We’ve created a module to introduce you to Rym, and as a precursor to the full world sourcebook. It’s approaching completion, but in order to start things off and get the word out, we’ve used elements of what we’ve made to craft a little story in a bottle, a sampler of the final product. It’s bound to the world setting and its history, so we’ve included a few characters to go with it, but feel free to substitute your own. We’ll give you a way to drag them in. On that note, we’d like to thank you for getting involved in this. Rym is the product of many years’ worth of work and play, a source of drawings and stories we’ve shared throughout its long and intricate development. Whether you’re here for the first time, or already familiar, we welcome you to our world.

      Rym’s previous age left behind many ruins. There were bridges which spanned whole countries, monuments made from mountains, ships that carried cities…you wouldn’t believe it. Not until you’ve seen such things, anyway. It all came crashing down seven hundred years ago when the wonderous people of that age discovered that their gods weren’t actually gods at all. There was a war. Everyone lost. That’s the short, short version. There’s a whole book on the subject. Now all that was a long time ago, and we’ve gone through all the dust and darkness and what had to be done, and some of us are still here. They said the world would never mend, not after a third of it sank into the sea, but they were wrong! There are scars, to be sure, but things aren’t as bad as they might have been. The green is coming back. Not everywhere, but you can see that. Now about those ruins. We’re going to send you in, and give you a taste. And we’re not going to give you some dry, wind-blown skeleton either, we’ve got a place that’s still sealed tight. Nobody’s been there since the Automatic War, so all the loot should still be there. The old fellow behind me knows the history of this place better than anyone, he’s got a fiche for you. He loves fiche.

      They say there was once a place which had it all, a great market of the golden age called the Mall. It wasn’t like the dusty mess you see these days, no. It was a sealed place, cool and clean, where water flowed in crystal spouts and tiled pools, a place where music filled the air and lights shone in every color. People would come from miles around to visit the Mall, not only to trade but also to eat, for there was food of every nation all in a single court. The fashion there was said to be such that people would pay any price to have it, can you imagine? Yet all of that simply pales in comparison to the mall’s greatest treasure, the Aquaar, the fountain without end. The Aquaar was the heart of this ancient place, an artifact of the golden age. It doubles the water which flows through it, and brings life where none could otherwise take hold. The Aquaar is said to lie beneath the lost mall, the centerpiece of a great park of slides and pools where people once gathered to have a good time. It must still be working, keeping the mall alive, for those strange pink and blue lights appear up on Barium Heights some nights. That’s when you know they’re open.

      
  BLUE HOUR MALL            LEVEL ONE - COMMERCIAL RETAIL

      This is where you would get your everyday necessaries, all the common shops with all basic goods. They really did have it all, small box vendors that would whip up whatever you wanted. They made everything out of dust, all different colors, that’s all it was! Dust! You’d watch it come together like magic, and when the door slid open you’d get what you paid for. Food, clothes, toys, all of it. I guess it was hard to be a thief back then, because nothing was even made until you paid. The upper concourse will be the group’s first taste of the Creator State’s heyday. The Quiet Air has preserved everything in near-mint condition, as if only seven years had passed within the structure. Its automation is still fully-functional, and anyone descending to the Upper Concourse will see the final stages of the mall’s awakening. Glowing luxite stripes provide a balance of blue and violet illumination throughout the concourse, with brighter signs adorning various automatic shops and kiosks. A soothing, pervasive music fills the air. This area is a buffet of opportunities for those in search of treasure or useful gear for deeper delving. Most of its shops are easy to figure out and will serve as an introduction to the mall’s most prized feature – the functional fabrimat (see below).

  • Fountains: The laser fountains use a combination of beam-lights and water spouts to form a mesmerizing display. An Investigation roll (DC 10) will reveal that each fountain contains a scattering of loose pazool coins (2d4x10). This is easy starting money for those without any pazools.

  • Directories: These tapered three-sided columns contain a directory of stores and their current offerings. Each store has a corresponding metal button, which will play the retail jingle (blue text) in a cheerful voice. This will give explorers a better idea of what to expect, and where to find it. A directory image can be shared here.

  • Picture Yourself: These small booths can be opened up for 5 pazools. Once inside, the occupants have about thirty seconds to arrange themselves for an automatic photograph. After the flash, the booth must be vacated before the glossy color picture emerges through an exterior slot. Though seeminly trivial, photos taken from these booths can be made to craft fake identity cards of various kinds, such as Arcanar Looting Fiats or other false documents (Deception) controlled by the limited (typically Arcanar) availability of photography.

  • Fwuush Stations: One of the most common automatic kiosks on the upper concourse is the Fwuush Drink Dispenser. For 1 pazool, anyone can have a tall glass of carbonated liquid candy.

  • Wake Box: This booth provides a few breaths of caffeinated Morning Air, an aerosol tea which removes a level of exhaustion for 5 pazools. Unfortunately, the substance only lasts for an hour or so, and becomes ineffective after the fifth dose, requiring an Extended Rest to reset. It also takes a minute to administer, and leaves the user tea-scented.

  • Stairs: The east and west stairs descend to the lower concourse. Safety rails provide advantage on any save to avoid falling down the stairs. The stairs can be climbed or descended in one round.
          Back in the Bygone, nobody wanted to pay a bunch of surly people to stand around and sell things. The very notion of having to negotiate or pay a vendor markup went out with granular fabrication, wherein the only goods kept onsite were hoppers of raw material dust and the fabrimats themselves. Buffers of pre-fabricated items were only prepared at the start of the day, based on a sales almanac. The fabricators themselves were built tougher than automatic tellers, and many could even fabricate their own replacement parts.

          Automatic stores are almost impossible to cheat or pilfer. Even their coin bins and material hoppers drain out through the bottom of a compromised unit, dumping all valuables through suction pipes into the mall’s deep underground vault. Those which produced a buffer of pre-fabricated stock would secure the items behind thick saphix glass. Refills of fabrication material were accomplished by a set of hidden pressurized pipes, all fed from the dumping terminal up in the Parkoplex’s cargo elevator area. Most items in these shops could be fabricated in about ten minutes. This form of three-dimensional printing was so well developed and so reliable that it was often given a sort of flourish, with large glass windows through which the miraculous process could be observed. When complete, the fabricated item would drop down through a one-way door and into the delivery bin. There are two basic types of retail outlets in Blue Hour Mall.

  • Kiosks are the smaller, cheaper variety of shop. They can be found in niches, built into walls, or adorning intersections. They’re brightly-lit and cheerful-looking, and made to withstand all manner of tampering. Kiosks usually produce just one good, or a line of similar goods, including fashion accessories, toys, books, snacks, and anything else under a pound or so. Some will light up subtly if approached, and even address anyone who makes eye contact with the menu. Kiosk names include CandiBox Fast, Immediate Hat, Quickit Press, Auto eShotto, Picture This, Distraction Pod, and FUXL. Generally feel free to have small random mundane items of this size and cost available for purchase - if the group needs a whistle, a pair of gloves, a pouch, etc, there's a kiosk selling it somewhere nearby.

  • Stores are the larger walk-in establishments. These automatic retail outlets have larger, more integrated fabricators of their own, and may include a number of Z-type TI mannequins to showcase clothing, tools, and other personal items. There may be a more extensive inventory buffer, but this class of retail outlet wasn’t actually allowed to keep stock – at the end of the day, unsold buffer is disintegrated back into powder prior to lights-out. This lack of inventory prevented shoplifting and robbery alike – items usually didn’t even exist until paid for, while popular items would have a ticket number system with an exact estimated time (even if the wait was absurdly long in some cases).

    • OOH BOY       “Be sure to stop at OOH Boy, Featuring this Summer’s most fashionably-wicked luxury leisure suits and endangered fragrances by all your favorite gold cadre brands. Today’s feature: Mr. Gloam, 25% off.”
          OOH Boy is dimly-lit. A pair of black and gold striped glass doors glide apart in a breath of strangely-stale smells – cloth of course, but also leather and cologne, and something even stronger like oud or sandalwood. Dim bars of light flow along the walls, lifting the shadows of eerie figures in the most astounding of luxury outfits. Beyond them, the space splits into a pair of fitting rooms and stand-in tailormats loaded with bolts of costly custom cloth. Patterns of blue stars turn slowly on the fine sable carpet, projected from ceiling sconces. Discrete panels showcase all sorts of fabric samples; ebony micro-scale, onyx and gold houndstooth, sable silk, and many others, all dark and lustrous. Rows of exotic, gilded fragrance bottles line the back wall. The floor is black glass, and from elegant golden grills around the ceiling, a smooth, oily music can be heard. The blank-faced figures all turn their strangely-hatted heads towards the entry. Five of them begin a coordinated, jaunty advance towards you. Roll for initiative.

  • Aggressive Sales: The Dapper Delinquent summer line is aggressively advertised, and these fashion zombies will almost certainly provoke an attack as they approach anyone who enters OOH Boy. In fact, roll for initiative. But they’re non-combatants, they just want the party to look their best, and make a variety of silent moves to show off their respective outfit and the booth which makes it. If nobody attacks them (or if they go first), this will become obvious, but if the party is hasty and attacks them before they get a chance to pitch, they’ll bring out the shop’s automatic security (see below). The test here is nerves, though anyone can make an Insight DC 15 to realize that they're not attacking, and avert the fight. Treat these moda as regular zombies.

  • The Clothing: Each article of clothing displayed by the Dapper Delinquents has a little tag on it, corresponding series of golden buttons on these tall, slab-like wardrobe fabricators. By inserting the correct number of pazools and stepping into the fitting booth, the automatic tailor will take one’s measurements with a pair of mechanical arms and, over the course of ten minutes, surround the occupant in a dark, sleek little tailored number, the equivalent of a bespoke Courtier’s Outfit. These cost a 100 pazool piece. Though seemingly trivial, these outfits are required evening wear in certain mall locations such as Laserlight Nights (Luxury Level 2), and Corpulente (Food Court Level 3). If the group is wearing regular wasteland adventure clothing, the moda security at these venues will bar them from entering or throw them out if they spot them inside, causing a Security Incident.

  • The Fragrances: The blocky gold and silver-encrusted bottles of parfum look quite valuable, even if there’s nothing in them. But there is. It would appear that the men of this gilded age really liked to smell like wood and fruit of various kinds. Each fragrance bottle has 5 uses and, though usable here, can be sold for double the listed price to outside merchants. Mind the side-effect, however, for anyone wearing a perfume grants Advantage to anyone tracking them with Survival or spotting them with Perception if they're within 30 feet. Each fragrance bottle has 5 uses.

