Appearance: With thick black hair worn down and unkempt, Edward certainly has the appearance of 'boyish.' His earth brown eyes and youthful face give him a trustworthy look about him. He tends to wear long, sturdy trousers and shoes of similar make, with plain shirts and a green (flannel on the inside) jacket when its cold out. All in all he's quite unremarkable looking. Fair skin, long legs and a slim build, with a bit of definition in his muscles from working for his father are the only other real distinguishing parts about him, other than his uplifting smile.

Background: Born almost a year after World War Two ended, on August 2nd, 1946 to James and Cammy Harth in Montana. James was an infantryman deployed in Europe during the war, having left his job at the steel mill for 3 years before returning, only to find his wife now having taken a job there as well. They soon found out they needed to work double time in order to provide for themselves, because they were about to get a baby boy.

Edward Harth grew up in a working class family. With both parents at their jobs and he alone until supper time for many years, he learned to appreciate books in his spare time, finding himself more and more enamored by the written word. In fact it would be safe to say that since age 8, he had read 3 hours a day until age 21, when he decided he did not want to only read, but create a story himself.

Unfortunately, there were many factors in his way. By age 16, he had left school to work at the mill with his father. His mother had stopped working there in order to take care of Edward's younger brothers, Shaun and Miles. Time was against him from his work and family time, as was his father in general. James Harth did nothing to discourage his habits of reading, but firmly discouraged any way to make a living that wasn't hard work with his hands. Edward had once seen his father as a hero from his war stories and hard work ethic, but slowly a rift had begun to form between them.

They had used to go camping out in Wyoming for days on end, if his father and he ever had enough time off. For a year or two, they would take Edward's little brothers as well, making their own campsite and catching their own dinner. James enjoyed it for the work involved, but Edward enjoyed it for the meaning behind it. He felt like he was a pioneer or an adventurer in one of the many stories he would read.

By age 22, Edward had gotten his own apartment down the street and a small amount of space to write a novel. However, even with all of his research and various readings, and his newfound space, he knew he couldn't quite grasp the wonders of the wider world without experiencing them for himself. He knew it was ludicrous, and downright insane as far as his family was concerned, but explorers had faced greater odds before and triumphed. He decided to save up for a year and go on a trip around the world. Unfortunately, his mother began wondering why he had shown up more and more over at their place to eat dinner, and subsequently pried it out of him that he needed to save money for a trip. With her worried sick and his father now against it, by the time it came for the flight, Edward was running away more than going off to explore. His first layover was in Anchorage...

Personality and Outlook:Edward is very curious of others and their experiences. While not nosy, expect him to ask people about themselves at least once or twice unless given a firm 'no." Contrary to that, he's often perceived as the quiet one, only opening up once he is curious or speaking about things he is passionate about (or spouting random facts that will help them in their current situation). Despite him not admitting this, he has a hard work ethic like his father and great respect to those who don't back down, so he tries not to, in turn.

He enjoys reading, writing, and walking for hours on end lost in thought. He's not had much experience with the fairer sex, though that's more for him having no life by choice when he's out of work, and the rest of his hours spent in work. He'd be shy when it comes to that sort of thing, though just like his normal day to day, he's often too lost in his books to even think about that. Introspective, idealist, and encouraging, Edward's a fine choice to get lost in the woods with!

Skills:

• Stamina: Long hours at the Steel Mill has given him the strength and energy to go a long time at his peak exertion.
• Knowledge: Having read most books under the sun, he'll know many random but relevant facts about various survival topics such as plant and animal life, how long it takes for a human body to freeze over, etc.
• Steady Hands: Working with steel and molten lead has gotten him used to being able to hold things properly and good hand eye coordination.

Weaknesses:

• Lack of Experience: He knows how to camp and survive a few days, but it's a small step compared to crashing in the boreal tundra. He'll need some time to adjust fully to their situation.
• Idealism: After he has time to adjust, his idealism will kick in and give him confidence, but it will also, in turn, make him miscalculate and become susceptible to pay less attention to his surroundings if he isn't too busy trying to be like one of the heroes of old.
• Regret: He's bogged down by regret for leaving his parents and family on a bad note, and will haunt his conscience at night, perhaps depriving him of some needed sleep.
• Asthma: Will sometimes have difficulty breathing.

Appearance:
A rather petite woman, with a well-muscled body from years spent in the outdoors, Athena Joan Wolfe is a woman that most folks on the street would simply miss due to her short stature. She has delicate hands and wrists, with defined legs, while her stomach isn’t as toned (she does enjoy eating sweets), though she’s not fat by any means, a pair of wide hips give her a curvy appearance with her narrow waistline. Straying from the popular beehives, and other fashionable styles of the early 60s, Athena once possessed long hair. However, as the era slowly approached the more laid-back styles of the soon-to-be 70s, and after ending her engagement with Lance, she cut loose the long tresses, and sports a shaggy bob of black hair. Dark grey eyes, like those of thunderclouds waiting to burst, observe every aspect of the world surrounding her, some would think she is busy scrutinizing them instead of simply being engaged in observation. Athena dresses rather plainly, having a fixation for the earth tone colors, such as tan, brown and green; although her wardrobe is littered with black articles of clothing. She prefers to wear blue jeans and simple t-shirts, though depending on the season, and what task she has undertaken, one can find her wearing heavy sweaters in the winter, or shorts in the summer. As a matter of footwear, Athena strays away from heels, unless of course, it’s a special occasion. One will normally find a pair of Herman survivor boots on her feet, as she spends most of her time outdoors and doesn’t see the need to change her shoes to match her outfits.

With soft, delicate features, laugh lines are evident around her mouth. She has a long, sharp nose, and a round forehead. Her black brows are highly expressive, giving away any emotion she has brewing beneath the surface. A slightly cleft chin is marred with a scar that extends from the right cleft, up to her jaw bone, where she received that in an accident during one hiking excursion. A pallid complexion leaves her prone to sunburn, so she often wears a wide-brimmed hat of some sort to shield her eyes from the harmful UV rays. When speaking, most people have to strain to hear what she’s saying as Athena speaks in a whispery, albeit rather husky, voice.

Background:

Born in Montpelier, Vermont on April 24th, 1940 to a mother that was never there, and a father just as absent, Athena looked after her little brother Maxwell while her parents worked late hours. Yvonne held a position at the local hospital as an emergency room nurse, and Allen, her father, worked even later hours at the law firm Johnson & Blackwell Firm, as an attorney for criminal cases. During World War II, while Allen registered to enlist after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he managed to avoid the call to duty because of his occupation in society. While those that remained behind in Montpelier, either too old, or unfit for the draft remained behind looked down upon Allen Wolfe due to the fact that he was perfectly eligible, asides from the prominent point that he was a criminal case lawyer. However, as explained by the government, someone needed to stay behind to guarantee that society ran accordingly, and being a lawyer aided that aspect of a functioning community. In the beginning years of the war, Athena did not remember anything, not until the end of the war neared to its final close when she reached her fifth birthday, did she fully understand the ongoing war across the Atlantic Ocean. Maxwell, her little brother, arrived in 1943 in early October.

