The Sanctum
"I hear a lot people in the outer communities claim Grand Canal has no heart, wrong the Sanctum is the heart, a dark insidious heart..."
-nameless street tout
"The Sanctum is the political heart of Grand Canal, that is obvious, but City Hall is not where that heart is located"
-Zoe Tolbert, Mayor of Krasnygorod
The Sanctum is the district of politics and political decision making in Grand Canal. Located here are the various offices and headquarters of the city's political landscape from City Hall to the police force headquarters to the Hoteliers Fellowship offices and the headquarters of the Grand Canal Gaming Authority. It is the heart of municipal officialdom.
Situated at the geographical heart of the city, to most outsiders the Sanctum is a place of authority. Here apparatchiks mingle, there are the odd kaisha-in but it is mostly bureaucrat territory. Now and then one might see the odd flock of legal types either en route to the court or returning their to their chambers.
The only other element that is often spotted among this flock are the elites and celebrities, as the Sanctum is home to the grandest of grand hotels; the Imperial. It is said that Luna Delgado owns the penthouse suite at the very top and she gazes out over the rooftops at the Lagoon and its wandering palaces. Most believe this to be speculation.
But everyone who is anyone knows that when celebrities come to Grand Canal they stay at the Imperial and no where else. After all if you have money why would you stay anywhere else? Also given the fact that the Grand Canal Police Force (GCPF) is only a few streets away it means that celebs don't have to worry so much about pesky stalkers, paparazzi or the odd investigative journalist looking to get to the bottom of some scandal.
In fact the GCPF has a specific unit tasked with keeping order within the district, dubbed the Sanctum Brigade they respond nearly instantenously to any trouble that occurs within the area. A force within a force, the Brigade is armed with the best tech, equipment and weapons that money can buy. A lot of the gear that Rapid response units or special tactics squads currently used was first employed by the Sanctum Brigade. It is the test bed for cutting edge law enforcement equipment and gear.
Businesses that operate within the Sanctum accept only UN dollars when conducting business. Thus the Imperial, several high class restaurants and botiques all operate in UN legal tender. Small entities such as a few newstands here and there will take other currencies as well as the chain outlets such as Atomik Cafe etc.
In contrast to all the sites of power and influence, all the top end botiques there stands in this place a holy site. Grand Canal is the only city outside of Krasnygorod to host a cathedral of the Elvis the Eternal King. The Cathedral of the Eternal King stands proudly, a testament that the spiritual can exist in the realm of the temporal. This is one of the few places outside of the various ruins that receives considerable numbers of visitors. Unlike the rest of the Sanctum it gladly accepts donations in roubles, AU Francs, New Yen, Euros & Reals.
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