ONL

Call of Cthulhu - Day of the Beast

Excellent, then I'm looking forward to seeing how you fare! :P

Call of Cthulhu - Day of the Beast

@ONL Thanks for the answer! Yeah, like I said I totally understand why the rule is there, but sometimes hours or even a day later I reread my post and see a horrible typo and just think, how the heck could that have slipped by the first time? Then I just have to get rid of the evidence

As for character, I was thinking someone simple, like a personal assistant to a newspaper editor or similar... someone that gets sent there to see if the claims are true and it would be worth their employer's time or if it's all bogus. Of course, once it's revealed that something sinister is going on, they get caught up in it.

@Yankee

Know the feeling, it hurts so bad to read it later!

I like the sound of that. We can hammer out what type of newspaper/magazine he works for later and all that ^^ Something that fits a possible one-shot later on after the first chapter. Welcome aboard! Have you played Call of Cthulhu before?

Call of Cthulhu - Day of the Beast

@rivaan Huzzah!

Call of Cthulhu - Day of the Beast

@Yankee I'm glad to have your interest! Good question, and I guess the answer is no for normal typos. It's more aimed towards changing your character's actions or observations. For typos I'll allow it.

Did you have a character in mind? So far I've heard from a bird we've got a private detective in the works.

Edit: I mean I hope the RP can improve all our skills in writing, but hey, I get what you mean :P

Call of Cthulhu - Day of the Beast

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Call of Cthulhu - Day of the Beast

"The Year is 1927. For America it is a time of growth and prosperity. Lon Chaney, Babe Ruth, and Charlie Chan are celebrities, while the average young American enjoys speakeasies, jazz and the new "talkies". All that is about to change. A young psychic by the name of Paul LeMond has seen the future, and it is a sight which has driven him insane." - Call of Cthulhu, Day of the Beast.

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Overview

Setting: The United States of America, but many more places awaits us all.
Time Frame: Late 1920's, the golden age of jazz and everything illegal.
Magic Availability: Haha, good joke. But seriously there may be magic, though beware your sanity.
RPG system: Call of Cthulhu - 7th Edition

Welcome to Call of Cthulhu, the fan favourite tabletop RPG that's both entertained and terrified their players for decades! Not in the least me, who absolutely love this game! I'm happy to present to you lucky few investigators a campaign that will send you across the globe to stop the world from chaos, madness and destruction. I'm looking for a group of four to five devote players to partake in this adventure, in order to better manage the story. But before we're presented with the story, what exactly is "Call of Cthulhu"?

Call of Cthulhu is a tabletop roleplaying game made by Chaosium, based on the fictional works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other authors who have contributed to what is known as the "Cthulhu Mythos". To quote the Wikipedia article on said topic, "An ongoing theme in Lovecraft's work is the complete irrelevance of mankind in the face of the cosmic horrors that apparently exist in the universe." These horrors, either beings associated with gods or inhuman monsters, are either unaware or simply not interested in humanity. Those who do use humanity for their own evil purposes through their many cults around the world, or seek to wipe us off the face of the Earth for good. But what about us, humanity?

Not only are us non-hairy primates insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe. Humanity would go mad if we were to know the awful truth; "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."

What is the goal of Call of Cthulhu then? What are you supposed to do? The player characters, referred to as "investigators", are normal human beings with average jobs who live every day lives. Mostly. For one reason or another, your investigator gets involved in a mystery connected to the Cthulhu Mythos. Either directly or indirectly caused by the dark powers unknown to mankind, your goal is to solve the mystery and make sure the Mythos doesn't cause more damaged than already done. This of course strains the investigators mental health, their amount of sanity. The more you learn about the truth about the cosmic horrors, the closer you crawl towards the abyss of madness. Lucky investigators die as heroes, while the rest live long enough to become the villains themselves. Until then, you are the first and last line of defense against the Elder Gods, Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep and the rest of the Mythos.

Good luck, you will all need it.

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Plot

Our story begins in the summer of 1927. Charles Lindberg, the aviation hero, is paraded through the street of New York after his solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The Great Mississippi Flood affects up to 700 000 Americans, while the Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti are excecuted for murder. Mount Rushmore gets its first chizel. The silent movie "Wings", the only of its kind to win an Academy Award, is premiered. It is still two years until the economy crashes, and for all the underlying tension in the American society, the future is bright.

