Marvelous Corporation (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
marvelousco) wrote2018-03-05 10:54 pm
marvelousco) wrote2018-03-05 10:54 pm
Entry tags:
Setting
••••• Setting |
• The Marvelous City Project Marvelous takes place in The Marvelous City, a city built to cater to the happiness of its residents. The city is shaped like a stylized flower, the logo of the Marvelous Corporation. It exists in a closed space, surrounded by artificial walls and ceiling showing a constant projection of the "ideal" horizon and sky. Weather is controlled, with a schedule app provided on each Dewdrop letting everyone know about weather and temperature changes in advance. While there is rain, snow, and even thunderstorms, they're all harmless and pleasant, and roadways will never be in less than perfect condition. Each of the five petals of the "flower" is a different district, with different themes in decor and different amenities. There are highways from the center of the city to the wall, forming the boundaries between these districts. The entire city is 10 miles (16km) in diameter at the widest points, and it takes about 15 minutes to cross the city via the highways. There is also public transportation within the districts via a detailed bus system. Oddly, the exterior of the buses changes depending on the theme of the district -- as the border is crossed, the bus transforms. Just about anything can be found in the city, and players are more than welcome to make up the details -- want a coffee shop? Assume there’s one down the road from your house. An auto mechanic? It’s just across town. A vampire brothel? Sure! The only limits we place are: a. you can’t break the game and b. the Marvelous city is marvelous. This means that you won’t easily find a seedy underbelly or anything overtly negative in nature. Everything is wonderful and no one’s unhappy! Even in a vampire brothel. There are no graveyards, either. You’re welcome to start your own seedy underbelly, though. It just isn’t something the NPCs would do on their own... or is it? • Technology & NPCs Technology in the city is overall modern to slightly futuristic. While some districts have lower-tech themes, overall the amenities are what you’d find in the real world, or in a "near future" sci-fi. That said, it is a "perfect" place, so you can find less or more advanced individual items/buildings around if you want them. Things mostly show up in the district they "fit" in, such as a game console in Wisteria or a sword in Periwinkle, but that isn't a hard rule. You might find a lightsaber in a shop in Poppy, whether it "belongs" there or not. It's entirely up to you! NPCs also tend to fit the district they're in. They'll dress accordingly, and prefer their own districts. That doesn't mean they never travel, though -- you'll see NPCs of all kinds in the commercial parts of town. NPCs are also generally friendly, and seem to be normal humans, albiet sometimes sporting signs of the same corruption PCs are subject to. They'll talk to PCs as if they're regular old residents, and won't acknowledge they're from elsewhere. In fact, NPCs won't talk about PCs' origins or situation at all. They'll just deflect, changing the topic to other, more pleasant things. If pressed, they'll tell PCs not to talk about such vulgar things. It's marvelous here. Enjoy yourself! Even horror events won't change the NPCs' tone. They're afraid of the Notoria, and express sympathy for Marvelous Corporation. Corruption is treated as an unfortunate side-effect of unlimited healing, and PCs are encouraged to accept it as an interesting experience. • Money & Employment Money in the Marvelous City takes the form of credits. Each character has an account balance tied to their network account. Characters begin with 100 credits, and must earn more via work or trade. Paying for items is done by touching your housekey to a screen at the business you’re buying from, or by sending credits directly to another PC using the network app. A credit is roughly equivalent to $1 USD, but there’s no need to keep exact track of your character’s credits. In addition to the starting cash, characters have all their basic needs accounted for, including food, toiletries, and clothes. Their supply is replaced whenever it's needed, always when no one's looking. The quality is on the upper end of average -- not fancy, but certainly more than the bare minimum. On arrival, their houses are equipped with any furniture, appliances, and entertainment they’d expect/want. However, if characters want extra high-end or personalized items, any furniture that wasn’t in their house to start with, or money to go out with, they’ll have to work. Jobs are easy to get, though -- anywhere a PC asks to work, they’ll be given a job without question. Bosses are always nice, and you won’t get fired or penalized as long as you’re making some kind of effort, and aren’t stealing or abusing customers. Characters can also start their own business if they like. Though empty lots aren’t common, the ones that exist all have a sign advertising their potential use as a business site. The sign has a screen on it, which characters can use to submit a form detailing the kind of business they want. The next day, the building will be there, designed and decorated exactly how the character had envisioned it (even things they didn't write down). They’ll find a key has been added alongside their housekey, and a separate business account added to their bank account. If your character is starting a business, or if you want to establish a particular NPC business for your character to work at, please register the business by posting the following form in a comment to this entry. We'll add it to the notable locations list so it can be easily found! If the business has changed hands, just update with a reply to the original comment. • Housing On arrival, characters are assigned a house in one of the five city districts. While NPCs live all throughout the district, your character's house will always be in the main residential area. A key is hanging from the phone strap area of the Dewdrop, but can be removed