The Dark Ascent represents the Brotherhoods Dark Council's central seat of power and sense of omniscient presence on Arx. It is located in the east of Elos Vrai.
Design
The Dark Ascent is broken up into segmented levels with a singular turbolift running through the core and a staircase entwining the lift as its only alternative. The lower levels are devoted to partitioned 'embassies' for each of the Clans, though all of these are strictly monitored. The embassies are spartan in design, resembling glorified barracks with each denoted by banners flanking the entrances. At the very top of the mountain sits the Council chamber itself, accompanied by a grand audience chamber. Set apart, but still connected to the chamber, lies the Grand Master's seat of power, the Iron Throne of the Dark Brotherhood.
Antechamber
Designed to serve as the Dark Ascent’s main hub leading into the throne room and various wings, the antechamber serves to awe those who enter as a testament to the Brotherhood’s wealth and influence. An octagonal rotunda acts as the ceiling, bearing beskar ornaments on each of its eight sides. At its south end, the antechamber allows access to a turbolift shaft that is located opposite of the Grand Master’s throne room to the north. The west and east wings contain the offices of the Dark Council. Stationed and dressed just as regally as the decorum would suggest, each of the eight pillars between the four doors have guardsmen standing at their bases wielding gilded force pikes, instructed to let none pass without authorization.
Dark Councilor Offices
Beyond this, through the elevating paths of the Ascent, lie the offices of the various Council members and their charges. Each Councilor uses their office differently, as they each tend to have other offices aboard their respective ships or facilities.
Voice’s Office
Herald’s Office
The Herald’s office is much like the rest of the Ascent in terms of interior design. Having little use beyond maintenance droids and the odd clerk, it is mostly comprised of several empty rooms lavishly decorated to suit the high society look and feel of the Council. The main office has a Wroshyr wooden table with a holoprojector mounted on the ceiling. Most of it is covered in plasti-sheets due to not being used. The current Herald spends all of her time on the Godless Matron and rarely ventures into her designated offices, or indeed on Arx itself.
Master at Arms' Office
The main area of the Master at Arms’ office is clean and organized with a sense of modern feng shui. The walls are lined with showcases of the Brotherhood's various medals and awards, everything from Dark Crosses to Sacramental Weapons. The cotton white walls of the office are broken up by alternating black painted walls. Sticking to the central theme, black and white patterned fur rugs are spread out across the smooth, sandblasted stone floor and posters of exotic animals bearing white and black fur are also hung along the walls. In the center, a big wooden desk smelling of rich wood is set up to receive visitors with an array of comfortable looking chairs.
On the far side of the office is an old wooden door with a fading, frosted glass window obscuring the view of interior. Inside, the secluded office is oddly dark, musty, and seems to speak of a bygone era. Lit entirely by candles, there is a pit of charcoal dust in a rusted goblet. Stacks of parchment paper sheets are scattered haphazardly around the small desk and the rest of the room. Most notably, of course, were the stamps.An seemingly endless collection of different shaped stamps litters the office and drawers of the desk. It is here that rumors have begun to speculate that current Master at Arms Howlader does the bulk of his administrative work.
Seneschal’s Office
Fist’s Office
The Fist’s office—currently—is pretty sweet. It consists mostly of wooden stools, bean-bag chairs, and neon space-beer signs.
Unlike the more rigid offices in the Iron Legion Barracks and aboard the Wraith, the Fist office is more of a relax and crash pad for the Dark Councilors. Now, if only the rest of the Dark Council knew how to relax and crash.
~Dracaryis might not say it, but we really wishe Morgan would replenish his stock of Corellian Whisky -Steve ~
~Or just more of Morgan. -Bob~
Regent’s Office
Upon entering the Regent’s office there is a massive and bright gold symbol of the office hanging on the wall set atop deep crimson tapestries with gold trim. Below the symbol sits a rich wooden desk atop a polished gray stone floor with several monitors and a security droid, and on occasion of the Regent’s many assistants. To the left is a collection of chairs set in an oval shape around a tidy bar that when closed sits cleanly against the wall. To the right is a collection of monitors that when on show various holonets across the galaxy but when off blend into the dark walls. Lush foliage is scattered around the room breaking up the sharp lines with various ports in the ceiling that when opened can let in a flood of natural light.
Behind the main desk to the left and right sit doors to several rooms inside the office. One contains a server and network with several security droids inside a room void of oxygen and kept under tight control. The other an anechoic chamber, with sharp dark angles on the wall and no light.
Headmaster’s Office
- Main office is in the Shadow Academy, this is more of a secondary office for the HM.
Justice’s Office
Deputy Grand Master’s Offices
Council Chamber
Set in a semicircle around a central audience floor, the Council chamber’s members are seated in ergonomic chairs designed for maximum comfort during long meetings. This rounded room is located below the Dark Ascent’s antechamber, accessible via the same turbolift from Eos City. Stairs divide the circular rows like spokes on a wheel, a dim blue light illuminating every second step as a safety precaution. In front of each of the chairs is a desk, shared between adjacent Councillors and overlooking the chamber’s circular ground level, which can be used or ignored depending on the situation. Curving at a forty-five degree angle above and behind each of the desks, a glass surface can display data or notes for each Councillor in attendance, with controls visible in front of each that can be disabled or enabled at a main console further towards the back of the room reserved for a non-partisan attendee. These controls serve a variety of purposes from holoprojection control to announcing a member’s desire to be heard to voting.
Sometimes left unilluminated if not in use, the central “ground-level” of the chamber can give audience to a spokesperson, holoprojector, or in cases in which the Justicar is involved, the accused. It is utilitarian by design, with holoprojectors built into all of the walls, pointed at the center for data visualization or for presentation purposes.
Throne Room
The Grand Master's throne
Flanked at all sides with the Grand Master’s personal guardsmen, the throne room is modelled in a manner that is as formal as it is intimidating for guests. Reflecting the best in Imperial design by accommodating an angular backing that reaches for the ceiling, the throne is an imposing symbol of rule even in the Grand Master’s absence.
The dais on which the throne sits is raised and set against three transparisteel viewports overlooking Eos City at the Ascent’s base that stretch to the high-arched ceiling. Accessible via a retractable bridge, a man-made chasm isolates the dais from the rest of the throne room. Overseen from the Grand Master’s dais, generals, moffs and others of significance can utilize a rounded balcony from the opposite end of the chasm to voice their piece during hearings.
Staircases and barricades leading up to the Grand Master’s throne can serve as high cover for the guardsmen in the event that the Dark Ascent is besieged. Outward-facing blaster cannons built into discrete compartments within the bannisters reveal themselves when a guardsman's code cylinder is inserted, a testament to efficiency in defensive measures that do not require a long, drawn-out firefight between mere soldiers.
At the base of the dais, a state-of-the-art communication terminal that orbits a circular holographic projector that can display maps, statistics, and other information. It can also videoconference securely at great distances, retaining crystal clear clarity in all but the harshest or most remote connections.
On the side of the dais, a large and expansive viewport window provides a grandiose panorama of Eos City and the distant horizon. The reinforced transparisteel is equipped with heavily plated and reflective blinders that can be engaged in the event of a lockdown. The viewport can also become opaque to block out incoming sunlight and reduce glare or reflection off the central holoprojector.