Victoria Falls
From HOTGT
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History
Victoria Falls shares a similar history with many of Regina's mining communities. The Corone Mining Consortium scouted the location and determined that it was rich with graphite. They set up a mine and, with the mine, came a town. Victoria Falls was named after a small river that splashed over the cliffs. The river has long since dried up thanks to construction but the name remains.
Location Notes
These notes reference the accompanying map of the town.
1. Victoria Falls Space Port: The only way you can tell the port's three "landing pads" from the rest of the rock and sand that surrounds the town is to look for the large blackened patches. A wooden sign is posted at the base of the stairs leading up to the town, informing captains and crew that their first stop needs to be the Rail and Transport Station. At the station they can pay their docking fees as well as arrange for the ship to be refueled. Fuel costs x1.5 the normal price. Docking fees include waste disposal.
2. Livery: People who need to buy horse flesh do it here. Ali Hussein keeps riding horses for sale but he specializes in breeding draft horses. There are those who say that his Suffolk Punch are the best heavy labor horses on Regina. They are used throughout Victoria Falls, even to pull the tanks the transport station uses for refueling starships.
3. Corone Mining Consortium Offices: These are the main offices of the Corone Mining Consortium in Victoria Falls. It is also the real center of power in town, though the corporate suits are content to leave well enough alone so long as the town doesn't enact any laws or policies that run counter to Corone interests. The man in charge here is Robert Taylor, an accountant who believes in keeping costs as low as possible.
4. Rail and Transport Station: The rail and transport station consists of two buildings and a yard. The smaller building serves as the office for the port and stationmaster, Harriet Gibaldi, and a ticket booth. The larger building is an emergency supply and repair depot for the gravcars. A wagon with tanks for fueling and taking away waste from spaceships as well as stables for the station's draft horses, are in the yard out back.
5. Victoria Falls Tribune: Roger Bush runs a small town paper. He knows it and he's content to know it. Most of the folk in this town can't afford electricity, much less a cortex box. Roger mixes news from the cortex with local happenings that most people in town already know but want to read about anyway. The paper gets cranked out daily.
6. Town Hall: Pretty much what you'd expect. There's some offices, a room for records, and a meeting hall. Technically, the town is run by group consensus but the mayor who keeps things organized is Albert "Buck" Jones. Buck's pretty much on the payroll of Corone Mining and isn't much of an innovator. He's happy to keep things as is so long as everything stays peaceful.
7. Jail/Sheriff’s Office: The sheriff's office is almost stereotypical. Almost. The front room's got a desk where the sheriff or his deputy sits. There are three cells built into the back wall. In the corner is a gun safe containing enough rifles and pistols to arm a posse in times of trouble. The town sheriff is, and has been for quite a while, Roy Chan. Roy's the sort of lawman who sticks to the spirit of the law, not the letter. He's also good at his job. During his youth he served as a Federal Marshall for the Alliance.
8. Victoria Falls Credit Union: The Credit Union is an unusual institution in a corporate mining town. It isn't owned and operated by the company but, instead, is owned by most of the town's citizens and run in trust by Manfred Hall, a jovial, older gentleman with a calm demeanor.
9. Six Star Hotel: Even though it is the only hotel in town, Six Star wouldn't be able to stay in business if it wasn't for it's secondary source of income. Liberty Nash, the hotel's owner, employees a dozen or so women as 'massage' artists. Everyone knows the place is a whore house but no one says anything about it because it helps keep the miners calm and peaceful like.
10. Celebration Field: All that's here is a large field and a gazebo. The field is used for weddings, town festivals, and the like. The townsfolk take great pride in the Field and it is the only place where the grass actually grows green thanks to a lot of loving care from volunteers.
11. Victoria Falls School House: This is a three room schoolhouse. Grades 1-4 are taught in one room. Grades 5-8 are taught in another. Grades 9-12 are taught in the last. Most kids don't actually make it to the last classroom. They either go to work for their family, enter the mines, or find their way off world. Visitors to the town wonder how one woman can teach all three classes. The jokes on them, though. Amy, Jenny, and Pisxie Springfield are actually triplets with a sly sense of humor.
