The Independent Order
Roleplay => Diplomacy and Events => Topic started by: Gadshack on September 09, 2017, 01:30:23 AM
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Dear Student,
It is our honor to confirm that you have been accepted to Chanal University under our international student exchange program. You will be flown to the capital of Ahkabnil, Chanal, and have room, public transportation and free language courses provided to you for practice. Student interpreters will accompany you on campus.
Note:- Students who have been accepted have shown average conversational proficiency in the Ahlabnilian language. If students applied for this program a year ago, they should have received lessons cooperated between their home university and Chanal. If some are not proficient, they require full lessons as an additional course.
College level education in Ahkabnil is free, provided citizens complete one universal year of public service, this does not apply to students in a foreign exchange program, cost depends on the side of the foreign program. Optional civic service is available however for extra credit and depending on your major, civic service may come in the form of field or intern work. This service provides a variety of opportunities, and will earn a foreign student free tuition and no fees in Ahkabnil, as well as a monthly stipend. This service is ongoing alongside your classes.
By entering this program you have agreed to the terms of the Ahkabnilian education system for one world calendar year.
We look forward to your participation in the coming year.
Director of the Chanal Student Exchange Program,
Tinhe Ahwakon
Capital Airport was rather sleepy, as usual; Ahkabnil never really experienced profound tourism or international traffic outside of business due to its visitation fees, under the guise of maintaining cultural unification and infrastructural aesthetics. Still, the airport has quite nice with an appropriate and committed staff, and attentive ground crews. The foreign students would be flown in this way, perhaps on different flights, and would wait in the lobby until their escort arrived.
The Capital Airport would perhaps be the only international seeming thing the students would ever see for the rest of the year, as Ahkabnil was about to come into full view…
(just intro your characters and mingle in the main airport lobby, dont have keyboard atm so sorry for short post)
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It was so great to get out of the plane. For exchange student Risirishasha or Risiri or Shasha as she was nicknamed twice by her parents, she was so happy that she almost forgot her second travel bag. She brought everything she needed from her skirts and shirts up to her extra chargers and rechargeable batteries for her camera and her Dell XPS 13 laptop.
She was an energetic, tall and blue-eyed 20 year old girl from Asteion. And she was here because of the invitation she received and because of her exemplary academic record.
(sorry short post but in a hurry because i'm damned tired)
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Alice Walby (https://independentorder.net/index.php?topic=49.msg991#msg991) wasn't best pleased, she'd been looking forward to her university days, she'd been looking forward to studying at Chanal,, looking forward to getting away from all the new pressures back home and then the airline had gone and lost one of her bags, fortunately not her clothes, fortunately not her books and stuff and even more fortunately not her tennis bag which had her rackets in it, no they'd lost her medical bag which was to say she had a medical condition - Hypoglycemia by hormone deficiency, the bag contained her long term supply of medication and the like, coupled with dietary problems this had always felt like she had no luck. There were however three bits of good news, one she still had her short term supply of medication, two the airline had assured her it would be on the next flight to Ahkabnil and third she wasn't alone.
This was because her hitting partner and close friend Katy Walker (https://independentorder.net/index.php?topic=49.msg992#msg992) had come with her though she wasn't a youngster like Alice no Katy was a mature student, while Alice would be studying medicine Katy would be studying sports science, the two of them looked around the airport taking it in.
"It's different." Alice said
"Of course it's different." Katy said, she was the more traveled of the two "It was always going to be different."
"I know there's places you'd rather be." Alice said
"No there isn't." Katy said
"Yeah right not even with Mark Nikaido?" Alice asked, Mark was Katy's mixed doubles partner and according to rumor boyfriend.
"No comment." Katy said "Come on let's see if there's somewhere we're supposed to wait."
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Micha, after a very long trip from her home nation, had arrived into the university on the other side of the world. Although, there was a slight feeling in Micha's gut that said they might be affected due to their appearance. My parents were cruel when they gave me my name thought Micha, And the Gods more so when they gave me my body. It just so happened that while Micah had been a guy who just so happened to look extremely feminine, at least facially, vocally, and a little body wise. In Foxtrove at the very least, this had not been much of a problem, but here, it might be one. "Well, time to see how the locals treat the students here.", Micah muttered to himself whilst walking in the airport.
Micah turned to face out a window and saw a massive city that seemingly went on forever. Woah, there must be more people here than all of Foxtrove., as he wondered this, he felt a familiar hand grasp at his shoulder, and when he turned to face this person a familiar face showed up. "Found you finally,", a man had said. This man also happened to be Micha's brother, who the Gods graced enough to be masculine unlike his older brother. "Ah, Otto, how are you?", Micha asked while handing his luggage to him. "Nothing much, just been exploring as soon as we landed." Otto turned to face out the window, "Nothing like this back home, huh?" "No", Micha responded quickly. "Well, hopefully the locals are as nice as their cities are large.", Otto said with a hint of wonder in his voice. "Hopefully."
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"Finally, my life long dream. I can finally escape my abusive parents." Karlos Adrian Ricafort said to himself. He, along with 3 of his friends, are part of a student exchange program. They were fresh high school graduates, coming from one single school: the Lungsod City Science High School. Karlos' three friends were motivated to join for the money. Karlos, on the other hand, wanted to escape his abusive parents. He came from a big but poor family in the state of Bulacan. He has 7 siblings, most of which never finished elementary. He was lucky enough to pass the entrance exam offered by his school. His parents were not fond of this, but when they learned of Karlos receiving stipend, they finally allowed him. His family was spending his money on gambling, alcohol, and drugs. His father and 2 older brothers were later arrested for theft and robbery. Even with this condition, Karlos seemingly survived his brutal life; he had high grades, decent social life. Now, he and his friends are offered to study in Ahkbanil. Karlos accepted and under the protection of EO #9: The Youth Act, parents cannot restrict the choices of their children aged 16-18 unless it was unconstitutional.
At the airport, they sat in a fast-food restaurant in the terminal to eat and let time pass. Karlos is on his phone, continuously thanking everyone who helped him continue to achieve his dream: to study in the Chanal University.
"Oh, my, God. I can't actually believe we're here. Let's take a picture here." An energetic Andrea Julie Milan squealed with excitement. She is a tall, young, beautiful woman; the only one of the 4. She is also the girlfriend of Karlos for 2 years. She has 2 siblings, both of them younger than her. She was really interested in science, medicine to be exact. Although she entered a science school, Andrea wouldn't be described as a geek.
Inside the fast-food restaurant, she is beside her love, leaning on him while listening to the advices of Nathaniel Cesa.
"I mean, this will be harder than our stressful past." Nathaniel Cesa jokes. He is a big, dark man, usually associated with sports in the school. He also has the highest grades of them all. He has another sibling who is now one of the best engineer of the nation. With a supportive family, he excelled in school and was sent to different nations for competition.
At the fast-food restaurant, he advices the group on the importance of fellowship and each other
"Fuck, I don't have my mobile data." John Joseph Fainza realized while walking. He is the introvert of the group, even though he is close with most of them. In his freshman years in high school, he gained failing grades due to his lack of motivation. He never had any inspiration to do anything. He almost got kicked out due to low grades and a fight. He rebound after it and became one of the top of the batch.
He is also on his cellphone, playing the game he had been playing for the past 5 years.
After having a half-decent meal, the group approached a pair of Achkaerinese students
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The silver sedan had sped away after a brief stop at the toll booth. Inside, a pair of young women sat, ready to turn Chanal on its head, if it weren't for the fact that one of them was sleeping, just having finished their turn at the wheel. Syura took one hand off the wheel to rub her eyes a bit before reaching for the radio controls; immediately recognising a song while she adjusted the knob, she looked to her friend, Yui who was now fast asleep. It took a few days, but they had finally reached Ahkabnil. By now it was late at night, thankfully traffic was light, but she prayed that there would be some 24 hour fast food place nearby, her stomach was just about ready to lunge out and bite her face.
"Savage Garden? Nice." she thought to herself, cautiously turning the volume up. Syura let herself get lost in thought while the bass of the car pulsed, it was no surprise that Yui managed to get an invitation to Chanal; herself on the other hand, well-known for truancy and bad grades until her final year, that was a mystery yet to be solved. Soon enough, a cluster of coloured lights came into view ahead, she nudged Yui awake. "We kinda skipped dinner, we'll stop and eat here."
