Difference between revisions of "TheNexusProject/Zensar"

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Zensar

by FlowsLikeBits

"The best club in Cinnabar!!!!!"

- The Nexus Scuttlebutt, review section

"Welcome to Zensar, the best club in Cinnabar, although that must be obvious to such an intelligent person as yourself."

-the headwaiter at Zensar

"Well, I liked it."

- Icefire Jasmine, critic and repeat customer

At the end of Fish Mail Avenue, near the The Lonely Mendicants Tree sits Zensar, widely believed by residents to be the worst club in Cinnabar. It's not quite the worst club in Nexus because, well, as the locals say, "you won't be killed, although you might wish you were".

The outside of the club is all glitzy, with trim made of the five magical materials. Large letters over the door proclaim the name of the club, these glow and randomly change color in darkness. Inside the entryway, carved into the stone, are a number of glowing reivews from The Nexus Scuttlebutt.

Zensar was started several years ago by an enthusastic new arrivial to the Nexus social scene. This person was convinced that they knew how to make the worlds best club. They would take everything they liked, and combine them all into one estatic experiance that would be instantly successful. Being both independantly and incredibly wealthy, secure in ones knowlege of good taste and well connected with the guild is a recipe to make just about anything happen. So Zensar happened, although an estabilshment that has almost no repeat customers could hardly be described as successful. The only reason it stays open is that, as an embodiment of its owner's opinions, profit is irrelevent.

In fact, most aspects of the club are good, if placed in their proper setting, they would do well. This will never, ever, happen. For example, My Prodigal Sun is a pretty good act, but not with a comedian as a lead in and not on games night. The weekly card games were a good idea, a way for people get together, socialize with friends and make a few bets. The ten drink minimum with this was a less good idea, bets and massive alcohol consuption do not go well together. The airship themed room is another example; the floor constantly rocks, and there is a constant wind. These factors make balance, eating and conversation very difficult. The food, while not great, is passable, but it requires one to construct one's meal from individual items, unless one wish to have a meal that tries to sample every meat in Creation at once. One can find cuisine from all over Creation here, usually in the same meal and often in the same dish.

The inside of the club is a number many sided polygons, each connects to the others along several sides and each is at a different level, connected by short tiers of stairs. This often causes people to trip when moving between sections. Acoustic seperation between sections is minimal at best. A different form entertainment is available in each section, and in each corner of the larger ones. Thus one may have an orchestra in one section and wild drummers from the threshold next door. These acts usually rotate between sections every day. Also, the decor in each section is gradually redone to match the acts that will play there, as the staff has limited time and the acts change so quickly, usually about a weeks worth of acts decorate a room at a time. This is always extravagent, thus there could a collection of paintings for a poetry reading next to a display of puppets from a childrens act interspersed with giant spears and talking skulls for a display of speardancers.

This provides "variety" and "atmosphere", and causes a conviction roll to be required for any activity that requres concentration or thought, due to the clashing sensations. On the other hand, one gains a one die bonus to Temprence when resisting indulgences inside the club.

Staff must always refer to the club as "Zensar, the best club in Cinnabar" when speaking to patrons. Besides the staff, many features of the club proclaim that it is the best in Cinnibar, and that the patron must be both a paragon of society and of impeccable taste to have chosen to go there. This is written in the menu so patrons do not forget. This relentless, over the top flattery forms the only real source of repeat visits. Other clientele generally come from people who are new to Nexus(it is common practice to direct annoying newcomers to Zensar) or youth who are new to the social scene.

The owner is convinced that their club is the best in Creation, they are just waiting for it to catch on. The owners greatest fear is that people will be scared off by the clubs reputation before trying it, after they have tried it, they are welcome to their opinon, even if it is wrong. Thus there is a constant stream of promotions and advertising, the Rikina has a long term contract in this regard. The owner has tried a string of bizarre strategies to overcome the clubs reputation. Pretty much everything except making actual changes has been tried. For example, once the owner changed the name to The World, and redid the entire external facade in a single night. This strategy was discontinued when people caught on, as the inside was still the same.

Rumours

• The owner sponors the entire review section of The Nexus Scuttlebutt, which is actually an advertisement for this club. It also occasionally gives rivals bad reviews. Most residents know this and ignore it.
• The owner is some sort of capricious god, or was cursed by one. Possibly Luna.

Secret

• The owner is actually a master of disguise; they often infiltrate social circles and spread buzz about the club in that fashion. They have also hired some actors to lend support in social situations and to create positive rumors in other cities.

Comments

Fish. Barrel. Shotgun. - grinning Moxiane