theearth: (Default)
Save the Earth Mods ([personal profile] theearth) wrote2013-03-01 05:36 pm

City Development

BASICS

The city does not have a predefined geography. It is instead primarily left indistinct for the purpose of allowing the players and the plot to add what they need when they need it. For a general idea of the current weather, please see Ocean City, NJ; however, again, this is not a strict rule and may be bent for the purposes of plotting.

If you add something to the city geography beyond the generic, just drop a small note of it here. It's only for the purpose of building up the city's contents and perhaps allowing players to coordinate elements together. For example, how many of the school age characters go to the same school? Does someone work at another's favourite pizza joint?

The city contains the obvious for a real world developed city in the USA. Within the surrounding area (and in range of the player characters) is an agricultural hub, taking advantage of a particularly fertile stretch of ground. Similarly a few large woods and forests are in range. Locations of note include:

TUNING TOWERS

The third tallest building in the USA at 1,350ft tall. The building is situated in the centre of the business district. Tuning Towers is known for its design that resembles a tuning fork, a combined base but split into two separate towers higher up. It was commissioned by the industrialist Harry Tunings, who had the design made to reference his name and not the other way round.

DEAD DISTRICT

Not officially known as such, the Dead District is the nickname for a large area of long abandoned buildings, that due to legal issues have been left standing to dilapidate. Although the expense is minimal in purchasing the land, every few years someone does and gives up on achieving anything with it quickly. The area spans several blocks and is inhabited by a small society of the homeless population. The name stuck after the then mayor claimed the entire district had dropped dead overnight.

FORT TURNER

A military installation just about in the range of the player characters. Fort Turner is a US Army base famous during the Revolutionary War for changing hands between the British and American forces an extremely high number of times. The base houses a small military museum within its boundaries, which is separated from the main installation.

LOCKE CITY UNIVERSITY

Abbreviated LCU, Locke City University is a moderately well-known and longstanding institution of higher learning with a considerable population of both full-time and part-time students. While the colleges and degree programs offered are varied, there is a particular focus on history, engineering, Asian studies, and a pretty decent medical program, complete with a teaching hospital adjacent to campus. Their school colors are red, green, and white, with a polar bear mascot named "Bliz" - a source of either embarrassment or fierce defensiveness depending on who you talk to, as well as various controversies over the years due to the claimed "Christmassy" theme in a place that's not even very North Pole-like.


elfstoned: (Default)

LSR Clinic

[personal profile] elfstoned 2013-04-09 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Just south of the Dead District, in a very unsafe part of town, lies a run-down brick building with a faded sign out front. The only letters left on the sign are L-S-R, and, well, the name stuck.

Dr. Aaron Strider will treat anyone, regardless of whether or not they can pay. Essentially he charges a flat fee, but if you can't manage it, he can be talked down without too much trouble. It's a registered nonprofit organization, but he's had trouble finding people to donate to it, so he sells weed on the side to cover operating costs. It's small and could be better supplied, but it's clean and Strider is a good physician. He also doesn't ask questions.
edhwierfan: (Default)

Penning & Co. Offices

[personal profile] edhwierfan 2013-04-29 03:47 pm (UTC)(link)
In the business district, not far from the Tuning Towers.

Penning & Co. is a manufacturer of pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods started by Aeron's parents Urien and Yvonne Penning. The original company HQ is in London, but Aeron currently manages the American branch in Locke City. It's a nice building with 20 floors that blends in with the rest of the buildings in the business district.
amberhearted: (Default)

Locke City University Hospital

[personal profile] amberhearted 2013-05-10 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Adjacent to Locke City University's campus, LCUH is the university's 24/7 teaching hospital. It is a level I trauma center, providing "the highest level of surgical care to trauma patients". As a teaching hospital, LCUH does a lot of charity care, treating uninsured patients without expecting payment.

Who might work there: general and specialty surgeons, nurses, security officers, medical students doing their intern/fellowships, EMTs.

Who does work there: Alexander Varista, paramedic.
exloserspromise: (Default)

Volcano Girl's

[personal profile] exloserspromise 2013-05-20 10:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Volcano Girl's is a fairly small music store located a few blocks east of the center of Locke City. They sell new and used records and CDs and new and vintage band shirts and posters, advertise local musicians and DJs, and buy used and vintage stuff if it's something they can resell.

