IC: District 11

[MrE]

The pair of tributes are both brought out of the town hall and marched to the train. It is a sleek metallic object, larger than anything you have in the district and quite alien to you. The doors slide open as you approach and you walk through a small compartment before coming to a luxuriously appointed room. The panels are made of mahogany and a number of tables sport works of art whilst valuable metals glint everywhere.

There are a number of sofas and comfortable chairs in the room, and Nala collapses into one of these, and the waif like woman looks out the window, looking beyond the glance with a vacant expression.

As the two tributes are taking seats, two more people enter the room, both dark skinned and well known to the people of district 11: Seeder and Chaff, the victors. Seeder is an older woman, whilst Chaff is in his middle years, but the distinctive stump at the end of his left arm is the only clue needed to know his name. They nod their greetings to the pair of tributes, sizing them up.

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Welcome to the joint IC thread. Subscribe and then begin your meetings. If your character has some sort of hidden thoughts you don't want your fellow tribute to know, then you can post them in your personal thread.

[Rysc]

Taking a seat in one of the chairs as far away from Nala as possible, Trefoil gazes around the room. This single train compartment is probably worth more than all the District 11 citizens' houses combined. She can't help running her fingers over the mahogany paneling near her seat.

When their apparent mentors enter, she turns her attention to them, but remains silent.

[MrE]

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Sorry for the delay: I'd left this because I was waiting for Talas's player to post. If you are waiting on me again, feel free to nudge (PM) me

"Trefoil?" Seeder asks, though clearly they all knew each other's names. "And you must be Talas?" She seems very motherly, but to her surprise neither of the tributes are weeping. "I know it's a shock, and I can't sugarcoat this: it will be hard, but we're here to help you through this."

Chaff for his part opens the drinks cabinet and pours himself a generous glass of some sort of golden liquid. He offers it to each of the tributes.

[Rysc]

Trefoil's not quite sure if this whole event is a shock, but maybe it's because she's going into--or still?--in shock. After waving away Chaff's offer, she takes a few moments before she finally speaks. "You're here to help, then. How, exactly?"

[Wild_West_Ninja]

Talas stands in the corner taking deep breaths, clearly uncomfortable with his surroundings. He accepts the drink, giving it a cautious taste. "How are we gonna be able to win this?"

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Sorry about taking so long, the weekend kinda messed up my internal schedule. I'll try not to let that happen again.

[MrE]

Trefoil's not quite sure if this whole event is a shock, but maybe it's because she's going into--or still?--in shock. After waving away Chaff's offer, she takes a few moments before she finally speaks. "You're here to help, then. How, exactly?"

"Well, we give you advice; how to impress sponsors, and the judges. We also work on your behalf to attract sponsors and then decide how their donations are spent in the Games. And, we can give you training advice. It is nearly impossible to learn to fight from scratch in a week, but we can help you with that as well."

Talas stands in the corner taking deep breaths, clearly uncomfortable with his surroundings. He accepts the drink, giving it a cautious taste. "How are we gonna be able to win this?"

The drink tastes of barley, and some kind of fruit, apple? But it has a very strong taste of alcohol that is utterly overpowering. "Winning is hard," Seeder hedges, but Chaff cuts across her. "Damn near impossible. If you want to win you need to be hard: either join the careers or go it alone. People have tried forming 'anti-career-packs' in the past, but they aren't as well trained or as strong as the careers and they die." Chaff's face is dark; perhaps this was a particular nerve. "You need to decide if you want to look harmless, in which case you get no sponsors, or to look dangerous in which case your a target. It's about tactics kid, and you need to have a game plan. Even then it's darn tough."

[Wild_West_Ninja]

Talas sips his drink, "Tough, I can handle. It's someone getting a lucky hit and killing me I'm worried about."

[Rysc]

Trefoil eyes her fellow tribute. "Well, I'm not so sure about myself, but I'd appreciate any advice." She turns to the mentors. "What would you recommend?"

[Comissar]

"You've got to decide that yourself. The image you present will make a big difference. You're gonna want to be careful in front of the other tributes, don't show them what you're capable of," Chaff pauses, his face grim again as he collects his thoughts, "The Career's are going to be watching each and every one of you for weaknesses. Don't show any. Present a strong front, don't rely on others to help you while you're training. At the same time, don't excel. You want to look average. It's a difficult balance to strike, but it gives you your best chance in the arena at the start."

Though Chaff looks as though he firmly believes this, Seeder seems less convinced by the man's speech. "After the training, you'll be given a chance to show off to the Game makers in a private session. That's where you should present your strongest front if you want to attract sponsor's. We'll do what we can, but a good score means they'll see less risk in investing in you."

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Hey there! I'll be Gming your joint IC while MrE is away. Hopefully the change won't be too jarring.

[Wild_West_Ninja]

"So... we'd want to appear nonthreatening during training until the private session, then we go to town. Sounds easy enough, I'll want to brush up on survival skills anyway."

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Hey, you're not our real GM! We don't have to listen to you! I'm gonna go eat ice-cream and watch scary movies!

[Rysc]

"'Easier said than done' seems very applicable here, even if I guess that sounds...like a reasonable tactic. But doesn't everyone get to see the scores eventually?"

