INTRO LOG - JULY 2013

[rekindlemods]

Who: Everyone Where: The Welcome Plaza When: 18th July, afternoon Summary: The new arrivals, freshly pulled from their worlds or others, awaken in a strange plaza... Warnings: Inbox death may occur. System overload at own risk. SOME NPC RESPONSES WILL BE SLOW UNTIL THE ONE WHO PLAYS THEM IS PRESENT. The first flickering of a lantern... It's a shuddering breath, a sensation of being pulled to elsewhere and finding oneself pressed against something rather hard with the sound of water coming from nearby. However, before one can fully stir, there is something that lifts you up from the rather warm (yet why did it feel like a chill going down your spine?) stone when you begin to drift off once more. It felt as though someone had thrown you from the frying pan, and then into the freezer - all you wanted to do was sleep... Yet the feeling passes quickly, and when you awaken, you begin to realize your surroundings. It looks like...a plaza of some sort? As they look around them, the ground beneath them is an intricate mosiac - a water fountain at the center of the plaza in this foreign world. There are many buildings around its perimeter, making this location seem like a central hub of whatever town this was. Some may even recognize the peculiar design of the buildings and sloped tiled rooftops as a Far Eastern theme. Were they somewhere along the Pacific? Who knows! But what is quite apparent is this: Along with the many buildings surrounding the plaza, the first thing that is noticeable is the amount of people sitting or standing around you in a similar daze. You are not alone... One building seems to stand out among all the others; one that seems large enough to house all of the completely lost and confused masses gathered here to the welcome plaza. A sign outside the door reads: WELCOME CENTER Newcomers: Please come inside for refreshments and your welcome packets! Odd... This wasn't written in your own language, and yet you find it easily understandable. Soon enough, if you don't enter on your own, someone comes from inside the double doors to usher you and everyone else inside. "Welcome to Saeng Seong! I know you must be confused as to where you are and what's going on, but we promise to explain this to you once we're inside and away from the hot sun!" Whether you go inside immediately or linger outside a little longer, eventually you must come in from the hot summer day, and sooner rather than later would probably be better. You'll find yourself in a well-lit lobby, filled with comfortable-looking couches and chairs. Along one wall are refreshment tables, loaded with all sorts of food and drink, including some you probably aren't familiar with. On the wall opposite are a pair of desks, each with a sign and a person seated behind them - Irene, General Assistance Devin, Technological Assistance However, before you can go over and give them a piece of their mind and ask for questions, the same person who ushered you inside hands you a manilla envelope that contains your welcome packet, urging you to read this before asking the three figures questions that the packet likely answers. Inside it, you will find: a ring with a key and apartment number on it, some kind of cash card, a map and informational guide to the city, and a letter folded neatly on the top - Welcome to Saeng Seong! You are among a new group of arrivals to our city, from many far-apart worlds. We have gathered you here because our city is in a crisis, and we are at our last resorts. The energy of the city is in a slow downward spiral, and is dangerously close to expiring altogether. That's where you come in - you and everyone else we've brought to the city. Unlike those of us here, you have the potential to generate the energy the city needs, but you'll need to work together to do it. Why? Because the energy can only be generated when two people touch each other. Any touch will do, but it must be between two of you who are new to the city. If you don't keep in contact with someone, eventually your energy will begin to drain as well, making you dangerously ill. A few other things: The closed-off sections of the city are closed off for a reason; approaching them will cause your energy to drain very rapidly. We're working to open the rest of the city to you as soon as we can, but for now, please remain within the two central districts of the city. You have been given a key to a one-bedroom apartment in a complex set aside for you and the other new arrivals, near the riverside in the 1st district. You're free to change your living quarters whenever you like, and we encourage you to move in with someone in one of the larger apartments. When you want to change, just come back to this building to exchange your key. We've also included a cash card with a living stipend; if you're unfamiliar with this system, or the network established for new arrivals, you can talk to Devin in the lobby for help. It's what he's here for. If you need medical assistance, contact Mai, one of our nurses - she'll be going around today for anyone who needs help. Again, welcome, and thank you for all your help. Irene Arrival Liaison Back behind you, others still linger, and through the translucent glass you can see a banner hanging from the tiled roof of the building across the street in the blistering summer day: WELCOME TO SAENG SEONG (ENJOY YOUR STAY!)

Comments

[vereinigt]

Germany does not want to accept he is stuck here with no way out, but he is also too rational to let his emotions get the better of him.

