[i]The cold winds of winter blow south across the Big Winter. Sprinting south from Canada, over gichigami and into the states below. The water sits frozen. Stronger than any steel and silent. Waiting. For what? Spring is coming, and the waters will slowly thaw and open up. Bringing with it renewal of life to our new, darkened world.

There aren't many alive today who would remember the world as it was over sixty years ago. Many of those who could even claim it are nearing their last breath. And the stories they told to their sons and their grandsons are just that: stories. It's all become a nostalgic memory, a part of our past as we carry on through today. Too much has changed to ever make it believable.

To the youth, or the parents who sired their flock in this new world the idea that too eat was a small feet is hard to believe. We hunt now, we scavenge. And what we farm doesn't seem to get all around. People hunger, perhaps greater than before. Man can freely kill another, where before he may kill his kin but be discovered soon after; there's freedom in killing as there isn't in eating. And man possessed light at the tips of their fingers, now we do not; that's gone to the shadows.

Many born today could not see our old world. They can never comprehend all its majesty and greatness. They listen to us as we pass through, telling stories of wagons that moved on their own. Machines that flew through the air. They gawk at the weathered rifles we keep on our backs and the sadly mismatched bows slung in our packs. We're teachers to the new world about the old.

Our written knowledge tells us much, reminds those who still remember what we were and gives us mission. It tells us what we need to know. By the year 2016 the nation that was the United States was split in debate. Arguments over economic fears in rising inflation, job loss welled together with infighting over the rights of personal health in a concepts beyond the comprehension of today. Many had drawn their swords, demanding they set sail across the Great Oceans to bring stability in a land called Eastern Europe as another nation named Russia rears.

But no matter their efforts, the situation slipped and the topics polarized more as two sides tugged and pulled. But ultimately, the end never came by the efforts of man and man alone. Though it would have been more merciful than out starvation.

On June 2nd, 2021 the lights went dark. Slipping out and dying not with the bang man waited for. The night sky flowed and danced like melted glass. Ghosts of green and blues sucking out the power that had made mankind. And as the sun rose, the night did not end for humanity. The light did not return. Society had paralyzed itself. Armies stopped in their tracks. And what came the following morning burned such a mark that there's no need to be a written reminder on the Second Suns.

Nuclear missiles, as many old enough that knew them by that name whispered. Atomic fire. Some theorized that it was a last launch of some rival, angry at us that the lights went dead and their cars stopped cold, that ships ceased sailing the Great Ocean and we could no longer talk across the globe. That people died in hospital that day, and the flying machines crashed into the cities killing many more.

Others had said that perhaps it was the dying breath of a system in some corner of the world. That in some cruel loop a launch was made against an enemy that never attacked. But whether it was revenge, or the last of a faulty component, it did not bathe us in fire and turn the Earth black.

Or some suggested that perhaps it was doomed to happen. It was God's last will.

Though some of our former cities were eclipsed and died in fire, it was not the end we dreamed of. We continued walking. The forests were still green. And we were far too numerous for own good.

Earth, our mother, lives on as we do. But humanity as it was is a legend now. Things are beyond what we knew it.[/i]


With that pleasant introduction out of the way: Welcome to “As We Knew It”. An RP set in a world plunged into darkness not by nuclear fire, or bitter warfare, but by the collapse of our electrical infrastructure. In a magnetic fit, celestial forces pummeled Earth, forcibly shutting down international – or national – communications, electrical, and computer networks bringing the world to a grinding halt. A society so dependent on smart phones, automobiles, and electricity was greeted to the startling effect of having lost it all in one great black out.

No power generation works anymore. Computers fail to work and cars fail to start. Chaos boiled in the last days, killing many. But what's worse is that many persistent programs failed to die, making the situation worse in some cases.

For the sake of diversity in atmosphere for this RP there has been a small-scale nuclear launch. Not enough to spoil the world's atmosphere or dramatically effect anything. More so some major cities, one of which being Chicago.

