[OPENING] island hub - day 1

[spellbindmods]

Who: All Characters
Where: Main Hub
When: Day 1
Open/Closed: Open to All

TDM threads can be considered canon if you so choose, they contain the power that you apped with and both parties confer that the thread is canon.

For characters that were on the TDM and who were not accepted/didn't app, these characters will be considered dropped characters that were magicked away.

Night has fallen upon everyone. It's thus far been an eventful day -- you've met some new people, discovered some new aspects of yourself that weren't there before you appeared here (however that might have happened). The original inhabitants of the island have been working hard to prepare a few things. One activity might have been one you were a part of, but there's still time to get your hands dirty. A ▢ Brie has rolled out a large copper pot and created a pit on the beach. It's unrealistic to think everyone can subsist on the few foods she's collected from other words and boar jerky alone. She's got a few boar carcasses sitting on the beach that need attending to as well. Your characters can help feed themselves and others, and here's what needs to be done: Fire needs to be started for cooking the meat AND a large bonfire for light and warmth. The large copper bowl needs to be filled with water. Crabs need to be bravely collected from the bath house for boiling. The boar needs to be either cut up for kebabs or stuck through. Does your character know anything about spit-roasting? Any other helpful magical skills are welcome to help make food. Post feasting, there are dozens of crabs and a pile of roasted boar meet that are up for eating. Even if you didn't offer to help in making any of the food, they're open to eat it -- even if the true helpers may give you dirty looks. The boar is fine, if not a little bland and chewy, but it's probably better than the jerky. The crab is delicious, if not a little tasteless...there problem with the crab isn't exactly the taste, though. B ▢ The crab isn't a species that's immediately edible for most species, though your character will grow to get used to it eventually. For now, the meat isn't settling well within your character's system. Your character will experience sweats, a high fever, blurred vision, potential vomiting, hives...it's very obvious their body is rejecting the unfamiliar meat. This may also cause a bit of an issue with your character's powers. They're still getting physically and mentally acclimated to these new changes, so expect their telepathy and magic to go a little haywire.

It's almost completely dark outside when the next event of the evening happens. You're living your life when you see it out of the corner of your eye -- it's absolutely hard to miss. What you see is a large lit caravan, larger than even an army tank. It's bright white and shining, covered with golden, ornate details that emanate an even more dazzling sparkle. The entire thing is aglow, and it's quickly coming towards the large bonfire that's been made. It's not rolling across the sand, but instead it's floating, and so is a matching trunk that's sailing along next to a figure beside the caravan. C ▢ A tall, slender woman has also come along with the large caravan, quickly opening the trunk that eventually lands on the sand with a large thud. She's handing out sacks, very similar to the ones previously in the large lobster cage. These contain a parka, a type of candy of your choice, a bottle of water, a large shard from a broken mirror and a letter rolled up and bound with a roll of twine. There are two other thread options associated with this prompt: Genette's top level and her telepathy training post. Around the same time as Genette is handing out this new little goody bag, you suddenly receive a telepathic message. It might seem a little strange at first -- but on that note, what about tonight isn't strange? D ▢ The telepathic message your character will receive is a simple one: Hello. It shows up in text form across your character's line of vision and it doesn't go away until they respond back, though the message that's sent out won't go to the original telepath. Instead it will ping pong to a random person in the group. You've made a new friend! After you've met Genette, she's also got a few more supplies that she pulls out a small door in the base of the caravan. She's insistent that you only get two items, since there aren't exactly a lot of them to go around! E ▢ The last of the starter supplies are being handed out, and these are items that are more cumbersome or rare -- they may not be immediately useful for your character, but maybe you can make use of them somehow, whether eventually in another world or with your power. An electronic/technology: these can be as obvious as an MP3 player, as useless as a garage door motor or as scandalous as a Hitachi Magic Wand. If it can be powered by electricity or batteries, there's a tub of them. They're also partially charged if they don't need constant electricity to work. A fashion accessory: there are a lot of these, surprisingly. Flower crowns, belts, bras, shoes, earrings, other types of jewelry. Your character can look cute while suffering from crab vomiting. Books and stationary: maps of various worlds, books written in a myriad of languages (maybe even one you recognize!), writing paper, ink pens, gel pens, stickers. Any kind of stationary can be found here. Other household items: this can include cleaning supplies, furniture, and other miscellaneous goods. These won't be personal affects from your character's home, but they may be useful! Feel free to come up with unusual or alien items -- these have come from all over the universe, remember!

