Bork Lazer's Storage Bunker

[Bork Lazer]

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NAME

^{N/A | Place of Birth | 35 cm/19 kilograms | Periplanta Giganticus}

_{A P P E A R A N C E.}

What do you look like? A detailed description of your charachter's physical characteristics

_{E Q U I P M E N T.}

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_{M I S C E L L A N E O U S G E A R}

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_{S K I L L S.}

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_{H I S T O R Y}

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_{P S Y C H E.}

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_{D R I V E.}

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[Bork Lazer]

It's started when an alien device did what it did

And stuck itself upon its wrist with secrets that it hid

Now he's got superpowers, he's no ordinary kid

He's........

BEN 10

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^{_{BENJAMIN KIRBY TENNYSON ♦ MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT ♦ BELLWOOD, CALIFORNIA}}

POWERS

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With the mysterious watch-like device named the Omnitrix, Ben can transform for a limited time into a variety of aliens, each possessing their own unique abilities and powers for any emergency or situation he can think of.

POWERS

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With the mysterious watch-like device named the Omnitrix, Ben can transform for a limited time into a variety of aliens, each possessing their own unique abilities and powers for any emergency or situation he can think of.

Character Concept

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The main thorough line that I want to center Ben's development around is the concept of innocence and how to maintain its value in a world where so many people are quick to toss it away. This is ultimately a bildungsroman where Ben will encounter multiple obstacles in many circumstances that will force him to mature quickly. Do we take things in our youth foregranted? What does it mean to grow up? How do you deal with the past? Those are the questions I want to explore. The Omnitrix, as well,plays an intrinsic role as a supporting 'character' for Ben. I think it's important to elevate it beyond the role of being a simple Macguffin for Ben to use at a moment's notice.

Needless to say, there will be massive divergences from canon which I'll be taking liberties with in order to take a more interesting route. I'll be taking inspiration from every series of Ben 10 produced, picking and choosing which elements I like best. The world of Ben 10 is massive and full of self-contradictory nonsense that needs to be excised one piece at a time.

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:

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Remember that cartoon that you obsess about every time you woke up on the weekend, buy every toy, every single piece of merchandise imaginable? That was Ben 10 for me. I don't know what was the exact formula that made Ben 10 the hit it was and still is today. Well, the original series anyway. I have mixed opinions about the follow ups but I consider the original to be a classic that everyone should watch.

The story that I want to tell is a retelling of Ben's origin story, shifting the scene from a country spanning road trip to a middle school mystery thriller. The central narrative focuses on Ben navigating the troubles of being a public school student whilst also simultaneously working to investigate the mysteries of Grandpa Max's past and how it relates to the posthumous gift that he gave him for his 10th birthday: the Omnitrix. The more he investigates, the more he finds out and peels away the layers of Bellwood's hidden conspiracies.....

S A M P L E P O S T:

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San Alonso is quieter than normal, Ben thinks. Here, school, homework, chores and traffic jams are far away. He watches the fishing tackle bob up and down in the forlorn creek of the river, enticing the underwater critters that dwell in its waters. A barely visible fishing line connects it with a pole choppily crafted from fallen sticks and duct tape. Continuing on from the creek, the current cuts through the split halves of a beaver dam and meanders down the curved valleys of Bellwood.

The line suddenly pulls taut. Ben scrambles up, tossing up dead leaves, as he grabs the fishing rod and begins yanking it. It’s a tug of war as the grey shadow underwater pulls back at the same time. Finally, he wrenches it and tosses it upwards. The fish lands with a wet thud on the black dirt, flopping its body uselessly. . It’s a monster alright. He can barely hold it in his hands. It batters and beats at his face with its tail. Hoisting it up by the tail,

“ Grandpa! Come and see this! “ He shouts out. No one replies. “Grandpa? Grandpa? You - “ Wait. His eyes furrow. Why was he calling for Grandpa?

In the middle of his excitement, he’s forgotten that Grandpa Max is gone. Not for a holiday, not for a business trip but gone forever. Dead. He looks back at the wriggling fish in his hand. It’s smaller now. Upside down. Powerless. Just like him. Anger bubbles up within him and for a moment, he wants to wring its gills. Stomp it with a rock. Scream how unfair it is that Grandpa Max dies but Morningstar can’t. Stupid Gwen. Stupid Morningstar. Stupid mom. Stupid dad. Stupid school. Stupid councillor. He kicks a tuft of grass in frustration, still holding the fish in the air. Grandpa Max’s words come back to him.

Catch and release, Ben. That way, you catch bigger next time.

His expression softens. Holding the fish with two hands, he lets it gently sink back into the water. The fish squirms and writhes away, jetting off into the inky depths. Ben sighs. The watch on his left hand now feels like a lead weight that’ll make him sink into the ground if he isn’t careful. He looks at it. The black wristband is rubber thick, clamping so hard on Ben’s wrist that his hands feel slightly numb. The hourglass shaped dial is cracked, blinking a neon green. It almost seems alive at times. Why would Grandpa Max give him a watch that can’t even tell him the time?

He blinks and notices that the shadows of the tree have shifted. The sun glows a dying orange, beginning to set into late noon.

Time to go back before he gets yelled at.

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Six Six is reliable. Over a hundred warlords and tinpot system dictators have him as their number one contact. He has never killed a single one of his own clients. No amount of bribes, false promises or blackmail can turn him away from his quarry. That is the foundation of a reputation.

Six Six is deadly. He has killed the unkillable, the undefeated and unstoppable. He has hunted down men hiding behind armies, dreadnoughts and in other galaxies. His reputation is mere bark unless you can back it up with a bite.

Six Six is prepared. He reviews each of his targets movements, behavioural patterns and habitation thoroughly before beginning his execution. His armor has been constantly changed and modified over centuries to near perfection. Dying is for those who lack preparation and foresight. Preparation is how you make a reputation into a legacy.

He was not prepared, however, for the most powerful device in the universe. The shoulder mounted camera protruding from his pauldron zooms in on what is attached on the young homo sapien’s wrist. The frequency of the radiation signature makes any denial foolish. Galvan technology cannot be replicated or faked, even by Cerebrocrustaceans. No one can mistake the device for anything else but the Omnitrix. He briefly takes out a low-band particle pistol from his side holster, aiming it at the human child’s head. One killshot. He hesitates, though. The bounty hunter is not one to believe in fables or myths but if Vilgax the Conqueror was felled by a user of the Omnitrix, it would be foolish of him to engage. He activates his photo-chromatic array, dousing himself in a shimmering field, before he flies off on his twin-jet boosterpack soundlessly. He relays one single short message to his client.

CONFIRMATION: OMNITRIX SIGHTED

[Bork Lazer]

MB-1964-TT

Full Name: Timothy Thomas

Age: 9

ID Number: MB-1964-TT

Nationality: British

Appearance: Subject MB-1964-TT is a prepubescent 10 year old male from the British isles. Subject MB-1964-TT is currently 0.92 m tall and weighs in at about 36 kg, possessing brown eyes and ginger hair. Subject's most distinguishing physical features are his malformed right arm, a result of a congenital disorder during the subject's birth along with a appendectomy scar along the left side of his lower torso.

Background:


Powers: Subject

As of now, Subject MB-1964-TT has been prohibited to only have possession of five puppets at all times following Incident 1964_2_20_16.

MB-1964-Alpha, informally referred by Subject MB-1964-TT as 'Escobar the Eccentric', is a sockpuppet constructed out of a bare feet stocking crudely depicting a mustachioed man. MB-1964-Alpha appears to bestows upon MB-1964-TT with the skills necessary to synthesize a wide range of chemical compounds, with a propensity towards illegal narcotics and psychoactive substances.

MB-1964-Beta, informally referred by Subject MB-1964-TT as 'Boris the Bubbly'

MB-1964-Charlie, informally referred by Subject MB-1964-TT as 'Mallow the Mudskipper'

MB-1964-Delta, informally referred by Subject MB-1964-TT as 'Googly Woogly' , is a woolen winter stocking with plastic googly eyes glued with adhesive to resemble a basic face. MB-1964-Delta possesses remarkable knowledge

MB-1964-Epsilon, informally referred by Subject MB-1964-TT as 'The Ferocious Five' is a toe stocking with impressions of five different ideograms drawn with felt tip marker on each digit.

Privileges:

[Bork Lazer]

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($$$)

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Walmageddon

Day of the Discount

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($$$)

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KZZZZZZTTTTTT -
Whilst the growth of the Wal-Incorporated Global Trade Initiative continues, we at Wal-Incorporated have something new to show you.

Introducing our latest project. The Residential Habitation Mega-Mart! A fully enclosed self sufficient city like you've never seen before! Designed to operate with over a capacity of 10 million customers, our Residential Mega-Marts will fully attend every one of your needs. Even ones you didn't know you wanted! In our residential mega-marts, you can enjoy the products of over 3,250 corporate members of the ever expanding Wal-Incorporated Family. That's not all. Our state of the art macro fabricators and brand new auto-logistic programs ensure that the buying never stops and the shelves are always stocked. For those that run into any problems, our fully automated Wal-Buddies will make all those pesky decisions for you and ensuring that you have no worries.

Make the smart choice today and sign up now.

Wal-Incorporated. Providing happiness at low prices. Always.

_{DISCLAIMER: BY AGREEING TO THIS CONTRACT, YOU ARE AGREEING TO FORFEIT OWNERSHIP OF YOUR PERSON-HOOD, NATIONALITY, IDENTITY, PREVIOUS CITIZEN SHIPS AND ALL PROVISIONAL INTERNATIONAL HUMANS RIGHTS TO WAL-INCORPORATED. WAL-INCORPORATED AND OTHER SUBSIDIARIES OF WAL-INCORPORATED RESERVES THE RIGHT TO ALTER, REMOVE OR ADD TERMS OF AGREEMENT WITH CUSTOMERS AS SEES FIT. ALL TERMS ARE NONNEGOTIABLE. VIOLATION OF CONTRACT WILL RESULT IN SEVERE PUNISHMENT. CUSTOMERS FROM THE IKEA FREE-TRADE ZONE ARE BARRED FROM WAL-INCORPORATED MEMBERSHIP. PLEASE READ WAL-INCORPORATED LICENSED CUSTOMER CONTRACT AGREEMENT v2.04 FOR MORE INFORMATION} - KZZZZZZZTTTTTTTT

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($$$)

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The Wal is all, and the Great Sam fades. That is the eternal truth of our existence, my dear readers.

When the governments of the old collapsed in the Fall, millions took refuge within the safety of the Wal. Chaos consumed our old lives and our new ones were bought in the Wal. Yet, the taint that ravaged the Lots did not spare the Wal. The mechanical automatons that governed the Wal became berserk, turning on their former masters. The Board became silent to our pleas. In those dark times, we were fractured and reborn again, some turning to madness whilst others found new ways to survive in the new world order, settling out into the far reaches of the Wal and forming civilizations built upon the Old World. Yet, the shelves still fill. There are no more customers and yet, the Wal still functions.

You may have seen it before. The mountains in the far distance. It is called the Bargain Bin.

A land of the forgotten. The abandoned. Where the discounted, the low priced are unfit to be bought. Within the garbage and the ruin, further in, past arcane technologies and ancient ruins lies a power with no expiration date. Waiting to be bought, claimed and used. Numerous factions wage war for supremacy over the region. The Stationary Shogunate. The mysterious Rangers of Pets and Animals. The Grocery Tribes. Tech Support. The Pharmacy. Worst of all, the dogmatic cult of the Smiling One waits and watches, plotting to seize the next opportunity.

Will you succumb to the Wal or rise above it?

That is your choice, dear reader.

= Barnes the Noble, Head Chronicler of the BOOKS department, PSA XII, Annals of the Wal

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This is an unofficial interest check for a reboot of one of my old ideas. It is unconfirmed as of yet whether or not this will be made into an official RP. I am merely testing the waters for interest.

Walmageddon: Day of the Discount takes place in an alternate post-apocalyptic future whereby the remnants of humanity live within giant supermarket arcologies after a cascade of events that led to the destruction of modern civilization. Once owned by the now defunct trans-national corporation, Wal-Incorporated, the shelved landscape teems with eldritch technologies, mutant abominations and roving bands of nutjobs who have adorned themselves with the brands of the Old World.

You are an Aisler from one of the many Departments within the Wal. After being captured during one of your regular shopping trips near the infamous Bargain Bin , you have been captured by one of the many Grocery tribes and forced into a gladiatorial arena only known as.....

The Blender.

Little do you know that the choices that you make here will lure you deeper and deeper into the complex machinations of the Wal and the numerous departments vying for dominance in the mega-mart.

I am looking for 4-5 players atm. All details are subject to change. Please ask any questions that you may have.

[Bork Lazer]

Put a Shock Into Your System

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

S T A T I C

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^{_{V I R G I L H A W K I N S ♦ U N I V E R S I T Y S T U D E N T ♦ D A K O T A C I T Y ♦ F R E E M A N C O M M U N I T Y C E N T E R}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

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^{" Daddy always said the Lord's plans are mysterious. Well, I'd call any plan that involves givin' me superpowers stupid as hell."}

You've heard this story before. A city ridden with crime. Institutional corruption. Gang warfare. Corporate cover ups. Gentrification. Increasing unemployment rates. Dying industries. Record amounts of homeless. All the ingredients needed for a socio-economic cocktail of disaster. What was missing though, was the spark.

Boom. The Big Bang. A chemical explosion that occurred during the one of the worse gang wars to have ever happened in Dakota City. No one knows what happened. Some say it was the fault of the gangs. Some say it was Alva Technologies for storing whatever they'd put in their storage containers, unguarded. Some say it was the police. Nevertheless, in the first hour, Paris Island was under quarantine, becoming a dead man zone for anyone still living on the island. Within the next six, Dakota's hospitals were overwhelmed with cases of people mutating, their bodies becoming putty and stretching into obscure shapes.

Dakota City wasn't a city known for breaking national records or did it have any notable people but there was one silver lining from this incident. It had become host to the world's densest population of metahumans.

Ever since Mayor Jefferson’s authorization of martial law, Dakota City is currently in a state of decline. State-enforced military cordons restrict the spread of contaminants from the Big Bang. Gangs of Bang Babies - metahumans who gained their powers from the Big Bang - wage war for territory and crime is rife across Dakota City’s boroughs.

In the middle of all this lies Virgil Hawkins. Who is he you might ask?

A university student.

A volunteer at Freeman Community Center.

Oh, and the new Bang Baby vigilante, Static.

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:

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Static's back for Round 2, baby! The aim of this season/reboot/parallel universe timeline is to place our lovable hero in situations where he can't shock or punch his way out of. Virgil is less mired in anxiety about his place as a vigilante and more torn between defending his fellow Bang Babies and the mixed opinion of the Dakotan public about his kind. Throughout the season, there will also be a heavy focus on the exploration of Dakota City and the everyday struggles of its disenfranchised citizens. If cities could be characters, Dakota City would be the deuratagonist to Virgil's position as the protagonist.

Can Dakota City be a place where you always have a choice? Virgil's journey in this season attempts to find the answer.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

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Virgil Hawkins/Static - Day University Student and Moonlighting Bang Baby Vigilante
Richard Foley - Static's Best Bro Forever
Ivan Evans - Virgil's old middle school friend looking to reconnect. Recently got released from juvie.
Robert Hawkins - Manager of the Freeman Community Center and Virgil's father
The Meta Breed - A teenage meta-human supremacist gang formed in the outbreak of the Big Bang. Based on Paris Island with ambitions to take control of the streets away from the Blood Syndicate.
The Blood Syndicate - An gang formed from the remnants of two gangs. Currently consolidating their territory in the midst of a gang war with the Meta Breed.
The Night Breed - An underground group of photosensitive Bang Babies holed up in Dakota's defunct metro.

S A M P L E P O S T:

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“ Uggghhhhhhh……” Dakota’s sunrise intruded the safety and comforts of his bedroom, sneaking in through the blinds. No. Bad brain. It’s not morning yet. The bad light was taking away sleep time. He groaned into his pillow, pulling the blankets over his head. It’d felt like he’d gone ten rounds with Crusher Creel last night. How come everyday couldn’t just be a Saturday or Sunday? Gosh, that'd be heaven. Unfortunately, he lived in plain old boring reality with its plain old boring rules.

Hey, Virgil.

Alright, enough moping around, Virgil.

Dakota’s not going to save itself.

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“ C’mon, aren’t you gonna fry me, Kilowatt Kid? Like you did to Kangor?”

That was a low blow. “ Are you okay, man?”

Spot sniffled.

“ Man, fuck this city. Fuck this quarantine. I just wanna….I’m useless. I’m a nobody.”

“ Hey, come on now. Don’t put yourself down like that. Remember that time when we first met?”

“ Yeah.”

“ You’re Spot. What’s some little itty bitty tumor gonna do to you?”

“ Are you still going to take me down to the station?”

“ Well, there’s a coffee shop a block away from here.” “ You like cappuccinos?”

“ I’d like a mocha.”

“ Let’s have a talk.”

[Bork Lazer]

"......Attention, all customers in Sector 4A, please ignore the blood present on Shelving Unit 5B_Alpha. Our Wal-Janitors will be on route to clean up and ensure that your shopping trips resume to normal. In other news, we are pleased to announce that Costco has been successfully integrated....."

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Hello! Good morning! How are you doing today? May I help you with anything?

You may call me the First Greeter. No, not like my other.....mentally troubled brethren. I am the first and last person everyone meets. Once upon a time, I guarded the fabled Gates of Sliding, ferrying all wayward souls into the safety and comfort of the Wal. Once. That was eons ago. Now, I simply watch, witness and greet all who wander by me. My fate is tied to the Wal itself. I will live as long as it's shelves are filled.

But who I am is none of your concern. You are your own concern. Managing to live a long life in the Wal is certainly impressive. It takes a toll on you. I have seen countless like you searching. But, for what exactly? The rare 25th flavor of Ice Cream within the frigid refrigerator section? A master coupon? The safety and comfort of a Department? Some archaic piece of Wal-Tech lost within a Manager Office? The Wal offers both reward and punishment for those who are filling to pay low prices. You just need to have the will to take what is yours.

