Chateau Pax

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Chateau Pax is a former old west ghost town, a former mining town, created mostly by the participants of the old Chat Pack as a location for their collaborative, round robin-style adventures.

History

The Chat Pack was installed on InsideTheWeb in December 1998 by Chris "Dale" Birkett after an extreme all-night chat on the Off-Topic Board with Indy, who had only just joined the Acorn Cafe about a month ago, and Chipette. It wasn't before Waythorn and Shao joined the Chat Pack that it was used for collaborative adventures.

The original idea of a ghost town came from Indy[1]. Several times, he entered the Chat Pack and found no-one else there. It was as if he was walking along the dusty main street of a long abandoned Western town with no-one else around. Indy wrote these thoughts down, narrated in first person, and posted them on the Chat Pack. The others liked this idea, and by and by, the old ghost town was given new life and lots of details, most of which are said to have been installed by Waythorn.

Chateau Pax itself was an abandoned mining town before the Rangerphiles showed up and conquered it back from the tumbleweeds. It was given new life by them which attracted a number of other people including several villains. Despite being in a desert, Rangerphile adventurers had to save it from a great flood once.

The town of Chateau Pax

Chateau Pax is located in a remote desert area not dissimilar to Monument Valley. Traveling to Chateau Pax is rather difficult, the easiest way to get there is via portal.

Several buildings were established in Chateau Pax and, thanks to thorough planning by the participants, remained quite constant throughout the stories, apart from the occasional addition.

The Chateau Pax Hotel

The largest and most important landmark in Chateau Pax is the Chateau Pax Hotel. It is unclear as of now if its exact size has ever been defined, at least the Y2K Thread[2] mentions that is has got three storeys, but it is definitely much bigger than the ordinary Western town hotel, and it would certainly be impossible to build in the usual Western style. In fact, several of the floors cannot be accessed directly but only via portals which only a few were allowed to pass.

The front porch

The Chateau Pax Hotel has got a front porch made of redwood. Here is where two Gopher Indians can be found. A rocking chair isn't an uncommon sight on the front porch either.

The first floor

The main desk

Those who plan to stay at the Chateau Pax Hotel have to check in at the main desk where they meet Waythorn the Wanderer.

The kitchen

The kitchen staff of the Chateau Pax Hotel are none less than Scooby-Doo and Shaggy. They are far from perfect as cooks, however, as they would often plunder the supplies themselves, leaving nothing for the guests.

Other establishments

Apart from the main desk and the kitchen, and among other things, the first floor contains the dining-room and the library. Furthermore, there are several secret rooms, but these might also exist on all other floors.

The second floor

Rangerphile visitors have their rooms on the second floor.

The third floor

All the way down a long hall on the third floor, hidden behind a closed door, is a room where the "Ranger Elite" stays, people now referred to as Founders and Learned Elders who already before the heyday of Chateau Pax had withdrawn themselves from the Cafe and fallen into inactivity, but who were considered legends in a time when the Cafe was only about a year old. It is impossible to get into the room, so meeting them in person is impossible, too. The only way to communicate with them (which did happen several times) is through the closed door.

Additional floors

Presumably, all floors above the third floor[3] are hidden behind secret portals, access to which is not granted to everyone.

Shao's laboratory

Shao had his own scientific laboratory, but unlike that of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew as shown in Muppet Movie, it was installed inside the Chateau Pax Hotel. However, the marvels that came from this lab were only limited by imagination.

The swimming-pool

It is as unusual for a hotel in an old mining town in the middle of a desert as a basement (or the hotel's sheer size), but the Chateau Pax Hotel does have a swimming-pool which Chipette established.

The Sazerac Saloon

When looking for entertainment, the best place to find it is the Sazerac Saloon, also simply known as the Sazerac. The holographic crooner Vic Fontaine is the star of the place, performing every day since Indy has hired him after his days on Deep Space Nine were over. As for beverages, only lemonade is available since the Sazerac has got a strong no-alcohol policy.

The Five-Star Final

The Five-Star Final is Chateau Pax' daily newspaper. It is run by a ghost who nevertheless prints real newspapers.

