Rae Zer

Splash-Splash(Rae Zer's Character Vault/Plot Dump/Random Thoughts)

"What is the greatest lie every created? What is the most vicious obscenity ever perpetrated on mankind? Slavery? The Holocaust? Dictatorship? No. It's the tool with which all that wickedness is built: altruism." -Andrew Ryan

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Andrew Ryan was a man with a deam of a city, nay a country, where men who worked for what they had could live without fear of the government controlling them. In turn, he created the city of Rapture where the working man could keep what he earned. A city where everybody worked for their position in life and weren't given it. Where failures were their fault and not the fault of an person supporting them. Scientist could work without fear of the government stealing their work. Where an artist could full realize their full capacity of their creations and were not limited by the laws imposed on them by society.

Comstock stylized himself a prophet of God and that his will was God's will. He wanted to create a Heaven on Earth where the white man and woman could live their lives without the influence of the 'lower races'. He established Columbia as a Heaven on Earth for his people. The Church was always right in Columbia and all white humans lived in peace from the government controlled world down below. Comstock's floating city was a mecca for all God Fearing whites in America.

Yet, both Andrew and Comstock had failed. Rapture had been built to house those who wished to be free of 'parasites' but had parasites welcomed at their gates as well. Columbia had been rotten from the core, a city established on a lie from a man outside of his own reality. In both Columbia and Rapture it had taken only one man to build the city and one man to make it all fall. Their dreams were weak and the ground they were established on was also weak. They built their cities on their shoulders and they were weak like the men who relied on others. Arcadia is not weak for it is not built on one man's shoulders nor from one man's dream.

Arcadia was built on the dream of thousands of men and women looking to leave behind their government controlled lives to start anew. Our majestic city was not built by one man, not ruled by one man, not designed by one man but made by the thousands who have come to live here. They determined the rules of Arcadia, where it would be built, and how it would be made. Their dreams together are stronger and thus Arcadia is stronger. It will not fall like Rapture and Columbia had. At least, that is what the people of Arcadia believe but, like all good things, there is an end. A few months back, seven representative of the United Nations were sent to the 'colony' of Arcadia. They have not been heard from since and in turn the United Nations has sent a team of hand selected men and women to investigate into the happenings of Arcadia. They are due for arrival on Friday 13, 2182.

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If you've read this far then you've made it farther than I actually thought anybody would have. This roleplay is set in the year 2182, a hundred years since space travel became efficent enough for anybody to be willing to spend money on it. Thirty years before the events in this roleplay construction began on the city of Arcadia, a veritable haven for those looking to be free from government control. It is unkown why Arcadia was built on the distant, Earth-like planet of Izota. All that is known about Arcadia is that a thousand private citizens from various nations, who's names have never been released or know, payed for the establishment of Arcadia and that the nearly hundred thousand citizens payed a meager amount of five hundred bucks for all of their possessions and themselves to be taken to Arcadia by the giant of the space travel industry, Atlas Industries. You'll play characters who have been hand picked by the United Nations to investigate the disapperance of their representative and the general silence from Arcadia in the past few months.

The deadly abilities of Plasmids and Vigors will be turned down for characters who are not a member of the military and have gone through the proper training to use it. The Vigor Shock Jockey will only allow the user to create an electrical charge through something they are holding or touching and will instantly dissapate should the object leave the users hand if they have not had training in its use. Electro Bolt will do the same thing as they are basically the same thing. Incinerate will only allow the user to produce a flame on their body or any item they are holding without training. I'm sure y'all get the point now as I don't really wish for combat to be the focus of this roleplay. There will be points through out the story where you will have to fight but they will be few. Anyway, enough fo my rambling on and let me hear what you guys think of this idea.

A Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse(Basic)

A Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse(Basic)

Before we begin I'm going to have to state that most of what is said here is not from a professional's statement. I have considered all the things that are listed here in my free time and have done the various research to create the Basic Guide for those who wish to survive the Apocalypse. While this is both a Guide for RP survival and real life survival, I mostly intend for this to be used for RP survival. The majority of information which is placed here will pertain to Pandemic and Zombie survival as the likely hood of anybody surviving a Nuclear of Apocalypse is very, very low even if they are in a vault of some type. Now then, time to begin the Guide.