Growing up in close proximity to the woods, as her parents lived on the outskirts of Montpelier in a two story manor built in the early 1800s, she enjoyed spending endless hours out under the green canopy of the forest. This is where her love for nature grew. By all means, Athena had a thirst for learning, and from a young age, she had the chance to skip grades from 4th to 6th as the curriculum proved rather easy for her to comprehend. Quietly, when Yvonne and Allen were present in her life, finding those rare moments outside of work to discuss family matters over a late night dinner, the topic of Athena’s schooling came up more than once. They debated on the benefits of hiring a private tutor for her, and keeping her at home. Yet to their surprise, despite her reclusive nature, Athena protested against the idea. She enjoyed sitting at a desk, learning from her teachers, regardless if she did not enjoy her fellow peers just as much. Her parents were pleased with their daughter’s academic achievements, and when she came to enter her 10th grade year, they enrolled her in private school, for the hopes of securing an eligible scholarship to one of the great universities across America. There was no class too difficult for her, and she rather enjoyed the burden of difficult homework; she pursued science classes whenever she could, instead of fulfilling her electives with art or music classes; she found that Chemistry, Biology, and Anatomy classes to be highly enlightening, nurturing the inner scientist in her. In her spare time, she would often read through her school textbooks outside in the woods behind her house, she read ahead of the curriculum being taught that week in class. While she succeeded in all aspects of her schooling, in one major area she lacked, that was in normal, social communication with her peers. Athena viewed the teachers as her friends, as she found it exceedingly difficult to make any friends, thinking them air-heads for being concerned with fashion and the latest gossip. While she pursued her academics with gusto, and buried her nose into every book concerning the forests, mountain ranges, ecosystems around the world, animals and their habitats, she fell in love with being able to identify plants, especially when Max fell into a batch of poison ivy and came home covered in red patches. Eager to make certain he would never contract poison ivy again, or at least while she was around.

Graduating from high school in the summer of 1958, Athena sent out her college applications to every university across the nation, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Notre Dame, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State, and many more. When the day came that she received her acceptance letter in the mail from University of California at Berkeley, her parents rejoiced once more, excited to see her daughter achieve greatness in the world. They had counseled her in the idea of accomplishing what her heart desired, even when they weren’t so readily present in her life. Athena packed her belongings, and headed across the great United States that winter of 1958 to begin her first semester. When she arrived for the winter semester, she settled in easily into school life, and surprisingly, made friends in her ecology classes, who shared the same ideas, and passions as Athena. School flew by in a blur, and when she reached her final year towards achieving her Bachelors of Science degree in Ecology in 1962, her close-knit group of friends embarked on a daring expedition to climb Mt. Rainier in Washington during the summer break. The journey proved harrowing, as Athena had never climbed a mountain before, yet when they reached the top, surrounded by silence, save for the whistling of the wind through the pine trees below, she felt as if for the first time in her life that she had accomplished something monumental. Just a month later, they sat out on another expedition to hike the Appalachian’s. Her group of friends, that consisted of Jane Greer, Alexander Cooke, Ellie Stevenson, and Penelope Morris, managed to hike half of the Appalachian mountain range before calling the expedition off due to foul weather. It took them a month and a half to reach their stopping point.

When they returned from their expedition, Athena encountered a charming fellow by the name of Lance Elwood, a man that would steal her heart within weeks. Lance studied at Berkeley as well, aiming to become a pediatrician upon graduation. She found him to be a confident, charismatic type, one that enjoyed being in the center of attention. They were polar opposites in every sense of the word. He dressed in a flamboyant, attention-grabbing manner, and Athena preferred a down-to-earth style. He liked taking her out to fancy dinners, visiting art galleries while she wanted to go on strolls along the beach, or go camping in the surrounding forests. The time came when they moved in together during her second year studying for her Masters of Science in Forest Management in 1964; again, the polar differences between them were magnified. Lance threw extravagant house parties, purchased a Mercedes, wore expensive Italian leather shoes, while Athena opted for a night out with her friends, and preferred to shop at the local farmer’s market. Unforeseen complications arose after her graduation in 1965, where she landed a job as a forest technician in Northern California. Lance displayed a deeply rooted animosity toward the idea of her having to rent her own apartment, and even relocate to the northern region of the state for her job. Athena felt it to be a loving gesture, as she assumed that he would simply miss her companionship. However, he became controlling, domineering, and demanded her to call him every morning and evening, before he eventually found a job close to her as a pediatrician. She continued to believe that his actions were out of love. Now living together once more, Athena and Lance were strained, happy with her job, he argued every night that she ought to find a more reputable position, and suggested on several occasions that she ought to go back to school to study for a different degree.

By the time Lance had proposed to her, which she unwittingly said yes to, Athena found a job at Yellowstone in 1966, working as a park guide. For her, this was her dream job in every sense. She could speak with park visitor’s, and most importantly, take the visitor’s on guided tours. Being outside everyday brightened, and lifted her sense of well-being. As for Lance, he continued down the path of a controlling psycho. He wanted her to focus on him, to devote time to their future wedding, a grand event to be attended by their family, and his extensive network of friends. Athena had met his mother and father on a few occasions, and understood that Lance came from an astonishingly wealthy family. In fact, his family were shareholders in California’s electric company. When she explained that she didn’t care for such an extravagant event, and preferred a small wedding with family and close friends, Lance erupted like Mt. Vesuvius onto Pompeii, however, it was Athena instead. He threw dishes at her, shouted insults at her, belittled her, and demeaned her sense of self-worth, watching as she cringed in fear, horrified that he would act so ignobly towards her. Where was that charismatic man that used to make her laugh? This continued for months on end, eventually turning into an entire year of stressful living for Athena. She confided in her friends, and they all told her the same story, to leave Lance. Yet, when she spoke to her parents, who she called on a weekly basis, they encouraged her to remain with Lance, reassuring her that things would eventually smooth over. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore, and broke off the engagement with Lance in a desperate attempt to take control of her life once more. He couldn’t believe she had the guts to do so, again, he descended into a tirade of insults and breaking objects. In his rage, he lunged at her with a knife, aiming to cause her physical harm for the first time in their relationship; fearing for her life if she stayed behind Athena fled their apartment, and sought refuge from their next door neighbor. Once inside, Athena called police, angry and hurt that Lance had tried to hurt her; she felt violated, that she had let a man such as himself take advantage of her all these years. The police arrived shortly after the phone call, and arrested Lance for assault. However, when the time came for him to go to court, the case fell apart due to his family’s high-status in the state of California.