Next morning Yui was in the driver's seat as they neared the international airport inside Chanal. She had a napkin tucked into her collar while she hastily downed a shrimp taco that Syura had bought last night. It wasn't like she was wearing her nice clothes for the road trip, but those hot sauce stains were hell to get out. Yui flicked Syura's face to wake her after stuffing the paper fast food bag into the glovebox. "Dick..." Syura sleepily muttered.
"We're inside the parking lot already, get changed once we find a spot." Yui said, steering the car in every which direction.
The two Himeyans quickly made their way to the airport lobby, taking note of the different nationalities standing out against the somewhat familiar Ahkabnilians, finding a place to sit near a young man and "woman".
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Blair (https://independentorder.net/index.php?topic=66.msg413#msg413) would have prefered to have been with her Bene Gesserit sisters in Seitch but Mother Hannah McKay had ordered her out just before the seige of the Holy City began. She had protested heavily even when she had returned to Ui Cenneslaig but once McKay set her mind to something it wasn't going to change, and now she found herself here in Chanal. She'd travelled a lot in her life, mainly looking for books and arteafacts for her Missionara Protectiva, but this time she was here to study History and do a little exploring in the local historical artefacts market, you never knew when something of interest to the Sisterhood would come up. She waited by the baggage carousel rocking backwards and forwards on her heels patiently waiting for her two rucksacks to turn up. She spotted the first and swung it off with ease slipping it onto her back almost in one fluid motion. She waited for the next and scooped this one up, it was smaller and multi-coloured covered in various patches from her travels, Northfort, Claith, Heyra, Vaguzia, even one bearing a regimental badge of a Kiataine Army unit, the prescence of that one a conveinecnce if she ever had to wander around Kaitaine. Her belongings gathered she headed through immigration using her Cenneg documents and then out into the foyar. She found somewhere to get a coffee, and then sat people watching for a bit with a newspaper.
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"And you're on your way now?" the voice down the cellphone echoed. "Uh-huh." she quipped, staring down the narrow ramp from her jet to the main terminal. She was Evelyn Jensen, daughter to the newly elevated Grand Duke of Jylmark, Johannes Jensen fan Hailien. "Going into the main terminal now, yeah? Hear from you in a bit." she hung up, cutting off her father's obligatory "I love you, sweetie," or something along those lines. Tufts of light brown hair began to fall into her face as she bobbed up and down trying to get her bearings and read the signs - she'd learned Ahlabnilian two years prior for entirely different reasons. It felt refreshing for it to actually be useful for once; everything in Weremark was in Werman, and everything elsewhere was typically English. Still, she imagined she'd have to use both of those more often than she thought, even here.
Seeing what appeared to be a gathering of other young people, she drifted casually towards them, finding a spot and sitting down between two groups. Looking a touch older than her actual twenty suggested, she was pale, though not particularly so for a Werman. Her face was dotted with specks of light brown barely noticeable as freckles; on her left cheek was imprinted a rather large straight scar, and as a result, she'd piled on tonnes of dark eye shadow to draw some of the attention away from it. Her eyes, though now invisible due to her Wayfarers, were a deep green reminiscent of her father's, but her features weren't wholly his, having some clear influence from her mother, the woman notably absent from any internet search on Evelyn (or Johannes, for that matter). She wore a jean jacket and leggings, and stood at a slightly above-average height for non-Werman women. If caught at a bad time, she almost appeared to limp slightly favouring her left side, but perhaps it wasn't a limp more than it was a gait.
She'd only brought one bag - her clothes shopping would be done here, for the most part. She made no outstanding effort to attract conversation, but had fully prepared for it to happen to her anyway.
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After lounging around a bit on her phone, Syura sat up, pushing the brim of her baseball hat off her face. "Hey Yui, I'm gonna go make some friends." the pair of them scanned around the lobby. "These are the people we'll be seeing for another year at the very least, might as well get to know them." Yui replied only with an affirmative grunt while typing away on her phone. "If only you were always this quiet." Syura muttered. "What was that!?"
Syura had been wearing a bunch of athletic wear she was given in high school, mixed with her own unusual style. A pale red Shinju-Fuuka Boxing Club track jacket worn over a skintight black shirt did much to show off her toned physique, something she was quite proud of. While Shinju-Fuuka Academy's boxing club was quite famous in Himeyama, it would hardly matter to most folks here, still it was something that Syura wore with pride, perhaps hoping someone would notice it. If not, people would at least notice her, standing at a slightly above average height-- seemingly like a lot of the foreign students here.
Syura had spotted a lone traveller close to the other side of the lobby, and quickly strode over to introduce herself. "Syura Yokoshima, from Himeyama. You?" she stated, getting the young woman's attention; before realizing that the typical blunt Himeyan introduction might not be the norm from wherever she was from.
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After lounging around a bit on her phone, Syura sat up, pushing the brim of her baseball hat off her face. "Hey Yui, I'm gonna go make some friends." the pair of them scanned around the lobby. "These are the people we'll be seeing for another year at the very least, might as well get to know them." Yui replied only with an affirmative grunt while typing away on her phone. "If only you were always this quiet." Syura muttered. "What was that!?"
Syura had been wearing a bunch of athletic wear she was given in high school, mixed with her own unusual style. A pale red Shinju-Fuuka Boxing Club track jacket worn over a skintight black shirt did much to show off her toned physique, something she was quite proud of. While Shinju-Fuuka Academy's boxing club was quite famous in Himeyama, it would hardly matter to most folks here, still it was something that Syura wore with pride, perhaps hoping someone would notice it. If not, people would at least notice her, standing at a slightly above average height-- seemingly like a lot of the foreign students here.
Syura had spotted a lone traveller close to the other side of the lobby, and quickly strode over to introduce herself. "Syura Yokoshima, from Himeyama. You?" she stated, getting the young woman's attention; before realizing that the typical blunt Himeyan introduction might not be the norm from wherever she was from.
The lone traveller noticed the young woman. With a toned body and a track jacket over her black shirt, she thought this one looked like one of those people from her country. She forgot what they were called but she nodded to that one who greeted her and said "I am Risirishasha or Risiri or Shasha. Just call me by any of those names. I'm from Sirinisi. Nice to meet you Syura. You are a bit...." She looked her up and down and up and then she focused on her eyes "Blunt?"
She then giggled and said, facing her and dropping everything gently. She offered a hand and said "Very pleased to meet you. Would you like to shake hands?"
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"Wait, I'm going to talk to those girls. I think their Achkaerinese. I know they're the kindest people." Andrea said to her boyfriend. Karlos made a subtle hand gesture and she went off. "Hi there. I'm Andrea and I'm from Quintelia. I'm taking a medicine course, what about you?" She asks while holding her hand out.
"You see those two over there?" Nathaniel asks John and Karlos while pointing to a Himeyaman and Sirinisian.
"Gago,[1] and how long will it last?" Karlos replies.
"Fuck it, I'll flirt. Wish me luck." Nathaniel confidently said before approaching the pair. "Hi, are you also going to the Chanal University. I'm Nathaniel by the way from Quintelia. I'll be taking engineering."
"So, when will you have a love life?" Karlos teased John.
"When will you two break-up? Just kidding. I mean, I know she's happy with you. I also don't think I have a chance to find someone for me." John answers.
"Eh, at least we'll take the same course, except for Nathaniel, of course. He hates biology." Karlos continued. By now, the meeting point is getting fuller by the minute. Karlos and John sat down by the corner, opened their laptops, and started playing a round or two of CS:GO. The other two are still chatting with their new friends.
[1]Gago- Vulgar Filipino word. Direct translation: Bastard
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The Sirinisian was surprised to see more people approach. When they were done talking, she shrugged, giggled again and said "I'm Roshasha. Just call me Shasha for now. I'm happy to see you two."
She then repeated "Nathaniel....hehe, that is a nice name." She then approached him and said "Thanks for being friendly. I didn't expect this place to be so...." She shook her head and just smiled. "Thanks again." She turned to the Himeyaman and said "You too. Thank you."
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Micha looked around at the people talking to one another while opening a bag of chips. He put the bag of chips between him and his brother, who was playing a game on his phone. Micha placed the bag on his laps and unraveled his hair that was in a bun, and when it feel to his shoulders, it made him appear more feminine. That made him feel embarrassed. "Otto" he said suddenly, "What courses are you taking again?" This conversation might stand out, as it was in their native tongue. "I'm trying to become a nuclear physicist, why do you ask?", he said no moving his eyes from his phone."Now I feel like I'm doing nothing here." Otto turned and faced him, "What are you taking?" Micha placed his face down in his bag "I-I don't wanna say." Otto gave a grunt and went back to playing his game.
