Pre-Settlement
Theorists speculate that the area of pre-established Cape Glory was first inhabited by the Mi’kaquilis trible – an aggressive and strange group of natives that were initially thought to have been part of the Algonquin nation, but were in time distinguished as a separate tribe, with their own languages and beliefs. It’s speculated that the Mi’kaquilis were wiped out by the Abenaki tribe – who shared the region – long before colonization. It was only through tales, artifacts, and some strange, religious symbols recovered through the Abenaki tribe that pilgrims discovered evidence of the Mi’kaquilis’ initial occupation.
The 17th Century
It is in 1630 that the famed English pilgrim, Jerusalem Mather, then age 36, arrives in the area and establishes a settlement. The Abenaki natives welcome the settlers cautiously, but amicably. Charismatic, an ambitious man, and a natural, magnetic leader celebrated for his pious and accepting temperament, Jerusalem, in the course of time, becomes both the burgeoning town’s mayor and its main religious figure. Jerusalem Chapel is soon constructed to spread Mather’s word to settler and native alike.
By 1645, the settlement has developed into a busy port, based on the fishing, lumber, and shipbuilding trades in the local area. Slave ships provide manual labor in the form of African chattel, and beneath the inspiring, divinely motivated guidance of Jerusalem, coupled with the manpower provided by transported slaves, the town flourishes. At long last, in 1656, it is finally incorporated as a city and officially dubbed Cape Glory.
Attracted by the prominence of Cape Glory, the sanctuary it offered, as well as Mayor Mather’s reputed religious tolerance, exiles from nearby Puritan Massachusetts, accused of witchcraft and heresy, begin to filter into the city around 1673. It isn’t long before tensions start to grow between the refugees and the superstitious citizens. Accusations spread of strange lights emanating from the houses of newcomers, of odd occurrences that revolve around peculiar refugees, and superstitious distrust runs rampant, threatening to erupt into violence. It is Jerusalem Mather, the city’s father, who steps forward to soothe his people – both new and old – and preach the glory of God’s love to successfully, almost mystically unify the people of Cape Glory.
Jerusalem’s sermon remains famous throughout time.
The 18th Century
As the sun sets on the year of 1704, so too does it set on the life of Jerusalem Mather. Having lived to the advanced – and “blessed,” it was said – age of 110, the passing of the venerated evangelist, who some had regarded as a prophet and messiah, leaves Cape Glory in grief. 20 children from his varied marriages survive him, a legacy to last centuries. In memorial, the city erects a grand monument in front of the chapel of his namesake, where he’d preached so devotedly to the very eve of his death. Through history, the monument will continue to serve as the centerpiece of the city.
1710 brings new, brutal challenges to the city as the remaining Abenaki in the surrounding region rise up against Cape Glory, driven by superstitious fervor, claiming the land was tainted and should no longer be built on. A defensive war is waged against the natives and both land and river run in the blood of the fallen as the months pass in a series of violent skirmishes. While a number of city defenders are killed in the savage battles, the death toll of the natives is tremendous. By the end of the fighting, the tribe has been more than simply repelled – the Abenaki of the region has been utterly and ruthlessly eliminated. Cape Glory is victorious, once more uncontested.
Construction starts on a second place of worship – South Chapel – in 1723 and is completed in 1726. However, South Chapel stands for a mere six months before the building is burnt to the ground by residents of Cape Glory after accusations of devil worship and human sacrifices arise surrounding it.
As 1753 stretches into a fruitful summer, ground is broken and a grand ceremony held on the future site of Cape Glory’s University. The project is immense, one of the largest in the history of the city, and funded by the community’s more prominent families – many of which are descendants of Jerusalem Mather. Construction lasts five years and claims at least three lives. The college is opened in 1759 and its historical motto is established: “Deus nobiscum, quis contra?” (“God is with us, who can be against us?”)
The 19th Century
The harbor is expanded in 1810 as Cape Glory’s importance as a trade port increases. Though Cape Glory has been a prosperous – “gloriously blessed” – city of little crime and rare violence, times are changing. Rumors surrounding missing persons are circulating and as the population increases, so too does the threat to Cape Glory’s peace. The institution of Cape Glory’s first police force arrives in 1824. Shortly afterward, the current mayor’s daughter disappears. The investigation lasts all of six months, before being dismissed after the unexpected resignation of the mayor in the latter half of the year.
1852 brings tragedy. The Jamesons, a local family of merchants, are lynched and their estates burned after being accused of belonging to the strange cult of a pagan god. Some suggest that this belief was fostered amongst the superstitious population by rival families. The fires spread, however, as uncontrollable as the mob. Soon, huge swathes of the city are engulfed in the inferno. Dozens die in the blaze, countless are injured, and Cape Glory is left reeling from the devastation left behind. Afterward, there are whispers that the “Great Blaze” was the act of the Jameson family’s final, dying curse.
As immigration reaches its zenith around 1860, strong Industrialization of the city takes hold, with several textile mills being built along the river. The city receives its first railway lines from the Boston-Providence Rail Company, connecting it to the world beyond. Within the next year, the Civil War has consumed the United States. Although the South suffers heavily, Cape Glory thrives, its economy booming as the demand for trading and shipbuilding dramatically increases. By 1865, the Civil War has ended and those that can return home do so. In Cape Glory, a rash of kidnappings occurs. Over 23 girls between the ages of 14 and 18 disappear and in spite of thorough investigation, neither they nor the culprit is ever discovered. After six harrowing months, the kidnappings abruptly cease.
