Arx is the current seat of power for the Brotherhood.
History
Reforming the Brotherhood after the destruction of Antei, Darth Pravus set his sights on the Star Chamber's long-term plan to move to a populated, industrial planet able to meet the needs of a New Order. Using an existing infrastructure that was built under the guidance of the Star Chamber’s subordinates, he established an immediate and total rule over Arx. Militaristic governments were formed under the Star Chamber’s guidance, making way for Grand Master Pravus’ New Order in 35 ABY.
Atmosphere
Sustaining diverse biomes and a plethora of flora, Arx has a breathable Type-I atmosphere that is saturated with greenhouse gases due to the constant pollution of planetary industries, making for a warmer climate towards the equatorial regions but a colder one towards the poles. Temperatures fall within the ranges expected of a standard terrestrial planet, though certain extremes are noticeable at the desert-like and tropical equatorial regions and the snow-capped poles.
Due to the constant shifting of tectonic plates, volcanic activities and the concentration of crystals being released from the planet’s crust in certain regions, Arx’s climate varies from continent to continent, but remains heavily studied under Arx’s many observatories both on and off-world. Storms are commonplace over the oceanic regions as submerged kyber crystals are released from the planet’s crust to ionize the atmosphere, in addition to the calm, warm ocean waters creating convection currents in the air above the surface. This makes travel to Arx’s cities and continents from the atmosphere troublesome, but not impossible.
Contained within a planetary shield that has not one, but several shield gates forming checkpoints at access points to the surface, Arx’s best and brightest scientists, tacticians and architects have created a method to circumvent the complications of travel to the surface — all while bolstering Arx’s security measures. All of the shield gates are built as structures that are each suspended by skyhooks from the surface, eliminating the need for offworld vessels to land on the surface of Arx. Visiting starships are instead moored to the skyhooks while their occupants are sent to the surface via turbolifts or private shuttles shielded from the dangerous electrical currents, normally reserved for the Dark Council and their envoys.
Geography
(Temporary Map for Reference)
With a slight axial tilt and a circular orbit, Arx experiences a regular seasonal rotation throughout a local orbital period. Geothermal activity venting into the atmosphere through volcanoes on the surface exude greenhouse gases that add to the planet’s warmer regions, making Arx a geologically active planet that is situated close to its sun.
Lush and colorful from the concentration of greenhouse gases, the equatorial regions of Arx’s surface can be described as ranging from tropical and boreal to barren. While just over half of the planet is engulfed by a dark blue ocean, Arx is comprised of several large islands that from larger land masses that make up three continents: Elos Vrai, Uskul, and the Sorasu Desert.
The planet’s tectonic plates have formed mountainous ridges in the center of some of the larger continents. The farthest tip of the planet is an icy tundra that spills over onto the largest of the three continents, Elos Vrai.
Continent I - Elos Vrai
A single freshwater great lake is carved into the center of Arx’s largest continent, with smaller pools scattered throughout. One main river carries the freshwater gathered in the great lake and ferries it into the ocean. A second river branches off and heads inland, providing fresh water and irrigation to the rest of the continent. To the east, a long mountain range acts as a wall between the colder northern drifts, capping the far side of the mountains in snow while remaining craggy on the near side. One large mountain within the range looms ominously over a city built in its shadow. Sustained with freshwater from the lakes, the Brotherhood has developed their largest cities on the continent. After several decades of infrastructure development, roads leading from the shore’s causeways have connected Eos City, among others, to the vast network of industry that is spread across the continent.
Drawing heavily from Imperial ideology, Arx’s installations were designed with militaristic efficiency at the forefront; little was commissioned for the sake of construction alone. Every section serves a specific purpose while assimilating with the others. There is no tourism, and anyone who lives within the city works in some kind of position. Defiance is not tolerated, and all holonet traffic is monitored carefully. Strict patrols from local law enforcement droids and operators ensure that trade is limited and regulated.
Dark Ascent
The Dark Ascent is a grand, sprawling structure built into the side of an ancient mountain that looms over Eos City. It was designed to represent an ascending pillar of strength, rising from the base of the mountain and carving through the rock in spiraling paths like creeping vines. Stretching upwards, the rooms entombed within the Dark Ascent are protected from scrying eyes and were built to weather aerial and artillery assaults, anything short of an orbital bombardment. The only break in this coverage presents itself at the peak of the mountain, where an expansive viewport has been laser-cut and reinforced with capital-ship grade transparisteel windows. It is from here that one can see the entirely of Eos City, and out onto the horizon of Arx and its various landmarks.
