The Red Zephyr

Hailstorm

That alien race will then fire that video out the airlock , yelling that we deserved extinction. We probably do...

Hailstorm

SIP history done!

Islands Map and RP Map next, but not this morning.

Hailstorm: A Burdened World

Bumping, because we need WOMEN! It's a sausage fest up in here!

Hailstorm

Map has been updated with province names so you can accurately describe your character's home. If you wanna make up cities in any province, just tell me the name and place an I will (possibly) add it. Provincial Seats (state capitals basically) will have names at some point before the heat death of the universe.

Now on to the ISLANDS!

Hailstorm

So, I know this is terribly off-topic, but I have to bitch somewhere. I've finally caught up with the second season of the Psycho-Pass anime, and I have to say that it is unbelievably terrible compared to its predecessor. It pains me to see one of my favorite shows of all time be devolved into a bullshit-ridden mess of nonlogic and terribly written characters. Something that was a well-written masterpiece is now a sci-fi circus with poorly developed characters and forced plot movement.

That is all.

Hailstorm

Xenonia said
Hi, I'm Xenonia, I'll be playing the "Stray Child". Also, maybe change the "How to not be a dick" title to "Rules". It's a bit confusing...

It's true that I'm probably unclear with the importance of opening that hider. I'll look into it after work (and finish my shit hopefully).

SirBeowulf said
I'm liking the titles of the characters. (By the way, its Caravaneer.) You can take your time, like Kyle said. I don't really mind waiting in the slightest. The more we wait the higher quality stuff you'll be able to put out for us.

Caravanner. We are both right, but my spelling was incorrect.

Since I'm taking forever with SIP, I'll give a quick description for any who might want to have an origin there: The Islands were originally 3 separate island nations that lead the fishing industry. From the get-go they were pretty anti-war and would only participate in the sake of defending themselves. Because of their smaller populations, only one representative attended the Last Meeting for the creation of UNO. By the end of the meeting, the rep was the only one to reject a universal alliance. Because of her steadfastness, a clause had to be written into the UNO inception documents that the islands would be exempt from the conditions stated as long as no violent action arose between them and the UNO. In such a case, UNO would be forced to annex the islands with force if need-be.

The representative returned to the islands horrified by the way the world's leaders cowered like sheep to Morane and their threat of "The End of the World". After telling her tale to the leaders of the islands, they all agreed to form a universal pact, similar to UNO but in direct opposition to their ideals. A chief was elected on each island, and all matters were decided by vote in an Island Council. The council made it's goal to withhold citizen freedom, and encourage personal protection and responsibility. There was no private military, only a self-trained civilian militia, and nearly everyone carried a firearm. This goal of freedom, extended to markets as well, attracting dozens of large tech developers who wanted to escape UNO regulation. After a while SIP became known as a technological haven for those who didn't believe the rumors of barbarianism.

...That took like ten minutes. I am a bad procrastinator.

Hailstorm

This might seem like a cop-out answer, but I'll start the IC when it feels appropriate to do so. I haven't even made my own character(s) and still need to add a few things to my OOC OP. I've only had four CSs submitted and they are in no way a "full cast".

BTW any accepted CSs should be posted in the OOC so others can see them when they join, use them for comparison, and give their own input.

Hailstorm

I've had two new CSs submitted, and I will likely accept both of them. So far, here are the character roles:

The Caravaner.

The Detective.

The Stray Child.

The Ruthless Assassin.

If I've approved your CS, you can post it in the CS thread.

God does not want me to have real days off, so today was busy as well. I'm a lot less tired than on Tuesday so SIP background and a local map will be coming "soonish" as always.

Hailstorm

CS Thread

Hailstorm Character Sheets

Ian Numa Gray

Name: Ian Numa Gray

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian. Judging by his features, he is either southwest Medan or eastern Occan.

Burden: 60% - The entirety of the right side of his body and his whole torso are painted black. His face is only mildly affected, since the veins only reach to his neck. When he is enraged or excited, his right eye turns a blackish-purple and his irises become a faint reddish.

Faction: Entry-level Voyager. Ian prefers no to mix himself with politics. The way he sees it, any person or group that seeks power seeks it for themselves, not for others. The only reason he affiliates himself with the Voyagers is for money.

Appearance: Putting aside his burden, Ian appears to be a rather average young man. He is seventy-one inches (5'11'') tall, with dark, reddish-brown hair that reaches the lobes of his ears. His human eyes are a similar color to his hair, but with a lighter, cloudier texture. Although vaguely he remembers having a little fat at some point, Ian is unable to become any heavier than "bony" no matter how much he eats. (A visual aid.)

Like many Burdened, he wears heavier, long-sleeved clothing and gloves to cover up his markings. Since Ian's neck is blackened as well, he often wears a dark blue scarf to cover it. Unfortunately, a lot of people can tell he is burdened simply because of his overabundance of clothing.

