Into the Lion's Den (IC/OPEN/MT)

[Sophistan]

If you are interested:

https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=470595

POWER TO WISDOM!

The sun shines hot from the clear, blue sky on the equally deep blue sea. In the air hangs the slight smell of the salt, which becomes clearer with the airstream. Through the ocean, a huge luxury ferry sails on its way to the Epistocratic Confederation. Its passengers have come from all over the world to set foot on this island. As the tropical island visibly gets closer and closer, the ship stops short of the harbor to ask for admission. It really does not take long for the ship to enter the harbor.
The passengers on the deck are met by signs:
"Καλώς ήρθατε στο Σοφιστάν - Η Σώμα της Σοφίας"
"Gratam Sophistan - sapientiæ est in domum suam"
"Welcome to Sophistan - The Home of Wisdom"
Is written on them.
The ferry arrives at a dock and opens its gates, allowing passengers to enter the island state.
"Everyone listen!" Said a young gentleman in uniform. "Everyone is now in the ranks for the registration"
He pointed to various entrances in the harbor house.

---

Again the rules :
- This is a very open world free social RP. There are several narrative threads that can be followed, but this is not necessary..

- I as OP maintain the right to play any NPC, whether they are planned or random to interact with your character. You may also interact with a random NPC which you can invent on the spot.

- When you post, your first line must be Bolded, stating your location and character name.

- No violence against NPC unless it is provoked.

- You always stay within polis.

-It is possible to break laws to create a scenario.

-The entry to Sophistan is difficult and expensive. So it would be logical that your character is either rich, politically charged or a famous intellectual.

[AHSCA]

Polis On the Docks

The first trip abroad for the always-young-at-heart couple Kanea and Arorah the two former Senators from AHSCA now retired and looking for quality time. Granted quality time on the sea sounded inticing for Kanea but Arorah felt just time on the seas wouldn't be as romantic or worthwhile as visiting somewhere. Over a long evening of throwing sharpened twigs at various locations on a shortlist they just decided let the winds carry them and the winds did so, a blind boarding of a passenger ship and seeing what would happen. Stormy seas, calm days, days of extreme nothingness and empty horizons then land in sight came, the land of Polis of Sophistan, honestly for two women more comfortable with just their skin than lots of fancy clothing it seemed really ideal place to land. Enforced nudity laws seemed perfect and honestly neither of them had really ever been outside the UIS before both super nativeist and strict loyalty to their ways of life for public face. But those days now over they didn't have to worry as much about keeping up public appearances and keeping their voter base happy. Now they could let loose a little but still in a way that was not different from home.

"HERE WE AAAAARE" Arorah shouted excited as they stepped off.

Kanea just looked on a bit quiet in awe not sure what to really make of it. Honestly she might have wished they set to the Freelands of the Selkie but maybe this was okay, it was tropical like home. "Come on Kae come on get a little excited"

"Sorry. You know I'm happy to be here with you but still not sure how we'll work in such an urban environment"

"Aww come on I bet it won't even be that crazy. Probably even find a few things in common here. I mean enforced nudity, like many villages back home, clear blue waters, non discriminating against same-sex couples. It's gonna be perfect."

"Mmmm." She still replied with nervous reservation then again Kanea was usually kind of quite and reserved, which made it more odd SHE used to be the leading senator. I guess passion can make anyone come out of their shells.

"Hey it'll be good. I think they have good little places on the water too like beach huts back home! Come on call this a 'honeymoon'" She wrapped her arms around Kanea.

"Arorah, you're always so full of energy, like you haven't changed a bit since we were teens"

"Well you haven't changed much. Shy, timid but still confident when you need to be!" she winked at her.

[The Selkie]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Port of Polis, arrival pier.
I smiled.
This was... strangely liberating. Walking around in nothing but a pair of sandals, everything in the ways of clothing, left in a little bag, which I would not open for the entirety of the trip. There wasn't even a pair of panties, which I wore.
And I could do so.
Seventeen years of age, Selkie, blonde hair bound up into a ponytail, brown eyes behind a pair of underrim glasses, that was me. And I was in Sophistan with my three best friends and schoolmates.
I had no particular leaning towards nudism, I was mostly in it for the beaches, real tropics and not the fake ones from the Oileánra-Archipelago. The idea to celebrate the week off from Amaethon's Holy Day in Polis had been more of a community effort of us four of Ronm-Dó, one of the Crogall Amphibious Armoured Vehicles of the Coileáin, a.k.a. the Iris Boarding School Sensha-Do Team. Of course, we didn't have our trust Blue Seal with us, but it was the thought, that mattered.
I was the one financing the adventure, as my Dad was Raidri Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan, a timber magnate, who loved his little Nolly and when I left the pamphlet about Polis open on a long weekend's visit a few weeks back, he had asked me, if we wanted to go there and when I told him, that it was too expensive for four students, he literally said: "Pish-posh! You four earned that!"
That meant, that we four were in my Dad's debt. There were more uncomfortable people to be in the debt of, that was for sure.
Anyway, the other three...
Caollaidhe Saibhir of the Tribe of Wicklow, a.k.a. Cao, was our loader, the twin-tailed Middle Schooler, who had the body of someone about to graduate. 15 Springs old, Light brownish-grey hair and red-brown eyes made her look exotic, even by our standards, and quite a drawer of attention.
Deirdre Stiúradh of the Tribe of Fermanagh, our driver, was another Middle Schooler, this time indeed looking like one, if it weren't for her being taller then the rest of us. 14 and an avid driver, both of tanks and of 'normal' cars, she was a passionate and headstrong young woman. She, and her travelbug, had convinced us to look abroad for a traveling destination.
Iuna Radharceolaíocht of the Tribe of Westmeath, our loader, was our jokester and quite good at it - she was happy as long as she could be with us and visiting a country of nudists had been her idea. I was sure, in retrospect, that she meant it as a joke, but here we were.
About to embark on our own little adventure, dressed for the ocassion.
When we disembarked, small traveling bags slung over the shoulder - one would not believe with how little one could travel when clothing was not something one had to take along - I followed the lead of the other passengers, including a pair of women older then any of us (I would estimate late twenties), one with blue eyes and long, brown hair, the other with black hair and blue eyes. The latter was quite energetic and, to be honest, childish, but her excitement was infectious.
An officer of the harbour directed us to registration, different gates into the harbour house.
Iuna slung an around my shoulder and pulled me into a one-armed hug, suddenly, widely grinning: "Hey, Nolly, crack a smile! We're here! No more shipping!"
Iuna spent most of the trip hanging over the railings and reliving her lunch.
I indeed smiled softly, glad, that the taller girl had no bust to speak of (don't mention it to her, it's her berserk button), looked at her. "Indeed, finally off the boat!", I replied and then put an arm around her, invited Cao and Deirdre into a group meeting. Four naked girls putting their heads together... that sounds like the premise for a very specific kind of movie... anyway: "Alright, Blue Seals, the game mode today and for the next seven days until departure is easy: Have fun! Have excitement! See this city! Get souvenirs! And stay out of trouble!" I grinned and let a beat pass. "Ar aghaidh!"
"Chuig briseadh!", the three replied.
Onwards!, the old battlecry said, Towards Battle!
And thus, we went to do battle against the registration process, taking the gates for the Caste of Prudence.

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, arrival pier.
When in Shella, do as the Selkie do, or how did that proverb go?
It was not my favourite right now. Sure, respecting local laws and customs was important for a merchant, so both me and my Maestro, Siore Silvio Esecutore, were naked save for a pair of sandals.
I was blonde, had long, curly hair, which fell down in a golden waterfall, with aqua eyes, which were often described as glittering, especially if I liked something, like right now: The sight of Polis, after a long time on a ship, that wasn't the Lustro (currently being overhauled after her trip to Port Ember), was like seeing paradise! I had only one problem: The nudity.
I wasn't a prude, that one was left to my Maestro, but I had two rather large assets on my chest... if they hung freely for too long, they would start to sag. And that was bad. I would have to double my regimen, at least, but that was for the next few days.
Lutetii, where we came from, was a place, where there was a strict ban on public nudity and too-short clothing, with strict rules as to what went on a beach and what didn't. So... this was a bit of a culture shock.
My Maestro, a tall man, nearly two metres, spindly man with long, straight and black hair and purple eyes, which seemed to bore into everyone's eyes even at a passing glance, was quite scraggy. His usual suits never allowed one to see that or the many scars he got as a kid, when he lived in Miniera during the siege as a twelve-year-old. I had tried not to stare too much, but he had told me about some of them one evening on the cruise.
I was his apprentice as a Merchant, the two of us representing a conglomerate known as the Associazione degli Agricoltori della Confederazione, AAC for short. Commercio dei Viticoltori a Fortezza, CCVF for short, a business representing a number of vinters around Fortezza, was in our portfolio, but due to the ban of alcohol around these parts, the other companies of the conglomerate would be our main focus in trying to sell to the locals.
With foreigners we met around here, all bets were off, though, safe for testing. No samples with us, in compliance with the local laws.
However, we also worked for a bunch of people known as the LCN, La Coste Nostre, which was the Lutetiian Mafia, the largest and most powerful of them all. The LCN dealt in drugs, weapons, everything safe for humans and other sapient beings. If someone would show interest in that connection...
Caution. AAC and my boss were rumoured to have connections into that direction, but at the end of the day, these were only rumours - not proven with irrefutable evidence. They were true, though. In how far the local authorities knew about all of that, and in how far they cared, was another question.
So, we disembarked in Polis.
The only reason, why my boss didn't have a... uh... strong piece of wood was the fact, that he had taken an anaphrodisiac agent earlier. Herb of Grace, to be precise, and it apparently worked. No need to hold oneself up to ridicule!
Our bags were two small ones with personal supplies and a larger one with a few pieces of electronic equipment and other stuff, which might be useful for two merchants, my handbag, a small knapsack for my Maestro and that was about it.
While the majority of the bags was carried by my boss, I took out our passports and other needed documents, even a cargo manifest, as we followed the directions... slowly, though, as to not get into the main rush.
I knew, that this would be interesting. And profitable.

[Port Ember]

Charlotte Huntley - Port of Polis

Charlotte was.. uncomfortable to say the least, and it was not the hot humid tropical weather which caused her discomfort, as her native Port Ember has the same tropical climate which she knows and adores. Its not even the fact that she was stark naked which bothered her, nor the fact that everyone around her was stark naked in public, as again her native Port Ember has prepared her for this - no public decency laws and liberal freedom views and such. No, what caused her discomfort was the strong reek of authority hanging on the atmosphere. The fact that everyone was naked BY LAW. As a freedom loving Port Emberian, this reeked of pure evil and embarressment. Her mental state, combined with the fact that her long wavy red hair was sticking to and tickling her naked back due to the heat and humidity, workes together to annoy her slightly.

Charlotte atleast enjoyed the trip to Sophistan via ship, as once again her native land and history has prepared her - she held a deep passion for the ocean, so traveling on it was a well deserved holiday by itself.

Due to her slight irritation, she immediately question her decision of agreeing to accept a temporary position as a guest lecturer here in this nation of academics and hitlers. But she was here now, might as well accept her consequences of her idiotic decisions..

As she was walking towards registration she noticed quite a few people. Two women who appeared to be a couple, a group of 4 female children and a.. couple, male and female, of which the man appears much older - scarred and wise, and the girl beautifull and youthfull.

Charlotte sensed tons of excitement from the peiple around her, and she could not but wonder what their motivations could be to travel to this strange land.

Her heavy black backback was slowly starting to scathe her naked back, and this again brought back the irritation from before, and could not help but question how long this registration process would take.

[Sophistan]

Polis On the Docks

The first trip abroad for the always-young-at-heart couple Kanea and Arorah the two former Senators from AHSCA now retired and looking for quality time. Granted quality time on the sea sounded inticing for Kanea but Arorah felt just time on the seas wouldn't be as romantic or worthwhile as visiting somewhere. Over a long evening of throwing sharpened twigs at various locations on a shortlist they just decided let the winds carry them and the winds did so, a blind boarding of a passenger ship and seeing what would happen. Stormy seas, calm days, days of extreme nothingness and empty horizons then land in sight came, the land of Polis of Sophistan, honestly for two women more comfortable with just their skin than lots of fancy clothing it seemed really ideal place to land. Enforced nudity laws seemed perfect and honestly neither of them had really ever been outside the UIS before both super nativeist and strict loyalty to their ways of life for public face. But those days now over they didn't have to worry as much about keeping up public appearances and keeping their voter base happy. Now they could let loose a little but still in a way that was not different from home.

"HERE WE AAAAARE" Arorah shouted excited as they stepped off.

Kanea just looked on a bit quiet in awe not sure what to really make of it. Honestly she might have wished they set to the Freelands of the Selkie but maybe this was okay, it was tropical like home. "Come on Kae come on get a little excited"

"Sorry. You know I'm happy to be here with you but still not sure how we'll work in such an urban environment"

"Aww come on I bet it won't even be that crazy. Probably even find a few things in common here. I mean enforced nudity, like many villages back home, clear blue waters, non discriminating against same-sex couples. It's gonna be perfect."

