In Kingdom Animalia: Bleak Dawn, you take on the role of a genetically and bionically altered lab animal, set free during a zombie apocalypse. Blessed with heightened intelligence, your creature is smart, and is able to see the world around them with human-level perception.
The RP begins with the players outside of their former prison: the United States Biological Weapons Initiative Headquarters, in downtown Washington, D.C. At this stage in the zombie apocalypse, mankind has broken down; their governments and militaries toppled by the deadly nanotech virus that turns its victims into undead flesh eating nightmares.
Non-humans are immune to this virus, but not to the ravenous hordes of zombies that roam the streets looking for food. You must therefore survive in this world, utilising your animal’s natural and alterted attributes to its advantage in defying the one threat your human overseers could not stand against. Escape the city, find what remains of your own kind, and maybe, maybe one day your distant offspring will becall the rise of their peoples.
Dr. Kyle Benjamin
Senior Biological and Nanotechnology Director
U.S.B.W.I Headquarters
Washington, D.C
29/10/2056 17:53
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If you’re reading this, then you’re standing over the body of mankind’s murderer. Judge my pathetic, shrivelled form as you will, such trivia is beyond me now. Just know that what I did was not intentional, and indeed, I aspired to gift the world with a cure to all diseases, all suffering.
To say that I did not achieve would be unfair. Alzheimer’s, cancer, HIV, TB – I beat them all. Using advances in nanotechnology, spearheaded by my brilliance, I was able to reverse engineer all of humanity’s deadliest killers. Where cancer sought to spread, my specially created viruses sought to contain. When HIV compromised the immune system, then my self-engineered bacteria took the place of the white blood cells, destroying anything it was not programmed to recognise… I could go on, but my accomplishments should be well documented, apocalypse be damned.
If you are here searching for a cure, then I assure you, there is none. The Nano Virus is just too damned smart, and the microscopic AI I programmed it with – though primitive – is able to adapt and adjust to everything we throw at it. I have tried everything, and perhaps given more time, I may have found a way to undo my perfect child, my perfect virus. Alas, it is not to be.
The President is dead. Congress is dead. The Senate is dead. There is no more government, no more military… just piles of rubble, smouldering from our futile attempts to quite literally blow NV773 from the Earth. Suffice to say, the bombs, as you no doubt have realised, fail-
Oh God, great God, I can hear them. They’re in the facility – they’ve managed to crush the doors under the weight of their endless masses! Oh, oh no I will not, I will not become one of them. Never. My creation will not claim its master, to walk in its mindless ranks, a parody and an insult to his former being. No. I will die here, by my own hand, that much power I still hold.
A final act of nobility, testament to my good nature; I am releasing test subjects A17 through to Y29. I am setting them free; they have the minds, the chance to create a new world. The virus cannot touch them, it was never programmed to overcome non-humans. They are all my second child, the cutting edge of genetic and bionic research. Such splendid be-
They are here. Outside the door, I can hear them. Moaning, shrieking, thudding. Baying for my blood, though their dead flesh is beyond the need for sustenance. I am sorry, so sorry. 9 billion souls will curse me from the gates of Heaven, as God sends me down to Hell. It is no more than I deserve, for trying to master a world of infinite complexity.
Releasing test subjects. Opening interior bulkheads, deactivating security measures. Run, run my children, be free, be free and prosper; upon the ruins of our decimated civilisation, arise a new and do not relent to our folly.
The door is giving way. I must depart. Farewell. Mother, father, pitty me. Your son has caus-
I love you Sarah. How different things may have been, if I had listened to you and took that job in Mumbai. Oh, so man-
--------- DATA LOSS ----------
The last testament of Dr. Kyle Benjamin, Father of NV773.
Washington was one of the United States’ last cities to succumb to NV773, and bears the marks to show it. Countless bodies of the dead litter the streets, shot down by the city’s defending forces in the apocalypse’s closing days. Tanks and other armoured vehicles stand abandoned, having been surrounded, and their occupants choosing to take their own lives rather than be eaten by their former comrades.
