The ones that never escaped the Hail's madness completely lost their minds, reverting to primitive violence and resorting to cannibalism. They linger in the ruins of civilization close to the crash sites of Hailstones, feeding on passersby and probably one another to survive. Lost appear as malnourished humans with permanently blackened veins and eyes. Despite eyewitness accounts of Lost eating each other, there are still ridiculous amounts of them in the cities. Rumors* claim that somehow they feed off of Hail sickness to survive without waning their numbers.

Burdened are people who have spent too much time near Hailstone material, and have been affected by the sickness they bring. Unlike the Lost, Burdened are usually sane enough to live around people, despite their often violent dispositions. They are most easily identifiable by the visibly black veins that show in various parts of their bodies and the blacking of their irises when they become angry or excited. Though "Burdened" is the official name for people affected by Hail, there are a plethora of derogatory names and insults for them. They are seen by most people as monsters; no different from the Lost. There are dozens of rumors about alleged cannibalism and murder. Many believe that Burdened can also alter their bodies like the Lost.

One day, seventeen years ago, these mysterious objects fell from the sky, landing in the centers of dozens of cities around the world. These entities are credited for ushering in the great madness that decimated society and created the Lost. Their origin is unknown, as is the method in which they revert human beings into psychotic monsters. Since most people that have seen a Hailstone up close are either dead or Lost, details about these mysterious objects is scarce. They are commonly pictured as four-story-tall, ten-foot-wide cylindrical stone pillars with various markings carved all over them. There are no reliable eyewitness accounts of their actual appearance or the state in which they left their points of impact.

This story does not take place upon our little blue planet called Earth, or really have anything to do with us at all. One could say its in another galaxy, or perhaps universe. It really doesn't matter. Our tale is told on the world of Obit; a planet of similar composition to Earth, but significantly less landmass. There are three major continents: Ortus, Meda, and Occas. At the time of the Hail, there were two primary government entities: The Unified Nations of Obit, a world government focused largely around policing, and the Sovereign Islands Pact, a group of islands that actively opposed UNO ideals.

~HISTORY~ UNO was a world government entity formed in the name of ending war and preserving humanity. It's territory covered all three continents, save for a few dozen Ortusan islands. The governmental approach of UNO could be mostly summarized as "security and order over freedom". Fifty years before the Hailstones fell, Obit was on the brink of all-out war. The collapsing empires, the waning monarchies, and the emerging republics stubbornly refused to agree on territory, resource rights, and alliances. A world-wide cold war that had been in effect for decades was about to burst into flames. However, seemingly moments before the first shots were fired, the leader of the country of Morane called for a gathering of all of Obit's major players for a final discussion regarding the fate of the world. Miraculously, every single party invited appeared and, impossibly enough agreed to a universal armistice. Although the world was baffled and confused by this turn of events, the treaty was eventually met with overwhelming support within that year. The formation of "a world without war" inspired the cultural concept of nothing being impossible. Research and technological development reached a two-decade-long boom. However, since all R&D was sanctioned by the central government, UNO had direct control of what was developed and how it was used. As a result, the twenty-year boom led to countless advancements in transportation, social networking, and government monitoring. Once the wonder of limitlessness faded and the dust of rapid growth settled, UNO maintained its supremacy by promoting itself as a beacon of security. Around this time, especially violent incidents were occurring in the Sovereign Islands. UNO used the incidents to improve public relations by painting the SIP as an unstable warzone, and to bolster their military police forces. However, the Islands perceived the increased military force and continued slander campaigns as a threat, and began retaliating. At first the Islands simply restricted trading with UNO and tied citizens up in annoying bureaucracy. However, the petty squabbling slowly evolved into violent clashes. Acts of terror became increasingly common in important UNO territories during the waning years of the last age. Predictably, radicals from the Sovereign Islands were blamed for these incidents, but never proven guilty. Despite the lack of evidence, Islanders soon became recognized as warmongering anarchists, bent on destroying the "perfect world". Public support for annexing the SIP reached a point where UNO leaders had little choice but to invade. In a last ditch effort to avoid the first war in decades, UNO representatives requested a meeting with Island chiefs in the hopes of reaching a peaceful resolution. The SIP chiefs refused, and instead declared that any UNO vehicle seen on their waters or in their skies would be shot on sight. Taking this as a declaration of war, UNO prepared an overwhelming invasion force and warned the Islands that they would invade in one week. The Hail fell five days later. ~SOCIETY~ Life could be described as very comfortable in UNO before the Hail. Unified territories did well enough in balancing public welfare and regulating private entities. Everyday life resembled Earth's contemporary society. The significant differences would include a very apparent police presence and a much less congested transit system due to the application of Sky Rails. Nearly every citizen carried a USD (Universal Social Device) as a small bracelet or implant. Career paths were determined through an evaluation in people's last year of public schooling, and deviating from their determined path was extremely difficult. Violent crime rates--especially murder--in UNO territories were extraordinarily low compared to our own. Because all military might was converted into law enforcement, very few territories had a shortage of police forces. Because criminals charged with murder of almost any variety were often sentenced to death or a life of imprisonment, killing was fiercely disincentiveized. However, possibly due to built up violent tension, murders that did occur were exceptionally cruel and brutal, and were often committed by more cunning individuals. (Probably still more on the way. Lore, no matter how awesome, is really boring to write.)

