Skyside 7: The Big Pizza in the Sky

[Ashen Lilies]

A bustling trade city famously situated atop a high-tech array of anti-gravity generators that give the flying city its name, Skyside has seen better days. Once a booming, futuristic metropolis with a strict legal system and formidable state-supported economy, the collapse of Skyside's monarchy has blown the city's political system into a state of literal anarchy. A plague of change and opportunity has infected the city at all levels, from the nobles and other persons of substance jockeying to to fill the political void left by the collapse of the old system, to new immigrants attracted by Skyside's new lack of taxes or restriction. The markets of Skyside's Tempest Row, once tightly regulated, are now open to all kinds of vice and debauchery unseen in the more stable cities of the Nexus, including a growing slave market.

While the forces of the remaining nobility and the presence of the Royal Guard generally stops widespread fighting in the streets before it gets too out of hand, violence on a smaller scale is still common, and people who cannot protect themselves (or hire others to protect them) are often beaten, killed or kidnapped to be used in experiments or sold into slavery for those with lower standards.

In general, visitors and residents of Skyside learn to stay on their toes pretty quickly. Even the safest and most affluent areas of Skyside are vulnerable to some amateur mad scientist's latest giant robot or genetic abomination running loose and causing havoc, or a temporal anomaly rolling through and causing a street full of people to suddenly age several weeks in the space of a few seconds. The city can be chaotic, and often times dangerous, but there is potential for great wealth here, if someone has a talent for spotting opportunity and grabbing it. Whether with their own hands or the remotely controlled mecha hands that they designed in their attic is highly dependent on the person, of course.

History

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Coming soon!

Factions

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With no ruler or central government in Skyside to maintain order and uphold the laws, political power in Skyside has broken down into dozens of individual political factions with differing goals and operations. Some seriously look to the palace, seeking to claim Skyside's throne and restore the city to its former position. Others are factions merely of convenience, providing certain protections and services in exchange for loyalty or money. Others may have their own goals entirely.

Any player can make any number of factions, with any form of political goal in competition with the other factions. Weaker factions might slip under the radar, but more powerful factions might be the target of other player based factions, who might seek to sabotage or undermine other factions in order to achieve an advantage. Of course, that's not to say that the target faction can't fight back...

Please remember to be courteous to other players though, and don't force conflict if it's clear that it's not wanted. On the other hand, please don't create a faction if your plan is to make them untouchable and stonewall everyone's attempts to try and interact with or compete with your faction. This is a collaborative thread, everyone have fun!

Please PM if you want a faction added to this OP.

House Sky (player: AshenLilies)

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Formerly the rulers of Skyside, the royal lineage is now held hostage within their own palace, barred from entering politics by the Royal Guard for their own safety. A king or queen of Skyside hasn't been crowned for almost a century, however the most recent and last remaining Skyside heir, Princess YoonJi, has been a little unusual in her seeming immunity to assassination plots. Countless attempts have been made on the life of the princess (scarcely into her teens) and yet all assassins have either been caught, died under mysterious circumstances, or been involved in sudden romances with palace servants, eventually settling down to become simple farmers.

Skyside Royal Guard (player: AshenLilies)

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The chief line of defense for the city and the crown, the Skyside Royal Guard remains a formidable fighting force, despite their reduced numbers and seeming lack of political involvement. The primary duty of the Skyside Royal Guard is to protect the Sky family, and as such they are rarely seen outside the immediate surroundings of the Sky Palace Tower, unless something happens in the city to attract their notice - or incur their wrath.

BrightStar Corporation (player: AshenLilies)

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An old company name dating from the monarchy days of Skyside, BrightStar Corporation seems to have taken full advantage of the chaos in Skyside to emerge as one of the largest corporate powers. Their flourishing in this new lawless environment has led to rumors of them actively working to maintain the status quo, including murdering promising Skyside heirs, or sabotaging any noble house or political force that looks like it may become too powerful and restore order back to the city.

Tempest Spaceport Commerce Guild (player: AshenLilies, in theory - though anyone is open to play a member of the guild)

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A small conglomerate of mostly Ferengi and Hutt partners that run the Tempest Spaceport. The Commerce Guild provides security to the spaceport and its immediate surroundings, as well as collects a light tax on spaceport business and trade, but are otherwise pretty chill dudes, and uninterested in wider Skyside politics.

