Setting

[bcrawford]

The following is a description of the RP’s settings. This is a work in progress, and will be elaborated upon as the RP progresses. If you have an idea or description you would like to have incorporated, please comment here!




An Island Compound

The smell of sea salt fills the air and in the distance, there’s a sound of waves crashing violently against the craggy shore. You are on a stony island that stands alone, isolated from the rest of the world by a span of a nameless channel that promises a swift and inevitable death to those who dare to cross its turbulent waters. Far from the reaches of any sovereign jurisdiction, this uncharted island is the ideal location to conduct unorthodox – and most certainly illegal – experimentation on human subjects.

Surrounded by jagged cliffs on three sides, with only short strips of narrow beach along the southern shore, the island is its own best defense against outside intrusion. If the sea does not defeat you, shattering your boat and your body against the island’s rocky shores, then the lookouts posted along the beaches will, with their semi-automatic weapons and authorization to shoot to kill. The island is mostly dense forest, dark and heavily wooded areas that might provide good cover, if you manage to elude the many booby traps and surveillance devices scattered randomly throughout.

On the northern most tip sits a massive compound that overlooks a sudden drop of sheer cliff, and it is here where the subjects are housed and most of the experimentation takes place. It is rumored that this was once a medieval fortress, renown for its reputation as an impenetrable military post in its days of glory. Outwardly, the compound retains its ancient architecture, forged from brick and stone, but it is also fortified by modern technology, from the barbed wire fencing and infrared sensors that surround the facility to the motion-sensing surveillance cameras and floodlights situated at every known point of entry. Armed guards patrol the compound 24 hours a day, walking the parapets that circle the fortress from 50 feet above.

There are three gates to the compound – to the south, east and west. The main gate is to the south, spanned by an arch that connects two tall towers. The east and west gates are smaller, less elaborate versions of this one, but the security is equally vigilant. Of course, like any medieval fortress, there are secret passageways, either underground or twisting through the wall itself, opening up in well hidden alcoves. Most of these have been sealed off and booby trapped, but there may be a rare few that have never been discovered.

Beyond the Gate

When entering through the southern gate, there are several checkpoints and gateways to pass before the fortress finally opens up into the main courtyard. The courtyard is a wide, graveled expanse of land, several hundred feet across, surrounded by the walls of the inner fortress to the north, east, and west. This area used to be the sparring ground for soldiers stationed at the fortress, but is now used primarily for group exercises that require an enclosed outside space, such as combat training or the honing of psionic abilities that take on physical manifestations. The North, East, and West Wings have entrance ways than open up into the main courtyard, which are all locked up at night and patrolled.



The inside of the compound is an odd mixture of old and new. Most of the major rooms and hallways still have the original look (stone walls with flagstone floors) though they have been rebuilt or reinforced as necessary, with electrical lights providing illumination. There are a few rooms that have been redesigned altogether, from the staff rooms and administrator’s quarters to special laboratories and secret experimentation champers deep within the compound that have state of the art equipment and climate control. All populated areas of the compound have running water and electricity, and all common areas are equipped with centralized HVAC systems.

North Wing

Dining Hall

The North Wing houses the dining area, where subjects may be brought in for meals or assemblies as necessary. The dining hall is the largest indoor common area in the facility, with high ceilings and pillars that used to hang banners of heraldry. For group meals, the room is lined with six long wooden tables and benches that can seat dozens. These tables and benches can be pushed aside to clear the floor for other activities. At the front of the hall is a dais, an area elevated by three steps. It was probably once used as a seating area for military commanders and the like, but at present it is the area where the food is set out during meals, where subjects can serve themselves, buffet style.

Located behind the dais and accessible by an arched doorway in the corner is a fully equipped industrial sized kitchen.

Library

This one-time armory has been converted into a library, with books of learning now filling the built-in niches around the walls where weapons and artillery were once stored. The library has one main floor that you must step down into upon entering the room, and there are bookshelves that fill the space in rather haphazard maze-like rows. Three walkways with handrails wrap around the room at different levels accessible by steps, and these are used to reach the built-in shelves higher up on the walls.

The collection is a fairly representative of a typical local library, though finding a particular book might be challenging. You will have to navigate the winding stacks on your own, as the librarian is usually very busy stamping and signing documents at the circulation desk to bother with you. The periodicals section is nonexistent, so you won’t be able to catch up on current events here.

Gym

A standard gym with various weight training stations, treadmills, exercise bikes, etc. This place has small narrow windows that are located high up near the ceiling to let in some natural light.

Inner Courtyard

Accessible from the gym and from a back door of the dining hall, this small open air space is not nearly as big as the main courtyard by the south gate. It’s got an old rundown non-functioning water fountain that has seen better days, and a few stone benches scattered throughout. It might have been a beautiful sanctum once, possibly even religious in nature, though it is bare and desolate now.

East Wing

Of all the areas in the compound, the East Wing is the most complex, with twisting corridors that seemingly lead to no where, towers that house mysterious rooms that no one has ever seen, and high security labs and storage rooms that are heavily guarded. Most of the scientific research and laboratory experimentation happens in this section of the compound. As mentioned above, the laboratories and experimentation areas are completely modern, with every piece of technological gadgetry and equipment the researchers require for their work.



The medical ward is also located here, with doctors, surgeons, and psychiatrists on call at all times. You will have visited this ward upon first arriving at Laboratorium, to have the standard issue chip installed in your brain, though you probably will not remember.

The pharmacy stocks medicines of all sorts – both legal and illegal – in addition to toxins and experimental drugs.

This wing contains a lot of classified work product, so security is high, with every major passageway monitored carefully by both visual and psychic surveillance.

West Wing

Individual rooms

The West Wing is just as large as the East but not nearly as convoluted in layout. There are several floors, each with long parallel corridors of stone with rooms on either side. These are former soldier quarters that have been converted to prison cells for experiment subjects. The rooms vary in size, so it is possible to double up with a roommate if the administrators of Laboratorium see fit.*

All rooms come furnished with a simple twin sized bed with plain white framing for each occupant. Mattresses are thin and not exactly comfortable, but the blankets are warm, which can be a godsend in a place like this. There is also a wardrobe to put your change of clothes, and possibly a chair or small table, depending upon what they bothered to throw in for you when you arrived. There is one switch by the door that controls the plain and ugly florescent light fixture on the ceiling.

[* If you would like to have a roommate, comment here! If there are enough people who want one, we’ll assign one to you.]

Showers

Each floor has a common shower room, which are modern and generic. The front room has shelves of towels and hooks to hang them from in addition to buckets with soap and sponge that are refreshed daily. The showering area is just one room, with several showerheads lining the four walls of ugly hospital-blue tile.

Sinks and bathrooms are next door, with more of the generic décor (or lack thereof), white porcelain and blue tile.