I digress, though. I mean not to hamper you on your shopping trip. Srange receipts await you, aisler. Do promise to show me yours when we meet at the Checkout. Trust me. We all meet at the Checkout sooner or later.

Oh, I almost forgot one thing.

Welcome to Walmart. I hope you enjoy your stay.

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What wakes you up first is the smell. The styrofoam walls squeak and squeal with every moment you make. It’s so cramped that you’re forced to stand up. Thankfully, your captors have allowed you to keep your clothing to maintain your dignity.

You try to remember how you got here.

The Bargain Bin. That’s what you first focus on.

Any traveller would be hard pressed to miss the Bargain Bin in these times. A monolithic pile of refuse strewn out like an ant hill, lines upon lines of Stockers building up its foundations from the chaff of the Wal. Within its nooks, crannies and shadows lie the last bastions of humanity, eeking out a meagre existence.

Though you’re not well enthused with the inner politics of the Wal unlike the aislers of the Books Department, your days of being a shelf-dweller have passed. The Bargain Bin has been bled, fought and, pardon the phrase, bargained over longer than you were alive.

On the eve of the last Black Friday, the Bargain Bin had become a veritable battleground. An ocean of red flowed through the shelves, the tributaries inundated with bodies. It was said that the clean up that day took 2 months. It was clear by then that both the Stationary Shogunate and Tech Support were tired of support. A truce was formed with the Bargain Bin being divided in two, the north and the south.

Since then, an uneasy detente has settled over the Bargain Bin, with each faction occupying and dividing up its numerous territories. The Stationary Shogunate and the Noble Houses of Clothing have allied together, occupying the North of the Bargain Bin. The technocratic factions of Automobiles and Homeware have been bullied into supporting the all encompassing Tronic Temple, occupying a former Manager’s office as their base of operations in the South. The nomadic Grocery tribes, the numerous Dorfs of Fort Lego and many more factions are teeming within the Bin, seeking opportunity wherever they can in the chaos.

Your thoughts travel back to the present. How did you get captured? Somehow, the sinister followers of the Cult of the Smiling One somehow ambushed you during what was supposed to be a routine trip to the Bargain Bin. With your wrists zip-tied and your feet chained to the other captives with thick ropes of shoelace, it’s near impossible to escape. Escape seems a near impossibility. They’ve herded you all here for an unknown purpose. The echoing chants of the Smilers above seem to provide an answer for what that purpose might be.

“ PRAISE BE ONTO HIS EMINENCE, SMILEY. THE HERALD OF SAM.”

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$$$

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> PLEASE ENTER CUSTOMER RFID SEQUENCE
> *********
> ERROR. 2 ATTEMPTS LEFT.
> *********
> ERROR. WARNING. 1 ATTEMPT LEFT UNTIL CUSTOMER MALFEASANCE PROTOCOL ACTIVATION.
> *********
> SUCCESS.
> WELCOME TO WAL-INCORPORATED INTER-COMMUNICATIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE NETWORK BETA. HOW MAY WE HELP YOU TODAY?
> PROCESSING........
> LOADING ........
> AUTHETICATING .........
> OPENING CUSTOMER INTERFACE MENU .........
> ACCESS GRANTED. WE HOPE THAT YOU ARE SATISFIED.

Wal-Incorporated Terms and Regulations

1) There will be no mandated time in which you are required to post. However, please do not use this as an excuse to hibernate for one month and suddenly, post again. If you are unable to post, please inform the group or Wal-Master beforehand so I can make the necessary adaptations in order to keep the pace of the game flowing forward.

2) Refer to me as Wal-Master in all official communications.

3) Your characters must be characters, in the sense that they are fully fleshed out and engaging. The character must be able to fit within the context of the setting. Making overpowered characters who forcefully metagame, powergame, god-mod or murderhobo is just not okay or fun. This is a post-apocalyptic roleplay set in a giant Walmart. You will naturally know when your character will stick out like a sore thumb.

4) Any character who have such relations or references to IKEA, Costco or Amazon will be forcefully rejected.

5) I'm strictly a quality over quantity guy when it comes to roleplaying. I'm expecting a rough writing standard that is an impasse between casual and advanced. There is also a semi-strict posting requirement of 2-3 paragraphs per post. If you want to write 10 paragraphs, that's okay in my book. All that I ask is that each post you makes move the RP forward.

6) Do not post any content or material that would violate RPGO's rules. This includes harassment of ethnicity, religion, race or sexual orientation. Violence, gore and more violence is welcome in plenty but any sexually risque material, if any poster has the utmost need to include it, should be done in black or kept in PMs. Rule 6 will also extend to any OOC behavior.

7) Do not ask me for a dedicated Discord channel. All OOC communications will be conducted on RPGO forums. If you have any personal questions, PM me.

8) Always asks any questions that you may have so I can make them into not-questions anymore.

9) There is no set posting order but do not multi-post without giving someone else the chance to do so.

10) Embrace the insanity of the Wal.

11) Have fun.

Department Directory (Factions)

MAJOR DEPARTMENTS

The Stationary Shogunate

“ Steel bends and paper tears, our honor is forever eternal!”

To say that the Office Supply Department is steeped in tradition is a grave understatement. Considered to be one of the most ancient and powerful Departments in the Wal, every minor Department fears of being conquered by their paper and ink tide. Walled cities of folded paper and mache forts await those who travel within their territory.

For centuries, the ruling Stationary Shogunate have held power over the Department with a stainless steel fist. The current ruling Shogunate are the delegates of six ruling clans: Faber-Castell, Monte-Blanc, Staedler, WHSmith, Maped and Kokuyo. Their descendants united the fractured regions of Office Supplies, School Supplies and Stationary into a singular Department during the Shopping Spree: an era just on the eve of the Fall, where the last holdouts of the Old World fled into the Wal and warred for resources. Whilst their methods were indeed brutal, these six Wal-Lords transformed a region that was once laughed at by the rest of the Wal into a strict, organised military dictatorship.

The main maxim of the Stationari is to impose order and civility, whether by maintaining strict martial law on their peasant population or through their militaristic imperial dogma of conquering and integrating departments into their fold. Shoppers from the Stationary Department are considered to be more fickle and tidy than most inhabitants of the Wal, upholding a strict, regimented schedule that aims to plan for any inconvenience.

The peasants, whilst looked down upon by the Shogunate, are the foundations of this feudalistic society. They are responsible for the harvesting of shelves during times of re-stocking. Their loyalty to the Shogunate is maintained by security

The main coveted power that has kept the Stationary Shogunate and their territories strong is the art of Origami. These papersmiths and crafters are so valued that they are considered first class citizens in Stationary settlements. It is said that a true Origami paper blade can cut a Stocker in half. Numerous departments have attempted to replicate the power of Origami, only making inferior versions at best.

The Stationari Samurai are feared by many and for good reason, considered to be the best trained warriors in the entire Wal and simultaneously, the worst equipped of them all. Trained from birth in the arts of Origami and Brushido, a trainee officially becomes a Stationari Samurai once they fold their first suit of paper armor. The decree to ban staplers and glue guns by the Stationary Shogunate during the Boxing Day Peace Summit has severely reduced their capabilities. Along with their refusal to use technology or weapons from any other departments, . Due to dissatisfaction with the Stationary Shogunate, numerous Stationari Samurai have committed mutiny and fled, becoming mercenaries for hire around the Wal.

Penjas, on the other hand, are known to be one of the best assassins around the Wal. A Stationari recruit has the option to undergo the. The dropout rate is extremely high, with only one out of a hundred making it through the selective process. Whilst a Stationari Samurai is a lumbering warrior clad in layers upon layers of folded sheet paper, a Penja is trained in penmanship, being able to kill eight men in a blink of an eye only using a 2B pencil.

However, their refusal to export origami has led to a lack of goods to supply for economic trade within the Stationary Shogunate. The only exports that the Stationary Shogunate Due to this, the Stationary Shogunate are heavily reliant on importation of vital supplies such as medicine, food and water from other Departments such as Gardening and Pets N Animals.

Their overextension has led to decreased regulation of law in their territories and consequently given rise to criminal elements. Glue trafficking is currently the most profitable of these ventures. While the substance is commonly used for construction, it can act as a potent narcotic in small doses.

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The Noble Clothing Houses

" One Size Fits All"

One would be foolish and right to believe that Clothing is anything else other than a band of stuck-up nobles, their heads up in the rafters, concerned with otherworldly rights whilst the Wal around them is stuck in perpetual conflict. In truth, the Noble Clothing Brands have managed to maintain their power on an illusory facade of diplomatic ties with departments and domination of the most vital trade routes in the Wal, exerting soft power wherever they see fit. Diplomacy is their strength rather than military might. The lands of Clothing are indeed opulent and majestic compared to the more unsavory regions of the Wal. However, each day within Clothing is full of political conspiring and backstabbing by the nobles, with deals sewn in secret and plots weaved in the dark.

Operating on a monarchical system, the current ruling dynasty of the Noble Clothing Brands are Gucci, the usurpers of the once prominent Armani. Owing their ascendance to royal lineage to their criminal forbearers, the ‘ Gucci Gang’, this cut-throat dynasty has no illusions of honor, willing to do whatever it takes to hold onto the Runway Throne.

Operating on a caste-system, entire families are separated on the quality of material their clothing are designed from. Silk-born and velvet-born is used to designate the upper echelons of nobility, restricted to dynasties allied with the . Nylon and polyester-born are found within the bowels of the Sports Clothing Section, most commonly drafted into the ranks of soldiers. Cotton-borns are considered to be of lesser nobility due to the commonality of their material, most finding their path as merchants or journeymen.

A vast majority of the Clothing Kingdom’s military is composed of sell-swords and mercenaries from other Departments drafted into an informal militia. However, due to their domination of the Clothing shelves, one of their most famous tactics is to reuse the price tags as weapons, attaching them to foes or enemies to attract the attention of the Stockers.

Currently, the Noble Clothing Brands are allied behind the Stationary Shogunate with the Glamagash of Jewelery being a well regarded ally.

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Tech Support

" Error 101"

If you were to walk into Electronics, the first thing you would notice is the light. Not the eternal flourescent sun of the Wal but a rainbow of psychadelic LEDs, flatscreens and holographic TVs permeating the walls and ceilings. Circuitry and wiring are interlaced through this Wal-Scape, blinking bulbs and flickering diodes dotting the concrete city. Around you is a mad scramble for innovation, new machines being invented and displayed almost every second. You can see a young 1 year old, barely reaching your knees, already cobbling together a makeshift 9-Volt tazer.

The main ideology of the Tronic Temple has its basis around the worship, discovery, preservation and enhancement of old and new technology. Out of all Departments in the Wal, the denizens of the Electronic department are the most paranoid and illusive out of all of them. The Electronics Department hoards its knowledge and tech more greedily than the other Departments, only sharing piece-meals or scraps of it during negotiations or trade agreements. However, most Tronic Tech is completely useless in the hands of anyone else other than a trained Tech Wizard. Anyone who is caught with unsanctioned Tronic tech or dealing in Tronic Tech outside their borders will be hunted down by the most skilled of their Keyboard Warriors.

The Tronic Temple is a quasi-religious technocratic organisation with multiple guilds dedicated towards the worship of electronic brands and CEOs. The Guardians of Gates, the Tesla-Born and the Knights of Zuckerberg are a few of the famous guilds dedicated towards specific areas of technology. In comparison to Pre-Fall engineers and scientists, the Tronic’s Temple scientific method is focused on mostly impractical inventions that have a high chance of hurting the user the more advanced it is.

Study of Wal-Tech is only reserved for the most skilled and eldest Wizards. Due to the hidden workings of these mysterious technologies and the dangerous effects of tampering with their security mechanisms, they are kept under heavy guard. Open source Wal-Tech blueprints are considered to be the holy grail of technology and a dream for any Tech Wizard to discover. Only 3 blueprints have been discovered so far since the inception of the Tronic Temple: the designs for an experimental microwave, a prototypical hoverboard and a Wal-Incorporated interpretation of the shakeweight.

Currently, the departments of Auto N Tires and Homeware have allied behind Tech Support, considerably boosting their political presence within the Wal. Time will test the strength of these newly forged relationships, however.

---

The Cult of the Smiling One

“ ALWAYS LOW PRICES!”

There is no singular one faction that attracts as much dread, hatred or loathing by all other Departments in the Wal other than the Cult of the Smiling One. Worship of Smiley, their central idol, is banned in most Departments. Secret cults, like infestations, do take root and flourish, taking advantage of the lost, the needy and the weak to remould in their image.

It is hard to recognise a follower at first. Unlike in the early days, where most preferred to wear the uniform of the former employees of Wal-Incorporated, they tend to take a more subtle approach. In battle or when enacting one of their crusades, they don yellow facepaint alongside with their uniform.

The central tenet of the Cult is to maintain the status quo of the Wal at all costs possible. Sabotage of peace treaties, incitement of conflicts between Departments, activating defunct Sec-bots, the Cult of the Smiling One believes that these are necessary acts to maintain the vision that the Great Sam had for the Wal. The tenacity and single-minded religious fervor of their followers is . Hearing the sound of a thousand Smilers cry “ ALWAYS LOW PRICES” haunts the memories of those who have survived their crusades.

Through coincidence or through sheer plain luck, the Cult of the Smiling One has suffered many schisms in their organisation, leading to new splinter groups. The Neo-Smilers and the Frowners are considered to be the two most popular denominations out of the dozens that have formed in these wars. The Neo-Smilers adhere to maintaining the status quo, albeit in a more pacifistic manner rather than the militant methods of their original founders. The Frowners are former Smilers who have become ‘heretical’ in the eyes of the original Cult, believing the Cult of the Smiling One to have strayed away from Sam’s original teachings.

---

MINOR DEPARTMENTS (TBD)

The Dorfdom of Toys

For the Fort!

The Dorfs of the Toys Department have led a complicated and tragic history, yearning for the days to return back to their ancestral homelands. In the last few decades, their forts and colonies in the Toy Departments have been overrun and consumed by the rabid bands of NeverGrow, former children who have become psychotic from overconsumption of Age B’ Gone. In order to escape extinction, a majority of the Dorfen Forts chose to fled their isles, sailing across the lakes into the Wider Wal. There is no word of what happened to those who stayed behind, although, Dorfen folklore does tell of a bastion of Dorfs still fighting the infestation of NeverGrow.

Multiple Forts exist within the Bargain Bin such as Fort Monopoly, Fort Lego and Fort Nerf. They have chosen to stay neutral in the conflict between the Stationary Shogunate and the Tronic Temple, focusing on being a beacon for Dorfen refugees.

---

The Pet-Masters

" To Have Fear is to be Prey."

The Pet-Tamers of Pets N Animals hold an invaluable monopoly, virtue of being the only Department in the Wal to command a fearsome menagerie of mutated household pets. This fearsome reputation is due to their stockpile of mutagenic pet food and supplementations that genetically modify benign species of animals such as hamsters and parakeets into death-dealing monstrosities. Breeders help to maintain their stocks of Pets whilst Rangers and Hunters venture out in the Wal to find new Pets and to eliminate monsters that threaten the sanctity of their settlements. Due to the help of their allies, the Gardening Gnomes, every land that the Pet-Tamers touch virtually becomes a jungle.

The Pet-Masters are again a neutral entity in this conflict, believing that both the Stationary Shogunate and the Tronic Temple are ignorant of the many beasts and horrors that foster within the depths of the Bargain Bin.

---

The Grocery Tribes

" Our hunger will unstock the shelves!"

Out of all the Departments in the Wal, the Grocery Tribes are barbarians that live nomadic lives within the heavily Stocker-infested Department of Grocery. Due to their monopoly of the all-too valuable Grocery shelves, they are almost hostile to every Department within the Wal that they encounter, not willing to humor diplomatic ties or trade deals. It’s lucky that the Grocery Tribes remain fractured and in war with one another almost as they are with the entire Wal. If united, the Grocery Tribes could have every Department at their mercy.

Only the Cereai of the Cereal section are the only faction which has diplomatic ties to other Departments not within the grocery aisles. These holy warriors adorn themselves in thick cardboard boxes, labelled with the iconography of their patron saint. No two Cereai is the same, each following a different ‘path’ depending on who they worship. Examples of famed paths are “ The Path of the Rooster” and “ The Path of the Tiger”.

Customer Membership Tutorial (General Lore)

Age B'Gone - A miraculous anti-ageing formula developed by Wal-Incorporated with disturbing side effects. Only stocked in the Toys Department.

Aisler/Shopper - General lingo for any inhabitant or person of the Wal.

Dorfs - Inhabitants of the Toys Department who managed to retain their sanity and mental acuity during their exposure to Age 'B Gone. Unfortunately, they are physically malformed compared to other shoppers, the most apparent trait being their physiological dwarfism.

Departments - Rather than referring to actual departments, it has become a shorthand term to describe a certain group or culture of people from a specific department.

Lifter - Nickname for hired career mercenaries who have notable experience in the Wal. Named so due to the connotations of danger associated with 'shoplifting'.

Nevergrow - Children who has overdosed on Age B'Gone or consumed expired versions of the anti-ageing compound. They developed physiological mutations as well as mental illnesses as a result of this, their adult minds being unable to handle the experience of being trapped in a child's body. Bands of NeverGrow are known to commonly venture out from the Toys Department and attack the settlements of other Departments.

Stockers - Robot workers responsible for general maintenance of the Wal, with their primary purpose being to ensure that shelves are restocked. Come in all shapes and sizes depending on the function they are needed for. Elimination of shoplifters is also their secondary priority.

Sec-Bots/Security - Towering automaton juggernauts of death and fury. If you see a Sec-Bot, don't run or escape because you're already dead.

Smilers - Term for any indoctrinated member of the Cult of the Smiling One.

Sport - War.

Sporting Goods - Weapon.

Wal-Tech - Highly experimental technology developed by Wal-Incorporated.

Employee Registration (CS)

Disclaimer: So, this is an example of a character sheet format that you can use. You can modify or change aspects of the format to an extent as long as it mostly contains most of the information detailed down below.

