Edolia
17-03-2004, 13:51
Journal of Professor Valis von Albemuth; Biologist and Anthropologist
February 16th, 20??
My team and I have been tramping through this rainforest for the past week. Since arriving on the island, the weather has been terrible. Yesterday, I slipped while climbing up a muddy embankment and lost my backpack. Much of its contents were damaged in the fall when it split open, including a good portion of our rations. I expect that we will have to turn back prematurely. This is a grave disappointment, as I believe that we are the first people to ever set foot on this island. The wildlife is stunning –like nothing I have ever seen before. This island has been isolated from outside contact for millions of years allowing many species to flourish here that don’t exist anywhere else. Just yesterday I was able to get a picture of an entirely new species of tree-dwelling gerbil! I’m hoping that my new findings will make the Edölian government give us a second, larger grant. I expect that we will continue doing water tests on this river for the next two days. After that, we will turn back.
February 17th, 20??
I have come to the startling conclusion that we may not be completely alone on this island! As incredible as the idea of indigenous peoples here is, I have found evidence of natives, including what I believe are some sort of ritualistic marks painted with red dye on a number of trees in the vicinity. They show a level of complexity that suggests some significance. If there are indeed people on this island, the value of research could be astounding! I can’t imagine how they could have gotten here though. This island is nearly five hundred kilometers away from any other land of any significant size, which is why its wildlife has developed in such a unique way. I’m cutting our investigation of the river short and devoting the remainder of our time here to trying to make contact with these people.
February 18th, 20??
My suspicions have been confirmed! This morning, while cleaning up breakfast, I saw a man standing on the other side of the river and watching me. He ran off as soon as he saw that I had noticed him. He was short and dark skinned and though I couldn’t get a good look at him, he was wearing some colorful cloth. If only we didn’t have to leave. I am in the process of compiling a detailed account of my expedition, which I hope to be able to use to influence the Edölian government into allowing me to come back.
February 19th, 200??
It is with great sadness that I leave this fascinating island. It dawned on me this morning that I have not yet given it a name and still refer to it by its map number, IEC-20167. I decided that “Insüla Smaragdi” would be appropriate. Once I return to Edölia, the first thing I shall do is to write up a report of my findings here. Well… perhaps I’ll get a shower first.
-----
Bilëburg University, Hall of the People
February 28th, 20??
Professor Valis von Albemuth studied the faces of her audience. It was a large crowd –many of Edölia’s most distinguished minds had come out to see her speak. She glanced at the clock. It was time to begin. She stepped to the podium and waited as the sound of talking slowly abated.
“Comrades,” she began. “My name is Professor Valis von Albemuth. You are all most likely aware that I returned from a two week surveying expedition to a small island, Insüla Smaragdi, in the middle of the Pacific” –a map of the area appeared behind her- “ on the 19th of this month. You are also, I am sure, aware that my five colleagues and I were the first human beings to ever set foot on that island. However, you are wrong. My team and I encountered a group of indigenous human beings that have apparently been living on this island undisturbed for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Due to constraints in terms of our supplies, we were forced to abandon the island prematurely and unfortunately, we were unable to make contact with these natives. I was able to take a few pictures, however…”
The People’s Imperial House of Science; Blätterschplitt City
March 1st, 20??
Li Jiamin reviewed the report on her desk. The findings of this Professor von Albemuth were quite fascinating. Tree-dwelling gerbils! Incredible! The idea of a native tribe, cut off from the rest of humanity for hundreds of years was even more interesting. Von Albemuth was asking for Ə50,000 to continue her research. Unfortunately, it was also Ə25,000 more than she had the authority to grant. This would have to be referred to her superiors. Picking up the telephone to her left, she quickly pressed some numbers. “Yes. This is Secretary Li here… I would like to speak with Mr. von Groth please…. Yes… Thank you.” She waited as her boss’ secretary transferred her.
“Hello? Secretary Li?”
“Good morning comrade von Groth. I was wondering if you are familiar with the recent findings of Professor Valis von Albemuth from Bilëburg University?”
“She’s the one with the island, right? Insüla Smaragdi?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ve heard something about it. I assume you’re looking for my guidance before signing her a grant?”
“I’m only authorized to sign up to 币25,000. She’s requesting 币50,000.”