Micha turned and faced the person sitting near them and tried to his very best at started a conversation,"W-What course are you taking if you don't mind me asking?" Otto gave a stern look at his brother.
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"You can call me Nathan." Nathaniel continues. "What course are you taking? What country are from?" He nervously and awkwardly asked. His friends were secretly laughing at him before another student tapped Karlos.
"W-What course are you taking if you don't mind me asking?" The man, or woman, asked.
"Medicine, along with my friend here." Karlos replies whole his screen flashed an ominous "YOU DIED" message as John took the opportunity to kill his character.
"I'll tell your girlfriend that you have a new one." John whispered while giving his friend a sharp, knowing, look.
"I know my limits on the number of people I'll wholeheartedly love, and that's one. I know how many have loved you back, and that's zero." Karlos replies
"I know how many family members loved you, and that number is zero" John immediately says before silence between them followed. They then continued playing another game.
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Shasha beamed and said "Oh! I am taking Urban Planning!" She then paused to think about what to say and said "And I am from Sirinisi. My people are the Asteionians."
The Asteionian girl then looked around, seeing so many other students. She observed the boy that looked like a girl, the gamers, the other girls and so many others. Oh my She thought We're actually coming around here. A crowd!
Shasha then sighed at that and waited for Nathaniel to reply, eagerly looking at him.
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"Huh, is that the isolationist nation? Nevermind that, we will be in touch. Here's my Facebook and Twitter account." Nathaniel concluded his first conversation. He went back to his two friends.
"So, how was it?" John asked
"Eh, I just have more relationships made than you." Nathaniel burnt John. Karlos is already worried about Andrea and started typing on his phone.
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The twenty two year old departed the plane, wearing a flannel jacket, jeans, sneakers and a beanie. His flight had, of course, arrived late from Harbordale. Stupid late september snow delaying flight n'at. He had attended the prestigious Victoria State University for his pre-med emergency medicine degree, and when offered the chance to go abroad to study he took it; Cause, like, why not. He departed the terminal to find a bunch of over sore-thumbs in the crowd of native Chanalites; these were probably the people he was supposed to link up with.
He quickly moved over to them, finding a group of people in the middle of some kind of conversation. "It's like, hot, eh?"
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Over time more random students arrived, within an hour of flights consistently arriving there were over one-hundred students from a diverse cast of countries. Most were quiet, or shy, some hardly even knowing the local language or english.
Tinhe Ahwakon walked into the airport, with a long stride and clipboard in the hand. She was an overwhelmingly tall woman, a former Hipball player for Chanal University and currently the Director of the Foreign Exchange program. She was spry and hopped up on coffee, excited to greet the new arrivals. Mrs. Ahwakon was followed closely by several student body representatives, one of them was Akatl, a fit young yet tired looking man of average height with long silk black hair, pinned in a bun on the top of his head. Tinhe wore more formal attire for the occasion contrary to Akatl, who wore more foreign clothes like a plain t-shirt and shorts. She had more old-fashioned dress on, a flowing dress and robe, plain white with red and yellow trim.
The lobby where the foreign students has awaited was set up with a small stage, a microphone sat on a nearby table and tens of nameless Chanal University staff had arrived to direct or help the students with their luggage.
Tinhe and Akatl found their way to the lobby where the foreign students were directed to wait. Tinhe was pleased to see a few chatting among eachother, years before she had a group that didn’t get along right off the plane. As the students stopped from the middle of their chatting, and looked at Tinhe as she walked in, she introduced herself with a smile and slightly bow of the head. She grabbed the nearby microphone and stood on the stage in front of the large gathering bunch. “Good morning everyone.” she spoke in pristine english, perhaps from her years at Northfort. “I am Tinhe Ahwakon, Director of our lovely Student Exchange program, and i welcome everyone to Chanal.” she lifted up her clipboard for a quick roll call. “Just doing a roll call real quick to make sure everyone is here, forgive me if don't pronounce your name right.” she fumbled through the name call, despite her travel she could never land foreign names.
Akatl had remained to the side, somewhat disparaged that this boring task ended up being his mandatory civil duty, he had regretted not completing it in high school, I’m just tired, he thought to himself, trying to hide his yawn, though he couldn’t hide his red watery sleepy eyes. He briefly scanned the room, wondering where each person was from.
“Akatl” Tinhe said. He snapped up from his daze, he didn’t realize she had been talking this whole time, orienting the students briefly on Chanal and what they should expect, it seemed he lost time. Akatl sat up straight, trying to present himself as he was told to, “Yes?” he asked. He stood up as motioned by Tinhe.
“This here is Akatl.” Tinhe introduced, “He is studying mechanical engineering.” she then went down the line, introducing other student guides. “Everyone will be split up into groups per guide, when we get the campus you will introduced to a secondary guide, Akatl and the others are more like city guides.” So then Tinhe went through her list, it was perhaps everyone’s first taste of how tedious Ahkabnilians were with most things. Akatl got his very own list, and going down the line called out the names of students he was assigned to.
“Ririshasha, Alice, Katy, Micah, Karlos, Andrea, Nathaniel, John, Syura, Yui, Blair, Evelyn and umm… a Cascadian but there’s no name, just says ‘the only cascadian here’... so yeah.” Akatl called out each of their names one by one, queuing them up in a strict organized manner and leading them to the buses with all the other groups. The ride would be short, as the buses would simply ferry the students over the nearest canalway. Finally, a full picture of the city was coming into view as they left the more international feel of the airport.
The Canal was wide, with several small and large boats drifting by. Finally, a large double decker boat arrived, pulling up near the canal port where all the students were shuffled into. Ahkabnilians were seemingly obsessed with the queue, organizing each group to a particular sections of seats on the empty boat. It rocked steadily in the waters until it took off, with the steady and slow hum of its engines which paddled away in the canal waters, leaving a gentle wake in its path. As the Canal opened up so did the city in the full view and the traffic picked up.
Tinhe mentioned that transportation by water is one of the most used in Chanal over a loudspeaker as the boat bumbled along, she had reserved puke bags just in case. She was smart for doing so as a Tokulelese student nearly threw up all over the floor and a Toshikawan wanted to dip over a ledge to projectile, he appeared shamed after that ordeal.
The boat bus stopped a few more times along the way, near wide stone and metal staircases that touched the canal waters, where many Chanalites waited to be picked up. Many were dressed for work, most in formal attire, and quite a few highschoolers who took precedence at the top deck and quickly jumped off dangerously when the boat passed their school. Most people were polite however, a few asking questions, testing each student’s conversational ability in the local dialect.
The city so far was stunning, there weren’t many highrises which stained the sky and most buildings were venerable in their appearance, made mostly of stone, metal, concrete and other earth. The city mostly appeared old, containing many stories dating thousands of years, with modern accessories and amenities. Each building and structure, was chiseled with colorful sculptures and murals of religious nature, pronounced public artworks stood in many areas. Chanal was lined everywhere with flat and pagoda-like rooftops. At the center of a canal ‘roundabout’ the bus boat reached, was a statue of the ‘Great Sun’ which stood 30 feet tall, it depicted a man with an eagle headdress and steel armor over a skin-tight thylacine skin suit, with a sword at his side. The figure lifted his palm to the sky, where a real fire was fed to keep burning in his hand. Finally, the distant step-ziggurats known as Ahkabnilian pyramid temples, came into view. The iconic structures were the last few of their kind still maintained, a mecca for the followers of Ohkantuy.
The pyramids were the most pronounced and colorful thing about the city, beaming lights shot from their apex straight into the sky, slowly faded by the continuously rising sun. The central pyramid of the three, and the tallest, maintained a wide cauldron of fire at its top.
Cars bustled at the top level of the city, though it didn’t seem as busy as the canals. The city that was organized to be a perfect grid in its first settlement, was now a confusing bustle of roads, canals and streets. Most people biked along the canal as well.
The campus of Chanal University was nearing closer, in fact the Canal crossed into it without anyone really noticing it. The area around the university was the most extreme mix of old and new, the university was ancient yet the new, foreign-influenced styles and young culture has profoundly modified it. But what made it unbelievable was how large the campus was. Tinhe explained to the students that, “Buses or boat.” has to be taken around the campus, Chanal University was effectivity a city within a city, even more vibrant the rest.
