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== Black Obol Finance ==
<i>by [[Dreaming Nymph]]</i>

:"Y'Gotcher key?"
:- <i>"Gracie", the ever-present clerk at the front counter</i> 

:"I weren't doin' nothin'!!!!! They just came up out of nowhere, broke both me arms, and threw me outside before I e'en knew what were goin' on! Monsters, the lot of em, just bullies..."
:- <i>patron who found out the hard way about lingering too long in front of someone else's vault</i>

----

There isn't much that is organic in Nexus, and the Black Obol Finance building is no exception. The structure is massive, and looks for all the world like a huge shoebox made from a strange, light-absorbing matte black glass. It sits snugly beneath the Nexus district in the Underground, and is easily accessible through the tunnel network. The closest neighbors it has on its street in that section of the Underground are [[TheNexusProject/Magpies|Magpie's]], an upscale tavern, and [[TheNexusProject/LostAntiquities|Lost Antiquities]], a shop of esoteric knick-knacks.  On the interior, the strange black glass-like material makes up the walls and floors, and the rooms are well-lit by brilliant light-crystals. The decorating scheme leans towards minimalism, the lines are clean and efficient, and everything appears expensive, but is in the best of taste. The large welcoming room is oval in shape, with black and silver leather and glass furnishings. Seated behind a large wraparound receptionist desk is a really large green-skinned, bug-eyed, three-breasted receptionist called "Gracie". Gracie is pretty much a fixture at Black Obol; no matter what time of day or night you're there she's there to greet you with a characteristic tight-lipped smile and her heavily accented "Welcome t' Black Obol, how can I be of assistance?" No one really knows what Gracie is, or else they just aren't saying, but everyone agrees that they have never seen her <i>not</i> there. 

Black Obol Finance is basically a heavily guarded, endlessly complex system of private vaults. Clients sign up and pay a yearly fee (around a high-end Resources &bull;&bull; purchase); for their fee, they get a key and a vault. Clients can store whatever they want in the vault; as long as they have a key, no questions are asked. The key serves a double purpose; it is an item of the owner's own choosing (to avoid that nasty key-stealing business, the proprietors decided that the keys shouldn't look like keys), so it acts as an identifier; and it is linked to the vault magically, so only that object can open the vault. Clients go to the front and present their key to Gracie, who verifies the object and the owner. If everything matches, Gracie waves them to the back, where the client proceeds on a walkway of polished glass through a massive ebon wood door. Once the client crosses the threshold, the hallway goes dark, and the only illumination is in front of their own vault door. The user unlocks the door with his key and enters the vault, freeing the ebon door to admit another client. Only one client can be in the hallway at a time, although certain staff members can override this rule. The vault rooms are spacious, and could hold pretty much anything (and they probably do!). Black Obol is well known for its discretion, and its clients are more than happy with their services. 

The security at Black Obol Finance is understandably tight; more fortunes and precious items are stored here than almost anywhere else in Creation. Currently the job is held by the [[TheNexusProject/BlackCoinMercenaryGroup|Black Coin Mercenary Group]], an elite group of ninja-esque guardians that seem to have the uncanny ability to slither in and out of shadows. The Black Obol is their only client; they got the job when the previous mercenary group plotted an elaborate theft, and were executed just as elaborately in front of the Black Obol. They take their job seriously (<i>too</i> seriously, some would argue), and to their credit, there hasn't been a break-in or robbery attempt at the Black Obol since they began their tenure. 

=== Rumours ===
* The [[TheNexusProject/StoneOfEbonBlood|Stone of Ebon Blood]] isn't missing; it's locked in one of the vaults in Black Obol. 
* The Black Coin Group are some kind of Wyld-spawned monsters that the owners keep chained in the basement until it's time to harry some poor, unfortunate soul.


=== Secret ===
* Would-be robbers are subject to the depravities of a rather blood-thirsty earth elemental employed at Black Obol. His employers keep him fed, and he reports any unauthorized movement in the chambers above him to security. It's a good deal on both sides. ;o) 

=== Comments ===
Finally done! I added a buncha unwritten links here, hoping maybe to spark some interest in the Underground. Enjoy! - [[Dreaming Nymph]]

For some reason, Gracie puts me in mind of No. 001 from Monsters, Inc. -[[Okensha]]

Eeeexactly. ;o) That was pretty much who I was going for there. That charming personality just <i>had</i> to be immortalized in game.  [[Dreaming Nymph]]