Some ideas for the occult underground of Minneapolis-St Paul.

I thought it would be interesting to create some ideas for what the occult underground would be like in various world cities, starting with my home in the Twin Cities. Some of these ideas I may expand in the future.

The Occult Underground in the Twin Cities is fairly laid back and low key, at least relative to other major American cities. While Minneapolis and St. Paul have their share of crazed adepts and ambitious avatars, for the most part the action remains subdued. As if fabled “Minnesota Nice” or stereotypical Scandinavian reticence keeps people (even magically aware) in line, major altercations remain rare (except for a time in the mid ‘90s).
In America, the Cities best represent the simultaneously warring and complementary forces of East and West. The Twin Cities are more like fraternal twins, having many substantial differences, yet they form a single metropolitan area unified in the region. It is often said that Minneapolis is the first of the “west coast” Cities, with its gleaming skyline of modern skyscrapers and thriving nightlife. On the other hand, St. Paul is often called the last city of the “east coast”, with its more historical, older buildings and quieter lifestyle. It can be said that this is where the two halves of the country meet. Incidentally, St. Paul is the former base of James J. Hill, the “Empire Builder” who privately funded the most northerly transcontinental railroad and linked Chicago to Seattle, eastern and western via the Twin Cities. This is best seen through the eyes of the regions Urbanomancers.

There are three powerful Urbanomancers in the Twin Cities area. One, Harrison Murphy, a middle aged archivist at the James J. Hill Reference Library, has claimed St. Paul as his city. Murphy exemplifies the stereotypes of the city, being a rather old fashioned, bookish, quiet type. On the other side of the river lives Finn Erickson, an urban explorer who takes up the stereotypes of Minneapolis; a wild, uninhibited U of M student with an energetic view on life. Needless to say, the two “rats” don’t get on well with each other, and are continually at odds. Acting as the “U.N” to the two is Katie Xiong, a young woman born in St. Paul but living in Minneapolis, who has somehow obtained the entire Twin Cities metro as her territory. She tries to keep Murphy and Erickson and their less experienced rat supporters from tearing the Twin Cities Occult

There is a large group of cobweb farmers working the historical landmarks like the James J. Hill House (home of the man who linked Chicago to Seattle), the Foshay Tower (a strange Art Deco extravagance which led to the ruin of its namesake), and the Washburn A. Mill which led to Minneapolis being the flour milling capital of the world, feeding humans in every continent.
One eccentric even frequents the first shopping mall ever built in America, Southdale Mall in Edina, the brainchild of an eccentric Austrian architect Victor Gruen, who in the 1950s hoped to create a sense of community and beauty in what he saw as the growing aseptic and soul numbing suburbs. Ironically, his creation has become a hallmark of the very suburban sprawl Gruen had hated so much. Now, the Mall of America in Bloomington, the nation’s largest temple of suburban consumerist abandon and indulgence has become the states most famous landmark, a place as unmemorable as it is immense. What kind of power is this architectural monstrosity funneling into the collective unconscious?

There is also a large population of Mak Attaxers in the Twin Cities area, due to the large number of universities and colleges, second only to Boston. They often meet at the Scotsman’s restaurant in Dinkytown to discuss plans.