"Mmmm." She still replied with nervous reservation then again Kanea was usually kind of quite and reserved, which made it more odd SHE used to be the leading senator. I guess passion can make anyone come out of their shells.

"Hey it'll be good. I think they have good little places on the water too like beach huts back home! Come on call this a 'honeymoon'" She wrapped her arms around Kanea.

"Arorah, you're always so full of energy, like you haven't changed a bit since we were teens"

"Well you haven't changed much. Shy, timid but still confident when you need to be!" she winked at her.

The two ladies could not hug for long, as they were from a crowd of jostled people (sometimes already naked, sometimes still in clothing) were strained in the direction of registration. The entrances of the various registration stations were overridden with signs, all of which were written in Greek, Latin and English. On the signs stood mostly "tourists", on some stood "political guests" and "academic guests".
The entrances led into a harbor house that rounded the harbor, so they seemed the only exit to the city.

---

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Port of Polis, arrival pier.

I smiled.
This was... strangely liberating. Walking around in nothing but a pair of sandals, everything in the ways of clothing, left in a little bag, which I would not open for the entirety of the trip. There wasn't even a pair of panties, which I wore.
And I could do so.
Seventeen years of age, Selkie, blonde hair bound up into a ponytail, brown eyes behind a pair of underrim glasses, that was me. And I was in Sophistan with my three best friends and schoolmates.
I had no particular leaning towards nudism, I was mostly in it for the beaches, real tropics and not the fake ones from the Oileánra-Archipelago. The idea to celebrate the week off from Amaethon's Holy Day in Polis had been more of a community effort of us four of Ronm-Dó, one of the Crogall Amphibious Armoured Vehicles of the Coileáin, a.k.a. the Iris Boarding School Sensha-Do Team. Of course, we didn't have our trust Blue Seal with us, but it was the thought, that mattered.
I was the one financing the adventure, as my Dad was Raidri Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan, a timber magnate, who loved his little Nolly and when I left the pamphlet about Polis open on a long weekend's visit a few weeks back, he had asked me, if we wanted to go there and when I told him, that it was too expensive for four students, he literally said: "Pish-posh! You four earned that!"
That meant, that we four were in my Dad's debt. There were more uncomfortable people to be in the debt of, that was for sure.
Anyway, the other three...
Caollaidhe Saibhir of the Tribe of Wicklow, a.k.a. Cao, was our loader, the twin-tailed Middle Schooler, who had the body of someone about to graduate. 15 Springs old, Light brownish-grey hair and red-brown eyes made her look exotic, even by our standards, and quite a drawer of attention.
Deirdre Stiúradh of the Tribe of Fermanagh, our driver, was another Middle Schooler, this time indeed looking like one, if it weren't for her being taller then the rest of us. 14 and an avid driver, both of tanks and of 'normal' cars, she was a passionate and headstrong young woman. She, and her travelbug, had convinced us to look abroad for a traveling destination.
Iuna Radharceolaíocht of the Tribe of Westmeath, our loader, was our jokester and quite good at it - she was happy as long as she could be with us and visiting a country of nudists had been her idea. I was sure, in retrospect, that she meant it as a joke, but here we were.
About to embark on our own little adventure, dressed for the ocassion.
When we disembarked, small traveling bags slung over the shoulder - one would not believe with how little one could travel when clothing was not something one had to take along - I followed the lead of the other passengers, including a pair of women older then any of us (I would estimate late twenties), one with blue eyes and long, brown hair, the other with black hair and blue eyes. The latter was quite energetic and, to be honest, childish, but her excitement was infectious.
An officer of the harbour directed us to registration, different gates into the harbour house.
Iuna slung an around my shoulder and pulled me into a one-armed hug, suddenly, widely grinning: "Hey, Nolly, crack a smile! We're here! No more shipping!"
Iuna spent most of the trip hanging over the railings and reliving her lunch.
I indeed smiled softly, glad, that the taller girl had no bust to speak of (don't mention it to her, it's her berserk button), looked at her. "Indeed, finally off the boat!", I replied and then put an arm around her, invited Cao and Deirdre into a group meeting. Four naked girls putting their heads together... that sounds like the premise for a very specific kind of movie... anyway: "Alright, Blue Seals, the game mode today and for the next seven days until departure is easy: Have fun! Have excitement! See this city! Get souvenirs! And stay out of trouble!" I grinned and let a beat pass. "Ar aghaidh!"
"Chuig briseadh!", the three replied.
Onwards!, the old battlecry said, Towards Battle!
And thus, we went to do battle against the registration process, taking the gates for the Caste of Prudence.

The registration office was cooled by two fans and had no windows. Ariadne (as she revealed her name tag, which stood in front of her) sat at her desk and worked on a computer, the tourists who just wanted to enter. She was a dark blond woman, in her early thirties, who also wore nothing except a necklace that hung around her neck. Like most people in Sophistan, she had a tanned, southern skin tone. Actually, Ariadne was a pretty woman, but her slightly slanted eyebrows gave her a natural-evil look. Her forehead was marked by how many times she had to frown.
Ariadne hated her job. She just did not feel well cared for here. It can not be that a member of the highest caste did an office job that any village idiot could have done. She was working on a family that wanted to enter the country.
Damn tourists, she thought .Pay a lot of money for the trip to go once for free in the cribhouse..
Next to her table was a scanner for the suitcases and the people, as often happens at airports. In front of the scanner stood a young man who wore a uniform and was armed. He supervised the procedure. Ariadne thought he was quite a handsome guy, but she could not deal with a guard. Ariadne sighed and looked at the bust of the philosopher Plato, who was standing on the desk.#
Is that really what you wanted?, she thought as she looked at the national hero.
But she did not have much time to think. The next tourists came already. It was a group of young girls, of whom Ariadne was not sure if they were already full age. She pulled herself together not to make a silly spell.
"Hello, ladies," she said in a slight Greek accent. "Please hand me over your passports".

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, arrival pier.

When in Shella, do as the Selkie do, or how did that proverb go?
It was not my favourite right now. Sure, respecting local laws and customs was important for a merchant, so both me and my Maestro, Siore Silvio Esecutore, were naked save for a pair of sandals.
I was blonde, had long, curly hair, which fell down in a golden waterfall, with aqua eyes, which were often described as glittering, especially if I liked something, like right now: The sight of Polis, after a long time on a ship, that wasn't the Lustro (currently being overhauled after her trip to Port Ember), was like seeing paradise! I had only one problem: The nudity.
I wasn't a prude, that one was left to my Maestro, but I had two rather large assets on my chest... if they hung freely for too long, they would start to sag. And that was bad. I would have to double my regimen, at least, but that was for the next few days.
Lutetii, where we came from, was a place, where there was a strict ban on public nudity and too-short clothing, with strict rules as to what went on a beach and what didn't. So... this was a bit of a culture shock.
My Maestro, a tall man, nearly two metres, spindly man with long, straight and black hair and purple eyes, which seemed to bore into everyone's eyes even at a passing glance, was quite scraggy. His usual suits never allowed one to see that or the many scars he got as a kid, when he lived in Miniera during the siege as a twelve-year-old. I had tried not to stare too much, but he had told me about some of them one evening on the cruise.
I was his apprentice as a Merchant, the two of us representing a conglomerate known as the Associazione degli Agricoltori della Confederazione, AAC for short. Commercio dei Viticoltori a Fortezza, CCVF for short, a business representing a number of vinters around Fortezza, was in our portfolio, but due to the ban of alcohol around these parts, the other companies of the conglomerate would be our main focus in trying to sell to the locals.
With foreigners we met around here, all bets were off, though, safe for testing. No samples with us, in compliance with the local laws.
However, we also worked for a bunch of people known as the LCN, La Coste Nostre, which was the Lutetiian Mafia, the largest and most powerful of them all. The LCN dealt in drugs, weapons, everything safe for humans and other sapient beings. If someone would show interest in that connection...
Caution. AAC and my boss were rumoured to have connections into that direction, but at the end of the day, these were only rumours - not proven with irrefutable evidence. They were true, though. In how far the local authorities knew about all of that, and in how far they cared, was another question.
So, we disembarked in Polis.
The only reason, why my boss didn't have a... uh... strong piece of wood was the fact, that he had taken an anaphrodisiac agent earlier. Herb of Grace, to be precise, and it apparently worked. No need to hold oneself up to ridicule!
Our bags were two small ones with personal supplies and a larger one with a few pieces of electronic equipment and other stuff, which might be useful for two merchants, my handbag, a small knapsack for my Maestro and that was about it.
While the majority of the bags was carried by my boss, I took out our passports and other needed documents, even a cargo manifest, as we followed the directions... slowly, though, as to not get into the main rush.
I knew, that this would be interesting. And profitable.

"Thank you, I welcome you to Sophistan," said the young man, perhaps 23, sitting at his desk. His name tag in front of him bore the name Elias Georgiou. He had short brown hair, a stubble and a good stature. The next guests he expected were a man who was a head taller than Elias. The color of his eyes seemed to dazzle him and the scars on his body were unusual. This man was accompanied by a woman, which Elias a lot in the eye.
His jaw dropped, not only because this woman looked damned good, but because she was equipped damned good. He smiled brashly at her.
"Good day sir and ma'am," his accent was quite strong. "I would need your passports, please".

---

Charlotte Huntley - Port of Polis

Charlotte was.. uncomfortable to say the least, and it was not the hot humid tropical weather which caused her discomfort, as her native Port Ember has the same tropical climate which she knows and adores. Its not even the fact that she was stark naked which bothered her, nor the fact that everyone around her was stark naked in public, as again her native Port Ember has prepared her for this - no public decency laws and liberal freedom views and such. No, what caused her discomfort was the strong reek of authority hanging on the atmosphere. The fact that everyone was naked BY LAW. As a freedom loving Port Emberian, this reeked of pure evil and embarressment. Her mental state, combined with the fact that her long wavy red hair was sticking to and tickling her naked back due to the heat and humidity, workes together to annoy her slightly.

Charlotte atleast enjoyed the trip to Sophistan via ship, as once again her native land and history has prepared her - she held a deep passion for the ocean, so traveling on it was a well deserved holiday by itself.

Due to her slight irritation, she immediately question her decision of agreeing to accept a temporary position as a guest lecturer here in this nation of academics and hitlers. But she was here now, might as well accept her consequences of her idiotic decisions..

As she was walking towards registration she noticed quite a few people. Two women who appeared to be a couple, a group of 4 female children and a.. couple, male and female, of which the man appears much older - scarred and wise, and the girl beautifull and youthfull.

Charlotte sensed tons of excitement from the peiple around her, and she could not but wonder what their motivations could be to travel to this strange land.

Her heavy black backback was slowly starting to scathe her naked back, and this again brought back the irritation from before, and could not help but question how long this registration process would take.

The harbor was extremely crowded and long lines formed in front of the entrances. It is also true that some entrances seem to be free. Over one of them hangs a sign saying "academic guests". Through this Charlotte gets into a dark, chilled office. A young lady was sitting at a desk holding a computer, a nameplate with the inscription "Evangelia Aravani" and a white bust of an elderly gentleman. The woman looked at Charlotte, smiled and said:
"Hello my lady, I need your passport."

[The Selkie]

[...]

---

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Port of Polis, arrival pier.

I smiled.
This was... strangely liberating. Walking around in nothing but a pair of sandals, everything in the ways of clothing, left in a little bag, which I would not open for the entirety of the trip. There wasn't even a pair of panties, which I wore.
And I could do so.
Seventeen years of age, Selkie, blonde hair bound up into a ponytail, brown eyes behind a pair of underrim glasses, that was me. And I was in Sophistan with my three best friends and schoolmates.
I had no particular leaning towards nudism, I was mostly in it for the beaches, real tropics and not the fake ones from the Oileánra-Archipelago. The idea to celebrate the week off from Amaethon's Holy Day in Polis had been more of a community effort of us four of Ronm-Dó, one of the Crogall Amphibious Armoured Vehicles of the Coileáin, a.k.a. the Iris Boarding School Sensha-Do Team. Of course, we didn't have our trust Blue Seal with us, but it was the thought, that mattered.
I was the one financing the adventure, as my Dad was Raidri Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan, a timber magnate, who loved his little Nolly and when I left the pamphlet about Polis open on a long weekend's visit a few weeks back, he had asked me, if we wanted to go there and when I told him, that it was too expensive for four students, he literally said: "Pish-posh! You four earned that!"
That meant, that we four were in my Dad's debt. There were more uncomfortable people to be in the debt of, that was for sure.
Anyway, the other three...
Caollaidhe Saibhir of the Tribe of Wicklow, a.k.a. Cao, was our loader, the twin-tailed Middle Schooler, who had the body of someone about to graduate. 15 Springs old, Light brownish-grey hair and red-brown eyes made her look exotic, even by our standards, and quite a drawer of attention.
Deirdre Stiúradh of the Tribe of Fermanagh, our driver, was another Middle Schooler, this time indeed looking like one, if it weren't for her being taller then the rest of us. 14 and an avid driver, both of tanks and of 'normal' cars, she was a passionate and headstrong young woman. She, and her travelbug, had convinced us to look abroad for a traveling destination.
Iuna Radharceolaíocht of the Tribe of Westmeath, our loader, was our jokester and quite good at it - she was happy as long as she could be with us and visiting a country of nudists had been her idea. I was sure, in retrospect, that she meant it as a joke, but here we were.
About to embark on our own little adventure, dressed for the ocassion.
When we disembarked, small traveling bags slung over the shoulder - one would not believe with how little one could travel when clothing was not something one had to take along - I followed the lead of the other passengers, including a pair of women older then any of us (I would estimate late twenties), one with blue eyes and long, brown hair, the other with black hair and blue eyes. The latter was quite energetic and, to be honest, childish, but her excitement was infectious.
An officer of the harbour directed us to registration, different gates into the harbour house.
Iuna slung an around my shoulder and pulled me into a one-armed hug, suddenly, widely grinning: "Hey, Nolly, crack a smile! We're here! No more shipping!"
Iuna spent most of the trip hanging over the railings and reliving her lunch.
I indeed smiled softly, glad, that the taller girl had no bust to speak of (don't mention it to her, it's her berserk button), looked at her. "Indeed, finally off the boat!", I replied and then put an arm around her, invited Cao and Deirdre into a group meeting. Four naked girls putting their heads together... that sounds like the premise for a very specific kind of movie... anyway: "Alright, Blue Seals, the game mode today and for the next seven days until departure is easy: Have fun! Have excitement! See this city! Get souvenirs! And stay out of trouble!" I grinned and let a beat pass. "Ar aghaidh!"
"Chuig briseadh!", the three replied.
Onwards!, the old battlecry said, Towards Battle!
And thus, we went to do battle against the registration process, taking the gates for the Caste of Prudence.