We find you and the investigators in the village of Corbis Wood, New Hampshire. For one reason or another, you have all decided to travel to the supposedly haunted Tannerhill house - Either through reading an advertisement in your local newspapers or being contacted by the spiritualist Paul LeMond, his agent Herb Whitefield or the man owning the haunted house, Robert Carrington. You all are about to attend the publicized seanse that seeks to verify the validity of Mr. LeMond. Are you there to support a good friend, experience the occult and supernatural, or just for a good laugh at someone believing too hard in ghosts?

Whatever your intentions with the coming weekend in the Tannerhill house may have been, the following events will thrust you and your investigator onto a path that will take you across the world on an adventure. An adventure to save the world from an evil cult and the summoning of "The Beast". Only time will tell who this cult is and what the beast is, but one is certain. If left to their own devices, the world as we know it will be cleansed in madness. So step forth you investigators; doctors, librarians, scientists, private detectives, adventures and mechanics! The world, though it does not know it yet, needs you.

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Rules

• GM's word is law. Discussions and in-put is much appriciated during the course of the campaign, but I have the final say on whatever matter is on the table.
• Previous experience and rulebooks. I'm not requiring previous experience with Call of Cthulhu for participation in the RP, neither that you actually own the Investigator's Handbook. Both are of course recommended and useful, but if not I will be assisting as much as I can. The free CoC quick-start rules is a recommend quick read to get the gist of the rules.
• Posting-Habits. In order to keep the story going on for as long as I think it will take, players are required to post at least once a week. If you can't make that commitment, this campaign is not for you. A post consisting of something between 200-250 words spread between paragraphs is desired.
• Even more posting-habits! Posts are to written with a provided header that includes character's portrait, location, skills used, current HP and Sanity Points. Edits to your own posts are prohbitited, and must be given permission by me in case an edit is needed.
• Realism and Horror! This is a slice-of-life RP, where actions have real consequences for your characters and their surrounding world. Only realistic characters are accepted, in true Lovecraft fashion. Terrible things will happen that your characters can't simply shrug off. Prepare for gore, cursing and such will occur.
• No Meta-gaming. Seriously, this is the worst. Know the difference between player knowledge and character knowledge. The characters will learn the horrific truth in the end, it's the slow burn that's fun.
• Character Creation. Only characters made using the Guild's built-in dice roller and the character sheet provided below will be accepted. You're mostly free to decide for yourself who and what your character will be, though I reserve the right to request changes I see fit. Believable characters are more fun to play. Only characters ACCEPTED by me personally can be placed in the character thread and gain entry to the story.
• Skills skills skill. Throughout the RP we'll be using skill rolls to determine what your characters can or cannot do. CoC uses a percentage-system, meaning that a skill has a certain percentage chance of being successful compared to how many skillpoints have been invested in said skill. Either I'll request a roll from your characters in the Keeper's Post, or you can request a roll that sounds appropriate for the occasion. In order to get your rolls, go to the Guild's dice roller and create your own campaign under the name "Call of Cthulhu - Day of the beast: Your Character Name". Remember to link the campaign to your character under the "Anything else" section, and link the respective roll in your posts when done. Add a description to what the roll was for.
• Have fun! No matter the rules and cosmic horror I as Keeper hold, we're all here to have fun, aren't we? I certainly am, and steps will be taken in order for the story to remain entertaining in the long run.

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Character Sheet

Here is the provided character sheet we'll be using. Copy-paste the text and fill it out as approriate. Remember to pick a different colour than what's provided in the code as it is, to add at least one character portrait that fits your character and ask for my approval before they're accepted into the RP. If in any doubt and in need of assistence, PLEASE do ask! Better to ask once too much than too little.

CS Code

[hr.][hr.][h1][b][i][color=6ecff6][center]Character Name[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h1]
[center][img]Character Image[/img][/center]
[hr.][hr.][h3][b][i][color=6ecff6][center]Character Summary[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h3]

[color=6ecff6][b]Name:[/b][/color] (Full name)
[color=6ecff6]Aliases:[/color] (Nicknames, previous names, maiden names, etc.)
[color=6ecff6][b]Age:[/b][/color]
[color=6ecff6][b]Gender:[/b][/color]
[color=6ecff6][b]Birthplace:[/b][/color] (List both city and country if applicable.)
[color=6ecff6][b]Residence:[/b][/color] (Your characters current place of residence, where you live.)
[color=6ecff6][b]Occupation:[/b][/color] (What your character does for a living. Can be chosen from a list during character creation, just ask and I'll help if needed.)

