Silverbrooke: Past and Present
Silverbrook is a small city in central California. It is nestled within easy driving distance of the beach and mountains. The idyllic scenery is matched only by the good nature of its people. Silverbrook WAS a relatively quiet city, out of the way, a place where new ideas could blossom and take root.
Its proximity to areas of great scientific and technological advancement made it ideal for 'weird science'. A brilliant geneticist, known only as Dr. M, set up his underground laboratories in Silverbrook to conduct his research on the splicing of humanoid (human/elven/drow/etc) genes with animal (and eventually plant) genes. And so, in the quiet town of Silverbrook, the first Companions (Kurosame, a black cat Normal being the very first) were born.
Originally Dr. M believed that the Companions would be far more feral and animalistic in their youth, and he set up a sort of Adoption Agency, by which people of a sympathetic lean or people who had invested in his research might be able to take a lab subject home to raise. The hope was that these Companions could be integrated into Humanoid society.
In order to ensure the safety of the adopters and the safety of the Companions, all LAB born Companions are outfitted with a collar. This is how Companions were first introduced into the world, as pets to those who were willing to teach them.
As more Companions were 'born', and more became known about them, the more those closest to them began to see them as truly human in intellect and standing. Families that adopted Companions felt more that they had adopted children, rather than pets. This began the sympathetic lean towards true integration of Companions.
For a while, being with a Companion romantically was more of a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. With no laws to legitimize, protect, or even acknowledge Companions, even the littlest things became true trials.
In the wake of these new beings walking among them, many people came to revile Companions. Two organizations were born...HAAEE (Humans Against Animal Experimentation and Exploitation, an organization that considers Companions as animals who have undergone immense cruelties and believes they should be released to their "natural habitats") and the CoN (Citizens of Nature, a Eugenics-focused organization that believes in the purity of all natural born beings and wants to exterminate the abominations walking amongst them). These two organizations have been responsible for many horrible things that have happened to Companions since their creation two decades ago, from the kidnapping and attempted 'rehabilitation' of a number of children by HAAEE, who they planned on re-releasing into their 'natural wild homes', to the hate crime that took the life of the second born Companion, Apocalypse (aka Pale).
In the wake of Pale's death outrage poured from the Companion community and all who supported them, leading to the first pieces of legislation to protect Companions....as exotic pets, but not as full citizens.
While the case with Pale provided some legal protections for Companions, they and their allies remained outraged and dismayed. A number of Companion kidnappings took place in the wake of the Pet Legislation, and while some Companions were rescued before anything bad could happen to them, others took months to find, and still more were never seen or heard from again, leaving the community shaken.
A couple years after the death of Pale, Silverbrook's mayoral race began. A woman by the name of Judge Piper Crowley - a Citizens of Nature leader and influential anti-Companion figure - had declared her candidacy for the position of Mayor, and ran on a strong anti-Companion platform. During the year-long race, Companions and their allies faced immense hatred and violence, in some cases worse than they had ever seen before. Another candidate arose to run against Crowley, former US Senator and Companion Right Advocate Benjamin Isacc Zimmly (known as Bizzly or Biz). After months of campaigning and a failed assassination attempt that left Bizzly's adopted Companion son severely wounded, Biz ultimately beat out Crowley 55 to 45.
The win wasn't a landslide, and Bizzly would be fighting an uphill battle for Companion rights. However, in the wake of his victory, Companions' rights have indeed been improved.
Companions can now hold licenses and attend school if they wish, including higher education if they can get accepted. Companions still need someone to help sign for them when taking out loans. Companions are still struggling to be seen as full citizens and still cannot vote. They can hold services and be seen as married by law if they wish. Companions can emancipate themselves from owners, but this makes them wards of the state (which could be worse) unless a new owner is found.
A special prison is being built for Companion offenders to hold them to human laws. Penalty for Companion offenders can also affect their human owner. There are substantially increased penalties for people who commit crimes against companions, it just isn't the same as doing it against a human.
General City attitude is more in favor of Companions, but there are still large swaths off the populace who support Crowley and think she was cheated. So though we have succeeded, we have not converted the entire city, and hate and prejudice are still palpable.