acatalepsy_logs | WORLD JUMP # 1: EL MINHA.

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WORLD JUMP # 1: EL MINHA.

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welcome to el minha.

It will happen at random- you could be asleep, or wandering the Temple, or a variety of other options. It will feel a little strange, like a sudden warmth spreading across your skin, and then your bracelet will light up and a semi-familiar voice will be heard.

I hope you are able to help the people of El Minha! And oh- in case I didn't mention it already, water is very, very valuable here.

And then you will blink, and it will be bright. Bright, and warm, as you are standing just inside the grand walls that protect the impressive city before you. At your hip there will be a small bag with a few bits of coin - nothing too crazy, and definitely not enough to last you the entire stay (which...you're not exactly sure how long it will be), but enough to get started. Your presence brings a couple of glances, a stare or two, but overall the city seems to continue on with its day.

Welcome to the Red Desert, the city of El Minha.

THE PALACE

After a few hours of being within El Minha, the King has heard that a large amount of travelers are now wandering within the city limits. An audience is called in front of the Royal Palace, and King Kathashun steps out onto the dias. He is dressed rather plainly, for a monarch -- a purple robe, with some gold bangles and bracelets, but no ornate crown or anything like that. However, when he appears, the natives around you grow quiet, at the presence of their King.

“I understand that there are a lot of new people, within our fair city. Welcome to El Minha, the Jewel of the Red Desert. Enjoy our culture, our people, our wares; we welcome you, and hope you enjoy your stay.”

There is a pause, though, as King Kathashun seems to weigh out what he wants to say.

“I normally do not spend my time greeting tourists to our city, as our Crown Guard typically handles educating our visitors on our ways,” he continues, folding his hands behind his back. “But the heart of our city has been heavy, in recent months, and I feel it is my duty as King to be clear, to be honest, and to speak the truth. Recently, we have been attempting to hunt down individuals who wish our city harm, who have harmed my family, and my people. The Syndicate has been active, as of late, and I warn all of you who are not familiar with El Minha to avoid certain areas of the city should you wish to keep your pocketbooks.”

There’s a slight quirk of his lips, as he says that, before he tilts his head in a polite gesture of greeting toward the crowd.

“Please, enjoy El Minha. And should any of you garner any information concerning the Syndicate, please do not hesitate to contact me.”

For the duration of your time in El Minha, King Kathashun will be within his palace . . . or so the Crown Guard says, should you ask them for an audience. That being said, you might be lucky wandering the streets. The King of El Minha tends to mingle more with the common folk than the Crown Guard would lead you to believe . . .

THE GRAND MARKET

Welcome to the heart and soul of El Minha - a massive outdoor market in the center of the city. Covered by fabric stretched between the buildings, this market feels almost like a city, or living soul, in and of itself. It is constantly moving, constantly evolving. Anything you could imagine is for sale here - spices, jewelry, weapons - whatever you’re looking for, anything at all. While you won’t necessarily find specific items from your home, you can find any matter of similarly made or crafted ones. Think cheap knock-offs, or unnecessarily well-made versions, because they can vary widely. There can also be items of some level of magic, though nothing particularly strong or overly impressive. (feel free to ask the mods on the previous ooc post about if an item is too over-powered to be found in the market - and also know that there’s always the chance you could find it in the underground. It just depends on how determined you are to track it down.) Stalls can range from cobbled together boxes and goods to grand, incredible stands - it all depends on what you’re looking for, and how long you’re willing to look. There is no map here, so tread lightly!

The merchants that work in the market are experienced, practiced sales people. They know how to sell to anyone, but especially tourists. Barter to your hearts content, but it will take a little more than a ‘please’ to get those prices down. They have expert eyes and will not take pick-pockets or thieves well. However, as experienced and watchful as the merchants may be, that won’t stop young kids on the streets targeting the tourists as well - so keep an eye out on your pockets!

As long as you have coin, water, or something to trade you are welcome as long as you’d like to stay here in the El Minha Marketplace. However, if you loiter for too long, you might get a swift kick in the ass to either get moving or buy something - they’re not giving away anything for free, and that includes the shade.