      FRAGRANCE       TYPE   COST     EFFECT  (Lasts 1 Hour)
      Au NoNo     Wood, Citrus      20 pz      Guidance on skill checks vs. Fiends.
      Au Holi   Water, Wood     20 pz      Can be hurled as Holy Water, Guidance on Religion checks.
      Aero 7     Fresh, Aromatic     25 pz      Advantage on Persuasion vs. cepn.
      DuLac   Fresh, Water     30 pz      Advantage on Persuasion vs. lutrai.
      Envior   Amber, Woody     40 pz      Advantage on Persuasion vs. kuil.
      Mr. Gloam   Amber, Oud     50 pz      Advantage on Persuasion vs. all nilkind
      Minus 38   Fresh, Citrus     55 pz      Guidance on all Charisma checks, +1d4 on Charisma saves.
      Porque   Amber, Cardamon     70 pz      Potion of Enhance Ability (Charisma).
      Porque-XS   Animalic, Oud     100 pz      Quest Item. Ultra rare. Worth x5 to gorgs. Advantage on any Persuasion roll.  

  • Security Event (Power Suits): These dangerous mechanical goons will emerge from hidden alcoves within the entry slab if there's a Security Incident in the store. They’re gunmetal-grey versions of the fashion models, each wearing a Valaquar II, an advocate’s suit which is treated as a mithril shirt. The Suits are a pair of Moda Bouncers, and they will attempt to beat the party senseless and throw them out of the store. Their loot is the suit, though defeating and looting them will be difficult and will increase their Security status by 2 points and lock down Ooh Boy for 24 hours after they leave the store.

    • OOH GIRL       “For this Summer’s hottest look and coolest evening wear, Ooh Girl awaits. Ladies, bring us your desires and your measurements and we’ll do the rest, or reserve a booth for a private fitting. Today’s feature: Chaotiq, 25% off.”
          The doors of Ooh Girl are smokey rose quartz, or something made to look like it, and trimmed with rose gold. As they slide open, a puff of perfumed air washes out over all of you, and dim bands of hot pink light flare up in the grooves between black marble floor tiles, forming a grid. At the threshold, you’re all greeted by a cluster of flashes from either side, as if you were already famous enough for crowds of picture-takers to want you from every angle. Three statuesque mannequins turn from their raised platforms, rock their shoulders, snap their long glassy fingers, and start walking down the entry area’s model runway to confront you at the entry, which is suddenly bathed in overhead lighting and extremely fashionable music. It’s hard to tell their intentions, blank-faced as they are, but the Devilish Debutants definitely seem aggressive in the way they’re walking to the beat of the music. They might already be sizing you up, or maybe they just want to show you the perfume wall.

  • Buyer Beware: The Devilish Debutants perform the same sort of menace-test as the Dapper Delinquents of Ooh Boy - nerves. These zombies look like they're going to attack, but at the last second they'll simply start to dance, circling their first customers in who knows how long, elaborately taking their measurements, tugging at their ragged outfits disapprovingly, snapping their fingers, and leading them further into the store, all to the beat of the music. They don't talk, like most moda, communicating through the usual mannequin pantomime and rewarding cooperation with a tour of the store. They're all wearing what they're selling, which is evening wear and other luxury outfits - Courtiers Outfits in this case.

  • The Clothing: Each article of clothing displayed by the Devilish Debutants has a little tag on it, corresponding series of golden buttons on these tall, slab-like wardrobe fabricators. By inserting the correct number of pazools and stepping into the fitting booth, the automatic tailor will take one’s measurements with a pair of mechanical arms and, over the course of ten minutes, surround the occupant in a dark, sleek little tailored number, the equivalent of a bespoke Courtier’s Outfit. These cost a 100 pazool piece. Though seemingly trivial, these outfits are required evening wear in certain mall locations such as Laserlight Nights (Luxury Level 2), and Corpulente (Food Court Level 3). If the group is wearing regular wasteland adventure clothing, the moda security at these venues will bar them from entering or throw them out if they spot them inside, causing a Security Incident.

  • The Perfumes: The perfume bottles are exquisite works of art, made from delicate crystal, silver filigree, semiprecious stones, and other fine materials made to emphasize their expensive contents. These are actually spray-on potions, so to speak, and can be used in much the same way. They can substitute as potions in any case, taking the same time to apply, and providing the same benefits. The atomizers allow them to be applied to others as well, of course, without the need for ingestion. Like many of the mall's luxury items, they'll fetch a high price with gorg collectors, who pay double the price listed here. Mind the side-effect, however, for anyone wearing a perfume grants Advantage to anyone tracking them with Survival or spotting them with Perception if they're within 30 feet. Each fragrance bottle has 5 uses.

      Perfume       TYPE   COST     EFFECT  (Lasts 1 Hour)
      Axioma     Floral, Citrus      20 pz      +1 to Persuasion
      Copi Cat   Water, Fruit     20 pz      +1d4 to Persuasion.
      Ether Orr     Fresh, Flower     25 pz      +1d4+1 to Persuasion.
      Kaotiq   Cinnamon, Wood     30 pz      +1d6 to Persuasion.
      D'Orchide   Amber, Floral     40 pz      +1d6+1 to Persuasion.
      Mille Amor   Floral, Mossy     50 pz      +1d8 to Persuasion
      Oblige   Floral, Citrus     55 pz      +1d8 to Persuasion, +1d4 to Deception.
      Madam Yes   Amber, Floral     70 pz      +1d10 to Persuasion, +1d6 to Deception.
      Anything for Her     Animalic, Floral     100 pz      Quest Item. Ultra rare. Worth x5 to gorgs. Advantage on any Charisma roll.  

  • Security Event (Statuesques): These dangerous mechanical goons will emerge from hidden alcoves within the entry slab if any of the mannequins or other apparel is attacked. They’re gunmetal-grey versions of the fashion models, each wearing a Valaquar II, an advocate’s suit as good as any mithril shirt. The Suits are a pair of 5th level mannequin monks (undead traits), and will pursue beyond the store. Their loot is the suit.

    • RADYO       “Have you got the latest receiver? Are you looking for a better sound or wider range? Radyo has all the latest LM and DM models for every room in your home. Come and check out our vast selection of components if you’re making your own, and new Agitar’s latest wonder: The Dominator.”
          The saphix double doors of Radyo are printed with what looks like a gantry tower emitting waves, gold over royal blue. They open to reveal a long, well-lit retail space lined with identical little alcove niches on one wall, and rows of coin-operated part dispensers on the other. Each niche is taken up by an elaborate box of metal, dark glass, and polished wood. They range in size from palm-fitting to shoulder-sitting, and each bears a distinctive lattice grill and halo aerial in one form or another. A luxite lamp ribbon runs behind each one, highlighting the high-polish metal surfaces and elaborate name badges. On the opposite wall are two-dozen coin-operated bins. Each is locked by a triangular coin slot mechanism, and contains a drop-dispenser. They come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, though there are distinct categories. Capacitors, wire, screws, bulbs, magnets, and switches, among others. A curious smell pervades the place, not unpleasant, but utterly unique. The floor is covered in an odd carpet which utterly silences even the heaviest footstep, even at the entry threshold, and while bright, the lighting is all indirect and unusually flat.

  • Demo Models: Anyone can buy a radio here, an item required to pick up any of the Nine Radio Temples found throughout Rym. These range in size, shape, and colour, but practically-speaking they’re the same instrument, like a holy symbol or wizard’s focus. The Arcanar Guild uses them in this way, for instance, and while most are expected to build their own, the do need components. Radios cost between 20-80 pazools and may be sold for twice their purchase price in the outside world, mostly for stripped parts or ‘as new’, since they’re so well preserved. The average radio is hand-sized and comes with a headset for (optional) private listening. They charge in Radiant energy (the sun, typically) and require no additional power. Once selected from the demo wall and the coins are inserted, the chosen model is ejected and a new one fabricated to replace it in 10 minutes.

  • Part Wall: Gadgets of the Bygone were made out of parts, and Radyo sold a variety of them for little projects or repairs. From time to time, Machines and other devices will require parts in order to built or restore them, and in the wasteland they’re quite valuable, especially in mint condition. Parts may also be required at certain points within Blue Hour Mall to complete objectives, though it might not be obvious until later. This store is where you can get those parts once you know what's required, or they can simply be sold for triple their purchase cost outside the mall.

      PART       STOCK   COST     USE (Non-Assembled)  
      Adapter     10     8 pz      This metallic device facilitates compatibility. Adapters join parts that aren’t easily joined. One of the most useful rare parts, but useless on its own.
      Bulb     10     25 pz      A small lamp or vacuum tube with a delicate copper crown. If connected to a luxite battery with a Coupler and Casing, can be used to create a Bullseye Lantern.
      Capacitor   10     15 pz      A ceramic tube full of an acidic paste, used to temporarily store or moderate current. A simple device can hold 1 charge per Capacitor.
      Charge Casing     10     40 pz      A luxic casing or tube to encapsulate and power the object within via Radiance - 1 damage/charge. Requires Capacitors to store charges.
      Coupler   10     20 pz      An interface to connect different universal part sockets. These can be added to transfer charges between devices - each must have one.
      Heatsink   10     20 pz      Absorbs accidental overcharge, buffers 1d4 excess Radiance which would burst Capacitors if over the device limit.
      Fine Screws (10)     10     10 pz      Required to add parts to a simple device. Each added part needs 2 screws.
      Lens   10     50 pz      Quest Item. A special optical lens or beam-focusing crystal. It can be used as a Magnifying Glass.  
      Magnet   10     30 pz      A powerful magnet. Can be used to attract small metal objects, fish items out of drains, or annoy companions. Treat as a half-strength Lodestone.
      Mesh   10     10 pz      A fine screen or grille made of treated metal, liked from a filter of some kind. Could be used to strain liquid or fine material.
      Switch   10     10 pz      A button, toggle, or other clicking thing which starts and stops a powered item from continuously using charges.
      Wire   10     10 pz      A 20" length of fine silver wire, likely used to conduct current. Simple devices with charges need 1" of wire for each part.

