Under the Fallen Arch [OOC]

[Red Beret]

A NOTE, IF YOU WILL:

Our "official" GM has gone missing, and multiple attempts to contact him have been... unsuccessful, to say the least. Instead of letting this idea stagnate, I've decided, with the help of Lupus, to take the story and keep it moving, so we're going to be opening it up for people who are interested. Keep in mind that we're only looking for two more players to join our group. We appreciate your interest, so thank you for checking us out!


Anyway, on to the RP itself...

The St. Louis outbreak caught everyone off guard, largely because healthcare authorities had thought the virus to be contained in the southeast. The military managed to establish a safe zone underneath the Gateway Arch, and began the evacuation of persons with VIP status--doctors, community leaders, and other important personnel. The quarantine broke, however, as civilians attempted to escape the city, only to become stuck on the freeways. With all outbound lanes congested, most of the population was overtaken, still in their vehicles. The majority of the infected followed the survivors west, but a good bit still remain within the city itself.

St. Louis is now little more than an inhospitable ghost town, with small bubbles of survivors quickly being overrun by the living dead... but there is one beacon of hope in the darkness. A radio broadcast, transmitting on all frequencies, urges survivors to gather under the Arch, where they will be protected and cared for until the nightmare is over. Though there are not many left in the city to hear the message, it still plays, giving some survivors just enough hope to carry on.

Little do they know what awaits them...

UNDER THE FALLEN ARCH



IC Thread

UFA Chat Room

Approved Survivors:

John Burke [HEALTHY]
Paul Buscetta [HEALTHY]
Mason Daniels [HEALTHY]
Rodney Dubray [HEALTHY]
Jarod Hindman [HEALTHY]
Sarah Schultz [HEALTHY]
Kiva Zegato [HEALTHY]



______________OTHER SHEETS______________

Colin Greene
Daniel Müller

Marilyn Anderston

Edward Blair
John Graves

_____________________________________________

DA ROOLZ

All we really ask of you, the player, is that you try to post regularly, don't let the RP sit for a week without a new post.

Beyond that, as long as you get along with everyone, follow the Fundamental Rules of the Guild and put enough into your posts to meet the Advanced RP Standards, you should be okay.

You're more than welcome to collaborate with other players on your posts... there is nothing wrong with drafting up a conversation between your character and someone else's character, or even your character and a throwaway NPC to add a bit of depth to your post. Feel free to re-iterate parts of conversations if you need to, and remember that the overall goal is not to win or lose, but to tell a compelling story.

Also, if you go on hiatus and we can't contact you to confirm your involvement with the RP, we won't hesitate to make room for new players by terminating your character. It's not something we enjoy doing, but sometimes the situation calls for it, so... please make sure to tell us if you've lost interest or you're going to be gone for awhile. It really benefits everyone in the end.


PREMISE

As you may have gathered from the introduction above, we've decided to begin our journey in the beautiful city of St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States. Our characters are currently living in the third day since the last living soul left the city, and now what survivors remain have been reduced to wanderers or small pockets of civilization, which constantly fight to stay alive. All the while, a message circulates over the radio, encouraging survivors to make their way to a military safe zone underneath the Gateway Arch, a prominent landmark that dominates the St. Louis skyline...

You'll play a survivor of the St. Louis outbreak (and possibly even previous outbreaks, if you so wish), and the ultimate goal is to get close enough to the St. Louis safe zone to realize that it's not so safe after all. Once all our characters have gathered together, we'll decide what to do from there... though it's all right to take your time getting there. That's the fun part of the story, after all, making your way through what was left behind after the outbreak.


THE PANDEMIC

The virus was first spotted in parts of China, and the mass exodus from the affected regions brought it into parts of Europe and North Africa, and even into the Americas. The European and American governments were initially successful in stopping the spread of the infection, but soon the steady stream of infected from the Asian continent proved too much for the eastern European countries to handle. At the same time, multiple outbreaks in the American southeast, most notably Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, compromised the American containment procedures.

In America, the infection spread rapidly despite the combined efforts of American medical officials and the military. Panic ensued as infected persons began showing up outside of the containment zones... the military began to evacuate VIPs to various safe zones around the nation. Eventually, the American Red Zone crossed the Mississippi River, though nobody expected that it had spread as far north as St. Louis. The St. Louis outbreak came as a surprise, and the National Guard had very little time to prepare.