Food

Food is by far the most important thing you need in order to survive an apocalypse. While the average human can survive three weeks without food_{1 2} it is poorly understood how the bodies metabolism works and some people have reported surviving any where from twenty-eight to fourty days₃. But, in the apocalypse one does not want to face starvation especially considering you'd be in need of more calories per day rather than less. When looking for food in an apocalypse it is best to look for what I like to call the 'E.C.P'. E stands for the experation date, C stands for the calories, and P stands for the protein. Protein is especially key to survival as you will need to get rid of the fat you do have and strengthen the muscles in your body.

After one year has passed since the apocalypse began, give up on eating foods which had been mass produced before the apocalypse. Most of these foods would have gone bad unless they were canned goods. What you want to do is set up a farm wherever you have taken residence. If you are inside a city, set the farm on the room and plant some corn, squash, or beans. Corn, squash, and beans are essential in that they have plenty of nutrients in them to keep you going and will be easy to circulate out. If you are in the suburbs or a small city, make a farm right in the backyard of a house or on the outskirts of town. Instead of circulating out corn, squash, and beans grow them all together so that all three will survive to adulthood.

Now, while the farm may set you up on the basic survival you'll need to learn to hunt animals and, better yet, practice husbandry on animals for a constant supply of meat. But, those will be covered in a more advanced version of this guide as those skills are for very long term survival and this guide will simply get you through years one through five at the very best.

Water

Water is essential to life. The human body is composed of water and a lack of water can damage the body quite a alot. But, water can be difficult to come by in the apocalypse as any open source of water could possibly be contaminated. If you are going to drink from a stream or lake, always check the area around the lake and walk at least a mile up and down the stream you are going to be drinking from. If any dead body is found in the water, don't drink it. Bottled water will only last so long and aren't likely to be found in any time after three to four months of the beginning.

The best way to get a clean source of water that you can trust is rain water. Set up a barrel, bucket, cups, and whatever else you have as soon as you think it is going to start raining. Collect all the rain water you can possibly have and use that as drinking water. If you don't trust the rain water than make a fire and boil some of the water and check the residue which is left behind. Conserve water as much as possible. This means you are going to need to stop showering, stop brushing your teeth, drink only occasionally throughout the day, and share your water only if it means they will be staying. Don't give away water to people unless they are staying for more than a month and even then watch them while they are with you as they may be a scout for some bandits nearby.

Location

So you live in a big city, a suburb, or a small city in the nation you live in. All of these places of viable for survival but it can be difficult to survive in all of them as well. A big city is likely to hold more infected persons, bandits, and generally twitchy survivors. But, a big city also has more places for you to safely shack up in for the night and more places where food and water can be found. A suburb is located outside the big city so it has the same downsides to it as the city itself. But, the suburb is smaller and generally less condensed and has more room for you to expand your territory once you get a group going. Then there is the small city. It will have less people in general but also less places to get your supplies at. It is overall a good place to set up a base if your group can control the entire city.

But, location is just not what city you decide to live in but also where in the world you decide to live in. If the place has cold Spring, Fall, and freezing Winters then you better be ready to survive with a very short growin season. If it is hot and dry three of the four seasons then you better be ready to ration water. What you want is a place where Spring is lukewarm, Summers are hot, Falls are cool, and Winters are cold. These conditions will be perfect for growing crops and should make life easier here. The only problem is that areas such as that are rare to find no matter where you live. Here in America, I live in the state of Tennessee and we have weather that is nearly like that but can sometimes be very wild. So, be careful where you decide to make camp unless you feel like you can live with the weather conditions.

Groups

You may like to believe that you can live alone throughout the apocalypse and survive perfectly but let me tell ya this, you are wrong. Humans are social beings and living alone for long periods of time without any interaction with an actual human being can damage your psyche. You want to make a group of people in the apocalypse not just because you can live by the idea that the slowest one will be sacraficed to a zombie so that the group may survive but so that you can create a new society. If your group is strong enough to control a town then you can control the town and set up whatever sort of laws and punishments you wish in the town. You can farm with your group making the yield increase and the work faster with every person on the farm. Everybody in your group must work though. You can't have that one guy who sits around all day complaining of a torn muscle in his leg just cause he is unwilling to work.