THE SPARKLING SAPPHIRE

As the announcement from King Kathashun comes to an end, all members of the Circle will be communicated - in one way or another - the direction to the Sparkling Sapphire. Free housing, you’ve been told. All you have to do is go, give them your name, and let them know you are part of the group that King Kathashun has directed here.

Here, as it turns out, isn’t too shabby of a place. A large building with plenty of rooms, it is clean and fairly busy, with a bustling tavern area and rooms upstairs. You can pick up your key from the older woman behind the front desk, and are directed to the staircase in the middle of the establishment. The rooms are clean, but plain, with one or two beds depending on your preference.

Downstairs in the tavern you can find food served for both breakfast and dinner, which is included in the room. Otherwise, there is a small fee for food or drink, and the servers are talented and experienced and very, very friendly. It is in the tavern that you can find the hookah, and some strange liquor as well, but it’s up to you if you choose to drink it. The food is incredible, beyond incredible, and they can make almost anything that you’ll like, though it may come out a bit creative.

The main room is comfortable - with a roaring fire but without the suffocating heat. There is a bard in the corner, who will sing or tell stories or simply play, depending on the feeling of the room.

Have a drink! Or a meal! While most of the people here are indeed Circle members, there may be a couple of natives mixed in as well. Take a load off, relax, and enjoy the hospitality that only a King’s Coin can bring.

THE FIGHT RING

The ring itself is somewhat on the outskirts of town - a colosseum-esque collection of buildings that watch over a pit-like arena. The buildings protect the Fighting Ring from any outside eyes, or any unwanted attention, as this area is solely under the command of The Syndicate. Anyone is allowed inside, as long as you don’t cause any problems and don’t start any trouble. There are a number of what you can assume are Syndicate-employed figures that are constantly canvasing the area as well, so don’t expect to be able to sneak in unless invited or allowed.

The Fight Ring is open for volunteers at any time, and once you’ve been checked for any fun business and told the rules (no magic, only weapons allowed are the ones provided, the fight will end once one side relents or is taken out of commission). If this still feels like your cup of tea, you are invited to take a spot in line. Perhaps, if you’ve shown yourself promising enough, The Champion may appear to protect their crown. Otherwise, you will find plenty of adversaries around.

If you are looking for a less aggressive route, there are plenty of seats open to watch, as well as many other members of the city taking a break to watch the fights, and they certainly wouldn’t mind sharing some of their favorite stories of matches or victories. The Champion is the resounding favorite, but the stories shared will vary to the point that almost no useful information can be gleaned.

Join in the festivities that surround the ring! Pick up some food, bet on some fighters, enjoy the competition, and maybe you’ll be lucky and catch a sight of The Champion, or any of the other legendary figures of the El Minha Fight Ring.

THE GOLDEN PHOENIX

The Golden Phoenix is the central location of the Syndicate . . . and locals will make absolutely no effort to hide that fact from the Circle members. However, people don't seem to be afraid to go, though you definitely need to have coin to get through the door.

There are multiple tables where various dice and card games are being played, as well as old slot machines. There are multiple employees in dark uniforms wandering around, offering drinks to all those who are spending coin on the machines, free of charge. If you loiter too long without spending money, you will be asked why you're there -- not in a threatening way, of course. But the relationship between the Syndicate and the King isn't all that great, as of late . . . can't be too careful with spies.

In the back of the Golden Phoenix, there's a tiny racing ring in the back where small lizards are being raced in a little track set on a table. You can place bets on any of the lizards and, who knows? You may win a prize, including a little lizard! How cute! (Be careful, though: they nip.)

But out back, there's another lizard racing ring, though these ones are . . . well, they're certainly not tiny. In fact, people seem to be riding on them akin to horse racing . . . and jockeys are a dime a dozen, in El Minha. Fancy yourself the next Triple Crown winner? Step right up, step right up, and take a spin on the track outside!

Additionally, please feel free to write up and work with your own prompts! These are presented as jumping off points for your characters, not limitations. The idea of this world- as with all the others- is to explore. There will be some NPCs interacting with characters as well, so keep an eye out for those as well! If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask them back on the mod questions thread back in the OOC post from before!