THE INFECTED

The infected seem to come in two categories at present: There are those who can run and those who can't. Medical authorities aren't quite sure what it is that causes this effect, but the possibility exists that there might be other variations caused by mutations in the virus. There is no way to tell a runner from a walker unless they are moving toward you, so it is advised to keep your distance at all times...


THE SURVIVORS

As stated earlier, you'll be playing a survivor of the St. Louis outbreak. Whether you want your character to be a rugged adventurer who's been trying to find a way out of the Red Zone or someone who was unaware of the pandemic until it hit St. Louis, that's up to you. We do ask that you try to refrain from bringing along an unreasonable amount of firepower, and reserve the right to ask you to tone it down if we feel we need to. Other than that, you'll find that we're reasonably open to character ideas.

Survivors listed in the "approved survivors" section above will have different statuses next to their names, depending on how they're doing. You can always check this post for a quick look at how each survivor is doing.

[HEALTHY] - The survivor is neither infected nor grievously injured.

[INJURED] - The survivor is injured enough to hinder the progress of their group, but not infected.

[INFECTED] - The survivor is infected and in danger of turning at the least convenient time.

In the second post, you'll find a character sheet that you can quote, fill out, and paste, but I'd like to give you an idea of what we're looking for below...


THE CHARACTER SHEET

A picture of your character, preferably a photograph, and it doesn't matter if you use a celebrity. This'll give us an idea of what our own characters will see without having to worry about a written description. If you want to include a written description of your character in addition to or instead of a picture, please add a field in between "Scars" and "Weaponry."

Name: Your character's name. Nicknames are optional, but if your character has a nickname, put it in quotes: First Name "Nickname" Last Name
Ethnicity: Your character's race. If you want to include nationality, you may. For example: Caucasian, German
Gender: Male or Female
Age: Any age between 18 and 70 years of age.

Height: Your character's height, in feet and inches
Weight: Your character's weight, in pounds.
Hair: Your character's current hair color.
Eyes: Your character's eye color.
Skin: The shade of your character's skin, from pale to dark to sunburned.
Tattoos: Any tattoos your character might have. Pictures are welcome if you can find them.
Piercings: Any piercings your character might have.
Scars: Any scars your character might have.

Weaponry:
Whatever weapons your character is carrying, please include ammunition if the weapon requires ammunition.

Occupation: Your character's current job/career
Specialization: If applicable, your character's specialization within their career.

Notable skills:
Any noteworthy skills your character might possess, such as lockpicking or marksmanship.

Senses: Nonexistent, Bad, Below Average, Average, Above Average, Good, Acute
Sight:
Smell:
Touch:
Taste:
Sound:

Equipment:
What equipment is your character currently carrying?

History:
A brief history. You may go back further than the St. Louis outbreak if you want, but we want a history of the past three days at least.

Personality:
A brief description of your character's personality.

Strengths:
Anything that could be considered admirable, or possibly help your character to survive in the Red Zone.

Weaknesses:
Anything that could be a detriment to your character's survival in the Red Zone.

[Lupus]

[img] [/img]

Name:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Age:

Height:
Weight:
Hair:
Eyes:
Skin:
Tattoos:
Piercings:
Scars: None

Weaponry:

Occupation:
Specialization:

Notable skills:

Senses: Nonexistent, Bad, Below Average, Average, Above Average, Good, Acute
Sight:
Smell:
Touch:
Taste:
Sound:

Equipment:

History:

Personality:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

[Red Beret]

Cool stuff. Those whose characters were approved in the old OOC don't need to post their sheets again, since we have the links... unless you'd just feel more comfortable about having your sheet in the new OOC. I don't foresee any problems with the old sheets, but you never know. If you're a newcomer to the RP, feel free to fill out a character sheet and post it here.

We're currently looking for two or three new players.

[howler01]

Name: Mason Daniels
Ethnicity: Casucasian
Gender: Male
Age: 24

Height: 5'8
Weight: 185
Hair:dark brown
Eyes: brown
Skin: tan
Tattoos: Mason has a skull tatoo on his right arm, an American Flag on his left, and a small dragon in between his shoulder blades
Piercings: none
Scars: None

Weaponry:
M9 Pistol with spare magazines
M4 Carbine with an attached M203 grenade launcher
KA-bar Combat Knife (obtained from one his squad mates corpses)

Occupation: Army Sergeant, based out of Fort Leonard Wood
Specialization: Military Police