“币50,000? That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Evidently she believes that this island is one of a kind. She wants to make sure that Edölia has full control over it before the capitalists get their grubby hands on it. Free-market types aren’t exactly known for respecting places like Insüla Smaragdi.”
“Agreed. Alright. Send the request up to me and I’ll give it my approval.”
“Thank you sir.”
-----
A vessel of the Edölian Scientific Service; the middle of the Pacific
April 12th, 20??
Valis von Albemuth looked off towards the horizon. Her island would be coming into view very soon. She looked forward to resuming her work. And this time she wouldn’t be with a group of graduate students. The notoriety that Insüla Smaragdi had brought her allowed her to assemble a team of some of the best anthropologists, biologists and explorers in Edölia. She would head up the team looking to make contact with the natives while Andrew von Tuff would pursue the botanical aspect of the island and Jeri von Ralophi would lead up a team making a detailed map.
“Good afternoon professor von Albemuth.” Valis turned. Andrew von Tuff had come up behind her.
“Good afternoon, comrade.” She smiled. “It’s a beautiful day to be working in the name of science!”
“Indeed. I hope that the publicity you generated isn’t going to cause us trouble later, though. There will be quite a lot of other countries that would love to turn this island into a tourist spot or a mid-Pacific military base. This part of the world has been ignored for quite some time, but you never know…”
“That’s true. I’m hoping that this expedition will convince the higher-ups in Blätterschplitt that Insüla Smaragdi is valuable enough to put it under official Edölian protection. We’ll want to work quickly.”
-----
<<OOC: I’m leaving the RP open but I would prefer that only good role players post. More scientific discoveries are going to come out regarding the island and its native population that could be of interest to nations who are both scientifically interested and evil capitalists ;). Please, if your nation is really nasty, don’t just spoil the whole thing and use the island as a nuclear testing ground (at least not immediately). That would kind of destroy the whole role playing aspect of this.
And some notes:
Insüla Smaragdi is Edölian (which is a strange form of Latin) for Emerald Island. Not to be confused with Ireland.
币= The Chinese character “bi,” meaning “currency.” It is the official symbol of the Populi Pecunia, the Edölian currency. It is worth about $1.20.
(Big kudos to anyone who caught the literary reference…)>>
February 16th, 20??
My team and I have been tramping through this rainforest for the past week. Since arriving on the island, the weather has been terrible. Yesterday, I slipped while climbing up a muddy embankment and lost my backpack. Much of its contents were damaged in the fall when it split open, including a good portion of our rations. I expect that we will have to turn back prematurely. This is a grave disappointment, as I believe that we are the first people to ever set foot on this island. The wildlife is stunning –like nothing I have ever seen before. This island has been isolated from outside contact for millions of years allowing many species to flourish here that don’t exist anywhere else. Just yesterday I was able to get a picture of an entirely new species of tree-dwelling gerbil! I’m hoping that my new findings will make the Edölian government give us a second, larger grant. I expect that we will continue doing water tests on this river for the next two days. After that, we will turn back.
February 17th, 20??
I have come to the startling conclusion that we may not be completely alone on this island! As incredible as the idea of indigenous peoples here is, I have found evidence of natives, including what I believe are some sort of ritualistic marks painted with red dye on a number of trees in the vicinity. They show a level of complexity that suggests some significance. If there are indeed people on this island, the value of research could be astounding! I can’t imagine how they could have gotten here though. This island is nearly five hundred kilometers away from any other land of any significant size, which is why its wildlife has developed in such a unique way. I’m cutting our investigation of the river short and devoting the remainder of our time here to trying to make contact with these people.
February 18th, 20??
My suspicions have been confirmed! This morning, while cleaning up breakfast, I saw a man standing on the other side of the river and watching me. He ran off as soon as he saw that I had noticed him. He was short and dark skinned and though I couldn’t get a good look at him, he was wearing some colorful cloth. If only we didn’t have to leave. I am in the process of compiling a detailed account of my expedition, which I hope to be able to use to influence the Edölian government into allowing me to come back.
February 19th, 200??
It is with great sadness that I leave this fascinating island. It dawned on me this morning that I have not yet given it a name and still refer to it by its map number, IEC-20167. I decided that “Insüla Smaragdi” would be appropriate. Once I return to Edölia, the first thing I shall do is to write up a report of my findings here. Well… perhaps I’ll get a shower first.
