From SuspireWiki
Pleasure Point (Nickname: Boat Island)
Location: Chesapeake Bay Predatory Taint: +2
Atmosphere: Welcoming
Welcoming locations are both more active than Accepting locations and more mercurial. Likely environments include underground raves, meetings of secret societies, impromptu drum circles, biker gatherings, and the like. Some places, which require either an invitation or some secret information to find, assume that those who are there share some common interest, ideal, or understanding, and therefore are places where one’s guard can be lowered. Others, whether due to naïveté or an impressive amount of faith and trust in humanity, simply happily welcome any who find them. Both environments, however, can turn ugly very quickly when the most meager of slights is committed. Whether an accidental signal that tells others that the outsider isn’t supposed to be there or a taboo behavior or simply ruining the party, all such acts are punishable with snubbing, expulsion, mockery, or even attack depending on the mood and lifestyle of those present.
The Area
Pleasure Point is one of the small islands off the south-eastern coast of Carcosa. Technically incorporated into the city proper, the ferry stopped going there in the late 1980's after a city ordinance prohibited all traffic to and from the island.
Initially, the island was well kept by locals of the city, and used by young romantics as a get-away and "make out hill" of Carcosa. Only accessible by ferry or private boat made this island also popular on the weekends as a bit of summer fun. However, in the late 1980's, this all changed. The rumors of the island have exaggerated the true story, and has become something of an urban legend with the local teenagers: a pair of teenagers, Carson Smith and Jennifer Youngblood, were on the island for a beach party of about twenty or so other teens.
The party, being thrown by one of the local high school sports teams for a regional championship on a Friday evening, was a normal high school styled jock party. There was beer, a big ass bonfire and everyone was generally having themselves a good time. A few minutes after midnight, a few of Carson and Jennifer's friends saw them sneaking off, and since they did that regularly, they all pretty much just ignored it. It wasn't until the following Monday when Jennifer and Carson both didn't show up for classes that people started getting concerned. After a very brief search party was put out, they found the remains of both Carson and Jennifer... at least, what was left of them. The scene was gruesome enough to put most everyone's lunch on the ground. Everyone at the party that night was questioned and re-questioned, but never was there a person charged in the murders. Pressure from the local politicians to close the island until the law enforcement cracked the case caused Pleasure Point to be put as "off-limits" to all unauthorized personnel.
Since then, and since the case was never closed, Pleasure Point has remained closed to the public. From the far shore, the island is overgrown with trees and shrubbery just past the embankment, and there's quite a few small, old-looking and rusty boats tied up at the island's various docks. No one really knows who those boats belong to, but every couple of years, a new one turns up, docked near by to the others, life vests still intact...
An Update, from the Carcosa Journal
Date: July 18th, 2009
Fiscal Conservationism:
How Budget Shortfalls Have Driven an unlikely Synergy Between the City of Carcosa and Nature Conservationists
For nearly three decades the island of Pleasure Point, legally a part of the city of Carcosa has sat derelict and unused, virtually off limits after the Coast Guard shut down shipping lanes near the area. The absence of a human touch on the island has seen the reemergence of dozens of indigenous wildlife species.
This natural resurgence has spurred several offers from the Carcosa Wildlife Perservation Fund, a local non profit group which, according to its mission statement is "dedicated to fostering a healthy symbiosis between the people and environment of coastal Virginia." In the face of massive financial pressure and mounting deficits the city has agreed to sell the island for an undiscolosed sum for the purposes of establishing a nature preserve on the island.
The move has some waterfront Casino owners in Ecclesia crying foul. John Hirshbaum, spokesman for the Pegasus Casino claims the nature angle is little but a ploy to acquire cheap land and build competing waterfront Casinos. In a statement released today to the WBC the casino stated flatly "The Pegasus Casino is very disappointed that the City of Carcosa has decided to cotton to blatant profiteering in the guise of environmentalism" and insiders speculate that the casino has already drafted a request for an injunction against any future waterfront businesses that may open in Pleasure Point.
The Carcosa Wildlife Preservation Fund declined the WBC's request for an interview but did issue this statement:
"The Carcosa Wildlife Preservation Fund has no interest in profit seeking ventures, least of all any with the massive carbon footprint and waste of a Casino. We are wholly dedicated to being good stewards of our environment and that just isn't compatible with operating a for profit casino."
Carcosa Press Secretary Brenda Wallace was characteristically tight lipped about the details of the sale but indicated that the city did not expect anything to come of the friction with the casinos. "We're trying to close a deficit, and [the CWPF] is helping us do that while making Carcosa a greener place. It's just a good idea all around" she told reporters at a press conference at the Mayoral Mansion today.
The Interior
While the outside of Pleasure Point island looks abandoned as always, minus the cleanup of boats and the repair of a single dock, the inside is completely different. Just a hundred feet or so inwards through the crush of overgrown brush and tangled vines, the unkept forest gives way to manicured terraces. Slate rock paths make their winding way through green grass, curling around pretty fountains, inviting benches and ornamental trees. A foot bridge arches elegantly over a man-made creek, leading on one side to one of the three paths in the small clearing and on the other side the path disappears completely leaving overgrown woods blocking it. All three of the paths in the clearing eventually wind up at a pretty pavilion, no larger than an efficiency apartment. The pavilion itself is gothic in style, at the very center of it is a fountain equipped to gush blood like a champagne fountain. Pillows are scattered about on the floor to provide a comfortable lounging spot for people who care to indulge.
Visuals
 Pavilion |
 Main Terraced Area |