[ after a week of constantly bumping into shit and having to get people to lead him around from place to place, karkat vantas has to resort to desperate measures. it's a struggle even getting the tablet to work for him, and at first, he doesn't seem to notice it's recording, continuing to frown and fiddle with it for a little while, before he begins to speak. ]

So. [ one might notice that his pupils are unusually dilated, only the faintest ring of grey iris visible around the edges. ] I'm going to make this brief, if just because I'm only half convinced this thing is actually recording and I'm not just yodeling into the void, but thanks to the astonishingly warm welcome one of your residents gave me, I'm blind. And as I'm not the resident No Eyes Mcgee among my social circle, and I've walked into enough door frames over the past week that I'll be very surprised if I haven't sustained permanent brain injury, I'm requesting that one of you make yourself some vague parody of useful and fix it.

[ there is a pause, before, reluctantly; ]

It was a dragon, if that makes any difference.

[The voice that addresses the network is deep. An adult male. The way that he speaks indicates he might've been a professor of some sort, once. There's the intent to impart knowledge, but also to invite debate. Engage, please. This old man in the button down and lumpy sweater and thick glasses wants to know what you think.]

Good afternoon. I'm Mr. Walter White, and I'm new here. Until today, I've been an observer. But it seems like things are getting a little out of hand. Some information might help to clear this up.

Let's start by addressing the concern of the legal system here. It seems that there wasn't a need for one until recently. Before that time, people hadn't been caught harming one another. The need for regulation and intermediaries was so infrequent that people generally handled things between themselves.

That's beginning to change now, and that's alright. It's a universal fact that throwing strangers together without direction as a cohesive unit will cause some friction. The debate we're having here recently, is whether we are able to punish these outliers or not, with no established system of law.

The good news is, the very act of separating and detaining them is the first step in the process. The system that's being established here will be familiar to those who, like me, come from North America, including Canada. Anyone from the British empire, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Sri Lanka, and a handful of other countries should be aware of this system. For those who aren't, let's explain briefly.

Common law is a set of rules which are determined over time by precedent. Unlike civil law, which requires a set of codifers to be established first, [ie the list of rules such "murder shall be punished by death" that were suggested] common law allows us to examine every case individually, present it to a jury if randomly selected peers before an elected official, and allow the punishment to fit the crime. This is the form of law that tends to crop up in societies which are ruled by the people. Civil law is usually seen under the rule of a select, wealthy few, as in oligarchies.

So the question is, do we continue establishing this common law, or do we throw that out and go for civil law instead? If we decide on civil law, we must establish a ruler. While this is usually done by force or birthright claim, that system might need some work here. Then, a strict set of codifers will be needed, which will be provided by the rulers.

To establish a common law, an impartial judge must be chosen to preside over a trial, and a jury must be selected randomly, of the population without a major bias. Legal representatives aren't necessary to establish standing precedents of law here where there are none. The job of the judge and jury would be to determine fairly what sort of punishment best fits each individual, and why.

The most important factor in a common law is a fair trial by a jury of unbiased peers, to clearly establish guilt and the need for a reasonable punishment to be set by a publicly appointed judge. It's similar to what Ms. Roslyn proposed, but it doesn't require anyone to step up and claim authority without public assent.

Of course, law isn't about making everyone happy. It's about establishing order. But stable systems usually are that way because the population largely considers them just. Systems considered to be unjust by the general population usually fall into the trap of anarchy, breaking and remaking themselves repeatedly from within.

[A few hours the transports start arriving in the new facility, someone interrupts the moving frenzy with this cheerful broadcast.]

I'm starting to think there's a lot these people don't tell us before we get ushered along to where they want us.

[Korra snorts, crossing her arms over her chest in a clear sign of agitation.]

Don't know if you guys knew this already, but that allowance they used to give us before? Not happening here. Looks like we're pretty much on our own for food and supplies. Anyone want to have a look around the area with me, see what we've got to work with here?

[She grumbles something like "could have told us this before we started moving, jerks".]

Oh yeah, if anyone needs to know how to keep warm in the snow, I can probably give a few tips, too.


(ooc: There is now an ooc post to sign up for the exploration!)

[ Because Rinth doesn't care for this video stuff when it leads to her being seen by who knows how many prying eyes! For this, however, it is necessary, and so at some point after the first few batches of Transports are Earth-side and before the Transporter itself is moved, a large, kind of jaguar-faced creature with two too many ears and several horns takes a step back from her tablet, leaving it wherever it's been set up to record from.

It's time to settle a few things here. ]

All right. Listen up, you mice. My name is Rinth Ghostshot, formerly of the Ghost Warband, engineer and soldier of the Iron Legion of Black Citadel, nearly fresh from active duty in the Dragonbrand. None of that's going to mean a mist-damned thing to any of you, but it means a whole lot to me, so don't forget it if you plan on dealing with me.

I am a charr, from Ascalon on Tyria. My entire culture is war. My morals and beliefs do not need to fall within acceptable human limits, nor do I care to follow any of your non-existent laws save for whatever I deem too extreme to get away with ignoring here. In fact, if it weren't for the cease-fire the Imperator agreed to, I would have left that transporter room killing you lot left and right, even though it sure doesn't apply to humans here...

[ So friendly, right?

But, hey, it's honest. That must count for something. ]

Ask questions now if you have them, because this is the only time I'm gonna feel like answering them.

All that aside, my other message is I've been down here a week already and I've scouted out an old work building that I plan on fixing up and getting some heaters and electricity into. It won't be much at first, but any others who are not human and need a place to stay safely are more than welcome to join me.

[ ooc note: of which more details can be found here. ]