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| The "Yellow Rose" was
submitted by Scott Ash some time ago. I am not sure where it will be placed, but it is a
great example of a great submission, especially if you don’t want to design and
detail an entire station section. |
Yellow Rose
Tavern
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| The Yellow Rose Tavern is the largest
establishment of it's kind on La Salle Station, and the one place every resident visits at
least once during their stay. The management prides itself in hiring only sapient labor.
However, only humans have applied so far. Additionally, The Yellow Rose aspires to give
every patron what it calls "true Texas hospitality." This has made it popular
with AusCo employees from Texas and her colonies, as well as Texaphiles assigned to or
visiting the station. Occupying a 10mx15m segment of one of La Salle's residential and
recration sections, The Yellow Rose can easily handle up to 600 seated patrons, and often
has at least 200 others standing or dancing when popular musicians are on board. Using
materials from Kwantung, the outside of the building is made to look like an old South
Texas mission.
Inside can be found many articles of Texana, from neon Lone Star and Shiner beer signs
of the late 20th century, to excellently- crafted murals showing scenes of Texas history
and natural beauty from Earth as well as her colonies. All of the furniture within the
tavern are made of woods shipped from Earth, and those portions of the walls that don't
have murals have wooden siding sent from Texas' colony on Heidelshiemat.
Along the trailing wall beginning at the far wall of the interior office is a 10m long
bar 1m from the wall. The human bartenders serve all the drinks from behind this bar, for
either patrons at the bar or to waitstaff taking drinks to their customers at the tables.
Drinks served at The Yellow Rose are not filled to the top, else coriolis effect will
spill the upper centimeter of liquid onto the bar and the bartender's aprons. For this
reason the management chose to place the bar to trailing, as opposed to spinward.
The back third of the tavern has a polished hardwood dance floor and 1m high stage for
the various musicians that have played The Yellow Rose. Behind the stage suspended from
the ceiling is a large Texas flag. This has kept many patrons from throwing drinks at the
stage at unpopular acts, as Texans don't take very kindly to any desecration of their
national emblems.
The upper floor contains a small restaurant, VRcade, and meeting room which can be
divided into three separate sections. Specializing in a diverse range of Texan cuisines,
the restaurant offers customers choices including tex-mex, barbeque, and viet-mex, the
latter developed into it's own style during the over three hundred years of Vietnamese
influence in Texas, distinct from the foods of Indochina.
In short, for a true taste of Texas in the Tau Ceti system, La Salle Station recommends
a visit to The Yellow Rose Tavern. |
First Floor
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Second Floor
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| Michael Lopez: |
| Mike Lopez has put a lot of effort
into building the Yellow Rose Tavern into what it is today. He grew up in Round Rock, the
center of Texas' information technology industry north of Austin, and attended the
University of Houston's College of Hospitality. While at UH, he excelled in his
studies of hotel and restaurant management and gained a keener interest in the history and
culture of his country. Following his graduation, Lopez took a position with America's
GoodRest hotel chain, a Trilon subsidiary, and had in ten years worked his way into being
the manager for the New Adolphus Hotel in Dallas. While under GoodRest's employ he set
aside much of his salary, intending to build his own place, and waiting for the right time
to do so. When AusCo announced the building of La Salle station, on a whim Lopez
approached the station planners about the possiblity of opening a small bar/restaurant to
serve the needs of the construction crew and management. It came as a surprize to him when
AusCo not only accepted his proposal, but eagerly offered to support the venture.
Therefore, among the first buildings erected within La Salle Station was Mike Lopez's
Yellow Rose Tavern. His keen business sense and sincere like of people has made the Yellow
Rose one of the highlights of a visit to La Salle. |
| Motivations: Heart four,
diamond 3. Mike Lopez genuinely likes people and enjoys what he considers a labor of love.
This labor is also very lucrative for him, and he meticulously watches costs. However,
Lopez also lives by the axiom "the customer comes first," and will happily bend
over backward to make his customers happy. |
| Arleen Burnett: |
| Arleen is the newest waitress hired at
The Yellow Rose, having recently completed her secondary education within the station. She
grew up with her mother, a computer operator working for Station Authority's Computer
Operations department, and has lived at the station since her mother was posted here from
El Paso three years ago. With her vivid blond hair, youthful and innocent
personality, and eagerness to please at her new job, she has become the object of
attraction for the young bachelors of the station. Burnett, however, is beginning to see
the effect she has on young male patrons, and has chosen to wear more revealing clothing.
Since that decision, her tip take has risen dramatically, and she fully expects to earn
enough to return to El Paso and resume her education by the end of the year. Ultimately
she hopes to become a teacher, and serve children in remote outposts such as La Salle. |
| Motivations: Jack Heart,
diamond two. While it may seem that Arleen Burnett is an innocent young lady, anyone who
converses with her will quickly notice a "wisdom beyond her years." Her desire
to earn her way through college has become her paramount concern, however. This in no way
detracts from her determination and foresight to carry through with her plans for life,
and will not allow herself to deviate from that path, regarless of any offers made to her. |
| Robert Joseph Harris: |
| Bobby Joe Harris is the main bartender
at The Yellow Rose, and the husband of the tavern's assistant manager, Katie Tran. Bobby
Joe until his current job served with Texas' Army for twenty-five years, accepting
retirement at La Salle Station. Wishing a quiet life, for the most part he serves drinks
and advice to patrons, but seems disinterested in getting involved in anything himself.
Harris does, however, take a hard line towards those who become belligerent, abusive, or
obnoxious while he's on duty, and has on several occasions ejected patrons from The Yellow
Rose using what some would consider excessive force. One thing patrons will notice right
away: while he can pour a beer or a drink with unnatural skill, Harris will under no
circumstances drink any himself. Unknown to all but his wife, it was as a result of a
two-day bender on Austin's World that forced Harris to take retirement, in lieu of
court-martial. It is rumored that during this time he placed two Texas Military Policemen
in the hospital and less-seriously wounded three others in their efforts to subdue him.
Harris stands nearly 2m tall, and masses 110 kg, not one bit of it fat. Since arriving at
La Salle station, he hasn't consumed a drop of alcohol, and intends for everyone's
sake to remain clean. |
| Motivations: Club jack, club 6.
Bobby Ray Harris is what can be considered a "violent drunk," who becomes a
violent, abusive man once he begins drinking. Now that he's sober, Harris is a very kind,
soft-spoken gentleman, who will still happily remind unruly patrons NOT to mess around on
his watch, often with bruises. He knows his limits there, however, and no complaint
by ejectees has ever had an effect on Mike Lopez's confidence in Harris. |
| Kathy Tran: |
| Kathy Tran is the wife of Bobby Ray
Harris, and a native of Houston's Little Saigon neighborhood. A city girl from birth, the
wisdom and inner strength she gained as an Army wife is an asset that Mike Lopez uses to
the fullest, which has helped in making The Yellow Rose the success it is. It was at her
insistance Tran and her husband moved to La Salle, believing a quiet, distant outpost
in the Tau Ceti system would provide a peaceful life for the both of them. Tran loves her
husband very much, and while she misses the excitement of the city, she has no desire to
return to Houston, their common home town. Where her husband is large, she is small, a
dimunitive Asian woman standing no more than 1.5m high. However, her own adult life
has given her a "thousand-yard stare" equal in intensity to that of her husband. |
| Motivations: Queen heart,
diamond 4. Kathy Tran is utterly devoted to her husband, and will do anything to protect
him, even from himself. Her greatest fear is that he will start drinking again, and does
all she can to subtly remind him of his pledge to remain sober. |
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