Dante's Inferno
 | |
| "Nothing Succeeds Like Excess!" | |
|---|---|
| Connection | 6 |
| Type | Seattle Nightlife |
| Player May Join | No |
| Health | Maintaining |
| Area of Operation | Seattle |
Faction Information
A staple of the Seattle Nightlife, Dante's Inferno is also very poorly covered in 5E texts. The below work is almost entirely the work of, and attributed to, Eric Faber of Airborne Ham Games, with our sincere thanks
Summary
Perhaps the premier nightspot in Seattle, Dante’s Inferno has earned its place at the very top with a long history of devotion to the motto “nothing succeeds like excess.” One of three sister-nightclubs (the other two in London and Hong Kong), the Inferno takes the theme of “Nine Circles of Sin” quite literally, having nine levels. The first seven are associated with the Seven Deadly Sins; guests enter at the topmost level and descend to the increasingly select and rarified depths, weeded out by the Inferno’s door-staff and the wishes of the club’s manager and its owner, Dante Passini.
At the lowest levels are Purgatory (“where there’s a promise of getting into Heaven”) and Hell (“where you forget all about Heaven”). These are invitation-only, open to Dante’s favored few and the rich and famous of the Seattle nightlife scene. A ticket into Hell is a sure sign you have truly arrived in the Emerald City. With fantastic AR displays complementing transparent floors and spiral staircases, and full-service bars and menus on each level, there’s more than enough sin at Dante’s to go around, so pace yourself!
>You have to hand it to Dante. The Inferno, like a snooty French restaurant, makes being discriminated against part of the experience, but they do it in style. For example, a fantastic wrought-iron staircase spirals around the outside of the club so guests enter from the top floor and make their way down, meaning the lowest floors are the most exclusive. So, if you have to stand in line for hours, you might as well do it with a great view, right? The stairs have a canopy, so Dante’s can accommodate much longer lines than other clubs, and people are willing to go there just to be seen waiting in line! >Khan-A-Saur >Dante himself is an increasingly rare sight at the Seattle Inferno, as he prefers his townhouse in London and spends more of his time there. The nightly affairs are in the well-manicured hands of the manager, an elf named Alessio; always dressed sharp enough to cut you in the latest designer suits, his bald head covered with animated tattoos of hellish torments and delights and his solid black cybereyes reflecting the hot glimmer of flames, even when there are none present. >Ethernaut >The Inferno sometimes rents out Purgatory and Hell for private parties, which include a very nice security package, making them ideal for those get-togethers where nobody wants to be disturbed, or have their image captured. >Danger Sensei
Sinful Security
Physical Security: Kharon, the Ferryman
Kharon, Head of Security: Should you ever need to meet the Head of Security for the Inferno, understand that your night as it was is over. Kharon, regardless of if his name was picked before or after working at the Inferno, takes his role as the 'Ferryman of Souls' quite seriously. By the time he has gotten involved, numerous warnings have been given by bartenders, staff, and lesser security. Kharon choosing to involve himself only means one of two things - you are going back up to Limbo and out quickly... or you are going down to Hell and may never be seen again. "Kharon, Head of Security" has the following stats as is considered a TL 12 Opponent. Metatype: Ork Magic: Kharon is an "Athlete's Way" Barehanded Mystical Adept who burned out to add bioware and has since bought his magic score back to 7. His exact level of Initiation is unknown but he clearly has a few under his belt. Cyberware: Platlet Factories, Double Elastin, etc.
Limbo to Wrath: Princes of Hell The upper floors of the Inferno are populated by guards of a variety of metatypes and 'builds', from cyberware augmented warriors to magically enhanced mages and physical adepts. Universally, they are dressed as the various Counts and Marquis of Hell, taking on liberal literary license with the following classical Demons: Vassago, Sitri, Ipos, Gaap, Stolas, Orobas, and Seir. A "Prince of Hell" has the following stats as is considered a TL 6 Grunt Metatype: Any Magic: Many of the Counts are aspected Magicians or physical Adepts with a magic score of 4 but no bioware or cyberware Cyberware: Many of the Counts possess Wired Reflexes as well as dermal plating, Limb Replacement, and so forth, usually in Standard or Alpha grade.
