The Rhythm Bureau
Arena Modifier đ„
Rhythm
The more hits the Hammers land, the better their stats get. Physical play is fuel.
Lore
The Rhythm Bureau was a government administrative building before The Almighty Ice arrived. The bureaucrats left. The musicians did not. Havana's music scene absorbed the arena immediatelyâlive percussion accompanies every game, drummers positioned at the four corners of the rink, playing a rhythm that shifts with the action. The Rhythm modifier rewards physical play: the more hits the Hammers land, the better their stats become. Le Council's analysts have attempted to separate the effect of the modifier from the effect of the music and have been unable to do so. It may be that the building itself is the instrument, and the game is the performance. The Hammers hit hard and the building responds.
The Building
A converted government building, colonial-era, with a faded grandeur that The Almighty Ice has not diminished. The exterior is pale yellow stucco with tall shuttered windows, wrought-iron balconies, and a central courtyard that now contains The Almighty Ice rink. The entrance is through the original government lobbyâmarble floors, high ceilings, a reception desk that still has forms on it (forms for what is unclear, but they are stamped and official-looking). The rink is in the courtyard, open to the sky, surrounded by the building's four wings which serve as seating. Fans watch from the balconies of former offices, from the rooftop, from the courtyard floor. Musicians sit on elevated platforms at each cornerâcongas, timbales, cajĂłns, clavesâand they play from the first whistle to the last. The rhythm is not background music. It is the building's heartbeat. When the Hammers hit, the drummers accent it. When a goal is scored, the rhythm breaks into celebration. The Bureau grooves.