City Defense

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Though effectively lawless, some semblance of peace in Skyside is maintained by both the private security forces of the various guilds and factions that operate within the city, as well as through the overwatch of the Syside Royal Guard, who protect the Sky Palace Tower and also the city as a whole from foreign invasion. Oeioke raising too much of a disturbance should expect to draw attention from any number of concerned parties, who may have an interest in keeping their business running smoothly, as tumultuous as the political situation may be.

As a whole city, Skyside's defenses against aerial and ground assault are dedicated and formidable. As uninvolved as they are in local politics, the Royal Guard has no desire to see Skyside fall to any foreign invasion or interference, and does not slack off in its duties when it comes to city defense, even if they are a total non-presence in Skyside's day-to-day order.

Zones

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Old Skyside/"The Raindrop District"

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The historic city nearest to Skyside's Sky Palace Tower, what's come to be known as the "Raindrop District" by newer generations of Skysiders is a place of incredible change.

The older estates, temples and monuments, abandoned by all but the most stubborn of Skyside's old order, are being demolished, replaced by new residential growth of various types, from the absolutely dismal to the actually-pretty-nice. Some of the more novel developments in housing include ad-sponsored houses, and other low-cost developments for moderate quality housing. In between the housing developments come all the small businesses you'd expect from Skyside's fastest-growing residential sector, including corner stores, fast food, laundromats, and all the other handy spots that let people get everything they need without having to travel far.

The Raindrop District is relatively safe by day, especially in the parts of the town still held on to by the old Skyside elites, nearer to the Palace Tower, but generally is more dangerous at night. Especially in the more ramshackle parts of the Raindrop District, the back alleys tend to be frequented by muggers and the like, and break-ins are very common during the day when the occupants are likely out working. The wise Raindrop District inhabitant keeps good locks and a trusty firearm close at hand, at the very least, and some shell out for more, opting to rely on protection from mercenary and security firms that provide added safety... for a price.

The Cloudtops

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The wealthiest and most glamorous section of Skyside, the Cloudtops form the new fortress of Skyside's new elites: an incredibly tall, shiny fortress, dominated by tall skyscrapers of glass and steel, covered in bright lights and connected by paved roads and elevated walkways galore.

The Cloudtops is home to Skyside's richest residents, and Skyside's biggest businesses and corporations. The Cloudtops is also Skyside's safest district, kept such by the forces of countless taskforces of well-equipped private security teams.

Tempest Row

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Depending on who you ask, Tempest Row is either a vibrant, colorful area full of exotic wares and noisy taverns where ale flows freely, and the barmaids are very accommodating; or a raging, screaming drunk who will drag you into a back alley, beat you over the head with a stick, and run off with your valuables. Or both at once.

Housing the main airship docks and largest spaceport zone, Tempest Row is the nickname for the bustling market and entertainment district of Skyside. With the constant traffic in and out of the city, Tempest Row is home to countless taverns, bars, clubs, and brothels of various sorts, providing boisterous and often debauched entertainment for Skyside's visitors.

With its large crowds and large numbers of shop guards, Tempest Row is relatively safe from violence, though the odd scientific anomaly or experiment-got-loose may amble through occasionally. Visitors in Tempest Row should instead keep a closer watch on their valuables rather than their safety, keeping a close eye out for the pickpockets, scam-artists, and cutpurses of various sorts walking through the crowds, looking for easy money; or the gangs of street toughs roaming the back alleys, waiting for someone too drunk to put up a good fight to stumble along.

Thunderhead

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The constant black smoke belching from the sprawling jumble of towering smokestacks and open smelting furnaces gives this area its name among the locals. Thunderhead is the main industrial area of Skyside, filled with factories, smelteries, warehouseries, and a whole array of other varied monuments to urban squalor. Everything from airship construction to weapons manufacture takes place here, and accidents can sometimes happen, especially with the more unscrupulous employers who care little about what happens to their factory workers, whether they be paid workers, slaves, robots or the mutated fishmen your mad scientist donor kindly granted you.

