Bonus Post: Locations in the Actuality

The Actuality, the world of Invisible Sun, is a wonderous place full of weird people, strange locations, and bizarre events. Sometimes, however, it can be difficult to know where to start thinking about making the Actuality your own. I thought, today, I would share three of the locations that either Joann or I came up with for games we ran or played in located in Fartown that you can use in your game. These places hold some good memories for us and our players and we hope they can do the same for you.

The Lodge

The Lodge is the Fartown home of the members of a small society of backpackers and Sun travelers. They hole up here after travelling, and throw small parties on regular occasions. The house resides within a middle class neighborhood, and is considered by some to be the jewel of it. Outside of the two (sometimes three) story building, two bronze statues of classical fantasy elves, made of bronze and wearing gold shorts, adorn an otherwise plain front yard.

A large fountain decorates the back, along with the house of Newton Silver, a co-owner of the lodge. After some recent events caused by him, both his house and the Lodge have spirits bound to them. The spirit in the Lodge, a 13 year old boy, loves to spend the days and nights wailing away on his saxophone, and causing mischief by making the third floor of the Lodge disappear, along with other rooms in the house.

Many vislae can be met coming to and from the lodge, especially students from the Vancian College who are studying the bound spirit of the Lodge, one that seems to be the child of two other spirits tied to two different houses. The whole phenomenon is new, curious, and not a little alarming.

Flint’s Flame

Run by a short, stocky man named Dimitrius, the establishment is simple in its décor, a long bar of aged wood lovingly polished with oil, tears, and occasionally blood and several stools, along with a few booths. Ivy adorns the inside, climbing the walls to accent them a bit.

The trappings surround a rather curious and unique fountain. Most of the time, it runs clear, the cleanest water, free to all. But Dimitrius has the ability to make the fountain produce any kind of alcohol, which he then bottles and sells fresh to the customer.

He can produce any common liquor and even some unique ones, such as one he calls “the Blue”, for example, that changes its flavor based on the deepest unconscious thoughts of the drinker so that no two experiences from the same bottle are the same.

One that he does not allow to leave the building, however, is one that he calls “the Red”. For a customer to obtain it, they must pay in advance (the price actually varies per customer, almost as if he can sense why they wish to try it and charges them accordingly), and then are taken through a blank wall to a back room that is barren and made entirely of stone with a single torch to light it. Very occasionally, there will also be chairs or something back here that is broken or otherwise not of use. He will then leave them with the promise to return in fifteen minutes to retrieve them after their drink. Dimitrius dispenses the red only in tiny amounts, in a shot glass. Rumor has it that it is pure, distilled, Destruction.

Dimitrius is also the source of all the alcohol for Newton Silver’s famous parties at the Lodge.

Cafe/Bar**

Nestled in the nook of a small Fartown neighborhood is a curious establishment. The outside size of the building does not change at all, nor do the buildings around it.

During the day, the sign hanging above the door reads “Bar”. Inside, one finds a nice café that serves very pleasant meals. The interior is decorated very brightly and gaily with light colors, perspective paintings of fruit and other things, and the tables, small round ones are covered with frilly white tablecloths, with wire chairs to sit in.

At night, however, the sign hanging above the door reads “Café”. The scene is very different, with old oaken furniture inside, and an almost smoky atmosphere without the smell of smoke, though to the discerning nose, a faint whiff of cloves can be detected. The layout is completely different. Gone is the eatery and in its place is a bar, stocked with most every kind of alcohol one might want. While not as famous as Zero’s, it is, still, a serviceable place to become inebriated and the clientele is, most of the time, friendly.

**Note: It was pointed out to me by Kyle Webb (Thanks, Kyle!) that this must have been an unconscious addition from reading because it is in p. 78 of Secrets of Silent Streets. The description of the bar we used was different, but the day/night bar name thing is there.

• Josh Walles