BATE: Where in the World is the Brown Ajah?

[Raena]

Where in the World is the Brown Ajah?

 

For the 2011 Brown Ajah Travel Event I'm reviving the "Where in the World is the Brown Ajah?" game! The Brown Ajah is going on a virtual tour of the world and we need your help or we may never find our way back home to the White Tower!

 

HOW IT WORKS

The Brown Ajah is visiting a place (it could be a city, state, province, or country) somewhere in the world and will record information about that place to share with all of you! However, you know us forgetful Browns! Without YOUR help discovering the name of the location we're visiting we might not be able to find our way to the next destination or worse yet... home!

 

HOW TO PLAY ALONG

During the two weeks that the Brown Ajah Travel Event is happening, we will be telling you about the place we're visiting. We'll share pictures, historical facts, and other interesting things about the location. As we give details of this place you must try to figure out where we poor, sometimes absent-minded, Browns have wandered off to! When you think you know the answer PRIVATE MESSAGE ME. Each person gets one guess so don't send in your answer until you're SURE you know where we're at. The first person to guess where we've gone is the winner!

 

WHO CAN PLAY?

Everyone!

 

BUT WAIT... IS THAT IT?

No! Where in the World is the Brown Ajah will continue for the rest of the year, with the Brown Ajah visiting a new location each month. There will be a winner each month, and an overall winner at the end of the year.

 

The monthly winner will be the first person who sends in the correct answer. The overall winner will be the person with the most points at the end of the year.

 

Points? What points?

 

If you send in the correct answer during the first week of the month, you will get 4 points.

If you send in the correct answer during the second week, you will get 3 points.

If you send in the correct answer during the third week, you will get 2 points.

If you send in the correct answer during the fourth and last week, you will get 1 point.

If you send in an incorrect answer, you will get 0 points.

 

The first location is obviously different since it's taking place during the Travel Event and only lasts for two weeks. That's why everyone will get 4 points if they guess correctly!

 

Questions? PM me or ask them in this thread. Have fun!

[Millon]

ALL YEAR?!!!! OH sweeeeet! Loved it when you guys did this last year. Can't wait.! Thank you darlin'!

[keyholder21]

Awesome! This sounds super fun!

 

Though you stole my idea for a thread with the "Where in the World" business!

[Raena]

Key, actually I didn't come up with this - a wandering Brown, Miya, did. I just adapted it some.

[Raena]

Prologue

 

Raena walked excitedly through the Brown halls of the White Tower. The day had only just begun but she knew it would be interesting. She had managed to convince the Mistress of Novices and the Master at Arms to allow her to take a few Novices, Accepted and Manshima on a field trip to the Panarch's Palace in Tanchico.

 

Raena wasn't sure why she had had to work so hard to convince them. It would be a perfectly safe field trip. They would Travel to Tanchico, go to the exhibit at the Palace, and then Travel back to the White Tower. They wouldn't even have to spend the night in Tanchico! She would have understood their hesitance if it had been any other Brown leading the field trip because they were, after all, famous for being absent-minded. But not Raena. She would never get lost. In the end, the Mistress of Novices and the Master at Arms had only agreed to the field trip if more Aes Sedai came along, so Raena had been forced to threaten Jeannaisais and Majsju with library clean-up duty if they didn't accompany her.

 

The group was supposed to meet just inside the doors leading out to the Traveling grounds. Jeannaisais was already there, several large books and notebooks clutched under one arm, keeping an eye on the gathered Aspirants. They were all looking tired, but that was to be expected since they always stayed up too late. Children, Raena thought. One day they will realize just how much fun it is to wake up at dawn. Majsju was also present, looking as tired as the Aspirants. For some strange reason he had never appreciated waking up early.

 

"Right then, people!" Raena said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. She ignored the looks from Majsju and the Aspirants. No doubt they would soon be as cheery as her. "Let's get going!"

 

They proceeded to walk over to the Traveling grounds, and Raena embraced saidar and opened a gateway onto a quiet and empty street in Tanchico.

 

"Jea, Maj, you go first. Then all the Aspirants. I'll stay behind and make sure no one is left behind. Today is going to be so exciting!"

 

Raena waited for everyone to get through and wished that some of them would hurry up a bit more. They needed to be at the exhibit when it opened so that they could spend all day there. Once the last novice was on the other side, Raena quickly walked through and let the gateway close behind her.