The registration office was cooled by two fans and had no windows. Ariadne (as she revealed her name tag, which stood in front of her) sat at her desk and worked on a computer, the tourists who just wanted to enter. She was a dark blond woman, in her early thirties, who also wore nothing except a necklace that hung around her neck. Like most people in Sophistan, she had a tanned, southern skin tone. Actually, Ariadne was a pretty woman, but her slightly slanted eyebrows gave her a natural-evil look. Her forehead was marked by how many times she had to frown.
Ariadne hated her job. She just did not feel well cared for here. It can not be that a member of the highest caste did an office job that any village idiot could have done. She was working on a family that wanted to enter the country.
Damn tourists, she thought .Pay a lot of money for the trip to go once for free in the cribhouse..
Next to her table was a scanner for the suitcases and the people, as often happens at airports. In front of the scanner stood a young man who wore a uniform and was armed. He supervised the procedure. Ariadne thought he was quite a handsome guy, but she could not deal with a guard. Ariadne sighed and looked at the bust of the philosopher Plato, who was standing on the desk.#
Is that really what you wanted?, she thought as she looked at the national hero.
But she did not have much time to think. The next tourists came already. It was a group of young girls, of whom Ariadne was not sure if they were already full age. She pulled herself together not to make a silly spell.
"Hello, ladies," she said in a slight Greek accent. "Please hand me over your passports".

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, arrival pier.

When in Shella, do as the Selkie do, or how did that proverb go?
It was not my favourite right now. Sure, respecting local laws and customs was important for a merchant, so both me and my Maestro, Siore Silvio Esecutore, were naked save for a pair of sandals.
I was blonde, had long, curly hair, which fell down in a golden waterfall, with aqua eyes, which were often described as glittering, especially if I liked something, like right now: The sight of Polis, after a long time on a ship, that wasn't the Lustro (currently being overhauled after her trip to Port Ember), was like seeing paradise! I had only one problem: The nudity.
I wasn't a prude, that one was left to my Maestro, but I had two rather large assets on my chest... if they hung freely for too long, they would start to sag. And that was bad. I would have to double my regimen, at least, but that was for the next few days.
Lutetii, where we came from, was a place, where there was a strict ban on public nudity and too-short clothing, with strict rules as to what went on a beach and what didn't. So... this was a bit of a culture shock.
My Maestro, a tall man, nearly two metres, spindly man with long, straight and black hair and purple eyes, which seemed to bore into everyone's eyes even at a passing glance, was quite scraggy. His usual suits never allowed one to see that or the many scars he got as a kid, when he lived in Miniera during the siege as a twelve-year-old. I had tried not to stare too much, but he had told me about some of them one evening on the cruise.
I was his apprentice as a Merchant, the two of us representing a conglomerate known as the Associazione degli Agricoltori della Confederazione, AAC for short. Commercio dei Viticoltori a Fortezza, CCVF for short, a business representing a number of vinters around Fortezza, was in our portfolio, but due to the ban of alcohol around these parts, the other companies of the conglomerate would be our main focus in trying to sell to the locals.
With foreigners we met around here, all bets were off, though, safe for testing. No samples with us, in compliance with the local laws.
However, we also worked for a bunch of people known as the LCN, La Coste Nostre, which was the Lutetiian Mafia, the largest and most powerful of them all. The LCN dealt in drugs, weapons, everything safe for humans and other sapient beings. If someone would show interest in that connection...
Caution. AAC and my boss were rumoured to have connections into that direction, but at the end of the day, these were only rumours - not proven with irrefutable evidence. They were true, though. In how far the local authorities knew about all of that, and in how far they cared, was another question.
So, we disembarked in Polis.
The only reason, why my boss didn't have a... uh... strong piece of wood was the fact, that he had taken an anaphrodisiac agent earlier. Herb of Grace, to be precise, and it apparently worked. No need to hold oneself up to ridicule!
Our bags were two small ones with personal supplies and a larger one with a few pieces of electronic equipment and other stuff, which might be useful for two merchants, my handbag, a small knapsack for my Maestro and that was about it.
While the majority of the bags was carried by my boss, I took out our passports and other needed documents, even a cargo manifest, as we followed the directions... slowly, though, as to not get into the main rush.
I knew, that this would be interesting. And profitable.

"Thank you, I welcome you to Sophistan," said the young man, perhaps 23, sitting at his desk. His name tag in front of him bore the name Elias Georgiou. He had short brown hair, a stubble and a good stature. The next guests he expected were a man who was a head taller than Elias. The color of his eyes seemed to dazzle him and the scars on his body were unusual. This man was accompanied by a woman, which Elias a lot in the eye.
His jaw dropped, not only because this woman looked damned good, but because she was equipped damned good. He smiled brashly at her.
"Good day sir and ma'am," his accent was quite strong. "I would need your passports, please".

[...]

Note: Quote modified by removal of spoiler-tags.

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Port of Polis, arrival pier.
The clerk behind the registration desk actually reminded me of a classmate of mine from the Archipelago, although her evil-looking eyes were, most likely, just a thing of my imagination. She was quite pretty, actually, her necklace being the only piece on her.
Scanners, attended by a man in uniform, were nearby and it was quite clear, what our little bags would have to go through. There would not be a problem.
The lady, Ariadne, as the nametag said, asked for our passports and all three of my girls looked to me, who I pulled them out of my little bag. Four red, leather-bound passports, with the Bratach, the Seal of the Free Lands, in gold on the front. They were new, brand-new, and up to international standards.
"There ya go, Ma'am.", I said and smiled.

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, arrival pier.
Elias, as his nametag said, was quite well-built and certainly not bad-looking. The stubble gave him an aura of audacity. He was also shorter then Siore Esecutore, I could tell that.
His jaw visibly dropped as he beheld me and his smile turned brash.
Oh, that one was interesting...
He asked for our passports and as I was the apprentice, read over-glorified secretary, that was my job. I pulled them out of my handbag, Siore Esecutore's already quite worn out, mine relatively new, from 2017, as I prepared for a foreign year at the Redford Academy for Young Ladies in Kuronami.
I handed them both.
"Here you go.", I said and smiled, leaned slightly forward, well aware of any possible effect that might have. "I hope everything's alright?"

[Sophistan]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Port of Polis, arrival pier.

The clerk behind the registration desk actually reminded me of a classmate of mine from the Archipelago, although her evil-looking eyes were, most likely, just a thing of my imagination. She was quite pretty, actually, her necklace being the only piece on her.
Scanners, attended by a man in uniform, were nearby and it was quite clear, what our little bags would have to go through. There would not be a problem.
The lady, Ariadne, as the nametag said, asked for our passports and all three of my girls looked to me, who I pulled them out of my little bag. Four red, leather-bound passports, with the Bratach, the Seal of the Free Lands, in gold on the front. They were new, brand-new, and up to international standards.
"There ya go, Ma'am.", I said and smiled.

Ariadne took the passports. She looked at them individually and compared the pictures with the people. Everything seemed to be right. Then she typed the passport details into the computer.
"For security reasons, we record your data," she said meanwhile. "Please note that you must adhere to the applicable rules, we can force you to leave the country if there is a violation".
Ariadne looked at Deirdre.
"At the age of 14 she is not yet punishable, so her actions are the responsibility of the others in the group".
She returned the passports to the girls. The suitcases and bags were nothing problematic.
"Please take your things and go out the exit," she pointed to a door that was across the room from the entrance.
"There you will enter the city. Thank you, welcome to Sophistan".

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, arrival pier.

Elias, as his nametag said, was quite well-built and certainly not bad-looking. The stubble gave him an aura of audacity. He was also shorter then Siore Esecutore, I could tell that.
His jaw visibly dropped as he beheld me and his smile turned brash.
Oh, that one was interesting...
He asked for our passports and as I was the apprentice, read over-glorified secretary, that was my job. I pulled them out of my handbag, Siore Esecutore's already quite worn out, mine relatively new, from 2017, as I prepared for a foreign year at the Redford Academy for Young Ladies in Kuronami.
I handed them both.
"Here you go.", I said and smiled, leaned slightly forward, well aware of any possible effect that might have. "I hope everything's alright?"

"Thank you, my lady," he said, his smile growing larger as she bowed. Also elsewhere in his body it became apparent that he liked Aurora. Elías compared the pictures from the passport and then typed in the computers.
"Free countries, then," he said. "I've heard of it before, but it's pretty far away. What brings such a ... lovely lady like you to the Confederation?".

[AHSCA]

The two ladies could not hug for long, as they were from a crowd of jostled people (sometimes already naked, sometimes still in clothing) were strained in the direction of registration. The entrances of the various registration stations were overridden with signs, all of which were written in Greek, Latin and English. On the signs stood mostly "tourists", on some stood "political guests" and "academic guests".
The entrances led into a harbor house that rounded the harbor, so they seemed the only exit to the city.

The two ladies joined in the "tourist" line as neither were here on any particular business, only pleasure. Presenting their papers for entry Arorah began speaking by presenting their papers "Bonan tagon. Jen niaj juraj artikoloj --" Kaena cut her off there "Arorah, you're speaking to them in Esperanto, we should speak common. Oh please excuse my girl here. As she was saying these are our papers for entry it should all check out." She didn't know if the UIS had an Embassy here or not, usually islanders didn't have much problems traveling abroad, because they hadn't traveled much in the past but times were slowly changing as more and more were traveling thanks to renewed confidence and less fears from the immediate post-war aftermath. If checked out and processed the two made their first steps beyond simply the harbor to be processed and into a foreign land. First time abroad for either of them. "Oooh my, it's so beautiful here!" Kanea admired the buildings against the lovely backdrop of the tropical scenery. Honestly this place felt kind of like home but probably a bit more built and developed but still it was good.

"Sure is. See, knew you'd start enjoying yer self. Now come on, we should go out and see something or meet and greet. Or something"

"Oh Arorah we just had a very long voyage and yet still full of energy aren't you?"

"Sure I always am!"

[The Selkie]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Port of Polis, arrival pier.
Ariadne took the passports. She looked at them individually and compared the pictures with the people. Everything seemed to be right. Then she typed the passport details into the computer.
"For security reasons, we record your data," she said meanwhile. "Please note that you must adhere to the applicable rules, we can force you to leave the country if there is a violation".
Ariadne looked at Deirdre.
"At the age of 14 she is not yet punishable, so her actions are the responsibility of the others in the group".
She returned the passports to the girls. The suitcases and bags were nothing problematic.
"Please take your things and go out the exit," she pointed to a door that was across the room from the entrance.
"There you will enter the city. Thank you, welcome to Sophistan".

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, arrival pier.
"Thank you, my lady," he said, his smile growing larger as she bowed. Also elsewhere in his body it became apparent that he liked Aurora. Elías compared the pictures from the passport and then typed in the computers.
"Free countries, then," he said. "I've heard of it before, but it's pretty far away. What brings such a ... lovely lady like you to the Confederation?".