[hr.][center][img]Character Image[/img][/center][hr.][h3][b][i][color=6ecff6][center]Appearance and Physical attributes[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h3]

[table=bordered]
[row][cell][center][color=6ecff6][b]⊰Strength⊱[/b][/color]
[i]3d6 X 5[/i][/center][/cell][cell][center][color=6ecff6][b]⊰Constistution⊱[/b][/color]
[i]3d6 X 5[/i][/center][/cell][cell][center][color=6ecff6][b]⊰Size⊱[/b][/color]
[i]2d6+6 X 5[/i][/center][/cell][cell][center][color=6ecff6][b]⊰Dexterity⊱[/b][/color]
[i]3d6 X 5[/i][/center][/cell][cell][center][color=6ecff6][b]⊰Apperance⊱[/b][/color]
[i]3d6 X 5[/i][/center][/cell][cell][center][color=6ecff6][b]⊰Hit Points⊱[/b][/color]
[i]Size + Constitution /10, rounded down[/i][/center][/cell]
[/row]
[/table]

[color=6ecff6][b]Physical description[/b][/color]
[b][color=6ecff6]Height:[/color][/b]
[b][color=6ecff6]Weight:[/color][/b]
[b][color=6ecff6]Build:[/color][/b]
[b][color=6ecff6]Eyes:[/color][/b]
[b][color=6ecff6]Hair:[/color][/b]
[b][color=6ecff6]Skin Tone:[/color][/b]
[b][color=6ecff6]Tattoos/Scars/Piercings:[/color][/b] (Not neccecarry unless you think it fits your character.)
[b][color=6ecff6]Personal Style:[/color][/b]

[hr.][center][img]Character Image[/img][/center][hr.][h3][b][i][color=6ecff6][center]Psychology and Mental Attributes[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h3]

[table=bordered]
[row][cell][center][color=6ecff6][b]⊰Intelligence⊱[/b][/color]
[i]2d6+6 X 5[/i][/center][/cell][cell][center][color=6ecff6][b]⊰Education⊱[/b][/color]
[i]2d6+6 X 5[/i][/center][/cell][cell][center][color=6ecff6][b]⊰Power⊱[/b][/color]
[i]3d6 X 5[/i][/center][/cell][cell][center][color=6ecff6][b]⊰Luck⊱[/b][/color]
[i]3d6 X 5[/i][/center][/cell][cell][center][color=6ecff6][b]⊰Sanity Points⊱[/b][/color]
[i]Equal to Power[/i][/center][/cell][cell][center][color=6ecff6][b]⊰Magic Points⊱[/b][/color]
[i]Equal to Power/5[/i][/center][/cell][/row]
[/table]

[i][color=6ecff6][center][color=00a651]Positive Trait[/color] * [color=ed1c24]Negative Trait[/color] * [color=00a651]Positive Trait[/color] * [color=ed1c24]Negative Trait[/color] * [color=00a651]Positive Trait[/color] * [color=ed1c24]Negative Trait[/color][/center][/color][/i]

[b][color=6ecff6]Sexuality:[/color][/b] (What your characters true sexuality is, even though they may not be aware of it. This is set in stone when submitted, and a character deemed 1 sexuality may not flip to be attracted to something else later on)
[b][color=6ecff6]Relationship Status:[/color][/b] (Remember if you place Marries, Engaged, Dating - no Rper may play your significant other - They will be a Non-playable NPC that is only referenced)
[b][color=6ecff6]Personality:[/color][/b] Minimal 2 paragraphs that tells us how the characters mind works
[b][color=6ecff6]Habits:[/color][/b] Minimal 2
[b][color=6ecff6]Hobbies:[/color][/b] At least 1
[b][color=6ecff6]Greatest fear:[/color][/b] Your character's main big fear, something that WILL make your character act unhinged. Must be something tangiable and possible. Fears like "dying", "death" and the like is not accepted.
[list]
[*][/list]
[b][color=6ecff6]Likes:[/color][/b] 6 minimal
[list][*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*][/list]
[b][color=6ecff6]Dislikes:[/color][/b] 6 minimal
[list][*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*][/list]

[hr.][center][img]Character Image[/img][/center][hr.][h3][b][i][color=6ecff6][center]Cards On The Table[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h3]
[center][color=6ecff6][h2]Skills[/h2][/color][/center]
Call of Cthulhu is notorious for it's long list of skills, but it will become managable for you in no time! Here are the offical list of skills used in Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition with they base percentage chance of success listed. Just give me a call during character creation and in-case you need some help. I'm more than happy to help!

