ItIsJustMe

Fantasy story for 1 writer (3-6 characters); VERY simplistic dice rolling game/story

I think this sounds fun! I'd be interested in giving it a shot at least.

@Birdboy

Wonderful! Right now, I'm away from my computer and I don't want to do this on my phone.

But if you want, you can go to the IC thread (the link is in my post above) and write an introductory post for your character: male or female, doesn't matter; prospective warrior, wizard, thief, archer, etc. also doesn't matter, though in the long run I think you will want at least 3 characters; human, though, as the other races won't come into the story for a few RP days or weeks.

Or if you have more questions first, feel free to send them to me.

"Revolution: Minnehanonck"

It was after 4am before Neighborhood Watch Captain Kimmie Dolan showed up at the Tram Terminal, accompanied by a new face. She introduced Carlton Grimes to Officer Naomi Wilde, explaining, "He was the only one at the fire station."

"I'm sorry, Hondo," the big, buff, Black fireman apologized. "There's panic everywhere. The three on shift with me split to check on their families. I've never seen anything like that before. None of us have ever seen anything like this before." He expressed the same feeling others had about the Blackout being caused by an EMP weapon, then explained, "None of the equipment was functional, so the guys -- and gal, sorry -- didn't see any reason for sticking around and leaving their families sitting in the dark scared to death. I mean, have you seen the fires? Those were jets fallin' out of the sky." Some automatic gunfire off in the far distance preceded Carlton's comment, "And have you heard the gunfire? What the fuck?"

The three -- Hondo, Carlton, and Kimmie -- chatted about the situation a moment before Naomi pointed to a long, heavy metal bar in the fire fighter's hand. With a touch of humor she asked, "So, I take it that's our key to this door?"

Carlton answered the question by stepping up to the barrier, ramming the wedge end of the bar in between the two matching doors, and pulling back. With a great grunt, he forced one of the doors to pop free. He tossed the bar aside with a loud, metal on blacktop clanging, and waved a welcoming hand toward the opening. "Ladies first."

"Oh, hell, no," Naomi said. She gestured Hondo forward instead, saying, "Brawn before beauty."

There was laughter, and -- seeing Hondo snatch up his own -- Naomi offered her bodega lantern to Carlton, telling him, "You're next. I'll guard the rear."

...............................

Almost a football length above the East River, the initial general panic of the passengers in the stationary Tram Car had faded and only a few of the 15 people on board were still verbally expressing their fear or anger. On their chairs near the Manhattan, front end of the Car, the Hendersons were all holding each other tightly against another concern: the growing cold. The heaters in the Tram weren't working any more than were the lights or emergency phone, and people were beginning to feel the feels like temperature which -- in the past 5 hours and up here in a wind that was beginning to strengthen -- had dropped to the low 40s.

"I can see people down there," a guy near the Roosevelt Island, back end of the car said. Answering another person's question, he added, "I dunno, I can't tell if they're working to get us out of here or not. Maybe they're just standing around."

"Laughing at us," someone said, leading to some back-and-forth comments between passengers who did or didn't find such conversation humorous. The same person who'd made the joke said, "I'm more concerned about that!"

He pointed off toward the Rockefeller University Building, which by now was nearly fully engulfed in a still growing conflagration. Viola studied the flames a moment, then quietly asked someone near her who'd agreed with the worried comment, "Why should we be worried about that?"

The man just beyond her son pointed not to the Rockefeller but to the building beside it. "One building sets the next on fire, then the next, then the next ... and before you know it, it's right out there--"

He pointed directly ahead, toward the Manhattan Terminal of the Tram, finishing, "--melting the cables that're keeping us up in the air."

In her arms, Angela began crying again, signaling that she'd awoken again from her sleep; she murmurred, "I want Daddy. Where's Daddy?"

Viola hugged both kids tightly, telling them, "Don't worry, Daddy'll be at the end of the Tram ride to meet us, I promise."