The 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. Beyond this, through the elevating paths of the Ascent, lie the offices of the various Council members and their charges. Finally, at the 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.
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
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.
Eos City
Constructed at the foundations of the Dark Ascent along the shoreline of the largest continent, Eos City is a well-defended testament of the Brotherhood’s industrial might. Encased within duracrete walls and erected on the west slope of a neighbouring mountain range, it is surrounded with ion cannons and turbolaser emplacements guaranteed to protect it from all but the largest capital ships. Close to a chain of islands off the coast of the continent, Eos City is connected to a network of causeways that act as trade routes. Narrow enough to be monitored at all times, all routes leading into the gates are installed with Iron Legion checkpoints that ensure no illegal cargo is brought within the walls.
Designed in Imperial fashion, Arx’s capital follows an intuitive layout using grid designations for construction. A board of architects were appointed to oversee Arx’s construction without allowing the usage of independent contractors. This cohesion in planning has left Arx without significant design flaws or unintended hurdles to efficiency. Working in tandem with the Iron Legion’s intelligence branch in advisory roles, holocameras remain fixed on each street corner in both obvious and hidden locations to remind denizens of their safety.
Command Center
Maintaining and enforcing the laws of Arx, the Iron Legion has seated themselves at the center of Arx’s various districts. It is here that one gains access to the turbolift leading into the Dark Ascent. Establishing a network of surveillance spanning the entire metropolis, each datafeed, holocam and recorder is routed to the command center for analysis and investigation. Iron Legion security forces rest in the district's barracks until shift changes demand their presence in other districts while tacticians and data analysts watch the vidscreens of the central hub.
The command center itself is several structures in size, connected with bridges between the conservative glass-and-durasteel buildings. Not wanting to draw attention behind the curtain of Arx’s surveillance and operations, the entire district is unimposing to the average denizen. On the outside, each of the buildings making up the headquarters of the city’s guiding hands look like little more than office towers and commercial real estate. On the inside, it is abuzz with information networks and operatives linked together through neural cybernetics.
Central Market
Documented with the necessary permits to conduct business, the store-holding vendors of the Central Market are registered sellers of common household goods and services, allowing the Iron Legion’s soldiers to purchase commodities that make stationed life more comfortable. Restricted to specific brands and items, the Central Market’s store owners receive regular shipments from Arx’s factories like clockwork, stocking everything from more comfortable off-duty clothing to finer meals than military rations. Licences to import goods from off-world are rare and expensive, often incurring costly duties that affect a business’ ability to compete with sellers of domestic goods and services. All proceeds contribute to Arx’s economic gain through taxation that ensures funds are not funnelled to the coffers of individual businesses, instead serving to expand Arx’s sustainability and development in a manner dictated by the ruling Moff’s government.
Residential Suites
Arranged in tall, uniform structures are the dwellings of Arx’s residents. Efficient in design with minimal variation, the residential suites are each small, compartmentalized units that allow freedom of movement and the basics of living, but not much else. Eschewing the concept of private ownership, each of the residential buildings are managed from a single office that is answerable to the sector’s Moff. After applying for residency, one of the units is transferred to a designated individual who is permitted to live in the glass, duracrete and durasteel walls.
In turn, Arx’s citizens are answerable to the Brotherhood, who collect and manage the taxes and finances that are recycled into Arx’s infrastructure in a streamlined process. Wealthier citizens who can afford higher taxes might request a transfer to a larger unit or a conversion to one, provided the adjacent properties are vacant.
Entertainment District
Home to the few luxuries Arx living has to offer, the entertainment district is a monitored, but otherwise unregulated part of the metropolis. Sharing much in common with the aesthetic of Nar Shaddaa, albeit cleaner, security forces are careful to maintain the crafted illusion of a society where off-duty military personnel are free to pursue their tastes and desires. Undercover, and lurking just around the corner, the law and order on Arx watches and waits for the next spice dealer or illegal gambling ring to fall for the bait.
Vidscreens, bright advertisements and the promise of thrill and excitement draw those looking to blow off some steam to spend their hard-earned credits on the clubs, cantinas and fine dining experiences not found elsewhere, all contributing taxes to the ever-growing development of Arx and maintaining a balance between the credit accounts of stationed personnel.