Thunderhead is among the most dangerous of the districts, with vicious gangs and supervillains hiding out in the mysteriously abandoned warehouses (seriously, Skyside is short on space, why are all there all these abandoned warehouses?), and gangs frequently forming among the poorest of Skyside's communities: the underpaid factory workers and industrial chattel that fill row upon row of unmaintained tenement housing and ruined apartments. Most good factories have guards to protect their workers (or keep them from escaping), but among the houses of the working poor, the streets can turn into a danger zone at any point, with very few people willing to stick around and bear witness.

Groundtown

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For those who couldn't get onto Skyside proper, one can always live in its shadow. While Skyside once was a mobile city, moving place to place for safety and resources, since its collapse it has remained stationary, allowing secondary development under and around the city. Located directly under and around the floating city, Groundtown is a small, but growing settlement of improvised buildings and pre-fab housing blocks, populated largely by Skyside's poorest and most unfortunate workers, poorer even than Thunderhead's inhabitants, commuting morning and evening to the city above by way of hanging basket-lifts and small flying skiffs.

Located outside even Skyside's limited bubble of security and order, and utterly ignored by the Royal Guard, Groundtown can be truly hellish at times. Fighting on the streets between warring gangs is an all too common sight, and even the heaviest of personal weaponry cannot always guarantee personal safety. Residents of Groundtown lock their valuables up tight and keep their gun under their pillow, and visitors should always keep their eyes peeled for thieves and muggers. What little safety can be had in Groundtown comes from the powerful gangs who do their best to control the disorder within their own territory, and the superpowered and/or costumed vigilantes who can be found patrolling nightly, unwilling to let Groundtown fall apart and be consumed by darkness.

Locations

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Please PM the thread creator with a description if you want a location added to this index!

Sky Palace Tower (Player: AshenLilies, Raindrop District)

BrightStar Spaceport (The Cloudtops)

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The second largest spaceport in Skyside, the shiny new BrightStar Spaceport, owned by BrightStar Corporation, is a chief connection between Skyside and the great final frontier. Frequent shuttles and cargo ships make trips between this spaceport and various space-stations close to the Nexus, including Salmagundi station, and there's talk of BrightStar Corporation expanding the spaceport to include a space elevator between the spaceport and Salmagundi station.

Tempest Spaceport (Tempest Row)

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Larger than BrightStar Spaceport, Tempest Spaceport is a little less well adapted for big business and heavy shipping, as Tempest Spaceport is not actually just one spaceport, but a loose connection of spaceports and associated businesses, all run by members of the Tempest Spaceport Commerce Guild. The Tempest Spaceport is a favorite stop for independent spacers and smaller shipping industries, being a cheaper, if less glamorous alternative to the BrightStar Spaceport in the Cloudtops.

Attila's Cantina (Player: Tempest Row)

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Located within the Tempest Spaceport complex, Attila's Cantina is a bar run by an enterprising Hutt named Attila, who caters mostly to the pilots, captains and crew of starships stopping at Skyside. A large variety of food and beverages can be found here, with a special emphasis on items resembling what can be found from Attila's home galaxy, making it especially popular among those who have been sucked into the Nexus from said galaxy. People who know to ask can purchase small quantities of rare Spice from Attila, and he has a wide variety of contacts among Tempest Row traders and dock keepers, making him a good source of information for people looking to know what's what in the area.

The Cantina is relatively clean and bright, though noisy with the constant chatter of alien species. The ubiquitous Bith space-jazz band plays on a raised stage to once side, along with Twi'lek dancers (free and well payed) and vocalists. A few heavily armed guards dot the edges, and Attila himself keeps his powerful blaster shotgun clearly visible above the bar (along with a larger, even more powerful blaster hidden under it) in order to dissuade troublemakers.

Atlas Park (The Cloudtops)

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Located in the midst of the Cloudtops, Atlas Park is a little bit of an anomaly within the urbanized city center. Atlas Park is covered by a transparent dome, keeping out any pollution from the city, while allowing the climate inside to be manipulated to a fine degree. Atlas Park is home to some very attractive landscaping, exotic plants, a small lake, and in general is just a very nice green space for people to relax away from the buildings and bustle of the rest of Skyside. A massive statue of the titan the park is named after stands proudly in the middle of the park, carrying aloft a sphere covered in stars and constellations on his shoulders in reference to the original myth. Oddly enough, though, anyone who manages to get a close look at his face might note an odd expression carved there, which, combined with the slightly odd tilt to his shoulders vaguely suggests an image of Atlas shrugging.

