Why is this a thing?
I had a lot of free time over the summer just gone, and due to rather unhappy events around that time I was just doing whatever I could to take my mind off things which, rather surprisingly ended up in this concept...

The backstory
In the early 24th century, a huge humanitarian crisis as a result of environmental detriment and overpopulation reduced the world population from around 30 billion to under 19 billion. At an emergency council held by the UN, it was decided to explore habitats in exoplanetary systems. Faster-than-light travel had become viable since the century prior so to begin populating planets other than our own was far from a crazy idea. Space agencies around the world were funded to create a pilot mission that would send 1750 people to Gliese 667Cc, an exoplanet 23.6 light-years away. Thanks to the additional funding, the mission was a success and the journey lasted little more than two years. As a result, in 2396 the UN declared the Earth-Relief Exoplanet Population Scheme (E-REPS), which would plan to send a quarter of a billion people to exoplanetary habitats before 2500.

The 107th mission in this scheme was that to Jannike (pronounced Ya-nee-ka) just a year later, with a 1926-strong crew. Jannike is the second furthest planet from the star Omis 33267, which is 71.8% the mass of the Sun and is expected to last for another fifteen billion years before entering its red giant phase. The system is a hefty 2218 light-years from Earth and the mission lasted almost 150 years. The crew that landed were the great-grandchildren of the original crew that had left Earth. Once arriving in Jannike (at Land Zero, now established as a sovereign state in itself purely for scientific research), the crew split in various directions to traverse the new planet. Thirty-eight people (nineteen men and women) travelled east by land an ocean and eleven months later, hit dry land again. These days, the place they landed is now a city of over 1.2 million people called Ch'taia, on one of Jannike's most powerful countries...

Alpaicea (Al-pa-see-a)
Alpaicea is located on the far west of the Vastarmen continent, and has a population of over 96.4m (comparable to Ethiopia and the Philippines). Its capital, Tanos-Ferbin (colloquially known as Ta-Fe), is the largest city on the Vastarmen with a population close to 5.8 million. It is home to some of the world’s most renowned schools and universities. Landmarks include the Garsay Bridge (not named after the current PM Theria Garsay) over Lake Labeti which crosses into Mawhary (a country bordering Alpaicea to the east), Elms Grotto which is a gigantic cavern located at the south at the city, and ‘Mosodar Square’, home to theatres, nightclubs, restaurants and boutique shops. Tanos-Ferbin has the largest metro system in the world, and is home to the Alpaicean government.

Alpaicea does not have the most extreme geography, so much of the country is somewhat populated. The highest point in the country is the peak of Mount Arkonum almost in the centre of the mainland at a height of 2915m. Lake Ferbin, on which the capital is located, is second only to Lake Krybel in size, which is located further north. Alpaicea has fifteen inhabited islands (seven with <700 people), the largest of which is Lor Skelny located in the north-west, with an estimated population of 615,000. There are no enclaves within the country, nor are there Alpaicean exclaves outside it. In the south (including Ta-Fe), temperatures reach 40°C and drop below 25°C in the winter, while the north is slightly more temperate (15°C winters and 30-35°C summers). Alpaicea observes JMT (Jannike Mean Time) minus 3.5 hours.

Time on Jannike is broken down into 10 hours, 100 minutes and 100 seconds. Therefore, 1 J-second equals 0.864 Earth seconds, 1 J-minute equals 86.4 Earth seconds, and 1 J-hour equals 144 Earth minutes. There are eight days in the week and 304 days in a Janniki year and 305 in a leap year, which occurs every seven years. Employees working full time get the final two days of the week off plus one other of the six days, at the discretion of their employer. See in the spoiler box for the days of the week and months of the year.



The currency of Alpaicea is the Zeela, which breaks down into 100 Zelts. Due to the distance between Jannike and Earth, there is no exchange rate with Earth currencies. The average annual salary nationwide is 44,700z, and the average house price is 351,000z. In Tanos-Ferbin, both salaries and house prices are around 40% higher than the national average.

There are three bands of income tax; 13% on earnings between 22,500z and 55,000z, 20% on earnings between 55,000z and 100,000z, and 28% on all subsequent earnings. In addition, there is a secondary income tax at a flat 8% of all earnings above 13,000z specifically directed to the National Fund, which provides for the emergency services and free healthcare. Additional property taxes levied by local governments fund free education, and also services such as waste collection and local transport. A value added tax is set at 10%, and the Alpaicean constitution specifically prevents the government from increasing this without a constitutional amendment.

