(no subject)

[initiates]

Date: August 1st
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports arrive and are shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings. Now with 200% more People-Seeking lists!
Warnings: None.

You've just been hustled and bustled through mazes of information and literal, wide corridors of the Initiative Hold and you've been equipped with your weapon—be it a gun, a sword, or even your existing powers. They've handed you this light netbook and a small pouch of coins (or a debit card, if you're more inclined), and there are several Transports before and after you going through the very same motions. You can hear the Greeter's voice as she walks alongside large groups, telling them all about the history of this place and sharing with you your purpose here in a hurried and urgent tone. "You're in luck that we have enough rooms for all of you; the housing building is getting awfully full. Please, let me show you into the courtyard."

You pass what looks like huge gymnasiums, all with dummies and targets strewn and splayed around the room. Training areas. There are even classrooms, and a few small offices. You're rushed past a large library while the Greeter informs you that you can find almost all your information there, if you've got the time to look—and trust her, you'll have time. You don't spend a lot of time in the bank, and it's a bit of a blur of exchanges with more and more of these strangely-accented and oddly polite-seeming members of the Initiative.

Soon enough, you're in a massive courtyard bustling with all the other Transports. It's not exactly what you'd expect, and it looks more like barracks than anything—huge walls of concrete and stone, separating you from all of the hallways you'd just passed through. It's raining heavily, and dark clouds loom in the air, though it hasn't turned to snow. It's a chill cold, and there are shelters—long cloth hangings that extend from the walls of concrete to house you from the rain, but not enough. Most notably, the courtyard is filled with a marketplace. Even in the cold and the rain, there are several citizens seated at their covered booths and tables, bundled up against the weather. They're selling all manner of their own handmade goods and foods, and citizens and Transports alike are traveling from one small covered shop to another in search of all manner of necessities. Now and then around you you might spot paper fluttering in the faint wind from somewhere relatively dry. It looks like a list.

The Greeter's voice has become so faint now, but you swear you can make it out in the back of the crowds as she tells you, "Good luck. Be safe!"

Her voice is drowned out by the busy marketplace, though even the transactions taking place are somewhat subdued. Nobody is overly happy, really, though most citizens can be found with smiles on their faces. It doesn't seem like they're that shocked to see you, either; even if you're not bound in tattered rags and wrapped in heavy shawls as they are. You're welcome to walk up to a shop, and find yourself something to eat—hey, maybe you'll even find something akin to a raincoat. Or, you can join the others under the coverings against the walls. Where am I? What war? She was talking so fast, and it didn't all make very much sense… did anyone else catch it all?

Welcome to the courtyard. Welcome to the Initiative Hold—and most importantly, welcome to Exsilium.

Comments

Gin Ichimaru | DONT YOU LIKE MONEY

[onehundredswords]

[Amongst all of the stalls and transports looking to welcome the newcomers, there's a lone figure amongst all of them who stands out, simply because he doesn't appear to be selling anything, so his table is oddly bare in comparison. He's dressed in a way that conceals a lot of his body, his hair tied back beneath the hood to keep it out of sight and a white mask covering his face.

What's actually of note is the banner hanging from the front of his table, in bold, capital letters;


TAKE A CHANCE
WIN A CASH PRIZE

And if that doesn't grab your attention, he is likely to call people out on occasion.]

Hey, you! Ya' feelin' lucky today?

[justgo]

[Both brows raised as she approaches, Tess places a hand on her hip, gives the set-up a glance.] Can't say I do, but I could stand to give it a shot.

What's the name of the game?

[onehundredswords]

Simple enough, really.

[He pulls out a pack of cards from in his sleeve, and places them on his table.}

It's just 15 marques to enter; I'll show you a card from the top of the deck, put it back into the deck, shuffle 'em an' then we flip over the top card.

If it's not yer' card, you get 30 marques, if it is, I get it.

Interested?

[justgo]

Pretty slim odds in your favor from how it sounds - no catch? [She reaches over to shuffle through a few of the cards if he'll let her.]

[onehundredswords]

[He has no problem with that, just watching her inspect the deck. It's completely ordinary from the looks of things.]

We get an influx a' new folks every so often, an' I figure a game an' some extra pocket money might do their nerves some good.

Unless they lose, but that's why it's a chance.

[justgo]

Still, takin' chances is a risk in itself.

I'll play one game - win or lose, I'm done. [Mostly because she's done this kind of thing before, and Tess is pretty sure that she hasn't racked up enough karma for it to end nicely. Pulling out the money, she places it on the table.] That fine?

[alittlesweptup]

[Moving through the now mundane wave of new transports on his way from the housing complex to the Hold itself, Charlie slows his stride considerably when he catches sight of the setup crammed between two larger tables. That's a con if he's ever seen one - and god if that doesn't make it a sight for sore eyes.

He can't keep the grin off his face as he zeroes in on the table.] Hey there boyo, what've you got here?