Iron Legion Headquarters
Doubling as the training facilities where the Iron Legion’s recruits are stationed, the Iron Legion’s Headquarters is located between Eos City and Antares Consolidated Armourers. Taking up a larger landmass than Eos City, the Iron Legion’s facilities are further spread across the continent with large swaths of forestation and causeways connecting the isolated outposts. The main structure itself is home to the office of the Fist, when he is not assigned to duties at the Dark Ascent.
Imperial architecture is standard throughout, but differing from the norm in that the main structure is constructed like a rhombus on the outside with transparisteel windows angled towards the skies. Transitioning to the interior, the building is, in fact, entirely level and a marvel of efficient layout.
Fist Office
Located at the northeast end of the main structure, the Fist Office sits at ground level and features not one, but two windowed walls in addition to the slanted transparisteel ceiling. Collecting rain on each of the three surfaces, the noise that is generated can be filtered out using an extendable durasteel shield that can cover the office from the outside. Potted plants are gathered near the windows that are low-maintenance due to the abundance of sunlight and moisture that is occasionally channeled into them from the outside. A desk with a low-backed chair sits at the intersecting corner of the two feature windowed walls, allowing the Fist ample sunlight, if he so chooses.
Barracks
An external building close to the main headquarters, the barracks are meant to house the Iron Legion’s garrison and prepare soldiers for eventual assignments off-world. Lined with compartmentalized bunks on the inside, each of the beds can be pulled out to allow easier access without the concern of head injuries. This also saves room whenever a garrisoned soldier is to perform the daily ritual of donning his or her armour after a night’s rest, without need for additional facilities.
Lockers and storage cabinets face the opposite wall of bed compartments, containing the essentials a soldier needs, with refreshers to the end of each corridor. Firearms are prohibited inside the barracks’ living quarters. Instead they are located in an isolated ready-room at the entrance.
Administrative Offices
The leadership in the Iron Legion’s chain of command make their homes in offices within the same hall as the Fist’s. With beds built into the walls, desks shoved against a transparisteel feature wall and medals encased in glass cases, each of the administrative offices are afforded to the top personnel. Generals, high-ranking officers and even admirals might be seen in designated offices when they are not called to serve elsewhere off-world.
Atrophos Military Academy
The Atrophos Military Academy is a training institute that develops officers and soldiers for combat and organizing them into effective units that specialize in specific types of missions. The facilities feature state of the art training mirrored after the Imperial Academy. The natural terrain of Elos Vrai makes for a versatile range of training.
Antares Consolidated Armourers
One of the first facilities that an Iron Legion cadet will ever visit is Antares Consolidated Armourers. Producing the betaplast armour that Iron Legion soldiers are trained to treat as a second skin, each cadet and soldier’s measurements are stored and used in onsite databanks that ensure each soldier receives a comfortable fit. To maintain appearances, Antares Consolidated Armourers is the sole branch within the industrial sector to not use civilian workers. Instead, most armour is produced and distributed as kits that a soldier can be trained to don in mere minutes.
Other lines of armour and clothing are, more often than not, imported, refitted, and resold to clients with specific orders to be filled. However, the net loss is minimal and is offset through the export profits of Arx’s other businesses.
Continent II - Uskil
More a collection of large islands than a single landmass, Uskul is home to storms that have ravaged the northernmost island.
Due to the close proximity of the islands, the water surrounding them is often shallow enough to walk between them, making the area something of a marsh or bog when compared to the other continents.
Seemingly endless, the storms are rumoured to be the remnants of Dark Side energies, but all such rumours are pure baseless conjecture. In truth, the separation of the continent’s main landmass has uncovered several troves of kyber crystals beneath the surrounding ocean, which was studied within the Shadow Academy and proven to produce odd properties in the environment and climate. Inexplicably, the concentration of crystals has resulted in the ionization of the continent’s atmosphere, producing the catalyst needed for the tropical storms to maintain their charge.
Shadow Academy
Constructed around a central spire, each of the outer structures are designed like a three-sided pyramid, pointing inward towards the center. A series of skyways and walkways form the vein-like paths connect the satellite campuses to the Academy proper. For newcomers, the Shadow Academy provides a visual taste of the world they have just begun to enter. It is a place of subtle grandeur and utmost efficiency, ready to take them on their first steps into deeper knowledge.