Maps
Map of Jannike
Map of Vastarmen
Map of Alpaicea

Alpie's Big Deal
In the year 400, producers at the TV station ALP2 revived an old Earth format for a Yotday evening prime-time show. It will begin with a twelve-episode run starting on Yotday, 30 Zardas 400 at 7:70 for 45 minutes. There are 24 boxes in this format with a top prize of 1,000,000z, and the prize tree looks like this:

1z
10z
20z
30z
50z
75z
100z
200z
300z
400z
500z
750z
1,000z
5,000z
10,000z
20,000z
30,000z
50,000z
75,000z
100,000z
200,000z
300,000z
500,000z
750,000z
1,000,000z

Offers come in after 6-5-4-3-2-1-1. The boxes are opened by celebrities in the 'Box Club' (will be posted later). When selected to open their box, the celebrity will have to guess the contents of their box. If they guess correctly, 2,500z gets added to a charity pot, with the charity chosen by that day's contestant.

The host is 43-year-old Ruhina Letalie, famous for her appearances in sitcoms such as Late for Work and more recently, Higher Education and Never Ever. Her charisma, wit and warm personality are 'perfect for the role as host for this format,' exclaimed ALP2 prime-time commissioner Frenden Aburo in the show's press release.

How this will work on the forum...
The games will be hosted by myself with KP acting as Banker. Two or three episodes will be recorded in a week and will be written up to publish (at least) one a week (possibly Tuesdays, still TBC), so expect the pilot episode of this to be shown next week! I'm still finalising the Box Club, so expect a post here in the next day or two with a brief intro to each of our Box Club members.

Here's the Box Club!

Box 1: Oli Thompkins
Oli Thompkins is a 54-year-old former racing driver. He was best known as a rally driver, though turned to circuit racing later in his career after his co-pilot Rapha Gurton retired. He is now also known for his environmental activism, particularly in encouraging efficient use of Jannike's limited raw materials and discouraging the expansion of open-cast mining.

Box 2: Jacinda Norayis
Jacinda Norayis is 28 and was brought up in the rural midlands. She is a renowned film critic and hosts a film review show on Khutday evenings on ALP3. Her fame arose somewhat serendipitously when she was involved in a live debate prior to the last general election, where she had a heated argument with opposition leader Kenrem De Memanan, thought to have solidified Theria Garsay’s victory.

Box 3: Florence Hageman
Jump Team, the pop group who were instrumental in introducing rap to the Alpaicean charts, featured rapper Florence Hageman, known as ‘Ha Ha Flo.’ When the group split up, she produced her own solo album, A Ha Ha Flow, which became a major critical success; Florence is now 42 and primarily produces material for other artists, though she makes guest appearances on some of them.

Box 4: Tristan Tanray
Tristan Tanray is a 25-year-old gender-fluid comedian and philanthropist. In a world without sexism and sexuality prejudice, they are well-loved and has been appearing on Alpaicean comedy shows (and more recently, their own) for nearly seven years. They run an organisation helping teenagers and adults with depression, not just based on sexuality issues.

Box 5: Juchim Taralla
Juchim Taralla is a 39-year-old actor. He is best known for his role in the long-running sitcom The Breaks, about a dysfunctional family in a surfing town on the west coast. He has also made appearances in several comic films, including the highly successful track and field pastiche Running Away With It.

Box 6: Haley Denmeck
Threefold were a pop music trio fronted by 38-year-old Haley Denmeck who won the Vastovision Song Contest 381, one of only two occasions on which Alpaicea have been victorious in the continental music competition since its induction in 338. The group split in 393 and Haley has worked in the television industry ever since, primarily as the only recurring judge on VastoContest: You Decide which has now selected the country’s entry for the contest for a decade.

Box 7: D.T. Jarotta
D.T. Jarotta is a 29-year-old singer and composer. He appeared on TV singing competition The Superstar Search eight years ago and was controversially eliminated in the quarter-final; he went on to appear in the musical The Mystery Man, where he met fellow cast member Jay Wheeler. The two now co-write their own musicals as well as being active performers, and are engaged.

Box 8: Merla De Fiore
Merla De Fiore is a 63-year-old fashionista who runs a top-of-the-range clothes label. She is often featured in gossip magazines after quarrels with her five children who feature in the popular reality TV show Only in Enthisi (a large Alpaicean city on the west coast). Merla refrains from appearing on the programme herself after claiming the nature of the show encourages ‘the degradation of the morals of the Alpaicean people,’ though she is known to have omitted the penultimate word in that sentence too.

Box 9: Meffy Kaleiwahea
Meffy is a 40-year-old genderfluid actor. They have played both male and female roles in movies and television, and provided seven different character voiceovers for the talking-creature animated film Trapped In Janjuzi.

Box 10: Tiluna Dinaro
Tiluna Dinaro is a 22-year-old actress of Sardessan descent. After her famous twin sister died of Fenexi, a disease caused by the body having a weak resistance to Jannike’s increased radiation exposure from its star, she writes plays and musicals for the big stage to raise money to fund research into Fenexi and eradicate it as soon as possible.

