Golden Dome
The Golden Dome is a huge gambling parlor in the port town of Olveck in the Free Republic of Avelax. It takes its name from the unique game that dominates the center of its main hall, which has become its most famous trademark. One of the most popular casinos in the Republic, the Golden Dome has become famous throughout all of Dadauar. Not all its fame is solely for its chicness and style, however; there are rumors that the Golden Dome may occasionally give safe harbor to resistance members, spies, or both. If so, though, its owner counters this with sufficient bribes to the onirarchs to keep them out of trouble.
Patronage
While in principle the Golden Dome is open to anyone, in practice it is patronized mostly by the onirarchs, mostly because the common citizens don't have enough money to meet the wealthy casino's minimum buy-ins on most games. In fact, someone outside the onirarchs who does show up at the Golden Dome is likely to attract considerable attention, not least because the onirarchs are likely to wonder where they got the money from. Still, there is no law against commoners visiting the Golden Dome, and even participating in the games there, and there will be no immediate consequences for one who does so—though the onirarchs will be sure to keep their eye on him in the future.
Such is the Dome's reputation that people from all over the world may travel to visit it. It has more than once been the site of an unofficial summit between leaders of different onirarchies.
Games
The game the Golden Dome is best known for is, of course, the one that gave it its name. The Golden Dome game gets its name, in turn, from the large, golden spherical cap that is an integral part of the game. (Though often referred to as a "hemisphere", the dome is actually significantly less than that, spanning only some 4.19 steradians (4π/3) rather than the 6.28 steradians (2π) of a full hemisphere.) About five meters across, this metallic structure takes up the entire roof of the round chamber where the game is located. In the center of the room, about a meter above floor level, is a sphere that emits beams of light from four points arranged in a tetrahedral pattern. Two levers next to the sphere set it in rotation along two perpendicular axes. When the sphere stops rotating, usually one of the lights will be shining somewhere on a sphere; patrons make bets regarding where on the dome (which is divided into "chambers" and covered with various symbols) the light will strike. (There is a slight chance that two lights will both strike the dome, near the edge; how this pays off depends on where they hit. There is a very small chance that three lights will all strike the edge of the dome; this is considered an automatic loss for all patrons except those who bet on that particular outcome.) So popular has the Golden Dome game proved that, in addition to the original, full-sized game, the casino also boasts six smaller copies elsewhere in its structure—though the highest rollers and the most eminent patrons always play the original.
The Golden Dome's eponymous game is certainly not the only game played there, however. The casino also has plenty of descending towers, matchboards, and tables to play various games of cubes, cards, and dice, though the last are not as popular in the Golden Dome as they are in other casinos. Among the most played games in the establishment, after the Golden Dome game itself, are spiral, fours, and spider.
Layout
The Golden Dome covers some 4400 square meters, the building roughly semicircular in shape, though repeated expansions have left its outline irregular. The Golden Dome chamber itself is near the front of the building, just past the opulent lobby, although it isn't necessary to pass through the room to get to the rest of the casino. Four of the secondary golden dome games are spaced irregularly around the far perimeter. In between are the rooms for other games, as well as a number of lounges and bars. Near the back of the casino is a restaurant called the Partridge Nest, where the wealthy patrons can dine in style.
The Golden Dome has also expanded both downward and upward. Underground chambers hold more gamerooms, including those for the other two golden dome rooms, as well as storage rooms for food, wine, and other goods, and well-protected vaults where much of its wealth is stored (though some of its money is also kept safely in banks). The full extent of the Golden Dome's underground complex is uncertain; there are rumors of all sorts of secret chambers accessible through its subterranean corridors. In the opposite direction, the Golden Dome has built additional stories on top of its original ground floor. Though nothing has been constructed above the domes, over all the rest of the casino is a second story, and part of the building also has a third. These upper stories are taken up mostly by guest quarters, the Golden Dome having branched out into providing accomodations for its customers. The guest rooms are extremely expensive, though, and typically stayed in only by its most powerful visitors from foreign onirarchies.
The Golden Dome also owns extensive grounds surrounding the casino proper. Built by the side of the River El, the casino sits on nearly seven hectares of parks and gardens, including a hedge maze and several fountains. Also on the Dome's grounds are a number of outbuildings, including a hotel, not quite as expensive (or as luxurious) as the rooms in the casino proper, and a second restaurant, the Overlook House.
Staff
The Golden Dome is owned by a wunderkind named Rochner Sehg, with straw-colored hair and bright violet eyes. He employs hundreds of staff, not counting the numerous batirines he owns—guardian batirines who remain stationary at their posts unless trouble strikes, watcher batirines who oversee all the rooms to prevent cheating at the games and worse, and, if some rumors can be believed, perhaps a handful of pleasure batirines to serve the establishment's most valued customers, and seekers to carry out secret business.
It is widely believed that Sehg is a spy for Drithidiach, and somehow secretly pursues his native nation's purposes as he runs the Golden Dome. Others believe that instead—or perhaps in addition—he has sympathies to the resistance, and that the underground part of the complex may include boltholes where he's allowed prominent resistance members to hide out. It is known that he pays off the onirarchy's agents to look the other way for some of his activities, which may lend credence to some of these rumors. If Sehg really is a spy or a sympathizer, or both, it seems likely that the onirarchy is aware of the fact, but that he's sufficiently useful to the onirarchs that they tolerate it, deciding that his value to them outweighs whatever damage he might due by his espionage or his aid to the resistance.