Live for the moment, and enjoy it while you can"). The Kithain of Acadiana mirror this "good-times" attitude in their easy-come easy-go approach to gathering Glamour. This region includes the towns of New Iberia (on the edge of the Bayou Teche), St. Martinwille (immortalized in Longfellow's Evangeline), and Breaux Bridge, famous for its annual Crawfish Festival.
Baton Rouge[]
Northwest of New Orleans, the state capital sits on the middle of plantation country and is the site for several grand freeholds based around antebellum mansions. The Louisiana Arts and Science Center Riverside Museum serves as a cultural gathering place for Baton Rouge's Kithain.
Natural Places[]
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park covers 8,000 acres of what once was known as Barataria, the bayou home base for the infamous French pirate and smuggler for whom the park is named. Avery Island, near New Iberia, contains the tropical Jungle Garden and Bird City, which protects a large population of white egrets and a number of pooka and satyrs who take advantage of the area's protected status to construct freeholds and occupy enchanted glades away from prying eyes. Other wilderness refuges and sites of natural, largely unspoiled beauty include the Creole Nature Trail, the Sabine Wildlife Refuge, and the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge. Because the Crescent's duchess makes her home in Barataria, endorsing wildlife refuge areas (and the fundraising and parties and arts-and-crafts shows held for those charities) has become something of a cause célèbre among the region's changeling population. Interestingly, most who support the efforts are of the Unseelie Court. If rumors that the duchess guarantees large contributors the chance to meet Black Spiral Dancer Garou are true, then the Unseelie's interest is understandable.
Enchanted Places[]
Dramatis Personae[]
Kithain[]
Others[]
References[]
- CTD. Kingdom of Willows, pp. 56-58.