As the the boat pulled up to the Canal steps leading to the central square of the university, Akatl attempted to gather his group, which may have been on other parts of boast sight seeing at this point. “Alright, we’re here, i’ll uh- just take you to the rooms.” he motioned for them to follow, taking them through the central and open square of the university, surrounded by several departement buildings. It was rather active, with students everywhere either conversing or rushing to class, some stared, observing the obviously foreign people who has stepped off the boat. Tinhe had run off to other duties, giving a few last words to the student guides as they continued on their way.
“So, welcome to the rooms.” Akatl said, as they finally reached the dorms after a long walk. “These are mostly reserved for us and all the foreign exchange people.” he informed, as he guided everyone inside. The building was large and surrounded a central garden plaza with pond. There were elevators and several floors, however Akatl and the group of students he led were only on the first floor, perhaps the best smelling as well. Each room was large and housed multiple students, they were rather open and clean, there was a central bathroom that Akatl referred to as the ‘station’ for all the students on the building. On each bed was a set of uniforms on for each student, which were light robes and cloaks, “You can wear the cloak, its required.” Akatl said, as he put his on. “The robes are more for formal academy occasions.”
“Breakfast is in a few in the main hall, pretty sure some of you are hungry…” Akatl wasn’t sure if any of them understood him, he hoped they knew the local tongue, as they should. “Anyway, get yourselves settled in. You guys can choose your roomies.” (4 to a room)
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OOC note:- the 'cloak' is essentially a cape fastened on one side like this http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/94916/1409015/M%20-%20Yucatan%20Postclassic%20Chunchuchu%20Cape.jpg
but with clothes underneath plz :P
another note: dorms aren't separate by gender, halls are co ed
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It had come as pleasant surprise that nobody had tried to talk to Evelyn directly; it wasn't that she dreaded these sort of interactions, as she didn't, as much as it was that they typically devolved into some sort of info dump. Even these days she cringed at remembering the "two truths and a lie" game she'd had to play as late as freshman year of college - and often smiled at the memory, too, as she'd exploited them to everyone's benefit. The tour, however, suggested that Ahkabnil was a wholly different beast. When the woman who went by Ahwakon began reading off names, her eyes immediately drifted to that of the nameless Cascadian. Too early to judge anyone, of course (she'd learned that bit only in her early adulthood), yet he came from the closest to home. Perhaps it would be wise to gravitate towards him. And then there were the Achkaerinese, the two familiar faces she couldn't quite pin down. Perhaps daughters of politicians, back from when she'd been a kid? Her childhood years were a mess memorially, and that was probably for the better.
An accosting Ahkabnilian indeed did test her conversational skills in the moments after - and she came out of the interaction wholeheartedly believing she'd done a decent job. The tour's conclusion at the dormitories prompted Evelyn to immediately drift away from the rest and gravitate towards the farthest dormitory that she could find, nay, the one with the most pleasing view. Speaking to the others, and for the first time in any loud-ish capacity, she announced her intentions clearly.
"Right. Well, I reckon I'll take this 'un, here. Great view."
She spoke like a commoner - her natural inflection since Uni.
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Alice (https://independentorder.net/index.php?topic=49.msg991#msg991) and Katy (https://independentorder.net/index.php?topic=49.msg992#msg992) took their chance to have a look around the rooms, eventually settling for one on the corner of the block, not that they had any idea who'd take the other two beds in their room, but in fairness that wasn't really on the two Achkaerinese students minds nor was the quite reasonable view the window afforded. Alice claimed her bed by tossing her shoulder bag onto it, Katy took the one closest to Alice's. There was a reason for this - Alice's medical condition, if that went bad then it was better for Katy to be close at hand because she knew what to do.
"When was the last time you took your treatment?" Katy asked as she put their suitcases next to their wardrobes
"Before we got on the plane." Alice said
"Which is about what? Sixteen hours ago?" Katy asked "Please don't tell me you thought travelling back in time by going west meant that we were going to spend less time in the air for some reason?"
"Course not." Alice said
"Well you've got to stop being reckless." Katy said "Lie down."
Alice normally would be a bit stubborn about this but the long flight had taken it out of her so for once she relented rather easily she lay down on the bed she'd claimed and looked up at the ceiling as Katy went to work, Alice carried an injector that kept her hormone levels up it was manageable but somewhat tedious, plus she needed the relaxation to get her energy level back up, Katy knew how to use it to administer an injection as an emergency measure just in case Alice ever got into any serious trouble, but this time Katy did it anyway.
"So you get some rest and I'll go grab breakfast." Katy said "Then we'll take a look at the campus map and see what might be a good route for a run and check out the university gym."
"Deal." Alice said
-
"Hey now, I kinda, like, have a name." The man sighed upon being identified as 'the Cascadian.' "Whatever." He scoffed to himself, off to a great start immediately he thought. He himself caught the eye of the Werman girl, the cultural gap between the two by far being the smallest. He finally caught up to her when they were looking for dorms. "Hey, uh-.. I'm Cliff, one of the medical students." He paused awkwardly as they both entered a dorm room with what was admittedly a nice view "I just noticed we seem to well, kinda be in the same boat."
-
A voice at the door made Evelyn snap her head backwards quickly, almost as if startled. The Cascadian. Instinctively she shot a smile back, seeing no reason to be unfriendly with the man. She gave him a look over, scanning for any remotely telling features. "Uhuh. Cliff, looks like the same boat indeed." she replied. She blinked, having been jet-lagged from the hours-long international flight. She paused briefly. "Evelyn Jensen," she introduced herself, tacking on her last name as formal setting usually required her to.
But perhaps she'd been too formal there. "Just...finishin' up my Linguistics degree, is all I'm doing," she explained, glancing towards the window. "You, you here because want 'ta grab a snack? Or are ya jus' standing in the doorway?"
-
He laughed, smiling back at her upon the remark of occupying the doorway. "Sure, why not?" He shrugged, walking inside and looking out the window briefly before dumping his bag on the bed across the room. "I'll just dump my stuff here then..." He paused, looking back at her "You were paying attention when they said where the food was, right? My Ahkabnilian isn't too good." He joked, taking a good look at her while he spoke; He made a mental note of how she looked, primarily to avoid loosing her in the upcoming crowd.
-
Evelyn passively watched the man as he dropped his carry-on onto the opposite bed. Gods, was this man trying to flirt with her? Did they even have co-ed dorms here? Questions that perhaps didn't need answering right away. She peered at him closely, looking over the details of his face. He began to talk, and Evelyn figured that she should pay attention to whatever the man was saying. About food? She shook her head. "Haven't a clue," she said.
"Jus' follow the crowd?" she suggested, peering at the cape lying on her bed and opting to replace her thick denim jacket with the cape. She had only a tank top underneath, and any passersby in the few seconds before she draped the cape over her shoulder would have glimpsed the hint of a tattoo on her left shoulder. Readjusting her glasses, she beckoned to Cliff, starting down the hallway.
-
He shrugged, "I'll move my stuff out of your room when I can like, find a roommate." He shrugged, kinda surmising as to how unprepared he was for this. They followed the crowd towards the food, "So, I didn't catch what you were majoring in?"
-
ooc: if anyone wants Syura or Yui to burst into their dorm room, go for it
Syura (http://img.shblog.jp/image/raw/negisoku/5839860d06283.jpg) and Yui (https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/201533878043672588/356280218526416907/ymatsubushi.PNG) glanced at one another at the mention of some kind of uniform. "Least they're not making us wear full tracksuits or something." Syura muttered while one of the Ahkabnilian students passed by, he turned to look at them before realizing who they were, he said something to himself under his breath before speedwalking away. Yui burst out laughing as the Ahkabnilian turned the corner and disappeared from view. "Gyahahaha! Natives around here love us, don't they?" she cried, pointing at where the man vanished from. "Wonder why that is..." Syura said rolling her eyes.
Despite their proximity, Himeyans and Ahkabnilians tended to have strongly differing attitudes, kinda went without saying that the average Himeyan's overconfident and loud demeanor didn't sit too well with their counterparts a bit to the west. Yui seemed to be a perfect example of why. "Anyways, let's get set up somewhere, I'm pretty out of it." Yui said, picking her bags up, tossing Syura one of her's as well. "Agreed. Suppose you're gonna sleep through breakfast this time?" "Yeah, don't remind me, hope this doesn't throw my sleep schedule off too bad." Yui said, gesturing towards the window, it was already quite bright out; anybody who wasn't Yui Matsubushi would probably be out and on their feet at this point, but Yui, having driven the pair most of the morning was just desperate to doze off.
"Alright, let's pick our rooms, I'll meet you back here in a few hours I reckon." Syura said to Yui before they both bolted off in completely opposite directions, barging into two different rooms almost simultaneously.