Notable skills:
- Military Training Mason is trained in both hand to hand combat and various firearms, but his training is much more than that. He's disciplined and can control his emotions in high pressure situations. he doesn't easily panic and he can lead a group of people effectively.
-Eyesight and Hearing These are senses he has honed. Most of the time, he can tell various weapon types, because he has studied them and dissembled them and put them back together quickly, just by looking at them or hearing them fire. He also, with these senses, has an acute sense of direction, he knows where things are and he has no problem searching though other people things or bodies to scavenge the supplies that he needs. His sight and hearing aid these skills greatly.
-Leadership Mason has learned the finer points of leadership, from West Point, but this extends to his Police training as well. He has learned how to deal with all sorts of situations, even if he's never encountered them in real life. He's confident enough that he can not only deal with anyone hostile to a group or to his objective.

Senses: Nonexistent, Bad, Below Average, Average, Above Average, Good, Acute
Sight: Above Average
Smell: Average
Touch: Below Average
Taste: Below Average
Sound: Good

Equipment:
1 M9 (MM Pistol (10/10)
1 M4 5.56x45 Carbine (20/30)
1 M203 Gernade Launcher Attached to the M4 (1 40mm gernade loaded)
1 Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) complete with patches that identify him a Military Policeman

1 Rucksack containing the following:
1 Military Canteen
3 Meals Ready to Eat (MRE's)
3 Energy Bars
1 compass
2 glow sticks

1 spare M9 magazine (10/10)
2 Spare m4 magazines (30/30)
2 40 mm grenades

History: Growing up in a military family, where his father and grandfather served in the Army, it was expected that he do the same. Mason enlisted, but did not take a front-line path, instead opting for a Military Police role and becoming a guard for detainees at Levanworth prison for a while before he was briefly transferred to various prisons in Afganistan to serve as both area security as well as guarding detainees. He was on a "search Patrol" at the time of the infection, as strange things had been reported; the Commander of the fort deciding to send out thge MP's at his disposal to investigate and report back what they had seen. Many of his squad mates were overtaken and killed by the infected, while Mason, their leader, fended them off and survived.

He now wonders the streets of St. Louis, looking for any othr survivors and trying to establish a connection with the fort...the radio only returns either static or a series of horrible groans which he doesn't understand...

Personality: Cold, distant, unforgiving. That's what strikes people about Mason most when they meet him. Training has dulled his emotions, to ikilling and death of the "enemy" at least. His squad, he still feels guilty and is saddened deeply by their loss. He in general is personable to people, but keeps them at arm's length most of the time, he feels it's easier to deal with them that way. He doesn't have a girlfriend or a lover of any kind, though that's not to say woman haven't come close to him looking for that, and he knows he has some charm, but he hasn't let anyone really get close to him.

Strengths:
-physical fitness- as mentioned above, he can run for quit ea while and is generally a very fit guy. he doesn't have to worry about runnign out of breath when sprinting away from the fast infected.
-Loyalty- he is extremely loyal and would much rather be in a group fighting the infected then alone, thus he is not likely to abandon the group, he will simply ignore those he can't get along with.
-planning and preparation- he is by nature a planner. he will try to plan things out as best he can and if things go wrong, he usuallyt tries to have a backup plan in place, though that's not always possible.

Weaknesses:
-cold hearted - mason by training is very cold and emotionless. he has gotten over the loss of his squad, for the time being anyway, and has little problem killing other infected. he no longer sees them as human and will more than likely shoot first and ask questions later.
-tunnel vision - he can sometimes have tunnel vision, that is; he becomes so focused on one goal in particular, that other, perhaps more opportunistic goals go by the wayside in favor of the overall or larger goal he is attempting to reach. He will become annoyed at those who seem to deviate from his plan.
-snobby- because of his particular set of skills and trianing, he is naturally a bit snobby and leary of the civilians holding powerful weapons. Pistols, he's fine with, but he's afraid that they won't know how to shoot or handle them properly and he doesn't want civies killing him or themselves. Thus, he may snort or look down upon civilians with weapons they "shouldn't have access to, not matter if it's a zombie infestation or not.".