Sloth to Purgatory: Dukes of Hell The lower levels of the Inferno possess guards that present with a much more refined air. While the general premise of "demonhood" are a running motif, these guards are more likely to be dressed in Mortimer of London as opposed to leather jackets with spikes on them. Guards who are augmented tend to have higher grades of augmentation as well as a larger suite of upgrades while magically aware guards tend to be full magicians or mystic adepts. They style themselves after the Princes of Hell, taking liberties with the Classical Demons: Amdusias, Agares, Valefar, Barbatos, Augusyon, Eligos, Zepar, Bathin, Saleos, Aim, Buné, Berith, Astaroth, Focalor, Vepar, Vual, Crocell, Allocer, Murmur, Gemory, Vapula, Flauros, and Dantalion. A "Duke of Hell" has the following stats as is considered a TL 8 Grunt Metatype: Any Magic: Many of the Princes are Full Magicians or Mystic Adepts with a magic score of 6 and the potential for some light bioware. Cyberware: Much of the above, augmented Princes possess cyberware and bioware in order to make them tougher and faster, usually in a Beta grade.
Hell: Kings of Hell The lowest level of Hell is reserved for those members of Kharon's staff who have earned his trust. They are unfailingly loyal to Dante and Kharon and by far the equal of any High Threat Response Team, often serving in that role should something occur on the grounds of the Inferno that requires such a swift and effective response. They are only ever seen in their Full Body Armor which is patterned after the various Kings of Hell, and like their lesser ranked peers on Kharon's staff, they take artistic liberties with the following Classical Demons: Baal, Paimon, Beleth, Purson, Asmodeus, Vine, Balam, Zagan, and Belial. A "King of Hell" has the following stats as is considered a TL 10 Grunt Metatype: Any Notes: Kharon recruits a very narrow band of people for his personal lieutenants who rule in Hell - Burnout Revenant Adepts with high magic scores and delta grade cyberware. Each King of Hell, additionally, has memory headware that allows their memory to be wiped of anything they witness while on duty in Hell - something that is likely a blessing in disguise for them.
Matrix Security: Spiders in the Spirals
The Host: Acheron, the City of Fear Host Type: Destination (Kill Code, pg. 44) Host Rating: 7 (A4 S5 D10 F9) Host Themes: Icons present in Acheron need to be modeled to fit some kind of sin and sufferer or a direct mirror of a person's appearance - demons and the like are expressly reserved for use by staff.
Spiders in the Spiral: Given the clandestine nature of many of the meetings that occur at Dante's, Matrix Security is tight. It can be reasonably expected that there are hidden cameras on every level except for Hell, motion sensors and laser grids on any non-standard entrances, and the most bleeding edge security devices that money can buy. Any individual Spider working to defend Acheron can be reasonably expected to have a number of colleagues to call in the moment something goes sideways. Furthermore, they will almost always have the cutting edge deck - Dante Passini pays well because he knows the safety of his guests is the key to staying in business. A Security Spider working for Dante is a TL 10 opponent and, notably, will not hesitate to Link Lock and Biofeedback someone to death who is trying to compromise the matrix security.
Astral Security: Hellish Cherubim
Wards and Barriers As part of the decorations for the Inferno, a keen eye will spot the anchors of a number of layered Wards which offer one more level of added security and protection to guests while they sin the night away. Guests attending the upper levels are expected to drop any magical protections on the way in, however, once someone has acquired a membership to Dante's via the "Patron of the Arts" lifestyle element, they can be considered to have done the necessary work to be 'whitelisted' to the wards and allowed to pass through with their magic intact. Of note, no one is ''ever'' whitelisted for the wards in Hell. There are three layers to magical protection around Dante's Inferno: * A Force 10 Mana Barrier covers the entire building * A Force 15 Mana Barrier covers Hell, exclusively * A Force 15 Obfuscation Ward also covers Hell * A Force 6 Alarm Ward exists on all offices and "staff only" areas.