Of course, Viola couldn't be certain of that for a multitude of reasons: first, Robert couldn't be certain that his family had made this particular transit on the Tram, thus he might not have any idea that they were up here; second, the family resided in and Robert worked in Greenville, the southernmost portion of Jersey City, which put both the Hudson River and the island of Manhattan between him and his family's current location; and, very obviously, the Blackout seemed to be affecting the entirety of the New York Metro Area -- including automobiles -- which meant that Robert couldn't use either the family car or public transportation to get to either the Manhattan or Roosevelt Island Terminals ... neither of which Viola thought she and her children were likely to get to anytime soon!

"Revolution: Minnehanonck"

Links to Helpful Pages

A Synopsis of Our Story

"Revolution: Minnehanonck"

Naomi Wilde

Physical Description (if you wish to post one):

• Image
• Black; she doesn't like the term "African-American".
• 23 years old
• 5'7"; 34B-26-36; tight, fit body; excellent physical fitness
• Hair
• Dark brown eyes.
• Tattoos (to be described later)

Personality:

• Confident; potentially fierce if need be.
• Compassionate; fair minded; liberal thinking.
• Dedicated to law and order and equality.
• Bisexual; not overly promiscuous, but she does like sex.
• Changes to her personality from the Blackout:
  
  • Too early to tell.

Personal History (pre-Blackout):

• (More coming)
• Graduated from the Police Academy in 2018.
• Assigned to a Queens NYPD Precinct (her hometown).
• She transferred to Roosevelt Island the day of the Blackout.

Personal History (post-Blackout):

• 3 April 2022 -- The Day of the Blackout

  • Her first day at the Public Safety Department (PSD) location at 550 Main St on Roosevelt Island. (Map link); its historical, pre-European settlement name was Minnehanonck, fyi).
  • Excited, she reported at 6pm, 6 hours early.
  • The Desk Sergeant, Helen Davis, told Naomi to go to the "Officers Quiet Room" to take a nap.
  • At 11:11pm, when the Blackout occurred.
  • With no power and no working flashlights, Naomi went to the Wholesome Cafe & Grocery a couple of doors down the block (530 Main Street) to get candles; the bodega also had souvenir lanterns.
  • She met Maria Gonzales at the bodega.
  • Later, Naomi was assigned as a "liaison" to Neighborhood Watch Coordinator Frank "Hondo" O'Connor.
  • Their first major task was to assist those people trapped in the Roosevelt Tram car that was dangling 250 feet in the air, 1,000 feet out over the East River.
• .

Possessions of interest:

• 9mm Beretta service weapon; quantity of ammunition available to her through the PSD is unknown at this time (3 April 2022) but is presumed to be relatively plentiful.
• Collapsible baton, handcuffs, whistle, and other standard police issue gear on her belt.
• Currently non-functioning gear would also include her cell phone, police radio, taser, etc.
• .
• .

"Revolution: Minnehanonck"

Simply "Quote" this page and fill in the spaces to create your character. I may find that I have omitted a valuable question or two; if I do, I will add them here and send you a PM telling you of the addition. If you see something you think should be added, PM it to me; I will add it and inform the other writers of your contribution and their need to add it to their profile. You do not HAVE to use my layout below; it DOES however make reading profiles easier if they are all put together with a similar format, though.

Name

Physical Description (if you wish to post one):

• Image
• Age
• Body type, shape
• Hair
• Eyes.
• Other

Personality (add whatever you want):

• .
• .
• .
• .
• Changes to their personality from the Blackout:
  
  
  
  • .
  • .
  • .

Personal History (pre-Blackout):

• .
• .
• .
• .
• .

Personal History (post-Blackout):

• 3 April 2022:
• .
• .
• .
• .

Possessions of interest:

• .
• .
• .
• .

"Revolution: Minnehanonck"

Once each of you begins posting your Character Profiles, I will put links to them here.

"Revolution: Minnehanonck"

A Synopsis of Our Story

Pre-Blackout

• 2018:
  
  • Naomi Wilde graduated from the Police Academy. She was assigned to a Queens NYPD Precinct (her hometown).

