Tokoshie no Ansoku
A S T O R Y O F D A R K N E S S
I've seen pictures of the world that came before. Old photographs that the adults post to the walls with thumbtacks and tape. The figures and shapes appeared foreign to my eyes: smiles, laughter, crowding over birth cakes, green grass and a shining sun. My teachers say that the world always use to look like this, that the ash fall and the scorched lifeless plains outside of the cities are a result of the war. They have to be lying to us though don't they? Our world is far flung from the vibrant place that the pictures and the books say it is. How could we lose it all? How could we loose so much in only twenty years? But I guess that answer is the simple one isn't it? It was the Moonmen, the abominations that fell from the sky. The creatures that the walls and the guards outside the city watch out for day in and day out. They fell from the heavens on Contact Day and after that it all fell apart.
They ignored the signs that now seem obvious, pushing them into the background. Oblivious. I guess I can't blame them really can I? Who could think of such unimaginable horrors while they lived in a world that looked so nice. By the time they got around to noticing though? The infestation had already begun. Thus began the Long War, a war not between man and man, brother on brother but between human and abomination. They fought with bullet and flame against an undying hunger that seek nothing more than to devour them all. Millions would die in the fighting, countries would fall as entire countryside sides were stripped of life. Nothing was spread from the hunger from the smallest rabbit to the newborn babe. The world slowly grew accustomed to a new kind of silence, the cutthroat silence of death on an unprecedented scale. And yet they fought on, they fought on. The remnants of humanity unified under a common goal of survival. They held the line where they could and they bunred down all they could not and in the most extreme cases they rained down nuclear fire from above.
These days no creature has broken the walls of a Coalition City for five years time. Five years of relative peace where the fighting was only relegated to the troops outside the wall trying to reclaim what had been lost and keeping the abominations back. Their sacrifice ever present as the trucks return from the outside each day, smelling of rot and death filled to the brim with body bags. But the peace is good, it's good for everybody the adults look more relaxed and well maybe my younger siblings will get to have real dreams instead of the nightmares that plague me. Like many others I still can't sleep as whenever I close my eyes, they are chasing me. I can hear them in the back of my head, I hear they outside my room scratching on the door.
But the government says that things are going to change soon. The talk about the Limiters, children born with special abilities that make them different. Apparently it has something to do with the Moonmen. Something about how when your exposed to free floating particles of biomatter at a young enough age, there is a slim chance that the particles will fuse with the body or something. Give you powers and abilities. Sometime ago we may have protested about sending kids off to fight our battles for us. But these days? We need something, a glimmer of hope, anything. And maybe these Limiters will be just that. If not? Well I don't know how much longer we will be able to hold out.
A world once verdant and filled with colors blue and green. This sanctity long ago destroyed by the calamity of the war. Bombardments both conventional and nuclear in origin have pounded against the earth relentlessly. The Long War is one wage with the concept of total war in mind. Cities and towns are leveled completely to stop the spread of the abomination as once they have rotted in if not properly dealt with they will come back again and again. The sun is a rare sight indeed, a lost object where some young children have never seen it once crest the great horizon unable to pierce the clouds of ashen death. Most of the trees are dead and those that remain strong are old and withered things sternly rooted to the ground with pale bark accenting the landscape. These combined factors allowed the polar ices to begin their slow process southward as global cooling sets in for the long haul. The seas are no better as great beasts lurk below the waves attacking any boats that dare try and cross the waves once more. The skies are no better haunted by great flying demons that lurk in the gray waiting for more pray to come and meet their doom.
The Coalition itself is split into three major areas of control known as Central, Zone 1, Zone 2. Central is the major area of human control and the seat of the Coalition where forests still dwell and small isolated towns and villages scatter the landscape outside of the more heavily fortified cities. It composes of most of Scandinavian where the harsh cold weather slows down the abomination assaults. The captail of the coalition stands in Oslo using the old Akershus Fortress as there headquarters. In central large walls were created surronding the borders of areas around their control circling about the border between Finland and Russia, and the border between Denmark and Germany while heavily armored boats patrol the North Sea keeping the leviathans out out it's water at least for now.
Zone 1 once consisted of most of North America but over the past ten years they were continually pushed back and suffered heavy losses and now consists primarily of North Western North America as far south as Vancouver and as far north as Barrow up in Alaska. Unlike in Central here civilization is restricted to large and heavily defended cities with the area surrounding them being largely uninhabited ash land burned to the ground so that the defends could have clear sight lines for miles without stopping. To this degree only three areas of population remain loosely connected through communication and carefully watched over supply lines Vancouver, Edmonton and Juneau and even as they hold fast against the ever hoards rumors have it that soon enough they will crumble unless support is given and given quickly.
Zone 2 is the zone that the story of Tokoshie no Ansoku will primarily be focusing on. Zone 2 once was made up of most of the former nations in the Pacific, but as the years progressed one after another fall. The last to fall was about six years ago when Australia finally went dark. As a result this left Japan as they only remaining Coalition controlled lands in Zone 2. Zone 2 is somewhere between Zone 1 and Central as most of its populace lives in heavily fortified cities but other still live outside the walls, but unlike in Central there are no barriers set up to defend the borders but rather these isolated villages connected to the larger ciites through lines of communication serve as a sort of crude intrusion mechanism as if they start to go dark than the cities know that they need to be ready for an attack. The zone is generally self sufficient but still keeps tight contacts with Central as it has the second largest military presence and the largest outside of the walls protecting Central.