[hider=Skills]
[list]
[*]Accounting - 05%
[*]Anthropology - 01%
[*]Appraise - 05%
[*]Archaeology - 01%
[*]Art/Craft - 05%
-Insert craft if specified by your occupation.
[*]Charm - 15%
[*]Climb - 20%
[*]Credit rating - 00%
-Based on your occupation. Occupation skill point must be used to raise your credit rating.
[*]Cthulhu Mythos - 00%
-Cannot be raised by normal means, only by being exposed to the Mythos. Increased skills in CM reduced your maximum sanity.
[*]Disguise - 05%
[*]Dodge - Half dexterity %
-Can be added onto with skill points during character creation.
[*]Drive auto - 20%
[*]Electrial Repair - 10%
[*]Fast Talk - 05%
[*]Fighting (Brawl) - 25%
-Other means of fighting may be added here during character creation.
[*]Firearms (Handgun) - 20%
[*]Firearms (Rifle/Shotgun) - 25%
-Other forms of firearms may be added here during character creation.
[*]First Aid - 30%
[*]History - 05%
[*]Indimidate - 15%
[*]Jump - 20%
[*]Language (Other) - 01%
-May be added during character creation, either from your occupation or personal skill.
[*]Language (Own) - Equal to Education
[*]Law - 05%
[*]Library Use - 20%
[*]Listen - 20 %
[*]Locksmith - 01%
[*]Mechanical Repair - 10%
[*]Medicine - 01%
[*]Natural World - 10%
[*]Navigate - 10%
[*]Occult - 05%
[*]Operate Heavy Machinery - 01%
[*]Persuade - 10%
[*]Pilot - 01%
-What type of pilot you are is deteremined by your occupation or personal skills.
[*]Psychology - 10%
[*]Psychoanalysis - 01%
[*]Ride - 05%
[*]Science - 01%
-What field of science you are skilled in, is determined by your occupation or personal skills.
[*]Sleight of hand - 10%
[*]Spot Hidden - 25%
[*]Stealth - 20%
[*]Survival - 10%
-What climate and/or terrain you are skilled in surviving, is determined by your occupation or personal skills.
[*]Swim - 20%
[*]Track - 10%
[*][b]Additionl slots of not listed skills[/b]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[/list][/hider]

[center][h2][color=6ecff6]Weapons and Combat[/color][/h2][/center]

[color=6ecff6][b]Damage Bonus:[/b][/color] Strenght + Size, match against DB-table: 65-84 equals -1 in DB, 85-124 equals + DB, 125-164 equals 1d4 DB
[color=6ecff6][b]Build:[/b][/color] Strength + Size, match against Build-table: 65-84 equals -1, 85-124 equals + 0, 125-164 equals DB
[color=6ecff6][b]Dodge:[/b][/color] Same as the skill "Dodge"

Weapons:
[list][*]Unarmed: Regular Success - Hard Success Extreme Success - Damage (1d3 + DB)- Range (N/A) - Attacks (1) - Ammo (N/A) - Malfunction (N/A)
[*]Weapon name: Regular Success - Hard Success Extreme Success - Damage - Range - Attacks - Ammo - Malfunction
[*]
[*]
[/list]

[b][color=6ecff6]What Is On Your Person:[/color][/b]
This includes your clothing, jewelry, your wallet, your id, your keys; cash(denote which country), a picture (a rare thing), papers and tobacco, pipe, matches, weapons you may carry, shoes, purse, bag, canteen, walking stick, and so forth. If it is not listed you are not carrying it. Again, keep it grounded in the real world for the 1920's. Limited to spots provided.
[list][*] Clothing -
[*] Purse/Wallet -
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[/list]
[b][color=6ecff6]Residence:[/color][/b]
This is your stash basically - all your items that are not on you at all times. General things need not be listed like a bed, blanket and so forth. Somethings are just a given. But things like Weapons stash, books, files on people, books, special mementos, and so forth are something that need to be listed out and very detailed. Make sure to know that this will be updated through out the RP - Bullets get used, weapons get lost, ropes break. Again, keep this grounded in reality. You won't have an arsenal! Bare bones to start folks and keep it with your profession and what your income would have been. Not everyone is going to have money... Limited to spots provided.
[list][*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*] This spot is for an animal only - Cat, Goat, Horse, Camel (Basic animal, nothing special about it. It may not even obey every command.)
[/list]