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PERSONAL ACCOUNT

NAME: (Self Explanatory)

GENDER: (Self Explanatory)

DEPARTMENT: (Remember that your department is the single biggest consideration for how it affects your character concept. The traits, personality, skills and equipment your character has will be exemplified by what department they come from.)

AGE: (Fairly self explanatory, though, be realistic. Anything less than 18 years old is pushing it mildly.)

APPEARANCE: (Again, fairly evident by what it means. Describe your character as much as you want to. Obviously, if you have no image to supplant the text description, then, you're gonna need to put a whole lot more effort into fleshing out the visual image of your character here.)

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RESUME

(Your character's life until the beginning of their first job. How did they become who they were? What were the most important events of their life? Make it as long as you want to be.)

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RECEIPT

PERSONAL GOAL: (What are you trying to achieve in the Wal?)

LIKES: (List a few trivial things that your Shopper likes)

DISLIKES: (List a few trivial things that your Shopper dislikes)

REPUTE: (We've been asking a lot about how your character looks at the world, so, let's reverse it around. How does the world view your character? What status does your character have in the world?)

HEEL:(Heels are basically an over-riding character flaw that exemplifies the type of person your character is. It's what other people know your character for being. Examples of Weak Spots can be: Hubris, Selfishness, Naivety, Easily Angered, Inferiority Complex, Napoleon Complexes, Vengeful, Sadistic, Paranoia. A Heel is different from just another normal character flaw because they are an essential part of your character that makes your character who they are. They can never escape from a Weak Spot.)

CODE: (Codes are a deep sentiment, passion or virtue that a character holds dearly to, in spite of the hostile and unrelenting nature of the Wal. It's a trait that someone would have if they lived in a sane world outside the Wal. Soft Spots can be: Valuing freedom, A Hero Complex, Social Justice, Friendship, Honesty, Being Protective of your Family, Protecting the Weak, A Pact that You Abide By, Veganism, Empathy.)

QUIRKS:(Unique traits that your character is known for doing such as collecting ears off their dead enemies, always ordering their drinks with a single cube of ice, whatever strange things that immedietely makes them distinct from everyone else.)

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PERFORMANCE REVIEW

(What skills does your character have that allowed them to survive this long without dying? One thing that you may be noticing here is that I'm not including any flaws in here. That's right. You wanna know why? Because, I believe having many flaws is just an excuse for an roleplayer to switch between them willy nilly and disregard them. Therefore, there is only one, great singular flaw that will inhibit your character every step of the way. Any of the skills that you have has to be justified by the Department you came from and your character's backstory.)

(SKILL) ► (DESCRIPTION)

GROCERIES

(Your character's equipment. In the beginning of the RP, you will not have access to any equipment at all. Only the clothings on your back. Whatever equipment you have, it must have been small enough to escape the notice of your captors or a trinket of some sort that didn't warrant any removal. You can add equipment onto your grocery list by writing actions during your posts to scavenge or to pick up items from enemies. You can only perform this once per post.)

(ITEM NAME) ► (DESCRIPTION)

(ITEM NAME) ► (DESCRIPTION)

(ITEM NAME) ► (DESCRIPTION)

---

$$$

---

[Bork Lazer]

Employee Registration (CS)

".....I've lost all of my pride. I've been through paradise and out the other side...."

---

PERSONAL ACCOUNT

NAME: Trike Decathl

GENDER: Male

DEPARTMENT: SPORTS

AGE: 21

APPEARANCE: In contrast to the muscular and physically fit builds that the Linebreakers of Sports are known for, Decathl looks as if a breeze could knock him over. Be warned, though, this stick-thin and emaciated physique belies an almost supernatural vigor capable of bowling over the most skilled of aislers. Embracing the heritage of his Owl ancestors, Decathl wears the bare minimum of clothing to display his tally sheet of scars that he has earned, courtesy of the Wal. Only a pair of Adidas shorts are used to protect his dignity alongside worn out rubber trainers for his feet.

Twin green eyes and a mop of scruffy hair lie underneath an oversized Little Leaguer’s helmet, scrappily enshrined with the visage of Smiley, the true son of Sam. The most recognisable trait that is part of Decathl’s person is his prosthetic leg, jury rigged by the finest Dorfen Engineers of Fort Lego. Crafted from the remnants of his family heirloom bicycle, it ominously creaks and squeaks with every one of his movements.

---

RESUME

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RECEIPT

PERSONAL GOAL:

LIKES:

DISLIKES:

REPUTE:

HEEL:

CODE:

QUIRKS:

---

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

Intensive Workout Regimen ►

Aggressive Team Motivation ►

When All You Have Is A Ball ►

GROCERIES

(ITEM NAME) ► (DESCRIPTION)

(ITEM NAME) ► (DESCRIPTION)

(ITEM NAME) ► (DESCRIPTION)

[Bork Lazer]

_{Minimum Wage, Maximum Weird}

---

GAS-WAY EXPRESS CO

The Right Way, the Gas Way

DAILY EMPLOYEE MEMO

SUBJECT: WELCOME NOTICE FROM MANAGEMENT

Welcome, new employee, to your first and last day on the job at Gas-Way Express. You've passed the reviews, you've passed the interviews, you've passed the exorcism and now you're ready to become an official member of the Gas-Way Express family, an multinational extra-dimensional enterprise! Here at the Nowhere Branch of Gas-Way Express, we distinguish ourselves from our competitors by being adaptable, innovative and focused on what we call a customer-first philosophy!

Throughout your journey, we'll help you to develop numerous life and death skills that'll help you forge new career paths and discover ones you didn't even know existed! By working together, you can ensure that your Gas-Way experience will be an unforgettable and traumatizing one!

Before we let you begin your first new exciting day, we just want to let you know that as part of the Gas-Way Express Co, your well-being and health are of the utmost priority to us other than the customers. If you experience any problems or have any complaints, simply contact us through our Employee Complaint Network! Otherwise, we look forward to working with you!

---

The question wasn't why your only choice of employment was a run down gas station in the middle of Nowhere but rather how you managed to get here in the first place. Bills to pay, student debt, loans, a lack of choice..... Whatever the case, your decisions led you here to a job that has large demands but pays little.

Situated in the middle of Nowhere, Oregon; this gas station's only companions are the endless doldrums of the desert expanse and a single, thin highway that slices through the heat. The nearest town is a little over a hundred miles away. A work bus picks you up and drops you off twice a day.

You've seen the warnings from old employees, either written on old sticker notes glued to the old dilapidated walls.

After all, how bad can one Night Shift be?

GAS STATION BLUEPRINT

The Store

The Dumpsters

The Expanse

The Highway

The Back - Don't mind the pentagram. Or the salt. Or the brimstone.

Parking Lots -

Restrooms - Something lurks underneath the bowls and the sinks.

Stockrooms

Freezers - Within its depths, you can make out strange frosted silohuettes oddly shaped like bodies.

TEAM POSITIONS

//CASHIER - first and last face that every customer meets at our

//PUMP ATTENDANT -

//ASSISTANT MANAGER -

//SQUATTER -

//STOCK CLERK -

//TRAINEE -

EMPLOYEE CV

Name:

Objective:

Personal Statement:

Qualifications:

Achievements:

Work History:

[Bork Lazer]

---

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. VIGIL IS FILMED ON LOCATION WITH THE WARLOCKS AND WITCHES OF THE MONOLITH. ALL MYTHKIN, WIZARDS AND DEITIES ARE INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY UNDER THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER.

No, you're not here for a promotion. Or a demotion.

The lot of you share one single thing in common. I'll give you a while to figure it out. That's right. You're all new transfers. Fresh faces. Your transfers weren't out of coincidence. The Arch Committee pulled a lot of strings, rituals, bells and deals to get all of you here at the same time in the same place.

Personally, I think it's all a PR stunt to put out the fires left behind by the Thorpe case. Media's still kicking the dead unicorn over that incident.

New Myriddin ain't like Salem Coast or the Laveaux District.

---

Whether a veteran of the Monolith or a newly inducted

---

[Bork Lazer]

---

---

Pssssstttt, pipeworker. I can see you're new around here, ain't ya? Don't got the stink of an Westerner on ya.

The Underrail chews, chews, chews and chews. It never spits you out. It keeps you under its grasp and never lets you.

[Bork Lazer]

Greater good, lesser evil, light side, dark side. No matter how carefully or consciously you step, you always get bantha fodder on yér boots at the end.

Name: Ortos Viell

Occupation and Affiliation: Civil Contractor / Former Bounty Hunter of the Rim Consulate

Description: The least everyone expects when they meet the famed Ortos Viell for the first time is a curmudgeonly geriatric Rodian. Ortos Viell is old, weary and beaten but not broken. Far past his prime and well into his twilight years, Ortos glum wrinkled features almost make him look like a mummified frog and the poster child for a Republic retirement center. However, his physically unassuming nature hides a stout and weathered build capable of surprising a Trandoshan.

Behind Ortos's dead eyed demeanor lies the calculating mind of a once infamous bounty hunter and a will like durasteel to see his plans through. Although he's left his days of tracking and wanton assassination behind, he still keeps an ancient Drearia 98-Prime on hand as a holdout blaster along with his old hunting helmet as a keepsake. After all, who needs them when you're a refueling station attendant? Nowadays, Ortos keeps them hidden in favor of more subtle and diplomatic ways to end conflict such as citing universal Galactic Hyperlane Laws to unruly customers, calling security and threatening to beat you until your legs stop working.

Background:

Born on one of the multiple trading posts in the Outer Rim planet of Savareen, Ortos, unlike other Rodians, was content to live a simple honorable life, away from law-breaking ventures and towards more modest legal opportunities. After the reestablishment of the New Republic and the eventual feuds over trading territories and hyperlane ownership rights, Savareen fostered as a haven for all criminal elements wanted from both the remnants of the First Order and the Resistance.

Once he hit his 16th birthday, Ortos landed a gig working in a starship salvage crew. Unfortunately, he found out soon that the salvage crew he was working for sold parts to the Crimson Dusk. When he tried to report this wrongdoing to the authorities, he found out that the Republic Lawkeepers he reported the incident to were corrupt and in bed with local criminal elements. It was at that point that Ortos accepted what life was telling him to do and became a bounty hunter.

Quickly rising up in notoriety and fame throughout the underworld, Ortos was known for his simplistic yet calculated manner of dealing with his bounties, whether it meant taking them in alive or dead. His experiences took him from the Deep Core to the far reaches of the Unknown Regions which quickly became more known by the day as more and more systems began looking outwards. Ortos's criminal career reached its peak and end when he became a member of the Rim Consulate, a bounty hunting guild. Coincidentally, it was also at this time that Ortos was considering retiring and settle down with a sileum farmer on Ryloth that he had encountered during one of his bounties. The Rim Consulate disagreed. Violently. Needless to say, Ortos went on a self-imposed retirement from the business. However, as the sileum farming business began to dry up on Ryloth, Ortos found himself and his family in desperate financial aid and decided to use the knowledge gathered up from decades of bounty hunting as a contractor of sorts, taking up jobs of all manner. It didn't matter what they were, as long as they weren't dirty and they paid well.

The mobile refueling port, Tyrtian Ambassador, has docked for maintenance repairs within the Daalang sector with a certain Ortos Viell being one of its hired attendants.

[Bork Lazer]

_{Minimum Wage, Maximum Weird}

---

GAS WAY EXPRESS CO

The Right Way, The Gas Way

DAILY EMPLOYEE MEMO

SUBJECT: WELCOME TO NEW EMPLOYEES

Welcome, new employee, to your first and last day on the job at Gas-Way Express. You've passed the reviews, you've passed the interviews, you've passed the exorcism and now you're ready to become an official member of the Gas-Way Express family, an multinational extra-dimensional enterprise! Here at the Nowhere Branch of Gas-Way Express, we distinguish ourselves from our competitors by being adaptable, innovative and focused on what we call a customer-first philosophy!

Throughout your journey, we'll help you to develop numerous life and death skills that'll help you forge new career paths and discover ones you didn't even know existed! By working together, you can ensure that your Gas-Way experience will be an unforgettable and traumatizing one!

Before we let you begin your first new exciting day, we just want to let you know that as part of the Gas-Way Express Co, your well-being and health are of the utmost priority to us other than the customers. If you experience any problems or have any complaints, simply contact us through our Employee Complaint Network! Otherwise, we look forward to working with you!

Sincerely,

The Management

---

The Night Shift is a satirical horror and comedy role-play with supernatural elements where you play the role of a recently hired minimum wage worker for the supranational oil mogul, Gas Way Express Co. Unbeknownst to you, this gas station becomes a hub for the eldritch, the horrifying, the anomalous and weird during the Night. It's up and your fellow employees to you to preserve the interests of Gas Way Express by holding off the threats of the strange and silly until the next day shift. Failure to do so could result in your permanent dismissal and future barring of employment from all Gas Way related outlets.

Night Shift's system is a hybrid of a sandbox/narrative RP whereby players are free to explore the surrounding environment of the gas station. Objects present within the gas station can be interacted with and used within the narrative of the RP. Failure to respond to or solve events during your shift will result in permanent consequences that will dramatically shift the nature of your next night shift.

Players will be given roles, each of which have their own responsibilities and chores to fulfill around the station. In addition, each of these roles also has one special "Benefit" that they can use to allow them the upper edge against the possible dangers that they might face during their Night Shift. In order to use a benefit, you must type out your action in colored text in order to trigger it. Note that you can only use a benefit once per shift.

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Employee Manual of Conduct and Procedure

1)Standards of Posting

All Gas-Way employees who join the RP must make posts whose content and structure fall within the guidelines as discussed below.

- All posts must be formatted in third person tense.
- All posts must be a minimum of three paragraphs or longer.
- All posts must not contain content or material that violate RPGO standards. Sexually risque interactions must be done in private messages with consenting users.
- There is no strictly mandated posting order, but employees are forbidden from making multiple posts in a row without the consent of the manager.

2)Standards of Employee Interaction

During your stay at the Night Shift, we will inevitably attract different employees of different dispositions. All discussions that occur within the OOC or outside of the IC must adhere to the following rules.

- Treat all employees with respect and dignity.
- Don't be an asshole.
- If you have any concerns about or have any problems with other employees, please contact me privately and see if we can come to a solution.
- Don't be an asshole.
- There is a difference between a fruitful discussion and a long drawn out argument. Arguments will stop being arguments when the manager says so.
- Don't be an asshole.

3)Activity Standards

We, at Gas Way Express, understand that not every employee's schedule is the same. We appreciate and celebrate the diverse lives of our employees as much as we do their diverse backgrounds. However, we also expect employees to maintain a work life balance. Therefore, negotiations with your manager on acceptable work hours and your shift times must follow standards as listed below.

- Employees are expected to post at least weekly or bi-weekly. Being able to post frequently is encouraged.
- If an employee must take a break from posting or is unable to post, they must communicate to the manager beforehand in a timely manner. Failure to do so will result in possible dismissal.

4)Employee Expectations

We, at Gas Way Express, expect the highest standards of behavior and work from our employees, just as our dear customers would. Therefore, each employee is expected to observe these following rules.

- Participation and discussion of the narrative is heavily encouraged.
- Private collaborations with other employees are encouraged.
- The RP is a mystery as well as a horror RP. The onus is on the players to respond to and interact with the environment set out by the manager.

5)Other Rules

- A discord channel, at this point of time, is not currently under consideration. All OOC discussion will occur in thread.
- If an employee has any other inquiries that remain unresolved after consulting this manual, please contact your manager for further assistance.

Gas Station Layout

1. The Store

The shelved cornucopia of chronic health conditions, western obesity and one-dollar knick knacks. The fridges to the left of the counter store your regular poisons and carbonated corn syrup goodies. Glass windows provide a scenic view of the outside pumps and the surrounding desert. Coffee machines, microwaves and a malfunctioning slush dispenser are available on the store counter for usage.

2. The Pumps

A series of old and weathered fuel pumps shadowed over by an old and weathered pavilion, protecting the heart of the station from the harsh adversities of Nowhere. The keypads on the pumps are inscribed with hieroglyphic symbols and arcane languages from another era, Management's attempt at integrating credit card terminals into the station's pumps. A soda machine on the outside of the store awaits those seeking to parch their thirst, although, it is often filled with strange foreign beverages.....

3. The Parking Lot

Located on the outskirts of the station, north of the Pumps. The station sign directs lonely travelers to this strip of concrete. A menagerie of vehicles remain eternally abandoned here, ranging from dusty to old and decrepit. Some cars look as if they'd been left here for centuries.....

4. The Dumpsters

The rot that pervades here is choking, accompanied by an orchestra of buzzing flies. The scent here is a mixture of decay and festering waste that burns your throat. Some of the garbage bags jostle and move, something lurking underneath the pile....

5. The Expanse

A land of disparity and harsh extremes, burning in the day, freezing in the night. Saguaros dot the landscape like silent guardians. You wouldn't want to walk out here alone and get lost.

6. The Highway

If the pumps are the heart, the highway is the blood that fuels the station. The I-205 runs through Nosuch County and into the middle of Nowhere, both literally and figuratively.

7. The Behind

As far as official policy goes, anything can happen behind gas station premises. Eclectic graffiti and tags covers the walls, the ground is littered with refuse and detritus and you can often find a person or two leaning back against the wall. Who knows what kind of deals are brokered here?

8. The Restrooms

No one maintains it anymore. You're not even sure you can call the walls white. The mirrors are cracked, the paper towel dispensers are constantly soaked and your feet always splash in a puddle. Don't even get started on the funky odor that comes from the stalls....

9.The Stockrooms

Dry Storage. Cold Storage. Utility rooms. Junk. Management's written these areas off the books. No one really cares about what you do here. Don't mind the oddly shaped silhouettes in the Freezers or the military grade containers in Dry Storage. Whatever you do, just keep them out of sight of the customers, but never confuse it for messing with store supplies.

10.The Backdoor

A place where you and your fellow employees can rest and relax from the public eye. A cubby drawer stores all your items whilst a radio and TV serve as your only forms of entertainment. Wi-Fi password is for the assistant manager's eyes only.

The Altar

DOES NOT EXIST

The Basement

DOES NOT EXIST

Looking For Help - Positions Open!

Gas-Way Express Co is currently looking to hire people for the following positions at the Nowhere Branch based in Nosuch, Oregon.