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Port of Polis, arrival pier.
As expected - and hoped for, really - everything checked out.
I nodded at the words about our little chick, who hated being treated like a child, but Iuna grabbing and squeezing her hand made it clear to her not to blow up.
"Understood, Ma'am.", I said, "We'll see to it, that none of us causes any trouble."
And with that, we proceeded to the exit with our things - now it was time for the vacation to begin as Deirdre cursed silently under her breath in Selkie, our own language.
As soon as we exited, she had Iuna throw an arm over her shoulder: "Relax, Dei!", she said, drawing our attention, "This place is hot, the weather's nice, we have vacation, the lads mostly run around naked and we have a nice hotel!" She let a beat pass. "Our hotel is nice, right?"
That was directed at me.
I nodded. "The Spíti tis fýsis. It was advocated as for nature-lovers and since we are Selkie..." I shrugged. "It looked nice on the images, too."
"So... and how do we get there? Our Blue Seal is back home.", Cao asked, then looked at what was before us: "Taxi?"
"Likely. Or we go for a walk.", I said.
"Taxi.", the other three said and I gave in. Taxi it was.

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, arrival pier.
Oh, he was cute. He tried to play it like a rogue, but I knew, who would dominate certain dreams of his tonight...
He said, that he had heard of Lutetii before, which was always nice, and asked for my purpose here. I smiled. "A little bit of vacation, a little bit of business... whole lot of fun and interesting things, hopefully...", I told him and smiled cheekily.
My boss and Maestro made me do as I pleased.

[Port Ember]

The harbor was extremely crowded and long lines formed in front of the entrances. It is also true that some entrances seem to be free. Over one of them hangs a sign saying "academic guests". Through this Charlotte gets into a dark, chilled office. A young lady was sitting at a desk holding a computer, a nameplate with the inscription "Evangelia Aravani" and a white bust of an elderly gentleman. The woman looked at Charlotte, smiled and said:
"Hello my lady, I need your passport."

Charlotte Huntley
Port of Polis

The airconditioned room which Charlotte entered was refreshing, which would help against the light sweat outbreak which was currently causing her irritation. To her surprise - and dissapointment - the room of academic entrants was all but empty, with herself and the clerk as the only exception. This realisation brought back her suspicion that her decision to accept this lecture job here might have very well been a mistake.

As she approached the clerk desk, a female identified as 'Evangelia Aravani' by the accompanied nametag, greetes her and asked her for her passport. She took her passport from her shouldered backpack and handed it to her. The passport cover was made of a wine-red ostrich leather with the emblem of the Republic of Port Ember engraved on it, with the motto 'Industry, Progess, Wealth' also visible. Charlotte loved her passport - not for the freedom of travel it afforded - but its beauty. The Port Emberian government never spared expense when creating official documents.

"Greetings good mam. I believe all to be in order?"

[Sophistan]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Port of Polis, Place of the Water.

As expected - and hoped for, really - everything checked out.
I nodded at the words about our little chick, who hated being treated like a child, but Iuna grabbing and squeezing her hand made it clear to her not to blow up.
"Understood, Ma'am.", I said, "We'll see to it, that none of us causes any trouble."
And with that, we proceeded to the exit with our things - now it was time for the vacation to begin as Deirdre cursed silently under her breath in Selkie, our own language.
As soon as we exited, she had Iuna throw an arm over her shoulder: "Relax, Dei!", she said, drawing our attention, "This place is hot, the weather's nice, we have vacation, the lads mostly run around naked and we have a nice hotel!" She let a beat pass. "Our hotel is nice, right?"
That was directed at me.
I nodded. "The Spíti tis fýsis. It was advocated as for nature-lovers and since we are Selkie..." I shrugged. "It looked nice on the images, too."
"So... and how do we get there? Our Blue Seal is back home.", Cao asked, then looked at what was before us: "Taxi?"
"Likely. Or we go for a walk.", I said.
"Taxi.", the other three said and I gave in. Taxi it was.

When the girls left the office, they found themselves in a sort of market place. In any case, there were stalls here, but they were not occupied. There were still some people to see, which were actually mostly naked. Some wore uniforms and were armed and usually patrolled the area in groups of three. The houses the girls could see had a Greek and Hellenistic style. The floor was tiled with a white and blue mosaic and was remarkably clean. Another conspicuous thing was that there were showers everywhere, like those found in swimming pools.
There was also a parking lot for taxis in this market, but (again a conspicuousness) there were no cars there, but rickshaws pulled by bicycles. There was a man who was relatively small next to one of these bikes and had a clipboard in his hand. He had short-cropped hair and a clean-shaven face. With a smile, he greeted the girls
"Geia sas, epitrépste mou na sas prosféro tis ypiresíes mou?", he said only in Greek but then realize that girls did not understand. "Good day! A ride?". His accent was strong and his English broken.

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, arrival pier.

Oh, he was cute. He tried to play it like a rogue, but I knew, who would dominate certain dreams of his tonight...
He said, that he had heard of Lutetii before, which was always nice, and asked for my purpose here. I smiled. "A little bit of vacation, a little bit of business... whole lot of fun and interesting things, hopefully...", I told him and smiled cheekily.
My boss and Maestro made me do as I pleased.

"Oh, in Polis you can have a lot of fun and some things are interesting too," he said, smiling cheekily as well. He had apparently typed everything into his computer and returned the passports to both of them.
"Here in Sophistan, there are a few things to see and pay attention to, I could show you the area a little bit at the end of the day and perhaps show the style of the Sophists".
The bags of the two were also brought by a guard by a scanner.
"Well, then you could show me the style of the Winged Lion? ".

---

Charlotte Huntley
Port of Polis

The airconditioned room which Charlotte entered was refreshing, which would help against the light sweat outbreak which was currently causing her irritation. To her surprise - and dissapointment - the room of academic entrants was all but empty, with herself and the clerk as the only exception. This realisation brought back her suspicion that her decision to accept this lecture job here might have very well been a mistake.

As she approached the clerk desk, a female identified as 'Evangelia Aravani' by the accompanied nametag, greetes her and asked her for her passport. She took her passport from her shouldered backpack and handed it to her. The passport cover was made of a wine-red ostrich leather with the emblem of the Republic of Port Ember engraved on it, with the motto 'Industry, Progess, Wealth' also visible. Charlotte loved her passport - not for the freedom of travel it afforded - but its beauty. The Port Emberian government never spared expense when creating official documents.

"Greetings good mam. I believe all to be in order?"

Evangelia compared the images of the passport with the original and began to type in the data.
"For security reasons, we record your data," she said meanwhile. When she was done and returned Charlotte's passport, she looked into a binder where a list appeared.
"You are invited as a guest lecturer at the Central University, right?", She went through the list and stopped by a name. "Oh, a philosopher," she said in a respectful voice.
She picked up a phone and typed in a number, after which she held it to her ear. The telephone conversation was in Greek. When she hung up, she turned back to Charlotte.
"There is someone there for you, if you are patient for a short while".
After about ten minutes, a young woman entered the room. She had a slender body, with a lighter skin than the other sophists had. Her long, strawberry blond hair reached to the middle of her bare back. Only her feet were covered with white sandals hung with gold jewelery. Her face had a youthful appearance and her small, firm breasts made her look dainty.
"Ah, Mrs. Huntley, I was expecting you," she said in clear, almost accent-free Oxford English. "I am Anastasia Perraki, Chancellor of the Central University for Science and Arts of Sophistan. I welcome you, how was the journey? ".

---

Polis. Place of the Water

The two ladies could not hug for long, as they were from a crowd of jostled people (sometimes already naked, sometimes still in clothing) were strained in the direction of registration. The entrances of the various registration stations were overridden with signs, all of which were written in Greek, Latin and English. On the signs stood mostly "tourists", on some stood "political guests" and "academic guests".
The entrances led into a harbor house that rounded the harbor, so they seemed the only exit to the city.

The two ladies joined in the "tourist" line as neither were here on any particular business, only pleasure. Presenting their papers for entry Arorah began speaking by presenting their papers "Bonan tagon. Jen niaj juraj artikoloj --" Kaena cut her off there "Arorah, you're speaking to them in Esperanto, we should speak common. Oh please excuse my girl here. As she was saying these are our papers for entry it should all check out." She didn't know if the UIS had an Embassy here or not, usually islanders didn't have much problems traveling abroad, because they hadn't traveled much in the past but times were slowly changing as more and more were traveling thanks to renewed confidence and less fears from the immediate post-war aftermath. If checked out and processed the two made their first steps beyond simply the harbor to be processed and into a foreign land. First time abroad for either of them. "Oooh my, it's so beautiful here!" Kanea admired the buildings against the lovely backdrop of the tropical scenery. Honestly this place felt kind of like home but probably a bit more built and developed but still it was good.

"Sure is. See, knew you'd start enjoying yer self. Now come on, we should go out and see something or meet and greet. Or something"

"Oh Arorah we just had a very long voyage and yet still full of energy aren't you?"

"Sure I always am!"[/quote]

In front of the two is a place, on which are probably empty stalls. The square is paved with a blue-and-white mosakik floor and around it stretches a Hellenistic urban landscape. Many people, tourists as well as locals ran across the square. All in Adam costume. Only now and then there were guards who wore uniforms. Everything looked extremely clean and pure, it was in several places of the square even a shower, similar to those from swimming pools.

[Port Ember]

Evangelia compared the images of the passport with the original and began to type in the data.
"For security reasons, we record your data," she said meanwhile. When she was done and returned Charlotte's passport, she looked into a binder where a list appeared.
"You are invited as a guest lecturer at the Central University, right?", She went through the list and stopped by a name. "Oh, a philosopher," she said in a respectful voice.
She picked up a phone and typed in a number, after which she held it to her ear. The telephone conversation was in Greek. When she hung up, she turned back to Charlotte.
"There is someone there for you, if you are patient for a short while".
After about ten minutes, a young woman entered the room. She had a slender body, with a lighter skin than the other sophists had. Her long, strawberry blond hair reached to the middle of her bare back. Only her feet were covered with white sandals hung with gold jewelery. Her face had a youthful appearance and her small, firm breasts made her look dainty.
"Ah, Mrs. Huntley, I was expecting you," she said in clear, almost accent-free Oxford English. "I am Anastasia Perraki, Chancellor of the Central University for Science and Arts of Sophistan. I welcome you, how was the journey? ".

Charlotte Huntley
Port of Polis

As Charlotte awaited the registration process to be finalised, she noticed the note of respect in the clerk's voice. Charlotte have read about the respect offered to academics, and philosophers specifically, she did not know that this phenonomon was spread amongst the masses as well.

After the clerk discovered her part time employment at the Central University and attempted to confirm it from Charlotte, she answered in a polite nod. This was followed with a phone call which took place in greek. Although she have not mastered the language, she knew enough to get by - as she learned the basics and then some during her philosophy studies.

Ten minutes later a women arrived - she was young of age and was quite beautifull. Her smooth skin and blonde hair only assisted in complimenting her youthfull beauty. She wore very fancily decorated sandals, most probaly a symbol of her status.

The young women introduced herself as Anastasia Perraki, the current Chancellor of the Central University, and thus her temporary employer. Charlotte was a bit surprised that a women of such a young age could attain such a revered position. Charlotte attempted to hide her surprise and decided not to bring it up in conversation.

Charlotte returned the greeting with a slight bow and a friendly smile before replying "It is actually Doctor Huntley.. but it matters not.. It is a pleasure to meet you, and I wish to extend my gratitude for coming down to receive me personally. Such an honor was not neccesary - but still greatly appreciated. As for my voyage here, it was marvelous thank you. Time spend on the ocean always offords one time to spend moments in thought whilst also affording the oppertunity to admire the beauty of the natural world."

[The Selkie]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Port of Polis, Place of the Water.
When the girls left the office, they found themselves in a sort of market place. In any case, there were stalls here, but they were not occupied. There were still some people to see, which were actually mostly naked. Some wore uniforms and were armed and usually patrolled the area in groups of three. The houses the girls could see had a Greek and Hellenistic style. The floor was tiled with a white and blue mosaic and was remarkably clean. Another conspicuous thing was that there were showers everywhere, like those found in swimming pools.
There was also a parking lot for taxis in this market, but (again a conspicuousness) there were no cars there, but rickshaws pulled by bicycles. There was a man who was relatively small next to one of these bikes and had a clipboard in his hand. He had short-cropped hair and a clean-shaven face. With a smile, he greeted the girls
"Geia sas, epitrépste mou na sas prosféro tis ypiresíes mou?", he said only in Greek but then realize that girls did not understand. "Good day! A ride?". His accent was strong and his English broken.

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, arrival pier.
"Oh, in Polis you can have a lot of fun and some things are interesting too," he said, smiling cheekily as well. He had apparently typed everything into his computer and returned the passports to both of them.
"Here in Sophistan, there are a few things to see and pay attention to, I could show you the area a little bit at the end of the day and perhaps show the style of the Sophists".
The bags of the two were also brought by a guard by a scanner.
"Well, then you could show me the style of the Winged Lion? ".
[...]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Port of Polis, by the point of entry.
We had heard, that personal hygene was a very important thing around these part, more so then with us Selkie, but the first thing I noticed when looking around for a taxi stand were the many showers, basically on every corner, and they were used without any shame or bashfulness, which might something to do with everyone being naked.
No, not everyone: I spotted a few patrols of what I assumed to be the City Guard.
Then I spotted the taxis, rickshaws pulled by bicycles - for someone from a country, where taxis usually were carts pulled by old horses, this was something new. The first one was the one we approached, the man next to it quite short, a clipboard in his hand. He greeted us first in a language we did not understand, then took a moment to realize, that we did not understand him, before I could say so.
"Good day! A ride?", his accent was strong, but his English understandable.
I nodded firmly. "Yes, please!", I said and smiled. "To the Spíti tis fýsis, please."