 

"This way, people! Just follow me and we'll get to the exhibit in no time... why are you looking at me like that?" Raena asked when she noticed that everyone, including the two Aes Sedai, were staring at her. Some of the novices even looked terrified. "Do I have something in my hair?"

 

"This... is not Tanchico!" Majsju said. "Where have you taken us? I could have been in bed still!"

 

Raena turned around and realized that Majsju was right. This wasn't Tanchico. The buildings were all wrong, and what was that? She has to step back to avoid being run over by a... something... on four wheels that seemed to be driving itself. She heard a noise behind her and turned to look. It was Jeannaisais who had dropped all of her books in surprise.

 

Good thing that thinking quickly was Raena's forte.

 

"Everyone! Run! Across the street and into that alley!"

 

Fortunately everyone made it safely across the street except for poor novice Basel, who nearly got clipped by one of those ridiculous horseless carriages. Raena turned to them. Now even Majsju and Jeannaisais were looking a bit distressed.

 

"Raena Sedai, do you know where we are?" Accepted Senexx asked, a worried look on his face.

 

"Well, we are definitely not in Tanchico", Raena said. "But don't worry. Don't you realize how amazing this is? We have a new place to explore. I propose that you all stay here for the time being. Meanwhile I will go out and gather information and maybe we will be able to figure out where we are. This is going to be exciting, people!"

 

Blood and bloody ashes, she thought. Adella and Fnorrll are going to kill me for getting their Aspirants into trouble.

[Millon]

*looks for the 'Like' button and then realises he is in fact NOT on FB any longer. I love this game hehehe*

 

Bloody ashes! where are we?

 

 

 

 

p.s. ummmmmm, do you mind a lil playful spamming? hehehehe, Suppose I should have asked first before posting it eh? lol

[Raena]

I wouldn't call it spamming if it's related to the game. In other words, yes, you can post as much as you want on this thread, the posts don't have to be serious, but please keep it on topic.

[Raena]

Raena was pleased with her decision to be the first to explore this new location. It wouldn't be very responsible of her to let the Aspirants run around unsupervised. Not that anyone would care about that once they returned to the White Tower - they would probably be too busy berating her for getting lost in the first place.

 

She had spent several hours walking around the city. Once she had gotten used to the strange surroundings it had been a pleasant day, warm and sunny. She had no trouble finding her way back to the rest of the group, her sense of direction was excellent and she never got lost. Well, almost never.

 

Her traveling companions were still where she had left them, most of them sitting on the ground. Jeannaisais was reading and Majsju was apparently taking a nap. Raena passed everyone some of the water she had managed to find. The water came in strangely soft clear jugs with confounding lids that took ages to open. Whoever heard of twisting lids open anyway? She figured water was important. It would be embarrassing if they all died of thirst.

 

"Listen up, everyone! This is what I have found out about our location," Raena said and opened her notebook. "We have apparently ended up in a large city. The city is located on a vast body of water. I believe the locals refer to it as the Atlantic Ocean. There's a large port here as well."

 

"That's it? That's all you have found out?" Majsju asked.

 

"Well yeah, there are lots of things to look at and I might have gotten side tracked," Raena responded. "But you have a point. I propose that we split up tomorrow and see what more we can find out about this place. For now, though, let's find somewhere to eat..."

[Senexx]

"And you left out we're on a bloody big hill" Accepted Senexx exclaimed.

 

Raena gave him a stern look.

 

"Sorry, Aes Sedai," he said shamefacedly. "If they build these building much higher they'll begin to rival the White Tower. The Creator forbid."

[Basel Gill]

Basel decided to look closer at one of those strange carriages. After a few minutes of talking with a couple of locals, he was able to figure out what they were saying. His stomach rumbled. He returned to the group. "I figured out a few things, although the people here speak no tongue I've ever heard before," he says "Those carriages, the ones without horses, are called either cars or autos, depending on who you talk to. The really big ones are called trucks. I also got directions to the nearest place to buy food. There is a place selling something called bocadillo a few streets in that direction [pointing to his left]. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting hungry, and we could be here a while unless we can figure out what went wrong with the Traveling." Basel hoped to himself that as time went by, they would pick up the local language much better. "One more thing... I know to be more careful crossing the street in this place!"

