District: 9 Export: Mayor Nova Government: Mayor Nova is a stern, reedy woman of Asian descent, with large glasses that make her appear gecko-like and a paunch from bearing her eight children. Her speaking voice is high-pitched but very authoritative. She’s held in high regard by the citizens here.
Mood: The atmosphere here is tense; a discerning eye may be able to pick out new paint where graffiti has been covered up, shinier panes of glass from where bricks were lobbed through windows. The citizens here, mostly workers either in the fields or in shops that put together machines to cut the wheat, are happy to meet the Tributes and thank them for taking the place of their children. Peacekeepers seem frazzled, and citizens may remark how much easier it is to sneak into the fields and sleep in the warmth, or to receive extra firewood rations, now that the Peacekeepers are spread so thin. Citizens are mostly uneducated unless they’ve planned to work with machinery, in which case they would finish enough school to pass into an apprenticeship.
Environment: The main city, population approximately fifty thousand, is clearly industrially-influenced, with large warehouses filled with machinery that refine wheat, brew alcohol and manufacture pesticides. It is not meant as a tourist location, as there is very little for Tributes to do in the winter besides attend local bars. A bus runs around the outskirts of the city, although it seems practical in nature, taking citizens wrapped in several layers of clothes out to the sunny fields for work.
Eternally ripe corn and wheat yawn out on either side of train for as far as the eye can see. The sky is a brighter blue here than anywhere in the Capitol, magnified by the contrast of the golden fields. Most buildings are single-story. As the train approaches the city, it passes orchards, as well. High electric fences delineate between different field territories; the more expensive fences are protected by force fields, to defend the wheat from being ‘contaminated’ by genetically impure crop. Despite the winter weather, from the safety of the train the terrain laying outside the main city could be mistaken for mid-summer, thanks to ‘EverHarvest Technology’ from District 3.
The land that isn’t being used for crop is covered in snow, however, and subject to extreme wind chills. Citizens and Tributes alike are bundled up heavily, with polar fleece to try and protect from icy gusts. Most buildings are not heated, as all the power is being used on EverHarvest Technology, and Peacekeepers try to keep reports of citizens freezing to death at night to a minimum. Citizens worry about a power failure causing the technology to fail and the crops to die in a cold snap, which supposedly would lead to dire punishment from the Capitol and possibly the end of the District in its entirety.
Misc: Unlike the other Districts, District 9 still has a notable religious influence. Town meetings take place in an old Catholic church rather than at a courthouse, and District members are often seen crossing themselves. There does not, however, appear to be any organized religion, and if questioned about it many citizens will refer to religion as a family affair. Neither the word ‘Catholic’ nor ‘Christian’ hold any real meaning here.
Locations:
The Ceres Hotel can hardly be called a hotel so much as a bed and breakfast. There are no Avoxes here, and according to the employees here, a hotel attendant is one of the best jobs in the District because during winter, the staff can sleep in the empty rooms overnight and use the fancy machines for their own laundry. Two meals a day are served at a communal dining room, all hot, hearty affairs meant to fill you up for a long day. Tributes are assigned two to a room, while Escorts, Stylists and Mentors receive their own. The facilities feel homey, decorated by needlepoint art, watercolor paintings of sunsets, and ceramic figurines of famous Capitol figures.
DISTRICT 9
District: 9
Export: Mayor Nova
Government: Mayor Nova is a stern, reedy woman of Asian descent, with large glasses that make her appear gecko-like and a paunch from bearing her eight children. Her speaking voice is high-pitched but very authoritative. She’s held in high regard by the citizens here.
Mood: The atmosphere here is tense; a discerning eye may be able to pick out new paint where graffiti has been covered up, shinier panes of glass from where bricks were lobbed through windows. The citizens here, mostly workers either in the fields or in shops that put together machines to cut the wheat, are happy to meet the Tributes and thank them for taking the place of their children. Peacekeepers seem frazzled, and citizens may remark how much easier it is to sneak into the fields and sleep in the warmth, or to receive extra firewood rations, now that the Peacekeepers are spread so thin. Citizens are mostly uneducated unless they’ve planned to work with machinery, in which case they would finish enough school to pass into an apprenticeship.
Environment: The main city, population approximately fifty thousand, is clearly industrially-influenced, with large warehouses filled with machinery that refine wheat, brew alcohol and manufacture pesticides. It is not meant as a tourist location, as there is very little for Tributes to do in the winter besides attend local bars. A bus runs around the outskirts of the city, although it seems practical in nature, taking citizens wrapped in several layers of clothes out to the sunny fields for work.
Eternally ripe corn and wheat yawn out on either side of train for as far as the eye can see. The sky is a brighter blue here than anywhere in the Capitol, magnified by the contrast of the golden fields. Most buildings are single-story. As the train approaches the city, it passes orchards, as well. High electric fences delineate between different field territories; the more expensive fences are protected by force fields, to defend the wheat from being ‘contaminated’ by genetically impure crop. Despite the winter weather, from the safety of the train the terrain laying outside the main city could be mistaken for mid-summer, thanks to ‘EverHarvest Technology’ from District 3.
The land that isn’t being used for crop is covered in snow, however, and subject to extreme wind chills. Citizens and Tributes alike are bundled up heavily, with polar fleece to try and protect from icy gusts. Most buildings are not heated, as all the power is being used on EverHarvest Technology, and Peacekeepers try to keep reports of citizens freezing to death at night to a minimum. Citizens worry about a power failure causing the technology to fail and the crops to die in a cold snap, which supposedly would lead to dire punishment from the Capitol and possibly the end of the District in its entirety.
Misc: Unlike the other Districts, District 9 still has a notable religious influence. Town meetings take place in an old Catholic church rather than at a courthouse, and District members are often seen crossing themselves. There does not, however, appear to be any organized religion, and if questioned about it many citizens will refer to religion as a family affair. Neither the word ‘Catholic’ nor ‘Christian’ hold any real meaning here.
Locations:
The Ceres Hotel can hardly be called a hotel so much as a bed and breakfast. There are no Avoxes here, and according to the employees here, a hotel attendant is one of the best jobs in the District because during winter, the staff can sleep in the empty rooms overnight and use the fancy machines for their own laundry. Two meals a day are served at a communal dining room, all hot, hearty affairs meant to fill you up for a long day. Tributes are assigned two to a room, while Escorts, Stylists and Mentors receive their own. The facilities feel homey, decorated by needlepoint art, watercolor paintings of sunsets, and ceramic figurines of famous Capitol figures.