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, arrival pier.
Okay, it was bold to ask for the Style of the Winged Lion. I'll not go into details, but it was bold.
"Hm...", I hummed and pretended to think. He was a good-looking man, quite bold and had mischief, I had to give him that, but... I was not out for a quick fuck. Or available for one. Sorry, bambino. "...thank you for the offer, but I already have prior commitments." Well, I could not let him be without a little reward for his boldness, so I kissed the tip of my pointer and put it on his cheek, smiling. "Maybe another time."
Taking back our passports, my boss our bags, I smiled at Elias and bowed my head slightly in parting. He was cute.
My boss said goodbye and followed me outside.

[Freie Stadt Wiedheim]

Hagen Betz & Sabrina Fetscher. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
As a Member of the Magistrat and a banker, who had studied both in Wiedheim and abroad, Hagen Betz had been sure to have seen a lot in life, given, that he had already seen 42 summers. But seeing more nudity than at your average FKK beach, now that was surely a different experience. But one could get used to it quite quickly, for there was a certain feeling of liberation in it. And running around with sandals - and with sandals only quickly lost its embarrassment, if everyone just did so. No doubt, these Sophists seemed to know what they were doing.
Other than that, Hagen looked quite exactly what a Wiedheimer was imagined to look like, if one followed the usual clichés - 178 centimeters of size, blue-eyed, and with dark blonde, short hair brushed to the side. Different from your average Nordic Hulk one would expect in certain countries neighboring the Free City, mind you - rather a lad from the deep province. Wiedheim was sometimes referred to as the mprovincial city-state in the world, despite its huge financial and IT sector, both of which had a lot of a say in the Magistrat.
One couldn't exactly tell that from Sabrina Fetscher, a Programmer, as well as Server Maintenance & Security Manager of the Bank of Wiedheim, the city-state's national bank maintaining the Batzen, which had been made a cashless currency in the mid-1990s - a decision, which still made data protection activists and conspiracy theorists all over the globe put their tin-foil hats up.
Sabrina was black-haired and had sparkling green eyes. The 28-year-old woman quite did have the figure to roam around Sophistan without having to worry about looking ridiculous, and even if so, she wouldn't worry about that.
Both needed a vacation, and they had decided to go together - especially since Sophistan sounded like an interesting place, with its entire system based on the principle of Philosophers' Rule. And while a country based on Plato's Politeia was unusual for them, it could hardly be denied, that Plato had quite left an impact on their home region's countries; after all, the modern principles of technocracy and meritocracy, the latter being the doctrine the Federation of Lillorainen had based its system on, were assumed to have quite a few roots in this ancient philosophy. Granted, there was also a bit of philosophy from a certain other place in it.
And there would be no expense to share - while the ticket to get here had already cost a few thousand Batzen, this had been the minor issue - getting a visa for this place had been yet a different thing. But 'hard' didn't mean 'impossible'.
Both prepared their passports.

Naran Amarin & Miriam Kardebender. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
Unbeknownst to Hagen and Sabrina, there were two young ladies around, who already recognized them, but they were also sure, that they would not be recognized by them, even though they were from the same city. Granted, one of them didn't look like it at all.
For Naran Amarin, 33 years old, the concept of FKK had already been a culture shock back then, when she had left the Sharulsi Khanate for the Free City of Wiedheim many years ago, even though modesty laws weren't much of a thing there - but mandatory nudity was still a very different thing. While initially not having been her cuppa tea at all, she got used to it quickly. The philosophical foundation this country was based on weren't exactly unknown to her thanks to her studies back then, after all, and she found that quite interesting. And it wasn't her first culture shock, for when she had found her new home in the Technocratic Maritime Republic back then, it had somewhat hurt her to have her Sharulsi cash money, coins of mostly silver and some aluminium and zinc in it, changed into nothing else but a simple number on her account, which had no material value on itself, but rather was backed by reserves of some gold and foreign exchange money. Not to mention the exchange course, from the valuable and strong Tögrög currency to the somewhat more inflating Batzen, two and a quarter of these would by you one NS$. It had felt like an abrupt depreciation of her hard-earned money, despite the practical value not having changed.
But the philosophical foundation, as interesting as it might be, was less of a reason to come here. Business was - officially the Wiedheimer Commercial Office, but not only that. La Cricca dello Arcipelago Lillorese, LCAL for short, quite did have a say in this as well. How much of it? Well, only the Gods knew.
The other charming lady was Miriam Kardebender; 21 years of age, thus, almost still a girl. She represented her family's business, Kardebender Logistics Ltd., with her apprenticeship as a manager having been successfully finished last year. The dark-blonde with ice-blue eyes didn't have any issues with running around without clothing at all, for this had been an issue during her more rebellious early youth as well. However, neither this, nor the logistics company's cooperation was known to her 14-year-old cousin Paula, who lived in Pontrath, the largest city in Lillorainen, and had visited Wiedheim a couple of weeks ago for her driver's license - making advantage of the fact, that one could achieve one's license already at age 14 in the Free City, whereas one needed to one's 17th birthday over in the Federation to be fully recognized as a licensed driver. Unless one had a foreign license and an IDP, that is.
But since both had their secrets, both could agree, that they didn't need to know every single detail about each other's lives.
Be it as it may - both had arrived well in Polis, looking forward to an interesting trip, which would surely include some business work as well.
They would wait until Hagen and Sabrina would successfully have passed the border control, then would go through it themselves.

[Sophistan]

Charlotte Huntley
Port of Polis

As Charlotte awaited the registration process to be finalised, she noticed the note of respect in the clerk's voice. Charlotte have read about the respect offered to academics, and philosophers specifically, she did not know that this phenonomon was spread amongst the masses as well.

After the clerk discovered her part time employment at the Central University and attempted to confirm it from Charlotte, she answered in a polite nod. This was followed with a phone call which took place in greek. Although she have not mastered the language, she knew enough to get by - as she learned the basics and then some during her philosophy studies.

Ten minutes later a women arrived - she was young of age and was quite beautifull. Her smooth skin and blonde hair only assisted in complimenting her youthfull beauty. She wore very fancily decorated sandals, most probaly a symbol of her status.

The young women introduced herself as Anastasia Perraki, the current Chancellor of the Central University, and thus her temporary employer. Charlotte was a bit surprised that a women of such a young age could attain such a revered position. Charlotte attempted to hide her surprise and decided not to bring it up in conversation.

Charlotte returned the greeting with a slight bow and a friendly smile before replying "It is actually Doctor Huntley.. but it matters not.. It is a pleasure to meet you, and I wish to extend my gratitude for coming down to receive me personally. Such an honor was not neccesary - but still greatly appreciated. As for my voyage here, it was marvelous thank you. Time spend on the ocean always offords one time to spend moments in thought whilst also affording the oppertunity to admire the beauty of the natural world."

"Of course, doctor ... where are my manners, sometimes I'm a penny", Anastasia held her forehead and shook her head with a smile. "I am glad to hear that you liked the journey. In fact, a time in nature can open the mind to thoughts that would otherwise be too abstract. In Sophistan there is a high supply of natural areas, especially outside the city in the center of the island".
She offered Charlotte to accompany her outside. Outside the office was a square covered with blue and white stones.
"I came to see if our guest is doing well, and there is no greater concern than the well-being of our lecturers", Anastasia said. A guard came, as the uniform indicated, and offered Charlotte to carry the bag for her. "And, of course, I want to help them to get used to the Sophist way. Port Ember is a bit different after all. How is it? Of course we would have rooms at the academy for you or have you already decided on a hotel? ".

---

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Polis, way to the hotel.

We had heard, that personal hygene was a very important thing around these part, more so then with us Selkie, but the first thing I noticed when looking around for a taxi stand were the many showers, basically on every corner, and they were used without any shame or bashfulness, which might something to do with everyone being naked.
No, not everyone: I spotted a few patrols of what I assumed to be the City Guard.
Then I spotted the taxis, rickshaws pulled by bicycles - for someone from a country, where taxis usually were carts pulled by old horses, this was something new. The first one was the one we approached, the man next to it quite short, a clipboard in his hand. He greeted us first in a language we did not understand, then took a moment to realize, that we did not understand him, before I could say so.
"Good day! A ride?", his accent was strong, but his English understandable.
I nodded firmly. "Yes, please!", I said and smiled. "To the Spíti tis fýsis, please."

"Spíti tis fýsis?" Said the chauffeur. "All right! Sit down, sit down."
When the girls got into the rickshaw, the little man pedaled and drove off into the city. Polis had pretty narrow streets, which were not tarred but paved. Cars were nowhere to be seen. There were two more peculiarities of the people of Sophistan which could be noticed by the Selkies.
For one, they were all pretty healthy, there seemed to be no overweight or underweight Sophists. The other thing was the absence of old people. No one seemed to have gray hair or wrinkles.


Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, Place of Water.

Okay, it was bold to ask for the Style of the Winged Lion. I'll not go into details, but it was bold.
"Hm...", I hummed and pretended to think. He was a good-looking man, quite bold and had mischief, I had to give him that, but... I was not out for a quick fuck. Or available for one. Sorry, bambino. "...thank you for the offer, but I already have prior commitments." Well, I could not let him be without a little reward for his boldness, so I kissed the tip of my pointer and put it on his cheek, smiling. "Maybe another time."
Taking back our passports, my boss our bags, I smiled at Elias and bowed my head slightly in parting. He was cute.
My boss said goodbye and followed me outside.

Aurora left the office and left the pointed sophist disappointed. The two came to a place with empty stalls. Blue-white mosaic stones paved the ground. The Hellenistic city was visible in the background.

---

Hagen Betz & Sabrina Fetscher. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.

As a Member of the Magistrat and a banker, who had studied both in Wiedheim and abroad, Hagen Betz had been sure to have seen a lot in life, given, that he had already seen 42 summers. But seeing more nudity than at your average FKK beach, now that was surely a different experience. But one could get used to it quite quickly, for there was a certain feeling of liberation in it. And running around with sandals - and with sandals only quickly lost its embarrassment, if everyone just did so. No doubt, these Sophists seemed to know what they were doing.
Other than that, Hagen looked quite exactly what a Wiedheimer was imagined to look like, if one followed the usual clichés - 178 centimeters of size, blue-eyed, and with dark blonde, short hair brushed to the side. Different from your average Nordic Hulk one would expect in certain countries neighboring the Free City, mind you - rather a lad from the deep province. Wiedheim was sometimes referred to as the mprovincial city-state in the world, despite its huge financial and IT sector, both of which had a lot of a say in the Magistrat.
One couldn't exactly tell that from Sabrina Fetscher, a Programmer, as well as Server Maintenance & Security Manager of the Bank of Wiedheim, the city-state's national bank maintaining the Batzen, which had been made a cashless currency in the mid-1990s - a decision, which still made data protection activists and conspiracy theorists all over the globe put their tin-foil hats up.
Sabrina was black-haired and had sparkling green eyes. The 28-year-old woman quite did have the figure to roam around Sophistan without having to worry about looking ridiculous, and even if so, she wouldn't worry about that.
Both needed a vacation, and they had decided to go together - especially since Sophistan sounded like an interesting place, with its entire system based on the principle of Philosophers' Rule. And while a country based on Plato's Politeia was unusual for them, it could hardly be denied, that Plato had quite left an impact on their home region's countries; after all, the modern principles of technocracy and meritocracy, the latter being the doctrine the Federation of Lillorainen had based its system on, were assumed to have quite a few roots in this ancient philosophy. Granted, there was also a bit of philosophy from a certain other place in it.
And there would be no expense to share - while the ticket to get here had already cost a few thousand Batzen, this had been the minor issue - getting a visa for this place had been yet a different thing. But 'hard' didn't mean 'impossible'.
Both prepared their passports.

Ariadne had just finished working with the Selkie girls when another couple entered shortly thereafter. One of them was an older man whom she found very unattractive. This was accompanied by a woman whose eyes had a captivating effect in the black-framed face.
Are they together, she thought. How does that fit?
"I need your passport, please," she said to the two.

Naran Amarin & Miriam Kardebender. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.

