[TWI-Only] [Semi-Open] [OOC] The Rains

[Jeriga]

Hey, are we all ready to flash forward to the modern day and switch to our more long-term storylines now?

Trauma sufficiently established in Noa. So I'm ready

[Martenyika]

Ioudaia will be primarily active on two of the Wake Islands, Atolla and Norregan, over the next weeks to years.


Norregan

Ioudaia is a fairly liberal democracy, or something like that, so as a matter of policy, Ioudaia spreads democracy, civil rights, and the rule of law. Norregan's absolute monarchy is therefore unacceptable. Ioudaia doesn't have a problem with the dynasty per se, and a constitutional monarchy is just fine.

Ioudaia is going to start a long-term plan to advance democracy in Norregan. While Ioudaia needs to work with the government to get in the door, and needs to move slowly to deal with the people's conservative culture, to the extent possible, Ioudaia will start basic training in democracy when determining what aid to provide. For example, in replacing the local fishing fleet and its associated infrastructure (docks at least, canneries if Norregan was an exporter), Ioudaia will conduct polls, surveys, and votes to find out what people and communities want. Little boats or big boats? Sails, engines, or both? Fishing with nets or lines? And so on.

Once the Norregans are happy making small decisions on their own, Ioudaia will move on to bigger ones.

If asked, Ioudaia's basic cover stories are the sound explanations that aid agencies are simply trying be culturally sensitive, best meet Norregan's needs, make sure aid is delivered efficiently (no use giving people something they don't want), etc. And the cover stories are, in all likelihood, completely true: before the recent storm, Ioudaia's intelligence services gave the country only a cursory glance. It's small, isolated, and has no natural resources or strategic location, so of little importance overall.

As this is a long play – potentially years long – Ioudaia is willing to lie low if the government becomes too inquisitive. Obviously, other governments' intelligence services will eventually figure out what Ioudaia is up to. But hopefully, they'll take a couple of months to notice the differences between "careful aid effort" and "covert push to reform the government".

---

I expect to post IC for the meeting between the Atollan president and the Ioudaian foreign minister in the next few days. I need to draft it, run it by Ains, then revise and post it.

Hmm, actually believe it or not Martenyika’s reviving boatbuilding industry could serve as some cover, aside from serving its own interests. A few companies reopened or started up within the past half year to a year, They would pounce on the opportunity for a boat production run. This just came to mind anyways.

[Ioudaia]

Ioudaia will be primarily active on two of the Wake Islands, Atolla and Norregan, over the next weeks to years.


Norregan

Ioudaia is a fairly liberal democracy, or something like that, so as a matter of policy, Ioudaia spreads democracy, civil rights, and the rule of law. Norregan's absolute monarchy is therefore unacceptable. Ioudaia doesn't have a problem with the dynasty per se, and a constitutional monarchy is just fine.

Ioudaia is going to start a long-term plan to advance democracy in Norregan. While Ioudaia needs to work with the government to get in the door, and needs to move slowly to deal with the people's conservative culture, to the extent possible, Ioudaia will start basic training in democracy when determining what aid to provide. For example, in replacing the local fishing fleet and its associated infrastructure (docks at least, canneries if Norregan was an exporter), Ioudaia will conduct polls, surveys, and votes to find out what people and communities want. Little boats or big boats? Sails, engines, or both? Fishing with nets or lines? And so on.

Once the Norregans are happy making small decisions on their own, Ioudaia will move on to bigger ones.

If asked, Ioudaia's basic cover stories are the sound explanations that aid agencies are simply trying be culturally sensitive, best meet Norregan's needs, make sure aid is delivered efficiently (no use giving people something they don't want), etc. And the cover stories are, in all likelihood, completely true: before the recent storm, Ioudaia's intelligence services gave the country only a cursory glance. It's small, isolated, and has no natural resources or strategic location, so of little importance overall.

