No such thing as peace in Europe

[Mycroft Hollins]

These were, he'd been told, the smartest students in the school. He'd see about that. He shuffled the papers on his desk, smiling at the task he would be presenting to these bright individuals. He was incredibly curious as to what sort of answers they would give him. He stayed seated at his desk and greeted the students as them came in, smiling politely and saying hello. As he had for the last class, he did not wait for any stragglers and started the minute the bell rang. He picked up his umbrella, leaning on it slightly as he stood and walked to the front of the class to address everyone. 

"Good morning, my name is Mr. Hollins. It seems I have the pleasure of teaching you bright individuals. Of course, that is assuming you are bright. Today I've arranged a little task, so we can all get to know one another. First, I need you to split up into two even groups. It hardly matters who is where, just make them even." He waited patiently as the students arranged and shuffled themselves into two different groups.

Once everyone seemed settled in their groups, he gave out his instructions, "Now then, this group here is a very large, first world country. They have recently gotten of a bit of land on your borders, placing many military bases there. You, group number two, are from a much smaller country. You once lived in a village on the land now occupied by the other country. You were relocated out of your homes as you are not citizens of the other country. Your church lies over the new border and you need to go there. Both countries must come up with an arrangement and agree upon it. Since your countries do not speak the same language, you shall bring your proposals to me. I will be the mediator and advisor. You must come up with a solution both sides agree on. Are there any questions?"

When there didn't seem to be any he walked over and sat at one of the desks between the two groups. Folding his hands on the desk, he nodded to both sides, "You may begin."

OOC: Just split yourselves as best you can. If you truly can't I will arrange the two groups. If you're confused by the instructions, please PM me!  

Present:
Athena Achilles - Group Two
@anna - Group Two
Miranda Florin - Group One
Peter Holden - Group One
Tyler Reynolds - Group Two

Absent:
@maidenmisery - Group One

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda played with one of the straps on her backpack as she made her way through the halls towards the Social Sciences wing. Why were they called social sciences? She had no idea. History would have been easier, considering that was what she was going today, but whatever. It was a wing, and it was where her class was held.

As she entered the room, she smiled at the teacher behind the desk, although she didn't stop to say hello, as he appeared to be looking through some papers. Instead, she found a seat and pulled out a pencil and notebook, ready to take notes or write things down, depending on what he had planned.

Chuckling at the introduction when it finally came, Miranda decided that she liked this teacher. She moved to group herself into the first group, sitting down with the others that chose to move into her group. As they got their assignment, Miranda uncapped her pen and wrote "Compromise Project" across the top, then looked at her group, "So, we don't actually have anything that we need from the other group, right? It's our land, we have the bases to defend it, they're a smaller country, and yet, they're going to want to come over. What can we ask of them in return for them getting to cross the border to go to their church?" She might not be a senior, but she definitely knew how to take charge, and this project sounded like a lot of fun.

[Deleted]

    Anna stepped through the halls of the academic building, her usual sense of aloofness about her. Other students may have ducked or woven through the throngs of students, but she kept a relatively straight path, calm and cool despite the excited activity around her. Hair twisted into a neat bun atop her head, she held a sort of regal air, dressed in her simple cream cashmere cardigan, dark jeans, and ballet flats. 

    Upon entering her AP Euro class, as it was called by the students, she looked over the room and was pleased to find that she was only the second one to arrive. Taking a seat at the front of the room, she pulled out her college-rule notebook and black pen, and laced her fingers together as she rested both elbows on the desk. Academics were something she was confident about, and even though she was very clearly among the youngest in the class, she wouldn't hold back at all. She was here for a reason, and that was because she was more than prepared to take on such a rigorous course. 

    Anna listened to the assignment and then arranged herself into the second group, knowing that it would probably be more of a challenge as the country with less power. Notebook in lap, she got the discussion started. "Well, since the other country has more power and wealth we have to find something to offer them that won't completely cripple us. Having constant access to the church for worship would be ideal, but it's likely that citizens of our country would have to accompanied by guards, which may just be something that has to be accepted. We have been here longer, so we know the way around the land and we're already harvesting the benefits of resources that we could offer them, but that will not satisfy them for long, since they will eventually be able to reap the same resources since the land is the same. We could offer that, or offer to pay a fee in exchange for passage to the church, which may be the best bet."

[Peter Holden]

    Peter didn't dislike his history class. English was his favorite, and it was better than his math and science classes, but he often just wasn't in the mood. There was a new teacher, however, which would prove to be interesting. He walked into the class and found a seat towards the middle, opening his notes so that he would be ready. This class was one that required more effort, and he always wanted to be prepared for it.

