Personality:
Whatever kindness and warmth that existed in Jolene's soul before the plague has been wiped out since then by the need to survive. Following the onset of plague she was forced to do many things to survive, some of which is not proud of, but whats done is done. Now, as the leader of the Free State of Topeka, she has become cunning, cold and ruthless in her desire to bring in as many survivors as possible to help rebuild the region she calls home. At this point in her life, with the plague still fresh on everyones minds, you are either with her and her people, or against them.

She has no doubt that it was her beauty and charisma that saved her when she first ran into the survivors of the garrison from Fort Riley. She wooed their commanding officer, and then brutally murdered him to make her point. After a tense standoff and plenty of conversation, the other soldiers shrugged, commented on how the world had changed, and decided to follow the woman who had a vision beyond the next few days, a vision for the future.

Appearance:
Jolene is not a big woman, not even that tall. She is perhaps 5'7 with cascading locks of auburn red hair and a pair of green eyes that change tint when she is excited, angry or happy. Her build is that of a woman who takes good care of herself physically and, had the world continued to turn as it always had, she might have continued to break hearts and drive men mad. She is very pale and covered with freckles, an appearance that might make her look frail if it wasn't for the obvious physical power beneath her well toned and shaped exterior.

Background:
Jolene was born in Topeka, Kansas to a mother and father who were heavily involved in the local Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). From a young age she travelled a lot, visiting medieval fairs and learning many skills that were useless in the modern world. She did however learn to sing, and very well. She became something of a hit in the recreatonist world and was sought after for many folk festivals.

Being young, and very attractive, she had to look to her own safety very often and became a skilled archer and knife fighter through her time with the SCA. She was attacked on a couple of occasions by drunken young men and fought her way free, barely. After that she resolved to never be helpless again and embarked on a physical training campaign that rivalled that of any professional athlete.

Her life might have continued as her parents had, with little to show for it, but then the plague hit. Billions would die and for some reason the young redhead survived, keeping together a small group of other SCA survivors and building a small commune in the ruins of Topeka. In the second week of the plague the army unit from Fort Riley appeared and Jolene would go on to murder their commanding officer, she claims in self-defence, before convincing the remainder of the soldiers that they should think long term.

It took a fair bit of coaxing but at last they agreed and immediately began to help remove the bodies from Topeka and elected her "Governor". It has always seemed that the stranger something is, the more likely people are to agree to it in times of great upheaval.

Those same soldiers returned to their base, bringing more men and equipment, seized control of the Bowersock Hyrdoplant, and then, under orders from their new Governor, have begun to scour the surrounding areas for survivors that can be convinced, or forced, to join in the building of a new Free-State in the midst of the wreckage of the once mighty United States.