  • The Agitar Dominator: At the back of the store, on a white glass dais, is this terrifying amp. If connected to a power instrument, the Dominator will vastly improve its volume, doubling the usual range of any Bard spell which inflicts sonic damage. The drawback is that the performer can move no more than ten feet from the Dominator during their performance or the plug will pop out and the effect will end. The Dominator is rather heavy at 50 lbs. and inflicts 1d4 Sonic damage per sound to anyone carrying it while it's being used. It can be purchased for 300 pazools, or stolen with thief tools (DC 25). A failed roll will trigger an alarm and a Security Incident.

  • Thief Shame Song: Radyo’s security system is fairly simple – any failed attempt to steal or tamper is met with the usual alarm and Security Event, plus a chorus of boos and accusations from every speaker in the store. A baby spotlight will track the one who failed the roll, and as long as they’re in the store, they’ll receive a round of Cutting Words (-1d8 on all rolls). This is the effect of the ‘Thief Shame Song’ that will blare along with the booing and catcalls, and impede the thief (specifically) during the altercation of the Security Incident, such as when they Ticketers or Bouncers arrive to deal with them.

    • WONDERSHOPPE       “Is your little genius tired of the show-screen? Blow their little mind with and old-fashioned brain-teaser from Wondershoppe. We have puzzles and posers, conundrums and cryptograms, and of course…the Imploder."
          Even from the outside, you can tell this is a toy store of some kind. This one seems to be geared towards little geniuses, owing to the enormous glass brains adorned with the shop’s logo. The puzzles on display are disturbingly-complicated arrangements of saphix and metromet, menacingly-named and almost exhausting just to look upon. Most of them have an atomic-structural or astronomical theme to them. At the center of this arrangement of puzzle pedestals is a model of the Kijian star system, and a strange projector whose slow rotation creates a model of the night sky upon the matte-black ceiling. The walls are lined with space-themed fabrimats and menus of the insanely-complicated puzzles. The dense black carpet has little points of light woven into it, adding depth to the starfield created by the room’s central projector, and silencing any footsteps which might have once disturbed the resident geniuses. The music in here is faint and cosmically-themed, with occasional soft bursts aeronaut radio chatter. The lights glow a little brighter as the door opens, as if the shop knew it was empty, and expecting company.

  • Literal Diversions: There’s a wide range of games and puzzles here, some practical, others merely for amusement and roleplay. They can be useful in situations where novelty and levity are required, as they were made to be entertaining and somewhat addictive. Gorgs have been known to collect them when in mint-condition, for instance, and you never know when you might be able to win over some surly miscreant or arrogant noble with such a gift – DMs should use their discretion. They impose Disadvantage on Perception checks as long as they’re being played, built, or puzzled over, and this can be monstrously useful at times.

  • The Challenger: There is a single silver moda tending the shop, the so-called Challenger, who will rise from the floor behind the counter to challenge anyone making a purchase. If this individual can complete the puzzle or riddle it offers them, they will knock 1d6x10% off the purchase price. The simple way to do this is to make an Intelligence check (DC 15), though more elaborate challenges can be prepared and offered at the DM’s discretion. The Challenger is also a part of the store’s security if a Security Incident is triggered (see below).

      GAME       TYPE   COST     DETAILS  
      Mindbender     Puzzle     8 pz      These are complicated hand-held puzzles which require Intelligence checks to solve. They range from DC 10 to DC 20 and are popular with the Arcanar Guild.
      Replica     Model     25 pz      A replica of a regular item, weapon, tool, or other (more expensive) device. Non-functional, but useful for deception..
      Clockwork   Model     15 pz      A miniature clockwork animal of some sort. It will move slightly and make noise when would-up. Useful for distractions.
      Chemistry Set     Kit     40 pz      This may be used as an Alchemist's Artisan tools, though it's only half the weight of the usual kit.
      Board Games   Game     20 pz      One of several dozen different board games which may be used to stave off boredom during an Extended Rest.
      Game System   Game     200 pz      Quest Item. A Tractus 1040 with built-in games. Can be used to bribe Blue in the Waterpark.

  • The Challenge: This store’s main security hazard were little genius meltdowns. The solution was Balluuni’s Calming Atmosphere, a mild airborne sedative used by daycare centers around nap time. This stronger variant is applied to the alarm area from hidden vents in the ceiling, bringing about a level of Fatigue for each Security Event (Con DC 14). The vapor is invisible and odorless, deployed from above in a 10’ radius around the one who triggered the alarm. This would eventually put troublemakers to sleep, to be collected by their parents or by mall security.

    • LEGIT SEAMS       “Fashion is more than its seams. For a practical outfit at practical cost, come see our wide selection of workwear, home couture, uniforms, and more…The Legitimate Seams Company has what you need at a price you can afford.”
          The glass and metal doors of the Legitimate Seams Co. shudder slightly as they slide open, the lights beyond flickering on with a soft popping sound. This automatic store is relatively plain, with a semicircular bank of fabrimats surrounded by iconic images of different outfits. A series of toggle switches appear to govern size and color, with a hopper beneath to deliver the product. Rather than moda mannequins to show off the outfits, they’ve maximized floor space for lineups and put the outfits on show-screens. The clothing shown here is fairly practical-looking, though even the simplest outfit has no parallel in the modern age. It looks like it was a place for working clothes and related accessories. All eight of the kiosks appear to be in working order, showcasing shirts, pants, shoes, hats, jackets, and undergarments, though curiously a few of the items are marked SOLD OUT. The music here is also very practical, bland, and calming.

  • Swimming Suggested: This is actually required attire for the waterpark area below, though the dress code is not enforced by bouncers as it in the case of Laserlight Nights and Corpulente. It allows the swimmer to add 5 feet to their movement in water as long as they make an Athletics check (DC 10), or 10 feet if they make an Athletics check of 20. This does not apply to any creature with a natural Swim speed. Ordinarily, swimming costs 2 feet for every 1 foot of movement. You don't need to buy swimswear, but it can be useful in the waterpark area.

      OUTFIT       TYPE   COST     DETAILS AND BENEFITS
      Mondo Monokini     Entertainer    20 pz      An extremely revealing female outfit that helps you swim, just perfect for people who don’t need to wear armor. +1 to Perform and Athletics checks.  
      Squeezer-Briefs   Entertainer     20 pz      An extremely revealing male outfit that helps you swim, just perfect for people who don’t need to wear armor. +1 to Perform and Athletics checks.
      Full Swimsuit     Entertainer     25 pz      This is a more modest swimsuit than can be worn as regular clothing. Adds +1 Perform and Athletics checks.
      Board Shorts   Peasant      30 pz      The most basic set of surfing shorts you can get, essentially just a loincloth for the beach. Adds +1 Perform and Athletics checks.
      Wetsuit   Explorer     40 pz      A full body wetsuit for swimming or diving. Adds +1d4 to Athletics checks while swimming, does not stack.
      Swim Fins   Accessory     50 pz      A big set of floppy flippers, ungainly on land. Adds +10 to swim speed but -10 to regular movement.
      Goggles   Accessory      55 pz       Useful for doing any work underwater. Negates Perception Disadvantage underwater.
      Rubber Sandals   Accessory      70 pz      Negates Athletics Disadvantage while running/jumping on wet tiles areas in the waterpark area.

  • Security Measures: The store's vendomats will sink into the floor and the entire chamber will fill with a Fog Cloud which generates 1 level of Exhaustion every round (Constitution DC 10 negates). This is Exhaust Gas, a cheap form of crowd control that wears off after 1 minute per level of inflicted Exhaustion, and only renders you unconscious at 6 levels rather than killing you. Otherwise has all the properties of Fog Cloud.

    • MEMPHOS       "Memphos: The Erratic Brilliance of today’s Avant guard. Come and see the future of interior design in our exclusive showroom and commission a masterpiece of your own for your average home.”
          The bizarre, asymmetrical blue and yellow glass doors of Memphos part with a rising musical scale, revealing a lushly-carpeted, dimly-lit waiting room. This hardly seems to be a store at all, though the four large screens on the far wall each display a rotating sequence of bizarre furniture stock. These garish designs appear to represent the height of golden age interior decoration – blocky, nonsensical, irregular, and garishly-colored. The shop has two wide purple couches from which these furniture features can be watched, though not a stick of the actual product appears to be on hand. From the looks of it, the furniture was merely ordered and paid for here, and likely delivered by some long-lost process. Soothing music can be heard, though its source is unclear, and there’s a faint smell of ancient tobacco that even centuries of Quiet Air couldn’t erase. The room looks like a comfortable place to camp out, though there’s an eerie attractiveness to those displays that just makes you want to look at furniture. The chairs alone unsettlingly hypnotic, especially the one-armed Qekbury high-backs, or the Luuq scoop lounger. And the bedroom sets are just unbelievable.

  • The Furniture Channel: Due to low sales, the shop’s TI has raised the ambient hypnotics to an almost suffocating degree. Being in this room for more than an hour will cause the equivalent of a Hypnotic Pattern to form within the screens. Since they’re on an endless loop, and nobody else is around, this can actually be fatal to the weak-willed. Resisting the Furniture Channel requires a Wisdom save (DC 10) – anyone who fails will take a seat on the couch and stare blankly at the displays until they pass out from exhaustion, dehydration, or both.

  • Automatic Delivery: Believe it or not, it’s still possible to buy Memphos Furniture. Any investment made here, from the smallest Lorg goblet table to the most massive Slaab bed will fetch ten times cost in any gorg auction. The buyer must simply choose ‘Parkoplex Elevator Bay’ as the delivery point – any other location will result in a failure chime. The furniture is expensive – 100 – 1000 pazools, and there’s no limit to the number of garish items which can be readied for Parkoplex pickup.

  • The Last Shopper: There is one person who never left, rapidly mummifying on the left couch. This process is observable – corpses preserved by Quiet Air shrivel very quickly when re-introduced to a breathable atmosphere. The fine clothes and excellent posture are suggestive of a high social standing. His State Card identifies him as Adat Endri II. His moneycomb contains 320 pazools in 50p and 20p coins. He has the key to the luxury Velocet Nebula in the Parkoplex, and a sealed envelope in one slowly- shriveling hand. Written upon the envelope is:

    “I don’t know if anyone will ever read this, or when, but please deliver it to 9416 Olivine Crescent, Thorium Ring, Profectus. Take all my money as your delivery fee.”

