1939
Music to listen to while reading: youtube.com/watch?v=7MdI2xPHw_k
About ten years ago the stock markets crashed. Times been hard to tell since then.
In 1931, in the heat of The Depression, a man began appearing all over the world. Lots of people saw him different. In Russia he was tall, with a thick mustache and the clothes of an old aristocrat. Brits usually saw him as an Irishman in rags, with a scraggly beard and a thick brogue. Germans saw him as a Jew. In America, he was almost always a handsome black man in a white suit, usually cleanshaven, sometimes with a small pencil mustache.
No matter what he looked like, he came with an offer; some gift or favor in exchange for a service. At first, it was small; clean teeth for a dime, shoes that can't get dirty for a bite of a sandwich. Eventually, these gifts and favors became larger, as did the service required. And in addition to these gifts and favors, abilities and amenities were added on as parts of The Man's offers. For a few chickens, he'd cure your flu in time for the Homecoming Game. For a finger he'd give you a new necklace to wear to your sister's wedding. Nobody knew exactly who he was, and if asked, he would never tell.
As time went on, The Offers became more and more sinister. If you kill your brother, he'd make his wife fall in love with you. If you had sex with your priest, he'd give you a new Ford. Clergymen began preaching against him, calling him Satan or the Anti-Christ. Others who had been swayed by him preached that he may, in fact, be Christ himself. It all came to a head in '33, when every candidate in the American Presidential Election was assassinated, as was Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and other notable politicians, all presumably under the orders of The Man. Soon after this, society as we know it collapsed.
Now it's six years later. The Man is still making people offers they just can't refuse. The Union has collapsed. Technology hasn't progressed. There was never any 'New Deal'. But political factions and countries still exist; from what you've heard, a group that worships The Man as God has taken over New Orleans. Washington's Clergy, a militaristic Christian order that executes people for even attempting to contact The Man, to them the Anti-Christ, has taken over much of the Appalachian mountain range. Certain areas are still in complete anarchy. All that said, you're not entirely sure what's happening. You just want to live. After all, that's why you're with the Wayward Travelers.
There's around fifty of you, Wayward Travelers. Led by Aaron Shepherd from Ohio, you're headed to San Antonio, where you heard there's some sort of salvation. Right now, you've just arrived in Kentucky, according to the street signs...the corpses hanging from the trees with a Clergy sign reading 'SATANIST' are also a good clue. You're not looking for power, for money, or for some moral crusade to fight. Really, you're trying to live.
Premise
As a member of the Wayward Travellers, you must abide by the Traveler's Tenets. Food will be provided to you, and sometimes, you may be expected to fight for the survival of the Travelers as a whole. Remember that the world you live in is not a forgiving one; even before the Collapse, poverty and unemployment ran amok, crops weren't growing, and race relations were abysmal. All of these problems, especially the last one, haven't been erased by the anarchy. Keep in mind the year; though Shepherd doesn't discriminate based on race, not every character's going to be a fan of this. And though women certainly have been forced into a more self-sufficient role, it's not as if six years of the apocalypse have brightened the shadows of Patriarchy. In addition, the vast majority of the nation viewed homosexuality not only as sinful, but as a crime and disease. While homosexuality of course is allowed in the RP, and certainly existed at the time, try and view it through the lens of their society.
In addition to remembering people at the time, also try to remember what people are like in general. The fact that the Collapse of Society occurred a few years ago can't be good for anybody's mental health. Characters that are just perfectly fun-loving and cheery aren't realistic. People are flawed. Not every character can have completely dismissed the Man. One of the Tenets is that while with the Wayward Travelers, one cannot contact the Man or accept any offers if he contacts you. Despite this, not only is having accepted his offers in the past is not only allowed by The Travelers, but expected.
This brings me to the fact that what is probably the most important Tenet is anonymity; one person in the Travelers may not ask another Wayward Traveler any questions about their past, only about the present and their future. And not only is this important within the world of the RP, but in the construction of it as well. Nothing can be assumed about a person, and yet no signs can be dismissed. So while the character sheet will not have any option for a biography, not only should your character's biography be known, but it should be extremely in depth. Information one's character has given before the start of the RP should be put into the "Public Information" section. The "Public Information" section should be updated as they reveal more.
Furthermore, no character can have supernatural abilities without having accepted a deal from The Man. There are no exceptions to this rule. And, if a character does have supernatural abilities, they're not just superheroes or wizards. They had a reason. Nobody's going to have fire breath or laser vision. If someone has extreme strength, why? Were they old and possibly going to get fired from a factory job? Were they abused by their husband and wanted to fight back? In addition to this, many characters simply won't have a supernatural ability, the leader of the Travelers being an example.
Finally, the Wayward Travelers have been a group for about six months now. Your character can have joined at any point since then. You can also have a character who hasn't joined yet but is about to, just make sure to have some sort of natural entry for them. For characters who've been with them since before the start of the RP, make sure to have the circumstances of their entry into the Travelers known. In most cases, this will be Public Information. If you join once the RP's already been in motion, you can have your character have been a Traveler since before the start of the RP, but have a reason why they haven't been very vocal.
Keeping all of this in mind, make sure to have fun! Collaboration is both suggested and expected. While I don't want to make too many concrete rules for the RP, just don't join if you know you won't be able to post at least once a week. If you have questions about things you can and can't have your character do or be in your character's backstory, make sure to ask me about them before you go through with anything. Certain things should be obvious though; you can't be The Man's daughter or anything, and while you can have characters based on historical figures, Eleanor Roosevelt isn't going to make a guest appearance. So, without a further ado, pack your bags and get ready to travel!
The Wayward Travelers' Route and Location
TENETS OF THE WAYWARD TRAVELERS
1. Leave the past in the past; you're gonna trip if you're always looking behind you.
2. What's yours is yours; don't take what's someone else's.
3. Deals with Devils don't end well; please avoid them.
4. Sometimes it's kill or be killed; don't kill if it isn't.
5. A lot of things are meant to be shared; secrets aren't one of them.
6. Travelling's like a canoe; everyone's gotta work if you want to get where you need to be.
7. Life's different from a movie; there's a lot more to people than just black and white.
8. Touch if they let you; don't touch if they don't.
9. Meals are better if you share them with friends; looks like all of us are friends.
10. You're being led by a Shepherd; that said, don't be sheep.