if desired. Keys are a small disk with the house number on it, in the colour representing their district. They're used by pressing them against a small screen near the door of the house, which also displays the house number and resident list (Don't worry about privacy -- everything here is perfect, so why not be friendly?). Housing is chosen by players, not assigned by the mods. You can find the list of character addresses and the housing form on the housing page, and descriptions of housing in the district info below. Characters are welcome to move at any time, and may share houses. Just comment to the housing page with the changes. If they need a bigger space than the house they began with, it’ll mysteriously grow when no one’s looking. Don’t think too hard about how that works with the land around your house -- it seems fine... •The Marvelous Tower In the center of town is the Marvelous Corporation HQ. It’s a huge tower, rising even above the buildings of Hydrangea, with windows that can’t be seen into and doors that can’t be opened. Despite looking like an office building, NPCs don’t seem to work there, and PCs can’t get in. No one is ever seen going in or coming out, but if you’re close enough, strange scraping and rustling can be heard inside -- and sometimes, at night, heavy footsteps. • The Districts There are five districts in the Marvelous City, each with its own theme, housing, and notable locations. In general, the areas nearest the center of town are busy and commercial, followed by residential areas, and simulated landscapes near the edges of the city. Starting West and moving clockwise, the districts are as follows: • Wisteria District is your average urban town. Close to the center is a shopping district with boutiques, bars, and a cinema. The hospital is here, as well as a school and various official-looking buildings that handle things like marriages, etc. NPCs dress in modern style, with occasional slightly futuristic accessories. The residential area consists of neat rows of pristine Victorian houses, painted in bright colours. Each one is different, and they range from imposing black and red to cheerful rainbow pastels. All houses have immaculate yards with white picket fences and pristine flowerbeds. There are roses, but they don't have thorns. Near the wall, buildings give way to a beautiful park, with cobblestone walkways and huge trees that are always in fall foliage. You can get carriage rides, and yet you'll never step in an foul leaving on the path. Notable locations in Wisteria include:• Hydrangea District is a slightly futuristic district with a cyberpunk/sci-fi theme. The commercial area is densely packed, with narrow streets, neon signs, and a sky obscured by a forest of wires. Despite the dim atmosphere, NPCs here are happy and excited about the wonders around them, including hoverbikes, fully immersive VR games, and hopping nightclubs. Beyond the dense buildings, the district opens up to rolling green hills under a bright blue sky. Tiny floating islands fill the air, each with a contemporary styled house and a small yard. Small launch pads on each island and across the hills allow characters to leap into the air and fly, floating gently back to the ground without any chance of falling. Gravity is a bit odd here -- some islands float sideways or upside down, with no regard for physics. When you stand on them it's always like you're standing on the ground. The wall screen in Hydrangea displays a scene of mountains, but there are only a few short peaks actually present, up against the wall. They're cold though, and snowy, perpetually in winter. Notable locations in Hydrangea include:• Poppy District is a desert area with a "wild west" theme. Buildings are appropriately old-fashioned (late 1800s), and most technology in the area matches. NPCs dress like something out of a movie, creating an immersive atmosphere. Near the center, there are shops, stables, a gunsmith, and other western businesses. Beyond the shops is an old train yard -- out-of-service double-decker train cars have been converted to homes with a unique western charm. Beyond the train yard is a desert full of cacti and tumbleweeds, with a pale sky and heat beating down from the artificial sun. Out along a dusty road is a single huge factory, where most of the districts NPCs work. Notable locations in Poppy include:• Oleander District is one big botanical garden, full of every kind of greenery you can imagine. There's a rainforest area, an English rose garden, a Japanese garden around a peaceful lake full of koi. Rather than shopping districts, the area closest to the center of the city is full of museums. There's an art museum, a history museum, an aquarium, and anything else you could want to find. At the edge of the planned gardens, there are huge trees, with treehouses here and there in the bows. The houses aren't shacks -- they're full little homes, accessible by staircases that spiral up the trunk of every tree. Don't wander too far, though. Beyond the giant trees is a vast, deep wood, extending all the way to the wall. Go in, and you may not come back out. Notable locations in Oleander include:• Periwinkle District begins with a medieval-style town, complete with tannery, open-air market, and kids running around after farm animals. Oddly RPG-like, NPCs here might ask PCs to help with small tasks in exchange for goods or money. Clean out the rats in the cellar. Collect someone's lost chickens (but please don't use them to fly). This town area is bordered by a wooden wall, patrolled by knights. Once outside the gates, you'll find a marsh, full of small rivulets and tall reeds. To avoid getting wet, make your way along the area's many docks and wooden walkways, along which many small houseboats are moored. Homes here may be small, but they provide transporation in exchange, which NPCs consider a fair trade. There's great fishing in the marsh, but if you keep going, you'll find a miniature ocean, with a beach and a series of rock pools fed by a hot spring. Notable locations in Periwinkle include: |
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