[Comissar]

Seeder nods, "Yeah, that's right. The score's won't show what you're capable of, though, so it'll still keep the other tributes guessing about what you can do."

Chaff stands and heads over to the wall mounted screen, "First thing's first, though. Let's take a look at the competition."

He flicks on the screen and you're greeted by the Panem anthem. After a moment, the replay of the reapings begins.

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At the end of the replay, Chaff lets out a low whistle and Seeder grimaces. "I won't lie to you two, this is going to be a rough year by the look of things..."

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Hunger Games Channel

[Rysc]

Trefoil sighs. "Lucky us." She quickly regains her blank expression, though, as she stares at the passing blur of scenery a moment before continuing. "At least maybe an anti-career pack might actually hold up this year. Though that's not...necessarily better. Also, two technical difficulties? I wonder why."

[Comissar]

Seeder scratches under her chin as she considers Trefoil's question, "Could be any number of things, not least of which are genuine technical difficulties..." She shrugs non-comitally, "I'll ask the other mentor's about it when we arrive at the Capital. Chances are it's not relevant, but if it's important you two should know about it."

[Wild_West_Ninja]

Talas moves over to look out the window and stares out silently.

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Whelp, I'm out of train stuff. Do we want to synchronize costumes for when we get to the capitol? I'm kinda liking this one, very forest god-ish.

[Comissar]

The speeding train catches your attention as it suddenly begins to slow. For the last hour the train has been speeding along mountains and shooting through tunnels. Finally it comes out of a final tunnel and the sun shines down upon it. With it now slowing, the train track curves to the side and allows you to see in the distance the capital.

A gigantic metropolis, it is comprised of countless metal buildings that stretch into the sky towards the clouds. Never in your life have you seen such tall buildings. Scattered along the skyline are floating ships that hang in the sky.

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The train continues to slow, and eventually closes into the city. People line the track, waving to you as the train enters the capital. The capital citizens are an odd bunch, all dressed in bright colors with bizarre hairstyles and some even have odd grafts on their bodies. The sheer number of them decorating the pristine streets is mind boggling to you.

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Once the train stops, your chaperone takes you to a nearby building. There a team of highly trained capital employees take over cleaning you. They scrub you clean on a level you've never felt before, removing a layer of skin from your body, thoroughly washing your hair, waxing body hair, and picking any specks of dirt that may be under your nails.

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From here you'll be split up again, so back to your individual IC's for your descriptions of prep teams etc. You'll be back in this thread soon enough more or less straight after the parade, though. IC - Hunger Games Thread

[Rysc]

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Whelp, I'm out of train stuff. Do we want to synchronize costumes for when we get to the capitol? I'm kinda liking this one, very forest god-ish.

The costume's fine with me! (Sorry, I must have missed your post before...)

[MrE]

With the parade over, District 11's chariot is lead away from the central path, taking a route that brings it to an imposing skyscraper. The chariot stops outside the building where the tributes are met by Nala and Seeder. The mentor from 11 appears to be holding up the escort, who grins vacantly at the pair of tributes without really seeing them. Seeder gives the two a long suffering look, then leads the group inside.

The skyscraper is an impossible building that seems to reach up infinitely above them, the central section being made up of completely transparent glass. Seeder ushers them to a clear glass tube and stepping inside, presses a panel and a golden 11 appears before the capsule suddenly hurtles upwards. When it stops, the pair is ushered out into a fantastic apartment, the likes of which they have only ever seen on the Capitol broadcasts. There are sofas in the centre of the room, pointing to a wall that they guess will turn into a screen at some point, and further along is a large dining table where Chaff is sat, a drink in his one remaining hand. On the far side, there are huge windows that look out onto the evening sky.

Seeder gestures to the rows of doors down each side which have the titles of their occupants embossed in gilded lettering: Male Tribute, Female Tribute, Mentor, Mentor, Escort.

"You both did well," Seeder praised, as she lay Nala down on the sofa. "The stylists out did themselves. In all the districts honestly. Did you speak to any of the others?"

[Rysc]

Trefoil's attention seems to be focused on the panoramic view provided by the windows. Still facing them, she responds to Chaff. "No." After a moment she continues somewhat absentmindedly. "Seeing the others...in person. I don't know..." She trails off, then abruptly starts again, finally turning around. "Any impressions, any of you, of the other tributes?"

[MrE]

"Well the boy from 12 is a real headcase. Don't know how his stylist got that approved after the 'technical difficulties' in their district. I'd watch out for him though. We spoke with some of the mentors and escorts: the escort from 2 doesn't seem happy with her's right now, but she never is. District 1 on the other hand seems particularly strong from what I've heard."

"But if it is a strong year, we need to work on how to market you straight away. You need to decide for yourself what your strategy will be, both for getting sponsors and allies now, and for in the arena. That way, we can work on helping you from the beginning. If you'd rather not share the details with your patrner," Seeder began awkwardly, "We can pair off and do it in private?"

[Rysc]

"Yes...privately, please. I mean, no offense--" Trefoil nods almost imperceptibly at the other tribute "--but...well...you understand..."

[MrE]

Seeder nods, "That's perfectly alright. Trefoil, you'll come with me?"

Seeder leads the female tribute to the mentor's room, whilst Chaff gives Talas an appraising look.

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Make your next posts in your respective personal IC threads