areyto | EVENT | SETTLING IN

SETTLING IN

Initial quarantine period is over, but the newest arrivals in Llave, known colloquially as “Los Aparecidos” (The Appeared), remain largely restricted to the shelter for two primary reasons: one, as they are currently stateless, meaning they have no rights to citizenship anywhere, what to do with them continues to be debated; and two, it has become rapidly obvious that many have zero knowledge not just of the nation they find themselves in, but of the wider world around them.

The former has been explained to them via the lawyers who have taken their collective case, and further clarified by the prime minister, Rosario Alonzo de León, when she and several members of her government return to speak again with the arrivals. A highly intelligent and capable woman in her late forties, she makes a point of sitting with each newcomer to Llave to converse about their experiences thus far and what concerns they have.

As for the lagoons in characters’ knowledge, steps are being taken to address these.

Classes are being held now, in order to prepare the arrivals for whatever happens next. Characters will be taught a variety of skills, including but not limited to communication methods such as mail, phones, television, radio and the Internet; use of appliances, including basic lessons on modern utilities; and general safety rules both inside and outside the home. Characters can request specific classes or volunteer to help teach their companions. (And for anyone learning or helping to teach how to read and write, a reminder that the Spanish alphabet consists of 27 letters: ‘ñ’ has its place after ‘n’. And ‘ll’ and ‘rr’ have their own sounds.)

The woman organizing the classes has become well-known to the arrivals: Evelyn Burgos Peña was a clinical social worker before leaving her previous work to assume the duties of First Lady when her wife was elected. Aside from spearheading the new education efforts for the arrivals, she has also been working diligently with the Bajari Bara to establish the second change in the daily routine.

Due to the generally acceptable behavior during the Day of Heroes, characters are now sometimes permitted to leave the shelter to visit Old Nona. These group excursions are not every day, and last only a few hours. One of these excursions is tied to a class to which all are invited. Rather than make learning more about Llave itself a tedious lecture, on the week of November 22nd, the museum characters arrived at has opened its doors to them for a special exhibit on the island's early history. Characters are accompanied as they were during the Day of Heroes by a guide and an escort of Bajari Bara.

Characters are reminded being permitted outside is a privilege. Until the matter of their legal status is resolved, they have few rights and fewer legal protections. Behavior and curfew are both strictly enforced, and violations will result in the loss of this privilege.

Otherwise, the routine in the shelter remains the same. Caseworkers still check in daily and will refer those who present a need or who request it to the appropriate mental health professionals. Hot meals continue to be provided three times a day along with snacks. A projector was brought in and a different movie is aired every night (General Audiences only—remember, there are children present), with the shelter staff providing snacks to make it a movie theater experience. Entertainment items—books, games, sports equipment, art supplies, etc.—are available and can also be requested (though no promises are made that characters will get exactly what they want, especially if the item can double as a weapon).

Possession of weapons remains strictly prohibited and any visible weapons will be confiscated. Any who attempts to flout this rule, starts fights in the shelter or in Nona or attempts to break out will be swiftly separated from the rest by the Bajari Bara. Further violence will result in consequences according to their actions.

THE MONTH'S HEADLINES

Red chickcharney seen celebrating during the Day of Heroes.
Tombs found disturbed in Nona's Old Cemetery.
Santa Cecilia cattle farmers on high alert after cows, sheep found mauled.
Unidentified flying object spotted off the coast of Bimini.

OOC PLANNING POST • NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ during one of their days out, jory sees spots of red on a nearby tree. at first, she thinks them fruit. a closer look reveals them to be flowers with big, rounded, red petals and a red pistil, crowned with pollen like gold. noting her interest, one of the bajari bara walks her close and tells her its name—the maga—and even picks one of the flowers and hands it to her with a wink and a jape not to tell anyone.

clutching her flower, jory returns to the group. spotting elizabeth, she looks at her flower, then back at the woman. elizabeth has been kind to her. she sleeps in the cot next to hers (and gendry on the other side) and stayed up one night telling them stories of pirates and marvelous treasure and days upon the sea.

weaving among the others, jory catches up to elizabeth, and tugs on her hand to get her attention. the child flourishes the flower at elizabeth. ]

It's for you.

Edited 2020-11-08 17:35 (UTC)

[For a moment, there's nothing but the slightest bit of surprise on her face, shown in the slight widening of her eyes. Her fingers curl around Jory's instinctively, to keep her close- honestly, she'd turned her head for only a moment- and then warmth curls in the corners of her smile, and in her voice. More genuine than she's responded to any such thing in years]

It's lovely. Thank you.

[It's strange. Once, a gift of something as simple as a flower would hardly have been noteworthy. They'd sat in vases on her table, refreshed every few days, before she could notice their wilt- and their fragrance diminished by the smell of the sea, so close to the window. She'd been spoiled by much finer things- imported sweets, books encased in leather and gilded in gold, dresses of silk and necklaces strung with pearls. But even then, as much as she'd appreciated the beauty of her things, and the love of her father to give them to her- none of them had appealed to her so much as the stories that she'd found in the pages of her books.

And even if once, she'd been gifted in excess for a variety of reasons- her father's affections, Norrington trying to win hers, other's looking for favour with the Governor's daughter- she hadn't received anything beautiful in years. Nothing that she hadn't had to take for herself, or bartered with, anyway. These things, simple joys, hadn't seemed important, when thrown up beside the larger things- fighting for choice, for freedom, for love.

She almost doesn't know what to do with it. Wear it in her hair? Put it in a glass of water to admire, for a time? Try and find a book to press it within? Her fingers of her free hand skim along the edge of the soft, red petals.]

Where did you find it?

[It's nearly awkward- and is at least, a more appropriate curiosity and than chasing after the whims of children. Elizabeth can't think of anything she'd done that had warranted it. She'd only tried to give some small measure of comfort, of entertainment while confined- fantasy with a taste of truth, the most enthralling way to impart a tale- and hardly done anything she'd actually meant to do.

Find the answers that no one else had seemed to have either]

That tree.

[ she waves a hand in its direction, its canopy crowned with red blooms like rubies. the broad green leaves lift gently in the breeze. ]

One of the Bajari Bara got it for me. I could have climbed it, [ she makes sure to leave very clear.

she would have scrambled up the trunk like a squirrel and balanced atop the branches smooth as summer silk. she would have picked out more than one, then, a whole bunch. but one is still good and one is pretty, almost as much as elizabeth. ]

EVENT | SETTLING IN

elizabeth.

excuse this rust

non