Box 11: Lache Kondolo
Lache is a 64-year-old television presenter and author. He hosts the popular science show Why Is That?, which explains the science behind various everyday phenomena, and has written several books including two book tie-ins of Why Is That? and the fantasy novel The Land Of Broken Atoms.

Box 12: Ralphie Garnette
Famous for his roles in sitcoms such as He’s Not My Dad! and Higher Education, 19-year-old Ralphie Garnette is very popular with the younger generation. He has recently earned a prestigious role as a presenter on the long-running weekend children’s TV show Morning Mayhem, a role his (better-known) father Esha held almost 25 years ago.

Box 13: Iota Curley
Iota Curley is a 35-year-old author and occasional stand-up comedian. Influenced by her Earth Studies research at the University of Rakumu, she writes and jokes about the similarities and differences between life on Jannike and life on Earth.

Box 14: Revazi Tasdim
Revazi Tasdim is 30 years of age and is the founder of an online entertainment website called Punch, which features articles about popular culture and comedy sketches by up-and-coming internet stars. Its popularity has spawned its own 75-minute show on Vetsday on the Vestara Broadcasting Network (VBN) which has become popular across a wide Alpaicean demographic.

Box 15: Calla Redling
Calla Redling is a 49-year-old actress and former model originally from Ruria. She was infamous for a topless picture, reportedly taken without her consent, that became an iconic image in the early era of electronic telecommunication on Jannike. She has since become an outspoken advocate of digital safety, as well as making regular appearances in television sitcoms such as Bay Blues and Medwin's Mess where she has gained a reputation for self-depreciating comedy.

Box 16: Dorinda Endogha
Dorinda Endogha is a 44-year-old historian, famous for her documentaries about the religions of the terrestrial humans - something only 1.4% of people in Alpaicea identify as having a belief in. She is one of the heads of a continent-wide Orthodox Christian movement, and endorses the technological advances of Janniki space programs so that one day, people will be able to go on pilgrimage to the many holy sites on Earth.

Box 17: Ja Sorn
Ja Sorn is a 32-year-old former gymnast who won five Alpaicean national championship titles and was a four-time runner-up in the Janniki championship, becoming famous as the ‘nearly woman’ of the sport. She later gained a reputation both as a commentator and as the frontwoman of several national television adverts encouraging physical activity in children.

Box 18: Risath Danpolu
Risath Danpolu is a 68-year-old television presenter from the Alpaicean city of the same name. He presented the daily morning show Rise and Shine on TN1 with Veneta Garbedas for 41 years before it went under a major rehaul in 396. Risath has appeared bitter in the years since after vocalising his disdain for the TN network, and thus a spot in the Box Club was the perfect opportunity to regain his image as an affable TV personality.

Box 19: Carson Inglewood
Carson Inglewood is a 38-year-old actor, who has gained particular popularity for his roles in action movies including Runaway Train, The Explosive, and The Living Nightmare. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during filming for his latest movie (the still-to-be-released Wrecked), and decided to retire from doing his own stunts after the incident. Alpie’s Big Deal is his first screen appearance since the injury.

Box 20: Aleos Lewar
Aleos Lewar is a 29-year-old astronaut from Altrafax. His space voyages include visiting three moons; Mepis (Alpaicea’s only moon), Tereyem and Sulekim (of Tormos, third planet from Oma (the ‘Sun)). He is the host of To the Stars which is a weekly program discussing astrophysics and observations of the stars, and LifeForce which is a long-running nature program on ALP1.

Box 21: Donita Rogot
Donita Rogot is a 50-year-old chef, best known for her budget-friendly recipes in the book and subsequent TV show Donita Saves You Zeela! She also co-runs a restaurant in Tanos-Ferbin.

Box 22: Finori Otori
Finori Otori is a 23-year-old model famous particularly for her photoshoot with Tavola, a boutique lingerie company. This, however, was when she was suffering from anorexia which she has since overcome. These days, she runs her own fashion label publicised using plus-sized models of all genders.

Box 23: Dre Touissant
Dre Touissant is a 34-year-old former sprinter and long jumper. He has won both the 100m and long jump titles in Jannike’s international athletics championships at various points in his career, which has recently ended.

Box 24: Daniel Nyssam
Daniel Nyssam is a 33-year-old musician hailing from West Oglethorpe. After releasing three albums and touring the world for nearly eight years, Daniel suffered a nasty attack after being drugged by a member of his tour team (which resulted in a huge court trial and three men facing a total of 38 years in jail), and has been deterred entirely from the touring experience. He now makes and releases music, usually self-written comedy songs, for free online.

Episodes of this will air here on Thursdays (I've got a busy day tomorrow that I'm thoroughly unprepared for).

Episode 1 will air here at 8:30pm! See you there

Episode 2 will air tomorrow due to recent time constraints.

The episode has been written up now and will be aired tomorrow at around 6:30pm before the RtaB Live Draw