Entire sections of the city are in flames, a poignant reminder that even with his huge arsenal of weapons, Man was unable to beat this killer virus.
Rubble, abandoned cars and blood-soaked blockades clog the roads. Shops are empty, the result of looting and panic buying. Gardens are overgrown, neglected by their walking dead owners. Power stations have failed, along with water works and sewage systems. The former Seat of the World, is an empty, lifeless husk; melting away under the spreading and uncontested flames.
As the U.S 2nd Infantry Division, the last surviving combat unit in North America, made their stand in the grounds of the White House, there were four known types of NV773 ‘carriers’ at the time. However, the virus was always mutating, perfecting, and it is possible that the longer the victims remain active, then the more likely they will evolve. Below are the four main types of carriers encountered by Mankind.
Shamblers
Newly infected. The virus first kills, and then reanimates humans in the space of minutes. They are vulnerable in this form, as their deceased body undergoes changes to free it from rigor mortis. They are slow, and walk like drunks, but their strength should not be underestimated. If they grab hold of you, then it’ll take the cunning of a fox, or the heft of a bear to slip free.
Runners
Second stage. This form of carrier is still clumsy, like its predecessor, but it moves much faster. They never tire, never stop, and they’re extremely fast. However, they’re also stupid, and putting a barrier between yourself and them is often enough to destroy the threat outright.
They will more than likely bite, punch and kick you than attempt to grapple, such is the extent of their berserker state.
Burrowers
Third stage. Sprint capable, and their hands have evolved into long, spindly claws. They like to dig into the earth, hiding, watching and waiting. Their eye sight seems to be sub-par, however, but their hearing is top notch. If these guys corner you, stay out of sight – they may lose interest.
Jumpers
Alternative third stage. These guys are runners, but smarter, and they can jump eight feet into the air. Their aggression knows no bounds, and they will gladly pursue their pray off the edge of a cliff. Their coordination is extremely good, surpassing human levels, and so trying to lose them four hundred feet up in the air in a bunch of steel construction girders may not do you much good.
Killing a Carrier
Destroy the brain. That is the only way.
More dangerous than they ever were to animal kind, the human survivors in the ruins of Washington are fiercely determined to survive. It won’t matter if you’re a rhino, an elephant or a God damned fire breathing dragon; the fact is, your flesh is alive, and they need to eat.
Some might see you as helpful, others might try to cook you on sight. They’re few and far between, but mankind is ever the dangerous hunter, especially with his back against the wall. My advice? Stay clear of them.
- Don’t be an idiot.
- Don’t be a smart ass.
- Be polite.
- Accept tragedy.
- Accept mortality.
- Have fun.
- If you’re a deserter, and you leave someone hanging, I’ll make sure everyone knows your reputation.
- GM is not God. God is the democratic decision of all players.
- Any drive-by critiques will be shot on sight by my IGNORE cannon.
I expect you to know the ins and outs of your chosen species. I don’t mean on an expert level, but just enough that you don’t go making any glaring errors regarding their anatomy.
Alternatively, your captors may have given you a name, and your animal has accepted it.
If you don’t want to start with a name, then simply put what you want other players to refer to your animal as. I.e, “Grey Wolf” for a grey wolf.
Choose one.
This is the reverse of ‘Genetic Attribute’, choose something that your animal suffers from. I.e reduced lifespan? Arthritis? Cancer prone? Weak immune system? Weak heart? Infertility? Deafness? Blindness? Something that will present a weakness. Treat this as your animal’s “kryptonite”.
Examples: Ocular implants for seeing in the dark/seeing further, hearing implants for increased sound detection, bone supports for increased strength and resilience – a pace maker for those dastardly times you get cattle prodded?
Choose one.
Examples: Prone to infection, tendency to interfere with senses, constant pain, body vulnerable at area of implant, vulnerable to electrical interference etc.
