Las Vegas

## Description:

The SuperCity of Las Vegas, also known as the City of Sin, City of Dice, or Gilded Oasis, is the largest population center in the Mojave Desert, located in the region which was previously the state of Nevada in western North America. The Supercity sits squarely in the midst of a giant desert, making it a beacon of habitability in an otherwise inhospitable landscape.

Las Vegas maintains neutral relations with most other Supercities, and is often considered to stand on its own as a relatively unique location. Las Vegas does, however, compete with Los Angeles, due the two cites' emphases on tourism and entertainment; this rivalry has led to fierce economic competition between the two Supercities, which has resulted in corporate rivalries, espionage, sabotage, and even outright violence.

### Geography & Climate:

Las Vegas was constructed in the middle of the Mojave Desert, a harsh and unforgiving sea of sand dunes, rocky outcroppings, and sparse vegetation. The Supercity itself has taken steps to mitigate the harshness of their locale by covering sections of the city in large domes of reinforced glass; many outdoor areas like parks, theme parks, etc. are all domed to keep out most of the extreme heat and allow for the use of climate control. The flatness of the desert has also allowed Las Vegas to expand in all directions freely; as such, the Supercity is both wide and tall, most famous for its extravagant buildings, over-the-top architecture, grand structures, and flashy decorations. Like all Supercities, Las Vegas is protected from The Outside by a massive, reinforced metal wall, patrolled by KE soldiers and manned by thousands of turrets; unlike many other Supercities, this wall serves a purpose greater than cosmetics or symbolic separation of man from nature. Rather, Las Vegas's wall exists to repel raids from the bandits, Native Americans, and mutants which inhabit the desert; those exiled criminals, fleeing fugitives, and anti-corporate terrorists that leave the Supercity make frequent attempts to steal, assault, and raid the large metropolitan sprawl, usually to little effect, although Las Vegas's criminal underworld is incredibly extensive nevertheless.

As one might expect from a massive population center constructed in the middle of a desert, Las Vegas is extremely hot and extremely dry. This has forced megacorporations to adapt their architectural strategies to accommodate the heat and low humidity, facts which have been monetized to the companies' benefits. For instance, a number of megacorporations run the Supercity's air conditioning market, and all work together to gouge prices during heat waves and monopolize the market; water is a scarce commodity in Las Vegas, treated as more valuable than Kollars (although the city's enforced façade and gilded exterior prevent anyone from admitting it), and megacorporations like Deluge Hydroengineering Inc. take advantage of that scarcity to increase prices, extort residents, and charge tourists exorbitant fees for every drop of water consumed. This culture of scarcity has had noticeable effects on Las Vegas's population, which has lost a good portion of its original inhabitants.

### Organization:

Las Vegas runs on a few primary industries: Gambling, Prostitution, Entertainment, and Hospitality. Megahotels, resorts, parks, and supersized casinos serve as the main source of income for an overwhelming majority of the area's Megacorporations. Despite technically being owned by Kodian Enterprises, Las Vegas is a city very much divided along Megacorporate lines; sections of Las Vegas are named, maintained, owned, and operated by specific groups of allied Megacorps and their associated factions. As a result, each of the major factions fight with one another over territory, power, money, and guests; Kodian Enterprises often works as the mediating influence, making sure that no disputes bleed over into the public view. But behind the scenes, Las Vegas is a cesspool of subterfuge, theft, scandal, drama, and backstabbing.

Legality in Las Vegas is even greyer than in Ryanstown or Los Angeles; where other Supercities have well-known laws, KE subsidiaries that manage building codes and safety, etc., Las Vegas has no such precautions. Instead, it's easier to identify what isn't legal in Las Vegas than what is; the Supercity is dominated by taboo, degeneracy, and hedonism. While Kodian Enterprises owns the land, the various Megacorporate alliances hold the majority of the influence and wield their popularity like weapons; the competition is incredibly fierce, which leads to an arms race of immorality and unethical business practices. This spiral has left much of Las Vegas unprotected by security companies like the KPD, who are not officially contracted to patrol areas like The Strip and other Entertainment Districts, and instead rely on Mojave Conglomerate Security, a joint-task PMC contracted solely to police public areas and The Strip; the Megacorporate conglomerates that operate there have their own security forces that protect their property. The KPD is only responsible for policing the exterior of the Supercity and its residential areas, and as such has a greatly diminished presence that is replaced by even more corrupt local mercenaries, gangs and criminal elements, and private casino-owned thug armies. The weakened authority of the KPD has allowed organized crime to take deep root in Las Vegas, essentially allowing large international crime syndicates like the Maofu Clan, Raiki, and Crimson Crescent to replace standard police forces or security staff; organized crime is believed to own (directly or indirectly) over half of Las Vegas's assets. Despite this apparent weakness in its security and safety protocols, Las Vegas is deceptively secure; the various casinos, banks, and luxury resorts pride themselves on their advanced security measures, uncrackable vaults, or unbeaten protection details, and many of these casinos spend large percentages of their yearly profits on improving their on-site defense protocols. Most of Las Vegas's resorts and casinos ban weapons of any kind on their property; outside casinos/resorts, concealed carry of weaponry is allowed without permit, but open carry requires Megacorporate licensing under penalty of incarceration and lawsuits/fines. Weapon searches and permit checks are almost constant for those carrying weapons, and it is incredibly difficult to smuggle them in without knowing someone on the inside or securing some alternate means of entrance.