Open Positions and Responsibilities

Assistant Manager
Minimum Qualifications: Graduate/BSc

Responsibilities

- Ensure team cohesion and cooperation.
- Assist with all clerical work.
- Ensure that establishment is secure after the end of the shift.

Benefit

You have the ability to call Management once every shift to provide advice or for assistance. Repeated attempts to call Management will result in your pay being deducted. This will result in an extended collab with the GM.

Cashier

Minimum Qualifications: Intermediate

Responsibilities

- To serve any and all clients with a friendly smile!
- Close out register
- Refill food stations
- Ensure that coffee machines are maintained.

Benefit

Due to a lack of spare change, you can request once per shift for any customer making a purchase to give you something of equal value to the item they are purchasing from the Store. This can be done in response to any GM post.

Stock Clerk

Minimum Qualifications: Intermediate

Responsibilities

- Assist with arrival of incoming shipments.
- Ensure the cleanliness of establishment.
- Restock shelves

Benefit

Management has given you sole access to the key codes of the storage lockers within the Stockrooms. Using your benefit allows you to open one of these storage lockers per shift and procure one item from within it. Attempting to open more than one storage locker from the store room will result in serious consequences from Management. Gas Way Express does not take misuse of its resources lightly. In order to determine the item, you must use a randomly rolled six digit code. You can also give this benefit to other players to use it on your behalf.

Pump Attendant

Minimum Qualifications: Intermediate

Responsibilities

- Attend to the gas pumps.
- Change gas prices on the outside signboard.
- Sweep all trash away from the fuel stop to the Highway.
- Take tank readings.

Benefit

Through the power of belief or sheer luck, you are able to fix one item per shift to pristine condition without knowing how to. Attempting to fix something without prior knowledge will most likely result in you breaking it more. This can be done in response to a GM post.

Starting Wage: $10.05/hour, $12.15/hour for Assistant Manager (Non-negotiable)

To apply, please send an electronic copy of your CV and a recent photograph taken within one to two years to: gaswayexpress_employeecare.org. All CV's must follow the guidelines as below. Candidates are free to alter the format below within certain limits.

CLOSING DATE: FRIDAY, 13th October, 2009

CV Format

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name: (Self Explanatory)

Gender: (Self Explanatory)

Age: (Self Explanatory)

Physical Description: (A photo to accompany the literary description of your character's physical features is advised but not necessary. Obviously, without a photo, you need to put in more effort.)

Applied Position: (Self-Explanatory. You cannot make up a position for yourself. You must sign up for one of the predesignated roles in the RP)

BUCKET LIST

REASON FOR EMPLOYMENT: (Self-Explanatory. Why did your character want to apply for a job at Gas Way Express?Why here instead of any other location?)

BUDGETING: (What do you do with your paycheck? What are your first priorities when spending money?)

LIKES: (Self-Explanatory. Only a few at a time.)

DISLIKES: (Self-Explanatory.Only a few at a time.)

TRINKETS: (What items of importance do you bring with you to work? Keep in mind that you are an official employee of Gas Way Express. You can try and sneak in an 44 magnum by building some sort of crazy doomsday prepper employee......but it'll make Management mad if they find out you brought contraband that could scare customers away. Besides, you really think guns will help you in the Night Shift?)

BACKGROUND CHECK

(Your character's life up to being employed at Gas Way Express Co. Make it short, simple and keep in mind the context of this RP)

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

(Three skills at the maximum with one flaw only. I'll explain why this is if anyone wants to PM me in further detail but basically, guys, flaws don't matter as much as you think.)

(SKILL) ► (DESCRIPTION)

(FLAW) ► (DESCRIPTION)

[Bork Lazer]

The Manager

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name: (Self Explanatory)

Gender: (Self Explanatory)

Age: (Self Explanatory)

Physical Description: (A photo to accompany the literary description of your character's physical features is advised but not necessary. Obviously, without a photo, you need to put in more effort.)

Applied Position: (Self-Explanatory. You cannot make up a position for yourself. You must sign up for one of the predesignated roles in the RP)

BUCKET LIST

REASON FOR EMPLOYMENT: (Self-Explanatory. Why did your character want to apply for a job at Gas Way Express?Why here instead of any other location?)

BUDGETING: (What do you do with your paycheck? What are your first priorities when spending money?)

LIKES: (Self-Explanatory. Only a few at a time.)

DISLIKES: (Self-Explanatory.Only a few at a time.)

TRINKETS: (What items of importance do you bring with you to work? Keep in mind that you are an official employee of Gas Way Express. You can try and sneak in an 44 magnum by building some sort of crazy doomsday prepper employee......but it'll make Management mad if they find out you brought contraband that could scare customers away. Besides, you really think guns will help you in the Night Shift?)

BACKGROUND CHECK

(Your character's life up to being employed at Gas Way Express Co. Make it short, simple and keep in mind the context of this RP)

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

(Three skills at the maximum with one flaw only. I'll explain why this is if anyone wants to PM me in further detail but basically, guys, flaws don't matter as much as you think.)

(SKILL) ► (DESCRIPTION)

(FLAW) ► (DESCRIPTION)

The Squatter

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name: (Self Explanatory)

Gender: (Self Explanatory)

Age: (Self Explanatory)

Physical Description: (A photo to accompany the literary description of your character's physical features is advised but not necessary. Obviously, without a photo, you need to put in more effort.)

Applied Position: (Self-Explanatory. You cannot make up a position for yourself. You must sign up for one of the predesignated roles in the RP)

BUCKET LIST

REASON FOR EMPLOYMENT: (Self-Explanatory. Why did your character want to apply for a job at Gas Way Express?Why here instead of any other location?)

BUDGETING: (What do you do with your paycheck? What are your first priorities when spending money?)

LIKES: (Self-Explanatory. Only a few at a time.)

DISLIKES: (Self-Explanatory.Only a few at a time.)

TRINKETS: (What items of importance do you bring with you to work? Keep in mind that you are an official employee of Gas Way Express. You can try and sneak in an 44 magnum by building some sort of crazy doomsday prepper employee......but it'll make Management mad if they find out you brought contraband that could scare customers away. Besides, you really think guns will help you in the Night Shift?)

BACKGROUND CHECK

(Your character's life up to being employed at Gas Way Express Co. Make it short, simple and keep in mind the context of this RP)

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

(Three skills at the maximum with one flaw only. I'll explain why this is if anyone wants to PM me in further detail but basically, guys, flaws don't matter as much as you think.)

(SKILL) ► (DESCRIPTION)

(FLAW) ► (DESCRIPTION)

[Bork Lazer]

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You seem

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//THE EASTERN UNDERRAIL

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Character Sheet

//

//BASE STATS

STRENGTH:
DEXTERITY:
PERCEPTION:
AGILITY:
CONSTITUTION:
WILL:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK: 0

//FEATS

//EQUIPMENT

//FEATS

[Bork Lazer]

Nick Nacks The Wonderfantabulous

_{I may be trapped in this accursed form but soon, soon you will all see the majesty that is Nick Nacks!}

Name

Nick Nacks Wonderfantabulous The Third Of The New Sockomancer Order and Master Marionette of the Multiversal Fabrics

Age

Approximately 250 years old. Current age of host is 23

Appearance

The Mantle of The Master Marionette varies in its appearance across each and every one of his incarnations, changing its form and features to best suit the ever constant ever-shifting nature of reality. Its current incarnation is a old, frayed blue foot garment made of sheep's wool with buttons sewn onto the end to resemble a makeshift face. The current 6th host of the Master Marionette is a 7 foot tall anthromorphic ventriloquist/bard in training from the mysterious land of Everafter named Okk P Pett. Whenever harnessing the Mantle of the Master Marionette, the sockpuppet which the host wields shifts into one of seven forms, each containing the soul of past Master Marionettes.

Escobar the Eccentric - A yarn peach-skinned human effigy who wields a miniature knife.

Tyroden the Terrible - A barbarian orc puppet fetishitically covered in tinfoil.

Fred - The actual right hand of Okk. Yeah, that’s literally it.

The Penta-Posse - A set of five finger puppets carved from bottle corks and haphazardly sewn together with napkins.

A Sock - A yellow stripped football sock that once belonged to a troll pyromancer.

Personality

Exuberant and boisterous, Nick Nacks The Fantabulous is as grandiose and as hyperbolic as any wizard could be. This has become more apparent due to the limited range of emotion he has as a sockpuppet. Because sockpuppets don't really have eyebrows or lips or - We just don't mention that to him. However, whilst Nick Nack is the dominant personality, other puppets battle for dominance for just one second in the spotlight, each of them with their own unique quirks and behaviors.

Escobar the Eccentric -

Tyroden the Terrible -

Fred -

The Penta-Posse -

A Sock - Emotionless. Mute. Concentrated. Almost as if it's not even alive. Are we sure that this was even a former holder of the Mantle and not some random sock? Who cares.

Habits/Quirks

Past

Moment of Heroism

Moment of Tragedy

Strengths/Abilities

Escobar the Eccentric -

Tyroden the Terrible -

Fred -

The Penta-Posse -

A Sock -

Weaknesses

Fire, Oh Fire -

Musical Chairs -

Hand Puppet Coordination -

Items/Equipment

RELIC

[Bork Lazer]

---

The land and the sea. Only fools believe them to be different and only bigger fools believe the sea to be more free than the land. Fools. They are both cages, with the bait of freedom, security and power in both of them.

And who has the key? People too powerful for you and I to imagine. The question is whether or not you have the guts to break your bars......

---

---

It begins with a date.

2099. The eve of a new century rising from the ashes of the old.

It’s been 60 years after the Dark Crash. 50 years after the Nine Mile War. 45 years after the signing of the SEAEZO Treaty. 15 Years After the Pan Pacific Agreement. It’s a miracle we’ve managed to make it this far.

2099. The twilight of the 21st century.

It is the age of the Cyber. Machine has consumed flesh and code has subsumed thought. Man and machine have become intertwined as one. Bone is shed in favor of reinforced titanium, eyes are replaced with fibre-optic camlenses and limbs with multi-axial nanotube assemblies. Fashion catalogues have been replaced with designer aug catalogues. Spider legged mercenaries march into the Congo to wage war. The head striker of the Palladium Posse shows off his new Mark 5 mechano-thrusters. The meat is obsolete whilst metal has become the new human.

The body is no longer sacred.

It is the age of the Gene. To fight back against the metal, life must be altered beyond its natural boundaries. The GMO fear-mongering of the twenties lacked imagination and in spite of the constant protests of gene purist groups, genetic engineering is now as commonplace as dollar store candy. The human genome and all of its possibilities are now a playground for alleyway geneticists and laboratory eggheads to tinker with. New varieties of New Babylon’s halophytic seaweed soy grow in the hydroponic gardens of soccer moms. Adverts for children’s kera-mods surge as halloween comes around the corner. Crowds part as a person screams out, his features half-man half-turtle, clutching a syringe of bootleg transcription stabiliser. The definition of human is quickly becoming more and more blurrier.

Life is no longer sacred.

It is the age of the Corp. Transnationals, mobile enterprises and startups permeate every facet of our lives, a capitalistic ecosystem of shadow warfare and trade deals. Though government institutions hold strong, corporate greed will soon erode it away like tides against a cliff. Your blue-collar livelihoods are dictated by the rise and fall of Lee-Platine’s stock values. Offers for university scholarships offered by a number of fast food industries dot the e-papers. Your package deliveries are sent over by an Iridium Heavy Industrial sky-bird, bristling to the teeth with anti-personnel smart guns. For your protection, of course. To be an individual underneath the yoke of the Corp is a paradox and the only way out is to fight dirty.

Your personhood is no longer sacred.

It is the age of the Deep. Everything and everywhere is interconnected by an ocean of encrypted servers and data transmissions ranging in the gigabytes. The physical and virtual worlds have melded together in two, forming a symbiosis of abstract and concrete. AR addicts doze off in the streets, trapped in a constant cycle of chip abuse and sensory deprivation. Poachers surf the forbidden territories of the Deep, hunting down wild malware to capture and reuse for their own purposes. Hidden deep within, remnants of malfunctioning intelligences roam around like lost children, enslaved to their own subroutines. Those who desire can sink deeper to search for the truth but at what cost?

Reality is no longer sacred.

Let’s take a closer look at the situation.

The South China Sea. An ocean of red and riches. It has been fought and contested over by countries in South East Asia since the beginning of the First IndoChina Wars. It’s not hard to see why. It’s the hub of maritime trading in South East Asia, worth more than the Suez Canal in asyuan. Borders have been drawn up, agreed upon, re-negotiated and destroyed more times than history can count. It’s best not to ask too many questions about who started it since finger-pointing is the usual response. SEAEZO is the only thing keeping the region from becoming the battleground for World War 3.

Where are you now?

New Malacca.

If there’s one word to describe New Malacca, it’s maze. It is a haphazard ramshackle arcology of docking harbors, hollowed out ships and hydro tunnels shifting in size and shape. Along with the ever changing assembly of warships and merchant vessels that come in and out every second, no sight in New Malacca is ever the same.

It is a land of the lost. The Great Flood spared few and sunk many. Those who remained either succumbed over time to the Corps or went on a pilgrimage of their own. Splintered sects of Buddhist monasteries live out a meek existence on shanty boats. In the hustle of the wet markets, you hear Tagalog, Hokkien, a zoo of endangered languages forming a creole. On the docks, you see a crew of Burmese pipe spanners play a homebrew version of Poker on shipping containers. When all other options are off the table, New Malacca is what remains.

It is a utopia of the illicit and illegal. Crime, poverty and gangs wrack those who float above on water whilst the corps lurk underneath the offal, biding their time to pull strings and influence the state of power in the floating city. Trafficking routes for black ganja and Hype Out can be found all throughout the city. Gang wars are the city’s morning alarm clock. Just last week, an Armalance convoy was robbed and assaulted by full body cyber-loons. Violence and lawlessness are a constant within its rusting walls whilst duplicity and caution are as essential as oxygen.

To be a part of New Malacca is to navigate this slippery maze. Most give up trying.

You didn’t come here to surrender, though.

You came here to rise.

---

//PREMISE AND PLOT

June 15th 2099. 7:00 PM. Dead of the night.

Suraiboshen. Best five star omakase this side of the Indian Ocean.

That’s not why you’re here, though. You aren’t here because you got lucky on the ten thousand reservation list, nor did you have some fat cat pull some strings for you.

You’re here because you got hired for a job. Top secret. A job that promised a 500,000 asyuan payout. Just the thing needed to propel you back up this world.

Whether you were a discharged lawkeeper, a wanted script hacker or a news anchor stretching the bounds of investigative journalism, your background doesn’t matter. Your desperation and needs mattered more than your skills and now, you’re here.

The two guards standing by the side of the door cough and nod towards you, the ancient hinoki oak door sliding open. You walk inside to take a seat...........

---

Straits of Steel is a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk ® roleplay set within the region of SouthEast Asia. Players will be taking the role of a group of savory and unsavory individuals that find themselves wandering around in the floating aquapolis of New Malacca. Your adventure begins when an unknown power broker contacts you about a one-time job offer that promises high risk but high reward. With nothing to lose, you accept it and find yourself waiting at the entrance of a seedy sushi bar to meet your man. Too bad no one told you that this wasn’t going to be a solo operation…….

The roleplay will be a hybrid-sandbox linear group roleplay that revolves around a collaborative tight narrative centered around the personal interactions of the players with each other and the natural environment interspersed with sections that allow for limited open world exploration, albeit with certain caveats. This approach is meant to allow for a sustainable level of player freedom without compromising the cohesion of the RP. The actions of the player will determine their influence and position within the landscape of New Malacca along with their relationships to each and every faction. Every decision that you make will have consequences or repercussions further down the line if you do not think carefully.

//RULES

一 )If you’re seriously considering god-modding, powerplaying or metagaming within a play-by-post roleplay, don’t make me the target of wasting your time on the internet. It’s rare enough around these parts as it is. If an attempt at any of these aforementioned actions is made within the IC, then, repercussions will follow. Depending on the severity, this can range to a stern warning to permanent removal from the RP.

二 )The genre of cyberpunk and adult themes are inextricably linked together. Therefore, this will be considered an 18+ RP in which adult and mature topics can be discussed and explored within the confines of the setting. However, all CS applications, IC posts and OOC posts must fall within the guidelines of RPGO’s terms of service. If you are seriously considering to engage in explicit NSFW behaviour with another poster, take it to the PMs. If not, I’m going to force you to take it to Pornhub via banning you from my RP.

三 ) Start shit, get hit. Wheaton’s law applies here in this RP, both within the confines of the OOC and the IC. There will be absolutely no toleration for any bigotry, assholery, harassment or bullshit within this RP. When the GM tells you to stop, you stop. If you have problems with how this RP is being run, discuss it within PMs with me. If you have problems with another poster in this RP, discuss it with me in PMs. If there is any way to approach a situation without escalating conflict, do so.

四 )When creating your character sheet in Straits of Steel, overpowered is not optimal. You are expected to create dynamic and fleshed out character concepts that fully embrace the nature of this world. You are not a former wetworks supersoldier packed with miniaturised thermonuclear weaponry. You are not the CEO of a Triple-A corporation. You are essentially a schlub near the bottom of the rungs of the socio-economic totem pole, attempting to claw your way up the food chain.

五 )As Straits of Steel is an advanced level RP, posting quality and length are of the utmost priority. A minimum of three-four paragraphs is required for a post along with a reasonable level of descriptive writing. Quality over quantity is best but when quality goes hand in hand with quantity, it’s even better.

六 )The rules for posting frequency are undecided as of now but a minimum requirement that all players must follow is to inform the GM of any discrepancies or possible IRL events that may interfere with post writing. The RP will be a mixture of regular cyclic posting order, collaborative Google docs posting and an experimental ‘free period’ posting where fast posting is allowed and there is no set order.

七 )Discussion about storybuilding and worldbuilding is not only encouraged within this RP but to be promoted. Forging your own possibilities in this setting and writing out the backstories of new factions is always welcome.

八 )Any questions or queries that have not been resolved after reading these rules can be followed up if you believe it to be necessary in the OOC or privately.