As this is a long play – potentially years long – Ioudaia is willing to lie low if the government becomes too inquisitive. Obviously, other governments' intelligence services will eventually figure out what Ioudaia is up to. But hopefully, they'll take a couple of months to notice the differences between "careful aid effort" and "covert push to reform the government".

---

I expect to post IC for the meeting between the Atollan president and the Ioudaian foreign minister in the next few days. I need to draft it, run it by Ains, then revise and post it.

Hmm, actually believe it or not Martenyika’s reviving boatbuilding industry could serve as some cover, aside from serving its own interests.

Well, of course you're looking out for your own interests. But that sounds good. And I thought from a discord conversation, that you were also interested in building houses on Atolla as well. Yes?

[Ainslie]

Since no one seems to have any objections to it, we will stop backdating our posts and jump to the present day at midnight 17th of July (OOC, roughly american time). From there, all or at least most posts should be dated in the current day or there abouts that we exist in on Earth.

Starting the 18th of July, a new story arc will be introduced where the League Secretary-General will visit the three Wake nations to meet with the locals and their leaders. If you'd like more information about that or are planning to write off of that premise please let me know in this thread so we can get some good stuff going.

I've got posts for Sud and Atolla good to go and Roen should have/already has the Norregan post done (I'm not entirely sure where he's up to on that but I'll check with him today). Off the back of those posts, we can have the Secretary-General meet with your characters if you'd like and we can all kinda operate within that them for the next couple weeks if we'd like to do that.

[Martenyika]

But that sounds good. And I thought from a discord conversation, that you were also interested in building houses on Atolla as well. Yes?

That is correct

[Ainslie]

Posted the first modern-day post for Atolla, so the flash forward has been completed now

[Jeriga]

So, I am prepping my pretense for Jeriga getting involved in the Atolla islands. A "community party" is being built. It will blame the government for everything and blame capitalism for everything that doesn't stick. I really want them to grow as he uses his surveying as a way to network with the community that is rebuilding itself. He will attempt to push Atollan independence and community building measures that see "society work as a whole for the benefit of the whole".

[Ainslie]

So, I am prepping my pretense for Jeriga getting involved in the Atolla islands. A "community party" is being built. It will blame the government for everything and blame capitalism for everything that doesn't stick. I really want them to grow as he uses his surveying as a way to network with the community that is rebuilding itself. He will attempt to push Atollan independence and community building measures that see "society work as a whole for the benefit of the whole".

They're fully independent already. Do you mean cut ties with Altera? The situation between Altera and Atolla is similar to UK and Australia but closer so itd be interesting to see a grass-roots movement distancing themselves from that. A 'community' (i see what youre doing here with the socialisms) party sounds good. It's an absolute blindside of Kelau though... the man's heart pains for his people so this'd be devastating for him.

I love it.

[Jeriga]

So, I am prepping my pretense for Jeriga getting involved in the Atolla islands. A "community party" is being built. It will blame the government for everything and blame capitalism for everything that doesn't stick. I really want them to grow as he uses his surveying as a way to network with the community that is rebuilding itself. He will attempt to push Atollan independence and community building measures that see "society work as a whole for the benefit of the whole".

They're fully independent already. Do you mean cut ties with Altera? The situation between Altera and Atolla is similar to UK and Australia but closer so itd be interesting to see a grass-roots movement distancing themselves from that. A 'community' (i see what youre doing here with the socialisms) party sounds good. It's an absolute blindside of Kelau though... the man's heart pains for his people so this'd be devastating for him.

I love it.

Yes, separating themselves from altera for sure. It'd be grassroots and super libertarian. Of course, he his reliance on jeriga to throw its weight behind the party will be hypocritical for sure.

[Ioudaia]

Ains,

I borrowed an NPC you mentioned: Private Arali Aluen. No reason a member of Atolla's military shouldn't also lose his home to the flooding. Saves me from having to make up an Atollan name.

[Jeriga]

Ains,

I borrowed an NPC you mentioned: Private Arali Aluen. No reason a member of Atolla's military shouldn't also lose his home to the flooding. Saves me from having to make up an Atollan name.