1881 and the Red Hook Riots explode into being as hundreds of dock and mill workers hold strikes to protest low pay and poor working conditions. In response, harbor officials send in the Pinkerton strikebreakers to beat the revolting laborers. Violence feeds violence, and the area combusts into a mini-warzone, resulting in several injuries on both sides and the death of 2 workers. The following day, after a report on the deaths by the Cape Glory Gazette, large groups of protesters take to the streets. In two days, over 10,000 people have begun rioting and 100 more are injured. The death toll rises to 8.
The Cape Glory Scientific Association – a group of like-minded, wealthy, and erudite individuals – is founded in 1893, and becomes a rich benefactor of Cape Glory University. Beginning in 1895, following the CGSA’s donations and subsequent involvement with the college and its operation, several of the University’s board members are arrested for corruption, composed in large part of members that had opposed several of the Association’s new measures for the college. The “witch-hunts,” intent on rooting out further corruption, spreads like wildfire to City Hall, and a number of the city’s Council, including those from several prominent churches in the city, are arrested or forced to resign on charges of crookedness and other improprieties.
In 1897, the city Council passes several new laws and ordinances aimed at protecting the populace, including banning many “snake oil peddlers” and charlatans, and set up various committees to oversee and approve permits for almost every conceivable business. Funding for the Cape Glory Police Department is also considerably increased to improve their professionalism and efficiency to begin a crack-down on illegal activities in order to make the city a safer place. Some question, however, whether said crack-down is designed to protect Cape Glory’s inhabitants or to put pressure on political opponents and dissenters within the city.
The 20th Century
Come 1901, Cape Glory local Reginald Wayland develops the Saint Point Boat Company, sponsored by the United States Navy, in order to create and research warships as the Great Powers enter a naval arms race. Cape Glory’s further burgeoning shipbuilding industry brings fantastic prosperity to the city, along with a strong growth of the city’s limits.
1932 sees the reputable Sal Torrance, establishing his business – Torrance Investments Co. – in the heart of the city’s ripening Downtown, the financial mogul having constructed the tallest skyscraper to date in Cape Glory to base his business out of. Torrance Tower becomes the axis of Downtown’s growth and the basis for future construction, and though few realize it, Torrance Investments Co. is the subtle catalyst that will slowly but surely guide the shifting economy toward finance in the coming decades. Torrance Investments Co. flourishes to become a conglomerate power and remains uncontested until 1953, which introduces Trent Montgomery, another well-known figure in Cape Glory. He constructs Montgomery Tower in direct opposition of Torrance Tower – taller and mightier, and bases his own financial corporation, Montgomery Mutual, from it. Although it seems an impossible feat, Montgomery Mutual nonetheless achieves the miraculous and in a course of a single, unbelievably successful year has become powerful enough to be recognized as the major rival of Torrance Investments. The rivalry that develops between the two monopolies is one of bitter intensity, neither willing to surrender their supremacy – though most attest that, for the most part, it was Montgomery that reigned as self-made king of the city’s fiscal jungle.
General Kinetics Corporation is formed in 1960 through the combination of the Saint Point Boat Company and several others and comes to be regarded as a leader of innovation and creativity in the marine, aerospace, defense, communications, and electronics industries. The long, fierce competition between Montgomery Mutual and Torrance Investments comes to a shocking end in 1973, when Trent Montgomery slaughters his family before killing himself. Investigators report that mental duress and the stress of his environment had been the probable cause behind Trent’s sudden, murderous “breakdown.”
The financial corporation First Providence leases the until-then unoccupied Montgomery Tower in 1988 and in time establishes itself as the newest financial power in the city. As if the two buildings are fated to be eternal rivals, another business – People’s Trust Bank – moves into Torrance Tower in 1992 to step into the shoes of the eclipsed Torrance Investments and establishes itself as the major competition of First Providence. Like those that came before, First Providence and People’s Trust monopolize the financial sector of Cape Glory with the same sharp competitiveness, like two clashing gods.
The Church of Glorious Christ and the Resurrection is formed in 1998 by Timothy Applewhite, a man who claims to be the reincarnation of Jerusalem Mather. Although labeled as a cult by most, the church manages to attract over 100 members by way of suspected brainwashing. A state investigation into the cult reveals that the group engages in dark and strange practices, including the ritual impregnation of 20 women by Timothy Applewhite. On the eve of an indictment by the District Attorney’s office, the police storm the church, only to find 102 members of the clergy have committed suicide.
The 21st Century — Present
With the advent of the 21st century, the gap between the rich and poor grew wider across the world, and Cape Glory was no different. As technology advanced at a strong pace, prosperity in the city grew, along with giving those who sought it greater control over the populace. Even as the global financial crisis ravaged the economy of America, Cape Glory seemed to dodge the blow... at least insofar as “those that mattered” were concerned. The megacorporations continued to reign from their towers and the mafiosos and mobsters continued to dominate the streets both in their protection and under their pressure. The desperate poor became poorer, the hopeless homeless multiplied, and the seeds of corruption burrowed deeper into the belly of the city, seething like an insidious burn.
The corruption still seethes and quietly festers, a slowly incubating cancer under the city's pristine skin. You wouldn’t know it from looking at the city, though, and indeed, why would you? Why would anyone? Cape Glory is, after all, an ideal city — famously blessed, beautifully prosperous. Cape Glory has, after all, always been a fine city, a good city.