-
Vardamir Fëaquarácorin (https://i2.wp.com/www.homenscomestilo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/cabelo-colorido-homem-42.jpg?w=290&h=435&crop) always had an aptitude for languages which was quickly noticed by the Ministry of Education and his schooling was geared towards linguistics from a young age. By the time his secondary education was completed he mastered the six officially recognized national languages: Quenya, Sindarin, Lindarin, Adûnaic, Khuzdul, and Drækonska; as well as Lodjan, English, and Latin. He had taken the Imperial Examinations, though he did well in many areas, he did not meet the National Qualifications needed to get excepted into the Imperial Academy (which is completely honorable, many students do not pass until their third try).
He was, however, accepted into the Vinyamar Imperial University for Linguistic and Political Studies. At the behest of his mother, who is a mid-ranked bureaucrat within the Falas Anyúnë Provincial Secretariat Bureau, he applied to the Ministry of Education to take a year of foreign study. For his mothers hope was that her youngest son would follow in her footsteps to join the government. She knew his linguistic talents would secure him a post within the Translation Offices, but, if he does well with the next Imperial Examinations then he could be on his way to become a diplomat, which would open doors into Arda Tuluva's political elite. Having the experience of foreign study and cultural exposure would, in her mind, drastically help in his essays and interview sections of the Examinations.
He had been one of seventy-four students to be selected for foreign exchange for following school year and, by lottery, he was chosen to attend Chanal University in Ahkabnil. Since Ahkabnilian wasn't a widely spoken international language Arda Tuluva had only a few people who were fluent and they all resided in the capital and so Vardamir spent some weeks in Imladris to acquire a proficient command of the Ahkabnilian language before his departure to Chanal.
Vardamir appreciated the orderly nature of how the Abkbalinese ran things. Perhaps it was tedious, but he was raised in a household that valued tradition and Arda Tuluva's rituals. His father was a Tercári, a cleric of Origin, and Vardamir grew up observing and practicing all the rites, the traditions, and the customs of the Empire and his faither's faith. Subscribing to the vinyanúvë ideology was clearly Vardamir's way of rebelling against his father.
The vinyanúvë ideology, the New Way, rejected superstition and embraced social change, as such he wore modern clothing and kept his hair short, but - perhaps ironically - like so many of his generation of the Vahtelari Caste, especially among the Teleri - of which he was one, he dyed his hair a bright, ostentatious color; a tradition of his caste that had fallen out of favor some two centuries ago and now was once more fashionable. (It should be noted that no other caste does this tradition, as it is reserved solely for the Vahtelari.)
On his way to the University Vardamir noted the city's beauty and craftsmanship it reminded him of home, it appeared that the Ahkbalinese appreciated fine architecture and artistry as much as Arda Tuluvans, the pyramids that dominated the city was rather reminiscent of the city of Armenelos. Upon reaching the University he selected a room and began to unpack.
He became slightly annoyed finding the ornate case with the symbol of Origin on it, no wonder his luggage seemed much heavier that he would have thought. His father must have put that into his luggage. Vardamir tried to be a filial son but it was difficult as he did not believe in all the nonsense that Origin taught, nor agreed with his father on many aspects of Arda Tuluvan society. However, he was representing Arda Tuluva here and thought it best to display his fealty to the Throne, if not for himself he mused that stereotypes must be maintained. He set up the plague with the Empress's Holy Name written across it on a small altar with the two candles.
He rolled his eyes at himself wondering why he was doing this at all when the door swung open and a beautiful girl barged in, "Why hello there." He said in Ahkbinilese with a smile and a bow of the head, he subtly eyed her up and down. By her look, attire, and attitude he'd guess she was Himeyan. He turned to face her completely and bowing again he said, in heavily accented Himeyan, "Might I be of some service, My Lady?"
-
Alice was on the verge on getting to sleep, Katy had gone off for breakfast, when the room door opened and someone came in, she wasn't sure who it was as she wasn't yet familiar with everyone's faces and names but then again she'd only been there a matter of hours so that was probably expected, she could make out it was a girl, and judging off the the actions and body language she had a similar idea to Alice herself, get some sleep.
"Either of those two beds are free." Alice said, getting the girls attention and pointing to the two beds that weren't yet claimed, but that was probably obvious as Katy had left her stuff on hers before going for breakfast "I'm Alice by the way, studying medicine, you?"
-
OOC: note in first post that mandatory civic service is not longer mandatory, explained in letter, continue on.
-
"This is the best breakfast I've ever had!" Karlos said to his friends.
"I do agree. What I don't agree with is having the dorm rooms co-ed. How the fuck am I supposed to do my private-" John complains before he was slapped by Andrea. "Anyways," he continued "I can't fucking wait for the requirements to bombard us."
"You have a point, but let's not think about it for now." Nathaniel comforts John.
"Speaking of you, I heard from these two that you now have a girlfriend. Is that true?" Andrea jokingly asked before slipping her coffee.
"Yeah, I thought you have her your number? Or is it other things?" Karlos whispered to Nathaniel.
"Umm... Yeah. Anyways, I can just imagine our future together. Meanwhile John here only thinks with his hand." Nathaniel teased. The group laughed while John stared at them with distaste. He suddenly left the main hall muttering curse words under his breath.
-
Blair had smiled as they were filed onto the bus, it reminded her a lot of being back at Chapterhouse, even though she wasn't a Truthsayer the discipilned movements of the Sisterhood saw every trip the school took happen in a similar manner as what they experienced. She sat alone on the bus staring out of the window taking in the views. The canals seemed to almost twinkle in the sunlight and she began thinking a little of her task here. Chanal was a city the Sisterhood knew little of and that alone was reason enough to send a Missionara, someone to see what gems of knowledge could be learnt here to advance the aims of the Bene Gesserit. As the bus crossed another canal her mind turned to the poems of an ancient member of the Sisterhood, legend told that she had left valuable scrolls in a far away land but the map to them had been lost. All that remained was a book of poems written by the woman during her time away and Blair had memorised much of it, one of the scholars believed Chanal could have been the location because of the words it contained.
"A thin wet sky, that yellows at the rim,
And meets with sun-lost lip the marsh's brim.
The pools low lying, dank with moss and mould
Glint through their mildews like large cups of gold.
Among the wild rice in the still lagoon,
In monotone the lizard shrills his tune.
The wild goose, homing, seeks a sheltering,
Where rushes grow, and oozing lichens cling.
Late cranes with heavy wing, and lazy flight,
Sail up the silence with the nearing night.
And like a spirit, swathed in some soft veil,
Steals twilight and its shadows o'er the swale.
Hushed lie the sedges, and the vapours creep,
Thick, grey and humid, while the marshes sleep."
She hadn't realised she'd whispered the poem rather than saying it in her head and continued looking out of the window while they made their journey. As everyone else boarded the bus she waited to be told where they were rooming before grabbing her gear and going for a walk around the block. She was keen to find a quiet spot, she prefered being outside. After a few minutes she found one near a tree and sat down, she unrolled the mat strapped to the bottom of the pack and sat cross legged on the ground her back ramrod straight. For a good five minutes she prayed as she meditated on her Prana Bindu, a method designed to enable a Bene Gesseirt sister to master her physical and emotional being. She always felt better after her meditations and now feeling refreshed she rolled the mat up and headed back into the dorm. She looked to see which room contained the spare bed and seeing one with a girl laying on one bed, a set of belongings on another and what appeared to be a Himeyanan girl who looked like she'd just arrived to.
"Anyone take that one" Blair pointed to the spare bed and once confirming it was empty put the smaller of the two rucksacks on it, "I'm Blair, I'm from Ui Cenneslaig" she placed the larger one on the floor and began unpacking. "Take care of your kit and your kit takes care of you" she thought to herself keen to get unpacked before breakfast. She had planned well for her trip, trying her best to fit in with what a student was like. She took out a long thin cardboard tube from her bag and opened it, descreetly palming her crystknife and tucking it into the compartment on her ankle. Next she took a large world map from the tube and pinned it to the wall, tiny little photos were glued onto it showing the locations she'd visited. She took the map everywhere she could and with the exception of Kaitaine it showed a detailed record of her global travels. She finished placing her clothing and other belongings away before turning to the others in the room. "So anyone coming for breakfast" she headed for the door and swung the cloak around her shoulders in a well practiced motion, it was not really all that different to the desert ones they all wore in Seitch, however those served a more practical purpose, she wondered if she could get away wearing her Bene Gesserit one here rather than this one, she'd brought it with her and it now hung in the wardrobe, just one more item people would consider eccentric, such as her combat boots which peered out beneth the cloaks bottom. She made her way into the hall to grab breakfast, having got a plate she looked and found an almost empty table and headed over taking a seat and watching for others arrving
-
The selection of food at the main hall that the Quintelians had enjoyed so thoroughly was a diverse host of options. There were some imported soft drinks and other small snacks, like chips. There was also a long bar which was shut down, a sign propped up reading the times it was open, which was dinner time; in the evenings it opened up to serve a variety of alcoholic drinks, mostly the potent Ahkabnilian Agave, Palm, and Rice Wine.
