[OOC] The Dust: Begin Again

[Antediluvixen]

@MelonHead

New Vegas is Obsidian.

[MelonHead]

@MelonHead

New Vegas is Obsidian.

@Monochromatic Rainbow

Huh, didn't know that, point still stands though, big game, lots of bugs.

No, wait, Bethesda is the publisher, remember, Obsidian made it.

[Antediluvixen]

@MelonHead

They also had a little over a year to make it.

A little over one year.

Honestly I'm surprised there's not more.

[MelonHead]

@MelonHead

They also had a little over a year to make it.

A little over one year.

Honestly I'm surprised there's not more.

@Monochromatic Rainbow

Well, Oblivion, Skyrim and even Fallout 3 also have a fair share of bugs, I think it's just a natural effect of so many possible things that can go wrong.

[Antediluvixen]

@MelonHead

Aye, very true.

Fallout 4 will still be awesome, though.

[Jinxer]

I'll have to delay the CS a day. I've had a banging headache all day at work and I can barely hear myself think what with all the banging.

I plan to do some work on it tonight but I want to clean it up once the drummer moves out from my brain.

[Antediluvixen]

@Jinxer

Can hardly fault you for that.

[Dirge]

Okay so update: had to sleep with ice packs wrapped around my hands the past two nights but my hands are almost all better, so typing doesn't feel like I'm stabbing myself in the fingertips anymore! Should have a cs up by the end of tomorrow, but will be going away for the weekend just so everyone knows.

[Darcs]

First new faction added!

[TheMadAsshatter]

Can't wait for this shit to get started. #hype!

[MelonHead]

Added some backstory that I'm still working on as I get to know the setting better.

[Jinxer]

Here's the character - I just need to type up the backstory I have written out. I'll finish that up first thing tomorrow as it's my day off.

Most of it

Basics

Source - kudos to the artist.

Name: Julius Ragnar(son)
Age: 27
Appeared Age: Mid-thirties.
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 180 lbs

Eye Color: A grey commonly described as 'storm-grey' - his eyes appear a lighter, warmer grey when he is in a pleasant mood and darker when he is under stress, when his blood is up and when he intends to kill someone. This change is often the only sign that his current temperament has shifted.

Hair Color: Somewhere between blond and white, depending how much he's been in the sun recently. On longer travels his hair tends to turn whiter from exposure whereas prolonged stays in sheltered accommodation returns it to its naturally very pale blond.

Physical Disabilities:
-The little and middle fingers on his left hand are heavily scarred at the joints and he can no longer move them.
-A long, thin scar from just above his right eye halfway down his cheek.

Physical Identifiers:

• The scar over his right eye.
• A minor limp, he favours his right leg.

Appearance:

Julius' appearance is so plain, so mild that he could pass by near enough anyone and they would immediately forget that they had seen him. His hair is very pale but in such consistently bright sunlight it is hardly unusual for those born with the brighter shades to then see their hair turn a paler colour and so goes unremarked upon most of the time. Although his eyes are an unusual tint and have a seemingly unnatural glow it would take an observant person to then take notice of this, especially as the young man tends to wear spectacles a great deal of the time.

While pleasing to look upon, Julius lacks neither a chiselled jaw, strong cheekbones or any other feature of the face which might denote handsomeness to many. His jawbone is slightly rounded, although by the shape of his face rather than by excess fat, and his forehead is usually concealed by a loose lock of hair as he refuses to use any form of gel or other hair-fixing substance. His lips are neither thin nor especially full, although his mouth is a little smaller than one might expect of his size.

Indeed, even Julius' minor limp and the scarring around his eye can easily be dismissed; Dust is rarely a pleasant place to live and many travellers suffered injuries from traversing the unforgiving landscape and encounters with its even less charitable residents. His clothes similarly appear to be those of a traveller: his long sand-coloured coat is thin and light to protect his relatively pale skin from sun-burn and is slightly frayed at the edges from years of use, underneath he wears a white shirt with a small notebook tucked into the breast pocket while well-worn cargo pants of a similar colour to his coat cover his legs. These are in turn tucked into brown boots that might have been leather but are so coated in dirt and worn that it's difficult to tell.