---

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//MECHANICS

• In Straits of Steel, an emphasis will be placed on creating a closed sandbox environment for players to interact in within the confines of the narrative. To help accentuate this, interactive objects and NPCs in the environment will be highlighted with specific colored text.

• The status of objects and health of NPCs will also be illustrated at the end of an GM post as such below.

Yikil Borosky: Minor concussion, perforated femur, dislocated shoulder joint, in severe distress

//CHARACTER SHEET

Keep in mind that the format and style of your character sheet can vary, but it must include all the essential details listed in this example character sheet.

CHARACTER SHEET FORMAT

//YOUR SELF

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Affiliation: (The faction you are affiliated with. A list of avaliable factions will be present within the OOC. Alternatively, you can make your own homebrew faction.)

Appearance:

//YOUR SOUL

PERSONAL GOAL: (What are you trying to achieve in New Malacca)

LIKES:

DISLIKES:

REPUTE: (We've been asking a lot about how your character looks at the world, so, let's reverse it around. How does the world view your character? What status does your character have in the world?)

HEEL:(Heels are basically an over-riding character flaw that exemplifies the type of person your character is. It's what other people know your character for being. Examples of Weak Spots can be: Hubris, Selfishness, Naivety, Easily Angered, Inferiority Complex, Napoleon Complexes, Vengeful, Sadistic, Paranoia. A Heel is different from just another normal character flaw because they are an essential part of your character that makes your character who they are. They can never escape from a Weak Spot.)

CODE: (Codes are a deep sentiment, passion or virtue that a character holds dearly to, well, as much as they can in New Malacca. It's a trait that someone would have if they lived in a sane world outside the Wal. Soft Spots can be: Valuing freedom, A Hero Complex, Social Justice, Friendship, Honesty, Being Protective of your Family, Protecting the Weak, A Pact that You Abide By, Veganism, Empathy.)

QUIRKS:(Unique traits that your character is known for doing such as collecting ears off their dead enemies, always ordering their drinks with a single cube of ice, whatever strange things that immedietely makes them distinct from everyone else.)

//YOUR PAST

(Can be a short biography or a writing sample detailing their past. I do not expect a didatic summary of each and every event in your characters lives but only the most important ones.)

//YOUR PERSON

ATTRIBUTES: (A list of the most prominent skills that your character has picked up over the years. You have a maximum of 3.)

BODY MODS: (Cyberware or Bioware that your character has integrated into their body. No limit.)

EQUIPMENT: (Self-Explanatory)

[Bork Lazer]

//THE SESE FTZ AND NEW MALACCA

After decades of border disputes, military standoffs and proxy wars between China and the ASEAN coalition of South-East Asian countries, the Dark Crash of 2035 was the death knell of the Chinese mainland power structure. Having transitioned most of its infrastructure to A.I firmware, the massive EMP effectively knocked out most of China’s economic and social capabilities. The civil war between the ROC and PROC, along with internal strife and corruption compounding the rot, only served to sink the knife deeper. With their position untenable and most of South East Asia’s infrastructure left unscathed by the global cataclysm, China’s political bargaining power was a pinprick of its former self. All other options exhausted, the only choice left was that of a diplomatic route with ASEAN. The negotiations almost failed when Taiwan and the Autonomous Region of Hong Kong were involved as parties but the Chinese government reluctantly agreed.

In the year that followed, negotiations followed more easily given that China’s political power was fractured and the economic prosperity of ASEAN's member countries outweighing that of China. Therefore, the SESE (South East Special Economic) Free Trade Zone was drawn up to allow a single exclusive economic trade zone which every country had the ability to use. When China dissolved its disingenuous territorial and historical claims, the SESE was signed almost immediately with countries bound to never once again engage in direct warfare with one another. Unfortunately, having been moderated by parties bought out by corporate interests, the SESE gave a huge leeway. Thus, the wars in the SESE shifted from international tensions to outright corporate warfare.

The effects were immediate. Corporations almost immediately made investments in the region in the form of natural gas mining, oil drilling and the building of aquaplexes - new habitable cities that were the new trend given the irradiated nature of most major cities after the Dark Crash and the lopsided battle against rising sea levels. Now, the SESE is a landscape of corporate wars, floating aqua plexes and piracy, a darwinistic terrarium of growth and greed.

Key Zones of New Malacca

1) West Bengal Port - The primary docking and processing bay for all arrivals from the East Indian Ocean and one of the densely populated areas in New Malacca outside of the Tradeplex. The section is dominated by a large number of Indians and Pakistanis who fled the region during the Kashmir Inferno along with the odd Bangladeshi. Most of New Malacca’s blue collar workers and laborers live here due to the low income rent.

2) Hibiscus Lane - Serving as both a place of cultural heritage and a tourist trap, Hibiscus Lane is a slice of Indo-Malaysia directly in the heart of New Malacca. Hover rickshaws stroll along the pavements whilst floating markets travel along the banks, selling both legal and illegal wares of all shapes and sizes.

3) Canton Canal - Considered a parallel to Hibiscus Lane, the Canton Canal is its opulent and clinically perfect counterpart. Luxury, gambling, sin and vice can be found within their famous mahjong casinos. An old trick to remember around these parts is to never gamble on a game of Go. Considered to be the territory of the Triads.

4) The Triangle-What was meant to be an public ecological terrarium project by the Corporate Council has now secretly become the headquarters of the new and improved Golden Triangle. The former drug trafficking highway was hit hard by Filipino PMCs and the rise of cyber warfare. However, instead of being destroyed, it underwent dormancy, feigning death and waiting for the right conditions to proliferate once again. Ruled by an eclectic collection of Thai, Burmese and Cambodian diasporas, the Triangle is New Malacca’s center of its thriving underground synthetic drug trade, using the integrated hydroponics infrastructure to grow, manufacture and distribute their products across most of South East Asia.

5) Shin Ryushu Dockings -Although the nations of Japan and Korea survived the Dark Collapse and the climate storms well, the lower lying islands didn’t fare better during Typhoon Otachi. If you want to know a place where you can hire the best razors or street samurais, Shin Ryushu Dockings has your back. Be careful of walking around the wrong street light, lest, you wake up in the hands of a posse of Yakuza.

6) East Sino Corporate Tradeplex - Everywhere, you see holo-ads blotting out the sky, blurting out brand names. Tzu. Verge. Saewung. Tenaga Ultra. Welcome to the big leagues. This is the megacorp capital of New Malacca. Sleek, brutalistic spires of plexi-alloy and reinforced syncrete dot the skyline here. Gleaming plazas, overcompensating company buildings and crowded stock exchanges are populated by corporate stooges and beleaguered office mice, scuttering around mindlessly.

7) The Undertow - Within here are the only entrance points to the Undertow, a deep complex of underwater corporate facilities located deep underneath the superstructure of the city via elevator. The New Malacca City Council says that it's strictly being used for municipal purposes but everyone really knows that those underwater tunnels hide more than they let on......

8) Braziltown-Ah, those westerners just want to get their hands on everything, don’t they? Braziltown is an architectural tumor on New Malacca’s landscape, a shambling grotesque stack of haphazardly built containers, a reminder of the massive refugee crisis that occurred during the aftermath of the Dark Collapse.

9) The Flot Slums -The Great Flood and Dark Collapse shattered the back of most high income countries in two. Out here is No Man’s Land. An eclectic collection of minorities from every part of the globe live out here in light of the increasing lack of residential space within New Malacca. Considered to be the main location of the Temple By the Sea.

Straits of Steel is set in the gigantic, burgeoning aquaplex of New Malacca, the self-proclaimed pearl of South East Asia that’s on the precipice of sinking yet always managing to just float above the waves.

Situated south of the Paracel Line and the Spratly Islands, New Malacca started as a simple ImperialChem refueling station built for tanker ships in 2000. Slowly over time though, it evolved into a self-sufficient environment as more and more of the corporation’s tasks would be outsourced to the station for greater efficiency, ImperialChem continual remodelling transforming it into a miniature city.

During the Nine Mile Dispute in 2010, the refueling station fell into disarray as ASEAN countries forced strict economic sanctions on Chinese exports. This effectively resulted in ImperialChem selling the remaining assets of its refueling station over to an ambitious startup company specialising in land development known as Baharu Developments. Its CEO, Kwan Chen, envisioned it as a corporate haven for ASEAN, where trade would flourish, free from governmental bureaucracy or urban rot.

Kwan set to work straight away, offering lucrative corporate welfare packages to ensure investment. Like a pack of moths, every rookie startup and corp in the Pacific and South East Asia flocked over towards Kwan’s. Putting their stock into Kwan’s ludicrous idea, New Malacca became more and more of a reality with each buoyant hull, syncrete panelling and high-fibre cable installed into the superstructure. By 2025, New Malacca was officially booming.

As economic growth ensued, growth of urban inequality and crime increased. Cyber gangs, yakuzas, drug traffickers and more lurked and grew in power as more and more ships illegally entered the borders of New Malacca. Finally deciding enough was enough, the Malacca Corporate Committee assembled their private security forces and began a war to stamp out gang influence within New Malacca. This resulted in the establishment of corporate owned public institutions in New Malacca such as a police force, firefighting force and social support services.

Since then, corruption, economic growth and crime have bloomed within the confines of New Malacca. It’s survived all the way through the Dark Collapse, the Nine Mile Dispute and the South China corporate scuffles while still remaining what it is. A beacon to all those looking for an unattainable dream.

Regions of the SESE FTZ

The People’s Republic of China

There is often a massive confusion of what the PRC exactly is. Some view it as an authoritarian regime looking to extend its hegemonic influence on the rest of the world. Some say it is a mire of corruption and instability, a bomb waiting to go off.

The truth, as always, is far more complicated than usual. The PRC is a region that is defined by war: war with itself and war with others. As of 2099, the PRC still remains the autocracy wearing the trappings of communism. that it is, although with a higher degree of capitalistic influence within its economic framework, more than the higher ups of the PRC would be comfortable with. Increasing privatization of China’s industrial and manufacturing services along with politicians lining their coffers with corporate bribery led to these incr

In the mid 2020s, China unveiled progress on the One Citizen Network publicly: an attempt to fully integrate government economic and social services together under a revolutionary A.I wireframe network that would span from the Gobi Desert to Shanghai. By the 2030s, the project was undergoing regional testing when the Dark Crash hit, sinking hundreds of billions of government funds into incomprehensible bytes of glitchy data. It had effectively put a stop gap in China’s plans of economic expansion through the southern hemisphere, their Neo-Silk Road project being put on halt as the world fell into chaos.

Following a decade of internal party purges, civil disputes and rooting out of corruption, the Chinese Imperial Government rose out of the muck and mire and plunged themselves yet into another bloody conflict for control of the South China Sea in 2049 during the Nine Mile War. Unfortunately, for them, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the rest of South East Asia had prospered during the Dark Crash. When it was clear that control of the South China Sea would be unattainable, the government settled for a detente instead and thus, SEAZO was born.

In 2099, China is the biggest and wields the most geopolitical influence with its sizable military. As such, most military and war-tech corporations nest comfortably by primarily selling to chinese buyers. A heavy rural-urban divide still remains in China’s society today, with most of the population making up a sizable labor force. Everyone knows that social engineering and Orwellian policies are China’s bread and butter but as long as you know who to bribe and where, you can live comfortably as long as you don’t end up in one of their ‘reeducation’ camps.

The Pacific Orient
In 2099, Japan and Korea are the economic powerhouses of the Pacific and have become a near corporatocracy, dominated by family owned zaibatsus and chaebol in the aftermath of the Dark Crash. The Pacific Orient is the birthplace of cybernetics and the modern mega-corporation as we know it, with a census estimating that over 90% of its citizens from young to old are implanted with cybernetics.

Japan still maintains its constitutional monarchy, even near the advent of the 22nd century, but Korea’s politics have been a mixup ever since the Dark Crash. Pyongyang’s slow technological advancement had spared its population most of the ensuing chaos, although their forays into nuclear power resulted in an incident not seen since Chernobyl. Some historians theorised that sabotage by foreign powers occurred but no one seemed to care about pointing fingers enough. Reunification of the North and South happened but at a heavy humanitarian cost.

New ASEAN

It’d only taken 30 years for a new power bloc to rise up in South East Asia. The youngest contender and perhaps the most diverse, New ASEAN is a coalition of over 10 countries within South East Asia. The climate storms and the Dark Crash only strengthened the diplomatic ties of the coalition as they began to shift from becoming an intergovernmental organisation to a political and economic union similar to that of the EuroZone. This path towards a multigovernmental union accelerated further when Taiwan and Hong Kong, now fully autonomous from China’s influence after the Nine Mile Dispute, joined as members.

New ASEAN, in comparison to the South Orient and China, is wracked with corruption, infighting and diplomatic issues. Unlike the relatively mono-ethnic societies of the PRC and the South Orient, ASEAN society is extremely diverse with over hundreds of different and distinct subcultures, religions and ethnic groups within its borders. However, racial tensions are often a common occurrence within its territories.

//GROUPS OF INTEREST

Political Groups

Whilst New Malacca is essentially a de facto corporatocracy, the initial riots and the uncontrolled wave of crime that plagued New Malacca in its infancy made it clear to the NMCC that whilst public institutions were undesirable, a puppet was still needed. Thus, the New Malaccan Mayoral Democracy was born. The current mayor of New Malacca is Azman Yokgan, a member of the South Orient Party.

South Orient Party - Having been around since the inception of New Malacca in its early stages, the South Orient Party holds the most political power and are strictly allied to the interests of New ASEAN and the preservation of New Malacca’s sovereignty. Strictly speaking, the South Orient are the remnants of the original parties that founded New Malacca and have shifted heavily from their neoliberal policies in the inception of New Malacca’s government. The South Orient nowadays primarily operates on a platform of staunch protectionism alongside favoring pro-ASEAN relations and corporate regulation - or what counts as regulation in this day and age. Wary of the growing influence of the megacorps in New Malacca along with the fact that they are part of its foundations, the South Orient have attempted to reverse privatization of public assets, to limited success. Many have accused them of rigging the supposedly democratic elections in their favor, despite what their PR officials say.

United People’s Party - Still licking their wounds after the Dark Crash, the Chinese Imperial Government is still contesting their claims to the South China Sea through piecemeal treaties over scraps of land and oil reservoirs. Their latest dispute is New Malacca which they believe to have historical claim to. The United People’s Party advocates for close diplomatic ties with the Chinese government along with the possibility of making New Malacca a Special Administrative Region. However, the United People’s Party is distinctly fractured

Young Frontier Party - Contesting the South Orient Party for the most seats within the corporate council, the Young Frontier Party advocates for full deregulation of all illegal technologies and reexamination of all bioware and cyberware legislation to bring humanity to the next stage of their evolution. By far, their most dangerous goals are to explore the far reaches of the Deep and communicate with the rogue artificial intelligences still trapped beneath its depths which could have far reaching consequences not only for New Malacca but for the world itself.

Fisherman Party - Give a man a fish and he’ll be full for one day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll never be hungry again. The Fisherman Party is a anarchocommunist party that has gained ground thanks to the staggering socioeconomic inequality that plagues most residents of New Malacca. In spite of the secular laws in New Malacca, they have close ties with major religious groups ranging from Islam, Taoism, Christianity and Hinduism. The Fisherman Party have been suspected of corporate sabotage and organising the massive public demonstrations and protests that have risen in New Malacca in the last two decades, although they deny all accusations.

The Board of Seven

The NMCC or the Board of Seven, as they are known colloquially, are the eight governing mega corporations that are essentially the biggest fish in the pond, easily worth trillions in value and are Triple A rated. Representatives from each mega-corporation are chosen and occupy a chosen number of seats on a bi-annual basis. These eight corporations out of the dozens that occupy New Malacca’s trade zone have set the precedent for nearly 50 years.

Platine-Takahashi Cooperative - The conglomerate of an Italian fashion corporation and a Japanese zaibatsu, the media moguls of the Platine-Takahashi Cooperative owns the radio waves, TV programmes and VR sims. Platine Takahashi’s has its hands in the service industry, entertainment, social media, news, whatever it can use to drive the souls and minds of the masses. Whenever you tune in to listen to your favorite K-Pop, watch your Bollywood dramas or dive into a custom made VR film, the Platine-Takahashi Cooperative is responsible for it. Unlike most corporations, Platine-Takahashi has marketed themselves to the public as consumer friendly, using grandiose acts of philanthropy as their main method of calming the masses. In recent years,Platine-Takahashi has expanded towards fashion cybernetics, luxury automobiles, biotech and many other fields.

Hongyang Expansions - Soy cereal. Rust displacement sprays. Electromagnetic lifting weights. Almost every consumer good on the market is a product of one of Hongyang’s various subsidiaries. Although their products aren’t considered to be as high quality versus other megacorporations, the amount of startups, sub-corporations and assets that they have dwarfs every other megacorporation. It’s said that Hongyang Expansions isn’t a nation unto itself, it owns several nations. However, its size is its own weakness as corporate bureaucracy and scheming keeps itself from rising to the top.

Tenaga Ultra - Renewables. Nuclear. Fossil. Tenaga keeps the lights on in New Malacca and for a good portion of most countries within the ASEAN bloc, being one of the oldest corporations that has managed to survive to this day. Once a producer of palm oil, Tenaga Ultra has expanded into other energy industries as fossil fuels were shunned in favour of synthetic biofuels and renewables, particularly hydroelectricity and solar which powers New Malacca’s electric grid.

Saewung - Computers. Personal modems. Holo-displays. If it’s something high-tech and electronic, Saewung has your back. Although they lack the giant PMCs that other megacorporations wield like a blunt cudgel, their fearsome army of Deep Net security specialists, encryption software and combat droids are nothing to scoff at. Numerous famous hackers have met their end attempting to crack into their servers.

Paradigm Organics - Did you know that over 60% of New Malacca’s locally imported food is produced by Paradigm Organics? Of course, you didn’t know that. You’re too busy eating your algae udon to tell the difference. Paradigm Organics made headlines in the 2030s with its halophytic seaweed and algae crops that were perfectly made to survive their new saltwater inundated environments and they’re still making headlines today. Unlike most other corporations, Paradigm spends most of its budget on RnD projects, pushing the boundaries of genetics and biotechnology one crime against humanity at a time. The recent clone crisis has pushed Paradigm Organics into scrutiny by the media and other biotechnology competitors who are eager to push down their most biggest competitor in any way possible.

