Walking in a Winter Wonderland…

[initiates]

As some may have seen, the AI has announced a sudden sharp drop in radiation levels on the island of Exsilium. We're talking back to modern day levels of radiation, so well in the normal, nice, kind range that doesn't cause spontaneous mutation.

The question, of course, is how, and if this is the ticket down! The short answers are... too many ripples in the timestream lead things astray, and yes, now is time to start the reclamation process.

With sign-ups starting today and lasting through to Sunday, a group of Transports will be sent down to examine the state of Exsilium, two months after leaving. What they'll find will go something like the following... and boy, is it a doozy!

Note: The vote on how to solve the puzzle of Exsilium’s problem will be going up tomorrow. Voting has now been closed! This plot is a stop-gap to allow Transports back down on Earth in an uncomfortable situation, placing ongoing pressure on them to find an answer to the riddle of the United Earth (should they choose). This is not the fix for the United Earth problem!

Also, a move of everyone down to Earth again won't be in full swing until after December 1st. Until a location Earth-side that can support the Transport Pad and Aristeas Technology's energy demands can be found, a complete shift would be unfeasible. The official move down to Earth began on December 5th. Please refer here for more information!

Exsilium is buried under snow up to twenty feet deep across the countryside. The ruins of a city, one that may or may not have been London at one point in history, can be seen poking through in some places.

Exiles are in existence, and the (New) Initiative is an organization that stays very, very quiet and close to the ground. Countless smaller villages lay across the countryside, with a major city-state called Exsilium (funny, that) being the central region. "City-state" is used in the loosest sense -- the actual city part is some portion stone housing, some portion subterranean building, and a largest portion of wood housing. (But never fear. The Initiative is still here, and has since been contacted by the Transport Scouting Group on behalf of the Transports as a whole!)

Most the current population lives close to major sources of water, including the river formerly known as the Thames. In fact, the Thames has completely frozen over, and is used as a speedway for transport and traffic toward the ocean and further inland. Ice-skating and sledding are major means of travel!

Talking about the Initiative among the native Exiles will get you ostracized, into fights, and otherwise regarded as disreputable. That's right, folks -- the Initiative exists, in a vastly different, and vastly more underground movement. They don't have financial sway, or even semi-public support in the Exsilium the Transports will find.

The question of how this came to be will doubtlessly be big on everyone's minds. From what the AI will suggest, it's the cumulative effect of the countless small missions they've been running, particularly any mission that included earning, stealing, spending, or laundering large amounts of cash, or interfered with corporate legacies. Why corporate legacies?

As talking to the native Exiles will inform Transports, this whole world went to the freeze midway through the 3100's. Corporations had more power and sway than governments, and they decided to address an ongoing problem with regards to Global Warming. That solution worked... too well. Earth was triggered to start the shift into a massive ice-age, and humanity wasn't entirely prepared. The humanity caused natural disaster provoked the corporations worldwide into action, developing all sorts of safeguards and trying just about everything in the book and outside of the box to solve their problem.

Thus was the early United Earth born, a joining of Government and Corporate goals to address an ongoing problem. Any sudden shifts in temperature the other direction could prove as disastrous, and so efforts on adaptation became the most important in everyone's minds.

Which went to smithereens in the Catastrophic War, wiping out 78% of the world economy and forcing aid efforts to end with an abruptness that caused civil uprisings, rebellions, and civil war in the majority of the habitable world.

Now, in 3313, the major collective power that arose from the tangled skeins of history, known as the United Earth, has created its icy utopian society. Exsilium has been the dropping point for malcontents, close enough to be monitored, far enough away from the heart of the United Earth to be considered an amusement, not a threat.

And all the Exiles hope this is how the status quo stays -- for now, for the next decade, for as long as they're alive. The Initiative is an underground movement that has to stay underground to survive, and you, the Transports, are going to be their ticket to undermining the authority of the United Earth!

If you so choose.

The short list of changes:

- Exsilium is now literally a Winter Wonderland
- There is no Nuclear Winter
- The Initiative is a deep underground rebellion force
- The Initiative must be sought out through indirect channels
- There are Yetis roaming the island
- Yeah, seriously, Yetis (Which may or may not look like this!)
- Major means of movement are by sled, sleigh, and on ice skates using the river Thames
- 5% of the recognizable faces from Exsilium before are around anymore

Now for some more Environment and Setting Details…

At first glance, this looks less like a winter wonderland and more like a winter wasteland. But don’t let first impressions ruin the fun: There’s a lot going on in this environment.

Said environment is almost constantly in some state of flux; Exsilium’s still got enough sun to keep ice from packing too permanently, so snow levels can rise and fall to some degree. Of course, this place was famous for its drizzling, and so instead of lots of rain, there is lots of snow to replenish the landscape.

