Grizmo

**Grizmo** is a major commercial city which hovers above the planet Nexus. It is situated on a custom skyplot and owned by the Red Tails Foreman, Golah Jo. Its brand of commerce known as G-Mart  is well known in the Dominion community of Nexus and draws scores of shoppers into the city.

Grizmo itself is a three-leveled city, consisting of a surface level, a risen city on a plate and an underground city. The store quality and pricing tends to match the design with the most expensive shops being in the risen city and more discount or questionable wares found underground.

## Geography

### **Midtown**

The largest of Grizmo's three districts is Midtown. It's the location of Grizmo's telepad entrance and is home to the greatest number of establishments and landmarks. It's modeled after a modern Bezgelorian city with an emphasis on shopping and industry. Its buildings are a twisting, curving maze of brass and steel, stretching in the space allowed as if they'd been grown rather than built. A main street stretches from the telepad to the anti-grav tubes to uptown. A secondary street winds from each of these ends, threading through a number of shops and residences. The streets are cleaned once a week, so while garbage and clutter can accumulate like in many chua cities, it's never awful.

Commercially, this area is home to Grizmo's weapon shop, a magic shop, a forge, a diner and a small casino. There's also a small, chua-style bar called 'Sweet Home'. Industrially, many of the Red Tails' productions plants can be seen. Just across from the entrance is their main munitions plant, fittingly situated right across from the weapon shop. "*Factory Fresh"* is the slogan and it's no lie. Residentially, there are five dwellings in the form of chua-style condos, three in a main building and two tucked nearby. A chemical river winds through Midtown in a large drainage ditch. It's a mixture of various industrial runoffs and is highly corrosive. Rather than seal it up, Golah has embraced it, using it as a scenic attraction and a method of disposal. It easily melts any excess garbage (or unwanted minions). Customers are encouraged to toss their litter in. Just don't slip.

### **Uptown**

Uptown's name and design are very appropriate for what it is. Rather than being north like the name 'uptown' usually implies, it is literally 'up', elevated above Midtown on a system of suspended plates. Midtown lives in Uptown's shadow, some parts of its sky blocked off by its massive plate and other spots living in the shine of the bright lights it casts down. In turn, Uptown offers unobstructed views of Midtown and its winding streets and factories. It's clear which class lives where, looking up or down on the other. Uptown itself is based off of more 'Dominionized' chua cities where highborn might visit. Its streets are cleaned every day and its buildings are trendy and orderly. They're still the usual chua metal and brass, but they're far more refined with neat, straight edges and large, clear windows.

The glitz of Uptown is where a bulk of Grizmo's stores are, arranged in a circular plaza around the anti-grav tubes. There's a grocery store, an electronics shop, a Dominion goods shop, a bistro and a library. There's also a TopChu outlet, a very trendy chua clothing store known for its exclusive wares and high prices. A hospital is also present, funded and operated with the help of the Evindra Institute. Finally, there's 'Club Lux', a very trendy bar and spa. It has its 'party' section with a bar, club and dance floor and its 'relax' section with a nail salon, tanning area and hot tubs. The secondary plate of Uptown has three luxury estates, along with Golah's sprawling office and personal quarters which sit overlooking everything. One can cross to this secondary plate by a bridge which, despite being very sturdy, offers no railings. In the eyes of a chua, if something's dumb enough to fall off an un-moving bridge, it deserves to die.

### **Downtown**

There is a large, open tunnel by the Uptown anti-grav tubes. Once through, a re-purposed sewer hatch leads to the underground community known as 'Downtown'. Downtown is built within the pipes and machinery underneath Grizmo and came as a surprise during construction. It was initially meant to be a small, secret area for private meetings among the Red Tails, but with a bit of creativity in the structural design, Golah realized he could create a rather large, open cavern within Grizmo's inner workings. The concept evolved into a more private market modeled after a black market in Bezgelor. The goods in Downtown are far less regulated and while not (usually) blatantly illegal, they're often questionable. Structurally, it's a winding jungle gym of shops and apartments squished into the space given, the chemical river from Midtown flowing into its drainage underneath it all.

Downtown has a lot of shops packed into its small marketplace. A vast amount are foreign goods, ranging from a completely respectable Draken shop and Lopp market to salvaged Ikthian wares and a Pell goods depot of questionable repute. Another popular shop is the apothecary, a place to get all sorts of medicines and stims without too many questions. Rounding things out, there is a hardware store for all of those personal repair and industrial tasks and a workshop on the upper level for any personal science tasks. Downtown has its own bar, 'The Pipe Dream', a small place on the upper level. Downtown also features a small grill restaurant which is meant to resemble many of the back alley kitchens in Bezgelor. Though the most popular place to eat in Downtown (and perhaps all of Grizmo) is the noodle shop. Run by an autonomous noodle robot, noodles of all sorts are available for quick, easy purchase. The only downside is that the noodle bot isn't much for conversation. Four apartments lay tucked in the hidden spaces between shops, providing cozy, affordable housing in Grizmo. There's been rumors of a secret Red Tails room, but if it exists, it's both hidden and locked.

