Description
The House of Syria was created to be a digital haven, a place to be comfortable while playing through Virtual Reality scenarios, or starting a new life in Simulated Reality. Much of the technology used before the Catastrophe was lost, but the station has kept its love of digital environments, and a healthy digital trade still flourishes. One particular company operating solely out of The House of Syria, oeuVRe, aims to restore the dedicated Omni-Reality scenarios of the past, and invites users to experience virtual holidays, life experiences and even counseling services.
Chronicle text
There are two separate stations that exist in parallel on the House of Syria. Extremely advanced omni-reality technology allowed a flourishing digital haven to exist behind the stark regocrete of this station. Digitally, this facility is a veritable cacophony of colour and sound with brilliantly creative environments stretching far and wide. Taking the jump gate’s wargames and elevating them to the next level, the House of Syria hosts a regular OmReAthletics tournament set within virtual reality. Coupled with this, tourists from far and wide travel to the patron station of better than life to experience a whole host of virtual holiday scenarios.
Arrival text
Statistics
System: Ross 154
Affiliation: Consortium
Level: 17
Legal: Low
Orwellian: High
Areas
Bank (Pangala People’s Bank)
While Pangala is the bank of choice for most of Ross 154, their facilities look very different in The House of Syria. The automated service kiosks look like arcade machines, with their colorful lights and beeping noises, while the tellers are dressed in black with glowing yellow accents. They explain to station newcomers how things work in VR: no one can steal your credits while you’re connected, don’t listen to anyone asking you for a payment even if they look like a famous person you admire, some VR experiences are paid for in bonds, and so on.
Brig
The Brig looks like a Mesh movie high-security prison, with large metal gates, an outer wall with parapets, and barred windows. Inside, each cell has a different colored light - arrivals are blue, short-term lockups are green, individual cells are red - and the guards refer to each section by their color. The usual AR overlay is restricted here except for the hallways, which sport holo posters with strange slogans, like ‘You lost the game!’, ‘Which path should you take next time?’, and ‘Insert credits to continue’. It’s unclear whether they’re meant to be motivational, jokes, or something else entirely.
Clones (Respawn Station)
High-tech vats are arranged in orderly lines, each with a different overlay depending on its gestation stage. Advertisements for genetic enhancements crowd your AR view, while technicians explain the benefits of vat grown and premium clones. There’s an aura of excitement, as people excitedly choose their ‘next life’.
Available Clones
Decommissioned Area (Amphitheater)
Whilst most of the station’s beauty is best viewed through one’s CORETECHS AR overlay, the central amphitheater is by far the exception. A visually stunning piece of architecture, it hosts all of the OmReAthletics. Many tournaments throughout a cycle are held in the Amphitheater, ranging from team sports like omni-ball to combat games and individual skill challenges. Once every four cycles, however, the OmRe Tourney takes place!
NPCs
Employment (Job Station)
Costumed employees and AR mascots fight for people’s attention as they explain the kinds of jobs that can be done around the station. From helping with last-minute programming to VR voice acting, advisors are ready to help people find the work of their dreams. People browsing advertised work chat amicably while they look around, hoping for their next big break.
Career Advisory
Many counters have been set up to accommodate a large number of people, and many doors lead to individual rooms where people can discuss their career choices with more privacy. Advertisements for oeuVRe and Benevolent Dynamics take over a lot of AR space, while advisors use CORETECHS information and machine readouts to assess the best job for every applicant.
Side Jobs
In addition to the usual automated job searches and helpful staff, this room contains a large roulette labelled “Get a Job!”. Indecisive patrons can spin the wheel, and a flash of neon lights will choose for them. Small print on the roulette’s AR plaque reads “Every job on the roulette is High Priority. Give it a spin and help us out!”
Name | Description | Credits | Statistic |
---|---|---|---|
Motion Passes | Lend your frame to a motion capture event | 64 | 1x Social 1x Stamina 1x Strength |
NPC Maintenance | Check the local NPCs for bugs. | 64 | 1x Social 1x Intelligence 1x Stamina |
NPCs
Discreet Work
Sometimes jobs are offered by those who need to be able to deny involvement. Don't ask too many questions; you won't get many answers. And don't be surprised if you wind up in the brig or sickbay.