After the traumatizing events of living with Lance, Athena went for counseling in hopes of healing her wounded heart. During her time there, her counselor encouraged her to travel the world while she was still young before she encountered the burden of family life, he was an eccentric man, one that would influence her in ways she had only begun to understand; he even introduced her to a man that shared similar interests as her, although she only met with him a few times, often meeting for coffee in a local cafe. In the meantime, before her approaching travels, Athena reconnected with her college friends, and attended many concerts across the nation seeing many bands such as The Doors, Janis Joplin, The Who, and The Velvet Underground. One could even say, that she developed a hippie-like persona, taking the time to live in a commune and experimenting with a limited amount of hallucinogenic narcotics. By February of 1969, with the help of her parents Athena acquired her passport, and set out on a plane ride from Anchorage, Alaska to Tokyo, Japan. She wanted to explore the Pacific, to see Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and hopefully end her travels in Europe before coming home. She boarded a Northwest Airlines plane, flight 122, her journal her sole companion, asides from the suitcase full of outfits. Athena would acquire more necessities along the trip according to weather, and where she travelled. Yet, eight hours into the flight, an expanse of snowy, pine forests appeared out the cabin window. She knew that they weren’t anywhere near Japan, for she knew it to be a tiny, mountain island, and this was a swath of forest that stretched on for as far as the eye could see. The airplane began to descend in altitude, when the pilot came on, announcing the worst. They were going to crash.

Personality and Outlook:
Athena Joan Wolfe, a woman approaching her thirties, stressed from her romantic relationship with an abusive partner, has sought to travel the world to find herself. She is open-minded, knowing full well, the changes this decade has gone through, and many more to come. Timid, meek, and shy, Athena prefers to avoid any conflict that might cause her, or others harm. She is easily frightened, though some would consider her brave in the aspect that she enjoys hiking as a hobby, and has climbed one mountain in her lifetime. Think of her as a mouse. With no physical skills to defend herself, Athena feels rather helpless. Though, were one to engage in a debate, or even enter a conversation with her, one would know how deep her well of knowledge she possesses. Some might consider her to be a know-it-all, as she has endless facts to share, but rather, Athena doesn’t parade herself around like an ego-maniac. She is humble, and quiet. It takes her a while to warm up to others, especially if she doesn’t know anything about them.

She can be a bit standoffish, if one were to corner her, and demand anything from her. Yet, she would never say a word to harm another. Even when she mentions Lance, which is little in regards to her friends, she prefers to use words that do not highlight him as a psychopath, saying that he didn’t mean to, or that it was her fault. Athena is still in denial over the type of man that Lance was, and how he treated her. She simply doesn’t know any better. While love is not at the forefront of her mind, Athena is hesitant when it comes to the ideals of love. She certainly has trust issues with men now, and finds herself looking more and more at the fairer sex. Athena is a puddle of emotions, and is simply trying to discover who she really is, and what she wants in life. In regards to the events of the plane crash, Athena tries to remain positive, although she is still shy, knowing that she possesses the knowledge and skill to survive.

Skills:

Bachelor of Science - Ecology
-Includes knowledge and skill in determining types of ecosystems, animal habitats, field research, forest technician duties, and collecting soil/wood/water samples.

Master of Science - Forest Management
-Includes knowledge and skill in written & verbal communication, traversing difficult terrain, managing forest properties, and negotiation between concerned parties’/land owners.

Cooking
-Having to learn from a young age while her parents were incredibly busy during WWII. She knows how to boil water, when vegetables are thoroughly cooked, and knows when cooking meat when it is at the right temperature to eat. She may not be the best cook, but she's kept herself fed through her days in college.

Risk Assessment
-While most would consider this a skill, for Athena, it is like second-hand nature. She has always had an eye for identifying risky endeavours, and promptly avoids situations that would put her in harm’s way. She is a safe, practical person, one that follows all of the rules to a T. Working as a forest technician, and then as a park guide for Yellowstone, Athena's risk assessment capabilities have become fine-tuned.

Plant Identification
-From a young age, Athena has studied plants, and during her studies for her Ecology degree this was further explored. Athena can discern which plants are edible, poisonous, and beneficial.

Animal Track Identification
-When studying ecosystems during her Ecology courses, Athena had the opportunity, on numerous occasions to study, and identify, animal tracks. She can also determine how recent the tracks were made.

Survival Techniques
-Not only did she learn this over the course of her studies, Athena has gone on countless hiking expeditions. One of the most notable expedition being the climb up Mt. Rainier, and hiking half of the Appalachian Mountains. From these experiences, Athena knows how to distill safe drinking water, construct a safe campsite, build a fire, and can go for days without modern commodities. If she has to piss outside, don't think she won't hesitate.

Navigation
-One of the many other skills she learned at college, and from personal experience, Athena can discern which way is north, by looking at trees to see which side the moss grows on. If she is in a forest, it is harder for her to tell which direction is which, but depending on the time, she can know which way is east and west.

Flaws:

Meek - Athena is overly submissive, even when she believes that the person wielding power is wrong, she will be too timid to speak up. While a shy child growing up, after breaking off her engagement with her ex-fiancé, Lance, has increased this side of her ten-fold.

Perfectionist - While she never exhibited this aspect in her early childhood days, Athena developed this habit, so to speak, during her college years, and then magnified in her career with the forestry services. She strives for impeccability, and it is hard for her to except that some things in life, cannot be perfect.

Pacifist – Walking hand-in-hand with her meek attitude, is her abhorrence against the idea of violence. Perhaps this came about from when Lance would badger her, being verbally abusive, and while he wasn’t physically abusive, he preferred to break things in order to evoke some kind of reaction out of her. She is the peacemaker, the one that will step up to dissuade angry minds, and try to steer upset individuals into passive debates.

{WIP}

Appearance:

Charlotte is a decently attractive woman, her expeditions and adventures leaving her with a slim and fit body. She has light brown eyes and straight darker brown hair that turns auburn if the sun hits it right. Her skin is tanned and she has faint lines around her eyes (Fainter than in the picture) showing her time often spent in the sun plus her years subtly making themselves known. The Union Jack is tattooed on her right bicep, in the form of a tattered flag. She often wears whatever is most appropriate for the environment she is in, Charlotte is nothing if not prepared. For the flight and her trip to Hong Kong to meet with some Chinese professors, she wears a business dress, slightly open at the blouse with a sleek coat. While it would be more proper to wear the coat closed and the blouse fully opened up, Charlotte was never one for proper. She has a simple extra outfit packed in her bag consisting of hiking boots, khaki trousers, black tank top, and khaki safari like jacket. In case she ever needed to get dirty.

Background:

Charlotte May Summers was born on May 7th, 1933 just outside of London, England. Her family was rich, to put it mildly, owning over 500 acres of land and with a giant mansion to boot. Charlotte was the middle child of three, her older brother and the oldest, Henry, was two years older than her. Her younger sister and the youngest, Liza, was three years younger than her. Her father was an accomplished author and political figure and her mother was a meek, timid thing, though the prettiest woman Charlotte had ever seen.

Growing up in a mansion with a distant father and a coddling mother, proper manners and ladylike etiquette being constantly shoved down your throat, all you'd want to do is get away. And that's what Charlotte did, often escaping into the various gardens or the hundreds of acres of land to explore and interact with the tenants. But it always ended the same, she was caught by either her mother or father or a servant and marched back home. She and her brother were very close growing up, both having dreams of escaping this dull monotonous place to exotic locales and daring adventures. Of course the monotony was broken up at times by World War Two. All Charlotte could do was watch in horror as London, the only city she had ever been to and a quite fantastic one in her opinion, was sent up in flames. Several of those living on her father's lands received explosions as well, taking out several families. Luckily, nothing seemed to hit the mansion, but the horror of seeing people she had known her whole life gone and their homes destroyed would always stick with her.

