[OOC] Dying Light - Humanity's Last Stand

[Sven the Silent]

On the 27th of May 2015, the United States government accidentally send out samples of a new biological weapon they were testing to various labratories throughout North America and various scientific centers in other countries. To the public it was announced that it was Antrax, not a biological weapon that had been send. This allowed the United States to quarantine any area they deemed hazardous, including the unfortunate recipients of the virus and later a small town in the middle of Colorado. Yet despite their initial successes, the quarantines proved to be ineffective against the virus. The government was able to contain local outbreaks and eliminate the threat, but new outbreaks started to appear throughout the country, eventually overwhelming the army and forcing them to adopt a new strategy.

With the civillian population becoming aware of the outbreak and the government losing its ability to manipulate the public eye, the army stepped in and took over, forcing the goverment to resign and instating the highest ranking general as the head of state. With the army firmly in control, martial law was declared and the government started moving its personnel and vital resources to bases in Alaska. The army was instucted to put up safe zones in all the major cities and on various other locations throughout the country side. These safe zones proved to be short lived and many were abandoned or overrun within months. Yet in those few months many civillians were successfully evacuated to safer regions still under government control, such as the desert like regions in the west and to a lesser extend, the frozen regions of Alaska.

But as time passed, the government slowly lost control over most the regions it held in America, the only exception being Alaska. Yet safe zones, albeit harder to encounter then before, still existed. From the territory still under their control, the American government is attempting to maintain a level of control so that some day in the future the land may be reconquered. Unfortunately with paranoia running high, most survivors opted to create groups of their own, some good some bad. With the country and the world burning to the ground, the days of mankind appear to be over.

The Virus

The virus is both airborne and waterborne, resulting in large areas quickly becoming infected. Those infected by the virus through the air will experience a weakening immune system, eventually evolving to it being all but none existent. At this stage the virus will lay dormant and wait for its host to be killed, which can be achieved with a disease as simple as the common cold if medicine is not present.

For people whom have been bitten or that have ingested contaminated food or water. The infection progresses through a state of fever, aches, and internal bleeding, and is ultimately fatal. The virus spreads into the brain like meningitis and it infects synapses, mostly concentrating on those in the brain stem. It eventually causes the adrenal glands to hemorrhage and the brain to shutdown, all brain activity would cease, followed by the major organs and the body would be clinically dead: no measurable brain activity, no reflexes, and no respiration or pulse. A variable time later, the pathogen, would revive the synapses it infected and reactivates the brainstem of the dead body, but only the brainstem and not the cerebrum or cerebellum.

One theory suggests that the reanimation of corpses comes about when the pathogen leaks into the brainstem and tricks the blood surrounding it into thinking that nutrients were needed up there by the sudden density increase. The blood rushing to the stem would count as a body function, and would thus revive the human body.

Another theory suggests that the virus itself, being a dormant pathogen that activates after heart failure, latches itself onto the first solid it can find, which is the brainstem. The time it takes for the pathogen to totally cover the brainstem is proportionate to the time it takes to reanimate. It is unknown why in some cases it only takes a few minutes to cover the entire brainstem, yet in other cases it can take several hours.

Types of Infected

Walker: Walkers, much like other infected, have no sense of self-preservation other than eating, and will not react at all to the deaths of other zombies or to potentially lethal dangers to themselves. They have enough intelligence to walk upright, to use their bodies to break objects, and to climb around or over somewhat small obstacles such as chain-link fences. Zombies can ascend and descend staircases, as well as climb ladders, but they do so very clumsily and slowly. They cannot operate doors or gates, and prefer bashing through obstacles rather than traversing them.

Walkers are void of any emotional expression and thought. When stimulated, whether by noise, sight of prey, or simply encountering a problem they cannot solve, such as being unable to open a locked door, they quickly descend into a state of murderous aggression. If they spot prey when stimulated, they can pursue them ceaselessly, showing ravenous hunger. They are not hunters, however, and take no concern in alerting their victims or trying to hunt them with intelligence, always seeming to roar, grunt, and growl whenever they are stimulated. Walkers much like other infected seem to be drawn to noise, presumably because they attribute the source of the noise to be caused by potential victims. Walkers also tend to form groups and stick together, and mimic the actions of other zombies, giving them a mob mentality.