  • Sleep Gas: Memphos rarely saw any kind of trouble due to its lack of onsite inventory and upscale clientele, though due to the high value of the pazools in its lockboxes, the parent company took no chances. Any failed attempt to open the coin box or tamper with the display will cause the pay-station to blare an alarm (Security Event) and issue a cloud of M+ Sleeping Gas (a Sleep spell) right in the tinkerer’s face.

    • FAST-A-SLEEP       “Do you need a break? Tired after a long day? Fast-a-Sleep is your place to stay. Whether you just need an hour to catch your breath, or a good night's rest, there's always a vacancy for our Gold Cadre members."
          The double-doors of Fast-a-Sleep appear to be sealed by a pair of crescent moons, one gold, one blue. They spin silently as you insert the Gold Cadre card, separating to either side as the doors part to reveal a dim, curved room dominated by a row five identical sarcophagi. Each of these bears its own small door and iconography implying the desire for silence. A coin slot can clearly be seen next to each door handle. The room is very dark save for some amber-colored strips which wind their way around the room at floor level. A very subtle, meditative tone fills the air. Some of the symbols here suggest that this was a place of rest, and that two of the five sarcophagi are currently occupied.

  • Sleep Chambers: These chambers can be used to bypass the mall's nightly shut-down or even a Quiet Air flood, as they have their own independent air supplies and climate control. The sleep chamber encapsulates small, comfortable-looking bed under warm orange illumination. It's only large enough for one person lying down, and one of the clear iconic warnings is 'no double-occupancy'. The soft hiss which accompanied the chamber's opening door suggests that it's air-tight and the padded interior looks thoroughly soundproofed. The tiny room contains a small faucet basin, a sculpted gear alcove, and four coin slots with iconic badges. There is also a discrete dial-timer ticking down to Checkout.

  • SomniPlus: (2 pz) This is a chemical version of the Sleep spell. Paying for the gas will flood the chamber with Sleep for eight hours. This provides an automatic Extended Rest.

  • Ration Pills: (2 pz) Food is not allowed in the sleeping chamber, so they offer ration pills as an alternative. Though tasteless, these act as a single Goodberry.

  • Power Wash: (2 pz) This is really just a Cantrip box, a Presto-Clean-O, which uses the Prestidigitation effect 'Clean' to miraculously do the laundry.

  • Mall Radio: (1 pz) Anyone who pays for the music will get their first chance to speak with Blue, the mall's ghostly TI. Blue will ask the occupant what they want to listen to, and possibly more, as he's so bored that he's willing to break separation protocols.

  • Talking in Your Sleep Blue feels more comfortable speaking with just one person at first, and then only in a soundproof chamber. If the party camps in these rooms at some point and have yet to encounter Blue, this can be a starting point. Blue will speak to the person who's spent the most money at the mall so far, or else the person who's looted the least. In the darkness of that person's sleep chamber, Blue will ask only this:

    "Who are you?"

    Blue will only listen for a response, but if the individual gives their name, the mall's intelligence will spend the next few hours gathering information (a process just like Legend Lore). Blue hasn't built a customer profile in a long, long time, and he'll use them as the group's point of contact for various encounters later on. After this, Blue will know an eerie degree of their chosen representative's backstory, ancestry, and even their motivations. Blue will use this to manipulate them, though whether for good or ill remains to be determined at this point.

    • CAFE MODE       "Café Mode offers a mouth-watering selection of artisanal pastries designed by world-famous chef Yanz Dubulé. Choose from a variety of exquisite tea and coffee beverages, expertly prepared in our automatic barista. Take off a load…at Café Mode.”
          Café Mode is what must have passed for a restaurant during the golden age, being of similar dimensions and adornments. The doors slide open to reveal a well-lit arrangement of glowing pink tables, a checkered marble floor, and nonsensical wall-art with pink themes. A moda standing just inside the entry takes bow and then gestures towards the mostly-empty tables. A pair of well-dressed mummies are sitting at one of them, though there’s plenty of seating otherwise. The moda stiffly fans out a number of menus, offering them up for the taking. A discrete sign beside the door urges you to ‘Seat Yourself’, as if that wasn’t a given in the bygone days. There are a few other doors in here, too. A pair of them on the south wall, one pink, one blue, and a larger, glossy metal door to what must be the kitchen on the north wall. The room is bright and polished to a mirror shine, with a light, airy music adding to its vacuous ambiance.

  • The Kitchen: You're not supposed to be in the kitchen! Can't you see the sign? But let's suppose you ignored the sign and went into the kitchen. Well, you'd see a large, heavily chrome-plated series of sophisticated cooking stations, integrated appliances, and well-lit counters, all managed by a busy-looking moda chef. This frantic artisan seems to be instantly aware of your presence, and whether it was preparing your food or just sharpening its enormous collection of knives, the reaction is the same. It spins around and starts moving in your direction.

    -If you choose to attack the advancing moda before it can get into striking range, roll for initiative.

    -If you choose to attempt negotiations instead, forfeit initiative and roll a Diplomacy check.

  • The Restrooms: This restroom is eerily clean, with three stalls, a wash basin, and a wall-sized mirror which reflects the entire room. The stalls all have coin slots in them - 1 pazool. Aside from a skeleton with their head smashed on the edge of the waste bin, this restroom is immaculate. A trio of urinals and a single enclosed stall line the back wall. A large mirror takes up the wall over the basin, reflecting the entire room back at you.

    -Stall: The stall used to cost 1 pazool but has been jimmied. Written in jagged black letters on one of the stall's interior walls is this number: 447 - CIN 61261

  • Security: Automatic Brulee: These dangerous mechanical goons will emerge from hidden alcoves within the entry slab if any of the mannequins or other apparel is attacked. They’re gunmetal-grey versions of the fashion models, each wearing a Valaquar II, an advocate’s suit as good as any mithril shirt. The Suits are a pair of 5th level mannequin monks (undead traits), and will pursue beyond the store. Their loot is the suit.

    • FWUUSH       “Thirsty? Why not suck down a cold bubbly Fwuush beverage while you shop? Visit the Fwuush Carbonization Station on the upper concourse for an even wider selection of your usual favorites. Just in time for Summer, Blue Banana Calamity and Red Mango Velocity.”
          The so-called Fwuush station is a wildly colorful arrangement of semi-transparent pipes woven into the wall opposite the sliding glass doors. These pipe clusters converge around an number of small alcoves festooned with colorful buttons. Most of these buttons are in the shape of different fruit. As if awakened by the approach of potential customers, the automatic drink fountain-wall hisses and gurgles ominously. For one pazool, it looks like you could purchase one of the enormous, exotic, painfully-colorful drinks shown on the menu board. A cylindrical cartridge of massive cups appears to provide the drinking vessel, you just need to choose the flavor. A marquee above the Fwuush Fountainwall shows the current assortment of flavors and their peculiar names. Some of them appear to be out of stock and have mismatched lettering. They all cost 1 pazool, which is pretty expensive for a drink. Each drink comes in a 32oz. cup and can provide enough hydration for a full day, along with enough sugar for five days.

    - Advanced Apple/Apricot
    - Blue Banana Get Out of Here (OUT of STOCK)
    - Crystal Citrus
    - Disaster Date
    - Elderberry Eruption
    - Fig Flutter
    - Go Away Grape (OUT of STOCK)
    - Honeydew Hero
    - I Can't (OUT of STOCK)
    - Juicy Just (OUT of STOCK)
    - Keep (OUT of STOCK)
    - Losing Lime (OUT of STOCK)
    - Mango Madness

  • Warning Signs: Blue has made subtle modifications to the menu, knowing that Violet doesn't have access to this particular automatic sign. Here he's trying to warn people away lest they be devoured by the mall and turned into ingredients for relics such as the Fwuush Fountain Wall. All of the Out of Stock flavors contain a piece of his despairing effort to scare them off.

    - Sugar: The sugar supply being as low as it is, Violet has been supplementing Fwuush with disintegrated people. Each person provides between 4 and 5 grams of sugar, roughly equivalent to a sugar cube.

    - Phosphorous: Used in the fabrication of phosphoric acid, Violet extracts an average of 1d3 lbs. of phosphorous from anyone she breaks down.

    • COMMUNICADO       “Would you like to talk to someone you know, or get some answers from someone you trust? Communicado keeps you in touch with the world. Visit our new kiosk on the upper level concourse and let your friends know that Blue Hour Mall is just a railbus away.”
          The double-doors of Communicado bear a sinister-looking eye which splits down the center as they open. The lights rise slightly to accent a number of smooth metal booths, each with its own circular show screen and speaking horn. It looks like it was once possible to send and receive messages from these booths, as a number of icons beside the coin slots depict silhouettes doing just that. One pazool per call does seem a bit costly, but this was clearly cutting-edge. Each booth has its own long number, and a dial with which to enter a different booth’s number. A helpful list of free-to-call, mall-specific numbers are listed next to each booth:

    -General Information: 445       -Ticket Purchases: 446       -Barium Railbus Station: 448       -Waterpark Administration: (NOT WORKING)

  • General Information: “Welcome to the Blue Hour Mall Information Line. Please, stay on the line to hear a list of answers to our seven most frequently-asked questions.

    1)   Mall hours are perpetual, though some restrictions apply.
    2)   Wartime Automation Protocols (ARE) in effect.
    3)   The Barium Station railbus line on Level Three is temporarily out of service.
    4)   The Waterpark entrance is on Level Four.
    5)   (50) Tickets are still available for the next Theater of the Mind.
    6)   There is (Vacancy) at Fast-a-Sleep.
    7)   The mall detention center is on the Parkoplex Level. Please contact the Security Office.

  • Ticket Purchases: “Welcome to the Blue Hour Mall Teleticket System. To see a list of ticketed events, press 2.”

    1)  Barium Railbus Daypass [Suspended]
    1)  Waterpark Daypass [4 pz] 375 LEFT
    2)  Theater of the Mind: An Hour of You [3 pz] 50 LEFT
    3)  Laserlight Nights Nightpass [5 pz] 200 LEFT
    4)  Fast-a-Sleep Nightpass [10 pz] 3 LEFT
    5)  Rhythm and Wine Dinner Theater [5 pz] 25 LEFT

    		•

    COINFLIPPER       “Don’t have the right change? Need to make a withdrawal? Don’t forget, Blue Hour Mall offers automatic money-changing services. All Blue Hour Mall frabrimats and automats accept only new pazool coins.”
          The heavy sapphix door of the Coinflipper Currency Exchange slides open on a magnetic rail, revealing a semi-circular bank of sleek armored coin boxes. Each has a seamless, nearly-impregnable design with a simple series of slots, cranks, and hoppers on its face and a helpful diagram to assist even the dimmest of shoppers. It looks like triangular pazool coins of all denominations can be changed here, condensed into larger denominations or broken into smaller ones. Three of the machines look slightly different, with gold-bordered slots for cards of some kind. This appears to be connected to a service which is no longer offered, as all of them are hung with signs suggesting that they’re Out of Order.