A F A D I N G R E M N A N T
aut viam inveniam aut faciam - I will either find a way or make one. Words taken from times of antiquity spoken by Hannibal himself. These are the words that are emblazoned on the seal of the Coalition. A reminder of it's purpose and the values that it will follow until the days come where they can not follow anymore. The Coalition is accredited as one of the only reasons humanity is still standing and made it through the Long War. It arouse five years into the conflict as remaining free states of the world joined together under one banner to more effectively mobilize and defend themselves. And to that degree it worked and give humanity a combined front to unify underneath. But some would argue the costs of such victories.
Long gone are the old ideals of democracy and governments run by the people. The Coalition is an authoritarian police state governed by the Directorate, a council of ten members who held the fate of the entire world within their hands. The government controls almost every aspect of day to day life: when you wake up, what you eat, how much food you and your family is allotted, which job you will do, what time curfew begins and when you get have your breaks. It's a regimented and industrial procession but most people do not seem to mind all that much. They were more than willing to make a few sacrifices to preserve humanity. Crime rates are down and most of the populace is well educated do to compulsory education projects to prevent the world from regressing and forgetting our past where we had dreams to rival the gods. But still not having a choice in what you do with your life still bothers some and angers others to points of calling for reforms of the government and the disbanding of the Directorate in favor of a more democrat system of representative government. But these revolts and qualms are easily silenced by the Directorate's superior forces.
The Coalition is primarily focused on it's military and capabilities to keep it supplied and in fighting shape as it is the only thing standing between them and certain death. Most citizens who either too frail, too old, yoo young or for another reasons excused from compulsory service work in the large factories that produce weapons and ammunition or the big farmsteads constructed within large greenhouses with artificial sunlight to grow food and providing grazing room for animals. Everybody has a job and everyone is seen as a small cog working in a much larger machine. Those unable to work are swiftly taken 'care of' as one less mouth to feed helps take pressure off of the whole and keep food stocks at a manageable rate.
A L O N E H O P E
But among the darkness there is always a small glimmer of light. For humanity that would be the peculiar case of those known as Limiters. From what the scientists and doctors can figure out Limiters are a special case never seen before in the world and for good reason. Biomass particles produced by the abominations drift into the air and water, generally they cause little in the form of complications or other problems and our body is able to easily process them away before they can do any harm. But to those children who in their formative years are exposed to these stimuli there is a rare chance of something very strange happening. The biomass clings to the body and begins to fuse with it making Limiters hybrids of a strange sort. This biomass effects cells within the body increasing muscle mass and density, speed, reaction time and overall physical ability taking a small child to levels seen only by Olympic Athletes and other individuals who have spent their entire lives training for one purpose.
But strangely enough it also produces another oddity. These children are each granted a special ability of sorts something singular to themes that they can only do. These abilities border on the fantastic with ideas from something a simple as being able to see through walls and something as complex as holding dominion over fire. But it power in itself is unique to the user and its use causes great physical and mental strain upon the limiter as it forces the body to go above and beyond what it is meant to do. Those that can not control their abilities threaten to lapse into insanity or have their bodies slowly disintegrate before their very eyes.
Limiters are generally classified into three types based upon where their specialization and skills have them most suited. First is Attack, Attack type Limiters are generally going to be the ones taking the brunt of the damage and tearing in ahead. They posses the most skill in straight physical combat and their special ability either supplements their strength or another means or heavy hitting damage. Next are Speed types. Speed types generally act as harassment and the 'inbetweenrs' going from close to far range and their stabilizes compliments this. Finally there are Support types, support types are hard hitters but prefer to stay at a range and out of the brunt of combat as they also tend to be comparatively frail to their fellows.
These children are as you would imagine of special interest to the Coalition as if harnessed and used correctly they could very well help turn the tide of everything. Of course there is always some reservation in this as sending more or less children to fight dark entities beyond human comprehension is generally not the most ethical things to do not to mention the effects it has on the children's mental state. Even so every year schools throughout the Zones perform tests looking for signs of aptitude within Students. If tested positive they are sent to special research centers (one in each Zone) where they are then trained and their abilities tested before they are sent out into the field proper.
A M O N S T E R I O U S H U N G E R
The Moonmen, the abominations, the creatures, the hellspawn. They have as many names as they do horrific shapes. These celestial entities fell from the sky twenty years ago and have caused havoc where ever they go. Some of them dwell in the oceans, some on the land and others in the sky above but it is hard to mistke them for anything less then they are monsters. They are distorted masses of flesh and bone cast in odd angles and proportion that should not work with any living creature. They are characterized by their extreme regenerative abilities only counteracted by liberal use of fire or any other implement which would attract the biomass in a quick enough time that it does not regenerate, extreme strength and speed. As more creatures are encountered and you learn about the threat they will be listed below.
R u l e s
01: I'm not the biggest fan of rules because I like to assume everybody is sane human being so I'll keep this short. If you have to abide by any rules be it these two. Common decency and common sense is something that everybody should strive for. Treat your fellow humans like they are just that your fellow humans and with all the respect that implies. Disputes between players should not be long blown out affairs in the OCC, hell disputes should not happen at all if we are doing this right. If you want to argue have your characters dispute about something mundane like the importance of starch or something.
02: In regards to any roleplay involving the dark depravity of mankind and giant space monsters there are mature themes within this story. This is not a very nice world and terrible things happen to good people for no good reason. In that regard I heavily suggest you treat these matters with the weight that they would actually entitle. Romance falls into the same thing, sure it can happen just don't be stupid about it
03: Quality matters people, show me that you care. And remember I'm asking for your best not the best of Shakespeare or the like. I've been doing this shit for about a decade now and I'm still learning things everyday. Just remember Quality over Quantity and always remember Fail Faster.