In the hours leading up to the Blackout

• Naomi Wilde reported for her first day at the NYPD's Public Safety Department (PSD) location at 550 Main St on Roosevelt Island (Map Link).
• Helen Davis was as Desk Sergeant.
• Maria Gonzales (profile coming), whose family owns the bodega.
• Beverly Harper: coming.
• The Henderson Family: coming.
• Frank "Hondo" O'Connor: coming.

3 April 2022 (Sunday): the first 13 hours of the Blackout (11:11pm to Noon)

• 11:11pm: the Blackout occurred.
• Naomi Wilde went to the Wholesome Cafe & Grocery (Map Link; 530 Main Street) for candles and souvenir lanterns.
• Naomi met Maria Gonzales (profile coming), whose family owns the bodega. Maria (who is gay) found Naomi (who is bisexual) attractive. (Naomi's reaction to Maria was not stated at the time.)
• Naomi was assigned as a "liaison" to Neighborhood Watch Coordinator Frank "Hondo" O'Connor (profile link coming). Together, they went to the Roosevelt Island Tram terminal to tend to a situation; the Henderson Family (profile link coming) and others were dangling in the stalled Tram car, 250 feet in the air, 1,000 feet out over the East River.
• More coming (when I feel better).

"Revolution: Minnehanonck"

Monday, April 4 2022 -- 3am

Naomi Wilde was only 3 hours into her first shift at the NYPD's Roosevelt Island Public Service Department, and yet it was already the most exciting day of her 3 years on the job. After leaving Maria and Beverly at the luxury condo of the latter's one night stand, Naomi headed back across the street toward the PSD, just half a block away.

She found the sidewalk mobbed by at least two dozen people, a combination of Island residents, other New Yorkers, and tourists. On the sidewalk, two fires burned in metal containers, intentionally built to provide light to the area.

"What can I do?" Naomi asked her Sergeant once she fought her way through the crowd to the business side of the front desk.

"Hondo!" Helen Davis called toward a group of men and women standing off to one side. A large, rather intimidating man wearing a cowboy hat, denim jeans, and a leather jacket came nearer. The Sergeant tossed him a reflective vest, saying with an feigned apologetic tone as she waggled an extended finger toward his outfit, "Sorry it doesn't match your bad boy look."

"Reflectors?" he asked, chuckling. "Not sure there's anything out there to reflect off me, but..."

To Naomi, Hellen said, "This is Frank O'Connor. Round here, we call him Hondo"

Naomi smiled, saying, "You do look like him a bit ... only bigger still." When the big man didn't respond, she clarified, "John Wayne ... Hondo?" She shrugged, explaining, "Grampa was a big fan of The Duke."

"Hondo here is Coordinator of the Roosevelt Island Neighborhood watch," the Sergeant told Naomi. "Go with him. He'll introduce you to the Block Captains. You're filling in for our Neighborhood Watch Liaison, who -- wouldn't you know it -- just happens to be the Officer you replaced. Congrats. Now, go! Go find out what we're facing."

Naomi confirmed the order and followed Hondo and the others out to the street. By the time they got outside, they found Vladimir Federov speaking to the crowd. Vladimir was one of the other two Officers RIPs Officers on duty at the time of the Blackout. (The nickname came from the station's acronym, RIPSD)

From the park bench on which he stood, Vladimir was trying his best to explain how the current situation prioritized how the RIPs would deal with those situations, be they issues of life and death, missing persons, vandalism and/or looting, and more.

The crowd was talking over Vladimir for the most part; each of those surrounding him thought his or her problem was the most important one, of course. Hondo pushed through the crowd and joined the lean,5'8" Officer on the bench; his own barrel chested, 6'6", 270# size quieted some of the crowd immediately, but it was when he scuffed the end of a road flare, bringing the bright red burning flame to light and hollered "Shut up!" that silence finally reigned.

He chastised the crowd for the way it was acting, then told them, "We're all a bit scared ... and we're all a bit panicked. But trust me: the world isn't going to end tonight. We're not going to learn anything about what happened or solve anything acting like a mob of lunatics." He looked to Vladimir again, telling him, "Go ahead, speak your piece ... again."