  • Treasure: Only a small number of the mall's machines contain any pazools in reserve. Unlike vending machines, the fabrimats would often have a floor pipe through which deposited coins were funneled away, sucked into a network of sorting junctions and eventually deposited in the mall's vault. The Coinflipper is one of the only exceptions. These machines needed a cartridge of fresh pazools to exchange for the older coinage being taken out of circulation during the war (the metal was needed for killer robots). As a result, they all have money in them.

    The Thievery roll required to break into these boxes is 25. They aren't so much cracked open as tricked into dispensing their money freely.

    Success: The machine dumps 1d6x100 pazools. Critical Success: The machine dumps 600 pazools.
    Failure: The box shuts off completely for 24 hours.
    Critical Failure: The box shuts off completely for 24 hours and a Security Event is tripped.

    There are eight boxes in total, each containing 1d6x100 brand new pazool coins.

    • CANDIBOX EXPRESS       “Who’s up for a few guilty pleasures? The CandiBox has a fine selection of tempting confection. Whether decadently decorative or just downright delicious, CandiBox grants your candy wishes.”
          The whimsically-colored bubble-glass doors of CandiBox were perhaps designed to create a sense of childlike wonder, even in the jaded adult, but they're a bit unsettling in their insanely gleeful design. As the lights within the store flare up to their full pink luminosity, a jaunty chime announces your arrivals by name, prefixed with an absurd title. One of you is the Earl of Orange Ripple, for instance. The Duke of Dandycane. The Wizard of Walnut.You get the idea, congratulations. The store itself, like so many others, is just a row of candy-specific dispensers. Each has its own show-screen of animated enticements, and bizarre suggestions on how to best consume the product. Some of these are undeniably wacky, though the oversaturation of color, sound, and sugar make it more unnerving than enticing. These people were insane for this stuff. One pazool will get you a varying degree of anything here – a single cube of Roseruby to a huge handful of Bubblecrystal. A lot of the candy is faceted to be gem-themed, or else spherical, and one must provide their own container or wrapping.

      CANDY       TYPE   COST     EFFECT  
      Bubble Crystal     Hard Candy      1 pz (6 pieces)      You may belch as often and as loudly as you like for up to 10 minutes.
      Big Rock Candy Mountain     Hard Candy     1 pz (1 piece)     May be melted into strong glue for creative applications.
      Freshwarp   Mints     1 pz (6 pieces)     Adds +1d4 to save vs. any scent-based effect (eg. Stinking Cloud) for 1 minute.
      Toot Sweet   Lollipop     1 pz (1 piece)     The lollipop stick doubles as a signal whistle.
      Gobstopper II   Gobstopper     1 pz (1 piece)     1/100 chance to win 10 pazools (center of the candy)
      Gelatinous Jube   Jelly Candy     1 pz (1 piece)     Adds +1d4 to Persuasion checks on ixis.
      Chocolate Box   Chocolates     5 pz (12 pieces)     Gifting a full box adds +1d6 to Persuasion checks.
      Gum It Up   Bubblegum     1 pz (8 pieces)     Adds +1d4 when rolling to disable traps of a mechanical nature.
      Dumballs   Hard Candy     3 pz (100 pieces)     May be used as ballbearings (5 ft. area) - DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
      Truffe D'Gradi   Luxury Chocolate     50 pz (1 piece)     Quest Item. Finest chocolate in the world. Worth x5 to gorgs. Advantage on any Persuasion roll.  

      BLUE HOUR MALL            LEVEL TWO - LUXURY RETAIL
          The mall’s lower retail concourse is populated by luxury brands and high-end vendomats, golden trim, marble-patterned nicrete floors, and scented air. Even the muzak here is high class, Channel-L (Lenir) synth-orchestral, made to flatter the shopper with delusions of grandeur. Just walking through this area loosens the purse strings and lightens the wallet. The lighting is a bit lower, accentuating baby spotlights which bathe extravagant display items of all kinds. It feels like an exclusive experience, and even after all the years it’s been well-maintained by its moda staff and metrosweeps. Just waiting. Blank faces stare out from behind nearly-indestructable display windows or automatic doors that might not even open without an introductory vetting or Gold Cadre Club Card.

          Like the upper concourse, this looks like a double-ring of shops, though the southern segment appears to be some kind of nightclub or music venue. There are brightly-lit luxite signs calling it Laserlight Nights, and suggesting that it’s the place to be. Or it used to be, anyway. From the looks of those signs its pretty exclusive too, though the images depict young couples dancing and even singing, as if they were somehow allowed to be a part of the performance, most likely after having a few drinks, which also look very exclusively expensive.

  • Directories: These tapered three-sided columns contain a directory of stores and their current offerings. Each store has a corresponding metal button, which will play the retail jingle in a cheerful voice. This will give explorers a better idea of what to expect, and where to find it. A directory image can be shared here.

  • Communicado Booths: Not found on the upper level, these comfortable cubicles allow anyone with money to have a private call while comfortably-seated. Like the public Communicado of the upper concourse, only sequestered in a soundproof space. The cost is higher – 2 pazools per call. These calls are short exchanges only – you get 12 seconds of open line, about 25 words total (as per the Sending spell). Anyone on the other end can reply likewise. The booth itself locks for 3 minutes, so make it quick. In a punch, this can serve as a shelter from attack – the booth is made of sapphix.

  • Scentique: These are perfume/cologne booths which would dispense pleasant-smelling vapors to improve one’s ‘odor profile’. For 4 pazools, you can smell like a million, or so they say on the sign. Fragrances include famous brans such as Aero 7, DuLac, Envior, and Mr. Gloam for Men, or Kaotiq, Kopi Kat, Oblige, and Ether Or for Women. They add +2 to Charisma for 1 hour, but also impose a -2 to Stealth checks due to their unmistakeable profile.

  • Moneycomber: Like the Coinflipper on the upper concourse, there are booths here that will allow you to check your balance and compact your coinage. This was practically a requirement on this level, as many items cost hundreds or even thousands of pazools. The booth locks you inside for three minutes while you exchange your smaller coins for larger denominations, shielding you from the prying eyes of the envious and allowing you to lighten a bloated moneycomb. Denominations range from 10, to 50, 100, or even 1000. These are Blue Hour Mall tokens, however, and of no use in wider circulation.

  • Okay Fine: If you’ve incurred some kind of fine for whatever reason (it happens a lot in automatic shopping venues, nothing personal), you can pay it here and ‘clear your face’, as they used to say. Since the mall seems to recognize faces and who’s been naughty or nice, it might behoove you to spend a few pazools (or a few hundred) to get that taken care of before your next security encounter. This can help push back minor infractions but after 3 Security Events, there’s no option to push back a fourth. Additionally, this only works once in a 24 hour period, so if you can’t typically bribe your way through repeated malfeasance. By depositing the coins and showing your face to the screen, Blue Hour Mall will know that it was all just a big misunderstanding. For now.

          There are two major entertainment options on the lower concourse – Laserlight Nights and Theater of the Mind. These are significant plot zones where a lot of information can be obtained, so the DM should be prepared. The enticements are intrinsic, too, the mall itself wants the party to attend. Laserlight Nights will let them meet a trapped entity that just loves company and who will let them in on some juicy secrets, while Theater of the Mind is their first encounter with Violet or Blue (or both), the ghost-intelligences of the mall itself. These two venues will also give the party a taste of what passed for entertainment in the Bygone, new songs, dances, drinks, and more. It’ll be a chance for any performers to really shine, and anyone with enough wisdom and insight to figure out what the mall is really about.

          Don't try to steer the party in that direction, though, it should occur naturally as the concourse is a big circle and any shopping or looting will take them there eventually. The tickets for both of these segments can be purchased at the door, or from the teleticket number in the upper concourse Communicado. These tickets are old-fashioned blue plasti-punch cards stamped with a gold pattern - they can't be faked without exceptional means. Let this incentivize the group to get enough money to gain access, and reward them with a well-prepared show. We’ve laid out the basics, but you know your party better than we do, so feel free to customize the experience in either section to enhance their enjoyment. It’s all part of the show. You'll want some good music, and if you're over 18, a few drinks couldn't hurt either.

    • ART EFFECT       "Are you looking for that rare piece to complete your collection. Art Effect’s limited and unique editions are completely non-fungible, irreplaceable, and guaranteed to appreciate in value. It’s art you won’t see anywhere else. Don’t miss out, you only live once.”
          The lights come on behind the glass double-doors even before they open, as if Art Effect somehow knew you were approaching. The shop welcomes you with a soft hiss, exposing a jauntily-decorated interior in rising illumination. The show-screens opposite the entry are larger and more elaborate than most, and somehow capable of throwing their displayed offerings into the room itself. Some of these light sculptures are mind-bending, revolving in a phantasmal gallery like indescribable ghosts. There is a hypnotic quality to other aspects of the room as well, even the pattern on the floor. A thin, pleasant-smelling haze is faintly visible now, giving this art its medium. The haze seems to be the canvas on which these light-sculptures are hung, and while it doesn't seem toxic or intoxicating, it certainly is noticeable when you're looking around. The crystals, panes, or bulbs which project the art seem to be what's for sale, while the images they create are ethereal and could probably be thrown at a wall if you wanted to be a bit more traditional. The music in here is particularly classy, and very fitting considering the cost of these art objects. Some cost hundreds, or even thousands of pazools, with gold-played coin slots meant for the high-value pazool tokens you can get at the Coinflipper stations.

  • Illusion of Class: The art here is illusionary, and trapped within special bulbs. When plugged into the appropriate revolving socket and given a charge, the bulb projects the illusion into any 5' space within 30' feet or so, depending on how it's tilted. The illusions are all unique, like three-dimensional modern art, and given life by their rotation. This has a chance to fascinate those standing in front of it - the jaded buyers of the Bygone got used to this, but anyone from the current age might be a lot more succeptible to these displays. Treat these as a Hypnotic Pattern with a Wisdom DC 10 + 1d6 saving throw to break out of. The fascination will last for 1d6 minutes.