As a teenager, Charlotte often escaped to the city to hang out with the poorer kids, going to the pool, smoking while sitting on porches, just generally having a grand time. Which annoyed her parents to no end, coupled with the fact that her brother often helped her get into the city. But as with everything in her life, it came to an end, but not by her parents finding her, by her sister snitching on her. For some reason, Charlotte and Liza had always been at odds, even as children. Liza was much like her mother, meek, obedient, ladylike, beautiful, insufferable. Mother's favorite. And while Henry was father's favorite that was a given, but Charlotte still loved him. They were too similar not to be friends. But Charlotte and Liza never got along. So Liza would see Charlotte leave and would tell their parents ( most likely in a jealous snit, as Charlotte would say.)

Charlotte attended college in London in 1951, with her father's money and influence no one could oppose her and she could do anything she wanted. Her love of adventure and interest in history led her to getting a degree in Archaeology and soon she found a job with the very university she studied at, giving her free rein to study and explore around the world. She went on countless expeditions and got wrapped up in some pretty crazy adventures, more than a few fights, and even a war with a treasure hunting group. By 1960, Charlotte was a common name in the archeological and even scientific community. She spent a few years teaching at the university and earned her masters in Archaeology. Then, in 1963, Henry now an officer in the army, was murdered. Confronting a drunk and deranged soldier wielding a submachine gun, Henry tackled the man off a building to prevent him from killing anyone and killed them both in the action. The man had already wounded three people and killed one. He died a hero.

It was a sorrow filled funeral and Liza blamed Charlotte for not being at home more, for neglecting their brother. When their father stepped in, Liza slapped Charlotte and shouted it should have been her and stormed off. An hour later, Charlotte kissed her parents goodbye and left, heading with a heavy heart for her next expedition. Charlotte made some pretty huge discoveries in Asian history as of late, Japan and Indonesia harboring some valuable artifacts. She traveled to Anchorage to present them at the museum there and hopefully get them transferred to a larger museum for display. The university was obviously very pleased with her findings and informed her she was invited to attend the convention in Tokyo, where she would be honored and congratulated among other respected archaeologists. She boarded flight 707 with a light heart and the promise of happy days ahead.

Personality and Outlook:

Skills:

- Survivalist: Due to all her years in various countries and environments, brutal and mild, Charlotte has become quite the terrain globe trotter, knowing how to survive in nearly any environment.

- Self-Taught Firearm Proficiency: Charlotte's adventurous nature has landed her in some really sticky situations, so over the years Charlotte has gotten use to handling and using firearms. She acquired the skill with trial and dangerous error, usually just learning on the fly. However, she occasionally takes time to practice shooting with a handgun when she is in more dangerous countries. While not on the level of a military veteran, Charlotte can certainly handle a gun.

- Self-taught Hand-to-Hand Proficiency: Again, Charlotte tends to land in some tricky situations and she has developed some hand-to-hand techniques over the years to defend herself. A mix of formal martial arts (Such as Tai Kwan Do) and her own techniques, its effective against most average people.

- Archeological Expert: With years and years of archaeological experience, Charlotte is a leading expert in Archaeology and recognized in universities and institutions worldwide.

Weaknesses:

Appearance:

Mary-Louise stands at just a little under average height, and is also of about average weight. She has an attractive face (one of the prerequisites for her job - getting posted on the international flights is only for the best of the best) with a smattering of freckles that she hides with make-up. Her hair is dyed blonde and kept closely cropped in a fashionable bob, but naturally it is auburn, a fact almost betrayed by her light green eyes and pale complexion. She has long, carefully manicured lashes and plucked eyebrows as well as a well-maintained manicure, all of which are signs that her job demands that she remain in peak physical condition on an aesthetic level at all times. Her teeth are straight and white, and on closer examination they show signs of relatively recent readjustment.

Her voice has a reassuring southern twang to it, and though in the cabin she scales it back to maintain a calm air of professionalism, when amongst friends she becomes increasingly southern to the point of incomprehensibility at times. Her manner is generally endearing, though, and it's obvious why she has been so successful at her job in the past.

Background:

Mary-Louise Crawford was born to a middle-class Baptist family of Scottish and German descent in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1944 to Reginald and Marietta Crawford. Her father was a US Marine who was killed on Okinawa before Mary-Louise was born, and she was raised by her mother's second husband Clarence Smallsford, who was a family doctor. She has three young half-siblings, the youngest of whom is fourteen years old now.

Lulu had a comfortable life growing up - she was popular at school, but unfortunately did not show the intellectual aptitude of her eldest half-sister Sylvia (who is currently attending Vassar College). Upon leaving, Lulu spent a lot of time soul-searching while working as a typist at her step-father's practice. After an engagement went awry in Wilmington, she decided that she had to leave and moved in with Sylvia for a few months while she searched for a new job. Eventually, she was picked up by Northwestern Airlines, and her warm, charming manner and general good looks meant that she was bumped up quickly to serving first-class on international routes. Leaving her family behind in North Carolina, she moved to Seattle, where she lives a newly liberated life as a bachelorette in the city with her flight attendant friends between jobs.

She has recently become engaged to a servicemen on deployment in Vietnam called Louis Speltzer, whose parents are French Jews who fled Paris during the Second World War, and was considering downsizing back to domestic routes so that she can consider eventually quitting and starting a family. Furthermore, her engagement to a Jewish man has already caused enormous problems with Louis' parents, and foremost in Lulu's mind has been how to break the news to her own, WASPish and traditionalist parents.

Personality and Outlook:

Fundamentally a Christian, Lulu is also generally quite laid-back and optimistic. Life has, so far, usually gone her way and though she is not necessarily an intellectual, she has developed great pragmatic and inter-personal skills that allow her to adapt easily to most social situations. Her optimism may have been damaged somewhat, however, by the deaths of the other crew members.

Lulu is an extrovert and a 'people person' and has worked hard over the years to deal with challenging social situations at work, so staying friendly with the other survivors and ensuring that communication does not break down is going to be one of her most important objectives.

Skills:

First aid training - Part of Lulu's work with Northwestern involved training for a variety of minor to major medical incidents, and she is going to be able to help with most small injuries accrued during the survivors' attempts to stay alive.

Navigational skills -Again, another crucial element of Lulu's training was developing navigational skills in the event of a crash. She will be able to lead the group in some direction or other at least.

Radio skills -If any section of the plane's cockpit survives, Lulu will be able to operate the radios to send out distress signals and other communications with passing planes.

Interpersonal skills - Definitely her strongest suit, and the reason why she was always so successful in her job. It might be important for her to keep up morale and mediate in disputes in the coming hard times.

Weaknesses:

Trauma - Lulu isn't in the best mental state directly after the crash - the other flight attendants and the pilots were people that she had personally known for years, and were people with whom she had flown the route many times before.

Lack of survival skills - Growing up in the city and being groomed to be an ultra-feminine stewardess didn't leave much scope for Lulu to develop her wilderness coping skills.