Background

Residence: N/A - Traveller. Tends to stay within Motum Diversum and Gaen territories.
Profession: Teacher/archivist
Aligned Faction: None. He merely resides largely in Motum Diversum and Gaen lands.
Relatives: Ragnar ???? - Father (deceased)

Backstory

Julius does not know where he was born. He has little memory and no second-hand knowledge of his earliest years, his father being less interested in personal details and more keen to discuss and impart the latest knowledge with his great fervour for intellectual pursuits. His mother is unknown to him: slave, Gaen like his father or rich aristocratic lady; he knows nothing about her and most likely never will. This hardly concerns him though, being a firm believer in familial relations being established by communication rather than blood.

From as young as he can remember, Julius was taught by his father to value knowledge above all else. Man would not have survived The Fall without their advanced technologies and even now, they were reduced to scavengers in this dust-bowl of a world because they had lost so much of the old-world research. He had made it his task in life to rediscover and create new technology, from architectural advances through to other methods of energy collection. Unfortunately, he was not terribly successful and struggled with more difficult concepts.

Julius bore the brunt of this failing on his father's part, his only family member putting his lack of success down to an inadequate childhood education. Thus, Ragnar beat knowledge into Julius with almost religious passion. Somehow, despite their strained relationship, Julius did in fact gain a respect and love for the same intellectual pursuits as his father but his approached differed greatly. He had no interest in furthering them, rather he wished to spread existing knowledge to those who lacked it. So many lacked the ability to read or write and others had poor arithmetic skills and in his early teenage years he set upon rectifying this situation.

Things came to an unfortunate head when Ragnar dragged his reluctant young son to a research base attempting to harvest wind and turn it into usable power. Supposedly those before The Fall had done so successfully and it had been seen as one of the most progressive technologies of the time and so of course Ragnar had made it his life's endeavour to rediscover it. The base where a small team were attempting to build a so-called wind-farm was outside of Dresden, Ragnar theorising that distance from a settlement would improve the efficiency of energy collection.

It was almost inevitable that, on the cusp of what he thought would be his only lasting success, that Ragnar failed immeasurably. A violent dust storm hit the farm with extreme ferocity and very few shelters of substance had been constructed there. It was just after noon, as many were retiring for a short rest after their basic meal, when they first sited the storm. Ragnar insisted upon packing up much of the equipment they had brought, if it was lost it would be a monumental set back he might never recover from.

The dust storm hit much faster than they had expected and ripped up the wind farm in seconds. They all fled, slaves and researches alike trying to escape the unforgiving storm. In his last fatherly act, Ragnar hurled Julius into a the dubious shelter of a cave mouth moments before the storm proper took him in and rent his flesh from his bone. The young boy snapped his leg as he fell down the slope inside the cave and was stuck there for two days before an expedition came out to the disaster site to find out if anyone was left; or if there was anything worth salvaging.

Thankfully, Julius' new condition as an Immortal went unnoticed due to his unconscious state, the key identifier being the glow in his now storm-grey eyes. When he eventually awoke and discovered this new development he rapidly left the upper echelons of Dresden, fearing he would become a test subject or be merely killed by the anti-Immortal factions. Ever since he has limped on his left leg, despite the injury being fully healed. Julius himself suspects the pain he still feels is largely from his trauma of the event, wrapped up in the irony that his power was born at the same time a natural phenomenon killed his father.

Now he stays largely in slums or small villages, travelling and paying his way by giving children and illiterate adults an education. His mild nature wins over those afeared of his Immortal state and he leaves a grateful population behind with supplies to last him unto the next settlement. Occasionally he might work for archivists or as a scribe but he attempts to stay out of sight of the authorities in the case one averse to his existence takes issue with him.

Gear

Weapons:

• Quarterstaff: What appears to be merely a walking stick has steel encasing the hardened wood at both ends which gives it both additional weight and a much harder blow. With his athletic physique it would be easy for Julius to crack open an opponent's head with the weapon.
• Glock 19 9mm: A hardy small firearm Julius was gifted by a grateful gunsmith two years ago. It is still well serviced, largely because he has very rarely had to use it.