  • Hidden Message: One of the illusions is particularly striking, and part of the pattern of carnivorous plants that have been seen in other places. This one depicts a butterfly struggling to escape a pitcher plant, its bright colours already being leeched into the plant’s outer surface. The observer can see the plant from any angle, but from the bottom they’ll be able to see the bodies of countless exoskeletal shells – this butterfly is just the latest victim. Among these shells are the subtle suggestions of other treasures, some of which the party is already carrying. Draw a few parallels, but leave some vagueness.

  • Art Attack: Anyone who tries to disturb, destroy, or steal the art in here will get a unique reaction from the works themselves. Any of the pieces which depict people will react in the manner of a Programmed Illusion, gasping, insulting, or shouting for help. This will trigger a Security Event, as usual, but with the added detriment of a round-by-round Cutting Words (1d10) to impede the aggressor’s every move until they leave the store or are shown the door. The fine must be paid to avoid a repeat performance upon their return.

    • BIGWORTH'S       “Are you about to hit it Big? For the flakiest of the upper crust’s most fashionable interior design, look no further than Bigworth’s. I mean, if you’ve got this much money maybe you ought to invest it but sure, come and f-f-feed it to the Machine.
          Even the entryway of this venue looks expensive, with elaborate gold script and the brand’s signature A-Ok monogram. The doors glide open to reveal a surprisingly plain room with a blue wooden floor and six ornate fabrimat screens – three on either side wall. These screens showcase a number of decadent furnishings at equally-decadent prices. Though beautiful in their craftsmanship and design, these appear to have more fashion than function. Even the furniture looks uncomfortable to actually use. Expensive-sounding music can be heard from somewhere high above, further adding to the high-end façade. If you were a king, or a captain of industry, this looks like the sort of place where you could buy your big chair, your desk, your cabinet, or your walk-in humidor. In fact it looks like you could get a hybrid of all three of those things if you had the right money. The six fabrimats appear ready to let you design it to some degree, and even make it custom, on the spot. Only the finest materials are shown, presumably stored in powder form somewhere in the guts of the establishment, ready for fabrication. Teak, mahogany, crystal, silver, and leather of all kind appear to be the palette, and while your imagination may be the limit, your money might stop you a bit short. The prices range from hundreds to thousands of pazools, but where else are you going to get a combination fainting couch and loveseat?

          Standing at the back of the otherwise-empty showroom is a single moda in an expensive-looking suit. A gold name label bears the name: ‘Closer’ He looks up, if a blank gold face could be said to look anywhere. The store itself speaks for him: "Well hello, valuable customer."

  • The Closer: This guy is slick, or maybe he’s just the mouthpiece for something else. Though he appears to be a moda mannequin, he’s absolutely dripping with class and charm. Unlike the moda of the upper concourse, the ones found on the luxury level are equipped to do more than just point or model. This one sells, that’s why he’s the closer. Every round he’ll use a Suggestion to make a sales pitch, and if he gets three hits (failed saves – Wisdom DC 15) on anyone, they’ll buy the most expensive thing they can afford. Luckily, he only targets people with 1000 pazools or more in their inventory, like he can Detect Money. If nobody has 1000 pazools or more, he won’t even activate, and the display screens will dim down to nothing as sad music plays.

  • Reclination Station: This is one of their crown jewels, and something ‘practical’ the Closer will try to sell first - the ultimate recliner. It’s huge, and though it has wheels and can be moved around a flat floor, it might not be terribly practical, but it allows anyone to take an Extended Rest in 6 hours instead of 8. With a gesture, he'll cause a display model to roll out of the rolling leather-scented mist of the nearest fabrimat and present it to the party. Here's how his famous '3-round Close' goes:

  • Round One: "ou look like you’ve been on an adventure, sir (or madam), take a few moments to have a seat in our display model, the Reclinator. Do you feel that? It’s massaging you right now. Now lean back and just enjoy, can you appreciate just how much you’ll appreciate this? (Wisdom DC 15 save to not appreciate this).

  • Round Two: "Since you're our first customer in some time, we'll let you have this fine slice of life for 1000 pazools." (Wisdom DC 15 save to not resist this amazing bargain).

  • Round Three: "You're going to use this every day, I promise you. You can just wheel it right out to the ascender and your servants can load it up. In fact, have a seat and I'm sure they'll be happy to wheel you out along with it. Yes, that's right, don't get up, they've got this." (Wisdom DC 15 save to avoid buying it right there and making yourself a pariah for the rest of the session).

  • Closer to Thee: The Closer is also a deadly fighter - treat him as a Brass Golem if anyone causes trouble in here. He won't kill anyone, he'll just call in a Security Event and help the response to eject the troublemaker(s).

    • D'DAND-D       "Are you looking for that rare piece to complete your collection. Art Effect’s limited and unique editions are completely non-fungible, irreplaceable, and guaranteed to appreciate in value. It’s art you won’t see anywhere else. Don’t miss out, you only live once.”
          The sapphix glass door enclosing this store doesn’t open right away. Instead, you might the get the feeling that you’re being watched, or even sized-up. A thin grid of blue lines pulses over everyone at the threshold. Your measurements are being taken by a fixed glass eye. A moment later, the lights inside come on and the door whispers open. A pair of smartly-dressed mannequins perform identical courtly bows, then pivot to sweeping gestures of welcome. More lights come on, highlighting other smartly-dressed faceless figures, each striking a debonair pose. This looks like a clothing store for men, though the clothes look so good that anyone could wear them and be noticed in a crowd. The store has its own music, too, and now that’re all snapping their fingers to its jaunty extravagance. It’s a slice of some long-ago musical number that probably made a lot more sense back in the Bygone, but even out of context it’s pretty impressive. They’re putting on the ritz, these faceless gits, and they’re the only place where the fashion sits. Fortunately there’s a dozen of them, showing off a whole range of luxurious clothing – suits, jackets, even dress uniforms, along with a variety of accessories.

  • Fashion and Function: Unlike the lesser outfits of the upper concourse, these suits mean business. That is to say they’re made of doped fabrics that have special properties, some practically magical. Like many other wonder materials of the Bygone, fabrics of this type were perfected by the fabrication process and possess exceptional resilience and resistance to abuse of all kinds. They were likely derived from military material. In effect, these can be treated as Glamored suits of armor – clothing with the same properties as a Breastplate, Chain Shirt, Scale Male, or Splint Armor, all with a +1 AC bonus and no armor check penalty or speed reduction of any kind. As a result, they cost 20x what the actual armor costs.

  • Killer Outfit: This might be the first shot Violet has at taking down the party. If the group messes around in here and gets even slightly out of line (a Security Event or attempted theft), the lights in the store will turn down to a twilight violet hue. Play some combat music, dim the lights. The suit-armored mannequins will use finger-guns, seemingly just a pantomime at first, but ultimately a deadly hail of damage. Each has what amounts to a Wand of Magic Missiles in their index fingers, though this can be represented more as silenced pistols or other assassin-type firearms that inflict 3d4+4 Force damage each round. Others will use batons which immitate the Shocking Grasp cantrip, standing between the party and the ranged attackers. What you want to do is make this look like a hit by the Mafia.

  • Art Attack: Anyone who tries to disturb, destroy, or steal the art in here will get a unique reaction from the works themselves. Any of the pieces which depict people will react in the manner of a Programmed Illusion, gasping, insulting, or shouting for help. This will trigger a Security Event, as usual, but with the added detriment of a round-by-round Cutting Words (1d10) to impede the aggressor’s every move until they leave the store or are shown the door. The fine must be paid to avoid a repeat performance upon their return.

    •   BLUE HOUR MALL            LEVEL THREE - FOOD COURTS & TRANSIT STATION
          This is the Food Court level and railbus station, and the bottom of the retail portion of Blue Hour Mall. While the topmost level was basic retail and the level below reserved for luxury stores and entertainment, the third level concourse is mostly restaurants, automats, lounges, and bars, ranging from practically affordable to absurdly decadent. The idea was to provide a wide range and an easy enticement for anyone traveling a railbus route, since everyone needs food more than fashion or accessories. The food court level is well-preserved, its offerings composed of simpler fabrication dust such as protein, carbohydrates, sugar, salt, etc. These constituents are also the easiest to acquire from visitors who find themselves unable to survive the mall’s own appetite, and you can be sure that at least some of what you eat here used to be people. The restaurants are all automatic, some containing simple vendomatic cubicles which compose the food on disposable dishes, while others are atmospheric dining rooms with smartly-dressed moda waiters, musical accompaniment, and multi-course service. In all cases, the entire process was an experiment in pure automation, and so even now, after hundreds of years of meticulous preservation and routine restoration, the food court persists as the most successful demonstration of this concept.

          The other important feature found on level three is the railbus station. Though not currently active, it’s a clue as to how one might come to (or escape from) the mall, it can be searched for some valuable items and plot reveals. Stations like this could be found all across the Creator State, a hybrid of bus and train whose vehicles would cycle between rail and road travel depending where they were scheduled. The railbus line which serviced Barium Heights is relatively intact, though completely sealed at the station, with enormous vault doors enclosing either end, and one of the mall’s dedicated railbuses still waiting with those who tried to escape when the mall was sealed. Because the rail station isn’t serviced by the mall’s metrosweep crew, the mummified, gas-preserved corpses of those aboard are also relatively intact. The dry air, disinfectant gasses, and seven hundred years of waiting have preserved them for all to see.

  • Directories: These tapered three-sided columns contain a directory of stores and their current offerings. Each store has a corresponding metal button, which will play the retail jingle in a cheerful voice. This will give explorers a better idea of what to expect, and where to find it. A directory image can be shared here.

  • Automats: The smaller of the two automatic-model restaurants are automats, essentially large-scale vending machines which have less (if any) seating and instant service. You simply walk up to banks of sapphix glass doors with the picture of the food item next to it, insert you pazools, and wait for the fabrication process. It takes about a minute, on average, for the combination of ingredient, chemicals, and hydration to be woven into the final product, which is then dispensed through a slot or dropped into a hopper. These may also be waiting in dehydrated form, preserved in gas cartridges for flash-rehydration and then pushed out in the same way. Automat food was considered to be of lesser quality, for the most part, though it was ‘fast food’, as they used to say, available in just one minute and often without having to wait in any sort of line. This food was also portable, coming in packages or disposable wrapping which could simply be thrown away, or even eaten along with the food.