[img]http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/137/b/e/as_we_knew_it_by_aaronmk-d7irriw.png[/img]

The RP – for centralization purposes and my convenience of being most familiar with here – is set in the Great Lakes region of the US and Canada. Chicago – marked green – was hit by a rogue nuclear missile when the star and sun-bound EMP blast broke through the Earth's magnetosphere and caused havoc in the world below. The green band emanating from Chicago shows the persistent field of irradiated fallout sixty years after the fact.

Chicago is also the basis for rules when it comes to big cities in this RP.

[u][b]THE WORLD – CITIES[/b][/u]

For all purposes: let me put this down on Big Cities now: they're fucked up. Whether this means the close proximity of so many people having lead to an aggressive, almost unconquerable collective of tribes or gangs or mass physical or mental degradation due to the failure of industrial safety procedures during – or after – the black out (as is to be the case in Detroit).

Or, like Chicago is nuked (and is to be the only city in the region to have been nuked). The reasons that cities won't be the best place will depend on who's active in the area or who is in the city. But if you're setting up in a city then I don't want to see a faction encompassing the entire city.

[u][b]THE WORLD – PEOPLE[/b][/u]

The electrical crash of 2021 left humanity for the most part physically unscathed. This means that post-crash there was about as many people standing as there was before (with the exception of Chicago). This is meant to turn the post-crash world into a massive violent, and destitute affair. Populations may move around seeking safety in less inhabited areas of the region, or taking up extreme violence to take what they need. The crash of the industrial world would also lead society trying to produce for a people that they do not have the skills or tools to produce for, which will compound the problems. Some areas may be better off than others, but on the whole life isn't a premium and raiding societies would be common.

[u][b]THE WORLD – TECHNOLOGY[/b][/u]

Obviously, there won't be any working machines in this world. With the wash of EMP across the world the electrical routines so common in everything would be cooked or non-operational. I don't want to see tanks rolling about or people taking to the air in airplanes. As well, factories would be blown out because the power plants have blown out. Systems could – and have – failed leading to further desolation everywhere. And though there are things that could be repaired the general theme on this is that repairing them is not on the mind of everyone. They need to eat and defend themselves and getting a power plant working isn't a priority.

I will permit fire-arms. But modern weapons will be few and far between or too expensive the use. Bullets will need to be made by hand making automatic weapons way too expensive to use in general purpose applications, or anywhere out of desperation. And the parts needed to maintain them would come at a premium and as such the number of working automatic weapons will be falling.

Home-made, basement made weapons can be made. But they'd be more archaic and simple single-shot weapons. They'd be made with the availability of resources at hand, the cost to keep up with ammunition or even their over-all effectiveness. I want to see less Call of Duty and Fallout with gunplay and more medieval means of getting the knitty-gritty done. Bows or crossbows would be the easiest to make and maintain here given how few components they need in a world drawn back to a point well before industrialization and where most are starving.

[u][b]THE WORLD – ORGINATIONS[/b][/u]

There will be many player-made factions, but I want to bring to light two NPC factions that will be persistent – or should – throughout this world.

[b][inheritors of] FEMA/The F5[/b] - The former Federal Emergency Management Association had been created in the late 70's to manage disaster recovery efforts and to survey the damage for the federal government in Washington DC on the deceleration of a emergency in a selected region. The organization was split into eleven different bureaus to manage to the breadth of the United States.

However, the collapse of society and FEMA's ability to coordinate with itself and with Washington had greatly effected the organization's ability to operate. More so in the Great Lakes where nuclear fire reigned on Chicago, destroying their regional headquarters and further crippling their ability to operate to their full organizational potential. All the same they remain.

Scattered offices throughout the Great Lakes continue to operate, if with a crippled ability to coordinate their efforts. Loose, informal contact with the rest of what remains of FEMA continues on. Though as the generations within the organization change as they do outside, the use of FEMA as an acronym dropped or new names were given to them by post-black out communities across the region. Most popular of all being The F5.

The F5 continues a mission of teaching post-apocalyptic communities to survive in as loose a definition to before as possible. Though they may not hold the organization knowledge to keep combustion engines working or to even build new ones, the least they can offer is the ability to organize based in the rising Missionaries of the F5 and traveling medical care or training between communities. Often time the F5 serves as a politically neutral caravan, moving between communities to bargain between them the needs they both need.