Hellish Cherubim: Patrolling throughout the various levels of the Inferno are a number of watcher spirits as well as guard spirits. Summoned to fit the motif of the Inferno, these spirits are universally some twisted imp or demonic cherub and eagerly pounce on troublemakers. Spirits present at Dante's: * Force 8 Watcher Spirits at exits and entrances * Force 12 Guardian Spirits on each level
The Fires of the Inferno: Aspected Background Count In the upper levels of the Inferno, where things are much more chaotic, there is the general background count of 2, which most any Seattle native has probably acclimated to long ago. As one progresses down, however, the Count begins to take on a specific nature according to the floor it's on. If NOT playing with the Mana Aspect Rules: Once past Wrath, the BGC becomes 4 and if in Hell, it becomes 6. If playing with the Mana Aspect rules: * Each floor is aspected to its theme and follows the same numbers as above. * Notably Wrath is aspected to mindless violence, whereas Hell itself is aspected towards torture, brutal violence, and murder
Access, Guest Lists, and Assorted Strangness
- Weapons: Concealed weapons are allowed on site, given the frequent clientele of the Inferno, but anything over must be left behind or checked at the door with Kharon's staff.
- Violence: "Friendly" fist fights on Wrath are not unheard of, but closely monitored. Any violence on any of the levels will be grounds for being removed rather forcibly.
- Murder: The unwritten rule of Dante's Inferno is that no business is conducted on the grounds of the Inferno. Any violation of that is a one way ticket to Hell, in a literal and figurative sense.
- Infected: Pending Thematics - Upper levels?
- Drakes: Pending thematics
- Cyborgs: pending thematics
Major Locations
Entrance
The nine story building, taking up its own city block, is actually dwarfed by the surrounding architecture of downtown. Because of this, sky bridges from neighboring buildings stretch across the streets to the top of the Inferno and act as the only way to reach the entrance of the club, apart from the private landing pad on the roof.
Upon arrival, bouncers under the order of Charon, the club’s head of security, weed out the undesirables at the entrance to the first level. There, anybody who is allowed in has two options: party in limbo or try to go deeper. A stairway spirals around the exterior of the building from top to bottom, stopping off at each floor along the way. At each level, another team of bouncers wait to judge whether you are allowed to go deeper. If not, you go into the layer you are on or are asked to leave.
Access: Public - anyone can come to the entrance, but not everyone gets in.
>Nobody knows if Charon took the name to keep with the club’s theme or if it just worked out for him. Either way, the name fits his role. Charon and his guys are the ones who pick and choose who gets into the Inferno, following any specific directions from Dante or Alessio of course. >The Fitz
8th Floor: Limbo
The layer that is open to the public, Limbo is a pretty standard nightclub experience while still maintaining the hellish theme of the whole club. It does not represent any particular sin or vice, but instead represents the section of hell that all people go if they do not accept a pious life. By allowing anyone in, it shows that anyone who wants to can get into hell, but the real sinners go further.
“Anyone” is a misleading statement when referring to who is allowed into the first layer of the club. While it is officially open to the public, bouncers at the door allow only the elite, well-known, wealthy, or attractive individuals to enter the club. Only those with invitations or higher status get to the lower levels.
Access: High Lifestyle or above - Only the well known and the wealthy
>Getting into Limbo isn’t difficult if you can clean yourself up. If you look rich, or at least look good, you can get in. Smooth-talk Charon’s guys at the door and you can probably get in even if you ain’t that pretty. Main thing is that they don’t want chummers making the place look like some Puyallup dump, so they hand pick the clientele to maintain a high-class atmosphere. >Blackout
7th Floor: Lust
The first layer of the club that is off limits without invitation or prominence, Lust is a strip club. Walking down the stairs into Lust, you are met with the slowly growing scent of sweat and sex. Inside, stages, cages, and poles are scattered around the large room. Dancers of every race, sex, and cybermod niche are on full display showing off to the visitors. While most dancers are hands-off, there are several who can take you in for a “private dance” where you go behind closed doors and get a one-on-one experience.
