Well for starters the marketplace game is still ongoing (we are three sessions in). So, my answers are subject to change as the story plays out. But currently the story takes place in the city of Ketezh (think St. Petersburg circa 1820-30). A on the cusp of an industrial revolution (of a sorts) city that was once controlled by a cabal of Infernal nobles (stealing from D&D here and using Tiflings and daemon marked humans) who made pacts with their daemons and dominated the city , like you do. That was until the arrival of the Elves. Who are a southern desert trading union that with the help of the church broke the stranglehold the Infernals held over the city and took over.
The marketplace, Tsirkov Square, where the majority game takes place is in the seedier part of town. A frequent destination of young nobles "slumming it", the vicinity of the Tsirkov Bazaar means that there is a constant influx of people and their money that also makes it a destination for the shadier denizens of city. So, much like highschool the square is a semi-artificial mixingbowl of the have and have nots. With many regulars whom everyone know or at least know on sight.
In addition, one of the PCs works as a busboy/prostitute at what many consider to be the best bar in the Tsirkov. If the Square can be paralleled to "The School" then the bar can be thought of as "The Classroom". It comes with it's own list of staff and regulars that pop in and make appearances. And form a central hub where much of the games interaction occurs.
As far as social environment goes. Well, the adults generally go about bumbling through their days being adults and not really paying attention to the younger people. Unless they draw their wrath, work for them or the youth (usually a PC) does something to stand out. So, similar to many default MH settings. The exception being the underworld gangboss Nana Yuri who is pretty savvy about the kids lives since he runs gangs of teen thugs and has to keep on top of stuff like that.
As for cliques, well we have the "Elven Rich Kids", who slum it at the Tsirkov and engage in their dueling culture while rubbing shoulders with their lessers. You have the "Bad Kids", the scions of the Infernal houses. Who have lost considerable wealth and power of late and have a chip on their shoulders but, no longer have the power to do anything about it apart from be generally asses. You have the "In Betweeners", the general populous of the Tsirkov who make up the bulk of the Joe average people. You have "The Poor Kids" in the form of the beggars and homeless urchins of the Tsirkov. We also have "The Foreign Kid" both the reindeer-centaur girl apprenticed by her nomadic tribe to a merchant in the square. That's of course not everyone or all the cliques but, you get the idea.
As for a summary of what goes down. Rather than type it out. I'll just copy-paste from the MCs G+ post about the game.
So here's a brief update on Ashen Snow. The second session was more of an adventure than I expected. Luka's little brother double-crossed a crimelord and an ancient Tiefling named Baba Yaga and had to go steal some books of demonology back from the merchant who ended up with them. Long story short, over a dozen people dead, a house burned down, and some serious bad mojo books back in the han- er, claws of a "person" who will undoubtedly use them for something terrible. But there was still a lot of drama.
The third session was, to quote Harry Potter, "a fucking free-for-all of facts" in which lots of people learned lots of things that they and other people would rather they had not learned.
Here's a character-by-character breakdown!
Luka the Vampire
- Saved his brother!
- Hypnotized a mercenary into trying to kill all of her comrades.
- Hadn't fed since he was turned.
- Killed an orphan beggar girl without remembering it.
- Wiped the memories of some elf boy who knew too much.
- Received an ultimatum from the crimelord his brother was working for.
- Met the elf who turned him, who told him he was "an accident" and that he "should be dead" because only elves can be vampires.
- Became his Darkest Self.
- Killed a prostitute, but that's okay because now he has leverage over the crimelord.
Nadya the Infernal
- Got a gift from that elf boy she dueled and then they totally kissed.
- Foolishly told said elf boy everything about her, including her very bad, very proscribed demonology habits.
- Became her Darkest Self.
- Made a deal with a bigger, badder demon, but he's technically family, so I guess that's okay.
- Made about a dozen mercenaries kill each other.
- Went and told that elf boy everything again even though Luka went to all that trouble to wipe his memories.
- Learned some secrets about Luka and Kora
- Became her Darkest Self again.
- Told Luka she knew his secret, which made him flip out.
Kora the Wyrm
- Had a chat with a dwarf girl who knows waaay too much about her (though Kora knows about her too; it's a M.A.D. sort of thing).
- Revealed her nature and the location of her lair to an information dealer who may or may not be a goblin (goblins aren't real).
- Burned down a very expensive house.
- Learned that one of the orphan children she looks after (and pretty much considered her kid sister) was murdered by a vampire.
- Got her ass beat by some orcs.
- Had an awkward chat with some elves, one of whom she learned is a vampire.
- Recovered the orphan girl's body (and later cremated it).
- Had a super sad conversation with said girl's ghost.
- Learned that the vampire/murderer in question is Luka.
- Had a chat with Luka's creator in which she more or less said that, yeah, she's pretty much going to have to kill Luka.
So. We have a Darkest Self Vampire rampaging around the city, a Darkest Self Infernal whose about to have to start repaying her great, great, great, etc. grandpappy (aka The Tyrant), and a Wyrm who's still in control and scheming her dragony schemes.
Yeah, next session's gonna be fun.?