But, don't trust just everybody when you establishing your group and recruiting more people. Some people may be scouts of bandits and will run off as soon as you let them out of your sight. Some people may seem like they've got it all together but could only take one more stresser to cause them to snap and murder your group in your sleep. The people you know well should be the first ones to join your group followed by distant friends and then you can recruit random people. Always keep people in pairs when recruiting so that the new recruit is kept with anybody you trust. Keep a person watching new recruits every hour of the day and tell the new recruit that they are going to asses their skills and determine their job after a month or so.

Be wary of large groups of people, particularly those of families traveling together. While you may love to welcome a family into your group, don't do it. Families often come with drama of their own. Perhaps the Father is beating the Wife and is an alcoholic. Or the Son might be angry at his Father and could end up shooting him 'on accident'. Or maybe the Daughter seems like little miss perfect but is really out to sleep with as many men as possible to anger her father. If you do accept a family, seperate everybody from each other. They are all to live in seperate buildings, dorms perhaps, so that you can asses their mental state without the influence of the others. Dorms are generally a good idea here as, after getting comfortable with your people, the family members will start to trust the people in the dorms and will spill their guts about anything that could possibly be an issue or not. Anything beyond the five year range you should already have a good grip on when it comes to grouping. The advanced version of this Guide will go more into depth with controlling your group, rationing, and job assesments.

Medical Knowledge

When looking for medical supplies most people will take simple things like Neosporin, bandaids, bandage wraps, peroxide, first aid tape, pain pills, and so on and so forth. What is left behind is prescription medicines, maybe some gauze pads, self-adhering wraps, and pain relief ointments. What you don't want to do is collect the prescription meds. Prescription medicines might be a good idea short term but unless you have a medical professional with your group you don't want to takes pills just according to what you feel is fitting. Prescriptions can be highly addicting and what you don't want to deal with in the apocalypse is an addiction to a drug which has gone out of production. What you need will be the pain relief ointments, specifically the kind for joint pain. This way you can relieve the pain you endure from intense physical work everyday in your group.

If you find an unopened box of gauze pads or gauze wrap then take it. Gauze in general is a good idea to have as it is a sterile bandage that is very easy to use and very flexible. You don't want bandaids to cover large wounds on your body since they restrict the flow of air which hinders the coagulation of blood. To go on a short spiel here, oxygen sticks to blood causing it to turn red but also changes the density of blood allowing it coagulate better. Self-adhering wraps are mostly for covering over the gauze but some have bandaged sides so it can be used as a bandage. You want to pick up things for long term survival as well. These include fiber supplements, diarrhea relief, various vitamins and supplements, cold and flu medicine, and cough drops. If there is a person who smokes in your group, get nicotine and wean them off smoking so that they don't hinder the group.

When treating wounds one must be careful. The majority of anti-bacterial washes and peroxides will have been taken early on as well so you may need to turn towards alcohol here. No, not for drinking but for cleaning out wounds. You can generally clean out a wound using alcohol of 80 proof or more but the CDC suggest using alcohols containing 50-90% alcohol. The most common form of alcohol with 80 proof is vodka. Other alcohols with a proof of 80 or higher are bourbon(whiskey), absinthe, brandy(70-120proof), Everclear, gin, some rums, tequila, and Whiskey. So, if you ever need to clean out a cut in a zombie apocalypse all you need to do is find any of these alcohols and you can do as much. Though, Everclear and absinthe are illegal in the US so finding any of them probably won't happen. In order to determine the amount of alcohol present in any of the above refer to every 20 proof as 10% alcohol. The advanced version of this Guide will go more into depth of caring for wounds, broken bones, and the treatment of diseases.

Emotions

Emotions can be the most difficult part of the apocalypse. You watch millions die to a pandemic or zombies and you realize that your life could amount for nothing cause of one simple super bug. Within the first month of the apocalypse, suicides will increase in likelyhood as more people begin to fall into depression. But, you must stay positive to survive which means avoiding alcohol and cigarettes as comfort. You must abandon the idea that you will die as the world you were born into dies and adopt the idea that, while the world which you lived in before is dead, the world you live in now is going to be your New World. It will be a world where survival is key but doesn't mean killing other humans if they get in your way. In fact, killing people will make the apocalypse that much worse for you. It is difficult enough to kill a creature like a zombie which once and been a member of somebody's family. Just imagine how difficult it would be to kill a living person quite simply cause they were hindering your ability to survive.

