Chessboard

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Chessboard is a location featured in Ascent: Trials of Vore. It is the capital of the 2nd Floor of the Tower, sitting at the heart of the floor.

It first appeared in Floor 2 - Mirror/Mirror.

Description
Chessboard is a walled city that serves as the heart and capital of the 2nd Floor. Its many tall buildings are composed of white stone - having the appearance of being sculpted from sugar - and strawberry red rooftops, connected by white-pink stone streets, alternated like a chessboard. At the center of the city sits the high-towered Chessboard Castle, which follows a similar aesthetic, presided over by Queen Mirror.

The city lacks a major gimmick of its own - as some other locales have - being a relative safe-haven and hub for climbers, where they can choose to live if that's their preference. To facilitate this, predation is prohibited by law within the city walls - though that doesn't stop some from trying.

The city boasts a number of inns, houses, shops and other recreational facilities - many of which are visibly out of place in the overall aesthetic - including but not limited to: Hair salons, magic stores, tattoo shops, a quaint cafe opposite a medieval tavern, a medieval inn opposite a modern casino, a dwarven forge close to a neon strip club, a "blacksmith" - more of a second-hand weapon store - and the city's train station, connected to the line running through the city's surroundings. These outlets range from "modern" to "grungy", as well as cyberpunk, medieval and so on.

Chessboard Castle
Chessboard Castle - the home of the "wonderful" Queen Mirror - is located at the center of the city. It is a high-towered structure often described as being something out of a fairy tale. It follows a similar aesthetic to the city-scape around it, largely comprised on tall, white spires with red caps.

The front gate of the castle leads directly into a dark, candle-lit hallway with a red-white checkered marble floor, lined with marble statues of chess pieces and adorned with countless stylized hearts. The main, unlit stairway leads up to another hall, and the castle's throne room beyond.

The throne room is notably large and suitably regal, and in spite of Mirror's seemingly split self, only contains a single throne.

Additionally, the castle likely contains some form of banquet hall, as well as luxurious bedrooms used for, among other things, housing trial winners for the night.

The very top of Chessboard Castle contains a cramped, ordinary looking elevator - metallic grey interior and safety bars out of place in its medieval surroundings save for a large arrow pointing to a big '3' above it - that serves as the gateway for climbers travelling to the 3rd Floor. This elevator requires the Royal Key from Mirror's trial - or an ID card containing it - to permit travellers passage using it, an automated voice prompting climbers to place their cards against a screen next to the door on the inside.

Background
At an unknown point prior to Ashley Gray and Syl's arrival on the 2nd Floor, Queen Mirror would lose her personal magic hand mirror - at that time or later refitted as a shield. While Mirror would have a "far finer" mirror created to replace it, the original would eventually end up for sale - through unknown means - by the city's "blacksmith". (Floor 2 - Mirror/Mirror)

Ascent: Trials of Vore
After arriving on the 2nd Floor, Ashley Gray and Syl would arrive in Chessboard with Michelle L'Instar and, after some exploration, travel a "blacksmith", where Ashley would purchase the Mirror Shield and Syl would buy a rocket launcher. They they would spend a night at a medieval inn - alongside Alice Little - and three more nights in the city after that before travelling to Chessboard Castle to meet Queen Mirror for her trial. They would be briefed by Mirror there, in her throne room, before being transported to Morning Wood for the trial itself. (Floor 2 - Mirror/Mirror)

Following their completion of the trial, Ashley and Syl would attend a banquet in the castle where they would stuff themselves to the point of "overdoing" it, after which they would spend a night in one of the castle's luxurious rooms. They would take the elevator at the top of the castle to the 3rd Floor on the following day. (Floor 3 - Greed and Glory)

Location
Chessboard is located at the center - be it figuratively or literally - of the 2nd Floor, surrounded on all sides by slightly hilly, picturesque springtime fields, laid out in a chessboard tile pattern.

Politics
Queen Mirror - that being both halves of her - appears to preside over Chessboard as an absolute monarchy-type power, as she does for the entire floor in her role as overseer. She appears to employ a number of individuals - most promptly bunny-eared women - as both guards (dressed in white armor styled with red hearts) and general workers, though whether there is any structured authority beyond this is unknown.

Culture
Despite its almost medieval/fantasy atmosphere, the culture of Chessboard appears to be incredibly diverse, as it plays host to climbers from a vast array of different worlds - ranging from gunslingers to knights to ninjas to pirates - and thus provides many anachronistic locales and the like. Because of this, pinning down one specific all encompassing culture is difficult.

Trivia

 * As with the overall floor, the aesthetic of Chessboard is intended as a parody of the works of Lewis Carroll.