Access: Luxury Lifestyle or Patron of the Arts
>This whole experience is just not the same without access to the bar. Like any bar, it serves a variety of drinks and drugs. However, Lust also serves a plethora of SimSense soft to enhance the patron's experience. If you ever wanted to feel the urge to hump everything that moves, and even some things that don’t, Lust is the place for you. >Oz, the Wiz >If you are easily offended by nudity, you might want to keep out of Lust. If you have an obscure fetish you need to indulge, you, chummer, have found the right place. Just be sure to know which kinks get private dances before you go prodding around for a romp with the dancers. Nobody likes a sleaze, not even at a strip joint. >C088 >While sex and nudity are the primary features of the second circle of the Inferno, it is also important to keep in mind that information flows more in Lust than anywhere else. Below Limbo, only VIPs can get in, but they have a tendency to be more distracted while staring at a pair of elf tits than just lounging around a club. With the added bonus of being the least restrictive VIP level, the patrons of Lust are a bit less careful about what they say to strangers. If you can get down one set of stairs, you get one of the best opportunities to be in the know. WIth that said, the view through the glass floor above does have a better angle to look down girls’ shirts. >Morris Kimiyo
6th Floor: Gluttony
Below Lust is Gluttony, the gourmet restaurant for the extremely VIP in Seattle. While all the layers of the Inferno serve food, this is where you go if you want the premiere Seattle dining experience. Still maintaining the hellish nightclub atmosphere with the matching glass dance floor in the middle, the booths and tables around the third level are for visitors seeking to have their “last meal.” For a measly 500¥, a visitor to Gluttony orders the only available option, entitled the Last Meal. This entails a sort of all-you-can-eat dinner of anything on the menu. Almost any imaginable food, even non-soy delicacies, can be ordered at no end. It is truly the most elite level of dining in downtown Seattle.
Access: Patron of the Arts (Dante's)
>While the bosses who need absolute privacy use Hell or Purgatory, Gluttony is where lots of the higher-ups in the mobs and the Yaks hold their “casual” meetings. It is still a night-club, so it is loud and hard to overhear conversations, but it is also a restaurant, so they get to have a long conversation over a meal with less fear of eavesdropping. >The Fitz >The Last Meal is technically the best deal in town on non-soy food, but only if you can hold it all down. Gluttony doesn’t give chummers who can’t finish their meal any sort of carry-home box, so if you don’t eat your ¥500 worth, you don’t get your money back. But if you find a tricky way to sneak some out, you could probably make a profit selling real cow meat on the street. >Oz, the Wiz
5th Floor: Greed
If you want to throw away your money at the most premiere casino in Seattle, you need to find your way down to the fourth layer of Dante’s Inferno. Greed has a reputation for big payouts and crushing losses. People have both earned and lost their fortunes and status there, although primarily the latter. While all casinos admit that their games are weighted towards the house, Greed has designed their games so that payouts happen few and far between. The lure to be seen gambling at the Inferno is enough to drive people to keep playing and keep losing, although the occasional billionaire jackpot is something everyone secretly hopes for.