NPCs
Government Center
The building is modern and functional inside, but is built like an Old Earth castle - outer gates, towers and all. While the physical sign labels it as the Government Center, a large AR sign refers to it as ‘Home Base’, and explains the kinds of services you can find within, from ‘rations which raise your survival bar’ to ‘Tau reset tickets’. Inside, there is a separate teller for LeGuin visitors, manned by people more comfortable talking while maintaining the Balance.
Gym (Training Area)
Many people are here, intent on working out
Inn (Safe Rest Zone)
There’s a blue glowing circle outlining the Safe Rest Zone Inn, and as soon as you step within, your CORETECHS AR picks up the message, ‘You have now entered a safe zone’. The Inn itself consists of various buildings connected by transparent walkways, with a layout that suggests whoever built this inn was more concerned with creating a complicated floor plan that making something easy to traverse.
NPCs
Bar
The bar has very strict age checks. Only people 40 cycles or older are allowed to purchase drinks containing synthehol, and their age checking methods are of the highest caliber. However, their synthehol-free menu is as extensive as their regular one, showing their care for younger patrons who come here to unwind after a gaming session.
Hotel Rooms
The tallest of the Inn buildings hosts the guest rooms. Various room styles are available, each named after a character from a popular game and “set up according to their tastes”, attracting as many locals as visitors. For those seeking a more traditional stay, a plain room can be requested, with traditional facilities and no AR overlay.
Lounge
The lounge includes one large, common area, as well as individual booths. The common area involves a set of puzzle piece-shaped tables that can be slotted together to match any party size. The booths are set up to create AR projections of people from other stations, perfect for catching up with distant friends or setting up initial business meetings, although it can be strange to watch the one-sided conversations.
Market
Many people are here, buying and selling goods.
NPCs
Vendors
Here you can find many things sold by different vendors.
Public Market
People offer things to be sold or buy things here.
Storage
You can find here enough space to store the things you do not want to carry.
Port
As people descend from their ships and approach the station, many of them are overwhelmed by House of Syria’s AR overlay. Within the port, this consists of up-to-date timetables and warnings displayed through people’s CORETECHS, something many newcomers believe could be handled by regular screens that don’t take over their field of view. Oftentimes, when family, friends or lovers reunite, they share their joy by making words appear over their head. You spot “Joy + 1”, “Excitement Up!” and “Loneliness Timer Reset” as you cross the port.
NPCs
Shipping Bay
A system of conveyor belts and norias carry goods to and from the shipping bay. While robots and automated pulleys and lift systems handle most of the work in this part of the dock, there are some workers overseeing the process, and a small desk to send personal items to other stations.
Docks
Each individual ship’s public information is displayed alongside them as an AR enhancement, which has led to a significant number of ship and technology enthusiasts to congregate here. They gather around particularly exceptional vessels and ask their crew more details about the ship, hoping to turn specs and facts into thrilling tales of space travel.
Local Shuttles
With clockwork schedules and helpful assistants, the station makes sure every ship runs on time. They’re particularly attentive to vessels coming and going from LeGuin, ensuring that people who adhere to the Balance can find somewhere to stay, or make sure they have everything they need before they leave. These helpers have badges designating them as Balance Interpreters, although unlike Gaule, it’s not strictly speaking a different language.
Ruins (The Dead Zone)
Formerly an AR, VR and SR amusement area, it has been digitally cordoned away after the Catastrophe. While the buildings, streets and alleys are empty, their lights shine still, making it easy to forget how dangerous the area is. However, all residents know that the fighting in the Dead Zone is real, and they make sure visitors are informed of the dangers before going in.