Armor: None - he's a travelling teacher and scholar.
Ammunition:

• Dirty Rounds: Two spare clips for his Glock as well as the one already loaded in the weapon (45 rounds in total).

Backpack:

• Pads of paper, largely poor quality.
• Several pens of various types (roller-ball, gel etc, whatever he can get his hands on) as well as his own elaborate fountain pen although he has no ink for its use.
• Flint and tinder.
• Canteen.
• Water purifying (iodine) tablets.
• Two changes of clothes.
• Food (when travelling - usually canned or a loaf of bread and some salted meat. Usually gifted to him by those whose children he educates).

Miscellaneous:

Immortalis Information

Manifested Phenomena: Air/Wind
Unique Abilities:

• Sharp ears: It's not that his hearing is enhanced, it's that Julius can detect the vibrations in the air caused by sound waves. The advantage is that he can hear something from far away coming or something out of the range of human hearing, the downside is that he can't necessarily work out what exactly is causing the noise unless it is a similar pattern to something else he has detected before.
• Cuts like a knife: Compressing air into a blade-like form, Julius can launch these unnatural javelins which will cut through nigh upon anything at enemies. His range isn't particularly long as the air will dissipate once out of the area he can affect.
• It's a bit windy out here: The obvious; Julius can launch a barrage of air at someone to, quite literally, blow them away.

Strengths:

• Erudite scholar: Julius is academically very talented. He can understand and apply concepts and theories with alarming speed and even expand on existing ones. While not specifically skilled in any one area he has a wide basis of knowledge. He also has a talent for passing this knowledge onto others.
• Silver tongue: When he is attempting to be diplomatic, Julius can assuage some of the most violent tempers with words and forge amicable agreement. His learning means he can negotiate for the wealthier families as well as resolve minor disputes in a public house.
• Strength of arms: He's not a crack shot and lacks the savage skill trained fighters and experienced raiders possess but his discipline and quick-thinking mind make Julius an effective melee fighter.

Weaknesses:

• Not a fan of claret: Although he does not mind the sight of blood, and certainly does not faint at the sight of it, Julius heavily dislikes life-threatening violence and will feel sick for days after inflicting serious injuries or seeing violent death. Considering the propensity many other Dust residents have for these acts can make Julius appear soft or cowardly.
• Intellectual elitism: He loves to teach and help. But only to those who wish to learn. Julius' disdain for those who refuse to acknowledge the importance of an education or, ironically, those who reject ideas other to their own is hard to disguise and has landed him in more than one or two difficult situations.
• Limp: Due to the injury he sustained as a teenager, Julius still limps slightly and cannot run with the alacrity of others despite his good physical condition. He also favours his right leg over-much in combat which can cause him to overbalance.

[Dirge]

Okay so it's been a weird week, but the other rp that I (and RedDusk) was in seems to have died??? So I'll have loads more time to do cool stuff with this after the weekend if you can be patient with me until then...

What I have so far

Basics

Name: Carl Strohm
Age: 29
Appeared Age: Late twenties
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 174 lbs
Eye Color: Dark Grey irises with one white spot beneath the pupil on his left eye and one white spot above the pupil on his right eye.
Hair Color: Deep reddish brown
Physical Disabilities: One weak lung and seven poorly healed broken ribs.
Physical Identifiers:

• Large indent on his right side under his breast, where his ribs healed poorly
• Small burns cover his hands and arms
• Missing the fourth and fifth digit on his right hand

Appearance: Carl is a man who cares little about first impressions. He keeps his unwashed hair unkemptly pushed behind his larger-than-normal ears to keep his vision clear. When his facial hair began to grow in when he was seventeen, he considered shaving it once and immediately scrapped the idea. Luckily for him, his reddish brown mustache and beard both grew in fully and (despite his lack of effort) he pulls the look off quite well.

Carl is fairly well built, holding extra muscle specifically in his legs due to his constant roaming. This strength is hidden, however, by the thick and baggy canvas pants that he crafted with an excess of pockets sewn into them to hold various equipment. The dufflebag which holds the majority of Carl's belongings is slung over his shoulder on one thick strap. The worn metal goggles he wears to protect his eyes from burns and small explosions hang loosely around his neck. All of this is covered by a thick beige hooded poncho.