The place is easily recognized by the smaller band posters and old concert ads edging the display windows on either side of the front door and, above it, the large orange "Volcano Girl's" logo with a stylized picture of an erupting volcano in front of a giant record.
Edited (whoops maybe I should finish before posting) 2013-05-20 22:26 (UTC)
hollowleg: they r so fashionable yes yes sparkle (Default)

Locke City Culinary Arts Institute

[personal profile] hollowleg 2013-05-22 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
LCCAI is located in the same general vicinity as the university, just a few blocks down the road. Students here are trained in classic cooking, as well as new methods, and there are instructors from all over the world. There are classes for beginners and hobbyists as well as those on the road to becoming professional chefs.
fatherssins: (OOC)

Cold Marble

[personal profile] fatherssins 2013-06-05 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)


Cold Marble
A delightful little ice cream parlour and sweet shop located near the centre of Locke City. This confectioner's has a good local reputation for quality goods, pleasant service and a friendly atmosphere. It's popular with both young and old patrons despite being slightly pricey.
caosgo: (and my thoughts were enough)

St. John's Episcopal Church

[personal profile] caosgo 2013-06-05 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
About five blocks northwest of the city center, St. John's is a welcoming parish with a congregation of about 180-200 people or so.


happybirthdaytoyou: (decoratin)

MAGNIFICENT BAKERY

[personal profile] happybirthdaytoyou 2013-06-07 01:02 am (UTC)(link)


MAGNIFICENT BAKERY

Originally known as Tachibana Baked Goods, MAGNIFICENT BAKERY underwent a name change when old Tachibana retired and his apprentice and manager, Eugene Yokugawa, took over this Locke City institution. The original branch is located in Locke City's sizable Japantown, but a secondary branch was opened near the city center five years ago. (There is talk of opening up a third branch if business continues to prosper.) MAGNIFICENT BAKERY is known for having high quality baked goods of all kinds--they did a brisk business in cupcakes at the height of the cupcake trend--but what they are most famous for are their cakes. Well, thank and Eugene Yokugawa's larger than life nature.

Mr Yokugawa prefers a hands-on approach to running his business and can often be found at either location, running the till or baking in the back.
shiromadoushi: (Default)

Fun Central!

[personal profile] shiromadoushi 2013-06-08 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
Fun Central!

A combo arcade, snack bar and family fun place, Fun Central boasts a huge assortment of video games, cheap pizza, mini golf and in the summer, bumper boats.
moarnomsplz: (derp)

Locke City Academy

[personal profile] moarnomsplz 2013-06-11 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
Familiarly known as "LCA," the Academy is a coed private high school located in one of the more well-off sections of Locke City, with several brick buildings and fairly extensive grounds. Students wear uniforms. Everyone gets button-down shirts and blazers, and the boys have to wear a tie in the school colors of navy blue and green, plus dark-colored trousers; while the girls have a choice between a solid navy skirt, or a plaid one in the school colors.
shiromadoushi: (Default)

Elledell College for the Arts

[personal profile] shiromadoushi 2013-06-11 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
Elledell College for the Arts is a small private, expensive college for the arts in the upper class part of the city. Old stone buildings, shady tree lined walkways, every inch of the campus has class written all over it, and the price of tuition ensures that class is all that walks the halls. Classes run year 'round because performance never rests, and neither should students if they wish to shine!
stealinghats: (descend)

Fabric Kingdom

[personal profile] stealinghats 2013-06-13 03:55 am (UTC)(link)

A large fabric & crafts store located near the local mall, it has everything from sewing machines to knitting supplies to those tacky little shiny plastic discs people stick all over clothes sometimes. Yes, it even has fabrics. The selection is pretty decent. If it has something to do with crafting or clothes, you can probably find it here.
Edited (WHY WAS THAT IMAGE SO HUGE) 2013-06-13 03:56 (UTC)
reapsthewind: (Default)

Locke City University

[personal profile] reapsthewind 2013-06-14 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
Wow because this somehow did not have an individual entry yet?