In the morning, the cafeteria was bustling though perhaps more quiet than it would be in the evening. Natural beams from the massive skylight ceiling showed through, and birds sometimes sat from their perches within it, flying in from the small openings which let in the fresh dewy air of Chanal. It had began to lightly rain, making a gentle chatter of raindrops on the stone structure of the cafeteria. It was a rather large building, there were other cafeteria’s all across the campus to distribute the load however.
At one of the large serving tables would be a variety of food to choose from for breakfest, mostly in the form of of many light soups, alongside plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. There was a hearty sum of ‘Ahkabnilian bacon’ too, which was a variety of flat meats from Kishke (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capybara) and pig, there were also large quantities of scrambled eggs. Finally, alot of beans were also available, seemingly the staple of Ahkabnilian meals, with a selection of goat cheese and an Ahkabnilian flatbread called Pepen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_tortilla) that everyone used to eat their food with, or put it in.
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On the drive through Cojotan towards Ahkabnil, Syura and Yui had agreed to not bunk together, at least right off the bat. Gave them both a chance to make new friends, and thankfully for the rest of the people in the dorm, would drastically reduce the noise level that would come from two young Himeyan women arguing over something as trivial as a toothbrush or who paid for gas this time. With this in mind, Yui rocketed off to one of the corner rooms, not to be seen for a few hours at least. Syura having a bit of energy to burn also took off to find a room. Flinging the door open, she was met by a young man with a striking haircut, who seemed to have been occupied with unpacking before she interrupted him. The man had given her a casual greeting in Ahkabnilian and then an abnormally polite one in Himeyan, taking only a few seconds to determine where she was from.
The greeting had taken Syura by surprise, but not forgetting her manners, she bowed down to her waist towards the young man. It immediately struck her how unusual it was to hear someone talk in such a formal sort of tone, as regular Himeyan was quite vulgar, bearing this in mind, she replied in the most polite form of Himeyan she could. "It's a pleasure. I am Syura Yokoshima, I came here from Shidarekawa." Not wanting to be a stranger to someone so polite and observant, Syura pulled a chair from the other side of the room, to avoid possibly mucking up that little shrine the man had set up.
"Takumete."[1] She said, bringing the chair up in front of the man and then slumping into it, dropping her bags rather unceremoniously off to the side. Gave her a chance to have a good look at him too, given his flamboyant outward appearance but polite demeanor, she took a guess that she was face to face with an Arda Tuluvan; radical cultural differences aside, Syura had already taken a liking to the man and his unconventional fashion sense. "Ah right, mind if I get your name?" she asked, casually switching to Ahkabnilian.
On the other end of the dorm, Yui had disturbed the peace and quiet one young woman was enjoying. She tossed her bags next to one of the empty beds, holding back a yawn to answer the woman's question. "Yui Matsubushi, I'm studying astronomy." And with that, she pushed one of her bags over with her foot and began emptying the contents of it, taking a large silk banner with some Himeyan writing down the middle and pinning it to the wall by her bed. Himeyans were a proud bunch, and would often show off even which schools they attended, which in Yui's case was Shinju-Fuuka, and this banner was one the school had gifted her, along with the other top-scoring graduates in her class.
With the better part of her luggage unpacked and her fatigue really getting to her now, Yui threw off her fashionably oversized sweater and faceplanted onto her bed, ready to sleep through the rest of the morning. "I was up all morning driving, so I'm a bit pooped." she explained to Alice before rolling on her side; conveniently right as someone else came in. She rolled around to see an imposing looking blonde woman standing at the doorway. Unconsciously answering the woman's question, she caught that she was a Celt. "Hi Blair, I'm Yui." she said sleepily while Blair immediately got to work unpacking her stuff. After a few minutes, she picked up on the Celt's voice again. "No thanks, I think we're just taking it easy for now." she muttered just before the door shut.
-
The dorm they had chosen had been in the center of a hallway, with a window facing out towards the massive city that went on forever. "Nothing here seems like home huh?", Otto said putting down his luggage on top a bed. "Never seen so much people or building is my life! It's crazy how do they live in all of this?", Micha began to ramble off, quickly jumping from one topic to another. Gods...he even talks like one at times. Otto began to take out things from his package: weights, books, clothes, pens and pencils, and some other things to remind him of home. Of these items of most importance, one was seemingly the most important as it lay on top of the rest, as not to be squished. The item in question was a faded military hat with the name Rudolph on the side in golden thread. After putting the hat on his head, Otto walked to his brother and gave him a tap on the shoulder. "C'mon, let's go eat something." Micha gave a nod and went out the door with a oddly prideful walk.
Micha was happy, at least for the time being as the place he came to was new and extremely different from his original country. It would seem they have hot summers, which I guess is better than freezing ones. Micha began to look at the foods they had sorted out, and the only thought that came into his mind was, By the Gods I wish to return.
-
Evelyn blinked; today was looking to be tiring, and it was barely breakfast time. Her eyes drifted briefly to Cliff, examining him again. "Studying, eh, lingustics, is all." she mumbled. Ugh. Maybe she should have stayed in Weremark. She looked down at herself briefly, thinking idle thoughts about the kind of flooring that they used here as they approached the lunch-line. Energy was what she needed right now, that much was likely true, and as such she found herself going to the food bar first. She poured herself a soup that looked like proper soup instead of appetizer water, threw on some bacon and goat cheese, the latter of which had been a welcome surprise, and grabbed some Pepen bread as well. The beans, however, she overlooked passionately - they were something that she had no intention of trying in her life. Does that make me closed-minded? she thought idly, glancing towards the table setup and taking her initiative further by sitting down next to a rather imposing blonde. Looking behind her, she checked to see if the Cascadian was still behind her.
This felt too much like high-school all over again. She was surrounded by far more teenargers than usual, that was for certain, but for her to feel this caged wasn't particularly normal. She needed to find some locals, perhaps they'd be better about the whole thing than the exchange students. Looking around, she could see that too many were dripping with wealth. Now, are all these people wealthy enough to be tolerably educated or wealthy enough to be intolerably uneducated? she thought to herself again.
-
"That's...neat." He shrugged, "Well, what do you know about linguistics?" He peered around the crowded cafeteria, sighing. This felt like a high school or a military academy and he wasn't sure which. Either way, he was a tad out of his comfort zone. But he was committed, at least for now anyways, he supposed. He looked for familiar food, finding at least some, trying to dabble in a bit of normalcy given his circumstances. He sat down next to Evelyn, peering back down at his food before whispering. "Not sure how I feel about this place..."
-
"Vardamir Ardamirion Fëaquarácorin," He introduced himself with another polite bow in the Arda Tuluvan style, "from Anyúnësos, Falas Anyúnë Province, located along the coast in northwestern Arda Tuluva. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Syura Yokoshima from Shidarekawa." He smiled at her as she took a seat.
Not surprising, Arda Tuluvans had stereotypes for everyone, it was said that Himeyans were loud, obnoxious, had no concept of personal space, and were heavy drinkers (which was a common stereotype that many in Arda Tuluva had of the Teleri), yet Himeyans were viewed as being polite; in their own unique way. He had been advised by counselors back in Arda Tuluva about the affects and stages of culture shock and had taken, mandatory, classes on helping Arda Tuluvans adapt and affiliate better with "the barbarians". He had thought those classes were unnecessary, often times amusing, but he knew many of his coutnrymen were in serious need of such classes before traveling abroad.
He had hardly unpacked his belongings and knew that he should complete the task but the thought was daunting and, truly, at the moment he really just couldn't be bothered. On top of that, he was quite famished. "Though I have no qualms with sharing a room with a beautiful women I believe that the University has asinine rules prohibiting the co-habitation of men and women." He took a few steps closer stretching his hand to her, "I would be more than happy to assist you in search of accommodations, Syura Yokoshima from Shidarekawa. Then, perhaps, you would care to join in me in my quest for food?"