At the beginning of the apocalypse your first idea may be to get to your family and join them in survival. I have to say that, despite the fact that I'm a family first kind of person, you shouldn't do that. Your family is great and all and sure you can trust them to help you survive the apocalypse together but you want to avoid favortism which most people can't do when it involves their family. You don't want to give you family members the lax positions in your group simply cause they are family. Give them jobs they are good at or jobs they feel they are good at. Avoid favortism at all costs since this will create dissention in your group if it is noticed.

Don't let the members of your group see your feelings if you are the leader. If you are on the verge of breaking down, don't let anybody see you do it. As leader, you must stay calm in basically any situation that you are placed in and you can't follow the negativity that your members have about a situation. Instead, stay positive and tell them that everything will be fine so long as you all work together to get through it. If you need somebody to talk to, get a good friend or a priest of some sort to talk to who you trust not to tell anybody else. In fact, have a person that you survivors can go talk to when they are in need of a person to talk to so that break downs are avoided. The hardest part of surviving can be coping with living in a world drastically different from your own though as roleplayers we probably have better skills at that than most people do.

Physical Condition

People say that the best way to survive the apocalypse is to be some muscular but lean beast at the beginning and stay that way all the way through it. I call BS on that as there shouldn't be a single sort of body build which allows you to survive the apocalypse. Sure you want to be strong, lean, and fast but you don't need to be that way to survive the beginning. As soon as you feel ready in the apocalypse, you want to begin a workout regimne so that you can strength your body. You want to take in as much protein as possible which means you might need a protein powder or supplement to help your body build stronger muscles. There should be no set regimne for working out that you took from somebody else as your body will differ from their body and the regimne may not work as well for you as it did for them. You want to at least be capable of lifting half your body weight within the first five years and capable of running a mile under ten minutes.

Clothing

This section is simple enough. Wear clothing that fits into the weather you are going out in. You don't want to wear all black if you are going out side and you don't want to wear winter jackets in the middle of summer. Keep to wearing jeans, khakis, athletic or hiking shoes, and a shirt whenever you go out. For shoes, if you are wearing hiking boots then you better be traveling long distances. If you are not, then you need to be wearing athletic shoes of some type. You want to have a backpack with you whenever you go outside of your zone and you don't want to wear solid colors. If you are going outside at night, wear colors with dark stripes otherwise the complete black clothing will simply cause a shadow against the actual darkness. It is the same way with white in the dark.

Weapons

Avoid the usage of guns at all cost. While a gun is a very efficent weapon to use now, if you can't find an ample supply of ammo then it isn't worth using. Don't give guns to those who have trained with them for long periods of time and only give guns to those who are patrolling the zone your group resides in or are leaving the zone to scavenge supplies. Melee weapons such as machetes, swords, knives, and spears are prefered weapons when combat can't be avoided. Heavy or blunt weapons can be used but the people using them better have a sharp weapon with them as well otherwise you have somebody who is nothing more than an open target. Always have somebody in the group travel with a sledge hammer in case they get backed into a corner and need an escape route.

There should always be people trained in using a bow in a group leaving the zone so that they aren't forced to take out enemies with a gun when at range. Training bowmen should be easy enough as all you need is a target, a bow, and arrows which can easily be taken from the target and reused. All arrows should be retrived when possible and should be unmarked so that if they can't be retrived, they can't be tracked back to your particular group. The advanced version of this Guide will go more into depth on weapons care, gun care, and possibility of making weapons.

Transportation

Avoid cars, motorcycles, and basically any motorized vehical. It is as simple as that. You won't be able to get the gas to make it worth while to use a motorized vehical so it is generally a better idea to just walk if you are going somewhere. Better yet, get a bicycle for each member of your group and use that as transportation. Have a couple of your members guarding a cart pulled by two bicycles which hold your supplies while the rest ride in front and behind the supplies in a formation so as to protect every inch of you view. But, avoid using these often as the tires and spokes will wear down for use. To put it simply, walking can be the best kind of transportation for the apocalypse even if it is going to make you tired.