Internally, students are provided with common study rooms, libraries, and lecture halls. The study halls are sound-proof rooms that must be signed out through administration. These rooms provide a distraction free means of learning, housing empty shelves for any learning materials that the students may bring with them as well as a central table. The lecture halls are much larger variants on the study rooms, offering a series of seats for learners that rises up and away from the professor's table, which stands at the head of the hall. Two large viewscreens stand to either side of the professor's table to provide additional material for lectures.
Master Archives
The combined records of the Brotherhood’s database are sorted in stacks in each of the sections. Octogonal arrangement of the stacks ensure that storage of the digital holodisks is maximized, and that there is suitable provisions made for consoles and holoprojectors on the ground level. Each of these holodisks is discreetly marked, setting off a silent alarm whenever one leaves the premises without express authorization. In the event that one is lost, another can be recreated. Pulsating with blue light, the stacks emit a faint hum that can be heard as one peruses the database. Forbidden lore is protected via code cylinders, requiring a certain level of authorization to retrieve the most dangerous texts.
Reserved for an elite few, the vaults below contain the forbidden lore and knowledge of books, tomes and holocrons not found in the general archives. Cloistered far below the Shadow Academy, it is forever permeated in near-darkness with temperatures that decelerate the decomposition of the precious texts and scrolls locked in its vaults — original texts that have since been scanned into the central database. Polished to mirror-like perfection, the walls and floors are marbled between shades of black and grey, bouncing the faintest light of the dim strips of pure white lighting above and below each row of vaults. Most who venture to the archive’s depths prefer to bring along a glowrod rather than additional lights to reduce the amount of light absorbed into each of the timeless pages.
Built into the walls, the largest vaults often contain the most exotic records and experiments to ever be locked within the archives, not even excluding the presence of the controversial and dangerous Abersyn Symbiotes responsible for the fall of many historical empires. Requiring the use of specific code cylinders for access, one of the most notable vaults contains shelves upon shelves of holocrons dating back to Darth Bane. Because of the scarcity of Jedi holocrons and the volatile nature of storing them together with Sith holocrons, the Grand Master’s personal vault is bathed in a permanent red ambient glow that envelops the entire room. Ghastly sounds can be heard from the other side of some other vaults, live experiments conducted by the Dark Council’s most trusted alchemists never to see the light of day.
Combat Training Center
A hall of the Training Center
Two towering, tinted, transparisteel doors slide open to grant access to the central chamber of the Combat Training Halls. The main room is wide and open and as large as a holoball field. Tall walls stretch towards a domed ceiling that is made up of rows of ambient lights that spread out and fill the room with soft even lighting that eliminates any shades or shadows. Those same walls are lined around the perimeter with racks and stacks of varied weaponry: everything from swords and polearms to rifles and flamethrowers.
There are two signs that hover over each weapon rack to create an alternating motif in the Combat Training Hall: “No Explosions” and “Accorded Neutral Territory”. While the first is fairly obvious, the second speaks to the single law of the Training Halls: all members of the Brotherhood are welcome, and no member is to be killed or maimed without incurring the wrath of the Grand Master and the Inquisitori.
A trio of training dummies are statically set up and spread out in a line, each made out of a blend of alloys and padding that can withstand blows from any standard weaponry with the exception of lightsaber blades. To the side of the dummies, a large sparring mat has been stretched out to create a larger footprint than the typical shockboxing ring. The padding is good for helping to teach new combat students how to take a fall without injury and offers firm footing, but the hard rubber mat is hardly forgiving.
Behind the sparring area is a door that leads to a small archives that combat students can use to view holorecordings of fights and duels from the past as well as relevant information on combat tactics, techniques, and forms. On the opposite side of the archives at the far end of central room is the locker room where members can safely store their equipment.
The final and probably most important element of the Combat Training Hall is the onsite Med Ward. The maglock door is sealed off and can only be opened by an attending Medic. The Medical facilities feature state of the art bacta tanks for recovery and aftercare. A combination of observation and waiting room rests adjacent to the recovery center and features two large monitors that display a live feed of the central room.
The Combat Halls are staffed around the clock, allowing combat students and mentors alike to come and go as they please at odd or regular hours. It is also reserved for members looking to prove their worth to compete in the Antei Combat Center.