The Officer once again asked people to move off in three directions: life and death emergencies into the PSD; missing persons to the left of the doors; and everyone else to the right. "We will get to each and every one of you in priority order."

Hondo said with a firm voice, "And if you think that your expensive quiche thawing out and getting ruined is a life-or-death situation and get into that line ... you're gonna find yourself tossed out into the street and not helped at all."

"Continue your good work, officer," the big man encouraged Vladimir as he descended to the sidewalk. He joined Naomi again, telling her, "C'm'on, I'll introduce you to the crew."

But a moment later the pair were cut off by a panicked woman: "The Tram ... it's stuck, hanging over the river. There's people in it."

Hondo and Naomi looked to each other with the same expression that came from the same thought: How come no one thought of that yet? Naomi's reason, of course, was that today was her first day working on the island; Hondo's was that -- despite having lived on Roosevelt Island for almost 5 years -- he'd never once ridden the aerial transport so it simply wasn't his first thought.

"Revolution: Minnehanonck"

Sunday, April 3 2022 -- Afternoon, before the Blackout
Roosevelt Island

The Henderson Family -- Viola and her children, Ben and Angela -- had taken the Roosevelt Island Tram to the island of the same name for a day of touristy stuff, something they often did when Viola's Husband, Terrance, an MTA driver, was covering a Sunday shift for the very nice overtime money it offered. With a combination of walking and riding on the free Roosevelt Island Red Bus, they'd taken in the Blackwell House, the Light House known by the same name, the Octogon, Four Freedoms Park, and the incredible view of Manhattan from that park and from other locations.

They'd had lunch and dinner, and timing their departure from the island perfectly, they'd intended to be on the return voyage of the Tram in time to see the sun going down between the skyscrapers of Manhattan's Midtown District.

Their plans changed, suddenly, when Angela -- who had been showing signs of fatigue -- suddenly leaned away from her mother and brother and puked all over the ground. Viola thought maybe she'd just eaten too much at first, but checking the 6 year old's forehead, she found Angela burning up with a fever.

They caught a taxi to an Urgent Care a few blocks away, and after a couple of hours of waiting, Angela was seen and diagnosed with a simple case of food poisoning. The Registered Nurse treated the girl with fluids and more, and after keeping her around for another hour or so to ensure she would be fine, sent the family on their way with lollipops for the kids and a hefty bill for their mother.

They'd missed the sunset by hours, but as the Tram was still operating, they took a second taxi to the station and boarded the aerial transport.

It left the Roosevelt Island Station at 11:10 pm.

A minute later, when the Tram car was a quarter of the way to Manhattan and over the East River, the Blackout struck. The car rocked forward, then back, then again both ways several times in ever decreasing distances until finally it settled almost perfect still in a windless night. There were varying levels of disappointment and/or fear initially; the Tram Operator found his radio as dead as his Car, and without it told everyone to remain calm and that the power would certainly come back within minutes, in not seconds.

That didn't happen, of course, and soon -- just as was Beverly Harper -- the occupants of the stalled vehicle were seeing the same fiery explosions all across the Metro Area as aircraft fell to their final and tragic destinations. Regardless of how frightening they were, the crashes with their bright fire balls and thick black smoke were all at what Viola thought were safe distances from her and her children.

Then, several minutes after the last of the explosions, one more occurred directly to the north of the Tram Car, on the Manhattan waterfront. Someone said they thought it was on the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive and might have been a crashed fuel truck maybe; someone else pointed out that the fire looked to be directly under the Rockefeller University, which Viola thought she remembered was primarily a Medical School and also had a hospital in the facility.

Over the next hours, they watched as the fire engulfed not only that building but several others around it. There was no sign of response by fire responders at all: no fire trucks, no police cruisers, no ambulances, no fireboats on the East River. The fire, left to its nature, simply ran wild.

"Revolution: Manhattan"

Here's the new thread, if anyone is interested: Revolution: Minnehanonck