Lack of leadership skills - Though Lulu was instrumental in ensuring preparations as the plane went down in a calm and collected fashion, her ability to lead the group after the actual crash is going to be minimal - she is definitely likely to be more of a follower than a leader in this regard, as she looks for someone more authoritative and experienced than herself.

Appearance:
Though Jack is a bit shorter than average, even among his family, his build is otherwise rather average. His muscle throws him toward the heavier side of the scale, though it isn't the toned muscle of a bodybuilder -though certainly as powerful as one could ask, it appears more flabby than chiseled of stone. Though his hairy skin is unmarked by even the slightest scar from the tip of his head to his waist, he bears a hideous scar below the belt. Beginning at his upper-right thigh is a mass of twisted flesh looking akin to a point blank shotgun blast. Sprouting from this grisly root is a twisting tree of blackened flesh that follows the branching pattern of a vein that reaches all the way around his foot to a spot of scarred tissue on the ball of his heel.

Background:
Though he is quick to defend his heritage, Jack was born and raised in America -in fact, he hasn't ever visited the home country of Pakistan in his lifetime. His father emigrated from Pakistan as a child, and strove to find a better life for his future children. Where he settled in Alaska with his own father, he quickly settled in. Married with two beautiful children to a wonderful woman he met in the country, all looked up for the Jarwar family.

Through close cousins, the young Jack was quickly introduced to the art of electricity -a twenty something cousin by the name of Cole was Jack's mentor, babysitter, role model, and best friend growing up, and introduced him to his own craft of electrical engineering. By the time he was growing hair in new places, Jack was handling wiring like an extension of his own hands with the pros.

In his years growing into a strapping young man, he was always fiercely competitive with his twin sister -so much so that his parents never told the two who was the first out of the womb for fear of the endless arguments and shouting matches it might spurn. Though the twins fought neck and neck throughout life for the spotlight, they also truly cared for each other as well, and took care of one another through thick and thin.

When it was time to leave home and find a career, Jack's sister chose to study at the University of Anchorage Alaska -sociology or something similarly useless, Jack supposed. Very much the opposite, Jack went straight into his trade, believing his own education to be completed. Through his connection to Cole, Jack was able to get good solid work in the field, not wasting a smidgen of his natural and learned talent. Though for some time this life seemed perfect, over time Jack got sloppy.

Perhaps overconfidence, perhaps laziness -call it what you may, but something lead Jack to believe he could fix a malfunctioning circuit breaker in someone's flooded basement. While he had done similarly careless things before, even Jack himself could tell something was wrong leading up to the fix. Fate conspired against Jack, and though he almost made it clear before disaster struck, his right foot was caught in a stream of high voltage electricity. Destroyed tissue all up his leg ruined his ability to move with any elegance or grace, though the doctors said he was lucky enough to walk without assistance.

After this incident, Jack took a bit of a hiatus from his career, taking a year to himself -a small cabin out in the woods of Anchorage. This time he spent largely recreationally -fishing, hunting, and bird watching for the most part. As he reached the end of his savings, he reached out to Cole once again to find his way back into the working man's world -he was shocked when Cole offered him a job available through connections, in the last place he might expect. Tokyo.

Though many might cringe at the thought of moving so far from ones home, a life of moving around from job to job as well as his injury had made Jack more than used to a constantly changing world around him -in fact, he embraced it. Despite his rapport for change, one thing always remained static in Jack's life: his faith. From the day he was born, Jack has been a faithful Muslim without question.

First thing he could, Jack hopped on the first flight he could get -everything went downhill (quite literally) from there.

Personality and Outlook:
Jack is the kind of man who would be described by his closest friends as 'happy'. The kind to never lose a wide smile or childish chuckle as long as he's with company. Always giving a shoulder to cry on, never taking the same. Certainly likeable, he has a way of pandering to those around him -he tells people what they want to hear far more often than what he really wants to say -a large factor of what those close to him would call his 'charisma'.

Another part of that which makes Jack so charismatic are his listening skills. Though he's absolute shit at 'small-talk' of his own, he has a way of getting people to talk, and making them feel like the center of his universe when they do. That said, he tends to shy away as much as he can from talking about himself. Insecure in many ways, Jack never feels quite 'good enough'. He always has something to prove, and goes to lengths to hide this about himself.

While he presents himself in a happy manner, never actively showing any sadness, anger, etc., everyone has their breaking point. When under enough stress, or just too much emotion, Jack shuts down. As opposed to his usually constantly joking mood, he copes by closing himself off. He becomes less talkative, more aggressive, and very 'brood-y', for lack of a better term. His anger management skills aren't the healthiest, and usually involve breaking something. Though from time to time he turns to his faith as a Muslim to deal with these emotions, it's hardly effective. Islam shapes Jacks minor decisions, such as helping those who need it, and charity, but the edicts of Islam do not sway his decisions on major matters.

Skills:

• Electrical Engineering- First and foremost, this is Jack's greatest skill. If it involves wiring or electricity, odds are Jack can fix it. People often joke that he's got wires for brains.
• Fishing/Hunting- A skill picked up from his bored years in an Alaskan cabin, Jack can handle himself when it comes to killing animals, be it with a fishing rod or rifle. He can't use a bow, and his aim is only so-so, but he knows enough to get by.
• Strength- In his life, Jack has never looked at something he needed to do, and found himself too weak to do it. While no Arnold Schwarzenegger, he has the muscle to get just about any job done.

Weaknesses:

• Bad leg- Jack's injured leg holds him back when it comes to feats of athleticism. Though he can walk just fine, his leg prevents him from moving any faster than a light jog without complications.
• Critical thinking- Jack is not the most creative person. He tends to go at any problem the same way -brute force his way through, and if that doesn't work, let someone else deal with it. He always takes the simplest route, and doesn't overthink things.
• Impatience- As stated above, Jack doesn't overthink things. The first solution he comes across, he tends to go with, even if it's not perfect. He tends to rely on sheer luck to get him through anything his brute force doesn't carry him through.
• Gullible- Along with this, Jack is extremely trusting. Rather than taking time to fact check or even think through what he is told, he tends to simply agree right away. This has lead him to be far more of a follower than a leader in life.

-WIP-

Appearance: The years have changed Julian. Before joining up he boxed with the other boys in the neighbourhood, even daring to sock the whites who stepped up to the challenge, though he earned a few scars for decisions like that. He kept boxing in the U.S Army, but added combat training to the regimen. His service during the Second World War shaped the latter years of his body's development greatly. Julian has sported a thick chest and shoulders since '45, the type one earns climbing barricades and carrying wounded buddies from. He might have grown soft in areas when in the States, but returning to Korea and later on less savory work felt like riding a bike on a physical level. Today, Julian retains a thickly built chest, shoulders, and a pair of strong arms. His stomach is softer now and if you ask he'll say he's earned it. A close look will reveal several small scars up and down his arms and legs, as well as a particularly large swirling scar below his left shoulder. On the inner area of his lower arms he has tattoos symbolizing his service in two wars. When approaching Jules expect a hard smile held only long enough to be polite. His eyes seem to question even at rest, but he tries to soften the image by sporting a dark mustache and neatly kept greying goatee. The facial hair is styled after his beatnik son, whom people refer to as 'charming'.