Runner: Runners are one of the bigger threats to survivors. Runners, obviously, have the ability to run, which is a horrifying aspect to those that are being pursued. These zombies are a primary target and should never be overlooked when fighting hordes. They will gain ground on survivors and bring them down. A survivor should never try to outrun the Runners, since they do not tire like Humans do. The only way to stop them from running is to disable their legs through severing large muscle groups or completely severing their legs. Other than that, the only other way is to outright eliminate them.

They also appear to possess a form of hightened intelligence, most likely because a runner is typically a fresher corpse that hasn't suffered from decay as much as their counterparts. A Runner will climb over obstacles more rapidly but can't achieve what a Human can in terms of climbing and jumping. Runners are however more prone to say, attempt to turn a doorknob rather then just bash at the door or to use an object like a brick to smash a window or door. If however for example, turning the door knob does not work they are quick to fall back into murderous aggression to achieve their goals.

Crawler: Crawlers are completely disabled in their lower bodies and cannot walk or run like other types of undead. They can be disabled through muscle severing or leg severing; crawlers can also have their legs crushed by a heavy object or car. Crawlers must support their upper torso with their arms and must crawl along on the ground slowly to move to their desired destination. Due to their low profile, they are harder to spot, as well as their low speed makes them a highly dangerous zombie if not payed attention to. The second one neglects to pay attention, they can be taken down by a crawler.

A Walker or Runner that loses its leg or legs can also be classified as a crawler. The Walkers tend to crawl slower whilst the Runners are able to cover more ground faster. Their low profile also enables them to go under objects such as cars. The unsuspecting survivor can thus be grabbed if not paying attention to its surroundings. Yet once spotted and without the element of surprise, a crawler is little to no challenge for any survivor, young or old.

Timeline

Day 1 - Facilities of the American military accidently send out multiple strains of a biological weapon to different labratories across the United States and to various bases in other countries across the world.

Day 2 - The United States government recognises its mistake and moves to quarantine all the labratories that received the virus. All personnel present at the facilities are also put under quarantine, with the exception of a few stragglers that came in contact with the virus the day prior but were not present during quarantine procedures.

- All but one of the scientists not present during quarantine procedures are tracked down and succesfully quarantined by sunset.

Day 3 - The United States government announces pubically that it accidently send strains of the Antrax virus to various military bases across the country, but reassures the public that everything is under control. Successfully hiding the real nature of the preceding events.

Day 4 - Records show that the missing scientist is named, Cave Johnson. Witnesses report that the man left work early after calling in sick, the man showed symptoms normally found in the common cold.

- Cave Johnon's car is located in a ditch near a forest road, close to the town of Evergreen. Search efforts are started in the surrounding area, including the nearby village.

Day 5 - A small outbreak of the virus occures in Evergreen. Local police forces shoot the infected before they can be examined, amongst the turned individuals is Cave Johnson.

- Evergeen is quarantined immidiately. Cave Johnson is named patient zero. Corpses of the infected and the people that came in contact with the infected, are taken away by the military to an unknown location.

Day 6 - The Government has successfully quarantined the entire town. Media coverage on the situation is none existent. Government efforts succeed in containing the event and the outbreak. Evergreen remains under quarantine.

Day 8 - None of the scientists that came in contact with the virus show signs of infection and are released back into the public, various interviews take place to support the previous Antrax claim.

Day 11 - Dozens of civillians in Evergreen that were previously diagnosed with the common cold suddenly die from the disease.

- Later that same day, military doctors examining the death are attacked whilst preforming a dissection. The corpse awoke during the procedure and managed to seriously injury one of the scientists before being killed. The others corpses begin to turn as well over the course of the day.

Day 15 - Outbreaks start to occur all over America, faster then the government is able to contain them. Attempts to keep the public at ease by controlling the media succeeds, but rumours run rampant.

Day 17 - A Dutch scientist working for the American military discoveres that the virus lies dormant in its host but virtually destroys the immune system to the point that most diseases, even if proven non fatal before, can kill.

- Virus has proven to be airborn and appears to spread rapidly, hunderds of thousands are already infected with the disease, unknownst to them. Should they die from whatever cause, the virus will reanimate the corpse.