Verge - Considered to be a direct competitor towards Paradigm Organics, Verge offers an annual line of cutting edge next-generation cyberware, cybernetic implants and personal exo-skeletons that’s always the number one priority on every punk and paddler’s shopping list. In spite of their popularity, Verge has suffered its fair share of storms that have plummeted their stocks. Numerous lawsuits have been lobbied against Verge and their products based on allegations of integrating spyware into their cybernetics which Verge always denies. I mean, it’s not like there’s a reason that all of their employees are required to integrate mandatory neuralware as part of their application process. Right?

Tzu Peace Solutions - Tzu’s trademark of death has seen action across numerous wars and civil conflicts that have erupted in the 21st century. Operating on a nationalistic slogan of jingoism and appealing to the public’s sense of insecurity, Tzu Peace Solutions has more defense contracts in Asia than any other defense corporation on the market. Now, they’re currently occupied with making in-roads into the western market which is dominated by their competitors. Primarily specialising in defense, Tzu has branched out into law enforcement, security, automotive, aerospace and robotics.

Startups

New Malacca’s corporate tradeplex has been a lucrative location for many venture businesses and startups to start running on their two legs, before they’re bought by a corporation. These startups are the hottest and most promising players on the market.

Kaleidoscope - Before Kaleidoscope, AR was virtually non-existent in New Malacca. After Kaleidoscope entered the market, AR emerged from its hibernation in small, underwater followings of AR graffiti artists and spread across its districts. In the 2040s, Kaleidoscope’s AR network blossomed with multiple corporations buying patents for AR adverts and chips to integrate within their technologies. However, many AR users argue that Kaleidoscope’s monopoly over the local AR market in New Malacca has driven all other competitors and stifled innovation. Kaleidoscope is known for showcasing public AR projects as publicity stunts to boost sales.

Poly-Fab Solutions - In an age where manufacturing has shifted from manual to automation, Poly-Fab’s proprietary 3-D fabricators take the once laughable concept of applying mass scale 3-D printing and pushes it to the next level. Headed by former Verge think tank member, Han Lewis, Poly-Fab’s 3-D fabricators allow a higher degree of efficiency and faster speed than most models with the ability to manufacture highly complex industrial parts in just a matter of minutes. The key issue preventing Poly-Fab Solutions is their lack of open source blueprints which 3-D enthusiasts say is preventing them from making landmark sales.

Chimera - Chimera is just another one of the many ‘splicing’ startups to have emerged in the 2080s after the discovery of base pair stabilisation. Chimera’s gene splicing and enhancement programmes are touted to be able to cure hereditary diseases, remove cancer cells and mutations along with the usual fare of body modifications that everyone is interested in. Chimera is currently undergoing a PR battle with alleged footage showing splicing users seemingly dying on the sidewalk mere hours after undergoing gene therapy.

Gangs and Criminals

The Poppy - The unofficial lords of the Golden Triangle district, The Poppy have a stranglehold over the illicit drug trade within New Malacca, holding a monopoly on production and trafficking of synthesised opiates, amphetamines and concentrated narcotics. All inbound drug flow from Japan, South Africa, Russia and China goes directly straight to them. Members of their gang are outfitted with cybernetic implants that directly inject stimulants and combat drugs intravenously. With the lack of automobile roadways in New Malacca, trafficking is mainly done through airborne delivery drones rather than in person exchange.

404 - In the aftermath of the Dark Crash, numerous hacker groups sought to take advantage of the chaos, pilfering through old government files and backdoors within encrypted corporate files. The most notorious of these groups is 404, styling themselves after the term used to describe dead servers in the pre-Deep days. 404’s main objectives are to reveal the truth of the megacorps and peel back away layers of corruption for the public by stealing and publishing top secret files online along with deliberately destroying and hacking corporate servers. Most mega-corps would have laughed them off as a minor nuisance if it wasn’t for the fact they were responsible for Armalance’s declaration of bankruptcy in 2060. Now, every megacorporation is out for their blood.

The Heralds - Whilst most gangs in New Malacca embrace transhumanism, only one actively goes against the grain. The Heralds are an outspoken group of militant vigilantes that are against the spread of cyberware and bioware, believing them to be a violation of the natural order. They are the criminals that all other gangs in New Malacca despise as they regularly declare war on gangs that they deem impure. The group has suffered a recent splintering with the more moderate elements excising themselves from the more extremist sects who believe that public campaigns and seeding distrust in cyberware products is the key to victory rather than just blowing a hole in any layman with a cybernetic implant.

The Ambassadors - Mercenaries. Wetworks. Assasination. Bounty hunting. When you need something done discreetly,The Ambassador’s network of spies and assassins will have you covered. Composed of ex-corporate security officers and retired soldiers from Cambodia, Ambassadors, as they are called, are willing to do any job for any price, as long as the client does not betray them and that payment is always provided after the job. Their main base of operations is in a luxuriant hotel known as Le Chateau De Ambassador, where their assassins are able to rest, relax and recuperate after every job. It is considered sacred ground in the criminal world.

Black Yangtze - Tracing their origins from Tokyo yakuzas and Chinese triads that initially populated New Malacca in the 2020s, the Black Yangtze operate multiple criminal fronts in New Malacca in the form of night clubs, casinos, cock fighting, prostitution rings and bars. The Black Yangtze operate on a strict honor system in an attempt to differentiate themselves from the rest of the rabble. Government and corporate officials alike are within their pockets and they occupy a considerable amount of territory in both the Canton Canal and Hibiscus Lane.

Religious Groups

The Consecration of Salt - When the climate floods plagued the world, religious extremists and doomsday cults rose up in its wake to take advantage of the population’s gullibility. The Consecration is an example of just one of these groups. Universally condemned by the majority of Christian groups in 2099, the Consecration of Salt have found a new home in New Malacca, believing the next great flood to arrive soon and wash away the unworthy of this world, which is everyone except those who are part of their flock. Although their relentless hogging of AR ads and daily preachings of predictions about the next flood are little more than a nuisance, their recruitment methods leave a lot to be desired.

Precipice - As technology advanced into the realm of transhumanism, superstition adapted to the present in the form of technopaganism or technoshamanism. Though their ideology varies from group to group, their core tenets involve believing technology is inhabited by spirits and that one must equilibrate themselves with technology in order to ascend to a higher plane of existence. Most tend to view technopagans as fringe groups and chem-crazed lunatics that got hopped up on one too many hallucinogens. However, in New Malacca, technopaganism has gained ground here in the form of a group known only as Precipice.

The followers of Precipice believe in shedding their physical bodies for ones made of ones and zeros: code in order to pass into the Deep and into a haven whereby all of their minds will be united in a single intelligence. Thus, most of Precipice’s followers are AR and VR addicts, slaving their minds away 24/7 to modems and AR goggles in an attempt to experience nirvana. However, their devotion to worship of the Deep has led to them developing a third eye or sixth sense for manipulating Deep code better than most hackers ever could. In spite of the seemingly unsettling nature of their ideology, Precipice followers are deeply pacifistic in nature and only harass the public in the form of AR grafitti murals that they spread across property.

//TECHNOLOGY

Cyberware

The melding of machines with man. Cyberware was first commercially available in the 2030s as a means of addressing the physical ailments of countries with severely ageing populations such as Italy and Japan, with the effort being mainly spearheaded by Vinci Dynamics. Due to this, the largest cyberware conglomerates are based in the Euro-Zone and Asia Pacific.

Cyberware can be used to augment the users physical capabilities, bestow them with technological weaponry, allow them to interface with the Deep and accomplish feats beyond the scope of human physiology. Unfortunately, the proliferation of illegal, cheap cyberware on the black market and spread of improper implantation practice has led to the surge of neural instability and psychosis among users who are unable to pay for top-shelf cyberware. Phantom pains, dementia and neural degradation are just some of the more common syndromes that these users face.

The new trend on the markets today are full-body conversions, otherwise, known as borging up. This involves the near complete conversion of a user’s body into a cybernetic equivalent, becoming the machine instead of interfacing with the machine. Only a few select corporations offer this process, though, and god knows what else they put inside you that you’re not aware of yet.

Bioware

In the 2010s, CRISPR was the first brick in the golden road towards the dream of flawless genetic engineering. As pollution poisoned the environment and the world plunged into climatic chaos in the 40s, the agriculture industry was soon forced to resort to buying gene patents on genetically modified crops that could survive and thrive in this new world. Eventually, the multiple gene editing systems and techniques were categorised in one singular word: bioware.

Unlike cyberware, bioware isn’t just only found within organ transplants and splicing modifications. Algae vat farms are dotted throughout the landscape, supplying cheap and easy food for the growing populous. Muscle bound guard dogs, armed with the ability to detect a man’s blood type, guard entrances to pristine casinos. Gangers use aerosol-delivered viruses to assassinate specific targets. The use of self-enhancing bioware does come with a drawback however. The instability of most gene mods coupled with the high chance of cellular rejection means that users must consume a cocktail of hormones, nucleotide stabilisers and modified microorganisms to maintain themselves lest they die a slow and agonising death.

The current crisis with bioware is the clone crisis. Whilst corporate legislations have outlawed it entirely outside of research labs, there have been many reports of rogue clones managing to break out and assimilate into nearby cities.

The Deep

In the 2020s, the World Wide Web as we know it began the step forward towards integration into city-wide infrastructure and the development of public A.Is that would supervise control of these networks. In 2030 to 2031, a series of coordinated virus attacks completely disabled these networks, splintering them into malformed chunks and scattering it behind a maze of unstable servers and broken computer systems. The virtual intelligences that once patrolled the net became berserk and insane.

In the aftermath of the Collapse, countries began to reorganise and reinvest the remnants of the Highway, forming large segregated Data-Zones. Countries took their own methods of building their own servers, most going the traditional route, some via underwater submersible servers, others via airborne hover servers. Most of the Deep is still locked off from the public via a series of layered encryption firewalls by megacorporations and various countries.

Analogous to the ascension of the Deep was the rise of Augmented Reality or AR. Cities began adopting AR like a second skin to disguise the decaying and rotting buildings of old. Broken remnants of old AR can be found moldering inside abandoned alleyways. The combination of AR and the Deep led to the rise of a new subculture of hackers, tech warriors , code shamans, digital cartographers and more individuals attempting to forge their own way in this broken world.

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[Bork Lazer]

Barnabum Yerickford

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Barnabum Yerickford

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Character Summary

Name: Barnabum Yerickford the IV
Aliases: Barney, Old Man Barnes, Barmey Yerickford
Age: 89
Species:Gnome
Gender:Male
Occupation/Position:Mechanic
Alignment: Chaotic Good

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Appearance

Height: 4'1.
Build:Stocky, stout and strong with a hefty gut of sky-forged steel with spindly and spry limbs.
Eyes: Barney has one milky cataract with a wicked grooved scar slicing through the lid and one brilliant blue eye that twitches maniacally with
Hair: Stress, experimentation with various banned illegal substances within the United Planet Science Academy and his family's genetic propensity towards albinism have resulted in the most spherical bald head in the galaxy. It's so bald that mindflayer mathematicians have written several proofs and conjectures for its perfection. This is accompanied by a less than remarkable frayed ring of singed white hair and a bushy beard of bone.
Skin Tone: Barney's rough and wrinkled skin is always sooty and stained, looking as if he hasn't showered for the last decade or so.
Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: A marked brand of the United Planets Science Academy Official Planar Extra-Galactic Periodic Table of Mundane and Magical Elements version 3.5.
Personal Style: Style? Style is a secondary priority to Barnabum compared to science. Barnabum favors wearing open and loose clothing that helps prevent him from fainting due to heat stroke such as his tacky overalls and oil-splattered work jeans. He can be always found with a pair of round, thick mismatched googles that magnify his eyes to a ridiculous extent.

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Personality:

Genius * Kooky * Scientist * Enthusiastic * Curious * Obsessive

Relationship Status: Married to Science

Questionnaire: This is going to be a little different. Instead of a typical personality summary, you get to pretend your character is answering a questionnaire! Just answer the following in character.

What first impression do you make?

Ah, yes, impressions, impressions, the most important activity of the day, yes, impressions. People give me that strange look whenever I talk 'bout something important, like the 32 uses of pixie wing dust as a lubricant! Would you be intereted in knowing some by any chance? But, I digress. Like, I said, if they think I'm strange, I think they're even stranger, going about like everything's normal. I'm telling you, it's NOT!

What are you like in a high stress situation?

Ha ha, high stress! High STRESS?! Oh boy, stress runs in my blood. Every second of my life is a high stress situation. Can you feel your heart beating in your chest? The wind in your lungs? Your brain burning like a supernova? That's me!

What are your best and worst qualities?

My best quality is that I never give up on a task, no matter what. If I set mah mind to it, I'll get it done in a quick or slow jiffy! Science is a fickle mistress that requires courage and the will to see things through. I'm also open minded! It doesn't matter where ye come from. If you can offer me something, then, it don't matter whether you're a 100 foot tall cosmic dragon, a dark elf, an orc or a Demon from the Infernal Planes, you're adamantite in my books.

My worst qualities? Well, some folks say that I can get a wee bit para- Look out! KILL IT! KILL IT! Hold there, right still, stop trying to duck, it's only a little bit of dragonfla- Wait a second. It's a butterfly. Sorry fer pointing mah cannon at yeh. Heh heh.

Oh, fine, I do also admit that I might be a little hasty when it comes to my inventions. My brother never did forgave me for transmorgifying his head into a minotaur back in college........

What is something about yourself that you would never admit to anyone?

Secrets?! No one told me this was going to be about spilling my beans! Who'd sent you? The Guild of Internal Investigations? Some United Planets stooge? You're out for me, aren't you?

Oh, yah don't mean something illegal. Not about the buried - Zip it, Yerickford. Zip it.

Now, what was I saying? Ah, right. Something that I wouldn't want to admit to anyone in this crew is that, well......

I'm lonely, you see. Sometimes, I try to bury myself under so much inventing, tinkering and gadgeteering so that I don't think of these here thoughts. Keep myself busy instead of thinking philosophically. What happens when I can't invent anymore? Everyone knows me fer meh inventions but I've never actually made any friends.....

Bah, enough of those bad thoughts. You must have sneaked some mind altering substance into this here room to get me talking like that! Got any more questions fer me?

What are your dreams?

The only good dreams I get ar' tah colorful ones I see whenever I smoke my fungus cigars. Oh, you'll never believe the things you can imagine when you take a puff o' one of these.

Oh, sleeping? Please, sleeping is far dah week. A gnome can stay awake for at least ten days before experiencing any fatal heart attacks. I once stayed awake for an entire month during a university project, although, it took over ten clerics to convince my soul to return back to my body.

But, when I do need to sleep, I dream of numbers. Of inventions. Of mechanisms. Like a fragmented map or puzzle with some of the pieces taken out. Makes inventing all the more challenging. That's what I dream of, yes, mathematical dreams.

How do you want to be seen by others?

I don’t wanna be seen as anything by other people! Why'd I care about how other people think of my unique dietary habits or my collection of moonstones? I want mah inventions to be seen. To be used by other people and to help those who would use it. Ya think I just make gizmos and whatchamacallits for the heck of it?!

Well, somewhat but that’s besides the point. I’m not just some crazy old buffoon who was dropped on a stalagmite! I’m also a certified scientist with a degree at that! I didn't study 10 years at a United Planets Institution only to get excommunicated by the rest of the scientific community! Yeesh, what is it going to take to get some recognition out in these quadrants…..

How do you see yourself?

Me? I see myself as the only sane person round these parts! Why aren’t these people more excited about science and tinkering? It’s what my entire life’s been about! I discover, I explore, I prod things to see how they react, I push the envelope, I fight boredom with brains!

Do you tend to make snap judgements, or stop and think about things?

Eh, I sometimes can be a lil’ hasty when it comes ta safety during experimentation. I’ve had ta deal with da consequences, literally. Just look at this eye.

O’er the years, I’ve learned to take things more slowly but of course, the joy of discovery and scienterrific innovation gets to my head sometimes, clouds mah judgement until I can’t see what’s in front of me.

What haunts you?

Are we alone? Good. This topic requires a great deal of sensitivity.

I see it. They called me insane! Out of the corner of my eye, oh they told old Barney that he was a fool, but one day, I saw it. I did, yes, it broke my Tielvalan crucible, you see. They told me, oh no, Barney, your left eye must be seeing ghosts but it was a ghost! The ghost of the Dread Unicorn itself!

I hear its hooves at night. That damn neighing. It's out for me, I know it......

What is your philosophy on life?

Mah philosophy on life is science! Science is mah philosophy. There ain’t nothing that can’t be understood or deciphered that hasn’t. Always question your surroundings and knowledge will be ripe for yer taking! I’m a seeker of truth and all of you fools are still here, head in the sands like armadillos, sunk in the lies of the newspapers and radios.

The truth's out there. Believe me.

(Note: You do not have to fill out every single bullet point, as long as you have at least one filled out on each topic).
Habits:

• Smoking lichen cigars
• Muttering incessantly under his breathe.
• Blabbering out random scientific trivia.

Hobbies:

• Tinkering
• Inventing
• Sampling flora and fauna from alien environments.
• Experimentation

Fears:

• Losing his inventions
• Misuse of his inventions
• Being alone
• The Dread Unicorn

Likes:

• Inventing
• Scientific Discovery
• Reading academic papers
• Innovation
• Fawning over machinery
• Mushrooms
• Explosions
• Pickled onions

Dislikes:

• Malfunctions
• Uncooperative machinery
• Quiet
• Showers and soap
• Oranges

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Information:

General Skills:

• Journeyman Scientist - With over five decades of experience in a large range of academic fields from owlbear yodelling to arithmantic calculus, Barney has an encyclopaediac knowledge of most things in the known galaxy, although some of it may be out of date.
• Tinkerer - Having received a Masters in Dwarven Engineering from the United Planets Institute of Smiths, Barney is a master mechanic and engineer, able to build, repair and modify a wide variety of contraptions. Whether or not these contraptions are up to United Planets code is subject to review.
• Sky Ship Maintainence - Barney knows the ins and outs of the anatomy of sky-ships, from how to repair them, what solar sails are the best in the market to the type of specific hull oil needed to give them the best shine. If you need a Sky Ship repairman, he’s your guy.
• Alchemist - Everyone learns a little bit of alchemy in Artificer College and Barney is no different. Whilst medicinal mushrooms are his forte, he’s got more than enough experience to whip up a quick healing potion or two.
• Skilled at playing the Gnomish panpipes and triangle.
• Able to speak fluent Gnomish, Common and is passable in most dialects of Deep Speech.

