Lastelle Island

			Memory 118

Par'tha Geography
Spatial Phenomena
Map of the Par'tha Expanse
	Jenatris Cloud
	Rintani Nebula
	Norlian Nebula
Jenatris Corridor	Siiden Passage
K'tem Hyperlane
Planets and Systems
Freeworlds Planets
Expanse Sector Planets
Valcarian Planets
Points of Interest
Aelann Imperial Shipyards	Midway Station
Jirissa Gardens	Lastelle Island
	Deep Space 26
	Shemsh
	Outpost Ganzera
Neighboring Regions
VIR	UFP
RSE	Solerian Sector
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Lastelle Island is a small island located in Oscion's southern hemisphere. It is entirely covered in the urban sprawl of Lastelle - the ancient seat of Kaen Tan's empire, and the present site of the sector capital. For the movers and shakers of Par'tha sector, Lastelle Island is the political, financial, and social epicenter of the Par'tha Expanse.

The city is super-exclusive, and the real estate is some of the most expensive in the sector. Only the most powerful people in the sector can afford to live here. Even mere money is not enough to land an apartment or villa in the city; one must have political connections as well as millions and millions of credits.

Architecture

Lastelle Island is a beautiful city built in the ancient Caraadian style of domed towers and temples. Many of the structures in Lastelle are thousands of years old. Though antiques, these buildings are structurally sound and well cared for. There are no slums to speak of on the island.

Older buildings are almost exclusively composed of stone - usually finely carved blocks. In general, structures tend to consist of many layers, almost as if they were built up on one another (this is often the case). There are many sub-buildings, add-ons, and tiers with rooks. Domes are a prominent feature in Caraadian architecture, and it is not uncommon for buildings to have several of different sizes. Other structures are more modern (being a mere few centuries old), and reflect more recent developments in galactic architecture styles.

Par'tha Society

Regions Expanse Sector Freeworlds Region Associated Regions Valcarian Imperial Republic Solerian Sector History Par'tha Expanse History the Great Trial Wars Government Altharra (Valcarian Emperor) Oscion the Great Council Noble Houses House Barahn House Beruna House Kerraron House Lanaxa House Larokon House Rettaan House Tadere Notable Species Expanse Sector Species Freeworlds Region Species Valcarians Society Sector Calendar Lastelle Island the Jirissa Gardens Yrocyn Mining Guild Balivari Industries Shadizaar Par'tha Expanse Edit this nav

Transportation

You wouldn't expect traffic to be a big problem on such a small island, since vehicles can only get into or out of the city via cargo transport or ship. However, many of the rich and famous residents of Lastelle Island consider it a mark of high status to fly an aircar or hover vehicle into the city to tool around in. Consequently, the streets are often jammed with limos, luxury speeders, and sports hover-vehicles - and no drivers are as impatient or intolerant of delays as nobles. The commoners, of course, do not actually live on the island, and rely on its public transportation system.

There are two mass transit monorail lines which run through the city on elevated platforms. The monorail line running along the coast of the island is the Coast Line, while the line cutting across the island is the Crosstown Line. Major highways run underneath the monorail lines.

The island is networked with canals. Millennia ago, they were constructed to drain the swamps in the island's interior, but as Lastelle City grew, they evolved into what they are today - an elegant and occasionally efficient method of getting around the city. When traffic is particularly bad on the streets of Lastelle, the canals actually provide commuters a faster means of getting around.

The only commercial traffic allowed in the canals are public transportation-oriented craft - water taxis, tour boats, ship launches (from the harbor), and so on (a few floating restaurants prove the exception to the rule). Most of the other craft on the water are either city police or maintenance craft, or private commuter boats. The canals are open to the sea, allowing small watercraft and launches to sail from the ocean into the city and vice versa. Though fairly wide, the canals are relatively shallow - few other ocean-going vessels can enter them. Most yachts dock in harbor marinas.

Throughout most of the city, the sides of the canals are moss-covered ferrocrete. In the Historical District, however, the sides are sheathed in beautiful frescoes. These frescoes are washed every night by city workers and kept in perfect repair.

City Locations

The following is just a sampling of the sorts of businesses and establishments around town. Naturally, there are more theatres, casinos, restaurants, and clubs than those listed here.

Historical District

The Historical District is the seat of Par'tha government. The really important government agencies are located here, as are the embassies of various houses and governments. It is a luxurious neighborhood of large imposing buildings, statues, ornate fountains, and plazas and parks.

Access to this area of the island is open to all during the workday. However, only commoners with access permits and the nobility may enter after hours. Due to zoning laws, buildings cannot be more than five stories high in this district. This law was passed to prevent new buildings from blocking the profile of the ancient domes and buildings here.

