WORLD JUMP #1 INFORMATION: EL MINHA

[acatamods]

I ▫ main IV ▫ premise       XI ▫ applications XIV ▫ activity II ▫ logs V ▫ rules VII ▫ bestiary   IX ▫ canon updates XII ▫ taken XV ▫ drop/hiatus III ▫ ooc VI ▫ faq VIII ▫ setting   X ▫ mods XIII ▫ reserves XVI ▫ players el minha -- the red desert. El Minha is a city settled within the Red Desert, an impossibly massive and arid environment. It is a walled city, surrounded by overwhelmingly tall light-stoned walls and ferociously guarded by the Royal Crown Guard, who are stationed at every entrance. They allow in members of the Circle without much fanfare or bullying, used to tourists and the like, but they will be watching you while you are here. Weapons are not to be used within the city limits and the usage of magic, while not uncommon, is frowned upon if used maliciously or to cause trouble. To make a long story short? Mind your manners, and the Crown Guard won’t kick your ass into the Red Desert, because they are watching, and it wouldn’t take much to convince them. The residents within the city of El Minha are a hardy people, and the city is a sprawling metropolis in an otherwise desolated world. It’s a massive city with an equally massive tented marketplace that sells everything. You can find spices, jewelry, weaponry (swords, bows, and the like), armor, fancy board games, exotic fruits -- you can find it all in El Minha. Here, water is gold. El Minha is full of folks willing to make some coin, but everybody needs water. If you have water on your person, you can likely trade it for what you want, if you have enough. Haggling is the name of the game and the shopkeeps within the marketplaces are willing to argue to the last breath for their wares. They’re not here to play nice to the tourists, but they are here to make trades. The city itself is highly populated, stone walls stretching up stories at a time with sandy streets and fabric hanging between the structures and over alleyways. In the center of the city is the large tented marketplace that feels almost like a city in and of itself. There are always people wandering the streets, no matter the time of day, state of affairs, or weather. THE NATIVES As mentioned before, the natives of El Minha are hearty. They are well-acquainted with what it takes to survive, and are - you could say - experts in it. Droughts, plagues, wars, tyrants, and general bad luck have all bared down on these walls and the people have continued on. They are also all well acquainted with living in a bustling metropolis. They are used to seeing all sorts of tourists move through, to the point they could even seem unimpressed with even the most foreign of faces. That isn’t to say they aren’t friendly - they are salespeople, if nothing else. As it is with most cities, they vary greatly and widely in terms of status, personality, size, and demeanor. THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE The Royal Palace: El Minha is ruled by King Kathashun. He, should you ask the residents, seems to be a benevolent ruler. However, there is definitely a clear line between the rich and the poor in the city, and the poorer residents of El Minha hold some amount of bitterness toward their wealthy ruler. King Kathashun is young, no more than twenty-three, and seems to have recently ascended to the throne. His father was a tyrant, and King Kathashun is seen as a “brighter future” for El Minha . . . but he has definitely taken something of a hardline (like calling for the heads of certain criminals) against the Black Market in El Minha, which has garnered him some bitterness from the underbelly. The Syndicate: The Syndicate is the crime network that also maintained a heavy resistance network against the prior King. There are plenty of rumors that the Syndicate is the one who led the prior King to his grave, and King Kathashun has declared a war on the Syndicate. The Syndicate’s mantra seems to be “give to the poor, steal from the rich” type of group, with nothing extraordinarily malicious. However, they do have blood on their hands . . . certain nobles winding up dead from poison in their food, disappearing from their homes with no evidence of a struggle, that type of thing. It is impossible to get any one of the Syndicate to even admit knowledge of plans of such a thing, but the understanding and support is widely spread. They also run the local casino, which is a massive gold earner for the city, and gives them a stronger hold on politics and the economy than the Palace would like to admit. AREAS OF INTEREST The Golden Phoenix: The casino, run by the Syndicate, which is full of slot machines, card games, and weird lizard races! You can bet on any of these things, but the Golden Phoenix only takes coin. No water here! And no Royal Crown Guard either - anything that goes down here is up to the patrons to figure it out, and if it really gets out of hand, you may find a few dark-clothed individuals stepping in and removing anyone and everyone involved. The Royal Palace: King Kathashun has opened the gates to the Circle and the general public to explore the grounds, but not the inside of his home. Anyone who attempts to go inside the palace will be, respectfully, told to fuck off. The Fighting Ring: Citizens of El Minha fight it out to settle the scores! It’s sort of like a spoken fight club -- you can go and pay to watch people fight, or you can enter the ring yourself! Do you dare to challenge the Champion of El Minha? Or would you rather watch? No magic is allowed within the Fighting Ring, but there’s also nothing saying what happens if you cheat. The Grand Market: Step right up, step right up! You can peruse the massive market for anything you like! Spices, jewelry, weapons -- whatever you like, you can find it! There is a large variety, from cobbled together booths to grand, decorated carts, carrying all manner of items - both magical and non. But you’d better have some coin or some water, because these folks aren’t giving away anything for free. Also keep an eye out for pickpockets -- those little kids following you around definitely aren’t tailing you because they’re curious. They want your coin. The Sparkling Sapphire: King Kathashun has provided the members of the Circle with some free lodging that isn’t great, but definitely isn’t too shabby! You also get some free hookah that makes you ridiculously hungry and some weird liquor that makes your mouth numb, if you choose to drink it. The food, though, is spectacularly on point. The rooms in the Sparkling Sapphire are clean but plain, with either one or two beds. Food is served in the tavern on the first floor at breakfast and dinner, included in the room. Alcohol and snacks at any other time come with a small fee. MOD NOTE As this is our first world jump, we wanted to make sure everyone is aware of one things - this is your world to explore. Ask questions, get involved. We as mods are giving you a setting and a political landscape to play with as you'd like! What happens here in El Minha is entirely based on your character's involvement. Will they try and help the crown? The underbelly of the city? The general people out trying to make a buck? There will be NPCs to interact with, little background plots to get mixed up in, and a walled city to explore. Ask questions! Pull one of us aside for some cool plotting! Figure out what you want to do and how you want to do it, and go. Reminder: the log for this first world jump will be posted Friday, May 11th at 12 AM EST. This post is purely for plotting, and there's a place below for questions! Otherwise, feel free to leave a plotting comment below! Find some other Circle Members to explore with! Astoria is very excited for you to enjoy your first World Jump~ ♥