Personality: Ian could be described as a cynic, through and through. When faced with a situation, he has a tendency to expect the worst possible outcome. Though he is often scolded by his sister for being so negative, he sees it as a way to avoid being disappointed: When you expect the worst you can only ever be pleasantly surprised. Ian is fairly detached and objective, so he frequently has issues factoring people's feelings and emotions into his own actions. Because of this near-roboticism, his sister acts frequently as his "conscience" to keep him from acting foolishly.

Because of his burden Ian has a rather strong tendency to talk to himself and people who are not there. More often than not, he holds entire conversations with an apparition of his sister when she is not there and an imaginary man called "AM". Although he claims to hate his dependence on Azra, she seem to be this first person his conscious and unconscious mind turn to for help and it aggravates him to no end.

Synopsis: Three years ago, Ian and Azra found themselves lying on a pile of mauled bodies with no recollection of what happened previous; only each others names. The pair were on the outskirts of Balta, a larger city in the province of Artum, both covered head-to-toe in blood. The bodies in question were nearly impossible to identify if not for the single DERB patch found on a disembodied arm. Not knowing what to do in this ludicrous situation, they decided to stick together to try to find out who they were and how they had come to be there.

Ian was already heavily burdened when he awoke, and realized quickly that people did not like the sight of his blackened skin. He began wearing heavier clothing and avoiding human settlements altogether. If necessary, Azra would go buy supplies for the two of them, since she was significantly "purer". Like many survivors of the Hail, the pair became scavengers and accepted almost any jobs they could get for money. For about two years, they survived by drifting among settlements in the old Artrum and Centriva areas.

However, several months ago, the siblings were separated. While passing through a settlement a few kilometers from the Legus ruins, the siblings were offered a job assisting with am unusually large Vanguard convoy. The job paid excellently, but the catch was that the group was traveling through the Legus perimeter in hopes of expediting the transport. Since it was rumored that Lost tended to leave people with heavy burden alone, the employer hopes that Ian would keep them away. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The escort of twenty-seven people was ambushed by Lost. The scene was pure chaos and carnage, and Ian and Azra were separated in the cities ruins.

Ian managed to escape rather easily, since the Lost were much more interested in the other members of the escort. After a day of running blind, he found himself outside the city limits at last. Immediately after, he found his way back to the settlement he had been hired in, hoping to find his sister and tell the employer about the failed mission. Neither of them could be found.

Unsure how to make money without his sister to converse with people, Ian sought out the Voyagers. The work they did was often similar to what he and Azra did before, but she was fervidly against joining them. Strangely enough, Ian found himself to be a decent soldier, and fit in well with the mercenaries. Killing did not bother him much, and he seemed to pick up fighting techniques rather easily.

Strengths:

• Evenhanded - Ian is good at analyzing situations and looking at them objectively to reach the most desirable outcome. However, human elements tend to interfere with his process.


• Nimble - He can move his body with adept agility, making him a good fighter despite his scrawny appearance.


• Voyager Training - Since joining the Voyagers, Ian has learned how to use guns and Lummid shields, though he is not very experience with them.


• Daggers - Ian prefers to use small bladed weapons over swords, machetes, or even guns. Although he is able to use a few different tools and weapons from his Voyager training, putting a knife in his hand turns Ian into a real killer.

Vices/Weaknesses:

• Detached- Ian has problems understanding the feelings and viewpoints of others, though he does recognize that they have them. He has very little empathy with anyone other than his sister, so his words and actions may seem cold or illogical at times.


• Dependent - Without Azra around, Ian has developed a number of coping mechanisms including talking to subconscious projections of her, scolding himself vocally for failure, and holding lengthy inner monologues.


• Illiterate - Ian learned only basic reading skills form his sister, and has almost no other scholastic knowledge. Most things he knows he probably learned before his amnesia.

Equipment: The only thing Ian carries with any personal value is his scarf. Other then that, he keeps only essentials, such as a set of knives on his belt and various rations and one or two tools in his knapsack.

Quirks*: As earlier stated, he talks frequently with two apparitions of his mind: His sister Azra and a man named AM.

Theme Song*: My Demons

Other Things*: Ian enjoys watching old Bahuaman animation.

Azra Haudam

Name: Azra Haudam

Age: 18

Gender: Female

Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian. Probably a mix of Occan and Medan blood.

Burden: Estimated 10-20%. She is remarkably pure, considering how much she has been around hail zones.

Faction: Entry-level Vanguard, but only because she believes the Avant Garde can help her find her brother.

Appearance: Azra is a bit taller than average, but other than that she is rather ordinary. Measuring seventy inches (5'10'') tall, she bears shoulder-length reddish-brown hair and light blue eyes. Despite not being truly burdened, her left eye has a tendency to blacken seemingly randomly. Though she is not particularly malnutritioned, Azra looks very thin and emaciated. For some reason, the fingernails on her left hand are black, so she goes out of her way to either wear gloves or obtain nail polish despite how rare the latter can be.
(A visual aid.)