• The Palace. Kaen Tan's glittering palace was for millennia the center of regional power. Today it is a museum which presents a white-washed history of the sector to visiting tourists.

• Kaen Tan University. Kaen Tan University is literally as old as the Par'tha Empire, the first emperor dedicated it the year he brought his new government to Oscion. The small and ancient campus once housed the entire Tan University, but the school grew too large for Lastelle Island and its outrageously expensive real estate long ago; the rest of the campus is now located on Satado Island, 400 kilometers away. This original campus contains only the legal graduate school, the university's upper administrative offices, and a museum.

• Kanda Park. Kanda Park ranks as some of the most valuable underdeveloped real estate in the sector. It is a large preserve of rolling grassy hills, flower and rock gardens, and isolated stands of trees. One of its highlights is the Greenhouse, a large teahouse with a picturesque view of the sea. The Greenhouse, which is expensive but open to all, derives its name from its walls of heavy crystal glass.

• Dinalda Opera House. The Dinalda, named after Emperor Dinalda VII (patron saint of the Par'tha Opera), is a huge multi-level building containing three theaters, numerous rehearsal halls, a dance academy, and apartments for performers-in-residency. During capital season, at least two operas are running concurrently, and often three. In the off-season, performances are less frequent.

• Great Council Chambers. The Great Council meets in this huge capitol building. The maze-like interior of the Chambers contains several large meeting halls and thousands of offices and meeting rooms. Access is restricted to Council members and their staffs, government employees, and those with visitor permits (which can be obtained from the front office).

• Senate Building. The Senate Building is small, cramped, and drafty, but so imbued with the sector's heritage that no one dares suggest the Senate move to a larger and more modern building.

• Golhano IV Museum. Named after another emperor, the Golhano is Par'tha's most prestigious art museum. It regularly sponsors exhibitions of established and upcoming artists. The museum's art collection is extremely valuable; it has an excellent security system in place to foil would-be thieves.

• Tanith Library. The library stacks contain tens of thousands of books, scrolls, manuscripts, as well as computer databanks. The collective history of the Par'tha Expanse going back almost seven millennia is stored here, with surprisingly few gaps - the staff over the centuries have been zealous in protecting the historical record from politically-motivated revisionists anxious to portray their ideological enemies in a bad light by rewriting history. Their greatest failure is also the most recent; the names and bloodlines of known Kerraron dissidents have disappeared from the records. No one knows whether this was done by the Empire, one of Kerraron's domestic enemies, or by a Kerraron agent seeking to protect house members who have escaped initial persecution.

• Imperial Embassy. Though the Par'tha Expanse is officially a part of the Valcarian Empire, the Empire maintains an embassy on Oscion, as it does in other client states within its sphere of influence. The embassy is very modern and represents the hard edges of Imperial architecture as seen on Valcaria. State functions hosted by the Grand Governor are often held at the embassy.

• Lanaxa Embassy. Lanaxa's embassy is an ostentatious building. It has, by far, the largest ballroom of all the embassies. House members make good use of it.

• Rettaan Embassy. The Rettaan embassy is a large modern building constructed in the modern Valcarian style - a symbol of the house's progressive, forward-looking attitude. An unusual feature is the all-Valcarian security staff.

• Barahn Embassy. Barahn has a large embassy belittling its status as a greater house, but it doesn't host many social functions, since house leaders prefer to entertain on its private islands.

• Beruna Embassy. Beruna maintains a handsome but modest embassy cloaked attractively in ivy and hanging mosses. Like the house, it is quiet but dignified.

• Larokon Embassy. Larokon's embassy is, surprisingly, one of the smallest house embassies on Oscion. Paranoid that any new building would be infested with bugs planted by spies from other houses, Larokon prefers to remain in its centuries old (but secure) mansion rather than move to less cramped quarters. As the head of the ruling coalition, however, it has commandeered nearby offices to supplement its embassy staff.

• Tadere Embassy. Tadere's embassy is large, ornate - and green. No one remembers exactly why the building was originally painted green, but it has been for so long that tradition dictates that it stays that way. The embassy is rumored to have an ancient torture chamber in its basement. Most of these rumors kindly suggest that it is no longer in use.

• Kerraron Embassy. Against all odds, Kerraron has managed to keep possession of its large embassy through the years of purges. Its embassy has the largest gardens associated with any of the house embassies.

Commercial District

The Commercial District is the business end of Lastelle Island. Though most of the island is absorbed in the task of governing, there are numerous service industries which support the government's efforts, from restaurants and bars to banks and janitorial agencies. Numerous lobbyists from a variety of professions maintain offices here, as do major businesses which cater to the noble classes (like luxury cruise lines, starship manufacturers, financial investor groups, and real estate companies). The transportation hubs linking the island with the rest of Oscion and the sector are also located in the Commercial District, including a spaceport, and airport, and a small seaport.