Random name generator plus Hawaiian

[Ioudaia]

Ains,

I borrowed an NPC you mentioned: Private Arali Aluen. No reason a member of Atolla's military shouldn't also lose his home to the flooding. Saves me from having to make up an Atollan name.

Random name generator plus Hawaiian

Are they really? I hadn't noticed.

[Jeriga]

Random name generator plus Hawaiian

Are they really? I hadn't noticed.

That's how I do mine

[Ainslie]

Ains,

I borrowed an NPC you mentioned: Private Arali Aluen. No reason a member of Atolla's military shouldn't also lose his home to the flooding. Saves me from having to make up an Atollan name.

One problem - Arali is Keveraite, not Atollan.

Ains,

I borrowed an NPC you mentioned: Private Arali Aluen. No reason a member of Atolla's military shouldn't also lose his home to the flooding. Saves me from having to make up an Atollan name.

Random name generator plus Hawaiian

This is the gold standard

[Ioudaia]

Ains,

I borrowed an NPC you mentioned: Private Arali Aluen. No reason a member of Atolla's military shouldn't also lose his home to the flooding. Saves me from having to make up an Atollan name.

One problem - Arali is Keveraite, not Atollan.

Crap. Ok, now that I know the secret, I'll fix my post.

[Santheres]

Algebra and Geometry has been issued a *** 1-day ban *** for spam and the posts have been culled

[Jeriga]

Algebra and Geometry has been issued a *** 1-day ban *** for spam

Thanks, mate

[Scaedia]

Hello everyone! Ainslie and I talked about how Scaedia could play a role in this a little bit on Discord so I figured I'd drop in what I'd discussed already as well as the ideas that I'd expanded on more.

I plan on establishing some Christian NGOs similar to the Jesuits that would hail from Scaedia and would provide support to Atolla, most likely financially through fundraising and the donation of church tithes. These NGOs wouldn't really receive monetary support from the government of Scaedia, but several Scaedic politicians would back the organizations' efforts. The government of Scaedia sees a lot of itself in Atolla, being that Scaedia's a fairly young democracy, and therefore wants to prove that Scaedia has "grown up" and can help other young republics do the same.

As for specific posts I could see coming out of this, I think I could work out a couple retroactive news stories about Scaedic participation in response efforts as well as write out some character stories based on the clergy trying to establish a Scaedic-Christian presence. Let me know what you all think!

[Balnik]

Gday. As many of you may know I have been thinking about the first large "Eastern Tripartite" operation to involve an aid mission to the wake Islands, I will have to talk to my fellow members about such an operation but it would be interesting to see the interaction that follow.s

[Solaryia]

Sorry for the fact that I kinda disappeared into the shadow realm right after saying I was going to get into this RP but here's attempt #2:
To add a short retcon I’m going to say that Solaryi did give Sud a decent amount of supplies, and then later Atolla once the country started to fully open up. However they’re just now starting to get more involved in the rebuilding of the region, primarily focusing on keeping law and order, rebuilding education, and offering economic assistance via loans and investments.
For specifics, there’s gonna be a task force of three Destroyers and a few support/supply ships stationed in the ports of Sud and Atolla to serve as temp headquarters for the Solaryi aid effort, mostly regarding giving out supplies and acting as general command centers.
The government will also volunteer to give local Home Guard troops (US national guard type soldiers) to assist the police forces and help give a sense of security while they help to rebuild the local emergency services.
Assistance will be offered to start helping rebuild the Wake University, the only major university in the region, with temporary buildings and volunteering Solaryi professors being flown in to temporarily replace/assist any native teachers while the actual university is rebuilt and further upgraded with assistance from native Solaryi institutions.
Economic aid will also be given to both Atolla and Sud in the form of loans and various exclusive trade deals, (along with directly financing some parts of Sud’s government and President Ienana in exchange for more “advantageous” deals for the Solaryi’s).