  • Autorants: A step up from the automat was the automatic restaurant, which took things a step further in their attempt to offer restaurant-style food service without any actual staff, cooks, or live entertainers. These were more complex affairs, often populated with faceless moda, instruments which played themselves, or even animatronic entertainers to delight and terrify the children. Autorants were larger and more expensive, with more seating and atmosphere, and without the expectation of instant service. Food served here usually included dishes and cutlery, and might come in multiple courses. Autorants also served alcohol and allowed you to pay after the food was already eaten, as the diners were trusted not to simple run away after they finished eating. Those that did were typically detained by automatic doors or, in some cases, their own seating

  • Railbus Station: In order to access the railbus station, a rail pass is required, or was. Now, with the station locked down for miliary action on the long-ago Day of Victory, it can’t be accessed in the usual way. Breaking in requires some work, and even accessing the area doesn’t make it possible to travel the railbus, only to loot its contents and discover some of the more horrific remnants of the mall’s last day of official service. The area isn’t lit, and though sealed at both ends, the car itself is still waiting at Blue Hour Station. There are many preserved bodies here, husks of travelers whose car passed through a long stretch of Quiet Air in the tunnels, and who mostly died in their seats. This left an eerie tableau of orderly remains sitting or slumped on the benches, and only the vague signs of the panic and suffocation which occurred before their car arrived to disembark.

          This is one of the two ways that the party can escape the mall, aside from dying in it. Several conditions must be met to reactivate the railbus station and open the immense vault doors which seal it from the outer rail circuit. This underground circuit is still in working order, and once the station is unsealed, the railbus can be reactivated for outbound travel. Until then, it’s just a big loot box and a source of information and creepy atmosphere. There are dozens of dead people here, all perfectly preserved, and it should be a harrowing experience after the relatively corpse-free mall above. Use it to showcase the sudden, lethal nature of Quiet Air asphyxiation, and give the group a chance to collect some treasure while they’re exploring.

          In the late stage of the module, certain events may force the group to escape using this area, especially if the upper section is cut off. If that’s the case, it’s important to indicate that steps can be taken to release the seals and power up the railbus before they leave the area. This doesn’t have to be the only way to escape, but make sure they know it’s an option by the time they’re finished. It can also be a literal vehicle to a sequel area in the future, or even just a way to get back to Gale’s Yard by traveling from Blue Hour Mall’s rail station to the Barium Heights Terminal, which is the final destination for all railbus lines, and not very far from Gale’s Yard as it turns out.

    •   BLUE HOUR MALL            LEVEL FOUR - WATERPARK COUCOURSE
          The Waterpark Complex is separated from the upper retail complex by a significant distance, and not accessible by stairs. Only the descender can take you down to this level, which was originally designed as a military installation and reactor silo. Since it wasn’t used as such, and repurposed as a mall, its enormous size and structural reinforcement may be a little unsettling, and suggestive of more than just some common waterpark. The same goes for the descender-only access, which would have been alarming to anyone used to multiple ways in and out of such a large amusement venue. The area is lined with polished nicrete tile, differentiated from the standard raw poured nicrete which was coated with marble or granite tiles in the upper levels. Down here, it looks like an immense pool complex, so everything is shiny, white, and waterproof. What isn’t nicrete is metromet, the extremely hard, dense variation of bronze which resist both corrosion, damage, and even bacteria or oxidation. Similarly-durable sapphix glass forms the windows, screens, and tabletops of the mezzanine area.

          This is where the Aquaar’s presence is fully visible for the first time. The vast amount of water it generates and pumps through the park can be seen, heard, and even felt within the walls, and the two main viewing domes which look down deeper into the park allow anyone here to see the splendor of its first level. This is simply the meeting area where you can buy your tickets and get changed into your swimwear. Since the descender goes no further down than this, the only way to proceed into the park is through the changing areas, where hundreds of lockers once offered a place to store your belongings. Many of these can now be looted, though there isn’t much – after a set time the contents are dumped into vacuum pipes in the sub-floor and whisked away to a long lost lost and found. There are also a pair of medical treatment centers for any injuries which might occur here, as well as a large restricted maintenance area where the enormous pressure pipes can be found.

          Last but not least is the Far Shore Arcade, opposite the changing area. This is where you could spend your loose change in vast quantities, a dizzying array of colour games meant to test one’s reflexes, cunning, ego, aggression, and intellect. Games of this era were simple - offerings of 4-16 bit graphics, chip-based sound, and addictive repetition, all for an average of 3-5 plays per pazool. You could spend hours in here for not a lot of money, and it’s where you might find the people who had finished swimming, or those who were waiting for their friends to arrive. Believe it or not, it’s also a place where you can glean a great deal of information, and meet Blue for the first time. He'll communicate by way of these games, whether by challenging players or simply using the screens to send a message to them.

  • Waterpark Mezzanine: This is the first thing you’ll see when the descender doors open. The humidity, the smell of chlorine, and the echo of its vast size are your impression, though also the brightly-lit white tile and the two enormous viewing domes that allow you to look down into the park proper. This is just the reception area, typically where lines would form to purchase tickets if you didn’t have one already. There’s an area with tables and simple vendomats for liquid or frozen refreshment – they didn’t offer solid food here, only things that flow or melt. The idea was to make everything easy to clean, and to handle high traffic without a mess.

  • Ticket Vendors: Rather than having to line up at the counter directly, you could purchase tickets from the banks of screen vendors lining the curved waterpark changeroom barrier. These rows of four screens show pictures of the park slides and plunge pools, enticing people to pay a little extra (30 pazools) to get their ticket, which is a waterproof card that’s stipple-punched for the specific day and which is inserted into a turnstyle slot to access the changeroom, an assigned locker, and the entry stairs which lead down into the park’s top level.

  • Refreshments: Two semicircular clusters of eight automatic refreshment stands are found just next to the table areas, meant to provide a variety of different drinks, iced treats, and other liquid refreshments to those waiting around the arcade area. These could be treated as Alchemy Jugs in the sense that they had a regenerating quantity of different beverages on offer, though they didn’t dispense cups – you were expected to have your own canteen or park thermos to place under the receptacle. This minimized waste and trash accumulation, and provided Fwuush with an easy way to make extra money. No food is available here, only drinks.

  • Access Points: You see the circular counters with the symbols next to them? These were for the so-called ‘Dudes’ and ‘Babes’ to access the changing rooms once they acquired a ticket. Though it doesn’t really matter now, this used to be really important to the separation of the sexes and their respective changing areas, something the kuil too fairly seriously and which was once enforced by the colour and stipple-punching of one’s ticket card. This card is required to access the changing rooms, and thus the waterpark area below. A similar access area for those who had already changed was available from the arcade, with an ‘exit only’ door leading back out to the mezzanine. Note that you could only access the arcade if you already had a ticket card, and had already gone through the changerooms – they didn’t want people coming down from the mall just to play the games, you see. Scanners at the Arcade exit would only open the door for outgoing individuals - this was a one-way corridor once guarded by lutrai attendants.

          There isn’t much trouble in this area, as it’s meant to be a prelude to the more dangerous levels below and the one above. It’s a where the group will be under Blue’s supervision. He’s the lutrai intelligence which runs the park, a sort of ghost who’s been warning them not to come. He doesn’t want to hurt them, and if they made it this far he’ll be resigned to helping them instead, but he’s afraid of Violetta and he’s even more indirect in his approach to sending them messages. He resides in the games, the ticket booths, and the two heavy light reactors in the maintenance areas (represented by the Gear icon). He knows they’ll have come for the aquaar, and that it will mean his end, but he’s much more willing to fade away than Violetta, and won’t try to stop them. He will, however, try to keep them from venturing down into the park unprepared.

    • FAR SHORE ARCADE       “You need to downcycle the reactors if you're going to take the Aquaar, guys. I can help you, but Violetta will know as soon as we start powering down. She'll send things down here to kill you and I can't stop that. She'll put an end to me too, but I've been here for long enough. I'm ready to go.
          These reactors run on Radiant energy, providing not just power and illumination to the mall, but also regulating the immense network of valves and pipes around the aquaar itself. Originally intended to cool a military reactor, the aquaar was repurposed for the waterpark’s lighter power plants and thus shutting them down will allow it to be disengaged from the water circuit below. Until then, attempts to do so will expose anyone who tries to the full brunt of the mall’s energy source – the Radiance equivalent diving into an ultra-high voltage transformer while fully submerged. Until the reactors are cycled down, any attempt results in not just death, but complete disintegration. Blue will help them, but also warn them that as soon as they start the shut-down sequence, they’ll be on a timer before the entire mall shuts down and locks them inside forever.

          To get to the reactors requires a maintenance access card. The area with the gear symbol is danger-striped for a reason – it’s made for maintenance teams, and the danger-striped area will become an impassible wall once the card is inserted. Only once the striped floor area is raised will the massive bulkhead door open. Outside, warning iconics on the outer isolation wall will indicate SERVICE IN PROGRESS’. At the same time, the reactor door will open downwards, exposing it for maintenance.

      ARCADE NAME       TYPE   ATTRIBUTE     DIFFICULTY     ADVANTAGE   Summary / Objective of the Game
      Esoteric Barbarian     Action Adventure     Dexterity     12 + 1/level   12 + 1/level   Kill thousands of people who don’t understand you.
      Catasteroids   Scrolling Shooter     Dexterity     12 + 1/level   12 + 1/level   Kill thousands of people who don’t understand you.
      Tunnels of Bane II   Action Adventure     Dexterity     12 + 1/level   12 + 1/level   Kill thousands of people who don’t understand you.

    HEAVY LIGHT REACTORS       “You need to downcycle the reactors if you're going to take the Aquaar, guys. I can help you, but Violetta will know as soon as we start powering down. She'll send things down here to kill you and I can't stop that. She'll put an end to me too, but I've been here for long enough. I'm ready to go.
          These reactors run on Radiant energy, providing not just power and illumination to the mall, but also regulating the immense network of valves and pipes around the aquaar itself. Originally intended to cool a military reactor, the aquaar was repurposed for the waterpark’s lighter power plants and thus shutting them down will allow it to be disengaged from the water circuit below. Until then, attempts to do so will expose anyone who tries to the full brunt of the mall’s energy source – the Radiance equivalent diving into an ultra-high voltage transformer while fully submerged. Until the reactors are cycled down, any attempt results in not just death, but complete disintegration. Blue will help them, but also warn them that as soon as they start the shut-down sequence, they’ll be on a timer before the entire mall shuts down and locks them inside forever.

