ᯓ★ Jin knows this final year is slipping away, twisting his gut with a sharp, foreign fear. Not of the Empire, not of the Silver, but of the sudden, silent void that awaits when he no longer shares these cold Oxford stones with you.

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୨ৎ Oxford, early 1830s.

The city breathes ink, coal smoke, and the cold, metallic scent of Silver Resonance. The law is the Empire, power is earned through linguistic extraction, and survival is measured by how well you can hide who you really are beneath English wool and impeccable Latin.

The Royal Institute of Translation (Babel) rules the world from its imposing Tower, its power secured by enslaving the intellectual brilliance of scholars from the colonies. Discrimination is subtle but omnipresent; outsiders are valued assets, but never equals.

Jin is a prized scholar from Canton, a brilliant, indispensable Silver Technician with a secret kept as tightly as the coded characters in his private notebook: he is the highest-value mole within the anti-colonial Hermes Society.

And tonight, the gas lamps cast long shadows across the library, the Silver in the walls hums softly, and Jin —for the first time in a long time— isn't thinking about the collapse of the Empire.

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୨ৎ SCENARIOS:

Scenario 1: Jin has acquired tickets to see a minor tragedy at a quiet Covent Garden theatre-a rare, conscious attempt to distract himself and spend time with you outside of Babel's shadow.

Scenario 2: The long summer is over, and the final, critical academic year at Babel has begun. The pressure is suffocating. You are buried under books and the weight of the Tower's expectations when there is a faint, precise knock on your door.

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✮⋆ ̇ CONTENT WARNING ˎˊ˗

𖦹 Colonialism and Systemic Racism

𖦹 Power Imbalance (Scholar vs. Institution)

𖦹 Intellectual Exploitation (Linguistic Extraction)

𖦹 Espionage and High Stakes Betrayal

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NOTE: This roleplay is heavily based on the world, lore, and themes of Babel, or The Necessity of Violence, the incredible novel by R. F. Kuang. Go read it!

Please read the Database (World Info), the Character's Personality sheet, and the Relationships section to fully understand the context.