-
John returned to his seat. He just had more of the food and refilled his drinks. "I'm a changed person, okay." He reassured his friends.
"Nope, still not convincing enough." Nathaniel replied. By now, all of them has finished eating, including John. They returned to their respective dorm rooms. The three men shared the room with Cliff while Andrea is sharing the room with Syura. They were the first to pick rooms so their things were already set.
"Anyone seen Cliff?" Karlos asked the two. They replied with a shaking head. "Eh forget it" he slipped something back to Cliff's bag.
"Anyone up for a round of LOL?" Nathaniel asked his friends.
"Nah, Imma sleep y'all. Wake me up when morning ends" John aggressively replied.
"Yeah, nah. I'll check on Andrea." Karlos declined and went outside. When he knocked, a man answered. "Wait, isn't this a, umm... girl's room? Or am I wrong?" Karlos politely but low-key sarcastically asked the said man. They started at each other awkwardly for about 30 seconds.
-
"Eat when you can, eat til you're full" was what Blair had been told while she'd been in Seitch, there food had become something that at times was in short supply and so here surrounded by it she had perhaps been a little ambitious. She sat in the corner of the room watching people come and go her eyes constantly moving so she missed nothing. She had stocked up on meats and bread but with a healthy dose of eggs, she liked eggs, but in the desert of Seitch they'd been non existant. She took chunks of meat and placed them alongside the eggs before rolling them up and eating them. She'd managed to get through four of five of her wraps before she began to remotley feel full, perhaps she had missed food in Kaitaine more than she imagined.
She finished her meal alone and then tidied her tray away before getting a coffee and returning to the corner table, she had nothing to rush for and watching who interacted with who and how the locals did things was always a good way of settling in.
-
"Prolly too much," she began, answering Cliff's question and poking at the the food briefly while sticking some of the bread in her mouth. She had no intention of weighing culture in her mind, at the moment, but she couldn't help but judge Ahkabnil by the sheer differentness of its bread. She was, of course, used to bakery bread or whatever similar concoction the Mayor's office had cooked up. Her mind briefly wondered if the Court of Jylmark would offer any decent food, being so far west as it was. She had no intention of returning there, no, but she felt like she had to anyway. After this. What had she been speaking about? Ah, languages, that's right. "I know my languages right good, good enough to know that I'm not speaking properly." she shifted to a posh accent, perhaps overly practiced. "Werman, English, Achkaerinese, Latin, Morlandish...coupla more. Varying degrees of intelligible. Yeah, Ahkabnilan, too, but it's rusty now. It's my hobby, I suppose. Well, my future career, actually, but it's best when they're both the same thing, right?"
She shrugged, looking around, including at the lonely woman at the end of their table, briefly, before turning to Cliff again when he whispered. "'Fraid it'll be too draconian? Don't worry, I think. I hope." she laughed, chewing some more on her bread. "Aye, I think I know where you're coming from. A bit like school, yeah? At least, I've heard it's like this, I wouldn't...know..."
-
Tsinayotli had barely finished up whatever food he had and ushered himself back to his table, he looked up to see the group of unsuspecting foreigners sitting nearby, quiet and awkward. He was curious as he had never interacted with foreign exchange students before and this year by far had the biggest group, Tsinayotli could almost see more of them than natives. He didn’t have class for a while and was actually up early for once, he had almost forgot how delicious the homemade style breakfast was.
“Morning.” he greeted, as he approached the table of Cliff, Blair and Evelyn. He was both a short and skinny guy, but not shy to any company, nor afraid to beg any question. “Can I?” he asked, gesturing to sit down. “I’m Tsinayotli, most just call me Tsin, my third year here. You guys look pretty confused over here, where you from?”
-
John returned to his seat. He just had more of the food and refilled his drinks. "I'm a changed person, okay." He reassured his friends.
"Nope, still not convincing enough." Nathaniel replied. By now, all of them has finished eating, including John. They returned to their respective dorm rooms. The three men shared the room with Cliff while Andrea is sharing the room with Syura. They were the first to pick rooms so their things were already set.
"Anyone seen Cliff?" Karlos asked the two. They replied with a shaking head. "Eh forget it" he slipped something back to Cliff's bag.
"Anyone up for a round of LOL?" Nathaniel asked his friends.
"Nah, Imma sleep y'all. Wake me up when morning ends" John aggressively replied.
"Yeah, nah. I'll check on Andrea." Karlos declined and went outside. When he knocked, a man answered. "Wait, isn't this a, umm... girl's room? Or am I wrong?" Karlos politely but low-key sarcastically asked the said man. They started at each other awkwardly for about 30 seconds.
Meanwhile Akatl approached with a tray of food, interjecting on the awkward moment of silence of the Quintelians had subjected themselves to. Following behind was his girlfriend, Shochitloshoch, or simply Shochit for short, who had a considerably larger plate of food and actually had sneaked some early morning Agave Wine disguised as goats milk. She and Akatl sat down, Shochit had a particularly malicious look on her face, passing the wine over to one of the Quintelians, gesturing for them to take a drink. "It'll take you up." Akatl grinned, "They usually don't serve alcohol in the morning but people get a hold of it anyway, it kicks like a bitch. This is our coffee." he chuckled, digging into his plate.
"So." Shochit continued. "Where are you all from?"
-
"We're from Quintelia. I'm Andrea by the way." She introduced herself and her friends.
"No thanks, I prefer being sober. Bad things happened to me with alcohol." Karlos refused the offer. "Anyways, what course are you taking?" He said as he changed the subject.
-
Katy had spent breakfast putting her language lessons to the test asking various questions of the native students she'd managed to figure out a few things, including what the best running routes probably were, how hard they were, which ones were more forgiving, stuff like that. She'd made the acquaintance of a few people and after a rather quicker than planned breakfast had now made her way back to the dorm room where she found Alice still recovering with a light power nap and now someone else also in the room.
"That's Yui." Alice said when Katy nudged her awake and inquired "We've also got someone called Blair." Katy nodded recalling the woman having seen her at breakfast
"I made some inquiry's with the locals." Katy said "Got some easy run routes mapped out and there's the university sports centre which has some courts including a small stadium one." she was showing Alice a campus map.
"And?" Alice asked
"And since we already sorted out our membership before getting on the plane you feeling up to it?" Katy asked "Bit of fun before classes start tomorrow?"
"Let me get my stuff." Alice said "Yui we're at the sports centre if we're missed." there was half acknowledgement from the Himeyaman girl.
Alice and Katy both grabbed their gear and headed off to take a look at what would probably become their second home on campus.
"What do you think of the place so far?" Katy asked
"I like it." Alice said "Do you think sporting rivalry is an inter university thing here?"
"No idea." Katy said
"I wonder who Chanal's rivals are if it is." Alice said
-
He shrugged, looking over his array of food; poking it as if testing if it was safe to consume before actually taking a bite out of it; shrugging. "Yeah, feels too much like-...Wait." He looked back at her, a eyebrow raising. "You were homeschooled?" He shrugged, having been in public schools his whole life. "How did you, like, make friends?" He grinned lightly, taking another sip of his juice to wash down the food.
-
Blair politely refused the alchohol, after all if fear was the mind killer booze was a close second. While she was far from the conflict in Seitch now she didn't want to dull her faculties, at least not at breakfast time. She wasn't a big fan of drinking anyway, not on religious grounds just more for the health benefits. There seemed to be quiet an age gap between herself and the others, but that was to be expected with her being a Masters student. "I'm Blair" she introduced herself to the locals, "I'm from Ui Cenneslaig originally, but not really been there for a few years, I've been travelling around quiet a bit" she explained. "Although it'll be nice to be in one place for a while now.
-
The Sirinisian student sighed as she was still at the airport. She was going to be late! And she refused to be on the official transports to the University as she wished to go to the place with her friend and "sister" who lived in Chanal. She did not wait any longer when finally, a black Pontiac Firebird came. She stood up and picked up her things just as the driver, a tall, magnificent woman dressed in cute shorts and a gray top came out of the drivers place, the trunk opened already. She helped the student pack her things into the back as she said to the new arrival "Welcome to Chanal. Sorry I'm a bit late. Let's go!"
And in five minutes, they were out of the airport and on the highway, following the directions to Chanal University. Fortunately, they were able to follow some of the last transports to the university. And just in the nick of time, the student caught up.