While this place is estranged from the highest quality of winter living, you’ll find the technology is well suited for the times. Solar panels peek through snow drifts to help power the burrowed living and working spaces hidden below. Food is grown and stored in domed-off locations, benefiting from their snowy blankets for the extra insulation it provides from the elements up top. And there are connecting pathways, not unlike subway tunnels, from workplaces closely built together. Saves you the ski trip.

Not that skiing isn’t awesome, or anything. Or even sledding! Fluffy sled dogs can help you out. As for the other local fauna, you’ll find some almost-but-not-quite domesticated cats guarding the granaries from rats and other pests. There are caribou for heavier work, and even a yak or three in places.

Please be advised that the penguins (yes) are ill-tempered and not a fan of locals and strangers alike. Same can be said of the walruses, whose destructive powers as giant blobs of blubber should be enough to warn you away from cheesing them off. They stay by the ice, though, so if you’re away from the shore, you’ll be alright.

Speaking of the water, you can find some (questionably) brave science-folks living under the ice in the Thames. There is something called an “ice box” – a living quarters that fits up to five uncomfortably, reasonably warm (but not quite) and dipped right into the water. These people check water quality and the flow/population of the fish and sharks and crabs and other water-things. It’s an important job, yanno. Yes, there are sharks in the Thames. Why wouldn’t there be?

Up top, there are a small smattering of arctic sea birds, polar bears, and mammoths. Why wouldn’t there be mammoths.

Oh, yes. And, because it’s terribly important to keep warm, there are manmade hot springs connected to the more affluent living areas. You won’t find much of any in the smaller communities. Still. Hot springs.

Please direct all questions to the thread marked "Questions" below!

To sign up to volunteer to go down to Exsilium on the first scouting group, which can take up to 25 characters, please sign up in the "Scouting Mission" thread below!

The scouting group will be looking around for the first week and tasked with finding someplace that can support the Transport Pad's energy needs before bringing down those wishing to leave the Moon Base in early December.

Comments

[gunwings]

RODIMUS WHY ARE YOU MINGLING WITH THE ORGANICS ಠ_ಠ

(PS Rodimus' evil grandpa can be roped into this if you guys want. He'll be seeking Cybertronian company after the incredibly rude welcome from the locals. Nova can zap shit with lightning if they need to power anything, but he's a bit of an asshole.)

[controlledvariable]

I saw this briefly mentioned but I guess I wanna get a little more specific so:

What's the job situation like in Exsilium? Is it hard to find employment, especially for people that just turned up? What sorta things are available? I was thinking something medical related for Steph - ie is there a hospital/clinics in Exsilium that she could work for? Annnnd for Max, what's the sex work situation like?

[strategic_guile]

Of course 8D He'll probably live part time between Johnny's place and the one he's going to make for himself. /nods

It would be weird for him not to have Gordon around, too.

[revolutionized]

that works just fine for me! Utena will be sixteen by the end of this month also so it's a nice fit c:

[quackery]

wrong account but yessss i would like this! while they were on the moon she practiced a lot in the vr room, we could handwave something having gone on with that if you like?

[crocodilesmiles]

1.) Depending on what kind of skill levels a character has for anything that would seem applicable to the current situation, it may be difficult, but basic manual labor is always something people will hire for (cleaning, cooking, carting wood, working the ice to keep it smooth, shoveling duty) and can earn lodgings on top of food and/or something like financial security.

Specialized skills can be salable all on their own, so with some thinking about what a character can do and offer to others, there will likely always be some sort of market for it.

2.) Sex work has it's own support network for people working within any establishment, and it's a generally positive part of society in those establishments -- it's side-eyed more on the independent side due to the sharp increase in venereal disease and theft/muggings/etc. Not that this stops people, but someone looking to work inside has the benefit of free health care relating to sexual health, and screenings on anyone using their services. It's kind of a vettin' program too, in the sense that shady characters don't often slip through to do anything untoward with the ladies and gentlemen of the night, and getting blacklisted from one establishment can get someone blacklisted from all the reputable and semi-reputable ones in town.

There are stricter ideas on age, but it comes down to an aversion and common law butt-kicking of prepubescent children being involved as Significantly Not Okay, leading back to the idea that kids are something necessary for protecting for the future. However, around puberty, it's less of a worry, in the sense that it's not outright looked down on in society.

Accidental conceptions where the children are kept instead of aborted aren't all that uncommon, and should the mother not have the ability or desire to raise her child (or his child, in the case of men working the pleasure houses who end up having gotten a woman pregnant who has surrendered the child to their care), the kids are redistributed out into the community, or the house itself. (If that makes sense!)

It's not seriously hard to get in with one of the establishments; they mostly ask for a portion of earnings and for initial VD screenings and then semi-regular ones over the course of the years.