From this point forward, the Circle has become involved with the political stasis and climate of El Minha. What your character finds out, decides, and does from here on out will affect the future of this city- one way or another! But what you do is completely up to you. What you discover, explore, and uncover in this city will be yours to discover, explore, and uncover. Who knows what you might find? :)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I was planning to do so. What kind of games do they offer? I just want to make sure that I am not losing too much."

... because I have no clue how to play them and make a fool out of myself in public. he continued the sentence in his head.

"They had everything in there. I'm almost jealous." Firo was no bookie, but he couldn't deny that having a hand in the pony races and stuff could be great business for his Family. Especially if they controlled said races, like this place seemed to.

"Cards, dice... They've got games that're close enough to poker and blackjack that you could pick it up no sweat if you already know those. Obviously I wouldn't go asking anybody in there for advice." They were the competition, after all.

If he had hoped to hear that they had a Cyvasse table, this hope got destroyed.

"I'm afraid I don't know any of these games." He put on an excusing expression. "Are these games hard to learn?" He thought back that it had been fun to learn Cyvasse. A game which requires some logical thinking and some tactical understanding.

To know at least one game he could play with others would be a nice addition to the ways how he could spend time with them.

A faint smile flickered on Firo's face. "Only if you want to learn how to win."

"Blackjack's easy to start with. Poker's simple enough too, you just need to learn the hands." Even though he'd just been leaving, Firo turned right back around and waved to Tyrion to follow him back into the casino. No time like the present to learn!

Edited (tweaked wording for clarity) 2018-05-15 00:53 (UTC)

He had heard that you could win a lot in the local casino. And a bit extra money would be great, not only because he wanted to buy some things and go out an eat the best food, he knew the value of bribe money.

"Learn the hands ..." he murmured. That reminded him about his time when he had been a kid and had to learn the Hands of the King that had been there.

"Alright. I hope I'm not a bad student" he remarked laughing.

"We'll find out."

Firo moved for the door of the casino and, if Tyrion followed, would slip in. Inside, the place was already rather crowded; Firo would navigate around until they came to a quieter corner in view of a card table.

"We can watch what they're doing here. Looks like a new game's about to start."

He realized that it wouldn't be easy to find a place from which he could see much. But thanks to Firo they found themself in a corner which allowed him to look at the table.

"Alright. I try to stay optimistic that I will at least understand the basics of the game." it didn't took me long to learn a complex game and it must be something easy since it looks like all these people here know it.

Firo smiled even as he kept his eyes trained on the players. The first dealing was starting, with each player receiving some cards while other cards were laid in the middle of the table.

"Did you play anything much back where you're from?"

He wouldn't think that a guy waging a war would have much time for that, but everybody has to blow off steam somehow.

Tyrion made a mental notice about how many cards each player received and what was done with the rest of the cards.

"I only know this game called Cyvasse. Not everyone seems to like it, since it isn't that easy. It's a strategy game. If you know about strategies and how wars are fought it's not hard to learn."

Now that he was thinking about it, the only entertainment he'd got back in Westeros were the tournaments. Besides from his visiting certain establishments, but that was something he couldn't mention right now. It would shed a bad light on him and it had been quite a while since he had last visit one of these establishments. Was it sad, that he would exactly say when it had been?

"So, apparently you come from a world with a vast range of games."

"Cyvasse... Never heard of it."

A game about wars, but not too popular? Still, it was probably a good idea to look into it in case he could bring it back to the Martillo casino.

He nodded. "I managed my Family's casino back home--it was a lot like this one." Maybe smaller and less lavish, but only by a little. Or a lot. But like hell would Firo say something unfavorable about his own place out loud. "You can play most games there, and we've got some slot machines and roulette too."

"I assume it's something that only exist where I come from."
It was still odd to think this way. Tyrion wondered how long it would take until all this would begin to feel normal. Would that ever be the case?

"Oh, a responsible position. I appreciate that. Your father must have trusted you a lot." His own father would have never let him near any position that was making money when he had come of age to take responsibility. Instead he had chosen something to let him feel that he wasn't trusting him much. Many years he would have got the chance to occupy such an office, but that had come with an unpleasant surprise. Still he had managed to make the best out of it.