Access: Patron of the Arts (Dante's)
>Gambling at Greed might seem like a good time, maybe even a good idea, but if you manage to ask someone who has lost everything at the Inferno, I bet they tell you to stop before you even started. I say “manage” because chances are, chummer, that you ain’t ever gonna see them again. We say they sold their soul to the Inferno for a reason, because the drek that ends up in debt to the house at Greed never turn up. >Morris Kimiyo >They never turn up because they get forced to work with the Yaks to pay off their debts. Everyone knows the Inferno has those ties and I’ve heard that sometimes they turn up doing suicide missions sometimes. Of course the soulless won’t get out alive, and I’m sure they know that. That’s why they get dragged off kicking and screaming when they lose everything at the club. >C088 >We ain’t working for… I mean, the Yaks ain’t working for Dante. I’ve never heard that rumor before. You’re wrong. >Morris Kimiyo >Yeah, okay. >C088
4th Floor: Wrath
Every layer of the Inferno has, at its center, a large glass dance floor. On most levels, this is the epicenter of the nightclub atmosphere keeps consistency through the entire establishment. For example, while Lust has many stages and cages around the room for the paid dancers to perform, the center of the room is occupied by a glass dance floor that club-goers use for their own revelries. Looking down through the floor from Lust, you see a similar sight on the restaurant level of Gluttony, although usually less provocative or generally less crowded. Below that, Greed’s dance floor is identical as well. The first level of the Inferno to break this theme is Wrath.
While it still has the large glass floor in the center of the room, the dancing and partying takes place around the outer walls of the room. The type of dancing is also a bit different than on other floors. Giant crowds of violent moshing surrounds the floor in a pulsating mass. SimSense served at Wrath’s bar promotes a violent and aggressive atmosphere of danger.
Looking down from above, you would still see the center stage, although it is often covered by small splatters of blood with silhouettes of only two individuals. On the fifth layer of Dante’s Inferno, the main attraction is full contact combat sports. Not the lethal blood sports of the underground scene, the boxing (both cyber and non-cyber events), mixed martial arts, and freestyle fights are held nightly at the Wrath combat arena and often aired on trideo broadcasts. Sometimes even high-profile Combat Biker events are hosted by the Inferno, but Dante doesn’t usually grant access to the individuals that attracts. Usually, the thrill of indulging in primal brutality draws huge crowds, but the fact that you need to reach the fifth layer of the Inferno to do so makes Wrath an exclusive and exhilarating experience.
Access: Patron of the Arts (Dante's), or by Invitation if competing
>Wrath is not only a pipe dream to get into for most of Seattle’s high-class, but it’s fighters are carefully selected from the best of the best. If a boxer of any weight class gets a chance to fight, let alone headline, a night at Wrath, they have made it. Winning nightly fights gets you closer to headlining, headlining gets you incredible fame. Fighting at the Inferno is the height of any career. >The Fitz
3rd Floor: Sloth
To get to the sixth layer of Dante’s Inferno, you have stood in line for hours, walked down six floors of stairs, and are among the most elite and wealthy individuals in Seattle. By the time you reach Sloth, you are ready for a relaxed yet exhilarating nightclub experience.
Sloth is a SimSense Parlour. However, not only does it let you have the exact experience you desire, it lets you do so in one of the most elite and exclusive settings in all of Seattle. In fact, when compared in exclusivity, Sloth is rated fourth in Seattle, behind the three lower layers in the inferno itself. Patrons at Sloth can choose from a collection of nearly a trillion different unique, full-immersion, SimSense experiences. At Sloth, you can submit to the most relaxing of the seven sins while having the time of your life.
Access: Patron of the Arts (Dante's)
>Don’t think that a SimSense parlour in the most exclusive club in the world is going to be legal and safe. If you know who to talk to, and if you made your way to Sloth it’s very likely that you do, you can get unlimited access to BTLs. The sixth layer of the Inferno advertises itself as a classy place to relax and have a fraggin’ great time, but we all know it’s just as sleazy as any dive bar in Redmond. >Oz, the Wiz
2nd Floor: Envy and Pride
Seven stories down from the publicly open Limbo is the layer of the Inferno that Seattle’s most elite and wealthy individuals gather to prove their superiority to the rest of metahumanity. Sharing a floor, Envy and Pride represent the two sins that fill a similar, if opposing role. The most influential people in Seattle full of pride while everyone above them envies.