[hr.][hr.][h3][b][i][color=6ecff6][center]History[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h3]
[b][color=6ecff6]What brings you to the LeMond's seanse:[/color][/b] One well-written paragaph on why you decided to attend this seanse.
[b][color=6ecff6]Life before current day:[/color][/b] Three well-written paragraphs on your character's life up until this point in the story. Why did they turn to their specific occupation, why do they have the skills they have, etc.
[b][color=6ecff6]Your belief in/encounters with the supernatural:[/color][/b] Unless cleared by me, this does not mean your character actually has faced the Mythos. This is more akin to strange occurances in passing, odd things happening around you or rumors you've heard. Do you really believe in them, or are you a rational person?
[b][color=6ecff6]Ideology/Belief:[/color][/b] What does your character actually believe in? Politics, religion, social movements etc.
[b][color=6ecff6]Significant people:[/color][/b] Someone near and dear to you, not neccecarrily your possible spouse or partner.
[b][color=6ecff6]Meaningful location:[/color][/b] Someplace that has deep meaning to you. Your place of work? Your home? Place of worship?
[b][color=6ecff6]Treasured possessions:[/color][/b] A single item that hold great value to you.

[hr.][hr.][h3][b][i][color=6ecff6][center]Extras[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h3]
[b][color=6ecff6]Character Quote:[/color][/b] Something they say a lot or live by
[b][color=6ecff6]Theme Song:[/color][/b] What would be playing when they walk up if we were in a movie?
[b][color=6ecff6]Anything Else:[/color][/b]

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Posting In-Character

When your character is done and accepted, we'll come to actually posting in-game. When you post as your character, you'll be using a header-template as to make it easier for both you and the rest of the group to identify your post and your character information. The header includes:

• Character name
• Small character portrait
• Character's current location
• Character's Hit Points, Sanity Points and Luck.
• Character's current mental state: Sane, Temporary Insane or Indefinete Insane.
• Character's attempted skill

Header Template

[hr.][hr.][h3][b][i][color=6ecff6][center]Character Name[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h3]
[center][img]Character portrait[/img][hr.][hr.]
[b][color=6ecff6]Location:[/color][/b]
[b][color=6ecff6]Hit Points: - Sanity Points: - Luck:[/color][/b]
[b][color=6ecff6]Mental State: [/color][/b]
[b][color=6ecff6]Skill:[/color][/b]
[/center][hr.][hr.]

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Alexander Polawski Location: Administration (A) Skills: N/A

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Alexander couldn't help but wear that wide grin on his face for the remainder of this part of their clean-up duty, the General's words sticking to him like a bee hellbent on the ice cream in your hand. He felt useful for the first time in years, and not just because someone's life depended on him. That he'd never truly felt proud of, that was more of a given when it was the life of a friend in your hands. This felt different, it felt better. The General was a good man then, just like he had been back nearly fourty years ago, a people-person.

attention was therefore fixed on the task at hand and Thalia's conversation with him, wits and friendly words between the two amputees interwoven with them cleaning up the basement. While Thalia listed off the various items of dubious origins, Alexander was in finishing up his corner of the room that had been particularly dirty. Hadn't he known better, he'd swore he'd found a hidden Viet-Cong tunnel entrance in the muddled corner. But for he pressed and scrutinized the would-be target of an Army tunnel rat, it was nothing more than dirty brick and stone. "I really, really don't want to know how some of things got here. I mean, I know people own weird shit and bring weirder stuff with them, but Jesus Holy Christ, Thalia…" Alexander responded to her vocal list, letting out a laugh both before and after his words had crossed the room. Whether or not she had actually found a ball-gag and…other naughty stuff, he wasn't interested in. It brightened the mood a whole lot though, which he appriciated. Just like he appriciated Thalia and her equally bad people's skills as his own. It was perhaps an odd friendship, but it worked.