[Goldmarble]

THE CHARACTER SHEET OF KIVA ZEGATO



Name: Kiva Agnes Zegato
Ethnicity: Slavic, Germanic, Asian
Gender: Female
Age: 22

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 153
Hair: Black
Eyes: Dark Green
Skin: Pale torso with a light tan on her forearms and face
Tattoos: A barbed wire coiled around her right bicep/shoulder area, overlaying a bed of roses. Done in plain blue/black int. On her abdomen she has the word "Sisu" done in stylized lettering, bracketed by a pair of stars.
Piercings: 8 Gauge, stainless plugs with celtic knotwork blasted onto the ends. Small stud in her left nostril.
Scars: Small scar on her lower right abdomen, just beneath the abdominal muscles, roughly 2.5 inches long and faint from having her appendix removed when she was 12. Her right knee bears a patch of scar tissue three inches vertically, and half an inch wide at the top, tapering down to about a quarter of an inch at the bottom, slightly askew. Numerous small scars on her hands, and forearms from her profession.

Weaponry:
M1 Carbine in .30 Carbine. With a scout mounted red dot sight.
30mm chrome steel Belzer Super Block combination wrench

Occupation: Diesel mechanic
Specialization: Heavy duty diesel engine mechanic

Notable skills:
Welding: Kiva has been welding since she was 12, under her father's tutelage. She started out with an old 220V MIG welder, and has since learned how to use Arc welders, Tig welders, even battery welders (wire a couple of 12v batteries together, and you can strike an arc). She is mostly an at home welder, welding on her truck, or making metal sculptures.
Mechanic: Obviously with her job, she has learned a good deal of how to fix and tune an engine. Her specialty is diesel, but she knows her way around gasoline engines almost as well. She is also fully capable of rebuilding manual and automatic transmissions, axles, and pretty much any other part on a car, including body work.
Firearms Use: Having been around firearms for most of her life, she is comfortable with them, and does not exhibit "chick lean" when firing. Kiva's experience is purely with semi-automatics and bolt actions. She is a decent shot with a rifle, but a horrible shot with a pistol.
Photography: Photograph is a fairly recent hobby, that she got into just a year and a half ago after one of her best friend's friend, asked her to model for them. She wasn't doing any gallery shows yet, but might have in a year or two if she found the time.
Driving: Working to dispel the "Women Driver's" myth, Kiva is a fairly decent driver, and frequently challengers her low speed driving skills off road in her Suzuki.


Senses: Nonexistent, Bad, Below Average, Average, Above Average, Good, Acute
Sight: Bad. Kiva is near sighted, and requires her glasses to be able to see clearly past 50 yards.
Smell: Good. She never understood why, but she seems to be able to smell things long before others do.
Touch: Above Average
Taste: Average
Sound: Below Average. Kiva has some mild hearing loss from her lifestyle of loud trucks, loud music, loud guns, and loud working environment.

Equipment:
M1 Carbine, with a total of three, 30 round magazines (one in the rifle, two in the outside pocket of her camera bag), and a pair of 15 round magazines kept in the pouch on the stock of the rifle. A box of ammunition in her backpack that still holds 36 29 rounds out of the fifty it started with.
30mm Wrench on a sheet metal bracket she hammered out of some scrap metal to hold it on her belt.

Leatherman MUT multitool
Quark Tactical QT2A
Modified paintball mask
A smaller hiking backpack with camelback
Waterfilter
Small multifuel stove, with nested cookset.
A large ziplock bag full of rice, one of oats, one of beans, one of granola, one of trail mix, a bag of beef jerky, and one of mixed dried fruits.
Two energy bars
Spare set of glasses
Lighter
Roll of toilet paper
MP3 player and headphones
Nikon D70 camera with 50mm lens, and a 80-200mm lens in a small camera pack around her waist.
14" laptop
Older, RAZR phone.
A photograph of her father, and her father and mother's wedding photo.
Key to her father's gun safe.
Collapsible fishing rod, and tiny tackle box.
Cheap pair of 10x binoculars, foldable.

History:
Kiva has long been the kind of girl who had a tendency to be more hands on than other girls. Likely coming from the fact that she was raised by her father after her mother passed away from breast cancer when she was four. Her father, a mechanic, and avid firearm collector instilled these virtues in his daughter. When she turned fourteen, she got her first car, a 1976 Toyota Celica, that she restored with the help of her father. Unfortunately the car was destroyed two weeks after her sixteenth birthday/getting her license when someone ran a red light and punted the car's passenger side front fender.

When she got out of highschool, she immediately went into the local tradeschool, picking up several classes, and eventually dropping a couple of them down to the two she liked most; Diesel Mechanics and welding. She got into paintball when her boyfriend at the time introduced her, and carried on playing after the shitbag cheated on her. She found the sport fun and it appealed to her more aggressive nature.