In terms of fashion, Jules requires no guidance. He could not afford a zoot suit of his own as a young man, but paid close attention to the shifting styles nevertheless. He commonly wears a slim, dark blue suit with a pale purple button-up, patterned tie, and hat for daily functions. When he expects a more physical day he wears a pair of stitched, black jeans and a black long sleeve that he suspects his son would like. Jules wears no jewelry or other finery aside from an old pocket watch handed down from his father. He intends to give his son, Francois, the heirloom in Tokyo.

Background: Julian Castle was born near the tail end of the Great Migration. The South did not show great kindness to black folks, according to his father, so they moved to a community that would. Though Julian was born in Texas he would not stay long enough to remember it. The family intended on moving to Seattle, Washington, literally as far north as his father knew, but fell in love with Portland, Oregon after given the chance to rest there overnight. His family took up residence in St. John's, a predominantly Hindu town having recently merged with the larger Portland. Julian's father got work at the St. John's Lumber Company, while his mother took care of him.

The Pacific Northwest was a relatively kind place. Julian grew with resources his parent's did not due to the community having embraced people colour many years before their arrival. He learned to read and write as a boy, basic math too, and his parents encouraged him frequently. When he was tall enough Julian began helping out at the lumber yard, mostly to pass the time with his father, but now and again the manager would hand him a coin and a smile. It was a kindness his father responded to with a tear in his eye each and every time. When he was older, Julian began working with a group of other boys his age for seemingly simple tasks like guarding warehouses or picking up packages. For a while the boys made games of the irreverent tasks until one day a package fell. They heard glass shatter and Julian recognized the smell of booze from some of the men in the lumber yard. Each of the boys received a lashing for the clumsiness that day. Afterward, Julian treated the work more seriously. He spared his parents the details too as they described the increasingly criminal nature of Portland, unaware that their son was a part of the change. As a young man Julian split his days between the questionable work and boxing.

Everything changed with the war brewing overseas. Julian and his parents agreed wholeheartedly by advocates like Henry Kaiser, his father even leaving the lumber yard to work in the Kaiser Shipyards building liberty ships. With the help of a few of the unsavory folks he'd worked with prior, Julian was able to enlist into the U.S Army in 1941 at age 16. His parents saw him off angered and yet also proud. After a year of training and 'hurry up and wait' Julian was sent to North Africa. As a black man he was initially tasked with driving supply trucks to assist the infantry units, but as Operation Torch took form, orders grew confused and the need for manpower took precedent. Julian fought alongside the 9th Infantry Division all the way from Morocco to Germany. The early days were the most difficult as some comrades were slow to accept a negro among them, but after rushing the beaches of Algiers those opinions subsided. Julian fought hard, expecting a bullet in his back as likely the chest. His bullet never came, though. They fought their way from Algiers to Palermo in 1943 until exchanging further combat for training in England. Julian felt accepted then and used the time, like his comrades, to send long overdue letters. The 9th would hit Utah Beach shortly after D-Day. Invading occupied France blurred the days as he could not afford to assume any corner checked or shadow empty of threats. Perhaps such attention kept him alive, but the days wore on him. He grew hardened like his brothers. Julian adopted the habit of chain smoking a couple months before arriving to Kalterherberg where he would celebrate Christmas and the arrival of another year at war. The town held a charm that returned warmth to his heart. Julian met a woman among those who remained despite the danger. Françoise was a nurse, intelligent as she was beautiful, and neither wasted time. For a month Julian fought hard to protect to the town and celebrated each new day with her. When the Battle of the Bulge ended the perimeter of the town was riddled with bullets, its roads filled with rubble, but the heart intact. Julian left Françoise with his information and a coldness in his heart deeper than any he'd experienced before. He held the memory of Kalterherberg all the way into the Rhine. Julian and Françoise met again shortly before Victory Day, her beauty unchanged and her stomach swollen. The two married in a humble German church.

Julian returned to the City of Roses a man with purpose. He reconnected with his family, introducing them to Françoise, and quickly found Portland a city changed. In a handful of years the city swelled with people and with the need for liberty ships greatly reduced, many were like Julian in looking for new work. Not long after reappearing some of Julian's old friends and unsavory co-workers greeted him with a new opportunity. By the time Françoise gave birth to their son, Francois, Julian was working security for the Elkin brother's crime ring. For a while he felt ashamed of the work, especially when looking in his son's little eyes, but with time the sense of comradery and tactics felt welcomingly familiar. The chief part of his day was spent in a bar owned by the Elkins where an illegal nightclub came alive downstairs after hours. He worked and Françoise learned the city alongside with their newborn. When stress from the war roused Julian returned to smoking and eventually boxing too. Their life may not have been typical, but it was their reality. It ran smoothly until 1950 when Francois was nearly school age and the Korean War broke out. Though not drafted, Julian saw his friends and neighbours preparing for war and felt it his duty to do the same. François and Julian argued for days, culminating with the two agreeing this would be the last time he left of his own volition. Julian left his wife, child, and parents with a kiss.

Coming back to war felt strangely satisfying for Julian. The structure of order, the feel of a M1 Carbine in hand, and success defined purely by surviving another day. If any inkling of the young man thought Korea a vacation, the Autumn of 1950 would serve as a stark surprise. Julian experienced relatively light combat until November when Chinese forces surprised his unit deep in North Korea. Despite taking the defense, they failed to hold Unsan and were forced into a retreat, during which Julian suffered a bullet wound to the shoulder. He was fortunate enough to receive medical care after crossing the Ch'ongch'on River. After a month creating a new battle line and healing, the river too was attacked and yet again the American forces were pushed back until they left northwest Korea entirely. The foolhardy approach to war Julian entered Korea with had quickly turned back to the hard reality before him. For months survival meant fighting off attacking forces until the line crumbled and falling back. He felt as if playing leap frog, diving behind one barrier to defend his brothers until they did the same for him. The pattern seemed to continue until the fall of '51. Though success came more often, the war had not grown easier. By the time Julian ended his service in 1953 he had grown weary, tense, and slower to hope.

When Julian returned home life had once again changed. His son, Francois, was older, now 8, his wife Françoise an avid painter embracing the city's new culture, and his parents had passed during an automobile accident. A thread of the criminal remained under the surface of Portland, but the city was undergoing shift his wife described as 'beat'. Julian came back noticeably different, but his when he left to get his job back at the bar, Françoise put away the concern. For a few days he eased the transition home with a seat at the bar and whiskey. After that, he returned to work, embracing the 'muscle' aspect of the job with great passion and commitment. When the new Julian became effective to a fault darker doors opened. In a matter of months Julian went from fighting an overwhelming enemy to walking the streets with a hard buzz and an even harder bat. He served as an enforcer collecting money owed and breaking men who opposed his employer, thought reasons didn't matter much. What fueled Julian was the escape. The simplicity of just surviving the day. He needed that and cared little how many sad bastards he'd step on for that pint of solace. This way of living blinded him to the growing distance between him and his wife and child. Françoise did not argue or nag, she simply changed the locks. Half drunk and covered in another man's blood, Julian began sleeping in the backroom of the bar. His life grew increasingly nightmarish until one night broke a man too badly to fix. The body was taken care of, Julian allowed to sleep it off, but the next morning he was sent away to collect himself.