[Uprea]

Previously discussed the fact that Uprea would be joining "The Rains". Here are my ideas what role Uprea would have or is playing in "The Rains".

Contrary to others Uprea would have probably not joined during the first stage of the crisis (much du to the geological distance between The Wake Isles and Uprea) and wouldn´t have acted until the second stage.
By start of the second stage Uprea would have sent their Natural Disaster Crisis Management Unit, which would have consisted of specifically engineered boat vessels and personnel trained for such emergencies. Help provided by Uprea would have probably occurred all over the place without any particular focus on a specific position. If anyone has a position where Uprea could have helped in particular, feel free to tell me here or in a telegram.

The second part of Upreas Help Initiative would or does not occur in the Wake Isles but rather in Uprea itself. Uprea would or still is volunteering to take so called "climate refugees". Wake Isles inhabitants who lost much of their previous existence due to the events would have traveled to Uprea acquiring refugee status.
Following continuous help from other nations as well many will want to return now. Others may choose to stay. Here is where the second part of the issue lies.
I will discuss the legal problems this will present in different news postings in the upcoming weeks.

I understand that should their be claims made upon the Isles by nations who previously gained so called "soft power", Uprea would heavily disapprove of any form of such. This form of help for a nation struggling after disastrous event should be an act of honor and be done out of purely humanitarian purposes. No legal claim in the eyes of Uprea can be gained upon simply helping a nation get back to its feet.

[North Oscotia]

Hello, offering Oscotia's assistance in the Rains in any capacity. I believe from my talk with Ainslie, there is still clean up to do ?

[Ainslie]

NOVEMBER 2021 UPDATE
(an update on where each of the islands are in the RP and what nations are up to in the RP)

So, it’s been a while since I have written an update for this RP so I guess it is probably time to do a bit of a summary and update on where things are at. The focus of this post will be Atolla and Sud as those are the islands I have oversight over. I’ll briefly mention Norregan as well but for any questions about that nation you should go to Roendavar.

In this post I’ll be going through the current status of the three nations, how well they’ve recovered, what’s been going on in each of them and what could happen in the future. Also will briefly mention what each of the leaders currently want.

Norregan
Current IC thread date - 10 November 2021

Infrastructure back to the level it was before, which is not great - probably equivalent to central Africa

• Ioudaia is using aid as a way to encourage the Norregan people to embrace basic democratic principles such as voting, unionisation and participation in decision-making.

Atolla
Current IC thread date - 10 November 2021

Infrastructure in Atolla City is back to the level it was before which is not great - probably equivalent to Freetown in Sierra Leone but everything outside of the city is pretty much flattened or rudimentary - stick and tarp sort of arrangements

• Noa, a native Atollan, has been used by Jeriga OOC to establish a political party to forward the cause of socialism in the nation and distance themselves from Altera from whom Atolla gained independence from.
• Ioudaia and Martenyika have been rebuilding people’s houses in Atolla
• Christian NGOs from Scaedia will be getting more involved in Atolla offering support to the Atollans. These organisations will also be trying to spread the religion throughout a previously irreligious society.
• Destroyers and supply ships from Solaryia are offshore to help resupply efforts and ensure that the reconstruction works across the nation run smoothly. They will also send volunteers to stand alongside existing emergency services to upskil them and set them up for the future.
• Emergency services from Uprea will offer support where it is suitable and appropriate
• Uprea has taken in “climate refugees” from Atolla who have decided to flee the nation in search of a better life after they lost everything in the storm

What’s the leader like?
President Lewen Kelau is a democratically elected leader who led the country out of independence and ever since the 2016 election enjoyed significant support until the storm front came and wiped out a lot of the nation. Kelau is one of the many people still traumatised by the world around him being taken away in an instant. He has been on the frontlines of the crisis and has been helping his citizens in the most practical and tangible way he can. However, this means he lacks objectivity and detachment to make decisions that may disadvantage the nation in the short term but bring significantly more long term benefit. He has a pragmatic leader with a keen eye for the needs of his citizens and not much else.