The Assayer's Office

Little remains of Chateau Pax' past as a mining town, and the Assayer's Office is part of it, as is a railroad line. It is here where the Rangerphiles often met Avalanche Le Shock (see below).

The Candy Shoppe

Western towns don't have candy shops, but they don't have hotels with swimming-pools either. Chateau Pax has both[4].

The Jail

The old jail[5] comes in handy when there are bad guys to be locked away.

Interdimensional portals

All over the Chateau Pax Hotel and also elsewhere in town, many interdimensional portals can be found. The places they lead to include:

Surroundings

Around Chateau Pax, there are other things than just a desert. Some mines from earlier times are still left, for example. But there is also a jungle nearby, probably adjacent to the desert itself, in which Lake Gotalottado lies.

Lake Gotalottado

Lake Gotalottado, sometimes also spelled Gottalottado, is a fairly large lake inmidst a jungle, close enough to Chateau Pax for traveling there without the help of a portal. There is an island in the lake which is overgrown by jungle, too. The island is Indy's second home where he spends a lot of time, especially when he is busy. The exact place where also the Fire of Memory is burning is secret and only known to Indy himself. The lake itself is part of Gotalottado River[8].

Notable characters from in and around Chateau Pax

Regular Rangerphile visitors and their avatars

Vic Fontaine

The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character does daily performances at the Sazerac Saloon.

Scooby-Doo and Shaggy

As already mentioned, these two characters of Hanna-Barbera origin are the cooks at the Chateau Pax Hotel.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Even the famous quartet of turtles found their way from the New York City sewers to the desert town of Chateau Pax thanks to Chipette.

The Go Go Gophers

These old cartoon characters had their cameo, too, sitting in front of the Chateau Pax Hotel and giving the impression of being wooden Indians.

Three Crows

Three Crows was an old Native American shaman, likely a Sioux. He would show up from time to time, thanks to Waythorn, to provide a warning or advice. His home location was never revealed and he often came and went without anyone seeing him.

Ghost Cameos

The ghosts of John Wayne and Roy Rogers are reported to have been seen at Chateau Pax several times, so the Five-Star Final's editor isn't the only ghost in town.

Avalanche Le Shock

Visitors of Chateau Pax would frequently encounter the dreaded Canadian lumberjack, often at the Assayer's Office. His main target was Waythorn since the latter was a "rabeet." His relationship to Waythorn was a bit like that between Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny, the rabbit kept outsmarting the hunter.

Khan

Khan is a hedgehog living in Chateau Pax[9]. Little is known about him as of yet. (means that more information is needed)

Original Superheroes

Indy brought the superhero E-Man with him to the Chat Pack. E-Man was short for "Electromagnetic Man", for he had power over the entire electromagnetic spectrum. His abilities included the power to fly, to pass through objects when changed into EM energy, to turn invisible, create a shield of "neutral particles", and manipulate/levitate objects with his EM power.

E-Man had few weaknesses, but his power did have to be recharged daily in a "sleep pod" made for that purpose. E-Man was also the emperor of the planet Idelia, a planet he saved from destruction. He had a great amusement park built there for the entertainment of guests, such as Chipette and Animollie who visited once. It's believed that E-Man lives there still, in relative happiness.

Chipette countered with her own superheroine Animollie[10]. Animollie was an animorph, capable of taking the shape of any animal, past or present, real or imagined. Animollie's past featured some dark moments, and often her discussions of that time were filled with angst. Thanks to E-Man, she discovered she was in fact a princess from a world of animorphs--a world which had its share of dangers as she would learn.

Animollie's weakness was perhaps in teasing E-Man--he had an allergic reaction to bee stings, and she was known from time to time to turn into one. She was captured on several occasions, despite her abilities, possibly a by-product or her young age and inexperience as a superheroine. Nothing is currently known about her present location, though it would surprise nobody to find her and E-Man playing a game of "boulder baseball" in some isolated spot.

External Links

History of the Chat Pack told by Dr. Indy

Postings at the Cafe about the Chat Pack and Chateau Pax: Dale's birthday 2009, 10 years of Indy, History 101 Thread (very detailed), Unlikely Crossovers