Entrance to Atlas Park requires payment of a moderate fee to keep the park running, though membership cards can be purchased to allow free access over a period of time.

Tinkertown (Thunderhead)

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A small sub-district located in between Thunderhead and the Raindrop District, Tinkertown is an odd district full of warehouses that have been mostly rented as labspace for the large cohort of mad scientists and visionaries who call Skyside home. As such, Tinkertown tends to be even more chaotic than Skyside at large, home to a wide variety of technicolored explosions, noxious gas outbreaks, and half-fish abominations wandering the streets, looking for their mummy. The non-Mad Scientist population of Skyside usually knows to stay well away from Tinkertown, though some find themselves drawn to the noise and excitement, or the glamorous (and occasionally lucrative) occupation of being some up-and-coming supervillain's henchman, hunchbacked assistant or attractive mistress.

Temple to Pazuzu (Player: Earl of Purple, Tempest Row)

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One of the buildings here, an overhanging pub with a novelty glass floor that quickly went out of business due to one short gunfight and a very long drop, has been taken over by a new group.

They've put up a sign outside depicting a red vulture with wings and talons outstretched superimposed on a silver cloud. Beneath that is a sign proclaiming this to be the Temple of Pazuzu, and on the other side is a list of the dates of various religious celebrations.

Outside, it still resembles the other taverns, being a three-storey building with a flat roof to dock smaller aircraft. Inside, there's an altar at the far end with a cage suspended over a hole in the floor next to it. There's a central aisle with rows of pews on either side, most suited for winged individuals.

OoC Notes and Rules

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1. For we are not Gods, merely Men. Godmodding is not permissible! As stated in the rules in the FFRP Central Thread,, godmodding is generally not allowed without permission. If you're shaky on what might be, and what might not be godmodding, please follow the above link.
2. An interior decorator is you! Remember the curtain! It is accepted that there will of course be some inter-PC relationships, and that romance and certain physical interactions (commonly known as sex) happen. However, please be courteous to others and curtain any scene that you wouldn't be willing to write with your parents watching. This is so you can stay within forum rules, as well as letting those uninterested in the scene pass by without having to glimpse your poorly written and anatomically impossible erotica. Thank you.
3. It's probably a Nemesis plot.
4. I can save this planet! “My character is an escaped slave who became a paladin and hates slavery! She's going to attack every slaver she sees and singlehandedly tear down Skyside's slave industry!” Since everything is legal in Skyside, it's inevitable that some less well-looked upon industries, such as slavery, will find a foothold there, which more morally upright characters may take affront to. However, always be mindful of the consequences of a random paladin trying to attack slavers in the streets, burn markets down or knock down doors and bash in heads. Even in a lawless city, slavery is still unpopular, and any slavers brave enough to be operating in the open are likely to have lots of guards to protect their interests. Also, Skyside does still have some factions interested in public order, as well as the Royal Guard, who will try to stop any fights that start spreading and disrupting safety and order in a large area. Someone who consistently acts very aggressive and randomly assaults people and property in the open is likely to find themselves in a lot of trouble, very quickly. Also, not everyone wants to have to constantly respond to every Joseph McHero and Sally Superwoman who wants to pick a fight with them. If you plan on having a character take action and take down a specific store or organization, please be courteous and ask the players involved if they're willing to RP it, and remember that there are more subtle ways to take down an industry than kicking them in the teeth.
5. Our words are backed by NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Remnant/Riverside/Orgs hunting down supervillains hiding out in Skyside: Go ahead. In general, it's perfectly alright to carry out retribution against any criminals trying to hide out in Skyside, as long as the force sent is relatively discrete or small scale enough to avoid notice from the powers-that-be. Large numbers of troops or powerful strike forces will generally draw negative attention from the Royal Guard, though, unless they have been informed of the operation beforehand and approve (though they probably won't). Gotta protect that independence, yo.
6. 3 EDGY 5 ME Please do your best to avoid excessively dark or disturbing roleplay. Skyside can be a den for cruelties and evil of all sorts, however, some situations are simply too dark for this forum. Try to avoid roleplaying or alluding to scenarios that could be disturbing or potentially triggering, even if it may be realistic or showcase how awful your character is.
7. Long Live the Queen! Princess YoonJi is immortal. Period. You can try to kill her and dismantle the Sky dynasty. You will fail.

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