What’s coming up?

• I’m planning on having Kelau postpone general elections on the island for the second time running. This will make things a bit less certain in the nation and trouble the young democracy - does it choose stability for a bit longer or does it prioritise the stringency of the election process in the nation? This will have effects on Noa’s new Community Party which is trying to gain some ground yet obviously can’t if there are no elections.
• I’m thinking of having some of the refugees come back to Atolla from Uprea and have a pretty rough reintegration into society. Perhaps they should move into some of the new houses Ioudaia and Martenyika have been building too.

What do they want?
More of the same mostly, more houses, more support to rebuild government institutions and long term technical advice as to how to best respond to storm systems in the future. Further, advice on the way regulations can be designed to protect the nation during disasters and make it more resilient. Deals should be done directly through Kelau if they are to be fulfilled, the rest of the bureaucracy is pretty amateur hour.


Sud
Current IC thread date - 10 November 2021

Infrastructure in Karanoa is probably the best out of any of the three nations, it’s back to normal which isn’t fantastic but it’s roughly equivalent to your average third world city. The remaining people in Sud now live nomadic lifestyles, live in rudimentary structures. However, the vast majority came out of the forests and into Karanoa to access aid and have remained ever since.

• Destroyers and supply ships from Solaryia are offshore to help resupply efforts and ensure that the reconstruction works across the nation run smoothly. They will also send volunteers to stand alongside existing emergency services to upskil them and set them up for the future.
• Emergency services from Uprea will offer support where it is suitable and appropriate
• Uprea has taken in “climate refugees” from Atolla who have decided to flee the nation in search of a better life after they lost everything in the storm

What’s the leader like?
Prime Minister Jacob Lenana is about as two faced as they come. On one side he is warm and charismatic, looking like a leader who cares for his people and has appealed to the international community to help him do so. On the other side, he cares only for his political career and is determined to make it look like things in Sud are getting a lot better over time - covering up many of the social issues that have been exacerbated by the disaster whether that be inequality, rampant corruption or a massive lack of social cohesion between the elite (which Lenana is a part of), the rest of Karanoa and then Karanoa and the rest of the country. The centrality of Karanoa in the aid response is perceived by Sudites as a way to prevent the rest of the country from gaining any stature and is a way to fulfil the elite’s objective of turning Sud into a manageable city-state. Lenana is the ultimate politician, comes across as likeable yet underneath is insecurity and a desperation to remain on the good side of his constituents, or at least those who turn out to vote.

What do they want?
More help to develop Karanoa to such an extent that the rest of the island practically becomes irrelevant. He wants Karanoa to look like an advanced city which could be the pride of the Wake Islands and puts Norregan to shame. He wishes to be helped in making the Sudite democracy the gold standard and the darling of the Wake Isles. Also, anyone who is willing to offer support that makes the PM look good will very much be favoured by Lenana. At the moment, there is no clear successor to Lenana and he currently wields significant control and authority over his cabinet which operates to prevent dissent. What Lenana wants he gets (if its possible for him to get in Sud) and he wants a long political career and be immortalised as the most important PM the nation has had with the most beneficial legacy. Fair to say the rains put that goal a bit further out of reach but he is determined to make up ground with the support of the international community.

Concluding Remarks
If you’ve got any ideas or ways you’d like to contribute, feel free to speak up in this thread. Also, I hope this post helps you gauge where you could fit into the RP and be able to write with a clearer mind. Any further questions feel free to let me know. The post about the postponed Atollan elections will be out in the next few days - other than that i’ll let you all know if i do anything further with Wake.

[Belantica]

How should I enter this RP?

[Ainslie]

How should I enter this RP?

What do you mean? As in practically how do you come in despite not writing anything for Stage I? If that's the case, just either have your involvement begin modern day or write a news post or something recapping what you did.

Who do you plan to RP with in it? Belanticans, ex-pats, government, emergency services, local wakeites? Your answer will more clearly suggest what route to take to get involved.