Similarly, the roving gangs of casino owned Megacorporate thugs mean that brutality is very common; disobedient guests, scammers, hackers, unlicensed or unauthorized solicitors, etc. are beaten unconscious if not killed outright, and the absolute authority of these security groups means that no one can do anything about it without facing a similar punishment themselves.

#### List of Primary Alliances/Factions:

1. The House: Banks, investment firms, utility Megacorps, and security companies that comprise the backbone of Las Vegas's operations, all overseen by Kodian Enterprises and its subsidiaries; despite technically existing on the fringes of Vegas's political situation, The House can exert pressure of various kinds to ensure that Las Vegas's many ongoing power struggles do not spill over into the public view or harm the Supercity's bustling industries.
	1. Kodian Enterprises
		1. The Double Helix Casino & Resort
	2. Deluge Hydroengineering Inc.
2. Paradise Concern: A large faction composed of Las Vegas's most expensive and luxurious Megacorporations, properties, resorts, casinos, and businesses; led by representatives from Dhreem Inc. and backed by affiliates of Megacorps like NewYu, the Paradise Concern is considered the strongest and wealthiest faction in Las Vegas.
	1. Dhreem Inc.
		1. The Grand Venetian Casino
	2. NewYu
3. Durak Outfit: A series of affiliated resorts, bars and clubs, stadiums and arenas, brothels and drug dens, all orbiting around Jexan Industries at its head. The organization operates at the ultimate behest of Jexan Industries, who conducts extensive mining operations out in the Mojave Desert; the Durak Outfit provides considerable discounts and plenty of free stays to Jexan employees.
	1. Jexan Industries
		1. Brigadiry
4. Blackjack Group: A group of Megacorporate-owned resorts, casinos, and other businesses throughout Las Vegas that have long-standing ties (direct or associated) with the Crimson Crescent; these groups are considered among the most dangerous and influential in Las Vegas.
	1. Crimson Crescent
		1. The Velvet Rose Casino
5. Patolli Interests: A gaming and pharmaceutical-centered investment firm backed primarily by Aztech Biomedical Associates and their affiliate organizations; also includes Native American tribal groups, tribe-owned casinos, and association with both the Barrenderos and The Native Nations gang conglomerates. Patolli Interests deals in the designer drugs, VR clubs, bars and nightclubs, and "enhanced experience" markets of Las Vegas.
	1. Aztech Biomedical Associates
		1. Barrenderos
	2. The Native Nations
		1. The Mojave Hatchet
6. Igo Group: A top-down alliance of structured Megacorporate-owned bars and clubs, casinos, hotels, and luxury resorts, all overseen by Xeno Corp directly. As a result of their affiliation with Xeno Corp, the Igo Group is also, therefore, owned by the Raiki.
	1. Raiki
7. Mahjong Group: An alliance of Megacorporate-owned resorts, casinos, gambling dens, drug dens, and brothels that cater to the cheaper side of entertainment in Las Vegas; all members of this faction are tied, either directly or indirectly, with the Maofu Clan.
	1. Maofu Clan
		1. The Jade Poppy Casino

#### Districts:

##### The Strip (Entertainment District; Gambling & Tourism):

Despite originally being an outlying district of Vegas prior to The Fiscal Suicide, The Strip has become the centerpiece for Las Vegas; many of the communities that previously surrounded Vegas have been incorporated into the Supercity, allowing The Strip to expand exponentially over the past 80 years. Thanks to considerable investment from a number of Megacorporations, The Strip has become the literal main road that runs through Las Vegas.

The series of adjacent streets form massive blocks, each one dedicated to a single casino or resort. The Strip is split between all of the aforementioned factions that run Las Vegas, with no real organization between what faction's property is next to whose, as the factions arose after many of the current buildings were already built and in use. As a result, The Strip is considered a neutral ground for most of the corporate execs and gangsters that call Las Vegas home; because it is the center of the Supercity's tourism, The Strip is not to be used for 'corp-on-'corp violence, and all overt acts of violence perpetrated by Megacorporate employees is strictly forbidden. To enforce the strict "no fighting" policies, the Megacorporations of Las Vegas formed Mojave Conglomerate Security, a PMC specially contracted to patrol The Strip and other public forums within Vegas's Wall. Megacorporate property is still granted the same legal sovereignty as everywhere else, however, and it is rare to see employees from one faction entering properties of another.