Many of the buildings in the Commercial District are skyscrapers, to fit as much office space on a single parcel of land as possible.

• Par'tha Royal Spaceport. The Royal Spaceport is a compact but extremely advanced facility. It is also an exclusive one; ships need special permission to land here, and only those associated with the upper tiers of government, one of the houses, the Empire, or a favored group obtain such permission. Those lacking such clearances are directed to Oscion's major commercial spaceport on Satado Island.

• Gorian Airport. Most of the people who work on Lastelle Island actually live on less expensive islands. They fly into the city every morning on commuter transports and flock home again at night. As many as two million people a day pass through its causeways (up to five million a day during capital season). The airport also brings in a large number of cargo vehicles from spaceports elsewhere on Oscion.

• Lastelle Seaport. The island's small seaport is its major supply link with the rest of the planet. Most of the consumables and retail products sold on Lastelle Island come in through the seaport.

• Illaran Merchants' Guild Guildhouse. The IMG maintains a hostel on Oscion, which provides relatively cheap food and board for members, even during capital season. It isn't as large as the guildhouse on Aelann, but it serves the needs of traveling Illarans nicely.

• Mining Guild Sector Headquarters. The Mining Guild sector HQ is ensconced in a large and imposing building constructed from high-grade polished marble. Guild lobbyists and negotiators have offices here to represent member companies operating in the sector before the Great Council.

• Par'tha Exchange. Par'tha Expanse's primary financial center. Shares in Expanse companies are bought and sold here, as are futures in various foods and raw materials. Not surprisingly, the various ore futures are most active. Office buildings surrounding the Par'tha Exchange are also dedicated to the financial field.

• Jintha Center. The largest shopping mall in the Expanse. Nearly two kilometers long, with as many as seven levels in parts, Jintha Center hosts thousands of retail stores. Many of the stores are local outlets of exclusive Valcarian establishments which serve only the elite. These shops keep the upper class (especially the young), clothed in the absolute latest Valcarian styles, which is important since there is a constant flux of nobles coming to and from the Empire to show up those who lag behind.

• Pratari Club. The Pratari Club is one of many exclusive private clubs in Lastelle City. Pratari's is over a thousand years old, and caters to the most important families of the Expanse. Membership has little to do with house affiliation, but to avoid unpleasant rivalries creeping into the club, firebrands and house partisans tend to get blackballed. The club favors intellectuals, academics, and military careerists.

• Logris Casino. Logris is a luxury casino that caters to the Par'tha and Valcarian elite. It is a large palatial building with numerous gardens and quadrangles - and dozens of gaming halls devoted to most major gambling pastimes. Private chambers on the upper floors are available for private parties and particularly high-stakes games.

• Vexan Theatre. The Vexan is a beautiful theater with two stages. It tends to carry more contemporary plays and operas than the Dinalda Opera House.

• Shenir's Royale. Shenir's is one of the most exclusive restaurants in the sector. You just can't get in unless you know Somebody.

• Grand Royal Hotel. The Grand Royal is the primary luxury hotel on an island of luxury hotels. Sprawling two city blocks, it contains not only the very best accommodations in the sector, but also an elaborate garden, an aviary, several restaurants and bars, two dance halls, a sports center, an art gallery, and a complete business center. Getting rooms in the Grand Royal is very difficult unless you are a sector noble or come recommended by one; during capital season, there are no rooms available at any price.

• Par'tha Imperial Hotel. The Par'tha Imperial is also very luxurious, but not as exclusive as the Grand Royal. High-ranking Imperials and megacorp executives stay here when visiting Oscion. Getting rooms here is usually no problem as long as you can afford the outrageous fees. Again, during capital season, rooms are booked solid.

Residential District

Lords and ladies with the means to procure living quarters on Lastelle Island live in the Residential District. While most lords live elsewhere on Oscion (usually on private island resorts), all houses have at least one official residency in the Residential District for entertaining in town.

Most estates are compact but well-appointed, but a few are quite large and imposing. Residences are put up for sale very infrequently. Most have been kept in the same house for centuries.

Many areas of the Residential District are open to outsiders, but certain blocks are sealed to those who aren't carrying admittance passes. All residences have very good security systems, and most have guards patrolling the grounds.

• Imperial Grand Governor's Estate. The official residence of the Imperial Grand Governor of the Par'tha Expanse was once the estate of Kaen Tan's grand-nephew. It is a large building, used for both entertaining and business.

• Imperial Governor's Estate. The Imperial Governor of Oscion also lives here, but his home is not at imposing as the Grand Governor's. Unlike the Grand Governor, the Governor's offices are in the Historial District.