Being as exclusive as it is, Envy and Pride is usually a very quiet club. On a busy night it might have twenty patrons mingling in their triumph. Very few have invitations to Envy and Pride. Everyone on the list is familiar with the others and, while you may not care for them, knows the formalities for each individual interaction. Because of this, several of the layer’s guests use it for private meetings and can expect that any other visitors will leave. Envy and Pride is as private of a room as you can get without paying for it.
Access: By special permission of Dante Passini or Alessio only.
>This makes it seem like there are a variety of people allowed in Envy and Pride. Believe me, there are so few people on that list that a troll could count them all, and I’m not exaggerating. And not only are there less people than drinks on the menu, they almost all work for the Yaks or have some connection to them. >Blackout >They don’t all have connections to the Yakuza. I’ve heard the mayor spends some weekends there. >Morris Kimiyo >I don’t mean to offend you, chummer, but if the mayor wasn’t taking bribes from you Yaks and letting you run the streets of downtown, he wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near Envy and Pride, let alone have an open invitation. >C088 >Well said. >Blackout
1st / Ground Floor: Purgatory
The ground floor that can be rented out for a only 10,000¥ an hour, Purgatory is advertised as the last chance to get into heaven. Apart from being an exclusive venue cut off from the rest of the Inferno, it is similar to Limbo as it lacks a defined theme. The only trait truly unique to purgatory is that the dance floor in the center is not made of a clear glass that lets you see into the levels below, but instead acts as an enormous mirror that reflects up to the seven layers of sinful indulgence above.
Access: By special permission of Dante Passini or Alessio or by a fee of 10,000 Nuyen per hour.
>It’s not cheap, but Dante lets almost anybody with the nuyen to afford it rent out Purgatory. That means, if you don’t have the status to get invited to one of the lower layers, you can always pay your way lower. It’s often used as a private venue for rich kid’s birthday parties, but sometimes a Johnson will rent it out for a couple hours for some privacy when dealing with runners. But remember, there is still a giant glass window looking down from above. Those who want real privacy and have the connections to do so go deeper. When someone doesn’t want their business to be known, they go to Hell. >The Fitz
Underground: Hell
Underground, isolated, and as exclusive as it gets, Hell is where you forget all about getting into Heaven. Not only do you need to be able to afford the absurd price tag to use Dante’s private room of sin, vice, and debauchery, but you need to be amongst the people allowed to even ask. Most of the AAA corps have contacts with Dante or Alessio, as well as most of the big mobs, the Mafia, and, of course, the Yakuza. Nobody sets foot in Hell without Dante Passini’s knowledge and explicit permission. WIth that permission comes the guarantee that knowledge of who and when never leaves Dante himself. Charon and his men make sure that is the case with extra security and external surveillance. If you need to be alone and don’t want anybody to know about it, Hell is your place.
Another feature of Hell is the ability to indulge any sin or fetish you may have. Behind closed doors, nobody asks any questions and any requests are met. If your thing is controversial or illegal, they have snuff and underground SimSense. If you just gotta have the real thing, they tend to make some exceptions for the right amount of cash.
Access: By special permission of Dante Passini only.
>I’ve never met anybody who’s been to Hell, but there are rumors of what it’s like. Since the policy is privacy, Seattle’s dirtiest deeds take place down there. To maintain that reputation, Charon isn’t allowed to place bouncers on the inside, the bar is self-serve, and any prostitutes are what has been referred to as “one use only.” >C088 >I met a girl who had the job of cleaning the place out once the patrons were done. She wasn’t allowed to know who was in there, but she was able to confirm the rule on the whores. Cleaning it out required one too many body bags, so she got out when she could. >Blackout >That’s… disturbing. >The Fitz
Who's Who in the Inferno
Staff
- Dante Passini - Owner
- Alessio - Manager
- Kharon - Head of Security
Members List: Patron of the Arts
- Pending
- Pending
- Pending
Members List: Special Permission
- None
Banned
- Chad Brent - He knows what he did.
Narrative Significant Runs
| Name | GM | Metaplot | Date of Run |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Embers | Asmodeus | 15 September 2084 |