Day 18 - With social order breaking down and the public outraged at the government, the military steps in and takes over by appointing the highest general as the head of state and forcing the president and ministers to resign.

- Martial law is declared and the new government attempts to mobilise all its reserves.

Day 20 - Government attempts at guiding civillian escape and controlling the streets are ineffective, panic and chaos are taking over, people killing eachother either by accident or on purpose significantly increases the growth of infected.

Day 25 - The Government mostly abandones its plans to guide civillian escape and chooses instead to set up large safe zones all over the country. Radio messages are send out over radio and television to point people in the right direction.

Day 31 - Safe zones prove to be successfull, many civillians are evacuated to safer areas in the country.

Day 33 - Safe zones in the large cities are quickly filled far past the maxium allowed amount of people, evacuation proves difficult and supplying that many people with food, water and medicine also proves to be a chore.

Day 37 - Outbreak of disease in the crowded safezones creates panic and unrest amongst the civillians, the military attempts to control the situation by force, but in some cases the civillians succeed in taking over or the station is overrun.

Day 38 - Recent news of disease outbreaks and their effects forces the military to deny people entrance to safe zones if there is no real space. Rumours of the military abandoning the people significantly demoralises the civillian population.

Day 43 - To show people they have not been abandoned, supply drops are organised to areas that still contain a significant amount of the living.

- The crates mostly contain medicine, food, water and means to purify water. Some also include weapons all though those are more rare. The contents of military crates designed for the safe zones or isolated pockets are unknown, high grade weapons and ammunition is thought to be most likely.

Day 51 - Goverment has lost control over most water purification centers and electricity plants, all the major cities have lost power, gas and clean water and as a result life becomes more difficult for the people left alive.

- Lack of maintaince to pipes and installations in cities contributes to the shutdown of gas, electricity and power. The internet has also stopped working by now.

Day 55 - Several safe zones in the major cities are uncapable of keeping out the infected and slowly fall one by one, despite being overrun isolated holdouts by the military remain in some sectors.

Day 60 - Special forces start appearing in major cities, their objectives or motives are unknown.

Day 63 - Government run radio messages and television broadcasts stop for an unknown reason, both signals are now dead and provide no more information on current events or safe zones.

Day 67 - More and more safe zones are falling throughout the country. Rumours vary and the real reason can only be speculated about. High tempratures, difficulty to supply, overcrowding and disease seem like the most logical reason.

Day 71 - Summer tempratures sky rocket, making life more and more difficult for survivors. The western states of America appear to be taking the major blow.

- Government loses ground in the desert regions of the west, whether this is a result of weather conditions or something else is unknown.

Day 75 - Hope is dwindling, survivors still in the midst of a hot summer fear the worst for the winter to come.

- Our starting point in Atlanta, Georgia.

In this roleplay everyone will start out seperate, unless you have asked another player to start together, which is allowed. Once we have started out, I will supply everyone with either a rumour, a thing that your survivor has seen or both. You can if you so wish, choose to go after the information either alone or with another player, providing they are around. The outcome of the events will be predetermined before they are send to you through private messaging. (This means that the intact weapon store you saw may have been looted once you get there, it can also be filled with infected or possibly survivors who may or may not be friendly. Yet if you're lucky, it may still be intact and filled with weapons.) Keep in mind that you do not have to take the information into account if you wish to do your own thing, it's simply a stimulant by me to give you points of interest.

I may even send the same thing to several players, providing it's a big enough event that multiple people could have seen. Through this I will thus encourage you to interact with eachother and to possibly team up with eachother, the ultimate goal being to form one large group. Once that has been achieved, our journey will only really begin. Who knows what lies ahead of us and what secrets we may uncover.

