The Desolates

[Lykaios]

This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "The Desolates"

Before . . .

It was a May afternoon in 2011 when the first earthquake shook beneath the Southeast Asian Islands. The globe looked on and struggled to get aid to the effected areas, as one-by-one further disasters devastated civilisation everywhere. For over a decade, the world was ravaged by freak natural disasters; volcanoes erupted in Russia and Iceland, filling the sky with ash so thick it covered the sun in a dark haze for weeks on end, grounding planes worldwide. Tsunamis buried islands beneath the sea and drowned mainland cities in diseased waters. Earthquakes shook on all corners of the globe, crumbling mountains and cities, and dissolving civilisation and technology as it had been known. Panicked civilians and authorities had nowhere to go, as even underground wasn’t safe. Millions, billions, even, died worldwide, but for the survivors, that was not the end.

Disease, starvation and extreme poverty were their next assailants, picking off those that had miraculously survived the ongoing disasters, in huge numbers, until the already small world population shrunk into just a handful of scattered survivors. Some collected together in sparsely scattered ‘Mirs’ (small communities with mass populations of a about a couple hundred or less) and other isolated survivors roamed the broken earth, now being overgrown by nature herself, who in a slowly recovering world, don’t know what to do next.

Civilisation has been obliterated by both nature and human memory. Mortality rates boom among the old, as viruses and disease epidemics further pick off the weak, threatening further decreases of the tiny world population. But with successful harvests in the Mirs, maybe there is hope of recreating some sense of civilisation again? Or maybe the end of civilisation and technology is a penultimate farewell of the human race?

The world is still dangerous, plagues and disease still kill and small earthquakes are still common, as well as the threats from Koleks and other more sinister groups, hell-bent on destroying any notion of recovery for their own means . . .

* * *

Present . . .

The year is 2036. It is early November and it is raining. You stand in a street with rusting cars parked on the sides of the cracked roads, untouched for over two decades. A layer of dirt, dust and scattered growths of moss and overgrown plant life cover much of what you see, sprouting through the concrete. A tree grows weakly out of the window of a ruined building. You are a survivor who barely remembers what you survived . . .

* * *

Okay, so basically this is a dystopian post-apocalyptic roleplay, hurrah! The setting for this game will be rural and the ruined towns/cities of Poland in Northern Europe (though there are no countries or boundaries in the game, land is land), as I thought it would be a place not many players would know very well, so we wouldn’t have to worry too much about consistencies and stuff, also, it’s got a range of different landscapes which could be useful. If you want to check some out see this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland#Geology it’s Wikipedia, but meh, you get the gist: mountains, lakes, lots of green.

One thing though – weather can vary, so ignore the climate bit on there. The natural disasters will have severely upset the weather, so blizzards, heat-waves, storms are all good with me, or any other kind of weather you want to add in (keep consistent though – if some has already said it is raining, don’t then say it’s sunny in the same scene, there has to be a change shown. :P )

You can be as free with this as you like, so long as you move the story onwards. You can start wherever you like so long as at some point you meet up with someone/everyone else. A roleplay with a lone player is rather boring. :P I am open to any ideas you guys may have on this, just post them in the OOC and I’ll get back to you ASAP. This is my first roleplay here, and because every other one I’ve joined seems to die pretty quickly, I’d love it for this to go somewhere. :)

On technology – there isn’t any really. Electricity is gone with the exceptions of the odd battery (cell for you Americans) you may find, but don’t overdo it. There are guns, but ammunition is rare. Fuel is very scarce, and living is very basic. Wooden/stone homes, or ones that have survived the disasters are modified to be lived in. Fires for cooking/heating, etc, you get the idea yeah? Anyway, if you’re unsure about anything you can always ask in the OOC thread. Knowledge about technology is also scarce as many survivors were either young adults, children, or unborn at the start of the disasters.

Other people/people groups:

Mirs – small communities with mass populations of a few hundred. Governed by a group of leaders, either annually elected or who are the oldest in the Mir (old age is around 40-50 as there are very few survivors older than that). They are usually farming communities or small ‘towns’ constructed of wooden structures that encourage trade between Mirs – crafts for food, etc. Creating families is encouraged, and some larger Mirs have small schools for children.

Freeriders – people who just travel alone or in small groups. They may run errands between Mirs if paid (with food – no currency) and are generally welcomed by friendlier Mirs, though many don’t trust them, thinking they may be Koleks or Gerdlans.

Koleks – hostile roaming individual and small groups who raid Mirs. They are only out for self interest and are convinced the end of the world will come soon and the only way to survive is to be the strongest and look out for yourself, no matter what gets in your way. They are often armed with found or handmade weapons.

Gerdlans – Freeriders who preach the old order and entice unrest against leaders in the Mirs. They mean well, but are obsessed by recovering the great cities and technology of the past that was lost in the disasters, scaring many people. They are generally ‘old’ (40-50).

Pups/Mongrels – orphaned, abandoned, lost and runaway children who live in disorganised groups together, living off what they can find or steal. Usually in small groups, of about four or five, ages ranging from about 5-13, though older children tend to either become Freeriders or join Mirs.

Orsandians – [ to be revealed]

PLEASE NOTE – Villians and enemies will be added by me as we go to make it more exciting as you guys won’t know what’s coming, and they will be spontaneously put in your paths. *Evil laugh*

* * *

Character profiles - please submit via the character submission tab, including these details:

Name:
Age (must be between 11 and 40):
Gender:
Group/individual:
Picture (no anime please):
Description (detailed please!):
Personality (detailed please!):
Objects/possessions (remember no/scarce electrical technology)
History/background:

[Lykaios]

C'mon, people! Where are you all? Join us! :)

[Lykaios]

We're still looking for more players!

Got any questions or suggestions? Ask them here. :)

[sweet_angle66]

can't wait for this to start..haha just thought you might want to know!! :P

[Lykaios]

Haha, me neither, thanks. xD

I'm hoping to start it when we get up to about seven/eight characters, so that's another two or three left, and after that people can join and add their characters into the story wherever they feel like, or where there's gaps (no Koleks or Gerdlans so far).

Hopefully, this won't take too much longer, then we can get going. :D

[Lykaios]

It's been another couple weeks and no new players, so I'm going to say let's start and that if anyone wants to join later, then they can PM me and I'll get back to them about it.

[THIS ROLEPLAY IS STILL OPEN FOR NEW CHARACTERS]

I'll start writing up a first post this week and hopefully post it at the weekend, then we can get rolling. :)

Also, if everyone can check this thread frequently, that'd be great as it'd be good to keep in touch with you all about what you think about what's going on in the game, ideas and developments and just general chatter about the RP and characters. Don't hesitate to ask questions and suggest ideas and stuff at any time.

For posting order, I'm going to say allow at least two other people to post before you post again. I won't be too strict on this unless someone gets left out or people are posting too much so that it becomes a one-on-one or something.

After I post the first post, you may start anywhere [I will add a map before I post] you like and do what you like so long as you meet other characters at some point, because it wouldn't be much fun for you on your own and you might get left out.

So yeah, hopefully have this up and going at the weekend. :)

[sweet_angle66]

@lykaios: whatever happened to this rp...did it die before it even got to start??

[Lykaios]

No, sorry, I've been on holiday and ill and just ughhh, so I'll get this started ASAP and PM everone that signed up once I've posted it. Sorry for the long wait, I didn't anticipate so many problems at once when I posted this up. :S

[SamBarrons]

Did it die again? Just curious...

[nightraven]

its been a really long time it seems by the date OOC posts have been made is this ever going to get going? it might as well be started and maybe others will join later....if not i think there are enough people as long as they reply