Alexander payed more attention to Thalia's request however as she asked him to come and take a look at something for her. "What have you found? Not a tunnel I hope." Alexander answered as he turned around and made his way towards Thalia, crossing the room towards a certain pool of cleaning agent. From what he could see, she was holding a piece of paper in her hands. Before he could push her for more information however, his foot stepped in something slippery. Then his prostethic one. Back and forth faster and faster like a god damned helicopter rotor, all the while Alexander only said "Shit shit shit shit" louder and louder. At least the hockey-pocket ended, though not for the better. Both of Mugsy's legs flew up in the air and his back falling like an anchor dead in the water. Landing on the hard floor Alexander lost all of the air from his breath, his sense of comprehension of what the fuck just happened. And to add insult to injury?

His leg flew off.

The forceful impact was enough to plop the prostethic leg right off Alexander's leg and eject it in the direction of Thalia, landing with a methalic thud somewhere in-between the two of them. Ol' Mugsy lay on the floor blissfully unaware of the SECOND loss of his leg, trying for a solid half a minute to breath until his lungs started working again. It hurt, it hurt like hell all over his body. When Alexander could finally breath again, the first thing to leave his lips were a heavy "I'm too old for this shit…"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nigel Cooper Location: Hydroponic Gardens (T) Skills: N/A

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

It was somewhat reassuring to hear Thana's perspective on the Shakespearean, dramatic member of the Gonsalez dynasty, hearing that he wasn't the only one who found the figure both peculiar and amusing. Somewhat, for if he were to take insult to Nigel's viperous words from earlier, who was to say that Joaquin wouldn't take vengance with the tip of his sword during their promised sparring? Seemed fighting with the weapons of their ancestors run in Thalia's family, like the knights of old. A worthy advisary then. What had Nigel gotten himself into now?

Nigel's focus was still on the issue of him and his abilities to swim, his shoulders slowly tensing up the longer he waited for Thana's clarification. She reassured him that he wouldn't be thrown to the sharks so to speak, leaving him with a sigh of relief and lowering his shoulders. "Okay…good. For a moment there I thought you were sending me to battle Poseidon himself. Lead the way then, looking forward to seeing what you all have managed to built in this bastion of civilization." Nigel couldn't help but reply back to Thana, whom he guessed could only be described as a benevolent superior, at least for the coming week he was working for her. From the sound of it, the next destination on this minature Oddesey was even greater than what he'd witnessed the first part of the day. Even for his less than ideal relation with the water, he was looking forward to it.

At recieving the wet suit and seeing Thana partially undress Nigel looked away shyly, growing a little red in his cheeks as he was, well, uncomfortable. He was not fast enough in his evasive maneuvere to escape the sight of her many scars. They reminded him of those he'd seen gashed into Tatiana during Quarantine, sending a shiver down his spine. Nigel was a few moments behind Thana when he finally got started. He pulled off his thin shirt and got out of his pants - quickly and clumsily, not wanting to remain under-dressed for too long - before he got into his own wet suit. All the while he tried taking in Thana's instructions on what they would be doing, no herculian effort but still a lot for Nigel who had never done anything like this.

"Understood, I think I get it. I'll do my best, just poke me or something if I do something wrong down there." Nigel told Thana, taking the offered bag from her and trying to imagine what the underwater garden would look like. Roman antiquity really hadn't prepared him for this now, had it? "Ready to cross the Rubicon, Thana. This landcrab will try not to drown. Did you do anyhing like this when you worked for the U.N.?"

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Alexander Polawski Location: Administration (A) Skills: N/A

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Alexander caught up with Thalia in the end, ending up at her side with a short and heavy breath. Again it wasn't that he couldn't run in his older days, but the uncomfortable nature of his stride with that new leg of his. With time however, he would persevere. Once again standing with Thalia, Alexander followed her pace back to Administration and down to the basement, listening to the short replies she gave to his line of questions. "Hmm, yeah he did mention he was good with swords and shiels. True knight then, out of a fairy tale eh? Seemed like a decent fellow, and your brother liked him in the least. Tell me how the sparring goes then."

Of all the people the old veteran hadn't expected to find musing around their now fairly cleaned-up basement, was Aeron the General. Out of all people he could have seen Gunny returning to see that they returned to work, perhaps the receptionist Rolodex or Sandra down to snoop around. But the General? Alexander joined for a moment in Thalia's tensing-up, though he let his shoulder slide down once he thought of two things; First, this was not the Army he was part of anymore. Two, Aeron was complimenting their work, unlike the NCOs who threw a fit over a single grain of sand in the corner of the barracks. Alexander stood at ease, leaning against the doorframe as the General spoke of their situation; he staff-issue, the comms-room and he purpose of the very room they were standing in.