To this day Julian does not believe how long the nightmare lasted. The night he went too far, a night he won't soon forget, that night was eight years after returning home from Korea. He spent another year in a recovery facility paid for by his employer for the years of service. Only after being sober a few months Julian call it for what it was -- retirement. The Portland he woke up to had developed fully into a new way of being. Folks wore clothes that flowed with vibrant colours and spoke passionately about homosexuality and the environment. For a while Julian was angry, then disgusted. Only after he reflected on the last decade did he realize two men going horizontal couldn't compare to beating men to death every night. Who should really be reviled? Once Julian re-acclimated he returned to the home he and Françoise had bought almost twenty years ago. It looked the same aside from a fresh coat of paint. When he knocked a young couple greeted him with limited clues as to where his family had gone. Julian found Françoise a few months later working in the Portland Art Museum. After a few months courting the flame rekindled. He learned of his son's success with photography that took the young man to Seattle, then New York, and recently to Tokyo. Julian began sending letters in '64 and received the first response in '66. After a few more years the report warmed and Julian and Françoise made arrangements to visit.

Personality and Outlook: Those seeking warmth and hours of conversation should keep looking. Julian can be kindhearted and personable, but his formative years have largely been spent at war. When the world around him is calm and he is allowed to relax his likeable characteristics will surface, the storytelling father chief among them. Otherwise, Julian responds to stress with a cold and direct approach. The soldier emerges and survival becomes his one and only objective. He is liable to ignore ideas neither proven by his own experiences or from one without experience he recognizes. Risks must come with reward, and the only true danger is that which threatens the means to live -- ethics and morality be damned. Julian recognizes he is not unbreakable, however. The humbling nature of his experience in Korea, as well as working with the Elkin Brothers in Portland, have both taught him that getting your way is all about need. If a man stands in your way you either speak to his need to survive directly -- with your fists or another weapon -- or speak to the need indirectly -- with bartering or services. Julian sees all interactions with strangers in this simplistic way. Although Julian has a tough exterior and a quiet way about him, he does appreciate the importance of a team. He knows from experience that a group of individuals one can trust opens doors to surviving the best and worst of times. Julian can do without the sob stories of bonding bits, though.

Julian is on a journey for redemption. Living a life largely filled with leaving your loved ones to experience hell for duty and honour has taken its toll. He means to continue where he left off with Françoise and to become the father he should have been years ago for Francois. There is a fear that a life of struggle and hardship cannot turn to peace, one perhaps rooted in his father's Jewish faith. For Julian arriving to Tokyo would be proof that peace is indeed achievable and that his life may yet change. This outlook is parallel to the way Julian and his comrades viewed the war and may well rouse the soldier more often than the man given enough challenge.

Skills:
Combat - Julian is well-versed in battle on scales large and small. He boasts U.S Army training and an awareness gained from years on the battlefield and serving the criminal organizations in Portland.
Survival - Military training and years on the battlefield embedded a strong understanding of what a man needs to survive. Not only does Julian know this, he finds peace in the fundamental aspects of life.
Experience - Training and education are wonderful, but they never fully prepare you for reality. The world is never quite interpreted and you never know how you'll react until a situation arises. Julian has years of experience atop of his training. He has a strong grasp on his abilities.

Weaknesses:
Trauma - With years of combat, trauma cannot be avoided. Julian finds his mind brought back to the days of war when familiar triggers arise. Frightful or informative, these experiences pull his mind away from the present. He makes assumptions on the past, not what lies before him, and his decisions become muddled. Put simply his decision making has a significant blind spot that may easily prove detrimental.
Temperamental - The last several years have not been kind to Julian. To say his interpersonal skills need work as a result would be polite. Julian typically chooses silence, but is apt to respond boldly, at times directly competing or invalidating others. This may be seen as a power play or alpha male posturing. For Julian, this way of being has simply been a means of survival.
Age - When grey hair began sprouting the reality of aging hit home. Julian accepted the aches and pains more than mementos from a hard day of work. He took to working harder to maintain the same physique, all the while aware that slower days lay ahead. Perhaps this is in part why Julian feels so strongly to reconcile with his loved ones. In terms of survival, Julian is in the process of changing his approach. With his endurance waning with time he must remind himself to act smart, hit once, and never miss.

Appearance: Isaac has a rather full figure, with broad shoulders, a barrel chest and a thick neck, reinforced by a slight layer of fat. Despite his large physique, however, Isaac definitely doesn’t look much like the hardy type, mostly thanks to a facial expression that seems to say he’s not really focused, accentuated by a shit-eating grin. Isaac’s limbs are long, and his hands and feet are large, although quite soft and gracefully shaped despite their size. His unevenly tanned skin is soft to the touch; although his left lower arm and torso are peppered with small scar marks that disrupt the coloration and the texture.

Isaac has an oval face, with blue eyes and brown hair, that doesn’t bear anything worthy of note aside from faint pockmarks scattered throughout, and a small scar on his left cheek, courtesy of an amateurish removal of the skin tag that was once there. His aquiline nose crooks slightly to the right, thanks to a car crash. Isaac’s hair is swept back, mostly to cover the slight thinning of the hair on his scalp, and partially as an imitation of Clint Eastwood’s character in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Above his lips stands a mustache of regular size, often accompanied by a five o’clock shadow thanks to his habit of procrastinating.

Background: Isaac is quick to point out that his life story hasn’t been all that worthy to tell. Whether that is true or not is up for debate, but it is an unmistakable fact that at the very least Isaac’s childhood was uneventful. His father, Samuel Graham, who would, in the future, be a veteran of the Second World War, was a high school teacher, and his mother, Margaret Graham, was likewise an elementary school teacher. The two, having met at a mutual friend’s birthday, quickly started dating, and married soon after, probably not wanting to take their chances for waiting for the ‘one’ in Montana of all places. Isaac was born not long after, in 1939.

One of Isaac’s earliest memories, around the age of 5, is that of his mother reading a letter from his father, who was in France by that time. Of course, Isaac can’t remember anything about the letter. He does, however, remember hearing about the nuclear bomb on radio, and his father hugging his mother by the entrance of the house. Overall, it can be said that, unlike many families, Isaac and his parents had gone through the Second World War without much damage. His father, a non-commissioned officer, had earned the Bronze Star in the war, and somehow, had come back unscathed, thankfully both mentally and physically.

After the war, his parents continued their regular jobs, and Isaac naturally grew up, with both his parents ending up being his class teachers sometime throughout his education. The sly Isaac used this situation to his advantage by playing his cards to get elevated grades – something his parents tried to avoid, to no avail. It was around this age that Isaac came to the conclusion that you could get things done without effort, if you knew where to position yourself. Some laws of physics from the physics lessons, twisted in his mind because of confirmation bias, also helped cement this outlook on life. Throughout primary and high school, Isaac showed himself to be sociable, and despite his acne-ridden face, quite a womanizer, at least, for his age.

