Club Chorus
Everything you see in the Matrioska Multiverse may constitute spoilers for other worlds I'm working on. Proceed with caution!
Club Chorus is a pocket instance carved out of Unallocated Space to provide a place of rest, entertainment, and collaboration for the most active and adventurous blanks within the Matrioshka Multiverse. Unlike most pocket instances, which tend to manifest as open, natural spaces, Club Chorus resembles a cozy, upscale jazz club from mid-1920's Earth.
Club Chorus also serves as the personal sanctuary of the ancient, enigmatic, and amorous choir blank now known as Onesby. Onesby maintains and operates the club in part because he retains the social proclivities of his creator and in part because he and his kind need somewhere comfortable to speak freely about the important matters of the day.
Architecture
The interior of the club is lit in dim, sepia hues by numerous incandescent chandeliers and wall sconces. The whole club is lavishly upholstered in burgundy fabric and leather, with drapes and ceiling hangings lending the space a sense of warmth. The atmosphere has a mild armoa, with hints of vanilla, cigars, and dark wine being the most prominent elements thereof. Curtained windows look out upon vistas of Unallocated Space through which the whole club seems to be moving continuously; visitors unfamiliar with the place sometimes assume that Club Chorus is meant to be a music venue aboard a cruise ship, not a building, and the presence of uniformed construct blank bussers does little to dispel this impression.
Onesby has grown a fondness for human smooth jazz, and so this is the most typical genre of music played at Club Chorus. The club's main hall three stages: a rectangular stage at the far end and two detatched circular stages that can be moved around when not in use. One of the round stages always has a piano on it, while the other has several string instruments. The stages are moved around on occasion to keep things feeling fresh or for emphasis on solo and duet acts. The main seating area is strewn with round tables lit by lamps in the center, while the perimeter is ringed with booths. The booths are recessed into the walls and can be isolated from the rest of the main hall by drawing a curtain around them, creating snugs for privacy. One unique effect of Onesby's work with The Word as he created Club Chorus is that the secrecy of a snug is impenetrable by mundane means; only remote viewing employed by a practiced Word user can see or hear past a drawn curtain. This makes the booths useful for striking the sorts of 'devil's bargains' choir blanks (especially former arziel-class skyphoforms) are sometimes known for. A kitchen, backstage area, and numerous private cubicles branch off from the central space. The number and arrangement of the private cubicles, as well as the furnishings found therein, seem to be different every time one arrives in Club Chorus - because they are. These rooms serve Onesby's needs on special occasions, including as guest quarters, studies, and meeting spaces for larger parties.
Onesby has grown a fondness for human smooth jazz, and so this is the most typical genre of music played at Club Chorus. The club's main hall three stages: a rectangular stage at the far end and two detatched circular stages that can be moved around when not in use. One of the round stages always has a piano on it, while the other has several string instruments. The stages are moved around on occasion to keep things feeling fresh or for emphasis on solo and duet acts. The main seating area is strewn with round tables lit by lamps in the center, while the perimeter is ringed with booths. The booths are recessed into the walls and can be isolated from the rest of the main hall by drawing a curtain around them, creating snugs for privacy. One unique effect of Onesby's work with The Word as he created Club Chorus is that the secrecy of a snug is impenetrable by mundane means; only remote viewing employed by a practiced Word user can see or hear past a drawn curtain. This makes the booths useful for striking the sorts of 'devil's bargains' choir blanks (especially former arziel-class skyphoforms) are sometimes known for. A kitchen, backstage area, and numerous private cubicles branch off from the central space. The number and arrangement of the private cubicles, as well as the furnishings found therein, seem to be different every time one arrives in Club Chorus - because they are. These rooms serve Onesby's needs on special occasions, including as guest quarters, studies, and meeting spaces for larger parties.
Defenses
In general, outsiders cannot even find Club Chorus unless Onesby or a higher power permits it. Club Chorus is not statically linked to any other instance, but can extend an elevator-like portal into another instance such that any appropriately-sized door of Onesby's choosing can lead directly into the club. The Waiting Rooms of various instances are the most commonly chosen exit points in any event. This is useful for choir, elder, and construct blanks looking to meet with Onesby to discuss the current events of an instance beyond the prying eyes of instance blanks living there, who must generally be kept in the dark about the The Substrate's activities.
Like all personal domains of choir or elder blanks, the physical properties of Club Chorus are highly malleable by the owner. Anyone who manages to sneak in - or, more more often, starts acting like a bad guest - can be instantly dismissed back to their point of origin with a snap of Onesby's fingers. Should a more wiley and well-prepared opponent - like a Broken Eternity operative - manage to get into Club Chorus, Onesby can use The Word distort the laws of physics within the space to kill or disable the opponent more easily than he would elsewhere. Because Onesby is one of the eldest choirs, his mastery of The Word is on par with that of Patricia Wixtaki and second only to entities like Wurth Harkin or the Allocator, making any such attack on him in Club Chorus a near-suicidal endeavor.
History
Over the subjective centuries, Club Chorus has served a clientelle including some of the most famous, influential, and historically significant entities in the Matrioshka Multiverse. High-level ComInDs representatives, such as Wurth Harkin and Patricia Wixtaki, have come to the club to discuss the finer points of the creation of instances. Onesby had Deputy Devin "Smokey" Burns from the Candledusk Instance as a guest when Dep. Burns had just come into his ability to use The Word - unwittingly presaging the rise of the Kit's Crater Five and the metaphysical horrors which would later befall that instance. This was also when Ms. Anubet and Dep. Burns first became romantically involved, a relationship which persists into present day. Later, when those responsible for the Candledusk incident were defeated and their blanks intercepted in Candledusk Waiting Room, Club Chorus served as a place for Mr. Harkin and his ComInDs advisors to debate what was to be done with them. Voer Offur often comes to Club Chorus from his current assignment in the Manifold Sky instance to meet with representatives of The Substrate and keep them up-to-date on current events.
Onesby by Hero Forge
Type
Pub / Tavern / Restaurant
Parent Location
Connected Rooms
Related Professions
Owner
Characters in Location
A Question of Time
As a stabilized region of Unallocated Space, Onesby has not seen fit to equip Club Chorus with the necessary physical properties to simulate the environmental effects of time. As such, not only does Club Chorus seem ageless and eternal - because, in some senses, it is - but the place also has the effect of preserving anyone and anything brought there for the duration of their stay. This is a useful because it allows Onesby and his associates to pluck visitors out of sticky situations to have discussions with them before disaster strikes.
Skyphoform Ideogram by BCGR_Wurth
Neat setup, nice story, and I really like that map. Honestly the only thing I struggled with are your terms: To understand them, and with that some parts of the article, I have to go read their articles in detail. It'd be nice to have some form of essential glossary.
Too low they build who build beneath the stars - Edward Young