Still, when the man who is obviously a reporter of some sort approaches, Germany is cautious. His experience with the press is that they have megalomaniac tendencies.

"For what purpose, Mr. Newspaper?" he asks. Even if this reporter is not a normal megalomaniac Mr. Newspaper, Germany is still going to call him that.

[rekindlenpcs]

Mr. Newspaper is a new one. He's never really been called that before. But he takes it in stride and grins widely as he holds up his pad of paper.

"I've got a deadline and my boss is totally gonna have my head if I don't meet it! Please, help a guy out?"

[vereinigt]

Germany still appears a bit weary, but he could always say no comment. Who was going to argue with a 5'11 German man built like the proverbial brick shit-house?

"I suppose it doesn't hurt to ask," he said. Plus, he could infer the feel of the people by the questions he is asked. He in fact makes sure his own notepad and pen are ready.

[rekindlenpcs]

"Awesome! Thanks a ton." He grins at him in gratitude as he uncaps his pen, then puts pen to paper. When he looks up again, however, his expression is more focused; he clearly takes his job seriously.

"Okay. Uh - the basics to start with. What's your name, and what was your job before you came here?"

[vereinigt]

"My full proper name is Bundesrepublik Deutschland, however I am known as Germany to most. My job is to represent my people in meetings where fellow nations and myself try to solve the world's problems," he stated. And he's being serious.

[rekindlenpcs]

"Uhhh..." You lost him at "Bundesrepublik," Germany. Ren scribbles something down, frowns, erases it, and scribbles it down again... finally he sighs heavily, crosses it out, and holds out the pencil and the pad of paper to him. "Could you spell that for me?"

[vereinigt]

Germany snorted softly, but he was used to foreigners not being able to spell his proper name. "B-U-N-D-E-S-R-E-P-U-B-L-I-K Bundesrepublik D-E-U-T-S-C-H-L-A-N-D Deutschland," he spelled out slowly.

[rekindlenpcs]

With Germany's help, he gets it right; Ren flashes him a bright smile. "Great! Got it. Okay, and you were a representative and a... diplomat? I'm trying to think of ways to explain it in a way people from here will understand."

[vereinigt]

"I am a country," he said. "I am, according to my last census eighty million, two hundred nineteen thousand, six hundred ninety-five. My population isn't increasing much and was estimated last year to be eighty million, three hundred ninety-nine thousand, three hundred." Not that much at all. "I do represent my people to organizations like the European Union, the United Nations, the G8, and the G20. But I go more because I am my people than representing them. I also form alliances and friendships with other nations to benefit my people, through these alliances I try to make the world a better place by learning from the mistakes of the past."

Do you want a diagram?

((ooc: population figures from Germany wiki article))

[rekindlenpcs]

"Right." Ren is quiet for a few long moments as he scribbles down the details and figures into his own special form of shorthand - probably not something anyone would be able to decipher if he were to drop it and it were to be found on the street, but it makes sense to him. "So, then - there were lots of countries where you came from? What were meetings for those organizations you mentioned like?"

[vereinigt]

"There are over two hundred countries," Germany said, which is quite a lot. "The European Union is a meeting of countries that exist in the continent of Europe. We work together to promote commerce and peace throughout Europe," which is a lot better than what Europe was known for just seventy years ago. "The United Nations is a meeting of nations all over the world to try keeping peace worldwide. The G8 and G20 are meetings of countries with successful economies to determine financial policies and look at problems regarding economics."

They were rather simple definitions, but that should work.

[rekindlenpcs]

"Whoa, that's super interesting stuff!" Ren grins. This'll definitely make a good article; he's not sure any of his own people have ever heard of a country personified before they started bringing in people from other worlds to help them. "So - what was your favorite part about doing all of that?"

[vereinigt]

"I was able to experience many things from other cultures. This city, thus far, reminds me of something from China's house and is quite foreign from places that exist in my house," he stated. "We grow only by learning."

[rekindlenpcs]

"Well, here's hoping you can learn a lot more while you're here, since you seem to like it!" Ren says with a grin. "And, uh... what do you think about being pulled here to help us? You can be honest. I know you probably weren't expecting it, but I'm prepared to hear anything you have to say!"

[vereinigt]

"As a nation I have a lot of problems, currently there is an economic crisis to deal with, along with hostile nations. I should be working," he said. "However, I also wish to help. I am... conflicted."