Background

Residence: A small tent stored in his bag. Currently centered around the path between Forbes and Arclight.
Profession: Bandit
Aligned Faction: None
Relatives:

• Timothy Strohm - father(deceased)
• Margret Strohm - mother(deceased)

Backstory

Will fill in soon, I promise.
spoilers: Kills his own parents

Gear

Weapons:

(Tim and Marge): A pair of ornately detailed long-barreled .44 magnum pistols. 10.5 inch barrels.
(Trench club): One of his tent poles fashioned into a heavy melee weapon.

Armor: A heavy leather chestplate protects his upper body, but apart from that he wears little in the form of protection. Carl relies mostly on his stealth and his immortal ability to keep him safe.
Ammunition:

• Dirty Rounds: 52x .44 rounds
• High Grade Rounds: none
• Heavy Ammunition: 5x Homemade pipe bombs, 7x Homemade fragmentation mines, 23x Homemade fragmentation grenades

Duffle bag:

• Tent tarp, one tent pole, one trench club
• Small bag of dried meat
• Two cans of unlabeled food
• Four bottles of dirty water
• Two small bags containing explosives components
• Two extra shirts
• Scarf
• Scraps of fabric
• Sewing kit
• Homemade tumbleweed ghillie suit

Immortalis Information

Manifested Phenomena: Gravity
Unique Abilities:
Pressure Pillar: Carl increases the gravity in a specific area. Can range anywhere from the feeling of a heavy backpack to a bonecrushing pressure.
Weightless: Carl reduces the gravity in his immediate area enough to make high jumps and steep climbs much easier.
Detonate: In the event that his prey approaches a mine but fails to set it off, Carl increases the gravity above the mine to remotely detonate it. (This takes a significant amount of effort)
Strengths:
Explosives Expert: Extensive knowledge of explosives and how to build them. Specializes in mines and grenades.
Camouflage: Through years of solo survival as a bandit with a price on his head, Carl has honed his stealth skills. All of his gear is crafted to blend in perfectly with the sandy dunes of Dust.
Weaknesses:
Isolation: Years of living alone has caused Carl to forget many of society's intricacies. Too focused on the daily grind of murder, loot, repeat to find any other way of living. Would be completely incapable of spending more than ten minutes with a real human being.
Weak Lung: Carl's lung probably didn't heal right considering the dent on the side of his chest. He has trouble walking more than two or three miles at a time without taking breaks. Carl can't run at full speed for more than fifteen minutes without collapsing.

[Jinxer]

Okay, that's all done now.

@Dirge: I hope those hands are feeling a tad better now. It's incredibly frustrating to have difficulty using one's hands for everyday activities.

All of it

Basics

Source - kudos to the artist.

Name: Julius Ragnar(son)
Age: 27
Appeared Age: Mid-thirties.
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 180 lbs

Eye Color: A grey commonly described as 'storm-grey' - his eyes appear a lighter, warmer grey when he is in a pleasant mood and darker when he is under stress, when his blood is up and when he intends to kill someone. This change is often the only sign that his current temperament has shifted.

Hair Color: Somewhere between blond and white, depending how much he's been in the sun recently. On longer travels his hair tends to turn whiter from exposure whereas prolonged stays in sheltered accommodation returns it to its naturally very pale blond.

Physical Disabilities:
-The little and middle fingers on his left hand are heavily scarred at the joints and he can no longer move them.
-A long, thin scar from just above his right eye halfway down his cheek.

Physical Identifiers:

• The scar over his right eye.
• A minor limp, he favours his right leg.

Appearance:

Julius' appearance is so plain, so mild that he could pass by near enough anyone and they would immediately forget that they had seen him. His hair is very pale but in such consistently bright sunlight it is hardly unusual for those born with the brighter shades to then see their hair turn a paler colour and so goes unremarked upon most of the time. Although his eyes are an unusual tint and have a seemingly unnatural glow it would take an observant person to then take notice of this, especially as the young man tends to wear spectacles a great deal of the time.

While pleasing to look upon, Julius lacks neither a chiselled jaw, strong cheekbones or any other feature of the face which might denote handsomeness to many. His jawbone is slightly rounded, although by the shape of his face rather than by excess fat, and his forehead is usually concealed by a loose lock of hair as he refuses to use any form of gel or other hair-fixing substance. His lips are neither thin nor especially full, although his mouth is a little smaller than one might expect of his size.