Character Sheet

Appearance: No anime pictures, a picture of a real person is preferred. A description is also acceptable.
Size: Your height and weight go here.
Physical Shape: How your body currently looks, whether you're skinny, average or musculair. Each comes with their own advantages and disadvantages. If you're overly musculair or fit for example, you need more calories and you require regular workouts to stay in shape.
Name:
Age:
Personality: Don't be a hero, is what they say. Is your character really that tough that he will enter a dark building without lights on? Will your character be brave enough to face multiple infected at once? Your personality is for you to decide, try to really get into character. Maybe you'd rather skip a certain building because there are to many infected inside. Maybe you choose to help yourself rather then your friends in a though situation. That is up to you to decide.
Occupation: Your job or study before the outbreak.
Equipment: Can be as simple as the current clothes you're wearing but can get more elaborate as the roleplay goes on, think a kevlar vest, helmets or things like that.
Inventory: Everyone starts off with a backpack, that doesn't mean you have unlimited carrying capacity though. And the heavier the objects the slower you are. I advice you to really think about what you have with you. Not just food, water, clothes. Maybe you have family pictures? A book or two? Toothpaste and a toothbrush to keep some personal hygiene. Deoderant, your cellphone. A wallet with its contents. Maybe even that precious coin collection you could not bear to leave behind.
Weapons: If you have a gun, keep in mind that unless you have detailed background of firearm use you will most likely not be a very good shot. A running target is quite difficult to hit, especially if you have to hit it in the head to kill it. I also encourage melee weapons to get worn down and possibly even break over time.
Background: Tell something about your character and his or her history and life up to this point. It doesn't have to be too elaborate, but you're free to go nuts.

As far as i'm concerned this roleplay is PG-18 and can thus include graphic details and violence, romance is also accepted. But any say, more ''detailed'' romantic scenes should be done through private messaging.

[ViolentViolet]

Whoo~ OC~~~

How does one feel about multiple characters?
Is there a limit on how much experience one may have about fighting infected/other people?
Was thinking either a umm. . . a prison warden, or a military personnel who survived a brutal run in with either the infected or a gang. What is your take on that?

[Rae Zer]

Tori

----Victoria 'Tori' Pesa----

---

Size: 5'6, 142 lbs
Physical Shape: Tori is in rather good shape but she isn't muscular. The majority of her weight is untoned muscle with very little fat on her body. The majority of her muscle is in her legs, abs, and triceps.
Age: 20
Personality: Tori is most definitely not brave. She would rather not fight any infected unless she is cornered. But, she cares for other people and isn't willing to leave them along with a group of infected so long as she and the others could fight the group and survive. She'd rather play it on the safe side and hide out for the night than to risk encountering infected in the dark. Occasionally Tori has difficulty staying calm under pressure but she is certainly capable of calming down easily.
Occupation: Studying Hydroculture in college with a minor study in Horticulture
Equipment: A pair of size 6 hiking boots, a black leather vest, green cargo pants, a plain grey t-shirt, and a blue and black button up.
Inventory: Five bottles of water, a pack of cigarettes, a half-full lighter, deodorant, a bed roll, a picture of her father, first of the Harry Potter books, a box of crackers, two cans of beans, a can opener, and a Rubik's cube.
Weapons: A used machete, pocket knife with a seven inch blade, and a tire iron.
Background: The daughter of a Pharmacist and Nurse, Tori grew up a rather nice life. She was born in San Antonio, Texas to Maria Haven and Julio Pesa. Tori was the oldest child, and only surviving child, of three. Her life was rather uneventful until, when she was eight, her mother and two brothers were killed in a side on collision with a drunk driver. Tori spiraled into depression after their death while her father threw himself into work to cope with the pain. She rarely saw her father in the four years after their death while she turned to cutting herself to relieve her pain. On the anniversary of the accident, Tori tried to commit suicide and was sent to a counseling center for a summer.

Her life changed totally after being in what was basically rehab for an entire summer. She started to actually attend her classes in school and devoted herself to forwarding her life. Tori started a garden after coming back as a form of coping rather than going on with her life like she had before. Meanwhile, her Father continued working late nights and early mornings in obvious pain until he met Melanie Finch, a young woman of twenty-eight who had recently come to his work as a pharmacy technician. Tori watched as her Father slowly slipped away from her and towards Melanie. Eventually, Tori grew distant with her father and decided that she would move out the moment she was accepted to college. And so, Tori moved out of her childhood house and into an apartment with a friend of hers who was going to the same college as her. Tori never though that zombies could have actually happened and wasn't planning for it to happen as it did. When the government started making safe areas, Tori and her best friend had been driving to Georgia to get into a camp. By the time they reached a camp, they had shut down the admission of new people.