Unbeknownst to Hagen and Sabrina, there were two young ladies around, who already recognized them, but they were also sure, that they would not be recognized by them, even though they were from the same city. Granted, one of them didn't look like it at all.
For Naran Amarin, 33 years old, the concept of FKK had already been a culture shock back then, when she had left the Sharulsi Khanate for the Free City of Wiedheim many years ago, even though modesty laws weren't much of a thing there - but mandatory nudity was still a very different thing. While initially not having been her cuppa tea at all, she got used to it quickly. The philosophical foundation this country was based on weren't exactly unknown to her thanks to her studies back then, after all, and she found that quite interesting. And it wasn't her first culture shock, for when she had found her new home in the Technocratic Maritime Republic back then, it had somewhat hurt her to have her Sharulsi cash money, coins of mostly silver and some aluminium and zinc in it, changed into nothing else but a simple number on her account, which had no material value on itself, but rather was backed by reserves of some gold and foreign exchange money. Not to mention the exchange course, from the valuable and strong Tögrög currency to the somewhat more inflating Batzen, two and a quarter of these would by you one NS$. It had felt like an abrupt depreciation of her hard-earned money, despite the practical value not having changed.
But the philosophical foundation, as interesting as it might be, was less of a reason to come here. Business was - officially the Wiedheimer Commercial Office, but not only that. La Cricca dello Arcipelago Lillorese, LCAL for short, quite did have a say in this as well. How much of it? Well, only the Gods knew.
The other charming lady was Miriam Kardebender; 21 years of age, thus, almost still a girl. She represented her family's business, Kardebender Logistics Ltd., with her apprenticeship as a manager having been successfully finished last year. The dark-blonde with ice-blue eyes didn't have any issues with running around without clothing at all, for this had been an issue during her more rebellious early youth as well. However, neither this, nor the logistics company's cooperation was known to her 14-year-old cousin Paula, who lived in Pontrath, the largest city in Lillorainen, and had visited Wiedheim a couple of weeks ago for her driver's license - making advantage of the fact, that one could achieve one's license already at age 14 in the Free City, whereas one needed to one's 17th birthday over in the Federation to be fully recognized as a licensed driver. Unless one had a foreign license and an IDP, that is.
But since both had their secrets, both could agree, that they didn't need to know every single detail about each other's lives.
Be it as it may - both had arrived well in Polis, looking forward to an interesting trip, which would surely include some business work as well.
They would wait until Hagen and Sabrina would successfully have passed the border control, then would go through it themselves.

As their predecessors walked into a small office, Naran and Miriam could see its contents. At a desk sat a lady, who looked strangely grim. There was a computer next to a computer, as well as a nameplate and a bust of Plato. Next to it stood a man in uniform guarding a baggage scanner.

[The Selkie]

[...]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Polis, way to the hotel.

"Spíti tis fýsis?" Said the chauffeur. "All right! Sit down, sit down."
When the girls got into the rickshaw, the little man pedaled and drove off into the city. Polis had pretty narrow streets, which were not tarred but paved. Cars were nowhere to be seen. There were two more peculiarities of the people of Sophistan which could be noticed by the Selkies.
For one, they were all pretty healthy, there seemed to be no overweight or underweight Sophists. The other thing was the absence of old people. No one seemed to have gray hair or wrinkles.


Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, Place of Water.

Aurora left the office and left the pointed sophist disappointed. The two came to a place with empty stalls. Blue-white mosaic stones paved the ground. The Hellenistic city was visible in the background.

[...]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Polis, underway.
As soon as we crowded into the little vehicle, the driver set out, into the narrow streets, their cobbling giving the ride an interesting quality. The four of us sat in the back and let it shake us as we got deeper into the city.
The people we saw on the streets were mostly healthy, if not all, with no one with overweight or underweight or other civilization diseases, which I noticed. Old-looking people were also not present, no grey hair or wrinkles in sight, which was a bit weirder... hm, hale old people were nothing new, I knew a blacksmith of 90 Springs, who still beat hot iron into shape, but it was weird...
Still, I would not ask our taxi driver. He was nice enough, but the language barrier was maybe a bit too high for a meaningful conversation.
Instead, I leaned back and took in the sights with my girls, putting one arm around Iuna's shoulder and pulled her close, which she let me do with a grin. I knew, she was planning a prank, but for now, that didn't matter much to me.
We wanted to go to this place, now we were here - time to have fun!

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, Point of Entry.
The city, at the distance looked pretty, quite differently from Lutetiian cities, too. It was truly somewhere else, where we found ourselves!
I smiled at my boss, a bit of giddyness sneaking into my eyes, which made him shake his head. He knew, that the little, curious girl in me was awake again.
The floor was a nice mosaic of white and blue, with a taxi stand with bicycle-pulled rickshaws nearby. I wondered for a moment: Hotel first, then exploring or the other way around? Hm...
My boss adjusted his grips on the bags, which caused a rustle - well, that settled that.
I approached one of the rickshaw-taxis.
"Hello, good morning.", I said and smiled, and asked politely, "Would you be so kind and take us two and our bags to the Spíti tis fýsis, please?"
My boss tried to look friendly behind me and utterly failed.

[Freie Stadt Wiedheim]

Ariadne had just finished working with the Selkie girls when another couple entered shortly thereafter. One of them was an older man whom she found very unattractive. This was accompanied by a woman whose eyes had a captivating effect in the black-framed face.
Are they together, she thought. How does that fit?
"I need your passport, please," she said to the two.

As their predecessors walked into a small office, Naran and Miriam could see its contents. At a desk sat a lady, who looked strangely grim. There was a computer next to a computer, as well as a nameplate and a bust of Plato. Next to it stood a man in uniform guarding a baggage scanner.

Hagen Betz & Sabrina Fetscher. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
The young, not even exactly bad-looking woman, whose nametag revealed her as Ariadne, had an impression in her face that made it very hard to tell, if she were judging the looks of the two visitors from Wiedheim and wondering if they were a couple (and if so, how ...?!), or simply frowned too much during her work - in thoughts, both Hagen and Sabrina decided to assume the latter, for they were aware, that the habit of always looking somewhat scrutinizing was quite a common occupational illness amongst border control officers.
Be it as it may ...
"Of course, Miss!" - Hagen said. Ariadne might or might not take his assumption of her marital status as a compliment, but he also didn't really spend a lot of thought into this. "Here you are!"
Sabrina nodded.
Ariadne would now receive two dark grey passport documents of standard size, showing the inscription Freie Stadt Wiedheim in golden letters and the city's coat of arms on them, to check.

Naran Amarin & Miriam Kardebender. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
Naran and Miriam entered the small office, at first the baggage scanner and the uniformed man guarding it, then the desk, with two computers next to each other, a nameplate and a bust of Plato (which to see here was not exactly a surprise), as well as the officer, a lady who looked as grim as one would expect from a special sort of officers - namely, those who had worked in this job for countless years and still rued and cursed the day they had applied for it, actually would have wished to become astronauts or architects or actors, and considered people relying on their services as 'annoying people who are constantly bothering my well-deserved eight-hours coffee break!'
Of course, Naran and Miriam were aware, that this first impression did not necessarily reflect the officer's personality at all, but the fact, that she didn't say a word, also didn't help to change anything about it.
They first gave the guard a friendly nod, then got their passports out - in Naran's case, only the Wiedheimer one, but it had gotten clear from her visa application, that she also held the citizenship of the Sharulsi Khanate; not to mention, that her place of birth clearly said Ulaanels, definitely not a place anywhere in Wiedheim -, and handed them to the officer.
"Kalí méra!" - Naran said, Good day in Greek. She smiled in a friendly way; as did Miriam.

[Sophistan]

[spoiler=Sophistan-Quote]

[...]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Polis, way to the hotel.

"Spíti tis fýsis?" Said the chauffeur. "All right! Sit down, sit down."
When the girls got into the rickshaw, the little man pedaled and drove off into the city. Polis had pretty narrow streets, which were not tarred but paved. Cars were nowhere to be seen. There were two more peculiarities of the people of Sophistan which could be noticed by the Selkies.
For one, they were all pretty healthy, there seemed to be no overweight or underweight Sophists. The other thing was the absence of old people. No one seemed to have gray hair or wrinkles.


Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, Place of Water.

Aurora left the office and left the pointed sophist disappointed. The two came to a place with empty stalls. Blue-white mosaic stones paved the ground. The Hellenistic city was visible in the background.

[...]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Polis, underway.
As soon as we crowded into the little vehicle, the driver set out, into the narrow streets, their cobbling giving the ride an interesting quality. The four of us sat in the back and let it shake us as we got deeper into the city.
The people we saw on the streets were mostly healthy, if not all, with no one with overweight or underweight or other civilization diseases, which I noticed. Old-looking people were also not present, no grey hair or wrinkles in sight, which was a bit weirder... hm, hale old people were nothing new, I knew a blacksmith of 90 Springs, who still beat hot iron into shape, but it was weird...
Still, I would not ask our taxi driver. He was nice enough, but the language barrier was maybe a bit too high for a meaningful conversation.
Instead, I leaned back and took in the sights with my girls, putting one arm around Iuna's shoulder and pulled her close, which she let me do with a grin. I knew, she was planning a prank, but for now, that didn't matter much to me.
We wanted to go to this place, now we were here - time to have fun!

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, Point of Entry.
The city, at the distance looked pretty, quite differently from Lutetiian cities, too. It was truly somewhere else, where we found ourselves!
I smiled at my boss, a bit of giddyness sneaking into my eyes, which made him shake his head. He knew, that the little, curious girl in me was awake again.
The floor was a nice mosaic of white and blue, with a taxi stand with bicycle-pulled rickshaws nearby. I wondered for a moment: Hotel first, then exploring or the other way around? Hm...
My boss adjusted his grips on the bags, which caused a rustle - well, that settled that.
I approached one of the rickshaw-taxis.
"Hello, good morning.", I said and smiled, and asked politely, "Would you be so kind and take us two and our bags to the Spíti tis fýsis, please?"
My boss tried to look friendly behind me and utterly failed.

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Polis, way to the hotel.
The rickshaw made its way through the streets. After some time, the narrow streets disappeared and they drove to a new district, which had many green areas. It seemed that this part of the city was made up of a single garden. It sprouted in the meadows various plants in beautiful, exotic colors. Trees with bright red flowers or roots, which are connected to other trees on the surface.. Partly the trees were unbelievably big and also on the roadsides the palm trees in avenues shot skyward. From time to time the selkies can see greenhouses and plantations, where signs hung with the Greek and English inscriptions: "State property, access is permitted only to officials and personnel." The houses in this district were also in the Hellenistic style, but they were not so close and lined up side by side. They were arranged in blocks, each of which had eight houses in two rows. Between these blocks were meadows or bushes. The travelers drove past a park where they could see people lying on picnic blankets or sun chairs. Children played in the meadows, couples bill and coo with one another under the trees and friends relaxed in the sun. All in all, this scenery was very harmonious and peaceful. Only the highly armed guards, which one saw patrolling from time to time, disturbed this picture.
After some time, the rickshaw stopped in front of a building, different from any other, as it looked like a palace. A plaque marked "Σπίτι της φύσης" was attached to the building.
"Done," said the little driver as he got off the bike and helped the girl down from the rickshaw.


Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, Place of Water.
Also with a clipboard in hand, which he scribbled, there was a mature man, maybe in the middle of his 40s, standing next to a rickshaw. When the two Lutetiians approached this man and asked him to drive to Fýsis, his jaw dropped too. This time not because of Aurora, but because of her companion. For one, he seemed gigantic, he towered far above the rickshaw driver and this was not exactly small. On the other hand, this man had many scars that made him look dangerous. The fact that he tried to suppress this intimidating radiation made him even more intimidating.
Yeah, thought the driver. These are definitely tourists.
"Good morning ma'am and ... sir," came out of his mouth in English. "I gladly can take you to the Spiti tis Fýsis. Would you please sit in the vehicle? "

---

Hagen Betz & Sabrina Fetscher. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
The young, not even exactly bad-looking woman, whose nametag revealed her as Ariadne, had an impression in her face that made it very hard to tell, if she were judging the looks of the two visitors from Wiedheim and wondering if they were a couple (and if so, how ...?!), or simply frowned too much during her work - in thoughts, both Hagen and Sabrina decided to assume the latter, for they were aware, that the habit of always looking somewhat scrutinizing was quite a common occupational illness amongst border control officers.
Be it as it may ...
"Of course, Miss!" - Hagen said. Ariadne might or might not take his assumption of her marital status as a compliment, but he also didn't really spend a lot of thought into this. "Here you are!"
Sabrina nodded.
Ariadne would now receive two dark grey passport documents of standard size, showing the inscription Freie Stadt Wiedheim in golden letters and the city's coat of arms on them, to check.

Naran Amarin & Miriam Kardebender. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
Naran and Miriam entered the small office, at first the baggage scanner and the uniformed man guarding it, then the desk, with two computers next to each other, a nameplate and a bust of Plato (which to see here was not exactly a surprise), as well as the officer, a lady who looked as grim as one would expect from a special sort of officers - namely, those who had worked in this job for countless years and still rued and cursed the day they had applied for it, actually would have wished to become astronauts or architects or actors, and considered people relying on their services as 'annoying people who are constantly bothering my well-deserved eight-hours coffee break!'
Of course, Naran and Miriam were aware, that this first impression did not necessarily reflect the officer's personality at all, but the fact, that she didn't say a word, also didn't help to change anything about it.
They first gave the guard a friendly nod, then got their passports out - in Naran's case, only the Wiedheimer one, but it had gotten clear from her visa application, that she also held the citizenship of the Sharulsi Khanate; not to mention, that her place of birth clearly said Ulaanels, definitely not a place anywhere in Wiedheim -, and handed them to the officer.
"Kalí méra!" - Naran said, Good day in Greek. She smiled in a friendly way; as did Miriam.

