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

[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?

[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.

[sunborne]

Oh my gosh Daylight is going to be so excited by all of this information. He's definitely going to be intrigued by the Champion thanks to this air of mystery around them and will wanna try to meet them one-on-one.

Looks like going through the other opponents and regulars it is! Good luck, Day.

(Alas he's also going to ask lots of questions about them since his friends on the Lornful Light aren't there to whamp on the head. He just wants to hear more stories about the Champion nothing suspicious about that nosiree.)

Thank you for the answers, mods! I'll keep this in mind for the worldhop! o /

[acatamods]

We're so glad Daylight will enjoy the Fighting Ring! There is definitely an air of camaraderie and sportsmanship around there, so there's a good chance he can make some friends. :) But yes, feel free to ask about The Champion. They are something of a local legend, so Day will get a wide range of stories and descriptions and wonderfully impressive things they've done.