defy the tyrannous stars
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To flesh out a canon location on Point Nadir that also serves as a base of operations for the Exchange in the region.
Image Credit: Neos City by Jordan Grimmer
Canon: Canon Article
Links: The Prince's Court (development thread)
SETTING INFORMATION
Structure Name: The Crown Court
Classification: Casino/Resort
Location: Point Nadir, Resh 9376
Affiliation: The Exchange/Salvatrucha Economic Development Corporation (controlling interest), Nadir (protection tithe)
Accessibility: Public - For those far enough on the wrong side of the law to find out the comet's current coordinates, the Crown Court is easily accessible from the Slips (luxury docks located in Point Nadir's massive berthing cavern of Fische's Cove)
Security:
[x] Court Security
[x] Head of Security
[x] Emergency Response Unit
[x] Systems Specialists
[x] Automated Defense System
[x] Security Cam Droids
[x] BAS44 Customs-Grade Holoscanners
DESCRIPTION
One of the largest structures in the the Arcade, the Crown Court is a pyramidal but high tech looking structure that occupies a prominent place in the Point Nadir district that caters to the highest class of criminal that shadowports like these tend to receive. Many of the windows on each floor are either semi or fully translucent on the outside, allowing those on the station streets to gaze upon the revelries within while sparing its guests the sight of even a higher class part of Nadir like this.
With most of the port being lawless and unpatrolled, the casino ownership must necessarily provide its own protection. The base of the pyramid facing the street is a dazzling lightshow of a wide glowing front entrance, which is patrolled round the clock by Enforcers known as Court Security in everything from blast vests over suits to full on riot armor. On nearby rooftops and in the surrounding vicinity, more incognito security serve as spotters. In a place as prone to ultraviolence and open gang warfare as Nadir, it is their job to warn the casino of any impending organized assault.
Inside the casino itself, it is a cacophony of noise, ultrabright neon lighting, and the sparkling of false gems or precious metal coatings. The pits are a gaudy sight, like the idea a working man or criminal might have of a side of the galaxy they had only ever seen in holofilms. It is commercialized luxury personified, designed to give the illusion to those who will never get the chance that they are people of status in some fancy Core world establishment, when just a few dozen meters outside lies one of the most dangerous shadowports in the galaxy.
As one ascends the levels of the pyramid, different attractions the resort has on offer become available. Beyond the Forbidden City at the base where much of the more casual gambling and sports betting occurs, there are many floors dedicated to housing the Royale, the thousand room hotel with prices exorbitant enough to cater primarily to crime lords and merchant princes.
At the top of the hotel there is a small nightclub that also seeks to evoke a more music vid like appeal, and above the dance hall are the levels where the real gambling is. The High Court caters to the elite of the elite on Point Nadir, whether it be in terms of status or pockets or gambler’s luck.
Three sections of the structure are completely off limits to casino guests at all times. At the base of the structure, sharing several floors with the Forbidden City, is the labyrinthine network of the casino cages, which also contains the casino vault. The second, accessible by authorized turbolift from the cages, are the executive offices on the mid level of the casino. Sharing some floor space with the hotel, it is inaccessible to the rest of the building except by those service lifts.
At the very top of the pyramid are a set of apartment suites and an office, accessible via those same turbolifts from the executive offices levels.
POINTS OF INTEREST
The Forbidden City: The largest section of the resort, the Forbidden City contains the casino pits as well as the other more mundane gambling varieties the establishment has on offer. Thousands of slot machines, hundreds of gambling tables, but perhaps what the Crown Court is best known for is as a hub for sports betting. Large screen monitors cover most of the walls with a seemingly endless variety of live matches to gamble on, statistics on everything from shockboxing to podracing scrolling underneath and alongside in multiple trade languages.
The Labyrinth: Mostly composed of the casino cages, a highly secured, restricted area where chips are exchanged and credits were counted by teller droids. Beyond the cages lies the casino Vault, a heavily fortified miniature fortress with redundant layers of antitamper security and capable of withstanding up to a baradium blast. The Labyrinth also contains much of the resort's main infrastructure. Generators, server rooms, staff locker and break rooms, everything necessary to run such a vast establishment behind the scenes. There are deeper parts of this section where some of the more violent and immoral acts are committed by the management.
The Coliseum: A thirty thousand seat arena, the Coliseum hosts the casino's live stage events. Theater, music acts, even sporting events. But the most popular attraction by far is the fighting pits, of which the casino boasts several. While not always to the death, there is a fight going on at practically every hour of the day.
The Royale: With more than a thousand spacious sound proofed rooms, the Royale is the most lavish hotel on Point Nadir (admittedly a low bar). Filled with amenities like pools and spas as well as several restaurants. The most well known establishment is the hotel bar, the Corner Club, with convenient access to the hotel lobby and, more importantly, the casino floor beyond.
The Masquerade: The resort's dance hall and nightclub, the Masquerade also serves as a nexus for the casino's booming illicit drug trade. With bountiful supply in a place like Point Nadir, just about anything you can think of is for sale. The club is practically a black market in narcotics.
The High Court: Where the high rollers and whales the establishment attracts go to display their status, enjoy the view from the upper floors of the structure, and partake in games of truly high stakes. Not for the faint of heart, the High Court is venue of discerning taste, and many are turned away at the door by Court Security. A smaller portion of the section, known as the Red Rooms, plays host to guests with darker, more lurid tastes.
Executive Offices: Located on several of the mid level floors via restricted access turbolifts, these workspaces are where much of the upper management oversees the day to day operation of the casino, as well as the business' various side interests.
The Crown Suite: A truly opulent penthouse apartment at the top of the pyramidal structure, the rooms are extremely spacious, including an office with direct access to the turbolift that would not look out of place in the corporate headquarters of some Core world ecumenopolis megacorp. The office contains a transparisteel wall with a view out onto the shadowport, while the suite itself has a balcony overlooking the entrance square far below.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
For more than a thousand years Point Nadir has functioned as a safe haven for criminals and the underworld refuse of the galaxy, and for almost just as long the Crown Court has stood in some form or another in the shadowport’s Arcade district. Somehow managing to eke out a living catering to a higher class of criminal clientele than comparable establishments such as Lucky’s, the one thing each iteration of the casino has had in common has been providing an air of commercialized glamour.
While not as well known for its card gambling as some other operations on the Arcade, the Court is truly legendary for the sheer variety of sports and statistics betting the casino has on offer. Massive screens cover the walls of the lower levels, displaying live feeds and constantly up to date statistical data. Destroyed and rebuilt over centuries of everything from all out gang warfare to galactic conquest, the betting feeds and the hypnotized eyes on slack jawed faces that followed them have remained more or less a staple of the casino for as long as anyone can remember.
With the unique nature of Point Nadir’s radically laissez faire attitudes towards business ownership and corporate tactics, the ones in charge often end up being the strongest. Until recently, the organization that ran the casino had a stranglehold on a significant portion of the Arcade, ruling through might and control over the drug trade. Recently, that influence has waned quite suddenly. There have been rumors of a “hostile takeover” and substantial standing bounties on any surviving members of the old cartel, as well as whispers of who had replaced them. Whispers of the Exchange on Point Nadir.