For those of you who are looking to start with somebody, I have written in that Tori was traveling with her friend. So, if you are looking to have some sort of relation with her just ask.

[Dirty Dan]

~

[Sven the Silent]

@ViolentViolet I'm not sure about multiple characters. I've never tried that before myself, so I don't know how that would work out properly. As for character suggestions, there is no limit on experience. But quite often a lot of people just storm in with assault rifles, being gun pro's and being very musculair and absolute kickass ''ripping the head off zombies'' type of badassery. I think that takes a lot of the fun out, but that's just me. You're free to create your character, if it's nicely done it will be accepted. :)

@Rae Zer Tori is accepted, feel free to put her in the character tab.

[Dirty Dan]

I'm forgoing my boxer idea;; I'm creating a hunter, live-off-the-land type of character, that didn't really know of the apocalypse until a bit later on.

[ViolentViolet]

@Sven the Silent
Ah! I have a better idea~ Perhaps a booky who knows a whole lot about stuff but never really done any of it :3

[Sven the Silent]

@ViolentViolet Feel free to be creative. :)

[Inertia]

I will get a post up when I can!

[Larfleeze]

Appearance: Joseph Thawne is a middle-aged male with dark brown skin, and soft grey eyes. Due to lack of shaving supplies he has grown a somewhat short salt-and-pepper beard, and his hair - which he used to shave bald - has now become a short black and grey buzzcut.

Size: 6'1, 152lbs

Physical Shape: Joseph is an African-American male of about medium height (6') for a man his age. He is not overweight, though nor is he underweight, being only average in the weight department, although he used to be heavier before the outbreak. His body is not really fit apart from the occasional necessary exercise - such as running and climbing away from infected or more hostile survivors. He is not some musclebound he-man, yet he is not all skin and bones either. He eats when he can, and all of the running has given him some stamina.

Name: Joseph Thawne

Age: 38

Personality: Joseph is usually a compassionate and kind-hearted man, but due to the terrifying events of the past couple of months, is capable of detachment and distrust towards strangers whom he believes to be a threat to himself and others close to him. Though he is able to keep calm and collected in the face of latent panic, when the situation becomes frighteningly disastrous, Joseph might take the back seat when in a group environment as his state of mind is often seen to devolve into panic and will defer the decision-making to a more confident person. He can generally handle fear or danger with a sense of duty and motivation rather than freezing up.

Despite it being an apocalypse and everyone seems to be out for themselves, he finds that helping others is the only way to fight against it. However, if someone is out of line or is doing something that he views as unjust, he will speak out against it.

Occupation: Surgeon

Equipment: Joseph usually wears a loose-fitting, pale grey hooded jacket, over a cream t-shirt, both of which have been rendered darker due to dirt and the occasional dried bloodstain. The jacket itself is lined with a multitude of pouches and pockets on the front which has often came in handy with containing smaller items such as food and ammunition. Currently he has the pencil, the pen and the journal stuff in a pocket each. Joseph also wears dark brown trousers which has been rendered a dark olive-grey colour due to weeks of wading through mud and dirt. Additionally Joseph wears light brown hiking boots as well as black woolen fingerless gloves.

Inventory: The backpack he wears contains one large bottles of water, two cans of tomato soup, one can of sweetcorn, a can opener, half empty bottle of toothpaste, toothbrush, one sketching pencil, one black pen, a single quarter-filled journal in which he writes about the virus and the infected (symptoms, behavior, sketches, etc.), two medical textbooks, two scalpels, one unopened empty syringe, an extra pair of underwear and a t-shirt.

Weapons:

• Hatchet
  
  • Joseph's primary weapon is a small metallic Carpenter's hatchet with a rubber grip. The hatchet is especially effective as it is easy to pull out after sinking into craniums, preventing it from getting stuck.
• Claw Hammer
  
  • Joseph also carries a regular claw hammer with a steel head and a wooden grip. Joseph only uses this as a backup as it is not as successful as destroying the brain as the hatchet, often requiring several blows before penetrating the skull.