"What is the goal of that game? Do you have to get rid of all the cards you have or collect them to some specific order?"

Firo turned his face away to cover up the slight blushing of his cheeks at the thought of being worthy of the Martillos' trust. "Not my father--my bosses."

"You need to collect certain ones to build the best hand. Cards that match or go in order, mostly. Whoever gets the best one wins."

"So you never worked for your family?" It was nothing odd about that, still Tyrion was aware that he assumed that everything he had grown up with was the universal way to grow up, when indeed he should know better.

He remembered a conversation he had with a circle member who had told him that the system he had grown up with is outdated, at least in one world.

"Sounds easy. Where is the twist?. Usually that is the case with everything that sounds easy."

After they had watched for a while he asked "Do you think that it would be possible to practice together?"He had always been someone who had learned new things fast but still he didn't wanted to make a fool out of himself in front of others. I can't risk to lose too much money here when I'm not able to play that game. It would be a stupid idea and I had many stupid ideas in my life.

Firo blinked in confusion, then thought back to how the distinction between family and a crime Family might not be automatic for some people. "Ah--I work for my Family, but they're not my parents."

He nodded at the request to practice. "Yeah, but we'd have to get our own cards, otherwise the house is gonna want a piece of the action." Firo never would've let two people start a game without one of his dealers in his casino, so he assumes the same is true for these people.

"Come on. Shouldn't be too hard to find some--and then you'll see what the twist is. It's easy to think about it, but actually playing is a different story." Firo'd start for the exit, figuring that it'd be simpler and more private for them to have a game outside of this place.

"Ah, I see. Something like a chosen family then." That concept of the chosen family could be applied to the men of the Night's Watch, therefore it was something Tyrion was familiar with. He had visited the Wall once and was relieved, that life had spared him the fate of being send to it.

"It's like life. Everyone tells you that it is easy but once you have to do it, well ... you can make a lot of stupid mistakes. Oh, remind me to share my first win with you."

While he followed Firo he looked around a last time. That was definitely a place he had to visit more often while staying here once he would know at least one of the games. Then it would be easier to start conversations. The informations he could pick up where the main reason why he was eager to learn this game. In a different life it would have been the prospect of money.

"They do have a lot of money if they can run a place like this. I wonder how they made it." He remarked with a low voice once they were outside.

Firo nodded. He had stumbled into their lives and they had taken him--he couldn't be more grateful that his little pickpocketing mission back then had gone so horribly awry.

He smiled briefly at Tyrion's observation that it was like life; he had always firmly believed that gambling was just a window into the world, a bright reflection of all the hard-knock lessons life had to teach you.

As for how such a place could be funded, he was all too happy to theorize. "Easy enough to pay for it if you've got other rackets. I bet these Syndicate people have all sorts of ways to make money here. And then once you get a place like this started, it'll pay for itself 10 times over." More than that, even, but Firo didn't have much of a head for large numbers. "Even if the customers win sometimes, the house always comes out on top at the end of the day."

There was a sense of pride--or maybe merely arrogance--in his voice as he said it. Though it wasn't his casino, he still felt that sort of satisfaction in seeing a shining example of his trade.

"So, this casino - I hope I remembered the name for an establishment like that correctly - is a place to make come together and help them empty their pockets and indirectly keep an eye on them. It's a clever move. You give the people something and you get more in return than some extra money. I assume they have a system of letting people win or lose. This is what I would think of, if I would own a place like this. They want people to come back, so they have to lose, right?"

The idea was something he knew from where he came from. At every tournament, there are countless people betting on the knights and it was nothing unusual that prior to the start of it knights agree on letting this or that knight win, when they have to fight against each other. Or how many times they are going to win in a row before losing.
Deep inside he knew that maybe more than once he had been a victim of this trap too, with bets and a different way of spending your free time. "Informations are the real value when it comes to politics ..."