Ancient Ruins
Sunken below sea-level, the lost remnants of a primitive civilization have fallen to decay. Predating the Brotherhood’s resettlement of Antei, the ruins harken back to lost tribes of the Sith with several structures intact beneath the surface. Most of these ruins are located beneath what was once a great continent, now a spiralling chain of islands at the center of which the Shadow Academy now stands. Constructed with function over aesthetic, the least damaged buildings are still watertight and contain breathable air despite being at the bottom of the ocean.
References to Mortis — the Son, in particular — are inscribed on the sides of an obelisk at the ocean’s floor, half-buried beneath the seabed. Archaeologists and researchers at the Shadow Academy have theorized that other monoliths connected to other aspects of the Force — the Daughter and the Father — can be the foundations of an earlier religion practiced on Arx before the Brotherhood’s establishment. Others have dismissed these accusations and believe that Arx’s forebears were a cult exclusively of dark side practitioners.
Special access to the submerged ritual chambers can be requested via Trident-class assault ships that are used by Arx’s archaeologist divisions entrusted with uncovering and recording found passages, chambers and hieroglyphics beneath Arx’s oceans. However, access to a few secretive locations are reserved for those with the proper access codes and identification.
Continent III - Sorasu Desert
Split into two main halves, the continent is often referred to as a dried-up desert. Close to the equator, the region is too hot and lacking sustenance to preserve more than a lean strip of tropical growth near the shoreline and within few small oases scattered throughout the continent with one larger more notable one. It is a barren land that is populated with the Iron Legion’s sandtroopers and shoretroopers to maintain order for a select few inhabitants.
Because of the uninhabitable nature of the continent, the Iron Legion saw fit to use it for questionable means without interference from outside forces. Factories operate around the clock, mines and the Crucible are all cloistered far from civilization and tell of a far different lifestyle than the citizens of Arx are familiar with.
Iron Garage
Responsible for outfitting the Brotherhood’s armies with repulsorlift vehicles, the Iron Garage, also known as Arx Armor Workshop, works around the clock to build and repair a wide range of ground-based vehicles for military requisitions. Producing all things ranging from landspeeders and bikes to tanks and walkers, the Iron Garage is advertized as an all-automated workshop. In truth, the Iron Legion utilizes Arx’s civilians as labourers that work to fill quotas in exchange for meager rewards and little sleep.
The Garage itself is a large sector including complexes for the various assembly lines that produce each model of ground-based transport. These complexes include the necessities for worker living: basic compartmentalized lodgings, mess halls and break rooms. Mechanics and drivers for each of the vehicles receive their training at an on-site academy teaching the operation of transportation and armor from the smallest landspeeder to the biggest all-terrain walker.
Automated belts run throughout each of the Garage’s complexes, requiring manual inspection and, at times, emergency operation from the workers relocated to live in the lodgings. As mechanical components are fed through the assembly lines, pre-programmed welders and pneumatic devices assemble the largest pieces while the workers are tasked with managing the smaller components and wiring for each of the models and testing them to ensure that no sabotaged vehicles leave to fill a requisition order. In addition to worker inspections, the Iron Legion often sends officers to conduct impromptu evaluations of the factories and employee roster checks.
Antei Armaments
Arx’s largest and most diverse arms manufacturer, Antei Armaments, makes use of droid and civilian workers to fill its roles in refurbishing and recreating blasters, slugthrowers and melee weapons from all known organizations. Several on-site complexes are outfitted for mass-production of the Iron Legion’s most common armaments, while smaller surrounding facilities concentrate on specialized gear made-to-order for clientele with different tastes.
Due to the abundance of raw resources that can be mined on Arx, the components for common arms are made on-site from scratch using blueprints identical to those that can be found at the Galactic Empire’s or First Order’s factories. Less common blasters or blades requiring exotic materials and components are trickier to create, often requiring the insight and resources of Antei Armanent’s skilled quartermasters to import whole or partial weapons from off-world dealers.
The Crucible
The Grand Master's Royal Guard has established its facilities in an unforgiving and hostile environment where the best soldiers are hand-chosen to hone their skills with the intention of becoming one of the Grand Master’s Royal Guards. The Crucible acts as a training ground for the members of the Royal Guard, and a pseudo-battleground for the armies of the Brotherhood. The design is practical, consisting of a networked system of barracks and armories, culminating at the center of a dried-up desert continent acting as the training grounds. Built under the same style as the Dark Ascent, but more restrained, the Crucible’s structures are scattered throughout a large region that can be reorganized to replicate different battle scenarios.