Background: Before the beginning of the crisis, life was going relatively well for one Joseph Thawne. He was an experienced and skilled surgeon, in the city of Arkansas, working with his beautiful wife, and with an intelligent son. Long before this, Joseph grew up as a middle-classed child back in the suburbs of New Orleans, raised by a hardworking house mother, and a construction worker of a father. Growing up, he was expected to take after his parents; be hard-working, and grow up to be an honest, legitimate man. He was always an intelligent young boy, garnering above-average grades in each of his classes, with a specifically perfect GPA in his mathematics and sciences. He was in track back in high-school, although his career in the sport didn't go anywhere, and he ended up dropping it once he graduated as a senior. He moved into college at the age of nineteen, having spent a few of his free months helping out at home.

His father had hurt his spine at his construction job, being in his early fifties, and the housework and funds needed more attention than before. To help with this, Joseph took his college work seriously, dreaming to be an accomplished doctor or surgeon to bring in the funds necessary to support his family. During his years in college, he achieved the Dean's list numerous times, and went through the classic breakups and dates that most young men went through. On his last year there, before he went into his official medical training to become a professional surgeon, Joseph met a beautiful woman; Diane Simmons. Diane was the one, he knew this when they went on their first date, after meeting in Advanced Chemistry that one faithful afternoon.

True enough, they stayed connected, even after Joseph moved out of New Orleans, and to Arkansas, to further his career as a surgeon, staying connected through emails and letters. Joseph finally achieved his official, professional license at the age of 31, which, at that time, Diane had moved to Arkansas with him, and they were happily dating. In that same summer, they became married, and were expecting their first child, one James Thawne. Months passed, and little James was finally birthed. The pregnancy went as smoothly as could be, and it seemed as if the happy little family would continue to be just that...a happy little family. James went to school, they had a wonderful home in the nicer parts of Arkansas, and his mother and father were put into the best senior homes Joseph could afford.

Years passed, with Joseph developing in his chosen career, James growing honestly, and Diane staying as faithful as ever. That's when the Outbreak began. At first, they were cautious, but continued on with their lives. Nine year old James joked often about how nothing was wrong, and Joseph and Diane was liable to believe the naive thoughts. And then the virus began spreading, and the riots began. The first of his loss happened on the twenty second day of the Crisis. James perished. Diane and Joseph had been calmly walking home that evening, when the smell and sight of smoke spurred them on. They had only been at the park, which was a few blocks away. What could have happened in that time? They had kept James with a highly trusted family friend, and babysitter. Did a fire happen at a neighbor's home? Joseph would never get to know.

Even the memory still hurts his heart to this day. Every home on their block was on fire. They rushed through the smoke and police tape, just in time to see a small child's body being carried away from their burned, destroyed home. People were restless; screaming echoing down the block, and chaos quickly developing. Joseph rushed forward, pushing everyone out of the way. He pulled away the sheets, ignoring the medics' yells of outrage.

He promptly broke down right there.

Days, weeks, then eventually, months passed. Groups rose and fell, different military safe camps being erected and destroyed. Eventually, Diane fell to infection, and then, for the second time, to his hatchet. It was a tragic, heart-wrenching moment, but he had to continue, if only for what was left in the memories of his fallen family.

[Dirty Dan]

So...trying to calculate height and weight ratios is really confusing and awkward for me. Is it strictly necessary to post the weight?

[Sven the Silent]

So...trying to calculate height and weight ratios is really confusing and awkward for me. Is it strictly necessary to post the weight?

@Dirty Dan

I suppose not, no.

[Dirty Dan]

Michael Wesley

----Michael Wesley ----

---

Size: 6'1

Physical Shape: Michael's body is well taken care of. At a healthy weight, and broad-shouldered, he has a lean, muscled physique, that comes with years of eating meat and vegetables, handling rowdy animals, and drawing bows taut. Hunting has garnered him a steady food supply over the time of the apocalypse, so starving has never been something that he has really experienced at this day and age.

Age: 24 years of age.