Reference Points(Sub scripts 1-3):
1. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-long-can-a-person-sur/
2. http://www.livescience.com/32320-how-long-can-a-person-survive-without-water.html
3. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-long-can-a-person-sur/

Dying Light - Humanity's Last Stand

I'm in no rush for more random events. I'm sure nobody else is rushing them either. But, what I am here to say is that I may be gone for a day or two some time in the coming week as I may be getting a job interview here soon. If I do get called in for an interview, I'll pop in to tell y'all.

Edit: Also just posted a Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse which covers the basics.

Splash-Splash(Rae Zer's Character Vault/Plot Dump/Random Thoughts)

Artifical

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So you took their deal, you traded your humanity for a chance to continue living. Or, perhaps your loved one traded their humanity to live. It doesn't matter which way your life has gone all that matters is that its fate is no longer in your hands. Then again, you ask anybody else and they'll tell you that this was your fate. You or your loved one didn't want to die so you became Artifical. You became one of the many cyborgs wandering throughout the cities who are constantly indebted to the makers of your cybernetic parts. Never in your life time nor the life time of your great-grandchildren would you be able to pay them off to own them so you live a life on the run from collectors seeking to steal your rightfully owned parts, the same things which allow you to live.

Or, perhaps you are working for the very same people hunting down other Artificals. You made a deal with them and decided that it was better to live and hunt down people who are the same as you so that you may live. Those in the streets call you a monster, betraying your own kind just for a chance to live. You might secretly hate yourself for it or perhaps you hate who you work for for forcing you into a such a situation. Perhaps you curse society, God, the president, or even the very event which caused you to need a cybernetic part. Survival has been the name of the game for Artificals for years as they've been hunted and force to work until they die.

Dying Light - Humanity's Last Stand

CVS Pharmacy, Forsyth Street SW
Atlanta, Georgia
United States of America

"Yeah, let's go to the Pharmacy" Tori said to Ben before stepping outside. Tori stood outside of the market she and Ben had just raided. Their haul was good enough but what they really need was food with high caloric value, a focus on carbs, and protein. And, unless they were raising cows or sheep in the middle of Atlanta, then finding food with a high protein count would be next to impossible. If the pharmacy Ben had told Tori about had a protein powder of suppliment of some kind they would have to take it. Their assorted canned foods certainly wouldn't provide them enough protein on their own and the pair would need that protein for muscle growth. Tori hardly noticed the rain pattering on the streets as a scream echoed through the city. One would be surprised how far sound travels in the New World, especially sounds such as screams.

Tori slinked into the shadows as runner passed by the intersection of Forsyth and Marietta streets. It had obviously heard the scream and was running to find the source. She knew more would come to investigate the scream, though the walkers would be more likely to just shamble through the street hoping to find the source. The runners would be an issue for the pair for they seem to be smarter and would eventually come through the street looking for the source. Tori motioned for Ben to follow her as the quickly ran across the street to the other side and hugged the wall until they reache the Forsyth and Marietta intersection. Tori looked down Forsyth and saw about five walkers and three runners wandering down the road.

The runners had apparently stopped there and were looking about for the source of the screamer. The walkers were just looking for prey and could have cared less for the scream as it had seem. The pack of infected sat about a hundred or so feet from Tori and Ben's destination which meant they would either have to be very careful or lead them away with a loud enough noise. Tori decided to opt for making a loud noise so she approached and Ben approached the pack just close enough that they were within two hundreed feet of them. She handed Ben a chunk of broken concrete that had been in the street and signled for him to chuck it as hard as possible. The rock glided over the road to slam into the chain link fence on the other side of the road. The pack turned their attention towards the distraction while Tori and Ben quickly sneaked behind them as they slammed the fencing.

The pair succsessfully made it into the pharmacy but they would have to be quick. It wouldn't be long before the runners decided to investigate elsewhere to determine where the rock had come from. But Tori didn't have time to think about the infected so she and Ben quickly spread through out the pharmacy looking for supplies. The whole place seemed to have been looted long before they got there. What was left behind were torn open packets of supplies and some blood trails. It was obvious that most people who had been bitten had first thought to go to a Pharmacy to patch themselves up only to end up infecting others. The only things Tori could find was a pack of gauze wrap and a box of gloves.