12. Eli’s General Store: Eli's General Store isn't owned or run by Eli and hasn't been for quite a while. Eli retired and sold the store to young Hooper Johnson, the older brother of future town doctor, Shamus Johnson. Eli doesn't carry food or electronics but he does carry pretty much everything else. His inventory changes regularly, depending on what he can get imported that month.
13. Royal Flush Saloon: The Royal Flush is the favored hangout of the miners after hours. As such it tends to be loud, wild, and occasionally violent. Not a week goes by that Sheriff Chan doesn't visit the place to bust a few heads and drag them down to sober up over the night.
14. Wild Fu Yu’s Electronics and Laundry: Fu Yu saw an opening in the local market and moved to fill it. He opened up a shop to sell and repair electronics. Unfortunately, not enough people needed to actually buy or repair electronics so he opened a laundry as well, to help make up the income. He dreams of the day he can shut down the laundry and work electronics full time.
15. Brighter Tomorrow Pawn and Consignment: A lot of people in Victoria Falls have occasional trouble paying for one thing or another. When they do, they head over to Miss Becky's. She gives a fair price and doesn't try to cheat people out of their hard earned coin. She also sells items made by local craftsman, taking a fifteen percent commission on each sale.
16. Pool Hall: Because it doesn't serve alcohol, the pool hall serves as an unofficial youth center for the community. The majority of the crowd here on any night are under the age of eighteen.
17. Victoria Falls Grocery: The Olsens, an couple in their spry eighties, run the local grocery. Rumor has it that Mr. Olsen knows quite a few shady characters. No one knows if that's true but he does somehow manage to keep up a good selection of fresh foods.
18. A Touch of Paquin: A Touch of Paquin was founded during the war by Lisa Ling. A dancer herself, Lisa focused on turning a Touch of Paquin into a bright spot of culture. Through her natural charisma and good temper, Lisa managed to bring in enough townsfolk to keep the place running. It became a bar for those who wanted to avoid the rowdiness of the miners and the regular shows, usually given by traveling troupes, were welcome entertainment. Unfortunately, Lisa died several years ago and her son and daughter had little interest in carrying on for her. The Paquin got bought up by a man named Clyde Anderson. Clyde's a good enough fellow but he doesn't have the same sophistication than Lisa did. He likes simple entertainment. He hosts regular town poker tournaments. He often wins them, too.
19. Good Word Church: The Good Word Church is looked after by Shepard Cooper. He's a soft-spoken, thin man with balding hair and glasses. He's very kind and has a good feel for the people of Victoria Falls. Usually, when someone needs something, he's th first to know.
20. Buddhist Temple: The Buddhist community in Victoria Falls is too small to warrant a full temple but they've managed to convert a nice, small house into a shrine.
21. Town Power Plant: The town power plant belches dirty smoke into the air twenty-four hours a day. Most of the electricity generated is used by the mines but some is used by businesses and those residents that can afford it.
22. Victoria Falls Downs: In Victoria Falls more gentile citizenship, squabbles aren't settled by duels but by horse races. The Downs is both a race track and a practice ground and stable for those who can afford a horse but not a stable of their own.
23. Doc Johnson’s Place: Doc Johnson's been the town doctor for as long as anyone can remember. He's buried three wives and plans on outliving his fourth. He's your typical Rim town doctor: grouchy and in favor of good clean living over fancy medicines. He does care about the folk of the town, though, and takes most of his payment in the form of trade rather than what little coin people have.
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| Phantapunk | Aeryn Background • Player Characters • NPCs • House Rules | |
| Concrete & Crimson | World Background • Scoobies • NPCs • House Rules | |
| Keep Flying | The 'Verse • The Crew • NPCs • House Rules | |
| Polybius | The World • Investigators • NPCs • House Rules | |
| Labyrinth | The World • PCs • NPCs • House Rules | |