[onehundredswords]

Just passin' the time, offerin' folks a chance to add a little extra to their funds on day one.

[He leans back a little in his seat.]

Interested?

[alittlesweptup]

['Add.' Sure. Charlie's grin widens a tic; he settles back onto the heels of his well-shod boots, cheerful as anything.]

Yeah, alright. What's the game then?

[onehundredswords]

Pretty simple game. I take the top card off the deck...

[Which he does, showing it to him; 2 of diamonds.]

Shuffle the deck.

[He looks at the card he'd picked up, then returns it to the deck and shuffles them up.]

An' then once I'm done, flip over the top card. If it's the one I showed ya' first, I win, if it ain't, you win.

Only 15 marques, double yer' money if ya' win.

[At which point he flips over the top card; jack of spades.]

You'd a won there, see?

Easy enough, right?

[alittlesweptup]

[Long odds - if he's playing fair, that is. But what the hell, right? No sense observing a con if you're going to be suspicious of it. So Charlie goes digging through his pockets for the marques.] Yeah alright, I'll buy in.

[And slaps the coin down on the tabletop.]

[heartsink]

[ Lucky? Of course not. There is nothing lucky about her, as far as she knows, or cares. But the voice catches her attention, and she turns her head to take in the bearer. A suspicious sight, no doubt about that. She has little luck at all, and less still with masked men.

And she has known many.

Her head tilts a little to the side, letting her good eye pass over the figure in calculation. ]

What's the penalty, for losing?

[onehundredswords]

Penalty? Ah, that's awful harsh wordin', girl.

[He chuckles a little beneath his breath, shaking his head.]

Only 15 a' yer marques is all. But if ya' win ya' double yer' money!

[heartsink]

I'm used to harsh games. [ She doesn't shrug, or give any other dismissal in gesture. There's no softening, for something like that. ] So, what's yours?

[onehundredswords]

Well there's nothin' harsh about this one, it's pretty easy.

[He starts shuffling the deck.]

I show ya' a' card from the top of the deck, put it into the deck an' shuffle 'em all up.

Then I flip over the top card a' the deck again once they're all shuffled.

If it's the one I showed ya' before I shuffled, I win, if it ain't, you get the prize!

Interested?

[heartsink]

[ Her head tilts a little in consideration, a bit of numbers running through her mind. With a standard poker deck, there would "presumably" be a one in fifty-two (or fifty-four) chance of drawing the card that was previously determined. That number would be affected by the type of shuffle, and the skill with it.

Presuming it wasn't a trick deck to begin with, of course, or that the cards hadn't been modified such that even an unskilled shuffle would return the marked card to the top of the deck. ]

You're that good, huh? Alright, I'm game, I suppose.

[ There was curiosity in her expression, her attention on his hands, rather than eagerness for a prize. ]

[collectedloot]

If anything, I think my luck's hit an all time low.

[Can't really blame her for feeling this way. Anyways, she looks over their setup and...]

Why the mask?

[onehundredswords]

Aw, c'mon now, just cause the likes a' you guys are trapped here for a bit don't mean it's gotta be all bad, does it?

[He places a hand to one side of his mask.]

I got some awful disfigurement under here. Find it's easier movin' around in public if it ain't on display.

[collectedloot]

Oh... right.

[Did Alex actually believe him? Hard to really say at this point, but she wasn't particularly wanting to press the issue any further.]

So what's this all about?

[onehundredswords]

[The fact he isn't disguising his voice says a lot about how much he cares to keep up the act - it's a little muffled but easy to understand despite the mask, so it wouldn't be difficult to put two and two together if they heard him speaking without it.]

Just a card game, is all! We flip over the top card, put it back into the deck, shuffle, then show the top card again.

If it's the card from before the shuffle, I win, if it ain't, you win! 15 marques for ya' if you win, 15 for me if ya' lose.

Interested?

[collectedloot]

[It all sounded simple enough, however, Alex was still somewhat hesitant.]

I'd like to, but... I don't really have that much money to spend right now.

[All she had was the allowance they had given her and even that was more money than Alex was used to seeing.]

I really want to make it last as long as I can.

[And finally getting some decent clothes.]

[bittertears]

Not particularly, though suppose that it wouldn't matter much to you, would it?

[to the point as always.]

[onehundredswords]

Ouch - yanno luck don't take sides, right? It's awful capricious.

[Despite the mask, it's easy to hear the smile in his voice.]

It's why it makes such good business. It's a lot more fair than games a' skill.

[bittertears]

I'm quite aware of that, thank you very much.

[a quick observation of the station he's made for himself.]

What exactly are the rules for this?

[onehundredswords]

Pretty simple! All it takes is a single show a' the top card, put it back into the deck, shuffle 'em up an' show the top card again.

If it's the top card from before the shuffle, I win, if it ain't, you win! 15 marques a' try.

[He begins shuffling the deck.]

Interested?