Indeed, even Julius' minor limp and the scarring around his eye can easily be dismissed; Dust is rarely a pleasant place to live and many travellers suffered injuries from traversing the unforgiving landscape and encounters with its even less charitable residents. His clothes similarly appear to be those of a traveller: his long sand-coloured coat is thin and light to protect his relatively pale skin from sun-burn and is slightly frayed at the edges from years of use, underneath he wears a white shirt with a small notebook tucked into the breast pocket while well-worn cargo pants of a similar colour to his coat cover his legs. These are in turn tucked into brown boots that might have been leather but are so coated in dirt and worn that it's difficult to tell.

Background

Residence: N/A - Traveller. Tends to stay within Motum Diversum and Gaen territories.
Profession: Teacher/archivist
Aligned Faction: None. He merely resides largely in Motum Diversum and Gaen lands.
Relatives: Ragnar ???? - Father (deceased)

Backstory

Julius does not know where he was born. He has little memory and no second-hand knowledge of his earliest years, his father being less interested in personal details and more keen to discuss and impart the latest knowledge with his great fervour for intellectual pursuits. His mother is unknown to him: slave, Gaen like his father or rich aristocratic lady; he knows nothing about her and most likely never will. This hardly concerns him though, being a firm believer in familial relations being established by communication rather than blood.

From as young as he can remember, Julius was taught by his father to value knowledge above all else. Man would not have survived The Fall without their advanced technologies and even now, they were reduced to scavengers in this dust-bowl of a world because they had lost so much of the old-world research. He had made it his task in life to rediscover and create new technology, from architectural advances through to other methods of energy collection. Unfortunately, he was not terribly successful and struggled with more difficult concepts.

Julius bore the brunt of this failing on his father's part, his only family member putting his lack of success down to an inadequate childhood education. Thus, Ragnar beat knowledge into Julius with almost religious passion. Somehow, despite their strained relationship, Julius did in fact gain a respect and love for the same intellectual pursuits as his father but his approached differed greatly. He had no interest in furthering them, rather he wished to spread existing knowledge to those who lacked it. So many lacked the ability to read or write and others had poor arithmetic skills and in his early teenage years he set upon rectifying this situation.

Things came to an unfortunate head when Ragnar dragged his reluctant young son to a research base attempting to harvest wind and turn it into usable power. Supposedly those before The Fall had done so successfully and it had been seen as one of the most progressive technologies of the time and so of course Ragnar had made it his life's endeavour to rediscover it. The base where a small team were attempting to build a so-called wind-farm was outside of Dresden, Ragnar theorising that distance from a settlement would improve the efficiency of energy collection.

It was almost inevitable that, on the cusp of what he thought would be his only lasting success, that Ragnar failed immeasurably. A violent dust storm hit the farm with extreme ferocity and very few shelters of substance had been constructed there. It was just after noon, as many were retiring for a short rest after their basic meal, when they first sited the storm. Ragnar insisted upon packing up much of the equipment they had brought, if it was lost it would be a monumental set back he might never recover from.

The dust storm hit much faster than they had expected and ripped up the wind farm in seconds. They all fled, slaves and researches alike trying to escape the unforgiving storm. In his last fatherly act, Ragnar hurled Julius into a the dubious shelter of a cave mouth moments before the storm proper took him in and rent his flesh from his bone. The young boy snapped his leg as he fell down the slope inside the cave and was stuck there for two days before an expedition came out to the disaster site to find out if anyone was left; or if there was anything worth salvaging.

Thankfully, Julius' new condition as an Immortal went unnoticed due to his unconscious state, the key identifier being the glow in his now storm-grey eyes. When he eventually awoke and discovered this new development he rapidly left the upper echelons of Dresden, fearing he would become a test subject or be merely killed by the anti-Immortal factions. Ever since he has limped on his left leg, despite the injury being fully healed. Julius himself suspects the pain he still feels is largely from his trauma of the event, wrapped up in the irony that his power was born at the same time a natural phenomenon killed his father.