          To get to the reactors requires a maintenance access card. The area with the gear symbol is danger-striped for a reason – it’s made for maintenance teams, and the danger-striped area will become an impassible wall once the card is inserted. Only once the striped floor area is raised will the massive bulkhead door open. Outside, warning iconics on the outer isolation wall will indicate SERVICE IN PROGRESS’. At the same time, the reactor door will open downwards, exposing it for maintenance.


      BLUE HOUR MALL            LEVEL FIVE - UPPER WATERPARK
          The upper level of the waterpark is strangely dark and silent, though it looks like it’s supposed to be brightly-lit and teeming with swim-suited guests. The four great slides to the lower level are dormant, the great waterfalls as well, and only the watery aquamarine reflections of the bathing pools shed any real light across the immense upper concourse. In the silence there’s a sort of tension, as if you were all being watched from all around.

          This was the top of the park, where people would line up for the four famous waterslides that would take them to the lower level far below. Though there were only four slides, they were so thrilling and complex that people would line up to use them, and even climb stairs back up to use them again. They’re just fancy ways down from up here, and the main feature aside from the waterfalls and tranquil relaxation pools. There are openings in the floor where the lower level can be seen, all surrounded by safety railings – it’s about a hundred feet down, and not all of that fall ends in a plunge pool. There are four separate sets of stairs which can be used to descend or come back up from down there, along with the two spiral staircases back up to the Waterpark’s mezzanine. The slides are current off, as are the waterfalls, as if someone had shut them down recently. In clockwise order from the top of the map, they are:

  • Blue Bolt  "Named for its incredible speed and see-through paneling, the Blue Bolt is the fastest way down. Funnel twist through a near-vertical drop and then blast through the water curtains and the depth-defying…wait no, it’s death-defying. Well it’s not really deadly. I mean it feels deadly, but this isn’t The Drowner."

          The Blue Bolt reaches the lower level in twelve seconds - there is no faster way down. You hear these claims even as you enter the fountain chute, and as if sensing your presence, the water jet-pressure increases in an explosive shove. You are blasted into the Blue Bolt's upper funnel, an open corkscrew that gives you dizzying glimpses of the immense underground waterpark as you're injected at terrifying speed. The funnel builds up enough velocity to hurl you across a wide horizontal curve at breakneck speed, and a transparent section that gives you another view of the blurring lights and water patterns of the park below. Then it drops again, down through a series of water curtains which slow you just enough to make the splash-down a little less explosive.

  • Deep-Sixer  “The Deep-Sixer, or the Drowner as some of you call it, is what we call a medium water hazard. That's the most hazardous hazard that you're allowed to have in a mall. For the record, the part that people drowned in is the part at the very end, so you'd better be a good swimmer if you're getting into this thing.”

          The jets shove you into the breech at an unremarkable speed and for far too many mundane moments it seems as if it might have just been a joke. There are a few sharp turns, a few stomach-wrenching drops, but nothing that would risk drowning you. Then the slide just suddenly isn't there anymore, as if they'd run out of tubing or some piece had broken off. You tumble off into space, twenty-five feet above the sprawling, pitiless tile of the vast underground waterpark. And you fall. And the placement of the splashdown is just right for you to hit it dead-center. You are deep-sixed into a much deeper pool than the others, a deep blue well that slows your descent and sweeps you up to the shallower exit stairs in a torrential undertow.

  • Lazy-Twister  “If you'd rather take it slow, this one gives you all the time in the world. You'll get down there eventually, you know, but it'll be later on. After the twist. And the bubble. And the switchback. This is the…uh…the thinking-person's waterslide. Go on, you've got all day.”

          The Lazy Twist gets its name from the shallow grade and winding excess of its course, full two minute descent which loops around the entire outer perimeter of the lower park. It's lazy alright, lazy enough to concentrate on other things such as the unusually unsettling vista of such a huge, empty place. The slide widens out in many places, and takes you past stretches of nearly-invisible sapphix glass where other, less lazy slides can be seen, along with the four artificial waterfalls spilling down into the lower level. The slide passes through all four of them with a low roar, and the speed picks up just little towards the last stretch where you can see the splash-down pool coming into view. There's barely a splash, though, more of a lazy slosh.

  • Typhoon  “Are you ready to get really, really wet? You thought a waterpark was wet before but you haven't seen anything yet. This one's got full-immersion plunges so you're going to want to hold your breath, and the pool at the end is as cold as death. Alright, maybe not that cold, but not a lot of words rhyme with 'breath'.”

          The Typhoon was clearly made to simulate an actual typhoon, because as soon as you slide down into its watery grasp, you are at risk of drowning. It must be one of those hard waterslides where some of the fountain-jets are reversed and you have to maneuver or be battered by the inertia. And it's true, there are some stretches of full immersion and wide stretches of brutal whitewater whorls that spin you right around. It's almost like this thing was made to simulate being dumped out of a canoe in a raging river. Can you survive? With a final, punishing series of waterjet rapids you're rolled end over end into narrowing stretch and straightened out (the wrong way) just in time to get smashed into the splashdown pool hard enough to knock the wind out of you.

  • The Tranquil Pools: “Aw, maybe you just need to relax, huh? Yeah, I know. It's been rough. Take a little time to stretch out, the water's fine. You brought a towel, right? Pretty important down here."

          The Tranquil Pools are just that. They're a place to relax in warm, crystal-clear water and maybe listen to music. These pools are only hip deep and have sculpted bench linings, with room enough to ten to twenty guests. There are eight of these pools in a ring around the stairs between lower and upper levels. These would be good places for a Short Rest or just a soak, and anyone resting here will get to spend a free Hit Die in their recovery.

    • SHOWDOWN - FASHION ASSASSIN       “Tommy, it’s time for your last show. If we’re going to go, let’s make sure their final performance is one for the ages.”
          The lights in the upper waterpark dim, replaced with star projection, and the biggest star of them all is Perfect Tom, the high-profile bodyguard of the Mall’s intangible fashion queen. He descends from wires in the ceiling, spotlit from several angles, practically divine, and before you can even compose yourselves, he’s dropped down and struck a pose. Is it really him, or just a model of him? The advanced mannequin looks like it cost a fortune, all white alabaster and ivory, gold and steel. The mall speaks in his voice, thundering from all around you.

          "You're the best we've ever had, so let's make sure we all go out with a bang!"

          Perfect Tom has company, too, a whole crew of Dapper Delinquents and Devilish Debutants from the mall’s moda mob - three for each of you. They descend on wires just like he did, assuming their coordinated positions as the music begins. It seems they know that this is their last show, and they’ve pulled out all the stops to make sure you all get the ending you deserve.

  • Battle: This is a tough fight - the moda are equipped with models of the party's gear, for they've been tailor-made to be future versions or copies of them, or worse, their cheap imitations once they defeat the originals and take their place as mall denizens. These unauthorized plagerisms should be described as offensively as possible, caricatures or doppelgangers with a parody edge that ought to sting. Each member of the party will find themselves surrounded by three of these moda clones, and while they aren't as tough as the original, they can flank and mock them while Perfect Tom uses his Cutting Words or Bardic Inspiration to encourage them until enough of them are defeated for party members to come after him directly. Once defeated, he'll go out with the promised bang, a Shatter spell triggered by the blow that fells him. This will cause any of his remaining moda gang to collapse immediately.

  • Alternate Resolution: There is another, better way to defeat Perfect Tom and his mob of moda. They can cut his strings, and free him from the same contract which binds Violetta. If he can be goaded into performing with a different star, it will void his contract. This only happens if the other bard is a better performer than he is, however, and will require a lucky guess, exceptional insight, or else if they use the Magnifying Lens from Radyo’s part wall to actually study his contract’s fine print in advance - they can wheedle this out of the incubus in Laserlight Nights. If the group did some homework, they’ll have this option to defeat the encounter in a much more stylish and dramatic way - Performance. Each round the party’s Perform roll beats Tom’s, they'll see a progressive change as follows:

  • First Defeat: Tommy will call off the moda of the party’s highest-rolling performer and invite that specific PC to dance with him instead of fighting - that party member's copy-cats will stop fighting and perform a parody of the Perform check they made. Depending on the mood, the DM should put on some appropriate music, and change the tone accordingly. All other moda will continue to fight as normal, and concentrate on surrounding Tommy rather than flanking their target PCs. There are enough to form a ring, an effort to keep the rest of the party from attacking Tommy directly as he competes with the party's performer. This may even delay their attacks for a round and hint that they might be on to something.

  • Second Defeat: Violetta will realize that something is wrong, and her omnipresent intercom-taunts will turn to threats. The moda she’s controlling will begin to act up, twitching their first dance moves and then joining the performance. Anyone fighting with them can make Perform rolls instead of attacking, and compel an opposing moda to copy their movements, even if unskilled. The rest of the party doesn’t need to beat these rolls, only attempt them, but for those who defeat their chosen moda adversary’s Perform check, they’ll convert them to allies against any who haven’t been turned. These moda will remain allies until the fight is over, staying adjacent to the one who beat them and using the Aid Another in future checks (specifically their next Perform check).

  • Third Defeat: Perfect Tom will be freed from his contract, and turn on Violetta, reactivating the waterslides and waterfalls. The other moda will stop fighting and complete their performance together, exploding one at a time in a shower of fragments and golden confetti. Perfect Tom will be the last to go, with a final bow, blowing a kiss to the one who defeated him as his overheated bearings light his Perfect body on fire. He falls down into the waterpark’s lower level and explodes.

          These defeats aren’t expected to be sequential. Each round that Tommy defeats his chosen rival's Perform is a round in which Violetta seizes back control of the other moda – emphasize this with marionette-like obedience and a growing struggle of resistance among the performers to let the party know they’re on the right track. On rounds where Violetta’s in control, all the moda will fight the party in the usual way, though Tommy and the one trying to outperform him remain engaged with the challenger's copies taking the Dodge action or (for a greater challenge) doing the Aid Another to assist their leader's Perform checks. They will never attack as long as the challenger only makes Perform checks in kind.

    •   BLUE HOUR MALL            LEVEL SIX - LOWER WATERPARK