While walking through the aisles Tori came across the feminine care aisle which meant the most important thing Tori had been looking for, tampons. Tori had packed some for the trip there but she didn't have enough to last more than a week or so. Plus, if push came to shove they could be used to absorb the blood from a cut. She grabbed two packs of fifty off the shelf which had mostly been ignored by the looters who were more looking for medical supplies not tampons. "Here, catch." Tori called to Ben who was an aisle over as she threw the packs at him. Ben fumbled with the tampons like an awkward teenager before stuffing them in his back pack. Tori stuffed the gloves and gauze wrap in her bag as well and had finished zipping it back up with a loud clattering was heard from the front of the store. Standing in the door way was a runner who had stumbled through the push-to-open doors and was looking about, almost as if he was sniffing for a scent.

Ben had seen the runner as well and ducked down into a crouch and moved into the same aisle as Tori was in. "Shit, I didn't think they would get in here this quickly. The only way we can get out of here is through the back door over there," Tori said as she pointed at a door three aisles down, "which should lead to the alley we passed on our way here." She walked quickly to the door and opened it only for the door to slam into a trash can which had been placed in front of the door. The loud echo of the crash flew through the store and the runner instantly started to haul towards Ben and Tori as the pair ran out the door. The alley way was a dead end if the pair had turned around and at the other end was Forsyth Street where more infected would be waiting for them. "Fucking hell Ben. Best prepare for a battle cause we are going to have to fight if we want to get out of here alive." Tori said as she took the tire iron off of its position on her backpack and slid it through the door handle they had just come through. It would hold long enough that the pair would probably only have to deal with the two runners on the street if they were lucky but luck didn't seem to be on their side as more rain started to pour down on them.

Dehumanized

Here ya go boss. This is(probably) the finished product of my character. She came out rather well considering I only had a rough idea when I first began. I also changed about the formatting to organize it to look nice.

Maria Hallins

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Age: 30
Gender: Female
Height and Weight: 5'7 and 152lbs
Brief Personality: The one word which describes Maria best begins with a B and ends with -itch. She couldn't really care less for others unless they are actually helping. If they have a use, then Maria will like them and only if they have a use. Maria's moral compass doesn't quite point north nor south so she is willing to do what she needs to to survive just short of killing an unarmed person. That is, unless said unarmed person attacked first. In that case, they are as good as dead after getting the shit punched out of them.
Background: Maria was born into a world which she spent only a third of her life in. she was ten when the bombs fell and her entire World was torn apart like paper in a shredder. She survived out of the millions, nay billions of people who died. One can only imagine what it must have been like for the young Maria to be thrown into a world where laws didn't exist anymore, where murder was normal, and where her parents were nothing more than a burden, an anachronism to a time when morals mattered. Maria was lucky to have survived even a year in the care of her parents who trusted everybody they came across unfaultingly only for them to rob them blind every time. Eventually the three came across a group of survivors who put an end to Maria's foolish parents.

For nearly a year Maria hated the people who saved her. They called themselves 'The Mountaineers' and took Maria out of the mostly abandoned New England further south following the Appalachian Mountains. She was like a pet to them, a creature they could raise to do whatever they wanted. Nobody would expect the tiny waif of a child having stolen your food and water after sitting in an abandoned building crying for her parents ya know. And so, the Mountaineers raised Maria to be bait for those who still had the morality to help a sad child. They taught her how to use a bow, skin an animal, and hunt prey silently. Eventually Maria came to realize that the Mountaineers were, twisted though their morals were, possibly the best case scenario of meeting survivors. Eventually Maria outgrew being a crying waif and became a fawningly beautiful woman who would travel with the poor lonely man who had wondered through the city for 'protection'.

Maria eventually fell in love with Marcus, a roughshod man compared to the gentler men in the mountaineers. Marcus couldn't care less for survivors who wondered the street hoping for a kind soul to help. He knew there was no such thing in this new world and he made no exceptions. But, he had always had a soft spot for Maria, the girl he had saved from an almost certain death with her parents. He was twenty-one when the bombs fell and took to drinking early after but was rescued from a pit of dispair by his friends and formed the Mountaineers. Not too long after they met Maria and rescued her as well for Marcus knew he couldn't leave her with parents who weren't willing to give up on foolish morals. But Maria loved him anyway for he had been the most amazing person she knew.

