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

[mytearsaremine]

Ahaha I love when people recognize my obscure ass canons XD

More kids yes please! Kids are safer than adults, in general. Just, you know, don't mind that she's kinda got eldritch-y shadow tentacles coming out of her back.

[acatamods]

The rules of the fighting ring are fairly simple. If you wish to fight, your name is put on a list. Most days work on a relatively tournament-style schedule. If there is an opponent who has enough willpower to continue to fight through the regular cast of fighters and members of the ring, you might chance the possibility of meeting the Champion. There is something of a casual tone to these fights - if the Champion decides they want to enter early, they could. If they would rather watch, the list to get through could feel endless. It all depends on the participants performance in the ring.

As for placing bets, there are a fair amount of people present to take your money if you'd like to place a bet on any of the fighters! House versus opponent. It's up to you to chase down your winnings, but if asked, you will not be cheated of your coin. The last thing anyone needs is a fight breaking out of the ring.

There is not too much spoken about the Champion outside of the ring. They have a reputation of being the best fighter, the smartest and strongest of the lot, with honor and wit to match. However, who they are and what they are varies depending on who you pull aside. Tall tales run wild through El Minha, but from what you can gather - they came from nothing, they return to a life no one knows much of, and they are known far and wide as The Champion. There is a particular care taken to keeping the Champion's name and identity a secret, but unless you face them in the ring, too many questions could attract some unwanted attention from the more shadowed of folk.

[bulletbiter]

I'm still a bit groggy so I apologize if this has been answered somewhere, but - will powers be nerfed in this world?

[acatamods]

Canon powers are nerfed, yes! But you will retain the powers you've been given as being a part of the circle.

[tranquilforest]

I'm reasonably sure Jing's going to need an escort at some point, if Firo doesn't mind...? :D

[bulletbiter]

I'm likely to keep asking these kinds of questions bc of how Julius operates, but:

Will he be able to try filtering water with his cell configuration skill?

[sunborne]

Daylight would like to haggle for some art materials and definitely needs pointers in fitting in! Otherwise he's going to spend, like, the first few days trying not to bump into anyone and failing miserably.

[flyingsolos]

Please piggyback Rion, her back's going to be hurting from flying practice.

[punshots]

That sounds perfect!! Firo will probably be sighing a lot...but it sounds like he could provide a good balance to Prompto's exuberance!

[bulletbiter]

I need these two to go exploring infiltration-style somewhen like mission impossible

[bulletbiter]

I'd like these two to go sidequesting jrpg style to help people!

[bulletbiter]

Maybe these two can bond over shopping/local plant stuff, especially since Julius' ability is handy now (due to not needing water).

Also I realize belatedly she's an older woman so he'd be naturally inclined to listen to her opinions on stuff

[bulletbiter]

KOU PLEASE does julius need to bail you out of jail....

Julius

[bulletbiter]

So Julius was on the receiving end of political manipulation back home and he. will be having some serious flashbacks

He adjusts well to the climate as he is well-traveled and has the benefit of cellular coordination to cool down. He will probably be looking into scientific ways to generate more water for the Circle's use, if it's needed.

He wants to help people, but he's more likely to sympathize with the poor than the rich (despite being kind of from a rich background himself). However he's not sure what to do regarding the situation so I'm looking to have discussions regarding it. And also doing some jrpg side fetch quests for the natives, if appropriate!

I'm p much a person who follows other people's plans so just hmu with your ideas. ♥

Sam

[buff_for_a_nerd]

So aside from general exploration shenanigans and delving into whatever myths/monsters/lore that this place has, did somebody mention murder? Somebody definitely mentioned murder, which means Sam's going to habitually ask questions about that and try to find out if it's definitely the Syndicate calling the shots and whether or not there's anything else going on with that aside from cut-throat political rivalry. Subterfuge may or may not be involved, since it's probably kind of hard to pretend to be a local. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Whatever gets a foot in the door.

I'm also totally game for socializing/drinking/helping people with their own stuff, so hmu if you want Sam somewhere in particular.

[rootandbranch]

Can Circle members with flight powers go beyond the walls? How far/what's out there?

Dean Winchester

[mulletrock]

Dean is gonna do what a Winchester does and fall into the social fabrication of the place and do a lot of light recon work. He'll love the nerding to Sam, for as long as he can, and stick to the field work. Until Sam gets tired of being the one actually reading That means, he'll be in the social joints, the markets, and anywhere else a guy can do light profiling for information.

If you're an outsider, he might entertain the idea of your company if it means swapping intelligence. Mostly??? He's gonna try and find his bearings by doing grunt work around El Minha with open ears. Does El Minha have craigslist? Maybe he'll advertise.

Point is, he'll be active and around if anyone wants to call him on his shit or get in his way/pull him away. He's all yours. <3

[courtpainter]

Narsus will do his best as far as helping with the local flavor, although not standing out will be a tall order for someone so...tall. And being a nobleman, he may not be the best at haggling... but he does have an eye for quality in supplies! He'll probably be shopping in the same places as Daylight to start with, since he didn't arrive with any.

Vern

[rootbound]

Vern is more of a watcher and listener, and he's been through cities and markets before (people may notice he's good at haggling and avoiding getting his pocket picked, if nothing else). He'll likely try to arrange doing errands for coin to try and get established with the people in the marketplace, for starters.

If anyone wants company to browse said marketplace (books!!!), or to gently explore through the various areas and eavesdrop for information, Vern would be down with that -- he likely won't try to get into the palace itself for the moment, but the rest of the city is fairly interesting.

[voidform]

Man. Have you picked the right person to sidequest with.

I'm sure there will be a person or three that might reward us for our good deeds, so if we're trying to make some pocket change with some +1 renown, we've got the team to do it. Got any cool sidequest ideas? If not, maybe we can do something like an escort mission or something.

[foundafamily]

He'd be glad to! :D Especially since she mentioned being sort of cooped up before, he'd want to make sure she's getting to check out the world.

[acatamods]

It is desert, as far and wide as the eye can see. Hundreds and hundreds of miles in every direction.

If a Circle member with flight would like to explore, it will take quite a bit of time and effort out in the hot sun and unforgiving heat, but there might be more to discover. With that chance of discovery, however, comes a heightened list of consequences as well.

Elizabeth Bennet

[a_sharp_wit]

Elizabeth is the sort of person who can pretty much talk to anyone. I expect her to make somewhat friends with one or two locals and then nudge them into gossiping. People forever love to gossip after all and if she's learned anything it's that a good deal of gossip is complaining or judgement. So she'll try to see what people think overall about life and the King. And what's all this about murders then?

Also Elizabeth hasn't exactly been exposed to the tides of London so I expect her to get pickpocketed in the Grand Market at least once. And to be appropriately confused by being offered to partake in the hookah.

I should note that I'll likely be spotty over the weekend - I'm going on a trip to visit relatives. I'll have net access in the evenings and I'm open to plotting/will likely post but tags may be slower until Sunday/Monday.

[acatamods]

You're asking in regard to his Astoria-given power of plant regeneration, right?

You can certainly try! But Julius might find that it takes much more of a toll on his body than normal. This land is dry and arid, and will take much more out of him and his powers where it involves retaining water from the air.

[a_sharp_wit]

Perhaps he can accompany Elizabeth and try to help her keep from getting herself pickpocketed again. I intend to have her interested in some of the local fashions and she's more than happy to explore the books as well.