At first Alexander was at a loss of why the two of them, himself and Thalia, were 'just what the doctor ordered' so the General put it. It must have clicked for Alexander about the same time it did for Thalia, as ol' Mugsy turned to look at her with a growing smile on his face. "We'll do our best, Sir…Aeron, I mean." Alexander managed to say before the General left, feeling a sense of purpose in his chest as he stood in the room alongside Thalia. While the back of his mind drew images of a younger Alexander crouching down and calling down an airstrike on the NVA's position, the forefront of his brain pulled Mugsy to what he was perhaps an expert on. He'd fixed up many a radio back in the day, and now his ironic dream of setting up a radio-station was coming to fruition. Sort of. He didn't mind, he smiled.

"Yeah, you're right. Looks like the top brass have big plans for us two now." Alexander returned to Thalia, waddling over to a corner still occupied by some insurgent cardboard box of junk and slowly picking it up. "God bless our university educations, or what Angel? Anyway, let's keep up and then og pay our respects. It's gonna be a long day ahead of us yet."

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Nigel Cooper Location: Hydroponic Gardens (T) Skills: N/A

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Nigel couldn't argue with The Man Carrying the World on his back's resentment for the smell around the garden, it was indeed a barbaric smell that penetrated Nigel's nose worse than a javelin. What he and Thana did however was good, honest work that benefitted everyone in the camp, and Nigel was determined to do his part of his stay. Nigel did hold back a chuckle at Thana's rebuke towards Atlas, finding the grit and witt in her character befitting. Eventually it was only him and Thana left at the Second Hanging Gardens of Babylon - The Hanging Gardens of Mexico Beach as Nigel would start to call them after that week - and they were back to work. "After I've given nothing but the highest of praises to this Seventh Wonder of the Apocalypse? You truly aim to please, Thana." Nigel said almost dramatically to the scarred warrior-lady, beginning the process of closing up the slats like she did when it hit him rather awkwardly. "Uhm…I think that short time with Joaquin pulled out the dramatic in me. Sorry. Was that Thalia's brother, Gonzales? I guess his sort are not too far away from my own kin of reenactors then?"

Eventually Nigel had pulled down the last of the tarps of the green house, wiping his brow off the accumelated sweat after this part of the work was done. He too heard the crackle of the speakers, at first wondering what message would be announced to the plebs, before realizing it was just another signal of lunch. Nigel walked over towards Thana in anticipation of their next movements, though the look of concern in her face…well it concerned him too. He was about to ask what the matter was when she reached him and made it clear. Could he swim?

Nigel swallowed deeply at the question, a single bead of sweat running down his brow and cheek as he tried to formulate an appropriate respone to Thana. Apparently it was of no concern, though the fact that she asked him that very specific question did stick to him. The neo-Roman let the queston float for a few seconds, before gathering his guts. "Well I can swim…just not terribly well, and not…out too far there." Nigel responded while pointing his finger off in the distance - at the ocean. Deep waters. Nigel "Hadrian" the sword-wielder was not afraid of many things in life, but water you couldn't stand abreast in? He had some bad memories. "It really depends on what is needed. Just don't go ask me to swim into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean…I'll be fine, I hope."

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🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Alexander Polawski Location: Mess Hall (C) -> Administration (A) Skills: N/A

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While the sushi roll had been extracted from the wrong hole in Alexander's digestive system and he could breath normally again, he still gave a couple of muffled coughs in his elbow just to cough up the last pieces of rice and fish still bothering him. The young Roman man had been in the process of standing up, as Alexander could note other members of the present lunch gathering had too, but he was fine. People cared it seemed, cared for ol' Mugsy.

Much of the following conversation around the highschool/army lunch table then evolved into subjects that Alexander had few connections with, besides Thana's culinary observations on the sushi versus the tuna casserole. "So far the basement's been cool as a spring breeze across deck while in Bermuda, but duly noted. Perhaps next time I'll try the salad." Alexander said back to Thana with a smile on his face, knowing well what she was talking about. Both touring 'Nam and spending many summers sailing the Carribean had taught Alexander that a mouthful of cold rice fared better than the army MREs one got off the supply truck. This little detour of his mind back to both younger and happier days held Alexander's attention away from the remainders of the conversation - Hunter's not-so-quiet apology for last night's behaviour, Nigel the Roman having an impromptu Shakespeare-moment with Thalia's brother and Thalia herself sliding under the table. Wait, Thalia sliding?

