Who I'm Reading Today

Posted by seaofstarsrpg

https://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/2025/07/14/club-query-a-shadowrun-place/

http://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/?p=26488

People still enjoy the challenge of testing themselves and their knowledge and ability to learn, yes, the humble quiz still has its adherents, followers, and teams.  Game shows, pub quizzes, and trivia games are still popular.

The Space:
Club Query is just outside of Downtown Seattle proper, but is still in what is recognized as the Downtown district.  The club takes up the lower two floors of Sprang and Finger Office Building, replacing a previous restaurant that had failed.  The twelve floors above are a mixture of professional offices including the law firm of Gorshin, Nygma, and Radox.  The exterior is unremarkable, fronted with stone and windows of one-way glass (so the patrons can look out, unobserved).  A schedule of events and their menu is posted, physically and in AR, by the front door.  There is also a subtle members-only entrance through the elevator lobby that whisks people to the upper floors.

The interior is well, but not excessively, lit with clean, modernist lines and decoration.  It has an aura of efficiency to the layout and design which is instinctively noticeable.  The decorations are memorabilia from famous game shows and classic puzzles, with crossword puzzles being common.  The main floor is broken up into the bar, the main dining area, and the event room.  The event room can be reconfigured for various competitions and has theme nights for various games and competitions.  As they take cheating very seriously at Club Query, the entire event room can be severed from the Matrix by use of a Faraday cage woven into the building structure.

The upper floor, unusually, has the kitchen and several private rooms, each named and themed after famous quiz shows (such as the Jeopardy Room and the Mastermind Suite), they are unusual in advertising the fact that each room can be cut off locally from the Matrix through use of an installed Faraday cage, again part of their commitment to fair play.

Membership in Club Query gets the member priority seating and the ability to reserve spots for the major quizzes.

The waitstaff uniforms consist of black pants or skirt, white shirt, and black waistcoat.  Their order pads have non-volatile memory to take orders while within a Faraday cage.  There are efficient and carefully trained not to provide hints or advice to the patrons.

The Food and Drink:

Club Query’s food, as far as main courses, is consistently competent, but rarely rises to the heights of culinary excellence.  It is more renowned for the clever design of its meals which imply a puzzle to be solved (and usually are).  But their desserts are justly famous both as puzzles and culinary delights.

The Club’s bartenders and drink selection are both top-notch, though heavily leaning into theme cocktails.  They have a selection of extremely expensive liquors for discerning, and well-heeled, patrons.

Entertainment:

Guess.  Every night is Quiz Night at Club Query, sometimes themed; there is a weekly Jeopardy-themed night for example.  But every night hosts at least one Quiz Night, some open, some members only, but the quizzes are the big draw.  They often have, usually local, celebrities to act as the Master of Ceremonies or Quizmasters.

Occasionally, they run other puzzle or mental challenges.  They have a bimonthly crossword challenge, jigsaw puzzle nights, and other such but never to the detriment of the quiz nights.

Staff and Regulars:

Club Query is owned. indirectly by the partners of Gorshin, Nygma and Radox.  They purchased the space when the previous restaurant went bankrupt and turned it into the sort of place they wanted to spend their afterwork hours in.  The club and its management is through a trust, so that G, N and R have no direct influence on the day-to-day running of the business, this is so that workers (and partners) of G, N and R can compete in the quizzes with no accusations of cheating or favorism.

Edward Astin is the Club’s manager, brought in from New York just for this job.  He has exceeded expectations managing the difficult balancing act of getting more people in which still maintaining an aura of exclusiveness around the club.  Mister Astin, as he prefers to be addressed on duty, lets everything run, only appearing to assist and make sure that things move smoothly.  He has a sixth sense for problems before they start and intervenes before they become problems.  Astin is surprisingly competent in an absurdly wide variety of skills and everyone who works at the club has a story of him stepping up and solving a minor problem using skills that no one knew he had and moving on.  Astin is of average size but remarkably athletic; he is always well-dressed with perfect hair and a pencil mustache.  [Connection 4]

The chief quizmaster is Mary “Riddle Girl” Ross, member of MENSA at six, started college at sixteen, graduated with a Math PhD at twenty-one, and currently works at the Comprehensive Field Unification Association, attempting to mathematically model mana flows.  But her important work is designing the Master Quiz for Club Query.  She checks all of the official quizzes and trains the quizmasters, wanting consistency for the players.  Mary is fascinated by all kinds of puzzles and riddles and is happy to talk about such at great length.  She is an athletic young woman with auburn hair and grey eyes.  [Connection 4]

The primary dessert chef is Sindara “Cinnamon” Yamara-Rich, a short elf woman who specializes in complex and creative desserts.  She enjoys working for Club Query as let her experiment and build unusual desserts.  Cinnamon wears her blond hair in a long braid, pinned up while she is working, and favors bright colors when off-duty.  She occasionally works with an alchemist who specializes in baked goods for some of her masterpieces.  Cinnamon is always interested in learning new baking and decorating techniques.  [Connection 3]

Naturally, more staff is needed to run the Club, waitstaff, kitchen staff, chefs, bartenders, tech support, and security.  The Club Query shares a security contract with the Sprang and Finger Office Building with Minutemen Security.

Campaign uses:

The Club is a great place to meet if you need to be in a public place and under a Faraday cage, just meet quietly.

Club Query is also used as a place to hire specialists for various tasks as its meeting rooms all include Faraday cages and a wide range of people come to the Club.  So even strange specialists may not stand out as much.

If you need to meet a contact, or make a contact, who enjoys quizzes, you will not find a better place than Club Query to do so.

If you need to impress someone with an unusual cake, perhaps one that will convey a message that will only make sense to the person it is sent to.  A dessert by Cinnimon might be able to make just what you need (or direct you to someone who can).

Notes: This was the location of the meet for the last game I ran, it had no existence before then, but I am very pleased with how it is turning out.  Several in-jokes and references here, which may or may not be picked up by my group.  If anyone else gets them, I will be amazed and I will award you a No-Prize of your very own.

Images Bild von Tumisu auf Pixabay and used under their license.

https://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/2025/07/14/club-query-a-shadowrun-place/

http://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/?p=26488