Growing up proved tougher prospects for Isaac, however, as his parents got more and more irritated by his ne’er-do-well demeanor. Wanting to diffuse the tension and wanting to get away, Isaac somehow enrolled into the Richmond Professional Institute, where he found himself amongst likeminded students. Isaac actually found a passion in his life as he studied painting, a passion that started as an excuse to convince fellow students of the fairer gender to ‘strip down’ in his ‘art studio’ for ‘aesthetic’ purposes. Over time, Isaac’s means to create an intimate environment with the ladies became ends in themselves, and Isaac slowly took up photography, where a blossoming aesthetic concern merged with his basic instincts. For Isaac, the art became not only an excuse to be close with ladies, but also an idea.

Isaac, however, no matter how passionate, was lazy, and ended up having to drop out of Richmond – and, not wishing to go back to Montana, began wandering the states as some sort of drifter, one of the many that would appear in the counterculture movement. Isaac became a stringer, putting his enthusiasm about photography and people skills to good use. Often spending the least amount of effort to get the highest amount of money he could, the lad sometimes resorted to making up events to sell to papers. Eventually, he moved to San Francisco, where he hoped to immerse himself in the newly blossoming movements growing there. In San Francisco, he indulged in many things, ending up becoming part of the hippie and drug culture, where a newly found political responsibility, and encouragement from his friends, made him decide to go to Viet Nam as a war correspondent, to document the horrors and atrocities in the country.

Visiting during 1967 and 1968, Isaac quickly found himself out of his element in the hostile environment of Viet Nam, where he was consistently drained of his idealism. Isaac did not like the country – he did not like the people, he did not like the smell, he did not like the military folk, he did not like how it was harder to get drugs. The life-threatening dangers were just icing on top of it all. But, despite it all, he didn’t do a half bad job – one could almost say that the stressful environment served Isaac to get a hold of himself. But his avoidance of work reached an all time high, making up stories for his editor to delay things, and just stalling.

Isaac got his break from Viet Nam, and his big break, when he ended up in an ambush during the Tet Offensive, where he was wounded in a car crash caused by the sudden chaos of a landmine going off in front of a convoy. Isaac used this opportunity to take some nifty pictures of the horrors of war, despite his (admittedly not at all debilitating) wounds, and exaggerated his role in the ambush to get a nice paycheck from his editor. In truth, all he had done was to take photos of the wounded soldiers, damaged equipment, gore, and the muzzle flashes coming from the woods, but getting wounded by shattered glass allowed him to twist the story, claiming he was wounded by shrapnel.

Going back to America, Isaac spent about a year living off the money he got off from spinning his story to various news outlets and selling all the photos he got there, as well as reverting to his previous lifestyle of freeloading off fellow-traveler hippies. Slowly running out of money, he decided to convince his editor to get a travel permit, claiming he would be writing a series about Southeast Asia and the perspectives of the war in the area. In truth, he just wanted to see Japan. But would he?

Personality and Outlook: Isaac has a friendly, outgoing exterior. He presents himself as someone who encourages different perspectives and outlooks on life, and claims to have a strong sociopolitical insight. His relaxed, humorous attitude easily allows people to be at home alongside him. In truth, Isaac is pretentious, selfish, and is completely unaware of this. Having made himself at home in the growing tolerance and free spirit ideologies, Isaac often abuses his privileges as ‘vagabond’ and ‘revolutionary’ to throw courtesy out of the window. Believing that people should share everything, he often helps himself with supplies of others, and, being a thinker, he often simply shouts for others to do the work. Under stress, however, Isaac’s demeanor changes – much more quick thinking and much more active, he can even be helpful, but definitely drops the pretense of being friendly, and instead turns into an annoying, constantly complaining cunt. He constantly hits on women to see how liberated they are mentally, and if they are, often attempts to consummate a physical bond with his fellow traveler. Refusing his advances easily helps you get branded as a creature of the past, a misogynist, and a blind idiot. On the other hand, he defends women’s rights, claiming that they should be free to express themselves mentally and (not that he would say it out loud, but especially) physically.

Skills:

Man of the Commons – Isaac can easily become friends with people. He’s extremely sociable, even annoying to an extent, and is quick to help people get a better understanding of things. He has a penchant for choosing the ‘right’ side in an argument, often the populous one, for the majority’s opinion is never wrong, and can easily convince people.

Artist – Isaac’s got good visual memory, and can easily make competent sketches, or describe things, where they’re different, where they’re weak, where they’re strong. Skilled with prose as well, he can polish his bullshitting in a way that it becomes an intricate, believable, and competent story. He’d be one hell of a writer, if he had the mettle to actually pick it up.

Vagabond – Having spent a few years drifting from state to state, Isaac has a vague idea of how to stay in one piece in the wild – he can tell mushrooms apart, can easily identify hallucinogenic ones, and can prepare a simple campfire. Having had to deal with shady people in the past as part of his life as drifter, he can also swing a mean left hook, but doesn’t have much except his natural body strength to back it up.

Weaknesses:

Genius – Isaac’s probably got the right opinion, and if he’s wrong, it’s probably because everyone, including himself, is looking at things from the wrong perspective, and he’s willing to change perspective to put himself in the right position. Needless to say, most people don’t have the free mind necessary to appreciate this constant change of position.

Free Spirit – Isaac does not believe in responsibilities, nor does he believe in antique concepts such as property, or set-up work. A true Marxist, he does things he wants to do when he wants to, for he does not want to be alienated from labor, and will not be goaded by those still too deeply ingrained in the conservative Western mindset to be consistent about his actions. An impressionist, he also has a habit of expressing things as they appear to him, and not as what they are.

Child of the Spirits – Isaac enjoys communing with other planes of existence through use of enlightening substances, which coincidentally seem to be outlawed in society, and hard to come by in the wild. This lack of contact with his soul ancestors has put him on a constant edge, where he sees things as they are, very cruel, and lacking in chi.

Athena – Isaac always puts women who have decided to free themselves from the bondage of unhappy marriage in high esteem, and Athena is no exception. He appreciates her mental durability and willpower, and thinks she’s got quite the derriere as well.

Jack – He may be a Muslim, but Isaac doesn’t care about that. Isaac knows better than to judge Muslims, and bears some kind of sympathy against the man for being a representative of the mystical, free Orient that Isaac yearns for and wants to explore.

Julian – He’s a soldier, and Isaac doesn’t really like soldiers, but he’s also black, so Isaac can sympathize with the fact that he was likely a victim of circumstance. He still feels kind of hostile, though.

Charlotte – A strong, independent woman, just the way they should be. Although she was born into riches, she has thrown that away and made her own legacy, and Isaac thinks that only adds to the woman’s attractiveness.

Lulu – Nice rack. Oh wait, who? Oh, her. Isaac respects her for working and going against the domesticated lifestyle endorsed to women, but doesn’t like how her job forces her to emphasize her looks. Boy, her looks.

Edward – Edward reminds Isaac of his youth, as a questioning, introspective, smart young boy. While he doesn’t look like he amounts to much right now, Isaac feels he’ll be able to reach greatness in the future, provided he survives the experience.