-----
Bilëburg University, Hall of the People
February 28th, 20??
Professor Valis von Albemuth studied the faces of her audience. It was a large crowd –many of Edölia’s most distinguished minds had come out to see her speak. She glanced at the clock. It was time to begin. She stepped to the podium and waited as the sound of talking slowly abated.
“Comrades,” she began. “My name is Professor Valis von Albemuth. You are all most likely aware that I returned from a two week surveying expedition to a small island, Insüla Smaragdi, in the middle of the Pacific” –a map of the area appeared behind her- “ on the 19th of this month. You are also, I am sure, aware that my five colleagues and I were the first human beings to ever set foot on that island. However, you are wrong. My team and I encountered a group of indigenous human beings that have apparently been living on this island undisturbed for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Due to constraints in terms of our supplies, we were forced to abandon the island prematurely and unfortunately, we were unable to make contact with these natives. I was able to take a few pictures, however…”
The People’s Imperial House of Science; Blätterschplitt City
March 1st, 20??
Li Jiamin reviewed the report on her desk. The findings of this Professor von Albemuth were quite fascinating. Tree-dwelling gerbils! Incredible! The idea of a native tribe, cut off from the rest of humanity for hundreds of years was even more interesting. Von Albemuth was asking for Ə50,000 to continue her research. Unfortunately, it was also Ə25,000 more than she had the authority to grant. This would have to be referred to her superiors. Picking up the telephone to her left, she quickly pressed some numbers. “Yes. This is Secretary Li here… I would like to speak with Mr. von Groth please…. Yes… Thank you.” She waited as her boss’ secretary transferred her.
“Hello? Secretary Li?”
“Good morning comrade von Groth. I was wondering if you are familiar with the recent findings of Professor Valis von Albemuth from Bilëburg University?”
“She’s the one with the island, right? Insüla Smaragdi?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ve heard something about it. I assume you’re looking for my guidance before signing her a grant?”
“I’m only authorized to sign up to 币25,000. She’s requesting 币50,000.”
“币50,000? That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Evidently she believes that this island is one of a kind. She wants to make sure that Edölia has full control over it before the capitalists get their grubby hands on it. Free-market types aren’t exactly known for respecting places like Insüla Smaragdi.”
“Agreed. Alright. Send the request up to me and I’ll give it my approval.”
“Thank you sir.”
-----
A vessel of the Edölian Scientific Service; the middle of the Pacific
April 12th, 20??
Valis von Albemuth looked off towards the horizon. Her island would be coming into view very soon. She looked forward to resuming her work. And this time she wouldn’t be with a group of graduate students. The notoriety that Insüla Smaragdi had brought her allowed her to assemble a team of some of the best anthropologists, biologists and explorers in Edölia. She would head up the team looking to make contact with the natives while Andrew von Tuff would pursue the botanical aspect of the island and Jeri von Ralophi would lead up a team making a detailed map.
“Good afternoon professor von Albemuth.” Valis turned. Andrew von Tuff had come up behind her.
“Good afternoon, comrade.” She smiled. “It’s a beautiful day to be working in the name of science!”
“Indeed. I hope that the publicity you generated isn’t going to cause us trouble later, though. There will be quite a lot of other countries that would love to turn this island into a tourist spot or a mid-Pacific military base. This part of the world has been ignored for quite some time, but you never know…”
“That’s true. I’m hoping that this expedition will convince the higher-ups in Blätterschplitt that Insüla Smaragdi is valuable enough to put it under official Edölian protection. We’ll want to work quickly.”
-----
<<OOC: I’m leaving the RP open but I would prefer that only good role players post. More scientific discoveries are going to come out regarding the island and its native population that could be of interest to nations who are both scientifically interested and evil capitalists ;). Please, if your nation is really nasty, don’t just spoil the whole thing and use the island as a nuclear testing ground (at least not immediately). That would kind of destroy the whole role playing aspect of this.
And some notes:
Insüla Smaragdi is Edölian (which is a strange form of Latin) for Emerald Island. Not to be confused with Ireland.
币= The Chinese character “bi,” meaning “currency.” It is the official symbol of the Populi Pecunia, the Edölian currency. It is worth about $1.20.
(Big kudos to anyone who caught the literary reference…)>>