The overall sex environment is pretty healthy and enjoys bodies and lots of creative sexual exploits in safe environments, and someone probably knows someone else who has at least a handful of dumb sex in the snow sort of stories -- such is life! (Hotsprings and fresh powder snow and unfortunate incidents all aside...)

[controlledvariable]

whoa this is great, thank you! max will be v pleased to learn all this c:

now in the right thread!!

[5055034455]

How much of a headache is Saul in for with re-establishing the Department under the New Initiative? :'D

Also, re: getting around. If there are structures available to be lived in outside the city (abandoned buildings/houses, etc.), are there also like... snowmobiles and things that can be used to get from place to place, or is it all transportation on foot?

[dayplanners]

Hahaha, EXCELLENT! Even better then!

Theeeen they can probably end up working together in the log or something?

[ensorceler]

I saw it mentioned that new Exsilium is in Kent, which is where Anne is from. Though I doubt it I figure it wouldn't hurt to ask if there's anything that was preserved or survived at all that might be recognizable?

[hellosailor]

Hey, I've got a few questions about the new setting!

It's stated that 5% of old Exiles are still around, does this mean that there is only that 5% of the previous population, or does it mean that there are new faces mixed in with the old ones? If the latter is true then what is the population of New Exsilium?

What is the societal makeup of this place- are the majority of citizens poor or middle class? What sort of work do the majority of citizens do (I'm assuming there is no major manufacturing occurring due to the lack of natural resources and the unfriendly relationship with the UE)? It is said that the affluent sections have access to hot springs, what makes these people affluent? Do they own businesses or are they old money?

Is this society well organized? Do they have a police force, schools, or civic organizations?

Are there many luxury goods, if so, where do they get them? Is there illegal trading between the UE and the Exiles? How are people dressed- in mainly natural materials such as cotton and leather, or do they have synthetic materials?

Are the farms publicly or privately owned? Does most of the meat for the population come from ranching or hunting? Is the hunting organized?

I think that's it for now haha

[crocodilesmiles]

Not too big a one, but he would need to get the New Initiative believing he can act as a mediator between the two groups, and have good standing on both sides. Which! Is not at all impossible, that's just the battle he'll be facing! New Initiative wants proof that he'll do as he says; the Transports are as they've always been.

No snowmobiles! Sleighs, both reindeer drawn and dog drawn, and things of that nature, but there are no motorized vehicles widely used in Winter Wonderland Exsilium.

[crocodilesmiles]

Possibly there is! Under the snow, some of those landscapes and landmarks will look more or less like things that once existed, but this is over a thousand years into the future, so without upkeep and protection against the elements, it's more a sense of familiarity than anything concrete!

[ensorceler]

I figured it might be something like that. Thanks!

[crocodilesmiles]

1) Familiar faces! Mixed in with the old. The estimated population of current Exsilium is between 80,000 and 100,000 people. It's hard to get an accurate census when not everyone has a reason to centralize, and there's major issue with considering the Yeti population as sentient or not (they aren't largely considered as anything but sub-human).

2) The majority are working class. By and large people make a community effort to keep others off the streets, but there are always those who slip between the cracks. Most work is in different sorts of labor, from craftsmanship to maintenance to working in the domes that grow the food. Art is a luxury; people have to be well supported in order to be able to afford that kind of luxury, one way or another!

Scientific industry also has a decent workforce, and garbage/street and ice cleaning, and the rest are all needing people, just like working to maintain the hot springs, food growing domes, buildings, power lines (all underground lines) and sewage are full time and fully hiring positions. They get less specialized and more jack of all trades in the smaller villages, with less infrastructure for the way heat and energy and waste is handled, more independently minded than in the biggest city-state like development (Exsilium).

3) They have a law keeping force, within the main city-state, with a jail system and not much of a prison system. I'm not going to spend a lot of time outlining this system, as it's only going to function this way during this plot arc, but you can think of it as being very unforgiving of what is termed capital crimes in places such as the United States. Thus they are met with capital punishment.

4) Not many that can't be manufactured in Exsilium. There are groups of smugglers who bring things through from the United Earth, but it can never be all that technologically advanced in ways the UE finds dangerous, so anything potentially used for spying, espionage, or long-ranged weaponization. There is a blind eye turned toward luxury goods otherwise, and they get exorbitant demands on the black market. There is a mix of synthetic and natural materials, with natural materials being more common among those with less to their name -- think furs and the like. Synthetics are produced; they simply cost more. Cotton is not common. They do not grow cotton in Exsilium, they can only import it. Hemp and linen are more common; canvas is thus made out of either hemp or linen more commonly than cotton.