From a political standpoint this keeps smaller communities from showing their hand to potentially predatory groups who would keep their distance base on the variety of unknowns this keeps. For the larger communities this puts in someone else's hands the methods to spread their influence through kindly donations.

[b]Aventurier[/b] - Men and women of distant purpose, the Aventurier claim to be from a place known as the Kingdom of Quebec, though self-proclaimed. Often speaking the language of their own language in the post-apocalyptic landscape the actual intention of the Aventurier is a mystery of their own. Though their primary purpose seems to be that of scouts or explorers sent to learn and trade with the land beyond their own.

For the new communities of the Great Lakes, the Aventurier are a source of trade to and from far-flung places many of the new generation would never had heard of. Such places as Les Aungtupée or La Nouvelle-Orléans. Though their ability to find and sell such far-away materials is renown, it is hardly anything but a luxury market to many in the new world, and aesthetic baubles.

Though with a commercial role, many come with other services. A regimented, military society. The Aventurier may see fit to his own honor to contract his own services out. Though his true loyalty lies in that land of Quebec and its interests ultimately over ride its own.

The Aventurier hold a more central presence in the Great Lakes, and have set up their frontier forts at both Sault Ste. Maries and Detroit/Windsor.

[b][u]BEFORE YOU APPLY[/b][/u]

I am going to assume that by this point you've read the whole three pages of this OP. Or at least most of it. So I'm going to say this: In this RP we're not writing to be the best in a statistical sense. There will be no points to spend, or anything that turns this into a rigid sort of accountancy with some writing elements. If you want to go through and do numbers, you may. But do so that they fit in the narrative.

We are writing to tell a story, explore the world, and describe our societies as they evolve. Put yourself in this sort of field and think not “How can I be uber?” but “How will they react?” Granted sixty years wouldn't be enough for many of the “meta” aspects of American and Canadian culture to fade away in full, but there is no doubt elements in the world around them and in the world they live that will continually mold the way they grow. Perhaps they consider themselves victimized? Perhaps they found an example of some small part of the old world they want to emulate? Or perhaps it's all circumstance and they will change to fit this bill. Remember, many people who would remember our world have most likely passed or are getting old enough to pass away.

The idea this won't be regulated by the constant need to produce points and graphs that you can't at least expand. You may if it's in any faction of your nation's interests. You can develop beyond your original form, but regulate it. By that, I've always been a fond of keeping at least a loose track of time, which will for now be strapped at three pages being the passing of a month, you can do calculations on what is a day however you want. If things get active, I will increase the amount of time. I just feel we need a way to determine the seasons and keep us all in synch.

[b][u]APPLICATIONS[/b][/u]

[b]Faction[/b]:
[b]Location[/b]:
[b]History[/b]: [I ask for this you at least write something three to four paragraphs in length as a minimum. This isn't nearly a quarter as long as some applications so you should have the coherent energy to assure me you got a coherent idea on what's going on]

For individual characters - This is not required for anyone doing a nation sheet, but for anyone who wants to be a part of this without fretting over running the potential hundred characters that come with a nation. This is for people who want the flexibility and personal relation one may have with doing a single character.

[b]Name[/b]:
[b]Appearance[/b]:
[b]Back story[/b]:

[b][u]BY APPLYING...[/b][/u]

… By applying I am trusting you to help make this interesting. I will not bother you over the regular rules of Role Playing and I trust that you have read this opening post. By applying you recognize you're not just in an RP, but the potential for a sub-community. I may be the GM, but I lay my power down to the well being and content of the people who wish to be a part of this story. I am trusting all of us to be a part of a dialog in character and out of character for the sake of consistency, understanding, and to prevent issues before they arrive; by this I believe in communal self-moderation and if there's an issue you feel needs to be addressed that you will raise it in thread, but not out of hostility.

I trust us to not god mod, power play, or to do simply casual gaffs. I expect us to push ourselves in writing and to hone and refine our skills and even to possibly learn about something beyond your own world, or to expand your imagination into something else. I expect reason, and all that good stuff.

Most of all, I hope I won't be running this and end up wanting to pull out my hair. So let's keep the drama to a minimum and only in story.