    As the teacher began to speak, he listened attentively and took note of the assignment and what their task would be. The teacher seemed interesting, and Peter concluded that the class would be a good one, if this was any indicator. When they were asked to split up, he joined the first group, and mentally formed his addition to the discussion as another girl took charge, speaking first.

    After she had finished speaking, he spoke up in response to her finishing question, and added his own thoughts. "The smaller country already knows the land well, and has established themselves, so we could as for resources that we need in exchange, or information. The information may be better, since we are not in desperate need of any resources. We could also just ask for them to pay to have access to the church, whether it be annual, monthly, or a one time fee."

[Tyler Reynolds]

His classes were officially starting, but his sense of care towards them was not. Dressed in sweatpants and the look of “not caring” written across his face he walked down the hallway to his history class. At least this would give him something to do. With him being a junior and all, he would surely be bored out of his mind if he was in a class lower than AP. Turning on his heel he entered the classroom with a smirk on his face as soon as he saw there were only a few students in the class.

He figured some kids didn’t have the intelligence to take these classes, but he didn’t expect the amount of students that would be taking this class with him to be this small. Oh well, he thought to himself before taking a seat. Tyler listened to the teacher when class started. Shrugging off the fact that he would have to work with the other people, he got up and walked over to the second group.

As soon as they were let go to do what they were asked to do, a younger looking girl took off with her idea. Tyler nodded at her words, he didn’t really want to do this but it would most likely be frowned upon if he sat in his seat. ”You make a good point when you say that our resources will not keep them off our tails for long, a small fee might work, but if they are feeling cocky they might raise the fee, in turn most likely crippling us.” He was blunt with his statement only letting the group know what he thought.

outfit

[Deleted]

Catia walked from her last class to AP European History. Catia entered the class room and said a quick greeting to the teacher after the teacher had greeted her. Catia walked over to an empty desk and took a seat setting her bag down and taking out a pen and a notebook. The teenager assumed that she would need a notebook as she had needed one out in all of her other classes. Catia dug through her black bag untill she found the purple notebook that had a neatly written label on it. The notebook read "AP European History-Catia Iltchenko" the girl opened the notebook to a clean page and waited for the teacher to start speaking. Catia listened as the teacher introduced himself and then spoke again giving them the assignment. Catia smiled. This assignment sounded like fun and it was not like any assignment she had done in America. 

Catia watched as a few people sorted themselves into groups. She was originally going to take whatever group needed a person but right now the groups where even and no other student seemed ready to choose a group yet. Catia walked over to the first group. Though the second group was more challenging probably Catia thought she would do better in the first group. Russia was a very vast country so she was used to big countries. She learned about Russia's previous parts of Russia and what happened to those smaller countries. Eventually the countries split off from Russia and some like the Ukraine changed a lot. Catia knew for a fact that Russia kept those countries since Stalin took control in the 1920's or so because everyone was so scared of the dictator. The teen listened to her other group members suggestions. She spoke after a boy gave his suggestion. "I like the idea of asking for a fee. We can have a fee and then maybe allow the citizens of the country to come onto our land with soldiers following them." Catia said to her group.

[Athena Achilles]

Athena kept her shoulders hunched, head down, as she walked through the hallways toward her next class. She wasn't normally this withdrawn, but she had just changed classes and she would just like to be able to slip into a room and sit down, but today she would have to make a spectacle of herself and hand a note to the teacher.

Walking into the classroom, she took the note out of her pocket and, walking over to the teacher, she held the note out to him. "Excuse me, Sir." Her voice was soft, and she coughed to try and speak louder, though it didn't work as she continued. "This explains that I have been swapped to your class. Thank you." She scurried away and slipped into a chair at the edge of the classroom, trying to disappear.

As the class started, the teacher introduced himself and assigned them their work, Athena remained where she was sitting until it was obvious that the second group needed more people. Grabbing her notebook and pen, she slipped out of her chair and walked closer to the gathered students.

She listened to their ideas, pressing her lips together as she thought about the project at hand, writing down everything that was said. "But we know this land, we have worked the land and grown crops here for generations." She spoke up, her voice still soft. "We know where the most fertile land is, we also know the places were nothing will grow. We also know everything they will need to know about the native flora and fauna, which berries we can and can't eat. I also think that a barter system would work better than a fee. As you said, they could end up increasing the fee, but we still know the land better than they ever will."