The Sovereign Islands Pact was an act of rebellion against what the islanders feared would become an oppressive world government. The eastern islands of Ortus were once a group of small nations that controlled a large portion of the world's fishing industry. The islands were fairly peaceful, despite dozens of altercations regarding borders and fishing territory ownership. The island nations never bothered to build militaries, and were only concerned with war if they were directly attacked. Over the decades, the islanders of the East became known as a laid-back and friendly people who valued their neutrality and freedom. When the nation of Murane called for an emergency "end of the world" conference, the islands decided to send only one representative, and idealistic young woman named Natalie Durlin, since all other nations of the world had chosen to attend. Not much is known about the details of the conference, but every single leader who attended was one-hundred percent on-board with the Unified Nations Plan except Durlin. She spoke fervidly against this government she was sure would become corrupted, if it wasn't already. She fought tooth-and-nail against the creation of UNO, but ultimately failed. However, since she still refused the alliance to the end, the now-UNO leaders offered an alternate armistice to her native islands that did not require integration into the unified world. As long as no aggressive action was taken by the islands against UNO territories, the islands would be mostly left to their devices. Realizing her options were to accept these conditions or submit to UNO annexing, she begrudgingly accepted. Upon returning to her islands, Natalie Durlin proposed an alliance of her own: The Sovereign Island Pact. Disgusted with the world's leaders bowing sheepishly down to Murane's world government proposal, she hoped to counteract the UNO's ambition of "peace through control" with her own ideal of "peace through freedom". The island leaders quickly agreed with her proposal, fearing the loss of their carefree, unmilitarized lifestyles. The Pact sought to be an oasis of liberty and personal responsibility in this new world full of control. The Islands fully legalized all forms of weaponry and built an entirely volunteer defense force. Each island held biyearly elections for a chief, who served on the Sovereign Islands Council to made legislative decisions. Since the Islands did not restrict or heavily monitor technology research and development, they eventually became a haven for development companies of all kinds. The resulting economic growth turned the SIP into what many would call a laissez-faire paradise. However, the surge also brought about a fair bit of chaos. A lack of government regulation led to dozens of "unethical practices" by a number of organizations. Violence was unavoidable, since most citizens were well armed and many had reservations about corporate expansion. Because of the developing Islands' disarray, many outsiders came to view them as a world of anarchy and violence. The SIP's true decline came when terror attacks began increasing in Unified territories. The "anarchic" islands were the easiest to blame, since no organization ever took credit for the attacks. The already-shaky reputation of the Islands declined with public opinion, and eventually the companies that led them to lavish growth had to pull out and leave them to ruin. Many islanders became bitter toward the UNO and their constant anti-island propaganda and reluctance to investigate their own citizens for the acts of terrorism. At some point, Island extremist began attacking UNO cities in earnest, and taking full credit. The SIP government condemned these actions, but the tension between the last two governments reached it's peak, and could not be quelled. War was on the way. Something worse than war came.

Due to the creation of UNO, Obit's technological development was quite a far cry from our own. Once most of the world was united, it became pointless to create new ways to kill one another. Ballistic guns never became automatic and the atomic bomb was never developed. Instead, since most military resources were used for policing rather than war, non-lethal weapons became the new norm and violent crime evaporated. Technology became solely about the advancement of humanity, rather than its self-destruction. Within the fifty years of UNO's existence, humanity was able to outgrow fossil fuels as a primary energy source, and develop dozens of renewable methods. Lummid - Also known as "hard light". Lummid projection creates a two-dimensional "wall" of polarized photons. Before the Hail, Lummid technology was still unable to project 3-D objects without using multiple projectors at different angles. Hard light experiences very little friction with other matter, and it's position in space is almost completely reliant on the position of its projector (you can't move the light without moving the projector, but the light cannot move the projector). Mirage Holos - Hologram technology able to create three-dimensional illusions. Holos can take almost any shape programed into their projectors, and can even be animated. Mirage images are not perfect though: Other electromagnetic waves often interfere with them and create blurs and static. Sky Rails - Roads in the sky. These transport rails added significant verticality and efficiency to public transit. Using numerous protracted Lumid projectors, the rails were able too swiftly and effortlessly move layers of both personal and public vehicles through and between urban areas. Visual Aid Universal Social Device - Much like our contemporary smartphones, USD armlets revolutionized communication and interconnection. Using an interactive Mirage display, these devices were able to perform a myriad of functions. In months prior to the hail, USDs began to more commonly be implanted into people's wrists and used for identification. Advanced Limb and Organ Prosthesis - Near-perfect and enhanced mechanical body parts became commonplace in the decade before the Hail. Since medical costs were largely paid for by the government, it was not uncommon for people to dismember themselves to get a "cool robotic arm". In the two years before the fall though, organic tissue regeneration started to replace mechanical replicas as the norm. Vectors - Vectors are the vehicles made universal by the Sky Rails. These transports replaced automobiles almost entirely after their introduction thirty years before the Hail. Having a similar style to their predecessors, able to seamlessly integrate with the Rails, and completely self-driving in urban areas, Vectors all but perfected transport on Obit. Rumor has it that flying Vectors were in development before the Hail. (Visual aid) (Bike visual aid)

