ʜᴄ sᴠɴᴛ ᴅʀᴀᴄᴏɴᴇs
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide a venue for socialization and patronage of the arts within the Sith Empire.
- Image Credit: TKR-ART
- Canon: N/A
- Links: N/A
- Structure Name: Immemorial Hall
- Classification: Opera House; Museum; Cultural Center
- Location: Bastion
- Affiliation: The Sith Empire
- Accessibility: While theoretically publicly available to all Imperial Citizens, the structure's location at the Imperial Capitol results in a de-facto restriction of regular access to a wealthier, ruling class. While anyone can pay for a ticket to most showings, the best seats and private upper-level exhibitions are restricted to Sith and Imperials of note. The mid-levels are largely administrative offices, the underground is largely temperature-controlled storage.
- Description: Suggestive of the pyramid tombs of Korriban, the black building enjoys as central a location in the Imperial capitol as one can hope for without being administrative. It has many broad doors opening up from the ground, and a few landing pads for speeders on the upper levels - for those wishing to arrive without parting the muddling masses. At the central gap between two upwards-reaching spires is a shifting, holographic display.
- The Antechamber: Adorned with fluttering banners, a broad marble entryway is splayed, welcoming those who walk in with curling staircases and a lavish display of Imperial wealth and culture. Central to the antechamber is a laser-cut statue of ink-black stone, its fingertip endlessly arcing threads of electricity from a number of metal hangings on the ceiling to give the illusion of Force lightning.
- The Central Stage: Structured in a wide crescent for optimal acoustics, the main stage comprises a large portion of the first four floors, an impressive structure. Optical magnifiers available at the seats allow for viewers to enjoy the show in full detail at any distance, the audio equipment clearly projects sound. Most impressively, the commitment to special effects - repulsors carry the stage up from the underground to allow for dramatic entrances and quick scene changes, and an array of holographic projectors allow full-color images to be imposed onto the stage; some auteurs prefer more practical effects - importing exotic plants, wildlife, and the like for startlingly vivid shows. Immemorial Hall prides itself as the pinnacle of modernity in the Galactic Opera circuit.
- The Private Boxes: Rigged with not only the audiovisual accommodations of the seats, but fitted with selective signal jamming and ion-cleansed for bugs before and after every showing, these boxes are the pinnacle of posh comfort and privacy. With food and drink available on demand, as well as volume modulation and the option for one-way transparent partitions to be raised, they are among the most perfect places for an uninterrupted liaison.
- The Galleries: Around and above the stage, the best of the best of Imperial art - state-approved art, that is, of course - is on constant display. From painting, to sculpture, to even stranger works - tactile projection cubes, chemical emotion matrices, tokens of conquest and objects of historical interest, it is one of the most broadly accommodating galleries in all of Imperial space. The upper levels cater to private receptions and exhibitions, with art pulled from the main galleries and storage to create the perfect atmosphere.
Low - Though the hall employs standard security guards to prevent forced entry, as well as internal cameras and motion sensors to prevent the theft of art not contained in its temperature-controlled vaults, a determined infiltrator or external force could bypass even these without detection, provided they were skilled enough. A military force would see the Hall fall easily, as it is not equipped to endure such a level of attack. The highest points of security are the privacy prevention measures in the private boxes, and even those are reliant on automated measures monitored by fallible humans.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Sith have a rich tradition of art stretching back as far as the days of the Dark Jedi - from statues carved from the blood-red stones of Korriban's wastelands in the shape of bowed slaves and ancient kings, to the delicate and corrupting oeuvre of Lord Momin, to - most beloved of all to Darth Vesper - a tradition of Sith Opera dating back to the old Republic. When he found out that Bastion had yet to centralize and provide a state-sponsored venue for these high arts, he was simply scandalized. After all, for all their military might and sorcerous strength, the line that separated the mighty Lords of the Sith and the craven Dark Jedi was the fact that while one was but a power-hungry individual with a Force connection, the other was the scion of a millennia-old culture.
Shortly after the overthrow of Ession, with another influx of plunder, Darth Vesper pulled rank within the civic bureau of the Empire to commission the construction of a museum and opera house for the patronage of high culture at the Imperial capitol.
With construction finally complete, the edifice draws performers from across the Galaxy, albeit those who are willing to conform to the Empire's proper media standards. Displaying art from conquered worlds, alien stars, and of course giving highest preeminence to the artwork of the Sith and Imperial culture, the building - titled Immemorial Hall in celebration of the eternity of Sith reign and the eclipse of the Light just on the horizon - hopes to provide a dark center for the culture of the tyrannical Sith.