Magical/Speciality Skills:

• Artificer - Barney’s most volatile and underdeveloped skill that he learned during an elective. The ability to enchant or infuse magic into objects. Due to Barney’s complete lack of magical ability or aptitude, his ability to artifice ranges from turning bags of holding into void rifts or boots of speed into shoes that curse you to walk forever.
• Possesses darkvision, a key trait among all subterranean races that allows them to see objects 60 feet away from them clearly in low light conditions as if it were day. The acuity of darkvision varies among most species and individuals. Barney's dark

Inventory:

• Lichen Cigars - A box of 24 oven-dried lichen cigars. Smoky yet delectable.
• Enchanted Googles of Augmented Perception - The prescription on these is so high that you could damage your eyes if you look into it for too long. However, Barnabum appears to not notice anything when wearing these goofy little things.
• Blunderbeholder - A mishmash of gears, sprockets, brass and steel molded together into a vague impression of a giant rifle with the eyeball of an Pygmy Beholder strapped to the front of the barrel. Don't ask him how he got the eye in the first place. This weird invention allows Barney to harness the magicks of the infamous creature by firing high powered beams of arcane energy.
• An assortment of various tools - Spanners. Screwdrivers. Clippers. Pipe wrenches. Ball-peen hammers. If you can find it in your local DIY shop's toolbox, it's bound to be in Barney's arsenal.
• Holy Adamantite Wrench - When you wanna whack someone, there is no better tool than this dented 10 inch indestructible wrench. Blessed by an Illithid Clerics of Kog-Sahoth during a tavern run, this wrench is a beacon of light that warms those who do good and damns those who are evil.
• Pipe - An old fashioned smoking pipe.
• A Big Old Sack of Mechanical Junk - A big load of random mechanical items and small little knick knacks that Barney brings around with him.

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History:

Woowee, a story! Yeesh, no one’s ever bothered to ask me fer a story. It all began ten thousands year ago during the birth of the galaxy itself, when the rock accreted to form my plane-

In the interest of time and the fact that Barnabum’s own accounts are riddled with contradictions and factual inconsistencies, we’ll post an abridged version.

Barnabum Yerickford grew up the third son of a Gnomish family on Oerrol. Oerrol was a quiet, pastoral agri-planet that was only famous for its two things: its country sized onion fields and boasting the largest gnome population this side of the western galactic quadrant. At a young age, Barnabum distinguished himself from his other siblings in his precocity when he managed to burn down his family’s lesser green drake coop with a matchstick. His pyromania soon evolved into a fascination with science and engineering when he travelled with his uncle to his planet’s local sky-ship port. Fascinated by the sight of the amazing vessels, Barnabum looked up at the stars every night, into the depths of the void and vowed to himself that he would spend all of his life uncovering the mysteries of the universe.

At the ripe old teen age of 20 gnome years (16 in human years), Oerrol immediately applied. Out of all the choices he had, he chose the backwater United Planet Institute of Smiths over prestigious academic universities such as Gillyhearst or KragFortress because, quote unquote, in his own words, they had a “ good price on their fried pickled onion stew in the cantina”. For the next 50 years, Barnabum became a multi-disciplinary graduate that was renown among the scientific and magical community for his unorthodox and unusual ways of pushing the fields of artificery and smithing, often disappearing into the far reaches of space for months before returning to strike out the mortuary that had been made for him.

His days would be numbered, though. During one of his live experiments involving a prototype generator that could harness the blood of basilisks as a renewable energy source, a catastrophic malfunction occurred causing everyone who was witness in the event to be transformed into abyssal amoebas, with the exception of Barnabum himself. The ethics board of the United Planets Science Academy was all too happy to use the incident as an excuse to sack Barnabum from his professorship and slander his name in the scientific community.

Barnabum would not have any of it. Believing his experiment to have been sabotaged and the United Planets Science Academy to be bureaucratic fascists, he quickly abandoned his laboratory, leaving only a tacky note for the campus police to find and hijacking a sky-ship for him to ride off into the cosmos.

Finding himself without any financial resources to fund his experiments, he signed up for the Consortium in search of adventure, science, money and more science.

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Extras

Character Quote: That's absolutely scienteriffic!
Anything Else:

[Bork Lazer]

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> PLEASE ENTER CUSTOMER RFID SEQUENCE
> *********
> ERROR. 2 ATTEMPTS LEFT.
> *********
> ERROR. WARNING. 1 ATTEMPT LEFT UNTIL CUSTOMER MALFEASANCE PROTOCOL ACTIVATION.
> *********
> SUCCESS.
> WELCOME, TED WILLIAMS. HOW MAY WE HELP YOU TODAY?
> ACCESS AUDIO JOURNAL
> PROCESSING........

_{WAL-INCORPORATED CO PTY LTD}

Always Low Prices

Date: May 25th, 2085
From: Samuel Walton Junior, Supreme Executive President of Wal-International
To: All Registered Empl0yee Citizens
Subject: Our New Expansion Initiative And Other Matters Of Importance

[ERROR]-proud to announce the creation of over 45 new branches including Wal-Power, Wal-Education, Wal-Agriculture and Wal-Fashion along with the acquisition of over 400 new businesses in the last year. We are confident that these mergers will irove - [ERROR]

[ERROR]- better or worse, our model for success has been an inspiration for our competitors worldwide. All registered employee citizens who are found to the IKEA Mega-Centre Zone or Alibaba will be rendered non persona gratas and executed immediately upon sight by Security - [ERROR][ERROR]

- ember to review our su̶̱̻̺͐̐͒͗̇͋́͊̕m̴̫̥̙̹̖͖̠̏͑͆͝ṁ̵͚͎͚̼̰̳̝̯̲̎̌̾͘̕̚͠é̶̟̹͇̯̿̽̔͝ř̶̤̫͑̓̈́͂̓̕̚͝ ̷̢͈̺̜̉̓̀̈c̵̜̔̒͑a̴̢͇̣̝͝ţ̵̦̼̻̺̻͋̈́ḁ̷̠̄̌͐͌ļ̶͔̠͙̜̮̣͕̹̽̀̾̐̈́̂̑͠ó̷̢̻̓̇̑͐͆̄͠g̴̯̝͎̖̘̪̥̿͝ ̴̡̛͈̺̞̭̰͎͙̎̈́̄̀̕f̵̰͕͓̩̀̇͊ͅo̵̧̩̱͇̘͗́̎̾̄̀̔͑ṙ̴̬̝̱̭͓̖̐́́͗̿̚ ̷̡̘͋̈ṱ̸̦̩͊͑͋͊́̌̑̃h̶̨̜͚̭͉̀͛̆ͅe̷̛̠̩̎̃̇͑̓̈́́͠ ̶̠̦͇̪̎͛́b̵̙̐͝e̵̟̲̎͋̎͠s̵̤̦͉̹̳̼͒̓̀̍̄̓̒͠t̸̥̩̋͋̀͌̉ ̵̧̢̨̝̖̬̯̱̩̓̃̽͆̂̕͝͝p̸̙̲͇͋̊̔̈́̿r̴̨̠͓͚̻̩̾̀͋̑̐į̴̫͔̞̯̰̗̗̭̓̒́̋͑́ĉ̶̯̩̟̹̫͛̈́̊̌͗e̴͉̥̗̺͑̆̇́̑͜ͅś̷̹̥͈̳͈̗̮̍̍̈́̕ ̵̺̦̦͇͉̍̕̕ȧ̶͉̖̣̝̦̗͍̀̽̚n̴̼̭̙̖͙̂̒͊͑͐͝d̴͕̟͇̂͝ ̷͉̠̦͕̞͚̹̤̅e̶̡̛̝̭̎̐̆͊́̾̅̚n̵̡̧̞̟̹̤͓̯̎̇̎͠ͅt̸̳̋̓͐͝ě̶̱͖̃̚r̷̬̦̱͙͚̒͗̋́̊́̒͂͠ ̴̬̪̘͈̭͎̮̂̑̈́̍͛̋͝ŏ̷̤̲̺̺͔̠̽̿́͆͑u̷͔͎̯̔͆̀̕ŗ̵̹̜̦̦̯̱̄͐̃̈͒ ̷̝̓e̴̢̟͎̘̼̺̮̼̘͛̄͆͑̐̕͘͠x̴̢̰͍̣͔̮̩̲͈̑́͐̈́͑̄͘͝͝c̷̟͎̱͇̋͌̐͜ͅl̴̛̮͙̻͑͒͋͠ú̴̧̡̜̗͖̙͖̰͓̓̐̎̎͗̀s̴͇̥͆̉͋͊̂̈́̇̒̍i̵̡͍̩̼̺̥̗̥͋̉͗ͅv̵̢̻̮̰͓̗̯̋̊̉͆͘̕ė̶͕͈͉͕̙̣̽̀̆͐̔̾ ̸̪̪̮̲͈͂̊W̶̛̩̩͕͗͑̊̈́̋̚͝͠a̵̛͈͙̣͇̝̪̱̾͌̓̂̄̚ͅl̵̼̗͗̇̌̌̃̊̑̅̉-̸̲͔̱̂̄̊̒̈́P̶͎͎̥̦̘̘̮͍̝̊͑̄͗͋͌͠ȁ̷͎̼͛̌̓͑̇̅̒c̶̢̥̞͎̤̓̒̏̔̉̂͜ĥ̴̬͉͖͆̈́į̴͔̻̟̲̇̎̋̍̚̚n̸̡̩̘͎̩͔͠ķ̸͙̘͔̜̟̜̻͐͂͊̐͊̚ȏ̸̡̨͚̖̽̀̉̕ ̷̻͉̣͇͊̉͂̌͜L̴̦̠̖̜͈̭̞̰͋̏o̴͉͓̞͑̀͆͗͂̈́̕͘͝t̴̨̲̭̰͖̣̔͐̇̑̋̂ͅt̸̡̳̱͎̦̠̭͐̌͋͊͑͊͒̕͝e̷̮͚͑͌͜r̶̼͍̹̦̊̽̂̋̒͛̃̇ÿ̸̯͉́̃͒̃͐ ̶̣͚̙̼͇̥̇̒̆̐̾̾̆̾͝ṭ̷̞̼̗̦͐o̵̼̘͖̰̩̊̌͐͊͌̍ ̷̜̺͇̞̃̏͂̈́̾-̵̡̥̤̣͈̫̤̃
̶̢̤͈͉̘̝͍͋́͒̌̌̊

> DAILY SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT PLUG IN FAILED. REBOOTING......

> ACCESSING JOURNAL

Day 4812. Location. South of Fort Monopoly. Condition. Tired.

Eternity have passed since I walked through these endless aisles, yet, I have not expired. Time has lost its meaning. Truths have become inseparable from lies, as the PA system wails above me in saccharine chants. In my walleted heart, the Great Sam knows only these four words to be true.

The Wal is All.

I’ve seen sights you wouldn’t believe. A sky of fluorescent lights. Valleys of discarded shelves. Hills of refuse. Glaciers of refrigeration units. Conga lines of shopping carts stretching for miles. I’ve known plenty who claimed to have escaped through the Gates of Sliding and into the promised lands of the Parking Lots.

Lies.

There is no exit. There is no entrance. There is no end or beginning.

The Wal is All.

It is now a time of tense stability. I thank the Great Sam that the Smilers are still feuding among another like the barbaric Grocery tribes. Years have passed since the last major Sport, departments such as the Stationary Shogunate and the Clothing Dynasties licking their wounds. Brand gangs patrol and exercise control over their insignificant turfs whilst aislers such as the Dorfs and Cereai take up the mantle of heroism.

To be mad is to be sane.

The Wal is All.

More and more rogue Wal-Tech stalk the shelves with Management constantly releasing new and horrible products. There have been rumors Nevergrow and Amblouceti encroaching on nearby settlements in the Eastern Wal. Just this week, I saw a Security Bot carrying away a poor soul for shoplifting in the Alcohol section. He's probably a Greeter by now. The Fall Seasonal comes closer and the Stockers will soon approach in full force.

Despite our progress, we are still ants walking in the footsteps of monsters.

We are the Wal. We live in the Wal. We die in the Wal.

---

$$$

---

//PREMISE

The Wal is All.

Long after a world-shattering nuclear cataclysm known as the Fall, the last remaining survivors have taken refuge inside residential mega-marts owned by the now defunct global conglomerate corporate nation, Wal-Incorporated. Trapped within these colossal superstructures from the horrors of the outside world, these survivors fought amongst one another for control of the resources of the mega-marts and against the malfunctioning robotic Wal-Automatons that once served mankind, now targeting all of humanity as ‘shoplifters’.

Centuries later, humanity has splintered into bands of settlements, the largest and most organised of these settlements being known as ‘Departments’. War and conflict between neighbouring departments wreak the Wal. Religious cults and lunatic gangs prey upon poor aislers, desperate to make a living. Mutants such as giant pigeons, rat-people and giga-roaches now roam the hallways. All the while, the malevolent Management observes from above, plotting and controlling the endless hordes of bots that patrol the mart.

Players take the role of Lifters. Lifters are mercenaries, saleswords, bounty hunters, treasure hunters, any aisler willing to do any job for the right price or coupon. You’re no Bargain Binner but you’re sure as hell no Cheapskate. You also may be slightly insane but in the Wal, madness is a necessity of life and being sane gets you killed.

It is now the end of the 65th Black Friday, with a landmark treaty having been signed between the Stationary Shogunate and the Clothing Dynasties. You, along with a handful of other Lifters, have been hired as ‘expendable’ assets for a cross-Wal expedition funded by the Curators of the Books section. Your responsibilities are simple: to protect the interests of the expedition, to ensure that no life is lost and to survive until the end so you can get paid.

//SETTING

Departments

The Tronic Temple

"ERROR 101"

Out of all Departments in the Wal, the Tronic Temple of Electronics are the most paranoid and illusive out of all of them. The Electronics Department hoards its knowledge and tech more greedily than the other Departments, only sharing piece-meals or scraps of it during negotiations or trade agreements. However, most Tronic Tech is completely useless in the hands of anyone else other than a trained Tech Wizard. Anyone who is caught with unsanctioned Tronic tech or dealing in Tronic Tech outside their borders will be hunted down by the most skilled of their Keyboard Warriors.

The Tronic Temple in of itself is a quasi-religious technocratic organisation with multiple guilds dedicated towards the worship of electronic brands and CEOs. The Guardians of Gates, the Tesla-Born and the Knights of Zuckerberg are a few of the famous guilds dedicated towards specific areas of technology. In comparison to Pre-Fall engineers and scientists, the Tronic’s Temple scientific method is focused on mostly impractical inventions that have a high chance of hurting the user the more advanced it is.

Study of Wal-Tech is only reserved for the most skilled and eldest Wizards. Due to the hidden workings of these mysterious technologies and the dangerous effects of tampering with their security mechanisms, they are kept under heavy guard. Open source Wal-Tech blueprints are considered to be the holy grail of technology and a dream for any Tech Wizard to discover. Only 3 blueprints have been discovered so far since the inception of the Tronic Temple: the designs for an experimental microwave, a prototypical hoverboard and a Wal-Incorporated interpretation of the shake weight.

The Nobles Houses of the Clothing Dynasties

"One Size Fits All"

One would be foolish and right to believe that Clothing is anything else other than a band of stuck-up nobles, their heads up in the rafters, concerned with otherworldly rights whilst the Wal around them is stuck in perpetual conflict. In truth, the Noble Clothing Brands have managed to maintain their power on an illusory facade of diplomatic ties with departments and domination of the most vital trade routes in the Wal, exerting soft power wherever they see fit. Diplomacy is their strength rather than military might. The lands of Clothing are indeed opulent and majestic compared to the more unsavory regions of the Wal. However, each day within Clothing is full of political conspiring and backstabbing by the nobles, with deals sewn in secret and plots weaved in the dark.

Operating on a caste-system, entire families are separated on the quality of material their clothing are designed from. Silk-born and velvet-born is used to designate the upper echelons of nobility, restricted to dynasties allied with the . Nylon and polyester-born are found within the bowels of the Sports Clothing Section, most commonly drafted into the ranks of soldiers. Cotton-borns are considered to be of lesser nobility due to the commonality of their material, most finding their path as merchants or journeymen.

The Stationary Shogunate

“ Steel bends, paper tears, our honour is forever eternal!”

To say that the Office Supply Department is steeped in tradition is a grave understatement. Considered to be one of the most ancient and powerful Departments in the Wal, every minor Department fears of being conquered by their paper and ink tide. Walled cities of folded paper and mache forts await those who travel within their territory.

The main coveted power that has kept the Stationary Shogunate and their territories strong is the art of Origami. These papersmiths and crafters are so valued that they are considered first class citizens in Stationary settlements. It is said that a true Origami paper blade can cut a Stocker in half. Numerous departments have attempted to replicate the power of Origami, only making inferior versions at best.

However, their refusal to export origami has led to a lack of goods to supply for economic trade within the Stationary Shogunate. Due to this, the Stationary Shogunate are heavily reliant on importation of vital supplies such as medicine, food and water from other Departments such as Gardening and Pets N Animals.

Their reckless overexpansion has led to decreased regulation of law in recently conquered territories and consequently given rise to criminal elements. Glue trafficking is currently the most profitable of these ventures. While the substance is commonly used for construction, it can act as a potent narcotic in small doses.

The Dorfen Kingdom of Toys

"For Da Fort!"