Knowing how the casino could be run had triggered some memories of conversations he had either overheard or had held when he had been either on the Grand Market or around the Palace. A place he had sometimes visited mostly because of melancholic feelings. He couldn't keep all the informations to himself but part of him didn't wanted to overshare what he had to offer with as many Circle members as possible. So far he had heard a lot but had to look over what he had collected and discussing some of it with someone was a good start. Once he would have good overlook and useful informations (things he heard more than once) he could present them to the other Circle members.

He stopped talking, looking around to make sure no one was following them. It wouldn't have surprised him, since they had just left Syndicate territory. In these crowded narrow streets it would be easy to follow someone. But you could also lose track of said person easily. "What about if the go to the marked and see if we can obtain a card game and then make our way to the Sparkling Sapphire? I have a few thoughts I would like to share with you but it's better not to say them in the streets where you don't know who might hear you?"

Getting captured wasn't on his bucket-list for his stay in El Minah.

"The odds are pretty long, but sometimes customers win. There're people'll who come back even if they never win a thing, though."

Firo nodded at the suggestion and turned for the market. It wasn't all too far, and finding cards should've been easy. "Sure. But, hey, if it's not something you'd say out in the open, are you sure you wanna say it to a stranger?"

They weren't totally unknown to each other, but Firo reflected that he didn't really know much at all about who this guy was or where he came from.

"I guess it's because there is the chance that they could win. Let's be honest: Who wouldn't want to walk home with a big sum of money in their pockets?"

Besides from power, money was something that you bring you far in life.

His companion had a point but Tyrion spoke out the one reason that was counting "You're a member of the Circle. Sure we are all still strangers to one another but I assume we all want to bring peace to El Minah?"

For now Tyrion much prefered to avoid taking a side since he wasn't a citizen of the city. He looked up to see the effect his words had on Firo.

Honestly, so far Tyrion wouldn't say that he knew any of the Circle member that good, that he would talk with them about anything too personal but talking with them about the situation in El Minah was a different topic. Yet, wasn't that also a good chance to get to know each other better? Nothing was telling him more about a person than their political opinion and how they would handle things.

Edited 2018-06-05 19:49 (UTC)

Firo nodded. "It doesn't matter how small their chances are--people still want to try."

They had reached the market as they walked and talked, and Firo looked over the stalls until he could see one that had playing cards.

He shrugged at the question. "Honestly, I don't see how it's my business. I'll step in if things get crazy, of course, but otherwise I'd rather leave it to the people who actually care. We don't even live here."

Firo had a point, a good one, if Tyrion was honest with himself. If he hadn't been born into the royal part of the Known World and instead into that of the common people, he would probably think the same. If he would have been luckily enough to survive anyway.

"I am the last man who throws themself with open arms into a fight" he replied laughing before he continued serious "Picking a side is the most wrong thing a Circle member could do. On that we seem to agree. Providing the sides help while they are solving their problems is the only way I could see we could help without taking a side."

"So... what, put the two sides together and make them work it out for themselves?"

Firo wasn't opposed to that idea, though of course someone with no diplomatic skills (like him) would be pretty useless in such a plan.

"Better than marching in with guns blazing." Firo was hotheaded, but he was no fan of needless violence, especially when it wasn't even for his cause.

"Just like that. It's not easy since I assume the high ranked members of each group will suspect, that it is a trap set up from the other group."

It would be some hard work to find a place where the members could met and making sure that no information about the plan would leak. "You say it. Killing people is never an option and only leads to more trouble."

Pausing before his response, Firo swapped a few coins for a deck of cards.

Casual as can be, he asked, "Never?"

He wasn't a fan of killing, personally. He knew all too many people who thought otherwise, even some friends of his.

"Alright. Seldom, killing someone is an option. Usually the consequences are enormous."
He could have told Firo about how it was necessary during a battle to kill your enemies in order to stay alive, that sometimes to kill someone was a prime example and a warning.

But killing was a topic that was definitely not a suitable for the streets. For a split second he eyes down at his hands, before he slightly shook his head to get rid of some thoughts that were about to crawl back into his consciousness.

"I assume you have never done that am I right?" he had avoided to use the k-word and went with a neutral word. "If you, you can congratulate yourself."

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