As the night winds down, it's recommended by Brie that you should probably go to be in your hut -- or at the very least get somewhere inside. There are a lot of people around the camp, however, so it's no surprise that there are a few people waiting around to get their fill of food and supplies before heading to bed. The noise of the new members and the light of the fire have attracted a very large pack of boars, who you'll later find make routine trips to the beach every night. Boar mating season has made the wild hogs rather testy, and the smell of food -- even if it's their own boar brethren -- have made them even more volatile. F ▢ If your character isn't quick to get inside tonight, they're likely to get a boar charging at them. The chances are doubled if they happen to be holding onto a food item. Female boars can leave a few bruises and trample you, but beware the males -- they've got tusks. However, it's not like staying up at night doesn't have its advantages. Once midnight hits, another species of animal makes its regular rounds across the base camp. In the sky, characters can see an Aurora Borealis-like sight. Instead of being dancing green and blue lights, however, the reality is that they are a massive species of space worm, and hundreds are wiggling past on their way to travel back home. They're shimmering and in every color imaginable, lighting up the sky with their magnificent hues. G ▢ The space worms operate outside the natural barrier of the hub, but they still are in close enough proximity to shed a film as they travel. If you're still awake, boars or no, you'll be in the middle of a shower. The film sheds from the worms and enters the atmosphere, creating multi-colored, sweet-smelling mists of worm water vapor. Worm water vapor is kind of weird, but it's also pretty cool. It's also calming, and that's a bonus. Inhale too much and you might become a little too calm.

Comments

[potentite]

That isn't where the majority of his artifacts are displayed, which is to say to the public. Anyhoo, I'm not dodging anything. You haven't stated a case.

[splinten]

The Western public. My case is this: it's ethically wrong to steal shit from one culture for the benefit of another. It impoverishes one group to enrich the group with the resources to impoverish said first group.

[potentite]

[He sighs.] I just don't agree. That feels... wrong. How can anybody learn about each other then?

[splinten]

By askin' to borrow, and givin' it back. By offerin' your own things for study.

It's the inequality and one-sidedness that's the problem. In your time, museums started getting better at that kind of exchange, but the deck had been stacked in favour of British and later American museums, who used their wealth and resources to acquire artefacts for literally hundreds of years.

[potentite]

Why didn't anyone else do it? Um, like, why didn't Egyptians mount expeditions into the pyramids?

[splinten]

Sometimes, it was cultural values that led them to feel that their significant artefacts should be left where they are, where they belong. It's the other kind of public. Sometimes they just didn't think the things were that important, because to them they were normal, not exotic objects of study as they were to foreigners. If we're discussing Indy's era, it's mainly a matter of resources. The UK, France, and the rest made themselves rich and built academic institutions and funding structures for these kinds of expeditions. That wasn't available in other countries.

[potentite]

[He considers that.] I don't understand how money works.

[That is his takeaway from this.]

[splinten]

[...]

How is that related.

[potentite]

Well... why do countries have limited amounts of money? Why couldn't they make more and fund it?

[splinten]

Money works on scarcity. If there's too much money, the value of that currency drops. Basically, it's an artificial and symbolic resource which is valuable because it's controlled.

Imagine you bartered for goods and services by trading apples. If everyone had an apple of their own, they wouldn't trade you their chicken for apples.

[potentite]

Oh, you'd have to offer them more apples. The green is just a bit to abstract for me, I think. Apples have solid worth!

[splinten]

You can't offer them more apples, bro. They have all the apples they want. They are not interested in any amount of apples.

[potentite]

But what if they run out of apples? And why say no to more apples?

[splinten]

They have an apple tree of their own. Why would they give up their valuable cow for something they already have?

[potentite]

I think I understand now but... why would the government giving a bushel of apples to a group of adventurers to help them along be off limits?

[splinten]

Because the adventurers are going to people who don't have the apples for their own adventurers, and are takin' their things. Sometimes they'll be so poor in resources that they'll give permission for their things to be taken just to have a few more apples. But the reason they don't in the first place is that the government hiring the adventurers stole all the apples from the other guys, which is how they're able to pay for this kind of thing.

[why is this about apples]

[potentite]

[Because apples are something Jake understands.]

Then why can't the government grow some apples? They control the apples right?

[splinten]

This is back to the thing about the value of apples. If they print too much money, they make it worthless. [Oh yeah, the metaphor.] If we're going to extend this, they can only make their own apple breed, too. So the American apples still have value because they're scarce, but the Egyptian apples that no one wants anyway end up in an abundance and can't get a thing.

[potentite]

[He literally only understands this through apples.] I see... So... the Egyptian government could give their adventurers crates of apples to spend but no one would want their apples even if they grew them?

[splinten]

Yes. They wouldn't be able to do anything with the apples.

[God this is ridiculous. But if it works.]

[potentite]

[He thinks he gets it now, even if he feels like money is this weird abstract concept that should work differently than apples.]

That really is a shame. But I understand it better. Sharp as ever, Strider.

[splinten]

You're the one followin' along with it, English. Your questions were all solid, because fundamentally, money is worthless and arbitrary.

[potentite]

I suppose that's where I kept getting hung up. Call it old-fashioned or my upbringing but I find that sort of system frustrating.

[splinten]

Yeah, you're old-fashioned. You're basically Neolithic.

[potentite]

I fail to be insulted.