Personality: If you were to try to describe Azra in one word, it might be "Vigilant". Since she awoke next to Ian, she has been thorough in her attempts to keep the both of them safe. She pays close attention to people, and is wary of their every action. She's kept a close eye on Ian to make sure his "circumstances" don't cause trouble, and does everything she can to keep him from hurting people or himself. Almost her every thought and action has revolved around the directive of "keep Ian safe" since the day he called her his sister.

However, Azra is not a robot, but a person with thoughts and feelings of her own. Despite her wariness, she goes out of her way to be polite to people whenever the chance arises. She has made herself very aware of the value of human interaction and first impressions, but she does enjoy having pleasant conversations with people. Whenever possible, she is very conservative with ration tickets and looks for jobs in every settlement she visits. Ian swears she is pathologically obsessed with bluebacks, but the way she sees it, having money is the easiest way to ensure Ian's safety and keep both of them surviving somewhat comfortably.

Synopsis: Three years ago, Azra found herself lying on a pile of mangled body parts. As she gazed into the sky, she found her mind completely blank, as if she had just been born into the world. Then, she turned her head to see the face of another person--a boy--and a jumble of thoughts, words, and letters rushed into her mind and formed a single name: Ian Numa Gray. The boy then turned his head to look into her eyes and uttered another name: Azra Haudam. Since these were the first things they said to one another, they decided to refer to each other with them.

After leaving the bloody scene, the amnesia-stricken pair became inseparable, depending on one another for survival. Although, it was probably more accurate to say that Azra was inseparable from Ian. As the two ventured out into the post-Hailstorm world, Azra found her brother to be completely hopeless when dealing with people and indirect adversity. The more she noticed, the more closely she guided him, and the more he came to resent her diligence. For more than two years, the pair survived by taking terrible jobs and scavenging whenever the opportunity arose.

All of that changed however, when the siblings and a Vanguard convoy were ambushed by Lost on the fringe of Legus. The chaos of the attack forced Azra to separate from Ian to stay alive. While trying to flee from the reach of the Lost, she was hunted relentlessly by over a dozen of the crazed once-humans. Through a combination of clever hiding and misdirection, she was able to narrowly escape the Hail zone.

After surviving the ambush, Azra made it her first priority to find her brother. She spent two whole days patrolling the perimeter of the city, but Ian never appeared. She went back to the settlement they had received the botched job from, but neither Ian nor the employer could be found.

Since separating from Ian, Azra has visited dozens of settlements and DERB safe zones looking for information on her brother's whereabouts. She refuses to believe he died in Legus.

Strengths:

• Prudent - After two years of keeping someone with almost no common sense safe, Azra has naturally sharpened her senses and gained a sharp eye for detail.


• Social - Azra is proficient at dealing with other people. She can skillfully read a person's state of mind and analyze their personality to determine how to best approach them. She does her best to act cordial and gain favor with everyone she meets when possible.


• Stealthy - More than a few times, she and Ian have had to resort to thievery for survival, so Azra has developed a "light step" so to say. Since she also lacks Ian's combat capability, she relies on this skill to deal with any potential assailants.


• Straight Shooter - About a year ago, Azra picked up a weathered revolver from a caravan in the western Centriva area and, in hopes of being useful in encounters with marauders and Lost, she trained herself how to use it. Training with the Avant Garde has honed her ability with the gun a bit.


• Knowledgeable - In her attempts to learn about the world, Azra has taken to reading, and has been gathering intelligence from taverns and info traders.

Vices/Weaknesses:

• Physically weak - Unlike Ian, Azra did not awake with any inherent training or strength. She has had to rely on Ian's strength and her own guile to survive.


• Single-minded - Azra is borderline-obsessed with keeping Ian safe. In most situations, she prioritizes his security above all else; even above her own. She's tried to think of many ways to rationalize this peculiar directive to no avail. The only explanation she has is that she must have been very close with Ian before they lost their memories.


• Skeptic - Before being separated from Ian, Azra refused to let either of them join a faction or participate in their skirmishes. Even though the Vanguards, Voyagers, and DERB could provide the siblings with resources, the risk of being pulled into a war was too great. Besides, the factions' true motivations are anyone's guess.

Equipment: Azra has a tendency to be somewhat of a "pack rat". She'll pick up anything that might be useful and store it in her backpack. Currently, she is carrying her revolver and three .357 rounds, her pocket knife, a 25oz canteen, a lead pipe, toilet paper, a change of clothes, a province map, and a novel titled The Metamorphosis. Other items would probably be included in the "junk" category if there was one.

Quirks*: When in deep thought, she has a tendency to mutter to herself and crack each of her fingers one by one.

Theme Song*: Monster

Other Things*: Azra enjoys reading Bahuaman comics when she has nothing educational to study.