The Ruins serves up danger in all sorts of flavors. Scavengers pick through The Wrecks, fighting savagely for overlooked prizes among the debris. Syndicates, under license from station authorities, renew buildings and facilities within the Syndicate Districts. And The Wilds are nothing short of a warzone, where the toughest Syndicate militia battle hardened criminals in an endless struggle for spoils and turf.
The Wrecks
Abandoned SR suites and medical centers dot the Dead Zone. Scavengers often search them, hoping to find old technology, vacuum-sealed items… or the remains of an explorer who had a run of bad luck. Everything is fair game for those who need the extra supplies.
On any given day the Wrecks pivot between desolate emptiness and sparse population by desperate people avoiding prying eyes, bandits, and merchants looking for some cheap and interesting wares. It can be worth your time to pull on a pair of gloves and dig through the debris in the wrecks in search of something useful, just keep your wits about you during your excavation. You never know who's watching in the wrecks.
The Wilds
Most of the violence in House of Syria can be found in the wild areas of the Dead Zone. Here, organised crime syndicates clash with wannabe mafiosos, high-tech weapon versus high-tech weapon, hoping to carve out a name and space for themselves.
Syndicates use these bullet-riddled spaces for insecure storage, and many a bandit has been cut down attempting a bold raid on someone else’s well-guarded cache. Once a benign web of service tunnels; every inch of The Wilds now serves treachery and murder. Deep in the festering darkness, heartless animals track their prey guided by primordial instinct. Only fools come here without first securing a serious weapon and a clone back-up.
Sick Bay (Maassab Medic Tent)
Far from its namesake canvas structure, the Maassab Medic Tent is a high-tech hospital serving everyone in the station. Physicians scramble about, administering small patches and drugs within the waiting room itself, while others call patients into individual rooms for more severe cases. With white coats sporting lime green crosses on the back, the physicians are easy to spot among the station’s residents. The lack of AR entertainment - and limited use of CORETECHS in the waiting room - means plenty of chats happen between waiting individuals.
University (House of Syria VU)
Most classes are taught via nanotech implants to impart the information directly into a student's brain. Neurons containing the new information are slowly built, checksums verified, and the full knowledge is integrated after construction begins.
Classes available:
- Combat
- Advanced Combat (Agile Combat only)
- Engineering
- Leadership
- Psychology
- Spaceship Operations
"Galactic Destinations" text
As engineers continue to realign the Ross 154 Jumpgate and bring us one jump closer to this branch of the galaxy, we glean some more information on the destinations it holds. This segment, we introduce you to the House of Syria!
The House of Syria is one of four stations of the Ross 154 system and the second (and, currently, last here) bearing allegiance to the Consortium.
While both the Jump Gate itself and The House of Syria are, as mentioned, Consortium, the local denizens view the former as the ‘strict, older brother’ as the feeling in this station is a little more open and less structured. There is even a loose friendship with certain factions of Freebooters for ideas and tech.
It is, in fact, their strong connection to technology that allows The House of Syria such freedom and flexibility. We understand that much of the station utilizes and benefits from fairly sophisticated Omni Reality software and that a large bulk of the station’s beauty is best seen through one’s CORETECHS!
A bulk of the station’s culture is taken up by OR (Omni Reality) Games, a hobby that it shares with its elder sibling, the Jump Gate. A central amphitheater dedicated to various types of O-Sporting events is one of the most visually stunning pieces of architecture on the station. Indeed, large numbers of citizens can often be seen sporting OR Headsets and haptic suits. There appears to be a general ideology that, while the CORETECHS is indeed sophisticated enough a technology to allow one to compete, the true “O-thletes” invest in dedicated hardware.
Another interesting idiosyncrasy we have noted is that language and communication have evolved in a rather unique way here. Due to the relationship with the system’s independent station, Le Guin Stronghold, (more on that soon) a particular shift in speech patterns incorporates what appears to be a dialect designed for more emotional openness and semantic transparency of intent.
With the Jumpgate’s alignment almost complete, we hope to be on one of the first shuttles over as we look forward to exploring the unique facets of The House of Syria as soon as possible!
<—- Return to Ross 154