<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/N2fK3w9.jpg)</div>Name: Tessa Holland (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=269765.msg13298614#msg13298614)/Island in General<br/>Time: Day 1 Morning<br/>Location: Ecchi Island Reception Center and Docks/Gates<br/>Tagging: Open to All<br/>Notes/Warnings: Welcome to Ecchi Island!<br/><hr/><br/><div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/nPpd93g.jpg)<br/><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 36pt;">Episode 1 - Welcome to Ecchi Island</span></span></strong></div><br/>The Reception Center for Ecchi island was a bustle of activity. Throughout the main annex, men and women dressed in white scurried to and fro, making last minute adjustments as they prepared for the onslaught of visitors that would arrive within ten minutes. While some of the hosts and hostesses, as they were called, were hired for specifically that purpose, today their number was supplemented by other employees from their various usual roles, at least until the initial onrush had subsided. The opening required that all hands be on deck, so to speak, but the temporary reassignments also reflected the opinion of the island’s proprietor and CEO that everybody working for her was in fact in the business of welcoming guests.<br/><br/>Tessa Holland (technically Her Excellency, Cassandra Elizabeth Holland Montefiore, Countess of Montefiore and High Warden of the Isle of Ecchi) was not exempt from her own directives. From the beginning, she had immersed herself in every aspect of the island’s development, and had acted in every role, from construction worker, to short-order cook, to housekeeping assistant. Now she was dressed in the traditional white sundress of the hostess, with just a hint of black frilled bikini peeking from underneath the bustline. Were it not for her signature snow white hair and the crimson flower broach that adorned it, she would not have been recognizable even to her staff.<br/><br/>Tessa’s manner also contributed to<em>the just one of the girls</em>image. She currently had her arms wrapped around another of the hostesses from behind, chirping, “So, Didi, I hear you and Robert…” She looked over at Robert from across the hall and mouthed,<em>Damn she's hot! I’m so jealous!</em><br/><br/>“Um,” answered Didi with a blush, “it’s not serious. You know, we both want to be open so we can… fraternize with the guests."<br/><br/>“I know what you mean,” replied the Countess, giving a soft laugh. “I’m going to fraternize like there’s no tomorrow. With people coming from over ten different dimensions, how could I not?”<br/><br/>“Technically,” added another voice from behind, “they’re universes, not dimensions. And the risks involved in opening twenty gates at once…”<br/><br/>Tessa disengaged and turned to her chief engineer. “We’ve talked about this Chiharu. They’ve all got to come at once, or they’ll just group up by their own world. And that cuts into the fun."<br/><br/>“Being dead might cut into the fun too.”<br/><br/>”I have faith in this, Chiharu," came the reply, followed by, "And I have faith in you. I know you can do this, and I know this is going to be epic, thanks in no little part to you."<br/><br/><br/>Despite her concerns, Chiharu broke into a smile. It was almost impossible not to be swayed by Tessa's unfailing optimism and her unwavering belief in this project.<br/><br/>"Speaking of," the Countess glanced to the countdown clock above them, now reading five minutes. “It’s about time.”<br/><br/>Chiharu nodded and walked back to her station, the indulgent smile creeping onto her face only after she was sure Tessa wouldn’t catch it. Everyone else returned to their last-minute preparations. At least until the clock crossed the one minute threshold. Bells sounded and suddenly the room was quiet, the people therein silent as they stared fixated as one on the final seconds counting down through fifty seconds, then forty, then thirty, twenty. At the appropriate moment, Tessa emitted a beautiful jubilant<strong>“TEN!”</strong>and was thereafter joined by everyone else –<strong> “NINE… EIGHT… SEVEN… SIX… FIVE… FOUR… THREE.. TWO… ONE…”<br/></strong><br/>Out at sea, a small white ferry slowly pulled into the harbor. It had boarded and left Nassau two hours before. For the duration of the trip, the passengers had occupied themselves by sleeping, eating, drinking, sunbathing, socializing, and a variety of other activities. But now, they all were leaning eagerly over the rail of the deck, getting their first glimpse of the island that would be their home for the next week. What greeted them was a jewel of lush green encircled first by a ring of pristine white sand, and then by azure blue seas, rivalling the perfect sky above in the depth and richness of its color. Only one building crossed the natural view – a graceful cascade of curving white marble slopes pointing towards a simple arch emblazoned with the words,<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: impact;"><strong>WELCOME TO ECCHI ISLAND</strong></span></span>. The boat gracefully flowed to the dock, the crowd on the ship less so – it was more a teeming mass of humanity gathering at the gangplank until the captain opened the gate on the plank and a single employee opened the gates under the arch on the other side, and the mass moved forward to the destination that they had dreamed of all through midterms.<br/><br/>From other worlds, the transit was not so smooth. The sensation of traveling through the gate was remarkably similar to the more audacious and sadistic rides at modern amusement parks – a sensation of twisting, turning, and flying through space in a succession of drops, loops and corkscrews. The managers of the gates at the opening ends knew what they were doing when they offered the multiversal travelers free Dramamine. At one point the rush of motion stopped, and the voyagers were treated to the same view from above that their compatriots on the boat had seen as they approached shore – but this time a top down view of green vegetation, white sand, and blue ocean. And after a moment, the rush began again, ending in a blinding light as they passed into a room, festooned with a<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"> <span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: impact;"><strong>WELCOME TO ECCHI ISLAND</strong></span> </span>banner.<br/><br/>Both sets of visitors, once passing through were quickly sorted into different passageways by friendly guides into corridors mostly dark except for the illuminated scenes from the island’s colorful history. Although one would suspect that the artist had taken a bit of license with his history – after all, it seemed unlikely that the island natives would greet Vittorio San Ecchi’s arrival by twirling their tops over their heads, nor that the card game in which Count Rodolfo Montefiore won the claim to the island had been a hotly contested strip poker tournament, nor that the infamous pirate Stankbeard would have buried his treasure accompanied by a coterie of crew members dressed up as cheerleaders at a frat party. The photograph of Count Antonio Montefiore at the infamous Rugaltini party in the 50’s seemed real enough, however. The island’s current Warden was missing from the calvalcade. Instead, the Modern Age of Ecchi was marked with a mirror, noting<em>Your Arrival</em>.<br/><br/>After that, the visitors entered their room. Again, the main feature was the banner with<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: impact;"><strong>WELCOME TO ECCHI ISLAND</strong></span></span>. But this room also had chairs to sit in and a few tables generously laden with plates, napkins, glasses of mimosas, and plates emanating the intoxicating smells of chocolate chip cookies. Several monitors were placed around the room currently scrolling –<span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: andale mono;">Relax and Enjoy… Say Hello to Your New Friends… Your Hostess is Coming….</span>And even as the door shut on one end of the room, it quietly began to open on the other.<br/>