Emporium

The titular in-game store Emporium is a supermarket that caters to Entities from across the multiverse. It occupies its own plane and is a subsidiary company of The Orbital Conglomerate™, who have provided the following audio to introduce Entities to the history of Emporium.

audio transcript

Albert, a TV-headed implement who presents the face of Emporium, is likely to be well-known to your character from most of Emporium's advertising material. A friendly lo-fi individual often seen gesticulating enthusiastically with a navy umbrella, Albert not only represents Emporium's brand, but acts as a friend and guide to customers and employees alike by means of a combined security system, catalogue, information point, and customer service AI that operates throughout the supermarket, and can be accessed both psychically and with the help of computer screens. Most areas within the store have access to the Albert Interface, to enable customers and employees to hear PA announcements, ask questions, check store rules, and view the store's floorplan. To read more about how the Albert Interface will be represented over Discord, please see here.

As Emporium is one of the few multidimensional superstores at which an Entity may choose to do their shopping, demand for entering Emporium is exceptionally high. Entities who wish to enter Emporium are required to queue for several aeons, within which time they may go about their business as usual. Queuing Entities are notified once they reach the end of the queue, at which point, if they accept the invitation, they are instantly transported to Emporium's atrium, where they manifest in a form compatible with the supermarket's reality. For more information on this, please see Manifestations.

Customers are admitted to Emporium in batches every time Emporium begins a new seasonal cycle. Customers may stay in-store up to the full length of the cycle, although they may leave the store early, opening up spaces for any new customers who have opted into the possibility of a shorter stay when they entered the queue. However, any customer who leaves the store must spend several aeons queuing before they are able to re-enter, so it is more common for customers to make the most of an entire seasonal cycle. All customers are required to leave the store once the cycle has come to an end so that a new batch of customers may arrive.

Employees enter Emporium via a queue of their own, brought in from across the multiverse through a seasonal application form either due to genuine interest, or to work off a community service requirement or debt. Your character may have filled out the application form to work for a seasonal cycle, or had the form filled out on their behalf; creditors and wardens are known to submit forms on behalf of candidates deemed suitable, although the candidate must decide of their own free will whether they would like to become an employee. As with other standard employment contracts, employees are free to hand in their notice at any point, regardless of their debt - there are other ways to pay off one's debt than gainful employment. There may, however, be consequences to quitting. More detail can be found here.

Employees undergo no interview process as such, but are screened for basic aptitude to serve the store’s needs for as long as is needed to resolve what brought you here. Some applicants for the upcoming seasonal cycle applied a while ago, while some were only recent applicants. While the recruitment process is kept secret from employees, the working theory is that suitable candidates were chosen at random from the pool of all applicants.

All player characters have arrived at Emporium at approximately the same time, shortly before the start of our first session, which will mark the start of a new seasonal cycle.

Emporium is keen to provide a pleasant experience for both its customers and its employees, regardless of the manner in which are accustomed to experiencing reality on their homeplanes. The Albert Interface is a first port of call for any questions or concerns Entities may have while inside the supermarket, and Emporium's members of staff are always there to lend customers or less experienced employees a helping hand.

As Emporium caters to a diverse range of Entities from all across the multiverse, a universal translation matrix is operational across the store at all times. This is effective on any form of communication including auditory, visual, psychic and olfactory. For more information on the translation of names, see here.

While full-scale omniscience is not possible within Emporium, there is a psychic network known as the Collective Consciousness which operates throughout the store, allowing anyone within the store to communicate psychically for a more enjoyable shopping experience and a better working environment. Entities with far-seeing abilities may retain these in some form, and psychic links between individuals are able to exist.

Omnipresence, quantum superposition, and the co-location of more than one Entity are also not possible within Emporium. To facilitate movement between aisles in a manner that Entities may be familiar with, Emporium has a designated Warp Zone within which any Entity may teleport to another location at will, regardless of how they are able to move on their homeplane. This manner of movement is known as warping, and is restricted to most of the shop floor (excluding the Warehouse and the Administration Offices) as well as a couple of locations in the Understore. To read more about how this is represented over Discord, see here. A full list of locations accessible via warping will be provided on the Discord server for players to view at any time.

Some areas within the Warp Zone are intended by Emporium for employee access only, and have been marked as such on the Emporium floor plans. In practice, customers are perfectly able to warp into these areas (and players are welcome to do so if their character would like to) but should be aware that this is frowned upon - unless, of course, they have been specifically invited by an employee. Other parts of the store are inaccessible by warping and may be unmarked entirely on the maps - remember, exploration is key to playing the game!

Emporium proudly presents itself as the go-to supermarket for anything and everything you could possibly desire. From the core elements that make up your homeplane, to toys and trinkets to bring home to your families, abstract concepts that melt on your tongue, and physical items with which an Implement may wish to replace their head, you can find nearly anything if you look long enough!

When you find something you'd like, simply head to checkouts to have your item scanned. The Emporium scanner will calculate the item's worth in SoulCoins, which an employee will be happy to help you convert into other assets you may possess, such as your homeplane's gravity, its colours, its tallest most magnificent mountain, or a core part of yourself (represented by Quirks or Attributes).

Emporium does not condone the sale of beings with souls. For OC elaboration on this, see our Conduct and Themes Policy.

If you spend any amount of time thinking about who owns some of the companies you spend money with, you will likely have heard of The Orbital Conglomerate™. Across the multiverse, The Orbital Conglomerate™ - Orbital, for short - owns, or has partnerships with, companies of all shapes, sizes, and purposes, from household essentials manufacturers to an underwater polo stadium; from galaxy cleaning services to your local public house. Emporium is one company that has ended up in the orbit of Orbital.

The ongoing partnership between Emporium and Orbital has allowed Emporium staff to focus more on things they specialise in, including stocking and day-to-day running of the store. Orbital, meanwhile, covers more of the high level or out-of-store work, including managing accounts for tax purposes, interdimensional advertising, and long-term business strategy.

Given that the bulk of the work is handled externally to Emporium and has little direct impact on the store, there are relatively few Orbital employees to be found at Emporium. The few that are present are generally concerned with store management, perceptions of Emporium, customer patterns, and employee upskilling.