Prometheus Plaza, once the thriving heart of an industrial downtown, now lies silent and nearly empty; even its namesake tenant, Prometheus Labs, the undisputed titan of paratech and a major power behind the Veil, has been forced to cut-back and scale-down its operations just to survive. With golems taking up nearly all roles in construction, basic manufacturing, and menial labor, the loss of the skilled employment provided by Prometheus Labs and the cottage industries it supported has left much of the city's workforce unemployed and unemployable.

With the close of the Cold War bringing budget cuts and manpower reductions for nearly all paranormal agencies, paracrime has been allowed to grow unchecked; in Three Portlands, the Lighthouse Mafia rules the back alleys and black markets, exercising power and influence not seen since the days of the Chicago Spirit. Marshall, Carter and Dark have dispensed with any pretense of decency or restraint, and are taking advantage of the crisis to loot the city's treasures and exploit its parahuman inhabitants — even when the rest of the economy has stalled, there's still a profit to be made from suffering and scarcity.

The gradual outward movement of the city's buildings and geography, normally considered an essential aspect of its culture and character, has suddenly become a threat to its very existence; new construction and development in the fresh rings near the city core has ground to a standstill among the ruins of the economy, and with each passing day more and more buildings cross into the Outer Peripherary and are deconceptualized without replacement. While a slow and distant doom, it has exacerbated the housing crisis already plaguing Portlands.

As the paranormal world rapidly deteroriates, the integrity of the Veil has been placed in jeopardy for the first time in half a century. Hoping to convince the major powers to confront the crisis in a unified front, the Undersecretary-General of the UN's Global Occult Coalition has called for a 4th Convention on the Veil Accords — to be held in the neutral city of Three Portlands. Even with the Convention still several months off, government dignitaries and occult ambassadors have already begun to gather in the city, presenting an attractive target for enemies of the Veil. If an attack upon the Convention were to occur, it's doubtful that even the Hoover Mandate would be able to protect the city from the inevitable retribution.

Caught in the middle of these conflicting groups and interests are the people of Three Portlands. The city is wracked by crises, and the municipal government is unable — or unwilling — to provide solutions. The average citizen is angry and disenfranchised, and that collective anger is searching for an outlet. With protests and anti-establishment demonstrations increasing in size and frequency, it is clear that the city is nearing a breaking point. One spark is all it will take to ignite the powder keg, and the longer the detonation is delayed, the worse it will be.