Personality: Michael can come off as unapproachable, but that's mainly because he tends to be a bit on the quiet side, having spent literally the majority of this apocalyptic journey alone - thus making silence something he is intimately familiar with. While a bit cold-shouldering, Michael is a very down-to-earth, realistic man, calloused from witnessing the deaths of his loved ones. Focused on the task at hand, and mature, Michael can take on a leadership role rather easily - although he tend to be a loner, due to the fact that groups can easily limit mobility and survival chances. He isn't secretly evil, and is a naturally humane person. If he sees someone in trouble, there's a high chance of him helping. However, as stated before, he's realistic, and if there's no chance in Hell of them being saved without major loss on both sides, he will move on, albeit with a heavy heart. These trying times have made him merciless in certain situations, and he no longer hesitates to end the life of a human, if that human poses harm or threat to him or anyone close to him. Serious, and focused, Michael's first rule of survival is...'Survive'. Although he may not seem it at first, there are rare times where Michael will let down his guard and laugh/joke, but it's extremely rare. With close friends, he may let down his guard a tad, and crack jokes or engage in some type of banter, but don't expect it to be an often thing. Even then, him getting all laughy and hyperactive is a no-go.

Occupation: Hunter/farmer by trade, lived in the country with his grandpa and grandma. Sold animal fur/meat to a nearby small-town city.

Equipment: Michael's equipment consists mainly of;; A pair of rugged black cargo pants, tucked into dark brown, water-proofed boots, a short-sleeved, form-fitting black shirt, and a dark green/black, cloth-padded, hooded jacket. The jacket contains, in the pockets, a multi-tool, a scarred lighter, a small flash-light light, and a wallet - containing some money and a picture of his grandparents.

Inventory: A heavy-duty, lightweight hunting backpack, dark black and brown. Inside the small pocket at the front are: Two small, speed-sticks of deodorant, a worn toothbrush and tube of toothpaste, and a compact pack of purification tablets. Hooked to the side is: A worn, dented, and reusable canteen. Inside of the main compartment are: Five small zip-lock bags of dried, packed balls of salted deer-meat, three bottles of purified water, torn rags, and a worn, miniature first-aid kit, containing two small bottle of alcohol and two small spindles of clean bandages. The bottles and spindles are re-filled/wrapped at different stops. His inventory is light-weight and essential, which he had in mind when he packed it all.

Weapons: A worn, yet highly-maintained and sturdy recurve bow, a leather-wrapped quiver with self-made, sturdy arrows, and a sharpened utility knife. His arrows are reusable, which he makes great use of, and is virtually silent;; It's rare that you would see him with a gun. The utility knife is strapped securely to his pants, and the bow is latched to a strap on his backpack; easy access. The quiver is peeking over his right shoulder, strapped to his back. A solid, light-weight crowbar is strapped to the other side, opposite to his canteen.

Background: Michael had always been raised to be a humble, hardworking young man. Born in a country home, in a plot of land where the forest was cut-off at, hard-work was always a part of his daily life. Cutting wood for the fire, tending to the cows and pigs, and going hunting with his grandpa, deep within the woods...that's how his life was. His mother was single, and had died giving birth to him, leading him into the custody of his grandparents. He didn't mind;; to him, those two would always be his real parents, no matter what. He was taught his studies by a hired tutor, and was taught how to be a man by his grandfather.

He speared fish in the lake behind their home, he rode horses down the dirt trails, he helped build sheds and different contraptions for the animals and vehicles, and, the most fun of all, he hunted animals with Mother Nature, selling the fur and hide in the market whenever they went down into town - which wasn't often. When all of this happened, Michael and his grandparents knew nothing of it. They were getting old, and it was up to Michael to provide for the family;; he did so efficiently and immediately, spending his time roping the horses, tending to the pigs, chickens, and cows, and hunting deer, boars, and hogs in the forest. Whilst in the middle of tying down a dead boar to his old four-wheeler, he heard strangled screams, along with groans and gunshots from back home. Dropping the boar, Michael leaped onto his ride and blazed a path of leaves through the woods, going straight through the trail and blasting into his yard. What he saw...he would remember forever. His grandmother, her body bleeding out in her garden.

His grandfather, bleeding from multiple bite wounds on the neck and chest, feebly aiming a bloodied and spent shotgun at this...this thing. There was a lot of these things, and Michael's first instinct was to scream bloody-murder and charge in. Logic prevailed, and it was like watching for third person. bring up bow, notch arrow, shoot...through the heart. No luck. Notch, aim, shoot...through the back of the head. The rotten human fell. He began taking out the shambling walkers, dodging over tractors and crouching on top of old trucks as they began to move after him. Eventually, the herd fell, and Michael crossed the distance between his grandparents. After that, the memory got hazy.