The day the outbreak started in St. Louis, Kiva was working at her job in truck maintenance facility when National Guard came to warn people of the outbreak. She grabbed her multitool and one of her larger wrenches, and started to make her way home. The first time an infected found her, it nearly killed her. The sheer desire to kill was overwhelming, and she lashed out with the wrench, fear adding to her strength and she felt the wet crushing of bone as the arm of the thing went half limp. The second blow caught it in the mouth, the third caught it in the left ear and dropped it, after it sprayed her with blood, saliva, and shattered teeth. Once home, she quickly stripped and washed the filth off, nearly taking her clothes and burning them, before thinking twice about sending out a smoke signal. She fabbed the holster for her wrench, and then...waited. She already knew that trying to get out of the city was flat out suicide, and besides, she wanted to get out with her father if she could. The second day, she waited, and worried as her father never showed. The night she was so nervous she couldn't eat. Sick with fear and worry. She didn't know if he had been evacuated or dead, or injured somewhere and needing help; she just knew that if he hadn't shown up now, he likely never would.

Having heard the report on the radio, looping endlessly, she figured it was likely the best bet. Picking up her Carbine, and spare ammunition, she locked her father's gun safe and took the key with her. Her first stop was to a small sporting goods store. It was looted as much as she figured; most of the packs were gone, ammunition was scarce as hell in the common calibers, but the less common/less used were still on the shelf like 6.5x55 Swede, though the .30 Carbine was missing unfortunately. Yet she was still able to grab a few things, like a decent backpack, the stove and cookset, and collapsible fishing rod. Her second stop was at a grocery store. The shelves were flatout empty, except for a few glass bottles of things like pickles, or mustard that had been smashed on the ground, paper products, the cleaning supplies and the like. The one foods that hadn't been touched much, were the bulk containers. With a looted set of ziplock bags, she began collecting some food supplies to last her for a while. A few other things were picked up, and she began making her way towards the arch.

Personality:
Kiva is a rather intelligent young woman, with a bit of whimsical artist about her (How many other people drag a DSLR around during the end of human life just to take pictures of the end of the world?). She is pretty open, but does not accept people trying to treat her like shit. When it comes to people disrespecting her without reason, she has a tendency to get in their face about it. Currently though, she is grieving for the loss of her father.....and a bit for the rest of the world as a whole. Hard not to feel something when corpses litter the street. She is also, currently a bit lost; all of her plans for her life are suddenly no longer viable, and she is trying to form some plan on how to survive this disaster.

Strengths:
- Physically Fit: Due to her job and hobbies, Kiva is not the typical 22 year old girl who can barely lift 30 lbs. She has to be able to take care of herself around heavy machinery, and takes pride in the fact that she can lift and carry over a 160 lbs, more than her own body weight. She is also a light jogger, finding having endurance a useful ability when playing paintball in the woods.
- Creative: Kiva is known for thinking a little outside of the box at times, coming up with a solution to a problem that others hadn't considered. Sometimes her ideas work, sometimes they don't.

Weaknesses:
- Right Knee. When she was 13, Kiva broke her right knee pretty severely while riding her bike. It used to hurt any time she ran or worked it hard, but has since managed to get strengthen the joint that it lets her do a modest workout without excruciating pain. But if she has to run for her life for long distance? It is going to start hurting, and will eventually force her to stop.

[Red Beret]

Thank you, howler01 and Goldmarble. We'll review your applications and get back to you as soon as possible.

[KrimpetyCatcher]

If everything goes according to plan, I'll throw together a character tonight. This looks like an interesting story. ^.^

[Red Beret]

Gonna stay with us this time? :P

- - - Updated - - -

howler01, GoldMarble, you've both been cleared to join.

Here is the link to the IC: http://roleplayerguild.com/showthrea...Fallen-Arch-IC

Colin and Sarah are currently following I-44 into the city, Paulie is across the river, dicking around in East St. Louis. You can find Daniel's chewed-up body somewhere on the west side of town, and Marilyn is probably going to be shuffling around near the "safe" zone. Read everything before you jump in... but other than that, welcome aboard, post whenever you're up to it.

[howler01]

Thank you! Happy to be aboard this ship of awesome!

[KrimpetyCatcher]

Hey! I stayed last time! What even happened... Last thing I know was you were sick, then xenon's PC died, and it was like a Series of Unfortunate Events except instead of life threatening misfortune people were just having technological issues.

I even just checked, mine was the last post. >.<

Anyways, I'm free as a bird for the next eight weeks, so school/work/piano won't be holding me back. I'll be active as an active thing.