The Sepulchrum
Situated in the forgotten corners of the planet, the Brotherhood reserves a special place for those it seeks to contain. Run in secret by the Inquisitorius, the Sepulchrum was constructed to house enemies to the Brotherhood and to provide a venue away from prying eyes to conduct extensive interviews to gather information. It is recognizable as a prison built into the very mantle of the planet, possessing a single entrance in the form of a tightly guarded lift. This lift reaches several kilometers deep before giving way to a network of caves.
When mapped out, the caves spiral out from the central lift, sloping downwards and further away from the surface as they expand outward. The cells closest to the lift are used as temporary facilities, for interrogation and processing. If deemed necessary, the furthest cells from the surface are used for more long-term confinements. Only the most necessary of provisions needed for life are provided, light being limited to the halls in order to illuminate the paths for the guards and only for short periods within the cells themselves. Enough heat is provided to ensure the prisoners remain living, but nothing more.
The message of the Sepulchrum is clear, even to its visitors. It is a grave, for those still living.
Arx Minor
Arx Minor
Arx Minor is a small satellite to Arx that made it ideal as an isolated location that allowed the Grand Master to host a tournament for the Brotherhood without revealing the final stages of Arx itself. It also holds a small mining outpost and the ruins of the old mines that have long since been abandoned.
Trading Outpost
A small mining and trading outpost—similar to the one found on Kafrene— fosters goods of both honest and shady natures that can be pedaled and pushed to enterprising smugglers looking to get through Arx’s border patrols and aerial patrol details.
Colosseum
The Colosseum
The structure was rebuilt and renovated from the shell of an ancient foundation that had barely weathered away against the moon's unforgiving climate. High walls, tall enough for even the most savvy Jedi to find unscalable, line a large field of ancient sand and sediment the size of a holoball field. The spectators' chairs are divided into neatly organized sections with seats bunched close together to accommodate anywhere up to a few thousand people. At the center, an elongated platform “box” has been constructed with a central throne of stone with various seats of smaller scale lined beside it in both directions.
While unassuming at first glance and looking very much like an archaic gladiatorial arena, the Colosseum features a medley of traps and surprises built into the floor and walls at random intervals. These obstacles include, but are hardly limited to: retractable nozzles that can shoot out gouts of flame; battery-coils that can spit out tendrils of electric current; receding floor panels with electric shock panels; deep pits with sharpened spikes and more. At some points, the ground can simply erupt upwards and create a concentrated, if not impromptu angular-platform that could be used as a springboard or temporary high ground. While seemingly random, these obstacles are handled and triggered by a manned-operator in a control room within.
Outside the fighting arena, the Colosseum features on-site, state of the art medical facilities that can bring nearly anyone back from the brink of the death and offer a full team of trainers, doctors, and rehabilitation units. There is also a neatly kept armory and a basic training center with mechanical-dummies, and private sparring chambers.
Abandoned Mines
File:ACCAbandonedMines.jpgThe Abandoned Mines
Pulley-operated, mechanical lifts descend into the earth below the Arena. The Abandoned Mines pre-date the Galactic Empire by thousands of years. Once used as mining routes, the long forgotten network of interconnecting tunnels has held stalwart against the sands of time. Sporadic crystals protrude from the walls to quietly radiate ochre light like naturally-forming torches. The small alcove gives birth to a maze of wide tunnels supported by old, steadfast wooden beams.The tunnels spider and split off into various directions, some leading to dead ends while others ultimately leading back to the central Mining Shaft.
The central Mining Shaft is a square well that descends into a deep pit that radiates a luminescent, cerulean glow from the horde of crystallized shards still growing below. The air hangs with a cool, windless chill. Stone stalactites hang ominously overhead, flanked by jagged jutters of rock and sediment that line the ascending walls.
To reach the surface, blocks of stone wide enough for two humans to stand side by side on shift back and forth in a combination of lateral and ascending patterns. Each cubic platform is controlled by a mechanical pulley and each cubic platform will eventually pass close enough to step over to another. The spacing and timing is not attuned to any formal pattern, giving equal balance to both Force users and Mundanes. Whatever your talents, the shifting cubes are the only way to ascend back to the Arena.