Ever since then, he has been travelling, after burying his only family, and gathering his supplies.

Finished.

[Sven the Silent]

@Dirty Dan I am not opposed to your weapon being a bow, but if you're really going for a hunter then I'd say there is a very, very high chance you would have been out hunting with a rifle. The lightweight crowbar and the solar powered light also seem highly convenient yet unlikely considering your family rarely visited town. Another example of convience would be that your grandfather happened to be a professor.

However, we are starting in a large urban city, something you rarely or never visited. All your skills are virtually useless here, your bow is quite hard to use because of large distances and possible harsh winds. The prospect of large groups of infected also render your chance to use arrows multiple times slim at best.

So considering your handicap in the urban environment and your lack of knowledge of most things outside your local area, the character is accepted. My suggestions can be taken with a grain of salt, from my point of view some things feel a bit as meta-gaming, something which is difficult to avoid when having to come up with an inventory and equipment. That being said, feel free to post Michael Wesley in the character page. :)

[Dirty Dan]

His grandmother was a professor, and I guess that it's convenient;; her occupation was chosen for Michael to have been homeschooled like a normal child, and no other reasons, so I can easily replace that with him having a hired tutor. As far as all of his skills being virtually useless, I wouldn't say that, since he's not really an Archer in an RPG... He'd also rather just avoid large groups of zombies, as well. But I get what you're saying. I can easily just give him a regular flashlight, so that's no problem. I just put solar-powered 'cause the sun's a cool guy. I think every family has a crowbar...Also, regardless, this isn't what he started out with, he has been travelling for more than a few weeks, so some of the stuff came mainly from abandoned stores and markets.

Over-all, he's just a regular country guy, other than having some extra skill in archery. I don't really know how that's useless...? Regardless, I'll take your advice with a grain of salt, and add him to the character tab.

[Sven the Silent]

@Dirty Dan

Your knowledge and experience base is focused on live in the country side, putting you in a highly dense and chaotic urban environment significantly reduces the usefulness of your abilities. I'm not saying your character is useless, the position you are currently in renders his most significant skills ineffective. For example, with hunting I assume tracking through the forest is something you can do. Tracking something in the city is quite different.

Your weapon, which appears to be your main weapon is a curved bow. A bow takes years and years of practise to master, it's nothing like the crossbow a certain character on a certain television show uses. You aim to avoid large groups, yes. But I am putting you in a situation in my head were you would be facing one and thus I render your survivial chances as slim.

As for a crowbar, a normal heavy crowbar and a lightweight crowbar seem very different to me. (I am no expert on technical things but lightweight appeared to be excessive and used to suit your other more lightweight equipment better.)

It is late so I find it more difficult to get my words across. To me you feel as though i'm hating and saying your character is bad/useless. Which is not the case. Trying to think of a good example to illustrate how I view your character. Lets say we take a tennis player and a soccer player and I put them up against eachother in a contest, the tenniser would win at tennis but will get his ass handed to him in soccer. If that makes sense to you.

[Raining]

Roast 'em over an open fire. Hue.

[Dirty Dan]

It's fine. It's quite late here, too, so sorry if I came off as hateful or spiteful or whatevvs. But yeah, he's been in cities before;; quite a lot of times in his twenty four years of life, so he knows his way around. Sorry if that didn't come off clear enough. But I guess I understand;; However, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to resign. At this point, I would usually completely redesign my character, but I'm heavily lacking motivation and ideas, so yeah..

I wish you luck in your RP, however.

Edit: MELISSA I SWEAR TO GOD

[Sven the Silent]

@Dirty Dan I see no reason for you to resign, your character will shine once we arrive in the country side. I actually enjoyed it that you made a character that suffered a handicap in the urban environment, makes things all the more interesting.

But if you feel as though you have no place here anymore then I cannot stop you.

@Raining Hello to you too!

[ViolentViolet]

I'll get to work on my character soon~@Sven the Silent