Dvaravat

Dvaravat

• Advantages •

Benefit (Rank 1): Dvaravat Membership: You have a membership at the esoteric nightclub and lounge, Dvaravat. You bear on your body a permanently-henna'd Sanskrit sigil that is your passkey into the establishment. By using your finger and a standard action to draw that sigil on any solid door that sits fully in a doorframe, you can turn that door into a portal into one of the many doors in Dvaravat. While in Dvaravat, you may spend a Hero Point to find someone you know who has a door that they are willing to open for you that leads to any other Awakened City in the world.

The extradimensional Dvaravat is a strange and wondrous place. Located outside but contiguous with the Earthly realm, Dvaravat is run by the hijra sorceress Chandi. Dvaravat is known to be seven stories in height, although it has two additional levels: one beneath it connected to the Underworld, and one above it, which is the personal sanctum of Chandi.

The Many-Gated

On each level of Dvaravat are twenty-four doors, set back from the main passages through beaded curtains. These doors provide passage into Dvaravat for members of the lounge-nightclub. Members (membership is a Rating 1 Benefit) are marked with a Sanskrit in permanent henna somewhere on their bodies, usually given to them by Chandi herself in their "membership interview" (a process that is professional, informal, artistic, or even erotic, depending on who is being interviewed).

Once someone has this sigil, they may trace the sigil onto any door in the earthly realm using a standard action. This charges the door and makes it into passage into Dvaravat. Opening the door grants the member and whoever else accompanies them through the door passage into the establishment (although they are responsible for any non-members brought with them). A member may not open any of the other doors in Dvaravat save the one that they entered it through, although if they leave by any other means (leaving through someone else's door, or by other dimension-traveling magics, for example), the symbol disappears and the door resets. There is no known method to enter Dvaravat save through its doors, though it is much more easily departed via transportational magic.

Floors

There are a total of nine known floors to Dvaravat: seven public spaces, one semi-public, and one entirely private. Passage between the floors is accomplished by a series of gracefully arching ramps from one floor to the next, set up so that they spiral around the centers of the floors. Halfway up these ramps, they open up into graceful balconies set up above the entrances to the central floors, allowing folk to linger above and watch those on the floor below. Some of these balconies have been turned into viewing lofts or even DJ booths.

Chandi's Sanctum

The topmost floor is the private sanctum of the sorceress Chandi. New members are invited up into one of the lounge antechambers for their interviews and subsequent henna session. The vestibules are outfitted for various living spaces (two bed chambers, one dining space, and one library), although unlike the seven floors beneath it, this level does not have hallways of doors extending out from them. The private rooms (P) on this level are set up as sumptuous baths large enough for entertaining. The main floor seems to be some sort of grand temple or ritual space with a tall, arching glass dome above it through which can be seen a swirling star-scape.

The Marici Cabaret

Chandi's favorite level, and the space where she can most often be found, is the Marici Cabaret, its name referring to a "ray of light," referencing enlightenment but also (in Chandi's tongue-in-cheek way) the spotlight, for this level is a cabaret and stage area.

The main floor has a central stage with space all around it for an audience to gather. Chandi often arranges for performers to grace this stage, frequently celebrities whose memories are altered (assuming they are unaware of the esoteric world), or those among the esoteric world who perform themselves. On other nights, the stage is open to what amounts to the biggest magical karaoke party in creation, to drag shows, or other performances.

The lounges have seating tucked away from the performances, while the vestibules each feature a bar and some seating in view of the main stage. The two private rooms (P) of this level are set aside as dressing rooms for visiting performers.

The Kitava Hall

Kitava Hall, Chandi likes to joke, is a temple to Lady Luck, for it is a casino and gambling hall to rival the finest of what Las Vegas or Montecarlo has to offer. The main floor is set up with large, decorative gambling game tables, with simpler card and dice game tables in the lounges. The vestibules are simple bars and social spaces, and this floor's private rooms (P) are rentable gambling dens that members may set aside to host their own events.

The Apya Taproom

Open and well-lit, the bright Apya Taproom is an enjoyable space to spend with friends (its name means "friendship", in fact). The main floor is the main bar, with a circular bar set up in the center of the space, and step-down tiers of tables and comfortable chairs around it, the whole set up so that it is easy to see who is there and who is coming and going. Low, bright piano music plays quietly enough to allow those here to hear one another talk easily. The vestibules are well-carpeted standing-room social spaces where folk mingle, and the lounges have seating for large groups of ten to twenty in comfortable booths. This floor's private rooms (P) are private lounges available for rent for get-togethers and other parties.

The Sasura Taproom

In contrast to Apya, the Sasura Taproom is a dark-wooded place for solitary drinking and clandestine meetings. Divided into private spaces behind screens and large floor displays of plants and other decor, this pub's name means "intoxicated," and is generally agreed to be the place where its patrons go when they are serious about getting drunk. Low, somber music plays here, often mournful jazz or simple orchestral music. The vestibules are largely empty, mostly filled with those who are coming and going from this floor, and the smoke-filled lounges are divided into small private booths. No one is really sure what the private rooms (P) are used for here, although the common wisdom says they're filled with cheap cots where those who get falling-down drunk or high out of their minds around Dvaravat are brought to sober up.

The Sahanartana Ballroom

A big, bright ballroom, the Sahanartana is filled with people dressed to their most glamourous. In fact, it's the only floor with a dress-code, although that only really applies to the main floor. Every night is a ball here, with ballroom dancing and a full orchestra in one of the balconies that juts out over the ballroom proper. The vestibules are simple standing-room social space where wait-staff circulate with martinis and champagne, and the lounges have circular couches around tiny tables, to let groups of well-dressed party-goers sit and socialize between dances. The private rooms (P) are fitting and changing rooms, with entire wardrobes full of extravagantly fine clothing for those who did not bring their own.

Anandena Nightclub

Extremely modern, full of fog, flashing lights, and electronic beats, Anandena (the name means "bright") is a nightclub in the finest tradition of those establishments the world over. The finest world-famous DJs play in the Bright Booth, which sticks out over the dancefloor in the main floor, and the ramp rooms have the thin steel bars that are standing-room only. The vestibules are where a lot of the overflow from the main dance floor ends up, those who'd rather stand and socialize rather than dance, or who take their dancing with a little less intensely. Lounges are set up with seating space, and the private rooms (P) are actually designed as additional bathroom spaces.

Aroke Nightclub

Perhaps appropriate for the level above the underworld, Aroka (the name means "darkened") is a nightclub whose music embraces the darkness of many musical genres. Metal, goth, and industrial are in heavy rotation here, and there are far more shadows than there are lights to be found on this level. The main floor is a dance floor, with bars set up in the ramp rooms. The vestibules tend to be dance floor overflow and room in which to stand and socialize, while the myriad lounges have tables and chairs. The private rooms (P) here are outfitted for intimate encounters, with room for plenty of participants; patrons rent these rooms out for events, though, so they are not open to general use.

Saniara (Mist-Bound)

The low-lying mist on the floor of this level gives it its name. The doors of Saniara are the only ones in Dvaravat not connected to the Earthly realm: instead, they connect to the myriad underworlds. Those who have been members of Dvaravat during their lives remain so after death, and are capable of visiting its halls once more. Though they may not venture above this level, the living may come down to see them. Drink sours and food spoils here, however, and music is always discordant, so few tend to venture here casually or without purpose.