The old veteran as brought back to his senses by this sudden event and ringing of the bell for the unknowable time - their lunch was over. Thana too was standing up from the table and making her way out with Nigel not far behind, leaving Alexander a fair distance behind Thalia on her way back to work. Somewhat dumbstruck by seeing Thalia appear out underneath the table and leaving, Alexander did the same as the walking majority and went to dispense his tray, then following in Thalia's footsteps. "Good lunch, thanks for the chat all. See you later." He excused himself politely to the table, giving Nigel a longer look than the others as if to be sincere to the thin-skinned Roman.

Alexander tried to catch up with Thalia at a reasonable pace, no need of sprinting like a madman under a hail of machinegun fire if it could be avoided. The problem was mostly his leg. Jogging and running was something he'd yet to practice with his prostethis, so to actually catch up with his Latino friend was harder than expected. "Thalia? Give me a moment, I can't run with this leg just yet…" Alexander shouted after Thalia in an attempt to get her attention, slowing his pace as he felt his balance turn worse with every step forward it took. Nothing to worry about, just like the sushi, but ol' Mugsy was not the youth he used to be. "Quite…quite the crowd at lunch, wasn't it? Odd fella that one…" Alexander would say casually to Thalia, realizing his vauge words mid-sentence. "Nigel, I mean, that Roman teacher guy. Any idea what his deal was?"

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Nigel Cooper Location: Mess Hall (C) -> Hydroponic Gardens (T) Skills: N/A

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For Nigel the situation around the lunch table appeared to be under control. At least in regards to Alexander's coughing-fit and Thana welcoming Ash to her side at the table. Things were calm and casual, or for a lack of better words things were normal. Normal. No, that was the perfect word to describe the pleasent atmosphere which Nigel found himself sitting in, well normal all things considered. Even having Hunter make his way over to them and taking a seat beside Nigel felt anticipated at this point.

Oh wait, who could forget the presence of Joaqiun the Orater? Nigel had no choice but to be pulled into the Shakespearean monolouge, now a dialouge played at the very stage of the Globe Theatre as Joaqiun continued to recite 17th century lines with the dramatics of a Greek tragedy. Not only was Thalia the one-handed Amazon being made a prop in this production, Nigel was besieged by yet more lines from "Julius Caesar". Not only tossed these verbal catapults armaments of the sea and its allegory to their human fates, but Nigel was also called a tempest and offered yet more sparring - both in the rights of arms and tounges. Nigel couldn't help but looked up at the standing Joaquin and give him an empty look, as if the reality of the absurd scene hadn't hit him yet, before giving him an attempt at a smile. "I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed…Yes, I suppose I'm okay with my sparring."

With the business of Joaqiun - hopefully - set aside for now, Nigel wanted to return to the normality he had wished for in the interview many days ago. Several people began talking with him, Ash giving him a nod as his name had been mentioned, while Thalia corrected Nigel's line of questioning from earlier. Of course, how could his mind has misplaced such information? "Right, should have remembered that. Hopefully we can make ourselves a home here too…" He added, letting his voice drop as Thalia cursed the dreaded bowling trophy to oblivion. Nigel instead turned to Hunter and his not-so-subtle apology for yesterday. For everyone Nigel had experienced about Hunter the past week, Nigel felt the apology was a sincere one. Perhaps his handling of the drunken sod had put some sense into the young soldier? Ash of all people was the one to reassure Hunter that these things happened. Nigel couldn't help but look at Ash again, this time pulling a half smile at the soldier and nodding back at him. "He's right, mistakes are part of our nature. What makes us human are how we attempt to correct them. And to that I think you know who deserves that apology the most, okay?" Nigel said quietly to Hunter, putting his hand at his shoulder in a reassuring manner like the old teacher he was.

With time came the ringing of the bell once again, signalling their lunch was over and it was time to return to work. Thana was quick to point out the time, and Nigel didn't need to be reminded twice. The neo-Roman got up from the table and bidding the table farewel for now, following Thana to dispose of the tray and then back out to work. The walk back to the gardens was quick enough, Nigel had gotten the most out of the air-conditioned mess-hall after the hard work before, and was ready for toil the soil once again. "What's the next work on the list then? More of the same as before?"

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