Comments

[purrtagonist]

"if anyone wants to totally recklessly stick their nose into things with the casino and the crime syndicate"

gently raises hand

[bowtiedbones]

Safety in numbers, the best excuse for group shopping trips.

Keith

[lonered]

Well. The desert reminds him of home so there's that.

That said, Keith has actually learned to sort of actually figure out what's going on before he jumps into things. Kind of. Mostly because he got told to do things by someone he doesn't know or know how to take, which makes him contrary and less likely to leap in. Because he's nothing if not difficult.

There's also a near zero percent chance he doesn't get into a fight at some point with someone though. So if anyone would like to save him from himself, that would be appreciated.

[foundafamily]

Did somebody say trouble? Firo's going to be sticking almost entirely to the seedy stuff, so that might be a good way to have these two meet! He used to be a pickpocket himself, so maybe he can give her a hand with that element?

[flyingsolos]

Oh man, please help her, Firo. She's not that good with the sticky-fingered type yet.

[insubordination]

ok ok ok

omg waver why

[insubordination]

Roy is going to be babysat by Riza for the most part but he's going to be wandering around everywhere!!! I'm sure there's going to be an opportunity. And y e s, team adults. ;3;

[acatastoria]

you know what akira that's rude and she'll be taking notes of ur totally reasonable and normal skepticism in her pink journal that she keeps under her pillow

[foundafamily]

He will gladly help--out-of-towners need to stick together! He can even give her pointers on how to steal back if she wants revenge.

[lonered]

Keith would like to join this skeptics anonymous club please, because he has so much skepticism in him about all of this.

[purrtagonist]

AJPODIFJPO ASTORIA PLEASE!!

On the bright side, him being hugely skeptical of her motives actually means he's going to ask her 104709183 questions about herself in an attempt to unlock her backstory, I am so sorry in advance for his intense protag nosiness. . .!!

[purrtagonist]

Hi5 Keith, they can be co-presidents of this club!1

It's very hard for a kid who has been used as a tool and a stepping stone for adults before not to be a little (or a lot) wary of the circumstances, but! It does mean he'll be asking a lot of questions to try and gauge how well he can trust their new employer, so he and Keith can totally share notes on that some time for sure :]b

Firo

[foundafamily]

Firo's going to be going into the crime side of things and... probably not coming out any time soon. He'll be in his element with the casino (just like home!) and will be looking to steal a bit and gamble it into something bigger to get by.

He's not going to be paying too much attention to politics if at all, so if someone wants to call him out for being a lazy leech, please do so; he 100% deserves it. He'll be keeping an eye out for other members of the circle, so if anyone needs help weathering the seedier parts of town, he's happy to jump in.