-
Hard Court...I should have guessed Alice thought, her and Katy had found the tennis court and having changed into their tennis gear - for Katy it was a dark blue t-shirt and black shorts while Alice opted for a black short skirt and red t-shirt coupled with a black baseball cap, she also wore rainbow laces on her trainers.
"Indoor hard court." Katy said "The roof's supposedly retractable."
"I like it." Alice said she was bounding up and down on the balls of her feet the court felt good underfoot "This should suit my game."
"Let's get started." Katy said picking up her racket and going to one side of the court, Alice went to the other side "We'll start with ball running."
This was a simple exercise at least in theory, Katy stood on one side of the net and hit shots into Alice's court, Alice's job was to move from side to side and to catch the ball before it went passed her, in theory this would help Alice develop her stamina, speed and reach- after all if she could catch a ball on the extreme of the court before it went past the baseline then it meant that she could get into position with a racket and take a proper swing at a ball. It was a regular drill that Katy got Alice doing. Have you noticed Alice? Katy thought as she hit the balls You don't stretch as much as you used to
-
"For sure. Let's go." Syura said, taking the Arda Tuluvan's hand, stifling her habit of simply launching herself out of the chair as she rose to her feet. She swept her bags up off the ground in one fluid motion as Vardamir led her to the door. Shouldering her oversized gym bag, she let the Arda Tuluvan hold the door for her, on account of having no hands to do it herself at the moment. Stepping back out into the hall, she gestured with her head towards the dorm room right across from Vardamir's. "That one should work." She tried to think of an excuse to pick the room closest to his, but none had come to mind fast enough; more or less she just wanted to befriend someone right off the bat.
"Takumete." she said again as the two entered the dorm room, empty. She turned to the Arda Tuluvan and smiled "Suppose this one will work just fine." And with that, she tossed her bags to one side of the room, roughly in the same area as one of the beds. She threw off her Shinju-Fuuka Boxing Club jacket and put on the uniform thing that was neatly placed on the bed.
"Ah, right." She muttered as Vardamir patiently watched her reach for her gym bag. "Brought some snacks if you want." she said, pulling out two Himeyan snack cakes (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wZOdkR4GrB8/hqdefault.jpg) wrapped in cellophane. "We call these suban, filling in the middle is some mix of sweet bean paste, chocolate and chili flakes, bit spicy but everyone back home loves them." she casually explained to the Arda Tuluvan as she offered it to him. "Shouldn't spoil your appetite either." she added as the two made their way to the cafeteria.
Yui, in no particular hurry to do anything had continued to sleep the morning away. Waking up only when she rolled off the bed and became a heap of lazy Himeyan girl stuck to the floor. She could only help but growl to herself as she threw on the outfit she arrived to Chanal in and decided to head to the cafeteria to catch up on breakfast; maybe making some friends or just bothering Syura if she could find her.
-
"Uh, well, not exactly, no, I went to school for a while. Just not high school, that was all private. So, aye, I had frie-" she paused as the native dude proceeded to sit down next to them and address her. "I look confused?" she asked him, "Uhm, I'm from Weremark." she replied. She wondered how long it would be before someone joined the dots and figured out who exactly she was. At this point she had her own wiki entries on the internet, which, however short they may have been, still irked her to no end. It was a breach of privacy, but it wasn't a new-age breach, not something relating to mass surveillance or something along those lines, no. Her privacy had been compromised by her father's talent for gaining power.
This was far from Weremark, and she hadn't seen a soul from their corner of the world here except for maybe the man sat next to her, and that gave her hope that she could continue to enjoy the comforts of relative anonymity.
-
"Hm. Delicious." He said with a smile after he had taken a small bite of the snack that Syura had offered. It had a strange taste: sweet paste, chocolate, and chili. He couldn't decide if it was good or not. Leaning towards not. But, he had no intention of being rude to the first person he has met, so he finished the rest of the small snack thanking Syura once again for the thoughtful gift.
Once they reached the cafeteria, the two got some food and took a seat at a random table. As they ate he answered her question about what he was studying, he told her that he studied linguistics, that he had a proficiency in six of Arda Tuluva's officially recognized languages, as well as a decent command of a few others: Himeyan and Akbinalese, being among them.
"If I might ask a few questions, Syura Yokoshima?" She gestured for him to go on as she ate, "What is it that you study? How did you come to attend Chanal?" He smiled politely deciding that he liked her and would peruse friendship. Her nonchalant and forward attitude amused him, it was a nice relief from the rigid formalities of home.
-
Shasha made it to the university. She waved goodbye to her sister as she drove off and then made her way inside. She managed to speak with a receptionist and with her help, she registered, got the keys to her room, was given a map of the university and a few words of advice. After that, she took a deep breath and wandered around, looking for people to talk to, especially those she met from the airport earlier. And she hoped that she could find the place where she probably might be needed for the orientation today.
She seemed lost even with the map and all the advice she got. It seemed that she wanted to explore, to see and to find out about the university. So she went up and down a few floors, made it to several common rooms and to other places that had no people in them but are open to her. And Shasha didn't really seem to mind if she got caught, wishing to know more herself. And after that, she returned to the lobby and tried to remember where she would have to go next.
-
OOC: This is after breakfast
"Hi, I'm Atsin, I'm also a student." The man by the door said. Karlos grabbed his shirt before Atsin can continue.
"Why the fuck are you here? Are you stalking women? Huh? HUH!" He shouted at Atsin and shoved him to the wall. Andrea and another student, likely a local, ran out of their room.
"What is wrong with you? He's just helping his friend Sihitli here. You're returning back to your old self." Andrea told Karlos.
"Oh, do you care more for a stranger than someone you knew? I loved you, you barely know him. Don't you-" Karlos began arguing before Andrea hugged Karlos. A crowd has gathered around to watch but the couple doesn't seem to care.
"I know, but you're hurting other people for my sake. I don't want that; God doesn't want that. That's it, we're breaking up. Good bye." Andrea said before going back to her room crying. Sihitli soon followed. When the door slammed, the crowd dispersed and people started talking about what happened.
"Hey man, I'm sorry about what I did." Karlos said woke offering a hand to Atsin to stand up.
"No problem, apology accepted. At least you're both away from a toxic relationship." Atsin said before they went separate ways. Karlos opened their dorm room and finds John sitting down browsing Twitter.
"Congratulations, on losing her, asshole. Now she's depressed." John said while showing Karlos Andrea's Tweets. "Good job on waking me up too."
"Shut the fuck up. You don't know shit about love." Karlos shouted. "Anyways, where's Nathaniel?"
"Oh, he is trying to find that girl he flirted. I think her name is Shasha." John answered. "Want a bottle or two of beer? I know you don't want to drink because you swore on God to never drink alcoholic drinks, but let's face it. There's no God." He offered a reluctant Karlos a bottle of Smirnoff he had smuggled from Quintelia. "Cheers to the single people." Their bottles bumped each other and they drank their beer quietly.
-
OOC: Going to move my story-line past the breakfast, too.
With a dissatisfied look on her face, Evelyn stood up, and as she pushed her chair in it became apparent to whomever happened to be watching that a rather blocky smartphone was buzzing away systematically in her back pocket. Her off hand quickly scooped whatever tray of food she hadn't eaten, and with an almost artificial looking motion she turned on her heels and headed over to the trash can, dumping any remaining food before finally digging what appeared to be her dominant right hand into her pocket and answering the phone.
Her brows furrowed, and she walked back in the direction of the dormitory.
"We'll see." the Werman words echoed through the hallway, hopefully not revealing their meaning to any eavesdropper. Back to the room was where she was headed, eager to unpack her things. "But I don't think so." she continued after a silent pause in the call. Her stray eyes caught a glimpse of the Cascadian man's bags. What had his name been? Brett? Brad? No. Cliff. That's right. She supposed he'd be back, following her like a duckling follows its mother, and undoubtedly with a barrage of questions intended to get some sort of spark going between the two. But that was the least of her concern now, no matter how much the thought irked her. She hung up and went to her polka-dotted rucksack, frowning, and immediately kicked off her shoes and removed a sleek black laptop from her bag, tossing it on the bed.
She waited for it to boot, the blue hue illuminating her face, and upon seeing the meager signal strength, out came an antenna as well, which she promptly placed by the window. A slight smirk went over her visage. "Good, good.." she muttered, seeing her signal strength shoot up. She typed something into the command line, launching a program she'd rather sloppily hidden and pulling up a GPS tracker for a certain aircraft by the name of Wayfar, her brother's plane. In Tokulel. Her father was right. She sighed, throwing her head back onto the pillow and inadvertently falling to sleep.