 

[Jeannaisais]

Having been buried in her multiple books for quite some time, Jea suddenly started spouting off information as she read it, finding it of particular interest to their current situation and what Basel had just told them. "Bocadillos, a phrase stolen from another language of a nearby country, are considered to be small sandwiches with nothing but meat between two slices of bread...so it's food, and hopefully edible. Oh it also says here it typically comes with a glass of wine. That should be nice to try, maybe help calm all of our nerves a bit so we can figure out where we are. And Basel is correct, the horseless carriages are autos or cars, and the small ones on just two wheels are motos. But enough about local culture for now...is anyone else as hot as I am? I have to be suffocating myself in this dress! I thought we were going to be inside a lovely cool museum all day....not under some freakishly hot sun, the likes of which I believe I have never felt before!"

[Raena]

Raena was very pleased with the discoveries the others had made. She decided to write a letter to the Amyrlin with the details. Maybe the combined effort of the entire White Tower would be enough to figure out where they had ended up. How the letter would get to Tar Valon was another matter entirely.

 

"Dear Mother," she started writing. Was that even the proper way of starting a letter to the Amyrlin? It would have to do.

 

"I was going to Travel to Tanchico with a couple of other Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah and a bunch of Aspirants when something went wrong and we found ourselves in a city not familiar to any of us. I'm writing this to you in the hopes that you - or someone - will be able to help us figure out where we are and how to get home. I have tried to open a gateway back to the White Tower but it is not working. I can only open a gateway the size of my own hand.

 

Don't worry, the Aspirants are quite safe with me. In fact, I have sent them out on scouting missions - they would all make excellent researchers. This is what we have found out so far:

 

The city is large, and located on a vast body of water called the Atlantic Ocean. There is a very large port here. The city is on a bloody big hill and the buildings are tall. The locals speak a language neither of us are familiar with. They eat bocadillos here, but that is a word stolen from another language of a country nearby. It is warm, or hot even, here.

 

I hope this letter will reach you, and that you will be able to help us soon. I didn't bring nearly enough books for an extended stay outside the White Tower.

 

Yours in the Light,

Raena Sedai of the Brown Ajah"

 

She addressed the letter to The Amyrlin, The White Tower, Tar Valon. After a moment's thought, she added URGENT. Then she tied the letter to a rock, opened the largest gateway she could, and threw the rock through. Now she could only hope that someone would find it and actually bring it to the Amyrlin.

 

When she returned to the rest of the group she decided to send Maj off to get some of those bocadillos Basel and Jea had talked about. "And bring back some wine too, if you can find it," she said.

 

Turning to the others, she told them the details of her latest discovery. "I have found out that there's a forest not far from here. It was planted not too long ago, and the trees are rather big and mostly evergreen. The locals go to the forest on their days off. Maybe we can go there to get some fresh air and some shade."

[Raena]

INTERMISSION

 

Do you want the Brown Ajah to virtually visit YOUR hometown (state/province/country etc)? Then you should become a host!

 

Simply PM me with the name of the place where you live, and some information about the place. If you live in a big city, then we'll probably just visit the city. If you live in a small village in a small country, then maybe we'll visit the entire country. Who knows!

 

If we choose to visit your city/state/country, we'll let you know. You won't be able to play that month, but you'll get 5 points for volunteering to be a host!

 

If you think this sounds interesting, go ahead and PM me.

[Raena]

Raena munched on a bocadillo and decided to write some things down in her journal so that she wouldn't forget them if she needed them for another letter. Not that she was absent-minded or anything.

 

These bocadillos are surprisingly tasty. I just wish Majsju had been able to find some wine. I haven't heard back from the White Tower yet, but I'm still hoping that they'll be able to help us.

 

The city we're in is apparently the largest in the country but it is not the capital of the country. A sketch of one of the main sights in the city (from what I can tell, a religious building):

 

[Raena]

Raena's Journal

 

It seems the city we're in is located in a kingdom of some kind. I wonder if I should get an audience with the ruler. I am an Aes Sedai after all

[Elgee]

This Stasis Box one of the Grays had discovered and brought to the Tower contained the most amazing collection of things! Elgee knew she would have to hand it over to the Browns soon for proper study, but in the mean time she was enjoying rummaging around in it and playing with the various things she discovered within.

 

At the moment she was reading a small book full of what she presumed were jokes. Luckily she was proficient enough in the Old Tongue to figure out that the title was "Yo mama ... ". She found that particularly amusing. A firm knock on the door had her hastily tucking it under a stack of papers on her desk and trying to stifle her snorts of laughter. She knew that knock. It was the Keeper. Sure enough, Mirsh opened the door briskly and strode in, stern look on her face.