[teratias]

he needs it for future waver

because suffering

[flyingsolos]

heck yes, you're absolutely hired

[flyingsolos]

Well, she might not use it to steal back, but hey!! That's another helpful skill to have one day(???!!!)

Daylight

[sunborne]

Day is used to travelling to other worlds and meeting new faces so he's kind of taking this all in stride, not asking too many questions since he sticks out like a sore thumb as is gosh. The heat of the desert and the residents of this world being chill with all sorts of forms means he'll be ditching his 'disguise' for now so he doesn't overheat.

And you'd think this is Day's time to shine because of the political background of his family but no. He'll be pretty unsure of how to handle the political situation too so he'll go with whoever seems to know what they're going and throw his lot in. He does, however, have a fondness for the working crowd thanks to how he was raised so he'll like to do something for them.

HE'S ALSO GOING TO DEFINITELY GET INVOLVED IN THE FIGHTING RING WHEN HE LEARNS ABOUT IT AND WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO DO. He's going to look at that nonsense and go, 'Yeah this is where I'm going to shine.' and run over to knock some heads over. Anyone have a problem with somebody let him know and he'll duke it out for you.

And if anyone needs a piggyback ride on him, let Day know and he's your personal carrier for the entire trip.

prompto

[punshots]

YEAH LET'S PLOT

Prompto is no fan of any extreme weather so there is a 100% chance of him: (1) complaining about the heat, (2) getting pick-pocketed by some children and (3) getting swindled into some kind of criminal enterprise by the Syndicate because he is extremely gullible. Watch him assist smuggling some illegal contraband because someone told him it was, like, medicine for their dying grandma. He could also rope some others into this!

Aside from getting mixed up into trouble, Prompto will generally be trying to help out the poor in the city in smaller and simpler ways. He's no diplomat (he's probably that guy who's getting yelled at for accidentally going into the palace when he's not supposed to) BUT he's helpful to a fault and he won't take seeing people down on their luck well unless he's trying to do something. Especially those poor kids!!! Who can say no to them? It's entirely possible that he'll get taken advantage of in this regard too and could probably use someone a little more pessimistic to balance him out so he doesn't go (too) overboard.

Otherwise he'll be taking pictures of all the shit, or watch him somehow get mixed up in a trading in the market and wind up with like, a basket of snakes or something.

[sunborne]

SO DAYLIGHT IS INTERESTED IN THE FIGHTING RING AND WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN IT. What are the rules/unspoken rules for how one conducts themselves be it stepping into the ring or placing a bet?

And, of course, who is the Champion of El Minha? What are they like and what's spoken about them in and out of the ring?

[sunborne]

(I hope this is okay oh my gosh.)

Roy please teach Daylight how to survive desert planets and how to bet on lizard races while Daylight decides to possibly wade into a fighting ring for the sheer heck of it. Day would also like to help the people out and it seems like Roy knows what he's doing here so Day is willing to give this whole tearing down corrupt governments a shot.

[sunborne]

I'll hit you in the CR meme soon because oh my gosh Odd Thomas aaaaah-

Daylight will like to keep an eye out for Jolie when he runs across her and will also like to accompany her when she's exploring/talking to people. Because young ones gotta stick together, am I right? He isn't sure how he can help in getting an audience with a king but he's willing to do what he can to make it happen for Jolie.

[lonered]

Excellent. Let's get t-shirts.

Keith just straight up doesn't trust anyone easily, and especially doesn't like being told what to do by people he doesn't trust. So yes, he'll be keeping his eyes open. And happy to share notes with other folks who are of similar minds.

[purrtagonist]

TWO REBELLIOUS TEENS WHO AREN'T PART OF THE SYSTEMMMMMM

or at least are skeptical enough about it to learn as much as they can. . .!

[insubordination]

OF COURSE IT'S OKAY!!!

listen roy will teach him everything he knows about surviving in the desert which is mostly find someone who is responsible enough to always have water like riza and hughes and also Get Good at card games.

[spellweave]

Alphinaud is 100% down to help if he can and as an Actual Diplomat he's pretty suited to try and work something out on the political side. He will want to organize a direct meeting with the king if possible! That will be his main goal. Before that he plans to gather as much information from the people and from any reading material that might exist to prep for that.

But he wants to negotiate something with the king to help improve lives and prevent the war he declared on the Syndicate. He always tries for peaceful resolutions so he's going to try that here too...!

The political climate in this world is Basically Ul'dah from his home so he's a liiittllee concerned. The difference being that the king isn't an adorable Lalafell with pink pigtails. As far as we know, anyway.........