A federal agency charged with responding to large-scale disasters with relief, armed intervention, or both. The importance of UNO's relief organization increased rapidly with frequent acts of terrorism before the Hail. As the Hail fell, the entirety of the DERB was deployed, and it's numbers and resources bolstered shortly after. Because of the guns and supplies they carried during initial relief efforts, survivors flocked to their outposts. Being the only organized group immediately after the Hail and its madness, DERB has maintained its influence until only recently. With the rise of other factions and the growing concern about the rights of Burdened, public opinion of the military remnant has dropped dramatically.

A faction comprised almost entirely of people affected by the Hail's sickness. The group was originally conceived as a sort of civil rights movement for Burdened, but has quickly developed into its own societal syndicate. The Unburdened are led by the enigmatic man called "Albatross". Rumors theorize that Albatross is simply a figurehead for an inner circle of Burdened plotting something more than "equal treatment".

The Vanguards work to reunite humanity and rebuild society in this new world. They advertise the return of "true democracy without bureaucracy" and are openly anti-DERB. Their stance on Burdened individuals is not clear, but they accept new members almost indiscriminately. The representative for the organization is President Liliana Wilson. Soldiers wearing AG emblems are rumored to have been seen rummaging around Hail Zones as of late.

Voyagers are a well-known group of guns-for hire. It's said they will perform nearly any deed for the right compensation, be it mercenary work, smuggling, transportation, protection, et cetera. Rumor is that higher-ups in the organization do shady work with Avant Garde and DERB to prolong their conflicts for profit. For the for the most part, Voyagers are fairly honest people trying to make it in the world.

This supposed conglomerate is rumored to be a growing authoritarian power in the far west. They allegedly have spies placed in the DERB, Avant Garde, Unburdened, and Voyagers.

Ration Tickets--ofttimes called "Bluebacks" or, fittingly enough, "Blues"--are a common currency backed by DERB's food and supplies. Despite growing disdain of the DERB, this form of money has helped create an economy in the new world and has come to be accepted by most of current society.

Please abide by the the rules and your own (un)common sense when submitting a character sheet. When completed, PM me your CS and I will reply with my critique and opinions, and will ultimately accept or deny your character. If there are a fair amount of players (3+) when you submit a CS, I will probably ask for input from them before making my final decision. If I do not accept your character or you as a player, I will almost always tell you why and will try to be as respectful as I can. Character Sheets are essentially resumes intended to show your writing style, writing ability, character preference, and player personality. I will choose whether to approve you or not based on your resume, so please put your best effort and honesty into it. Build your character around the world, for the purpose of living in and expanding the world. Please do not submit a premade character or join only because my world "fits" the character you already planned to play. Archetypes are fine to a point, but I'm not a fan of recycled templates. Note regarding "Burden": I expect that many will want to play a burdened character because of the mention of "mutating at will". For now, this is simply a rumor in the RP world and has no reliable sources to support it. I assure you, Burdened characters will indeed be burdened by physical symptoms and mental defects. The life of a heavily Burdened is one of suffering and tragedy.

* = Optional Name: Age: Gender: Race/Ethnicity: (Real world equivalents such as black, caucasian, hispanic, etc.) Burden: (By percentage, how affected is the character by the Hail's madness? Over 33% is labeled "Burdened". Past 66% and the character is considered "Lost". Since burdened have blackened veins, describe where their veins are dark.) Faction: (Which faction is your character aligned with, if any?) Appearance: (Please use a physical description with an optional visual aid. As much as I love anime, I'd rather nobody use anime pictures or art.) Personality: (Basic description of the character's general attitude, morals, and mannerisms.) Synopsis: (Relevant history of the character. Family and early life aren't relevant unless they will be revisited later.) Strengths: (Anything that the character is "good" at, or specializes in. Positive personality traits and skills.) Vices/Weaknesses: (Anything the character is exceptionally "bad" at, or is unable to do for some reason. Negative traits.) Equipment: (What does the character regularly carry on them? What do they bring with them for certain situations? Where did they find any unique or rare equipment they might have? Be somewhat realistic.) Quirks*: (An oddity that makes the character unique. Can be included in "Personality") Theme Song*: (Almost anything is acceptable. Try to make the song something that sets the mood for the character, not just whatever your favorite is. ) Other Things*: (Important information that was not included in the rest of the Character Sheet)