###### Legacy Road (Entertainment District; Historical & Tourism):

As one reaches the end of The Strip, they will pass into the "old town" of Vegas, where the historical meets the futuristic. This portion of The Strip is dedicated to the most influential pop culture figures in history; people can attend recreated shows performed by robots disguised as Elvis Presley, participate in mystery dinners accompanied by Sherlock Holmes Androids, or watch King Arthur's knights participate in jousting competitions. Observers will see superheroes from comics beating up bad guys and theatrical displays of supervillain battles in the streets. Impersonator Androids fill the sidewalk, performing or offering their services to passersby; it is a well-known secret, however, that all of the Androids are programmed with extensive combat subroutines, designed to prevent anyone from committing crimes or stealing from the various museums. These Androids' combat subroutines are all in-character, which, when combined with the staged displays of vigilantism and blurred line between theatrical and real, leaves tourists unsure if a particularly brutal show is real or fake.

###### Paradise (Entertainment District; Gambling & Tourism):

The community of Paradise, once a part of the Las Vegas Strip but still unincorporated into the city's official limits, is now owned entirely by the "Paradise Concern" conglomerate. The Sub-District of Paradise is famous for the luxury, expense, exclusivity, and entertainment on offer.

##### Fremont (Entertainment District; Bars & Clubs):

The District of Fremont was originally just a single street in downtown Las Vegas, but after Megacorporations took over the Supercity, the street has expanded considerably, into the largest center for alcohol consumption in the Supercity.

Similar to other Entertainment Districts in Supercities like Los Angeles, Fremont was built to attract a younger, more club-savvy demographic than the casinos and resorts.

##### [STADIUM/CONVENTION DISTRICT] (Entertainment District; Sports & Gaming):

The [NAME] District of Las Vegas is infamous for its convention centers, stadiums, arenas, and sports fields. Famous teams from all over the world come to Las Vegas to participate in a wide range of sports and games, from racing to Synth Brawl to bloodsport and boxing to ESports competitions and professional football, the [NAME] District has it covered.

But just as the District has games on its surface, those of less-than-legal persuasions can also find a wide variety of illicit games and illegal gambling. Illegal fights, drug-fueled sports matches, and strange permutations of existing games are all on offer. These underground activities often happen in broad daylight, as the criminal groups are unafraid of local KPD and are supported by the Megacorporations; the games may also happen in abandoned buildings, under nightclubs, or in the sewers. Criminal activity is rampant, of course, and gangs control almost all of the games that go on; they may not rig all of them, but their cut of the bets means that they are all willing to kill anyone that gets in the way of their profits. Tourists should beware of trying to find some of these shadier locales, as it is too easy to get lost in the sea of scum and villainy.

##### Boulder City (Residential District; Slum):

Originally one of the unincorporated communities that bordered Las Vegas, Boulder City has changed entirely from its roots. Now, Boulder City is the term used to describe the sprawling ghettos and favellas that have sprung up on the outside of Las Vegas's protective Wall, which has acquired the nickname of the "Glass Wall" for the corporate propaganda surrounding the Wall's true purpose. Boulder City is infamous for its contraband, criminal syndicates, human trafficking and drug rings, and cheap thrills; naive tourists should beware, however, of pickpockets, thieves, muggers, gangsters, and Megacorporate "evictions" that force residents from their homes in order to make room for new casinos and continued expansions of Las Vegas.

Boulder City was transformed into this modern slum as a result of its original anti-gambling stance; after the Megacorporations moved in and took over, Boulder City retained its decentralized attitude towards government and economy, spurring constant resistance from their new Megacorporate overlords. Rather than eradicate the neighborhood entirely, the Megacorporations allowed Boulder City to continue existing, but pushed the neighborhood's residents to the fringes of the society. Few people from Boulder City are allowed to enter Las Vegas, as wealth requirements and CON's are needed for entry; the lack of opportunities and historic anti-corporate attitudes of the residents kill any opportunities the residents may have.

Extreme poverty and rampant crime dominate Boulder City, as do anti-corporate sentiments; people who work for Megacorporations but live in Boulder City are referred to as "Rockbreakers," because they are considered dangerous threats to the community. Despite the discrimination against these people, more and more Boulder residents are being forced to turn to the Megacorps for jobs.

#### Crime & Corruption:

Despite Las Vegas's enormous police force and the fortresses in the form of the casinos and resorts, the Supercity is still rife with crime. Organized syndicates control most of the casinos/resorts, and street thugs muscle their way into smaller, more independent businesses. The extreme fortification of vaults and banks across Las Vegas has only bolstered the determination of the thousands of thieves and robbers that call the Supercity home; Las Vegas has one of the longest-running legacies of heists and daring capers in the world. This has developed a criminal culture of theft within Las Vegas, one that determines a person's value by their skill at stealing; this culture was founded atop the legacies of the Gutters, an archetype of thief known for having stolen from a Vegas casino or affiliated Megacorp/crime syndicate and gotten away with it long enough to tell the tale. These Gutters may be retired and reduced to anonymous, independent benefactors for the Supercity's criminals, but they still maintain their skills; the Gutters are most associated with their anonymous and highly secretive business of selling information to criminals and running heists for crews not normally able to pull off high-profile jobs. The Gutters' info is always accurate and professional, but it takes a considerable payment and repeated tests to prove one's worthiness and skill.

[CRIME MASTERMINDS FOR SALE]

[REDACTED]