Hunger Games Summary -- Settings, Background, etc.

Plot: The area that the books take place in is called Panem. It is country that contains the futuristic remains of North America. There are a total of 12 districts and a Capitol. There used to be 13 districts but, due to an attempted revolution that eventually failed, District 13 was exterminated. As a reminder that the Capitol is in charge and the districts have no power, the Hunger Games were invented.

The Games take place once a year. One boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each of the 12 districts is picked to compete. The Games are broadcasted on live television and are mandatory for all districts to watch. The children are put in an arena, each one never like another, and the last tribute standing alive wins and receives glory and money as well as food for his/her district. Most of the districts are poor except for the Career districts, so winning is a big deal. Since food is scarce, potential tributes may buy basically passes for food by purchasing a tessera of oil and grain (one tessera will feed one person) at the cost of having their chances of being in the Hunger Games raised.

The career districts are Districts 1, 2, and 4 and these contain the richest and well-fed. The majority of the tributes from here are volunteers who have (technically illegally) trained for the Games.

Weapons: Each district specializes in one thing so children brought up in those districts are generally used to a certain weapon or other item. For instance, the residences of District 7 (lumber) are good with axes.

However, in the Hunger Games, tributes' survival chances depend more on what they can grab rather than what skills they have. When tributes are thrown into the Games, tributes start at a distance from a giant cornucopia. When the bell sounds, many tributes run to the cornucopia where all weapons and items lie and attempt to claim whatever they can before fleeing.

Living Area: The districts have divisions in them. There are the residences, the district square, the victor's village, and other places special to the district. They are all surrounded by fences and outside the fences lies the wilderness. However, they are not permitted to leave the district. The district square is where the tributes are chosen for the Games on the day called "The Reaping," a day technically to be celebrated. The victor's village is where all winners of the Hunger Games reside in each district.

Games length: In the book, the Reaping occurs once a year. After the Reaping, tributes go through a process including receiving makeovers and participating in interviews before the actual Games start. By the time the Games end it will have been approximately a month. The victor then goes on a Victory Tour through the districts.

On the site, the Games process generally lasts about two months. We then take about a month of so before the next Games before so we can plan the arena and clean out the site with an Activity Check. During the Games, the life in the districts doesn't stop so you may role-play at any time even if the Games are going on. There are subplots created by the site sometimes that don't have to do with the games.

Rankings: President Snow is in charge of Panem and he, of course, leads everything. The gamemakers are the people who plan the Games for each year. In each district, there are peacekeepers and they are like the police of the district but they work for the Capitol and generally train in District 2. Avoxes are people who reside in the Capitol who have had their tongues cut out because they have sinned against the Capitol and now slave for the citizens. Mentors are previous winners of the Games who train the incoming tributes. Stylists are the people who make the tributes look nice for interviews and such. Sponsors donate money to tributes. Each district has a mayor to report to.