Exchange Day
Description (the day after Retreat):
Venerating the Marketplace, Tribes / Clades coalesce either on their own or at the behest of their Sages in festive celebrations, like a twenty-first-century product expo on the Las Vegas Strip. Exchange Day takes place in concert with a high-profile sporting event(s), with all attractions intended to be for-profit. This is the Novel Universe Cult’s sole, public event, open to all Cult members and the wider world.
Displays, betting games, contests, and demonstrations of Tribal / Clade POPs are centered around a hub with an extravagant buffet, booths with bookies to collect bets, and stations with Sages on-hand to facilitate new contracts, and arbitrate difficult issues with contracts that have been unresolved for at least a year. To symbolize the strength, efficiency, and supremacy of the Marketplace, contracts created on this day are subject to forced Sage arbitration the following year if any such unresolved issues remain.
As is the nature of Power and Its Rock Bodies, profit-seeking activities are not only allowed but encouraged. During Exchange Day, River Sages provide support and oversight, whereas the Sages function as needed, filling roles such as intermediaries, advisors, and attorneys for the Bodies when forming contracts with other Bodies or outside entities. Rock Bodies are free to negotiate terms over the coming year, but ultimately, must be approved by the Sages. As with all aspects of Power, there are costs and rewards. Contracts initiated on Exchange Day are intended to be high-risk, high-reward – “dream jobs.” If the Body cannot form the desired contract with the outside entity during the year, by the following Exchange day, the Sages will have intervened, created a finalized contract with that entity, and on the coming Exchange Day, have either presented the contract to the Body to either accept or reject, or will do so at the start of Exchange Day (a second after midnight). The Body has until midnight to accept the contract as-is, or the Sages will reject it on their behalf.
Practices:
Exchange Day is one, long extravaganza of playing games, betting, buying, selling, and creating new contracts with others, both inside and outside the Cult.
The week prior to Retreat, the Rock Body’s leadership announces the list of NPCs (Node Point Communicator) who forgo both Retreat and Exchange Day, and instead, function as the Marketplace’s network connections. In other words, they’re the event’s labor force. Whether as compensation or punishment, NPCs are selected based upon standards spelled out in the Body’s Pillars, and no member serves consecutive years.
NPCs spend Retreat setting up the “Marketplace,” and may rest only when the job is complete. As their only break throughout the two days, sleep is encouraged, but not required. If desired, NPCs may perform a personal Retreat during the week following our prior to Exchange Day, thus following Retreat’s fundamental principle of self-exception.
With the rising sun, members gather in small areas attached to the Marketplace, where the NPCs have a free, all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet waiting. This phase of the Day is private, with no other Bodies allowed into the Marketplace, and the cost of the buffet paid for by the contributing Bodies hosting the event.
For the purpose of occupying the membership’s attention for the first part of the Day, light entertainment plays in the background while the members eat – soft music, screens with sporting events, magicians, artistic shows, etc.
Members are summoned into private rooms by Sages, where forced-arbitration sessions close out all outstanding contracts from the previous Exchange Day. Only a Sage may act as arbiter, with the final say as to the state of each contract. All non-negotiable fees collected for this service are paid, by the members undergoing arbitration, to the Sages. The Sages allocate this money to directly pay the vendors of Exchange Day, thus assisting the Rock Bodies with the festivities’ costs.
While arbitration is under way, NPCs finalize preparation of the central event, including a large buffet, filled with food, libations, and such Tribe-approved recreational substances for sale.
Once the sessions are complete, the full venue is opened to the public.
Prior established fees and a set percentage of all revenue is collected by the hosting Bodies at the end of the following week from those venue participants.
Any special itinerary, such as concerts, shows, or speeches, is at the discretion of the hosting Bodies with Sage approval.
Exchange Day lasts until the sunrise of the following day. Once concluded, the NPCs complete the Day’s cleanup, and are finally released from their duties.
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