HADEA, MASSACHUSETTS

HISTORY

Hadea is a mid-size metropolitan city along the northern east coast of the United States. It was established in 1639 as a modest town by Harvey Gilchrist and William Hade. Originally named Goodpoole, it was a Puritan haven, its residents tight-lipped and conservative. 

However, social tensions escalated upon the discovery of infra populus (colloquially called devils) and avem populus (colloquially called angels, now samaritans), groups of people who had lived in the then-province prior to colonization. "Devils" were often horned due to natural evolution and were just as sentient and intelligent as the regularly abled humans, but faced hostility from the Puritans. "Angels" were winged and possessed multiple eyes due to natural evolution, and the Puritans regarded them as heavenly despite having no connection to God.

A Puritan having any relation to a devil was deemed criminal by church authority. Many townsfolk were executed alongside their devil partners. People were under constant scrutiny of being devils, witches, or both and executions also followed suit. Angels, however, easily slipped into positions of power. While angels are capable of being just as morally neutral as devils and humans, the privilege they held in the community enabled systematic oppression.

Angels were often ministers, school teachers, and political leaders while devils were denied employment and residency. Devils eventually formed sanctums outside the town that allowed devil/human marriage and offspring. They were peaceful and without conflict for quite some time.

By 1650, the governing power in Goodpoole was 60% angelic and 40% human. One angel by the name of Reverend Phineas Sharp was quickly garnering influence. He dubbed himself an oracle and principality of God. He planned to put followers of him into governing power and orchestrated assassinations. Eventually he sought to kill town founder Harvey Gilchrist.

However, it had been revealed that secondary founder William Hade was secretly betrothed to devil Constance Whitewood. Sharp took advantage of the scandal and incited an insurrection on June 2nd, 1659. His followers burnt down Hade's home and killed him before pillaging Constance Whitewood's home community. Whitewood managed to escape but her family and friends were slaughtered.

Harvey Gilchrist organized a large militia to control and eventually extinguish the riot. Sharp took his followers south to avoid consequence. Goodpoole and the neighboring devil communities were in ruins. It took decades for Gilchrist to build the town from the ground up, renaming it to Hadea after his murdered friend. 

The town now known as Hadea only survived thanks to the devil communities offering aid and eventually integrating. While devils still faced societal hostility, they were now allowed employment and home ownership. Constance Whitewood was invited to Hadea on behalf of Gilchrist and soon gave birth to William Hade's son, Moses Whitewood-Hade.

 Angels, shaken by the acts of Phineas Sharp, renamed themselves samaritans (after Parable of the Good Samaritan). They adapted to accept devils into Hadea but refused to allow them into government positions (an act that carried on for centuries.)

MODERN ERA

Hadea grew rapidly in the wake of the Industrial Revolution from a small town to a metropolis. The city utilized their ports for trade. Not only did they grow because of technological advancements, but from the shameless exploitation of the working class, which affects devils the worst. 

Due to pollution, smog has encompassed the city for almost one hundred years to the point where it always appears to be nighttime. 

While devils now share the same rights as all citizens, they still face deeply rooted systematic oppression. In the twenty-first century, they not only struggle with bigotry for being devils, but also with intersectional discrimination such as race, religion, sex, and orientation. Samaritans can also be the victim of intersectional bigotry, but they ultimately benefit from classism and the privilege acquired since Hadea's establishment.

The current era is the early 2000s. Tech optimism and blobby, shiny retro-futurism is a hot trend. Everyone watches reality TV from their tube televisions, and DVD piracy is the scariest issue the FBI has ever faced. Myspace is new, and Queen of the Damned is the hottest movie as of late.