Hagen Betz & Sabrina Fetscher. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
Ariadne took the passports and compared the pictures with the people. Why am I doing that?, she thought. Who would want to smuggle himself to Sophistan?
Nonetheless, she started typing passport information into her computer.
"For security reasons, we record your data," she said in the same tone as she had said ten times today. "Please note that the laws of the Confederation are also valid for you, in the worst case, a violation will be punished with the immediate departure".
After she finished, she returned the passports to both of them.
"Go to the baggage check and leave the office afterwards," she pointed to a door opposite the entrance.
"Thank you and welcome to Sophistan".

Naran Amarin & Miriam Kardebender. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.

After Ariadne had waved the last tourists she was now already at the next. There were two young ladies, one in her 30s and the other about 20. The former of both looked remarkably exotic. To Ariadne's surprise, however, this spoke the salutation in Greek. She took the two passports, one with a visa application, she started typing right away.
"For security reasons, we record your data," she said and downplayed the same text she always said.
"Sas efcharistó kai sas kalosorízo sto Sofistán", she finished the procedure and gave Naran a smile. "The exit is in the back door"

[The Selkie]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Polis, way to the hotel.
The rickshaw made its way through the streets. After some time, the narrow streets disappeared and they drove to a new district, which had many green areas. It seemed that this part of the city was made up of a single garden. It sprouted in the meadows various plants in beautiful, exotic colors. Trees with bright red flowers or roots, which are connected to other trees on the surface.. Partly the trees were unbelievably big and also on the roadsides the palm trees in avenues shot skyward. From time to time the selkies can see greenhouses and plantations, where signs hung with the Greek and English inscriptions: "State property, access is permitted only to officials and personnel." The houses in this district were also in the Hellenistic style, but they were not so close and lined up side by side. They were arranged in blocks, each of which had eight houses in two rows. Between these blocks were meadows or bushes. The travelers drove past a park where they could see people lying on picnic blankets or sun chairs. Children played in the meadows, couples bill and coo with one another under the trees and friends relaxed in the sun. All in all, this scenery was very harmonious and peaceful. Only the highly armed guards, which one saw patrolling from time to time, disturbed this picture.
After some time, the rickshaw stopped in front of a building, different from any other, as it looked like a palace. A plaque marked "Σπίτι της φύσης" was attached to the building.
"Done," said the little driver as he got off the bike and helped the girl down from the rickshaw.


Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, Place of Water.
Also with a clipboard in hand, which he scribbled, there was a mature man, maybe in the middle of his 40s, standing next to a rickshaw. When the two Lutetiians approached this man and asked him to drive to Fýsis, his jaw dropped too. This time not because of Aurora, but because of her companion. For one, he seemed gigantic, he towered far above the rickshaw driver and this was not exactly small. On the other hand, this man had many scars that made him look dangerous. The fact that he tried to suppress this intimidating radiation made him even more intimidating.
Yeah, thought the driver. These are definitely tourists.
"Good morning ma'am and ... sir," came out of his mouth in English. "I gladly can take you to the Spiti tis Fýsis. Would you please sit in the vehicle? "

[...]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Polis, underway.
I smiled when we passed what basically looked like the city park, with couples relaxing on the grass and picknick blankets. Occasional City Guards did not deter me from looking at it in a different spin (mainly because the City Guards back home always had one or two mounted patrols in full dress in city parks, but that's another story). My main point of, I'll admit it, envy was, that we shared a country with ticks.
Ticks were dangerous, we learned that in elementary school. It could lead to bad diseases and even death.
Relaxing on a blanket like that was basically impossible back home, at least not without precautions... that reminded me, I would love to do something like that with the girls, but I would have to ask, if there were ticks around here in the first place.
Later.
Because now, we came along the housing, which looked quite quaint and then to our hotel. I had taken it both because of the recommendation for nature lovers and because it looked a lot like a Palace - in real life, it looked even more impressing!
We disembarked with the help of the rickshaw driver and I smiled at him: "So... thank you for the ride.", I said, indicating a small bow. "How much do we owe you?"

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, Point of Entry.
I nodded at our driver's reaction. There was a reason, why my boss preferred suit and tie, and that was it. He was not exactly a gentle person, yes, but the scars made him look like some street thug, which he was not.
He had been in Miniera during the Civil War, while it had been under siege. The scars were a scary reminder of that. He would never admit it and I would never tell him, but I knew, that he suffered from nightmares on occasion.
We put our bags inside and then sat down next to each other, strapped in for a ride.
"Ready when you are!", I told the driver with a smile.
My boss looked uncomfortable. I knew why: We sat close to each other, naked, and we were very close.

[Port Ember]

Charlotte Huntley
Port of Polis

"Of course, doctor ... where are my manners, sometimes I'm a penny", Anastasia held her forehead and shook her head with a smile. "I am glad to hear that you liked the journey. In fact, a time in nature can open the mind to thoughts that would otherwise be too abstract. In Sophistan there is a high supply of natural areas, especially outside the city in the center of the island".
She offered Charlotte to accompany her outside. Outside the office was a square covered with blue and white stones.
"I came to see if our guest is doing well, and there is no greater concern than the well-being of our lecturers", Anastasia said. A guard came, as the uniform indicated, and offered Charlotte to carry the bag for her. "And, of course, I want to help them to get used to the Sophist way. Port Ember is a bit different after all. How is it? Of course we would have rooms at the academy for you or have you already decided on a hotel? ".

Charlotte Huntley
Port of Polis

Charlotte smiled at Anastasia - she seemed to be a nice girl. The fact that she was the Chancelor at her young age still intrigued her, yet was a fact that she again decided not to bring up in conversation. She replied to Anastasia's statement regarding nature. "Indeed the premise is factual! My very Huntley Business Philosophy was birthed by me during a holiday I took in the form of an individual yacht trip on the open ocean. I will request that you take me to these natural wonders one day when you are available."

As they walked outside, Charlotte could not but help admire the view of the contrasting blue and white stones upon which they walked. She looked down to her feet, enjoying the alternating colours on which her brown sandals walked. She felt a tint of jealousy when she noticed Anastasia's fancy bejeweled sandals. She felt the familiar warm morning tropical sun bask gently on her naked body. She replied again, "Well I am positively gratefull for your attendance here - the gesture will certainly go a long way.

And indeed Port Ember is a vastly different nation, however there is numurous similarities as well. And how is it you ask? Well there is no place like home as the old adage goes.

As for accomodation - I would prefer a room at the university grounds. It makes the logistics if daily life so much simpler"

[Freie Stadt Wiedheim]

Hagen Betz & Sabrina Fetscher. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
Ariadne took the passports and compared the pictures with the people. Why am I doing that?, she thought. Who would want to smuggle himself to Sophistan?
Nonetheless, she started typing passport information into her computer.
"For security reasons, we record your data," she said in the same tone as she had said ten times today. "Please note that the laws of the Confederation are also valid for you, in the worst case, a violation will be punished with the immediate departure".
After she finished, she returned the passports to both of them.
"Go to the baggage check and leave the office afterwards," she pointed to a door opposite the entrance.
"Thank you and welcome to Sophistan".

Naran Amarin & Miriam Kardebender. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.

After Ariadne had waved the last tourists she was now already at the next. There were two young ladies, one in her 30s and the other about 20. The former of both looked remarkably exotic. To Ariadne's surprise, however, this spoke the salutation in Greek. She took the two passports, one with a visa application, she started typing right away.
"For security reasons, we record your data," she said and downplayed the same text she always said.
"Sas efcharistó kai sas kalosorízo sto Sofistán", she finished the procedure and gave Naran a smile. "The exit is in the back door"

Hagen Betz & Sabrina Fetscher. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
Both Hagen and Sabrina nodded after Ariadne's note, that their personal data would be saved for security reasons - while this practice was not different from the one in Wiedheim, Ariadne would, most likely, simply be obligated to inform about it. Same went for the note, that they, as visitors, would not be above the Confederation's Law, which seemed absolutely logical to them. They didn't enjoy any immunity, and this also was not the purpose of a vacation.
They received their passports back, with the note, that they could now go to the baggage check and depart afterwards.
"Thank you!" - Hagen said.
"And have a nice day - if you yet get around to it!" - Sabrina added, a common wish in Wiedheim, often left to officers.
Then, they went off, getting their baggage from the baggage check and leaving the office. While they were not particularly in a hurry, getting a taxi to get around here as quickly as possible surely couldn't harm.

Naran Amarin & Miriam Kardebender. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
Ariadne seemed distinctly surprised, that Naran spoke Greek - surely the last language one would expect a woman with distinct Mongol ancestry and the citizenship of a German-speaking city-state to be capable of speaking. Then again, Ulaanels was not behind the moon - but the officer would certainly have other things to do than wondering about things like these.
Their data would be recorded, for security reasons. Surprise, surprise ...
They received their passports back, Ariadne thanking them and welcoming them to Sophistan.
Naran nodded, smiling. "Efcharistó, náste kalá!" - she replied, Thank you, have a nice day!
With that said, Naran and Miriam would leave the office, get their baggage together, and - same as their fellow countrypeople who had just gone through the same registration process a minute ago - would get themselves a taxi ride as soon as possible.

[Sophistan]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Polis, Spíti tis Fýsis.

I smiled when we passed what basically looked like the city park, with couples relaxing on the grass and picknick blankets. Occasional City Guards did not deter me from looking at it in a different spin (mainly because the City Guards back home always had one or two mounted patrols in full dress in city parks, but that's another story). My main point of, I'll admit it, envy was, that we shared a country with ticks.
Ticks were dangerous, we learned that in elementary school. It could lead to bad diseases and even death.
Relaxing on a blanket like that was basically impossible back home, at least not without precautions... that reminded me, I would love to do something like that with the girls, but I would have to ask, if there were ticks around here in the first place.
Later.
Because now, we came along the housing, which looked quite quaint and then to our hotel. I had taken it both because of the recommendation for nature lovers and because it looked a lot like a Palace - in real life, it looked even more impressing!
We disembarked with the help of the rickshaw driver and I smiled at him: "So... thank you for the ride.", I said, indicating a small bow. "How much do we owe you?"

The driver looked at the girls in surprise, since he had to translate the words first in his mind. After a short time he understood and could answer:
"Oh no, no money," he stammered. "Taxi free". As the driver and the Selkies said goodbye, he drove his bike back to the Place of Water.
In front of the hotel building was a small, walled courtyard, which resembled a garden. All kinds of people were standing in this yard, all of them with different hair colors, skin colors and facial types. From black skin, over an Asian appearance, snow-white skins and blonde coloring.
Behind the front door, a massive wooden door with lion heads as knobs, was a beautiful picture. Everything in the house was planted. There were both small flowers in pots, as well as palms and other trees that jutted out of the ground in the foyer. Even on the marble walls, the ivy climbed to the ceiling and to the chandeliers. The lobby of the hotel was round and to the sides there were hallways in the wings of the building. Opposite the entrance was a counter bearing a label: "Εγγραφή και ενημέρωση - Adnotatione et notitia - Registration and information."
Behind the counter stood a thin, tall man, who wore short brown hair. His face and body were clean-shaven and his skin had a slight tan.

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, Point of Entry.

[url]I nodded at our driver's reaction. There was a reason, why my boss preferred suit and tie, and that was it. He was not exactly a gentle person, yes, but the scars made him look like some street thug, which he was not.
He had been in Miniera during the Civil War, while it had been under siege. The scars were a scary reminder of that. He would never admit it and I would never tell him, but I knew, that he suffered from nightmares on occasion.
We put our bags inside and then sat down next to each other, strapped in for a ride.
"Ready when you are!", I told the driver with a smile.
My boss looked uncomfortable. I knew why: We sat close to each other, naked, and we were very close.[/url]

The driver nodded and swung onto the bike that pulled the rickshaw. He noticed that his customers were somehow cramped. They probably came from some rich industrial nation and drove all day in luxury limousines. They were probably not used to such a tight rickshaw. Anyway, that was what he thought and you have to admit, he thought that of every foreigner.
"The Fýsis is located in the Earth District, not far from here, so it does not take long to drive there", he said as he drove. "So you're not from here, right?"

---

Charlotte Huntley -- Port of Polis

Charlotte smiled at Anastasia - she seemed to be a nice girl. The fact that she was the Chancelor at her young age still intrigued her, yet was a fact that she again decided not to bring up in conversation. She replied to Anastasia's statement regarding nature. "Indeed the premise is factual! My very Huntley Business Philosophy was birthed by me during a holiday I took in the form of an individual yacht trip on the open ocean. I will request that you take me to these natural wonders one day when you are available."

As they walked outside, Charlotte could not but help admire the view of the contrasting blue and white stones upon which they walked. She looked down to her feet, enjoying the alternating colours on which her brown sandals walked. She felt a tint of jealousy when she noticed Anastasia's fancy bejeweled sandals. She felt the familiar warm morning tropical sun bask gently on her naked body. She replied again, "Well I am positively gratefull for your attendance here - the gesture will certainly go a long way.