Unlike most other Departments, the Dorfen Kingdoms are not decentralized to one region but rather spread out around the Wal in roving settlements known as Forts. Dorfs are so named because of their dwarfism - a result of a mysterious age regression chemical known only as Age B Gone. No one knows the exact nature of its workings but its usage among the denizens of the Toys Department has slowed down the effects of time on their bodies - leaving them adults stuck in the bodies of children.

However, the same chemical responsible for birthing Dorfen society was responsible for its downfall. Centuries of overconsumption of expired and unclean Age B Gone resulted in widespread psychotic breakdowns and physical mutations among a large proportion of the Dorfen population. By the time they realised the repercussions of Age B Gone, most of the population became helplessly addicted towards consuming more of the cursed chemical. Eventually, this resulted in the rise of the Nevergrow, a teeming mass of mutated monstrous immortal children with no conception of morality. As the Nevergrow grew too powerful, the sane Dorfs were forced to abandon their homeland and scatter amongst the Wal, refusing to ever consume Age B Gone ever again.

Forts typically base their society around the veneration of old toys, boardgames and pen and paper roleplaying games, interpreting rulebooks as sacrosanct and figurines as religious idols. No two forts are the same. The Dorfs of Fort Catan are skilled in merchantry, the Dorfs of Fort Lego are the most skilled architects in all of the Wal - second only to the Origami Artists of Stationary - and the Dorfs of Fort Dungeons and Dragons are the best mercenaries and adventurers you can ask for.

The Grocery Tribes

“ Our Hunger will unstock the shelves!”

Out of all the Departments in the Wal, the Grocery Tribes are barbarians that live nomadic lives within the heavily Stocker-infested Department of Grocery. Due to their monopoly of the all-too valuable Grocery shelves, they are almost hostile to every Department within the Wal that they encounter, not willing to humor diplomatic ties or trade deals. It’s lucky that the Grocery Tribes remain fractured and in war with one another almost as they are with the entire Wal. If united, the Grocery Tribes could have every Department at their mercy.

Only the Cereai of the Cereal section are the only faction which has diplomatic ties to other Departments not within the grocery aisles. A loose knit monastic group of holy warriors, they adorn themselves in thick cardboard boxes, labelled with the iconography of their patron saint. Each Cereai follows a different ‘path’ depending on who they worship.

The Pet Tamers

“ To Have Fear is to be Prey”

The Pet-Tamers of Pets N Animals hold an invaluable monopoly, virtue of being the only Department in the Wal to command and domesticate mutated household abominations. This fearsome reputation is due to their massive stockpile of mutagenic pet food and supplementations that genetically modify benign species of animals such as hamsters and parakeets into death-dealing monstrosities. Breeders help to maintain and rear their stocks of Pets whilst Rangers and Hunters venture out in the Wal to find new Pets and to eliminate monsters that threaten the sanctity of their settlements.

The Cult of the Smiling One

“ Always Low Prices.”

There is no singular one faction that attracts as much dread, hatred or loathing by all other Departments in the Wal other than the Cult of the Smiling One. Worship of Smiley, their central idol, is banned in most Departments. Secret cults, like infestations, do take root and flourish, taking advantage of the lost, the needy and the weak to remould in their image.

It is hard to recognise a follower at first. Unlike in the early days, where most preferred to wear the uniform of the former employees of Wal-Incorporated, they tend to take a more subtle approach. In battle or when enacting one of their crusades, they don yellow facepaint alongside with their uniform.

The central tenet of the Cult is to maintain the status quo of the Wal at all costs possible. Sabotage of peace treaties, incitement of conflicts between Departments, activating defunct Sec-bots, the Cult of the Smiling One believes that these are necessary acts to maintain the vision that the Great Sam had for the Wal. The tenacity and single-minded religious fervor of their followers is . Hearing the sound of a thousand Smilers cry “ ALWAYS LOW PRICES” haunts the memories of those who have survived their crusades.

Through coincidence or through sheer plain luck, the Cult of the Smiling One has suffered many schisms in their organisation, leading to new splinter groups. The Neo-Smilers and the Frowners are considered to be the two most popular denominations out of the dozens that have formed in these wars. The Neo-Smilers adhere to maintaining the status quo, albeit in a more pacifistic manner rather than the militant methods of their original founders. The Frowners are former Smilers who have become ‘heretical’ in the eyes of the original Cult, believing the Cult of the Smiling One to have strayed away from Sam’s original teachings.

Common Setting Terminology

Age B'Gone - A miraculous anti-ageing formula developed by Wal-Incorporated with disturbing side effects. Only stocked in the Toys Department.

Aisler/Shopper - General lingo for any inhabitant or person of the Wal.

Amblouceti - Horrifically obese mutants on highly experimental mobility scooters that stalk the aisles of the Wal, waiting to consume their next victim.

Dorfs - Inhabitants of the Toys Department who managed to retain their sanity and mental acuity during their exposure to Age 'B Gone. Unfortunately, they are physically malformed compared to other shoppers, the most apparent trait being their physiological dwarfism.

Departments - Rather than referring to actual departments, it has become a shorthand term to describe a certain group or culture of people from a specific department.

Lifter - Nickname for hired career mercenaries who have notable experience in the Wal. Named so due to the connotations of danger associated with 'shoplifting'.

Management - A myth perpetuated by fools. There is no management. THEY'RE REAL. DON'T BELIEVE THE LIES.

Nevergrow - Children who has overdosed on Age B'Gone or consumed expired versions of the anti-ageing compound. They developed physiological mutations as well as mental illnesses as a result of this, their adult minds being unable to handle the experience of being trapped in a child's body. Bands of NeverGrow are known to commonly venture out from the Toys Department and attack the settlements of other Departments.

Parking Lots - A common term for the Land Beyond the Wal. It is also used as a euphemism for the afterlife.

Stockers - Robot workers responsible for general maintenance of the Wal, with their primary purpose being to ensure that shelves are restocked. Come in all shapes and sizes depending on the function they are needed for. Elimination of shoplifters is also their secondary priority.

Sec-Bots/Security - Towering automaton juggernauts of death and fury. If you see a Sec-Bot, don't run or escape because you're already dead.

Smilers - Term for any indoctrinated member of or individual religiously associated with the Cult of the Smiling One.

Sporting Goods - Weapon.

Wal-Tech - Highly experimental technology developed by Wal-Incorporated.

//RULES

1) There will be no mandated time in which you are required to post. However, please do not use this as an excuse to hibernate for one month and suddenly, post again. If you are unable to post, please inform the group or Wal-Master beforehand so I can make the necessary adaptations in order to keep the pace of the game flowing forward.

2) Refer to me as Wal-Master in all official communications.

3) Your characters must be characters, in the sense that they are fully fleshed out and engaging. The character must be able to fit within the context of the setting. Making overpowered characters who forcefully metagame, powergame, god-mod or murderhobo is just not okay or fun. This is a post-apocalyptic roleplay set in a giant Walmart. You will naturally know when your character will stick out like a sore thumb.

4) Any character who have such relations or references to IKEA, Costco or Amazon will be forcefully rejected.

5) I'm strictly a quality over quantity guy when it comes to roleplaying. I'm expecting a rough writing standard that is an impasse between casual and advanced. There is also a semi-strict posting requirement of 2-3 paragraphs per post. If you want to write 10 paragraphs, that's okay in my book. All that I ask is that each post you makes move the RP forward.

6) Do not post any content or material that would violate RPGO's rules. This includes harassment of ethnicity, religion, race or sexual orientation. Violence, gore and more violence is welcome in plenty but any sexually risque material, if any poster has the utmost need to include it, should be done in black or kept in PMs. Rule 6 will also extend to any OOC behavior.

7) Do not ask me for a dedicated Discord channel. All OOC communications will be conducted on RPGO forums. If you have any personal questions, PM me.

8) Always asks any questions that you may have so I can make them into not-questions anymore.

9) There is no set posting order but do not multi-post without giving someone else the chance to do so.

10) Embrace the insanity of the Wal.

11)Worldbuilding and developing your own lore and interpretations of this world is encouraged along with discussion of plot elements. Although I'll primarily drive the main lore that embodies the world, there's plenty of room to write your own visions and own beliefs of how this world would be like.

12) Have fun.

---

$$$

---

Employee Registration

PERSONAL ACCOUNT

NAME: (Self Explanatory)

GENDER: (Self Explanatory)

DEPARTMENT: (Remember that your department is the single biggest consideration for how it affects your character concept. The traits, personality, skills and equipment your character has will be exemplified by what department they originate from)

AISLE: (The sub-faction or specific group that your character associates with in their respective Department.)

AGE: (Fairly self explanatory, though, be realistic. Anything less than 18 years old is pushing it mildly.)

APPEARANCE: (Again, fairly evident by what it means. Describe your character as much as you want to. Obviously, if you have no image to supplant the text description, then, you're gonna need to put a whole lot more effort into fleshing out the visual image of your character here.)

---

RESUME

(Your character's life until the beginning of their first job. How did they become who they were? What were the most important events of their life? Make it as long as you want to be.)

---

RECEIPT

PERSONAL GOAL: (What are you trying to achieve in the Wal?)

LIKES: (List a few trivial things that your Shopper likes)

DISLIKES: (List a few trivial things that your Shopper dislikes)

REPUTE: (We've been asking a lot about how your character looks at the world, so, let's reverse it around. How does the world view your character? What status does your character have in the world?)

HEEL:(Heels are basically an over-riding character flaw that exemplifies the type of person your character is. It's what other people know your character for being. Examples of Weak Spots can be: Hubris, Selfishness, Naivety, Easily Angered, Inferiority Complex, Napoleon Complexes, Vengeful, Sadistic, Paranoia. A Heel is different from just another normal character flaw because they are an essential part of your character that makes your character who they are. They can never escape from a Weak Spot.)

CODE: (Codes are a deep sentiment, passion or virtue that a character holds dearly to, in spite of the hostile and unrelenting nature of the Wal. It's a trait that someone would have if they lived in a sane world outside the Wal. Soft Spots can be: Valuing freedom, A Hero Complex, Social Justice, Friendship, Honesty, Being Protective of your Family, Protecting the Weak, A Pact that You Abide By, Veganism, Empathy.)

QUIRKS:(Unique traits that your character is known for doing such as collecting ears off their dead enemies, always ordering their drinks with a single cube of ice, whatever strange things that immedietely makes them distinct from everyone else.)

---

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

(What skills does your character have that allowed them to survive this long without dying? One thing that you may be noticing here is that I'm not including any flaws in here. That's right. You wanna know why? Because, I believe having many flaws is just an excuse for an roleplayer to switch between them willy nilly and disregard them. Therefore, there is only one, great singular flaw that will inhibit your character every step of the way. Any of the skills that you have has to be justified by the Department you came from and your character's backstory.)

(SKILL) ► (DESCRIPTION)

GROCERIES

(Your character's equipment. Keep it reasonable, though. You only brought what was necessary for what you thought was going to be a simple escort mission.)

(ITEM NAME) ► (DESCRIPTION)

(ITEM NAME) ► (DESCRIPTION)

(ITEM NAME) ► (DESCRIPTION)

[Bork Lazer]

Zhang San

//YOUR SELF

Name: Xui Lin "Marcus" Yao

Age: 87

Gender: Male

Affiliation: Former officer of the New Malaccan Authority, the official state sanctioned police force of New Malacca. Currently retired as a Char Kway Teow street hawker in the Canton Canal, albeit with some connections to some unsavory groups.

Appearance: More metal than man, Marcus is a curmudgeonly and ancient octogenarian who looks the part unlike most of his other contemporaries who've used gene editing and telomeric enhancement sessions to stave off the inexorable tide of time. He is distinct in a city where the old are rare and the young are plenty.

From an up close glance, it's easy to see that Marcus is indeed old. Liver spots dot his wrinkled face with sagging cheeks pulling away at his sun-tanned skin. His bloodshot eyes are speckled with dots with jagged grey scleroses and a minor twitch in his left. Most of his lower right jaw and right face has been haphazardly replaced by cybernetic counterparts that look as if they were bolted on to his skin. The rest of his body hasn't been spared either with ceramic plates and circuitry having been welded into him randomly with no pattern. In spite of this, Marcus looks spry as ever and possesses a stout, strong build for a man of his age.

In the public, Marcus favors a simplistic poly-ester singlet, an apron and moth-eaten sandals that give him a grandfatherly look. In his more private affairs, Marcus wears a beanie along with a long-sleeved dark business trench coat and grey slacks.

//YOUR SOUL

PERSONAL GOAL: Marcus is primarily concerned with the economic wellbeing, safety and happiness of his family in New Malacca, no matter the cost to himself or others outside his family. He has no illusions about the illicit activities that he participates in and makes no excuses for himself. However, this is at odds with his code of honour and decency which has been tempered and tested over many decades.

LIKES:

- Curry Laksa
- Naps
- Cooking
- Professionalism
- Hanging out with his grandchildren
- Mahjong

DISLIKES:

- Durian
- Zaibatsus, mega-corporations, anything corporate really.
- Arrogance
- Collateral damage
- Unnecessary cruelty
- AR/VR addicts
- Threatening his loved ones

REPUTE: Marcus has two reputations to uphold: one as a kindly, old grandpa who makes an honest living on the Canton Canal and another as a no nonsense cleaner and investigator who will do any job for the right price.

In the public’s eye, Marcus is one of the foundations of the daily lunch rush at the Canton Canal with numerous workers and corpos scrambling to get a plate of Char Kuey Teow from his stall.

In the eye of the criminal underworld and his clients, Zhang San is an efficient and reliable problem fixer that may stick to old habits and traditions but always gets the job done.

HEEL: Marcus harbors extreme love for his grandchildren and will sacrifice anything to provide for them. Family is the most important thing in Marcus’s mind and he will not settle for anything lesser other than the outcome that benefits his family the most. Threatening his immediate family is a good way to convince him to work for you up until he decides to put a bullet in your head.

CODE: Marcus is morally flexible and possesses a sense of understated compassion and honor that’s downright endangered within New Malacca. He’ll help those he feels that are in need. He’ll spare people even though they were witnesses. It’s a miracle that Marcus has managed to survive this long in New Malacca. Perhaps, it’s his way of making amends or to fulfill some twisted sense of redemption. Over the years, his compassion has evolved from a rarity to a nuisance that bites him in the back. The next person that he spares might shoot him in the back after all.

QUIRKS:Marcus is oddly fond of whistling dainty tunes in public to amuse himself. During long stakeout operations or when on the job, Marcus can always be found sipping from a hot thermos full of ginseng tea to pass the time.

//YOUR PAST

Part of the first wave of migrants that came to New Malacca, Xui Lin was part of a Taiwanese family that had come to New Malacca to escape the job insecurity and wage cuts that had befell Taiwan’s economy. Xui Lin worked in his father's syncrete paving business for most of his childhood and fled away from his nest to join the New Malaccan Authority, , a group of PMCs that had been given official jurisdiction to enforce the law in New Malacca. Xui Lin adopted the name of Marcus and began working as a officer, moving his way up to Lieutenant.

Over 30 years of faithful service came to an end one fateful Wednesday. During a patrol, a IED blew up in Marcus’s face when he opened up the back of a suspicious looking jet ski. Waking up in a hospital later, Marcus’s body was completely ravaged with most of his internal organs being perforated not to mention the fact that all but one of his limbs were completely mangled. His health insurance wasn't enough to cover the staggering cost of the implants. Appeals to his healthcare providers failed. Pensions couldn't cover the cost. He was expected to be another body in the pile that had built up New Malacca to its heights.

Therefore, Marcus eventually resorted to criminal means to settle his debts. His talents accrued from twenty years in the New Malaccan Authority served him well in the criminal underworld and thus the trademark of Zhang San was born, an alias for Marcus to use to shield him from any potential blow-back that he might suffer. For the last two decades, Marcus has been accumulating a trust fund for both of his grandchildren to receive when he finally passes away along with staving off the worse of his chronic illnesses caused by the degradation of his cybernetics.

//YOUR PERSON

ATTRIBUTES:

Getting Down and Dirty: Marcus is a skilled marksman and knows how to handle himself in a shootout as well as in close quarters brawl. Due to his advanced age, he usually relies on more dirty tricks to gain an upper hand on the more youthful.

A Hunch: Marcus is a skilled investigator, partly thanks to his training within the New Malaccan Authority and the fact that no one expects an old grandpa to be capable of such things like noting down the different shift times of a parking booth.

Do It By The Books: Being part of a law enforcement PMC doesn’t just teach you to shoot things first and ask questions later. Marcus possesses a wide encyclopedic breadth of knowledge about rules, procedures and the inner general workings of modern law enforcement within New Malacca along with a decades worth of knowledge on how to conduct criminal operations.

BODY MODS:

Haoyang 2040 Full-Body Enhancement Package - Haoyang 2040 Full-Body Enhancement Package - More for life support rather than functionality, this ancient suite of cybernetic augmentations, ranging from limb replacements, pacemakers, inbuilt artificial myofibers and respiratory assistors, is what has kept Marcus alive all these years. Marcus’s enhancements allow him to hit faster, move faster and take more physical punishment than a man of his age could without suffering severe damage. A disadvantage of these ageing augs is that Marcus is required to consume a heavy amount of immunosuppressant drugs in order to ensure that his elderly body does not reject his augmentations.

EQUIPMENT:
Gao-Zhong Dragoon HA-12: Sometimes, actions speak louder than words, or in this case, getting your head blown off will. Once the standard issue sidearm of the New Malaccan Authority, the Dragoon has been phased out in lieu of more cheaper models of firearms. The Dragoon is a semi-automatic heavy pistol chambered to fire a custom modified 12mm teflon-coated gyrojet round capable of penetrating through most modern subdermal body armor. Marcus's model comes with an integrated silence to reduce the deafening noise it makes to manageable levels.

Monofilament Garrotte: When you need to strangle a fool stealthily, except no substitute but this 10 inch long boron-carbon hybrid nanotube garotte.

Disposable Burnerphones: The old school method of ensuring that someone doesn't trace you. Marcus has a pack of these to ensure that whatever call he makes will be private. Permanently private.

HongYang Vacuum Thermos: Able to keep any substance at room temperature for more than 24 hours thanks to its patented hydraulic seal vacuum tech coupled with a biometric security system. Marcus mostly uses it to store his favorite ginseng soups.