Locke City University is the giant semi-faceless state college. It has an aeronautical engineering program, a teaching hospital and medical program, among other things. It's considered a fairly good state level school, but it's not a fancy Ivy League place. They do have good scholarship programs and other forms of financial aid.
hoennmaihime: Artist is PikaPika (Shopping's even more fun this way~)

The Starling-Chandler School

[personal profile] hoennmaihime 2013-06-18 01:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Often referred to as just 'Starling', the School is an all girls' private school that runs from kindergarten through to grade 12. Located in one of the nicest sections of Locke City, it consists of one large, fancy brick building that holds its 500+ students with ease. Tuition is (of course) ridiculously high, but plenty of people find the school's prestigious reputation and the doors it opens to be more than worth the price. Due to a combination of that and its vigorous academic program, most of the students are expected to go on to Ivy League universities.

The mandatory uniforms consist of button-down shirts, with pleated skirts, blazers and ties in maroon red with gold lining (school colors). Skirts come in solid and plaid.



oh, and there's a tv show called 'Libel Lady' based on a series of books written by an author who based them on her experiences at Starling. With a touch of wild exaggeration (except sadly not really).

EDIT: They do boarding too
Edited 2013-06-18 13:36 (UTC)
happybirthdaytoyou: (beyond infinity)

Japantown/Little Tokyo

[personal profile] happybirthdaytoyou 2013-06-24 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
Fucking huge.

Japantown is probably the biggest "ethnic neighborhood" in Locke City. Many of the street signs are written bilingually. There's a Japanese shopping center, a movie theatre that plays Japanese films, and the headquarters of the Japanese language tv channel there. There's a Japanese language school. There are also residential apartments.

(Locke City has a pretty big Japanese immigrant population is what we're saying. Surprisingly big for the East Coast.)
Edited 2013-06-24 08:51 (UTC)
luredbypower: (019)

The Hidden Closet

[personal profile] luredbypower 2013-07-04 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Established in 1990. It was originally owned by Katherine Fairbanks until her death in 2011. Now owned by her son, Hugo. The store is located downtown and not too far from campus and is close to a bus stop.

The store itself is a clothing store that caters to strippers and people who practice S&M. They also do carry adult merchandise, books, and videos as well, but to a more limited scale than an adult bookstore. Their product line includes clothes that are light and easy to remove, lingerie, leather and pvc gear, also a decent selection of shoes more favored by those sorts of people.

The store is open from 10AM to 3AM 7 days a week. The owner is often around and can be found on site and he also has many employees. They are happy to accept custom orders and promise the utmost confidentiality in any orders made and merchandise purchased. They also do offer mail order and online orders for those who prefer not to stop into the store for any reason and get orders from all over the country now because of that.
Edited 2013-07-04 21:08 (UTC)
originaloddcouple: (Default)

Something Old (Antiques)

[personal profile] originaloddcouple 2013-07-11 06:19 am (UTC)(link)
Standing about three miles away from Dead District and eight blocks from a bus stop, this building was previously home to an obsessed fashionista. It had a wide, open area where the woman would present her homemade dreses to her personal audience: her many cats. She eventually died of old age, and the place was for sale for a few years before the Dian couple bought it. It toolk a lot of renovation, but this antiques store is in tip-top shape.

It's really more of a curiosity shop than an antiques store. Something Old Antiques offers tons of classic items, like vases, clocks, lamps, and such. But most of them are placed sporadically near the walls or corners. The center of the the space is devoted to all the strange and exciting gizmos and gadgets the couple has collected. Various knick-knacks, toys, and other exotic items are displayed on wooden tables. The crazier and off-the-wall it seems, the more likely you could find it in the middle of the shop. The upstairs area is blocked, as that's where the Dian couple lives.

Office hours are advertised as 10 am to 4 pm, Mon-Sat, but it usually depends on whether or not one of the Dians' happens to be awake. When they are working, expect a happy and friendly demeanor. Do not expect efficiency or quick service.
angelskills: (« check my wheels)

POSIES TEA PARLOR

[personal profile] angelskills 2013-07-12 04:22 am (UTC)(link)
shhh i totally didn't forget to do this

Posies Tea Parlor is a flower themed tea parlor, with many odds and ends, checkered things, and teapots in the window. They import teas from around the world and have a tea menu with eight pages for tea, and a food menu, which is five pages, and the dessert menu is three. They have cozy chairs, lots and lots of books in lots of bookshelves, and are every "homie" and bright. It's located near LCU and doesn't stand out much aside for the sign that says Posies.

