LOCATIONS: PENITENT'S BALL

 

I assume that Prospero's Dream is one of several major "free ports" in Rim space.  Penitent's Ball is another.  It's safer, more refined, and home to a more sophisticated variety of organized criminal.  

PENITENT'S BALL

Where is it? High orbit of an uninhabitable super-Earth.  On a strategic trade route.

Population:  4,000,000 permanent inhabitants 

Construction: Ring

Who's in charge? Yarang Gulu, Blessed Grandmaster of Ceremonies and First Scorpion of the Disciples of the Sovereign East Wind.  Assisted by January Sun, Honorable Refectorian of the SEW and the Ghost Association, a quasi-religious order of master white collar criminals.   

Issues and dangers?  Arbitrary and constantly shifting rules and taboos (violations punished severely); high security; participation in the masquerade is nonnegotiable in public spaces 

Features: Sculpture gardens; banquet hall; NEMO machine; boutique cloning and chimera design services; high-end tailors, artisans, and craftspeople; high-stakes casino. 

THE STATION

Penitent's Ball is a conventional ring station.  Large craft are docked at various detached platforms at a safe distance from the main station.  Despite its smaller population, a much lower population density than the Dream (and accommodation prices reflect this).  Decorated with greenery from a single lush jungle planet with deep red-orange plants and rather charismatic bioluminescent insects und ubiquitous sculpture and other public art.  Food and most other luxuries including drugs and alcohol are provided for free by the SEW (obviously paid for by substantial accommodation taxes and very high docking fees).

Everyone -- absolutely everyone -- is welcome at the Ball provided they respect the station's rules and the masquerade.  On arrival, every visitor to the station proper is provided with a custom-made mask crafted by one of the station's many blind artisans (masks start at 100cr but you can pay as much as you please).  It is absolutely forbidden to reveal one's face in public or to reveal someone else's face.  Nobody at the Ball cares who you are and you are always welcome to be somebody else if you prefer.  All money coming into the station is ruthlessly laundered at some of the best rates in Known Space and converted to precious metals, cryptocurrency, or any other non-traceable source

Most of the residents favor heavy robes that conceal the silhouette but you can wear anything you like as long as you wear your mask.  Distinctive clothing, tattoos, etc. are a faux pas; the locals take their customs seriously.  At midnight station-time the Blessed Grandmaster announces the Laws of the day.  Sometimes clothing of a certain color is forbidden (if all you wear is black and black is banned you might have to go to the tailor's naked), other days all public music is banned.  On one notable day, the Grandmaster banned uttering the letter 'W.'  Punishments generally resemble hazing and often involve drugs and violence but rarely lead to death or dismemberment.  On a more practical level, unlawful possession of weapons and any kind of unsanctioned violence is severely punished (when the perpetrator can be caught). 

The Ball's public gardens and shops put most Core systems to shame and the carnival atmosphere is all-consuming (though it is a surprisingly quiet party thanks in part to a lot of active sound cancelling devices throughout the station).  Still, this is a bustling place of business for many boutique cloning outfits and sleeve designers.  Unsurprisingly, it's also a great place to get a new identity, forge the title to your starship, and convert unsightly fiat money into a more secure format.  It's also the safest Free Port by a very large margin; no trial by combat here.

The station's NEMO machine is jealously guarded by the SEW -- not left in the hands of an old lady with a power loader and her holographic son.  The SEW's NEMO machine is also one of a very few that can back up a mind implanted in a chimera (failure rates still exceed 50%).  It is also regarded as the most secure backup storage available to people who aren't corporate elites.