## Government

Grizmo is a city owned by the Red Tail Collective. However, while Neffelo Clamp runs the Red Tails, Golah Jo is the leader of Grizmo. Grizmo was built under his oversight and to his specifications. It's gone through different incarnations and redevelopments, but he's always been its visionary and undisputed mayor. Neffelo Clamp is fully in favor of this, thus any major decisions about the operations, commerce or laws of Grizmo falls squarely to Golah Jo.

As such, it's a commercial dictatorship. The commercial force and brand of Grizmo is known as G-Mart, the label stamped on its various products and the name given to its vast commercial presence. Residents are approved by Golah, all industry is G-Mart (or private Red Tails) and if a store is not directly G-Mart, it is an independent vendor who rents the space and is sponsored by G-Mart.

There's never any question who's in charge. G-Mart advertisements flash in neon signs and holoscreens at all times, and Golah is often the model for whatever product it may be. It's very obvious that it's his city.

That being said, Golah's no tyrant. The opinions of residents and shoppers are taken seriously and like any good business, G-Mart and Grizmo itself will try to cater to the needs and desires of its residents and clientele. However, Golah tends to take the critiques of residents and bigger shoppers over random folks on the street. Like any business, those who are putting in money tend to have a bigger say.

## Economy

Grizmo's main source of income are the variety of shops that can be found within. These stores either sell wares made directly in Grizmo, or from craftsmen who Golah trusts and rents out to. United by Golah's oversight and connections, these stores are united under a brand: 'G-Mart'. It's the collective name of Grizmo's commerce, a sign that despite the differences of the products, all have been given Golah's seal of quality.

G-Mart markets itself as a step up from Protostar. Much like Protostar, G-Mart carries a variety of goods and services, making it a one-stop shop for most any household need. However, G-Mart prides itself in high quality. While the price may not be as low as Protostar, goods are far less likely to break after a week's use, or have vast corners cut in safety or quality. Another major difference is that G-Mart will only sell to Dominion customers and hire Dominion crafters. Unlike Protostar, the Exile economy isn't helped at all or sold to. This patriotism and high quality has made G-Mart a success thus far.

Aside from G-Mart, Grizmo makes a healthy profit from its other attractions. Its restaurants, bars and spa bring in a healthy profit. It also collects a generous amount of rent from its citizens. All in all, Grizmo is a very profitable location, its profit always spiking on its 'live vendor days'.

## Demographics

Grizmo's main residents are members of the Red Tail Collective. Most of the apartments and houses in the city are occupied by them, though there are a few unaffiliated residents who have been rented out to. Its popularity among them is due in no small part to its chua design, security and various amenities. And with one of their Foreman as mayor, there's a great deal of trust.

Most of Grizmo's vendors are automated. The shops manned by trusted, independent craftsmen simply must provide shipments when supplies are running low. The rest of the shops are supplied by the factories on site. Because of this, there's no need for vendors to live on site, or even show up most days. Grizmo does have 'live vendor days' every so often. On these days, the vendors of the product will show up and sell their wares themselves, answering questions from the shopping populace. It's often coupled with a big sale, making live vendor days very big events for Grizmo.

Non-vending jobs are either automated or performed by Golah's largest demographic: minions. Grizmo has a very large minion work force which handles jobs of loading, stocking and the operation and maintenance of the factories and inner machinery of the city. The minion population is constantly fluctuating, as their lethal jobs and sub-human status leads to them constantly getting killed and replaced. They are kept in line by Golah's security force which also lives on site. They are treated fat better and the few minions who live to gratuate from their status will often try to sign up as security.

## Crime

One might expect that in an industrial chua city, crime is rampant. This is not the case. Golah has hired a personal police force and constructed a staggering amount of hidden security cameras around the city. The police force is fitting of a commercial dictatorship. They're very inquisitive, always checking to make sure nothing's been shoplifted and scanning those who go by, but they are absolutely courteous and helpful. They act as guides and customer service representatives, also directing the populace and shoppers to where they want to go.

Punishment in Grizmo is often harsh and heavy handed, as one would expect from chua justice. Shoplifters who refuse to give themselves up are usually shot with heavy stun rounds, packing enough electricity to 'stun' and very likely harm the perpetrator. Heavy shoplifting or crimes of assault are often punished lethally if the perpetrator doesn't give themselves up willingly. Shoplifting isn't very common, as most products pack a special chip. If it isn't deactivated, it triggers a field around the telepad which disintegrates the perpetrators when they try to leave (while leaving the products unharmed).

The only crime that tends to exist is of the profitable variety. Many of Downtown's wares are questionable at best and may well violate a trade law or two. G-Mart's official stance seems to be 'we rent out the stalls and are not responsible if some bad apples choose to sell goods they shouldn't. We're not making them or asking them to'. Grizmo is exceptionally safe to shop in, it's just a question if all of the Downtown goods are safe (or legal) to buy. The only real 'crimes' are disappearances now and again. With shoplifters disintegrated, a chemical river in the open and the Red Tail Collective running the show, there might be a few people who wander in but not out. But these are very rarely Dominion citizens. Usually something's been done to warrant it.