Their love didn't last long though. The Mountaineers finally got further south only to encounter raiders who attacked them. Many of both groups were injured including Maria who had gotten grazed by a bullet striking across her left shoulder. Marcus and six of the thirteen members of the Mountaineers were fatally wounded and buried in shallow graves marked only by a pile of stones over them. The Mountaineers fell apart without Marcus and eventually Maria took to traveling alone for a long time. Maria traveled for a good year before coming back to what one could consider a sort of civilization. It was a trading post of a sorts in Northern Florida that Maria had stopped at where she traded some pelts and a few damaged books for supplies. On her way in Maria met Joy, a young woman who had been born into the New World unlike Maria.

Maria easily realized how useful a girl like Joy was especially for somebody like Maria who hunted for her food rather than take supplies from others. A steady supply of food and drinking water meant that, so long as she pulled her own weight, Joy was a use to Maria. Joy happened to be on her way out when Maria met her and just happened to need somebody who was capable of teaching her how to hunt and cook food properly. Maria happend to fit the bill so Joy came with her and left the trading post for the wilderness. A year later, Maria and Joy were once again near civilization. Particularly a place only thirty miles away, a trading post often called Knight's Hold. Few people ever really speak of what the name could possibly mean but it could relate to a couple of bandits who call themselves Knights in the area.

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Nomadic or Sedentary?: Nomadic
Alone or With Someone?: With Someone
Any Unsusual Traits? Does it Show Physically?: Maria has sharp growths of bones on the top of her head which extend about two inches out of her hair. She has similar growths on her elbows and knuckles but the growths on her knuckles are more thicker bones rather than growths. Her knuckles have a more limited degree of movement due to the thicker bones but she haas grown use to them.
Weapons: A Simple hunting knife with a blade length of 6 inches, a well maintained hunting bow, and a pocket knife with a four inch blade which is double edged.
Skills: In her thirty years of life, Maria has learned quite a bit about cooking and preparing food. She can tell the difference between meat that is still slightly raw and meat that is cooked edible enough to eat. She can also start a fire easily enough and set up a wind blocker to keep the fire from blowing out. If you bring Maria any small animal, rabbits and smaller, she is capable of skining it. Maria prefers to hunt silently and when she does hunt she uses a well maintained hunting bow. She can hit a target that is moving slowly but can't actually hit a quick target or one which is moving about suddenly. Maria is also a thief from her many years with the Mountaineers.
Other Maria is traveling with Joy Carter.

Dying Light - Humanity's Last Stand

No pressure to post from me. So far my juices for writing have dried up for today and I'm just waiting for somebody to post so I can get a feel on what would be a good way to continue the post I've written.

Dying Light - Humanity's Last Stand

Well, I've hit a wall in what I'm writing right now so I'll just wait a little longer till your post is out Sven.

Dying Light - Humanity's Last Stand

*pessimist can't say anything because nobody would like anything she has to say*

@ViolentViolet

Never really pegged you as a pessimist. You seem more like an optimist to me. Then again, I am a pragmatist so neither really have much impact on me.

Edit: Alright now is the time to stop being a slacker. I'm gonna get work on a post.

Dying Light - Humanity's Last Stand

Ah yes but what about dry Pneumonia? Dry Pneumonia is where your lungs produce mucus cause you inhaled particulates of dry matter. Dry Pneumonia killed many people during the Dust Bowl period of time here in the US. The point is that even the weakest viral infection can damage your immune system enough to cause another viral to come in which is stronger than the last one. Though, anti-viral medicines also damage your immune system on their own so yeah. Without the medical supplies we have now, medical care would basically be set back to the 1800s maybe 1900s. Mortality rates would be through the roof after the first winter even if you are use to living in the cold. We are use to having all the food we could possibly ever want in the winter seasons now but when we can't produce said food what is going to happen? Most people'll die from lack of food rather than disease in the first year. It is the children born afterwards that would be the issue not our generation. They would have trouble fighting off even the easiest disease we have now.