The Ashcroft Hotel was a luxury hotel located in central Night City. After the Fourth Corporate War, the ruins of the building became part of the Hot Zone.
History[]
Early history - 2020s[]
After its construction, the Ashcroft became the largest, most expensive, and most exclusive hotel in Night City. Owned by the wealthy Ashcroft-Hammersmith family from England, this five-star hotel was favored by wealthy European corporates, tourists, celebrities, and notorious solos. By 2020, it was considered the ultimate expression in luxury and service in Night City, with rooms and suites renting from 300 to 5,000 eurodollars per night, and reservations were a must to stay at this establishment. Security was provided by plainclothes operatives contracted from Dieter-Kauffman AG, one of the finest German security firms, and was guaranteed in writing. The on-site representative of the family, and manager of the hotel around this time, was Winifred. As she was reclusive and eccentric, her daughter Julia did much of the actual work. Around this time, Tina Allen worked at the hotel as a night clerk, and Walt Williams used to stay in one of the establishment's suites.[1]
During the Fourth Corporate War, the Ashcroft Hotel was vastly damaged by the Night City Holocaust of 2023, with its tilted ruins soon becoming part of the aptly named radioactive Hot Zone.[2]
2030s - 2040s[]
The remains of the structure were uninhabited for many years, though at some point they would become the hideout of an infamous Maelstromer known as Ripper, who maintained a notorious presence in the Hot Zone by using large groups of "diggers" — scavengers that were forced to give their lives for lost tech among the radioactive ruins in order for Maelstrom (and secretly Ripper) to profit. Ripper converted the Ashcroft into his base of operations, with him occupying much of the west wing's 6th floor, while his guards occupied the upper levels of the east wing, and leaving the lowers areas to rest of his diggers. All ground accesses were blocked by metal shafts and rubble, with the only entrance being a makeshift walkaway that reached the seventh floor of the east wing.
In 2045, a group of mercenaries hired by the owners of the Forlorn Hope had the objective of ending Ripper's life. They had multiple ways to accomplish that, but if all else failed, a direct assault on his headquarters was an option. With the help of Valence, a former digger for Ripper, the mercs accessed the hotel. Due to the baldy dilapidated state of the Ashcroft, even low-yielding explosions made the structure vibrate, and enough would make the whole building to collapse. Advancing with care, the mercs dealt with the the guards on the seventh and eighth floors, then crossed to the other wing by carefully stepping on a welded metal gangway of bridges. The seventh floor of the western wing was not as titled as the eastern one, however, it had been transformed into a maze of metal sheets that Ripper created in case someone tried to invade his territory, all guarded by his "pet" — Skippy — as well as cameras and automated weapons controlled by the local NET Architecture. Once that setback was dealt with, they accessed the sixth floor.
Due to the Maelstromer's paranoia, Ripper didn't trust anyone to be in the same floor as him, so there were no guards. While investigating the rooms, the mercs encountered Ripper's laptop, with information on his dealings with Rocklin Augmentics; horrific, yet very well-kept notes on his experiments; and even a report about a Nanoswarm Incubator. The mercs eventually found Ripper's dungeon, where he tortured his victims, and where he kept Lago, the Maelstromer's personal ripperdoc and assistant. He told the mercs about the horrendous experiments his boss was doing, and that they had to get him out of there or simply put him out of his misery. In the neighboring workshop was Dustbunny, Ripper's latest victim and experiment, as well as an elevator shaft which apparently went down only three floors, but if looking from the right angle, it was possible to recognize an uncountable number of corpses in different states of decomposition. No matter with how the crew decided to deal with Ripper after finding him, there was enough evidence for both MAX-TAC or Maelstrom to want to stop his cyberpsychotic behavior. Either killed by them, or in a fight against the crew, Ripper's days were over.[2]
Even with Ripper gone, Maelstrom continued to use the Ashcroft as their logistics center for scavenging operations.[3]
Layout[]
2020[]
The Ashcroft was a twain-split building occupying a large portion of a city block, which was either way mostly owned by Ashcroft & Hammersmith. Considered the most luxurious hotel in Night City, the Ashcroft had several fine restaurants, lounges, and expensive shops in its premises, with multitude of exquisite rooms and suites distributed among its floors. On the rooftop there were AV landing pads, and the building was connected to the adjacent Ashcroft & Hammersmith Store.[1][2]
2045[]
The nuke heavily damaged the structure, but the building still stood, in a relative way. The gleaming metal trim was pitted and burned, though the large sign on the side could still be read with the establishment's name on it. The Ashcroft had always been a tall hotel split in twain, however, after the nuke, one of the wings had tilted rakishly against the other, with both wings keeping each other upright. Most of the roof's structure was damaged, but still in place. All ground accesses were blocked by twisted, armored shutters and rubble, though the interior could be accessed by following an improvised walkaway, rising like a snake and coiling around the tilted east wing up to a hole on the 7th floor.[2][4]
Most of the windows on the eastern wing's seventh floor were broken, and any plush furniture was long gone, thrown to the street below. The floor was tilted and broken, with platforms made of old planks providing stable standing to walk. The building was in such a bad state, that any large or small explosions could accelerate its inevitable collapse. The west wing's 7th floor was not as tilted, but it was a maze of metal sheets and weapons. The floor below was Ripper's private playground, where he stashed much of the best tech his diggers discovered, as well as where he tested those weapons on people. All windows of this part of the structure were boarded over, and power was obtained through a long series of cable jury-rigged into the city's grid. This floor had a number of rooms, one of which was Ripper's bedroom. This master room was decorated with parts from multiple CEO's luxury suites, as nothing matched: a large king-sized bed with an ornate, exotic wood frame (slightly scorched in places) covered in ultra-luxe silk sheets; an oversized "dog bed" for Skippy sitting on the floor; armories and chests; and despite the boarded windows, they were surrounded by vivid green velvet curtains. Another room held Ripper's depot, in which he placed the most valuable tech he had, dividing them in crates marked for Maelstrom, Rocklin, and himself. There was also an escaping hatch with a self-destruct trigger that would demolish the whole building. One of the last rooms housed his dungeon, where Ripper tortured his victims in any sickening way possible. This room still had a broken piano in its center. The final area was a workshop where Ripper did all of his experiments, and where he tossed any remains down an elevator shaft.[2]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 PONDSMITH, M. Night City Sourcebook. Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1991. (pp.22,28,112–113)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 SPIVEY C. et al., Tales of the RED: Hope Reborn. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2024. (pp.162–168)
- ↑ GRAY, J. Night City 2045 Atlas. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2025. (p.6)
- ↑ Hope Reborn+. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2023. (p.19)
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