Everything is delicious.
allinvein: (Default)

Open Arms Homeless Shelter

[personal profile] allinvein 2013-07-14 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
Once an old apartment building, the Open Arms shelter was opened about ten years ago; it exists a few blocks away from the Dead District. The administrative offices are all on the second floor, a soup kitchen is located on the first, and the remainder of the floors are for the people that the organization serves. Open Arms is a non-denominational, charity-funded group, so it survives solely based off of grants and personal donations; the government has no hand in its operation. While the facility doesn't have an actual medical team and isn't equipped to provide medical care beyond giving out Tylenol and bandaids, there's always an on-call nurse practitioner around, who can refer people to other medical facilities as needed.
unwakingwaters: (Default)

Locke City Fencing Club

[personal profile] unwakingwaters 2013-07-27 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Locke City Fencing Club has a slightly intimidating exterior as it's located in what used to be an old warehouse, but once inside it's a well-appointed and well-equipped fencing club. The club offers lessons for beginners through experts, workshops, and summer camps for kids. They participate in national fencing competitions and once sent a few people to the Olympics in the 90s; nobody made it to the finals though. They have full-size electric fencing strips, a sprung wooden floor, and rental gear for beginner and low-income students.

Lessons ARE expensive, averaging about $185 per lesson, but the school provides discounts for high school and college students (and college students can take lessons for course credit), and even has just started a program for low-income residents.

(for an example of a real-life fencing club and what you might find, see here: http://dcfencing.com/ )
lightsoflife: (Default)

Locke City Forensics Laboratory

[personal profile] lightsoflife 2013-08-20 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
The Locke City Forensics Laboratory is a medium-sized facility located roughly a mile from the city police department. The lab contains a mix of equipment and technology - some of it old, some of it new. Technically the lab is independent and nonpartisan, but naturally most of their business still comes from the police or other law workers and so the lab has a good working relationship with those agencies; scientists from the lab often handle evidence and/or testify in legal proceedings regarding their findings. The lab is also involved in some research, although not everyone who works there participates.
Edited (More details) 2014-05-08 07:11 (UTC)
carolinesays: (c: bruising and aching)

Prometheus

[personal profile] carolinesays 2013-08-21 12:51 am (UTC)(link)
Prometheus is a tech firm specializing in consumer electronics and software, with its offices easily located in the business district. It's a tall sleek building with a distinctive cyan logo by its entrance. The company has been around for over a decade and has done steady business, though it's seen better days. Its products and general image lean towards a retro-futuristic raygun-gothic look.

Not all of the building is used by the company: A number of floors are rented out to smaller businesses, and there's a pretty nice coffee place on the ground floor.
toobig: (pic#6592077)

Locke City Publishing Co.

[personal profile] toobig 2013-08-29 11:30 pm (UTC)(link)
A small publishing company that took off when they published a nationwide bestseller. It still has a homey feel to it, but they're getting bigger and always looking for fresh new authors to work with. Right now they're doing a surplus of fantasy novels, but have published all genres in the past. Sell what people want, right?
gogoghostpowers: (Default)

Meadowland Falls Theme Park

[personal profile] gogoghostpowers 2013-08-30 03:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Locke City's local theme park located on the edge of the city's suburbs, resembling the real life Kennywood, but with more roller coasters. It has just about everything you could want out of a theme park: calmer rides for children, thrill rides, carnival games, food stalls, coasters of varying sizes, styles, and intensity...go wild with figuring out what they have, really, we can go up to Six Flags levels here if we want.

Meadowland Falls is notable for their roller coasters in particular, they have the third highest number of roller coasters in the country, some of them being famous enough in their own right to be known by the general populace. In particular, about half of their roller coasters, including some of the most popular ones in the park, were designed by the Fentons and have terrible names, like The Fenton Menace or Fen-TONS-O-FUN.

The park may or may not be out of echo-keeping bounds for some!
pianistofraielin: (Calm and Sincere)

LCHS

[personal profile] pianistofraielin 2013-09-17 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
Locke City High School, AKA LCHS, is the city's main public high school.

The school colours are green/white/gold and their mascot is a white reindeer with a green neckerchief.

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