Now he stays largely in slums or small villages, travelling and paying his way by giving children and illiterate adults an education. His mild nature wins over those afeared of his Immortal state and he leaves a grateful population behind with supplies to last him unto the next settlement. Occasionally he might work for archivists or as a scribe but he attempts to stay out of sight of the authorities in the case one averse to his existence takes issue with him.

Gear

Weapons:

• Quarterstaff: What appears to be merely a walking stick has steel encasing the hardened wood at both ends which gives it both additional weight and a much harder blow. With his athletic physique it would be easy for Julius to crack open an opponent's head with the weapon.
• Glock 19 9mm: A hardy small firearm Julius was gifted by a grateful gunsmith two years ago. It is still well serviced, largely because he has very rarely had to use it.

Armor: None - he's a travelling teacher and scholar.
Ammunition:

• Dirty Rounds: Two spare clips for his Glock as well as the one already loaded in the weapon (45 rounds in total).

Backpack:

• Pads of paper, largely poor quality.
• Several pens of various types (roller-ball, gel etc, whatever he can get his hands on) as well as his own elaborate fountain pen although he has no ink for its use.
• Flint and tinder.
• Canteen.
• Water purifying (iodine) tablets.
• Two changes of clothes.
• Food (when travelling - usually canned or a loaf of bread and some salted meat. Usually gifted to him by those whose children he educates).

Miscellaneous:

Immortalis Information

Manifested Phenomena: Air/Wind
Unique Abilities:

• Sharp ears: It's not that his hearing is enhanced, it's that Julius can detect the vibrations in the air caused by sound waves. The advantage is that he can hear something from far away coming or something out of the range of human hearing, the downside is that he can't necessarily work out what exactly is causing the noise unless it is a similar pattern to something else he has detected before.
• Cuts like a knife: Compressing air into a blade-like form, Julius can launch these unnatural javelins which will cut through nigh upon anything at enemies. His range isn't particularly long as the air will dissipate once out of the area he can affect.
• It's a bit windy out here: The obvious; Julius can launch a barrage of air at someone to, quite literally, blow them away.

Strengths:

• Erudite scholar: Julius is academically very talented. He can understand and apply concepts and theories with alarming speed and even expand on existing ones. While not specifically skilled in any one area he has a wide basis of knowledge. He also has a talent for passing this knowledge onto others.
• Silver tongue: When he is attempting to be diplomatic, Julius can assuage some of the most violent tempers with words and forge amicable agreement. His learning means he can negotiate for the wealthier families as well as resolve minor disputes in a public house.
• Strength of arms: He's not a crack shot and lacks the savage skill trained fighters and experienced raiders possess but his discipline and quick-thinking mind make Julius an effective melee fighter.

Weaknesses:

• Not a fan of claret: Although he does not mind the sight of blood, and certainly does not faint at the sight of it, Julius heavily dislikes life-threatening violence and will feel sick for days after inflicting serious injuries or seeing violent death. Considering the propensity many other Dust residents have for these acts can make Julius appear soft or cowardly.
• Intellectual elitism: He loves to teach and help. But only to those who wish to learn. Julius' disdain for those who refuse to acknowledge the importance of an education or, ironically, those who reject ideas other to their own is hard to disguise and has landed him in more than one or two difficult situations.
• Limp: Due to the injury he sustained as a teenager, Julius still limps slightly and cannot run with the alacrity of others despite his good physical condition. He also favours his right leg over-much in combat which can cause him to overbalance.

[TheMadAsshatter]

I find it odd that wind-based powers haven't come up sooner.

[Jinxer]

@TheMadAsshatter

My thoughts exactly. Although it would be easy to go overboard and become OP so some might stay clear of it - hence why I created what is essentially a pacifist.

[RedDusk]

True...I just avoid any power that can be used to throw people around. I don't trust myself with that sort of thing.

[Darcs]

@Jinxer But is that still only most of it? Because I like, and I'd say accepted if you're finished.

Bento had similar wind powers.

But that guy is gone and forgotten.

[TheMadAsshatter]

Oh... Right... Forgot about him.

[Jinxer]

@Darcs It's all done now, forgot to change the hider tag when I copied.it from my earlier post.