5) Most are publicly owned. Most meat or small villages comes from hunting. For the big city-state, it's ranching, from smaller villages who earn a living by providing meat to the city-state of Exsilium.

Again, all details are up to change as Winter Wonderland ends and changes the landscape of Exsilium again!

[hellosailor]

Perfect, thank you! I'd made some assumptions about the living conditions but I was afraid they weren't right (and they weren't haha I'm glad I asked).

Oh one other thing, so there are many outlying settlements, about what portion of the population resides in the major city compared to the outskirt towns?

[crocodilesmiles]

Let's go for about 40% of the population is fulltime in the city-state, that can flex up to 50%+ at various times during the year!

[hellosailor]

Swell! Sorry for the laundry list!

[revolutionized]

Sounds good to me! If you post a top-level, lemme know! or i'll let you know if i do one, either way.

[alightlost]

I don't want to hand wave tooooo much CR, but maybe they saw each other enough to swap names? :)

[dayplanners]

Sure thing! I should be able to put one up between today and tonight, so I'll definitely let you know!

ALL RIGHT, I put this up, but if you'd prefer something different, I can totally change it up.

Re: QUESTIONS

[transgressed]

Sorry if this is redudant! I've seen some questions about currency but I didn't see this specific one so I figured I'd ask just in case.

In regards to funds, etc. Is trading/bartering an acceptable form of currency in this new Exsilium? Are marques still available? Do characters still get their allowance or are they kind of on their own?

If trading is an option, if a character were to trade something unique from their world (I'm specifically thinking healing, consumable items like Final Fantasy potions, Tales of gels, etc.) in exchange for something like blankets or clothing or wood for building, would that item freak people out?

I ask because I know non-humans and all the others have been asked to keep a low profile, so I wanna know if trading a thing that can instantly close minor to serious wounds would tip someone off and create problems, or if it's worth anything at all.

EDIT: Also, one more question. Besides the penguins and sea birds, are there any other small game animals? Like rabbits, for example.

[initiates]

1.) Trading and bartering is fine. The marque no longer exists. There is no allowance in the present time. Funds may be procured through shenanigans during the past; ask the AI for assistance in this quarter! (Handwaving is fine, it's more for a mission bonus idea.) All characters are on their own for finances.

2.) Yes, those items would freak people out if not disguised as a new, rare, or imported form of scientifically generated and/or created material and/or medication from the UE itself. That will earn looks, but not questions enough to prevent people from buying if the supply looks properly limited. Healing items will be close to what is currently possible in the medical field -- the only place next to heating and watering systems where significant advanced technology can be located. It will most likely be considered an exploratory or knock-off (but effective) variety of assumed to exist or currently existing technology.

3.) Rabbits maybe, rats for sure, lemming-like creatures, larger members of the rodent family -- you can find any and all of these sorts. Weasels too!

[5055034455]

OKAY SO. Saul went down to earth on the 8th. I'm pretty sure that by now, he's approached the New Initiative with this. :|a Same sort of premise as last time, with the "help us to help you" thing, but — since it seems like the Transports are a bit on their own, will this even be something he should be worrying about? I mean, will the New Initiative even be trying to set up missions or trying to exercise any kind of control over the Transports?

Because I think he might try to take the Department in a slightly different direction if he gets the feeling there's no need for what it was originally created... for...

if that makes sense

[initiates]

As stated in the post above, and in the post announcing the winner for the game-wide vote on the next plot arc to be completed first, the Transports are in control o the time traveling technology by having the Transport Pad in their hands and control. The Transports would need to decide (by majority or by those with enough power or great amounts of sneakiness) to hand over control to the New Initiative, since the framework of that relationship right now isn't controlling/dictating. The New Initiative has no past research team, they haven't seen this tech, they're unaware if the United Earth has anything like it, and their only control toward the Transports is their connection to the adequate power source.

It's not in their interest to be dictating events when it's still possible, as far as they know, for the Transports to be a group sent in by the United Earth to expose them and quietly eradicate their group for the greater good.

Having a group that mediates between the two is still useful, but Saul is free to ICly choose to have the Department change aim or presentation as best makes sense to him. What that accomplishes in game will be up to what he does, how fellow PCs act, and what reactions the New Initiative will have depending on the course of events.

Note again that with each Plot Arc completion, we're looking at a shift in landscape, and a shift in New Initiative mentality. They don't know this for sure ICly, but it's good to keep in mind OOCly that we're in an unstable time-frame, due to the fact that this presentation of Winter Wonderland is meant to change as soon as the Cloning/Genetics Arc is completed by PCs! More information on what that'll include coming up (in the next few days). Those missions themselves will partly be suggestions from the AI based on what questions have been posed on network, just like all three arcs that had been put to vote were player submissions and seen discussed at various lengths ICly on network and throughout different areas of the game.