 

"Have you read that letter from the Brown Head yet? Mother. It says URGENT on the front. "

 

Definitely not shifting in her seat, Elgee stuck out her bottom lip. "I was just getting to it. Promise." Mirsh didn't move, merely hoisted her left eyebrow up a bit. Elgee rifled through the papers on her desk, and spotted the one. It had one carefully placed ink spot, but was otherwise pristine and precisely addressed. Ripping it open, Elgee scanned through it, stopped, read it carefully again from the top, all the way through to the bottom. Oh. Dear.

 

Trying hard to keep the sickly expression off her face, Elgee folded the letter. She carefully avoided Mirsh's eyes. There was going to be Big Trouble if she didn't sort this little bit of bother out right quick. Adella for one was going to go spare.

 

"Uhm ... Mirsh, could you do me a favour and check what all you can find out about bocadillos - apparently that is something people eat. And an ocean called the Atlantic." Atlantic Ocean ... now why did that ring a bell? Seeing that Mirsh had raised the other eyebrow, Elgee hastily dissembled. "Raena is doing a bit of research - you know how Browns can get about their research." She added a double shoulder shrug in for effect.

 

Five days later, Elgee was at last able to pen a return note to Raena.

 

Dear Raena

 

You'd better bring those Accepted back without a scratch on them. Adella's gonna go spare, otherwise.

 

You're slightly in luck because it so happens that one of the Grays found a Stasis Box with the most amazing stuff in it. I've had it placed in Thirteenth Depository, after the incident with the ... well never mind that. Mirsh's eyebrows are growing back slowly.

 

So anyway, there was this strange machine in it and after we discovered the hidden latch we were able to open it. I pressed some black square shaped buttons on it with squiggles on it and a picture called "Goggle" or something came up. Everything seems to be in Old Tongue, but I couldn't understand most of it. I played around on that a bit, though, and I think the following might be able to help you:

 

Very famous [moving? move? movie?]

Play it again, Sam.

 

So good luck and bring me back something nice.

 

Elgee

The Flame blah blah

[Raena]

Just a reminder that you have until Sunday, July 3 to get your guesses in. PM me! Also, don't forget that you can volunteer your hometown (state, country etc) for the Brown Ajah to visit! You can do it by PMing me.

 

---

 

Raena tucked the letter from the Amyrlin away. She didn't care about how the letter had found its way to her. The important thing was that it had and that the Amyrlin has actually responded and had been able to help some.

 

She had managed to learn one more thing. The name of the city was apparently a word combination meaning "White House" in the language they spoke in the country where the bocadillos had come from.

[Raena]

The Brown Ajah is in Casablanca, Morocco!

 

Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port, but the capital of Morocco is Rabat. The port of Casablanca is one of the largest artificial ports in the world. The Berber original name, Anfa, means hill. A bocadillo, in Spain and other hispanic countries, is a sandwich made with Spanish bread cut lengthwise. Spain and Morocco are close to each other.

 

Movie reference #1: "as time went by" refers to the song As Time Goes By that became most famous in 1942 when it was sung by Sam (Dooley Wilson) in the movie Casablanca.

 

The Bouskoura forest is a natural attraction in the city. The forest was planted in the 20th century and consists mostly of Eucalyptus and Pine trees.

 

Picture clue: Hassan II Mosque, the largest mosque in the country and the fifth largest mosque in the world.

 

Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with a king, Mohammed VI of Morocco.

 

Movie reference #2: "One of the lines most closely associated with the film [Casablanca] — "Play it again, Sam" — is a misquotation. When Ilsa first enters the Café Americain, she spots Sam and asks him to "Play it once, Sam, for old times' sake." When he feigns ignorance, she responds, "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'." Later that night, alone with Sam, Rick says, "You played it for her and you can play it for me," and "If she can stand it, I can! Play it!""

 

And finally: Casablanca means "White House" in Spanish.

 

---

 

I hope you all had fun! I will reveal the winners soon. Keep an eye out for July's "Where in the World is the Brown Ajah?" thread!

[Millon]

I missed the bleedin deadline. Bloody buttered onions! I have to wait until next month now? booooo. Thank you Raena! That mosque was pretty amazing. Really cool.