And indeed Port Ember is a vastly different nation, however there is numurous similarities as well. And how is it you ask? Well there is no place like home as the old adage goes.

As for accomodation - I would prefer a room at the university grounds. It makes the logistics if daily life so much simpler"

When Charlotte accepted the offer of accommodation, Anastasia gave a warm smile.
"I'm glad to hear that," she said, after which she spoke to one of the guards in Greek. These went to a series of rickshaws, which were parked a little away. Drawn by bicycles, they were signposted as taxis. In fact, one could not see cars here, let alone roads where they could drive. A rickshaw stood out in taxis because it had a velvet red color and a coat of arms. The guards spoke with the driver and pointed to the two women. Immediately after that, it headed for the two. When the vehicle arrived at Charlotte and Anastasia, the Chancellor made an inviting gesture.
"I think we should first drop your things in the academy, then you know where your room is.", Anastasia said. ""You can pack the backpack for the ride into the chest at the back of the vehicle. Such a leather backpack can be quite uncomfortable on the bare skin. Not that it chafe. Should we take a tour through the city so you have already seen the most important places of Polis?".

---

Hagen Betz & Sabrina Fetscher. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.

Both Hagen and Sabrina nodded after Ariadne's note, that their personal data would be saved for security reasons - while this practice was not different from the one in Wiedheim, Ariadne would, most likely, simply be obligated to inform about it. Same went for the note, that they, as visitors, would not be above the Confederation's Law, which seemed absolutely logical to them. They didn't enjoy any immunity, and this also was not the purpose of a vacation.
They received their passports back, with the note, that they could now go to the baggage check and depart afterwards.
"Thank you!" - Hagen said.
"And have a nice day - if you yet get around to it!" - Sabrina added, a common wish in Wiedheim, often left to officers.
Then, they went off, getting their baggage from the baggage check and leaving the office. While they were not particularly in a hurry, getting a taxi to get around here as quickly as possible surely couldn't harm.

On the square, which is plastered in blue, white mosaic stones, there were a number of taxis. Well, at least there were rickshaws pulled by bicycles called taxis. In front of most of these vehicles were people with clipboards in their hands, who scrambled on them. Like all the people in this place, they were naked except for their shoes.

Naran Amarin & Miriam Kardebender. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.

Ariadne seemed distinctly surprised, that Naran spoke Greek - surely the last language one would expect a woman with distinct Mongol ancestry and the citizenship of a German-speaking city-state to be capable of speaking. Then again, Ulaanels was not behind the moon - but the officer would certainly have other things to do than wondering about things like these.
Their data would be recorded, for security reasons. Surprise, surprise ...
They received their passports back, Ariadne thanking them and welcoming them to Sophistan.
Naran nodded, smiling. "Efcharistó, náste kalá!" - she replied, Thank you, have a nice day!
With that said, Naran and Miriam would leave the office, get their baggage together, and - same as their fellow countrypeople who had just gone through the same registration process a minute ago - would get themselves a taxi ride as soon as possible.

Like their fellow humans also saw this place of water and rickshaw which lined up there. What both could well see is one of the taxis, which drove from the city to the square. The driver was a small and had short-cropped hair and a clean-shaven face.

[Freie Stadt Wiedheim]

Hagen Betz & Sabrina Fetscher. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
On the square, which is plastered in blue, white mosaic stones, there were a number of taxis. Well, at least there were rickshaws pulled by bicycles called taxis. In front of most of these vehicles were people with clipboards in their hands, who scrambled on them. Like all the people in this place, they were naked except for their shoes.

Naran Amarin & Miriam Kardebender. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
Like their fellow humans also saw this place of water and rickshaw which lined up there. What both could well see is one of the taxis, which drove from the city to the square. The driver was a small and had short-cropped hair and a clean-shaven face.

Hagen Betz & Sabrina Fetscher. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
The taxis turned out to be rickshaws, pulled by bicycles - not a too uncommon view back home in Wiedheim as well, but rather a tourist attraction - a relic of the days before motorized vehicles and modern metro trains and tramways had become a thing.
But on the other hand, this way also would give the whole thing a more calm feeling, they would think, and if there had been Selkie around (unbeknownst to them, there were, but telling them apart from other people by wearing Geansai was a pretty moot point in this place for obvious reasons, so how were they supposed to know), they would surely have felt a bit like at home - except for the fact, that the taxis in the Free Lands were rather pulled by horses.
Sabrina checked her handbag for units of local currency - a thing she wasn't used to, either, due to the rather less physical character of the Wiedheimer Batzen. Hagen didn't think of this, for the same reason.
They went to the next taxi they could find.
"Guude!" - Sabrina said, Good day in the Wiedheimer dialect of German, "To the Spíti ton Technón, please!"


Naran Amarin & Miriam Kardebender. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.
Naran and Miriam would see a rather small lad, who, however, seemed to put quite some value on a spruce appearance, and if the two ladies were honest for a moment, they would admit, that he wasn't too bad-looking, quite on the contrary.
Both smiled at their driver.
"Kalí méra, kýrie!" - Naran said - again, in Greek.
In order to not confuse the lad too much, Miriam continued in English, "We would be pleased, if you could take us to the Spíti tis fýsis!"
Naran nodded. Of course, she had checked her own bag for cash as well.

[The Selkie]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Polis, Spíti tis Fýsis.
The driver looked at the girls in surprise, since he had to translate the words first in his mind. After a short time he understood and could answer:
"Oh no, no money," he stammered. "Taxi free". As the driver and the Selkies said goodbye, he drove his bike back to the Place of Water.
In front of the hotel building was a small, walled courtyard, which resembled a garden. All kinds of people were standing in this yard, all of them with different hair colors, skin colors and facial types. From black skin, over an Asian appearance, snow-white skins and blonde coloring.
Behind the front door, a massive wooden door with lion heads as knobs, was a beautiful picture. Everything in the house was planted. There were both small flowers in pots, as well as palms and other trees that jutted out of the ground in the foyer. Even on the marble walls, the ivy climbed to the ceiling and to the chandeliers. The lobby of the hotel was round and to the sides there were hallways in the wings of the building. Opposite the entrance was a counter bearing a label: "Εγγραφή και ενημέρωση - Adnotatione et notitia - Registration and information."
Behind the counter stood a thin, tall man, who wore short brown hair. His face and body were clean-shaven and his skin had a slight tan.

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, Point of Entry.
The driver nodded and swung onto the bike that pulled the rickshaw. He noticed that his customers were somehow cramped. They probably came from some rich industrial nation and drove all day in luxury limousines. They were probably not used to such a tight rickshaw. Anyway, that was what he thought and you have to admit, he thought that of every foreigner.
"The Fýsis is located in the Earth District, not far from here, so it does not take long to drive there", he said as he drove. "So you're not from here, right?"

[...]

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Polis, Spíti tis Fýsis.
We waved after our taxi driver, pleasantly surprised, that the ride was for free.
So... this was the Spíti tis Fýsis.
Impressive building, even in nature, with a small, walled courtyard in front, a sort-of garden, already full of people, as we entered, from all over the world. After that came the front door into a round lobby, opposite to the door a counter marked as registration. Behind that stood a tall, slightly tanned clean shaven man, who wore his brown hair short and, as this was Sophistan, little else.
I approached the counter, the rest in tow.
"Hi.", I greeted, got out my passport, "There should be two rooms reserved under the name Drochnós?" I smiled and showed my passport. "That'd be me. We would like to check in."

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, Traveling.
I nodded. "Indeed, we are not.", I said and then glanced to my boss, switching to Lutetiian. "You do know, that I don't bite?"
"Yes, but... well...", he resisted.
It was actually cute.
"Relax.", I asked of him, smiling, then decided to go ahead and close the remainder of the distance, putting my head onto his shoulder and his arm around mine. He didn't know, what hit him! "Relax and enjoy the ride."
I could hear his slight smile as he exhaled and settled his hand on my hip, hesitantly and careful. "How could I with such a pretty girl in my arms?", he asked and I giggled.

[Sophistan]

Hagen Betz & Sabrina Fetscher. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.

The taxis turned out to be rickshaws, pulled by bicycles - not a too uncommon view back home in Wiedheim as well, but rather a tourist attraction - a relic of the days before motorized vehicles and modern metro trains and tramways had become a thing.
But on the other hand, this way also would give the whole thing a more calm feeling, they would think, and if there had been Selkie around (unbeknownst to them, there were, but telling them apart from other people by wearing Geansai was a pretty moot point in this place for obvious reasons, so how were they supposed to know), they would surely have felt a bit like at home - except for the fact, that the taxis in the Free Lands were rather pulled by horses.
Sabrina checked her handbag for units of local currency - a thing she wasn't used to, either, due to the rather less physical character of the Wiedheimer Batzen. Hagen didn't think of this, for the same reason.
They went to the next taxi they could find.
"Guude!" - Sabrina said, Good day in the Wiedheimer dialect of German, "To the Spíti ton Technón, please!"

A very young woman, maybe 20, smiled at the two foreigners. She wondered for a moment where the two could come from, probably something remote from the tropics, that could be an interesting ride.
"I'll gladly bring you there," she said in pretty good English. "But put the money away, you do not pay for a basic need like transport."
She asked Sabrina and Hagen to get into the rickshaw. They had to be wealthy people when they checked into the Spiti ton Technón. The vehicle started as soon as everyone was sitting where they were supposed to sit.
"I'm curious where my clients come from, are you from one of the individualist countries?"

Naran Amarin & Miriam Kardebender. Port of Polis, Arrival Pier.

Naran and Miriam would see a rather small lad, who, however, seemed to put quite some value on a spruce appearance, and if the two ladies were honest for a moment, they would admit, that he wasn't too bad-looking, quite on the contrary.
Both smiled at their driver.
"Kalí méra, kýrie!" - Naran said - again, in Greek.
In order to not confuse the lad too much, Miriam continued in English, "We would be pleased, if you could take us to the Spíti tis fýsis!"
Naran nodded. Of course, she had checked her own bag for cash as well.

The driver looked at the two ladies, whom he felt pretty handsome. One of them spoke first in Greek, but she continued in English, which he did not understand well. But that did not matter, he had heard the signal word: Spíti tis fýsis. The driver nodded with a smile and stammered in broken English: "Yes, yes! Sit down, sit down." He pedaled, since he had already brought four girls there, he knew exactly which way he could take to impress the guests.

---

Nolwenn Drochnós of the Tribe of Cavan. Polis, Spíti tis Fýsis.

We waved after our taxi driver, pleasantly surprised, that the ride was for free.
So... this was the Spíti tis Fýsis.
Impressive building, even in nature, with a small, walled courtyard in front, a sort-of garden, already full of people, as we entered, from all over the world. After that came the front door into a round lobby, opposite to the door a counter marked as registration. Behind that stood a tall, slightly tanned clean shaven man, who wore his brown hair short and, as this was Sophistan, little else.
I approached the counter, the rest in tow.
"Hi.", I greeted, got out my passport, "There should be two rooms reserved under the name Drochnós?" I smiled and showed my passport. "That'd be me. We would like to check in."

"Hello, ma'am," the receptionist said as he looked at his computer. "Yes, they are reserved, I'll get the keys quickly". He briefly disappeared through a door that was behind the counter.
While waiting, the girls noticed a pair of birds sitting on a stalk a little above looking at the girls. They both had a bundled plumage, with a green back, red belly, and a purple stripe on their nape. From a small, reddish beak with black tip came a shrill croak. The receptionist came out the door and had two keys with him. When he saw the birds, he hollowed out grains behind the counter and put them in a kind of birdhouse. The two feathered animals flew immediately and picked up the grains. "So, here once room 402 and 403, these are on the fourth floor, right when you come out of the elevator," he gave the keys to Nolwenn, then looked shortly Deirdre and said: "Bear in mind that the very young guests are not allowed to be unattended in the hotel, there are animals in the house, which are free".

Aurora Alce. Port of Polis, Traveling.

I nodded. "Indeed, we are not.", I said and then glanced to my boss, switching to Lutetiian. "You do know, that I don't bite?"
"Yes, but... well...", he resisted.
It was actually cute.
"Relax.", I asked of him, smiling, then decided to go ahead and close the remainder of the distance, putting my head onto his shoulder and his arm around mine. He didn't know, what hit him! "Relax and enjoy the ride."
I could hear his slight smile as he exhaled and settled his hand on my hip, hesitantly and careful. "How could I with such a pretty girl in my arms?", he asked and I giggled.

The driver's question was answered, however, the two customers deepened their conversation again. He did not understand the language. All at once the lady cuddled up against the scarred gentlemen. He started to smile, said something and she giggled. All of a sudden the driver's stomach pinched and he visibly became nervous. Oh no, he thought. Please, don't do it in the back seat, please don't do it!. He had experienced something like that when he had driven a young Finnerian couple. They forgot themselves in the heat and surrounded by naked bodies and then just started. No, that was not allowed to happen again. What would his superior think of him if he had to tell this story again? He had to distract them.
Well ... um ... I'm curious," he stammered. "Where did you come from?"