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[i]The world was not prepared for the end. To be fair, its hard to prepare for an enormous wound to open in the sky and spew out a seemingly endless horde of monstrosities. Much less monstrosities who seem interested only in consuming the entirety of mankind. But the fact remains, we were not prepared. Mmmm… Maybe I need to back up a little.

150 years ago, an enormous tear appeared in the sky over what was once Brazil. Millions of monstrous creatures, known now as abominations, poured out of the tear and began to devour anything with a pulse. The hordes of hideous things spread across the world at an incredibly alarming rate. Maybe if the world had banned together and struck the abominations as one united force we might have faired better, but even at the end of the world, politics still exist. 

In an act of pure desperation to stem the tide of abominations, the U.S and Russia fired a bunch of nukes into the portal and the surrounding area. By some sort or miracle not only did this not kill all life on earth, but whatever was on the other side of the portal must have not liked our present, because the portal closed not long after. 

Still, humanity barely survived the coming destruction. In a straight up fight, we stood no chances against the abominations. The world fought hard, but in just three years its estimated that over 75% of the world’s population had died. So how are we here now? Magic.

No, like, literal magic. More specifically a magic rock. We call it respite, and we still have no clue where it comes from. Pockets of it just sort of started to..pop up. Usually around the, rare, corpses of some of the bigger abominations. Respite does some weird shit. It can act like a power source for all kinds of odd gadgets and weapons, it also seems to act as a natural ward against the smaller abominations. But what’s really interesting is the effect it has on the human body. When respite is inserted into a human body, that person changes. The changes are seemingly random, but each person gains unique abilities that might let them fight toe to toe with an abomination. Sounds great right? We just shove some respite into every human and BAM, an army of super powered people to fight for humanity. Well…..

The survival rate for respite insertion, a process we now call ‘the bonding’, is about 1 in 4. Yeah, a 25% chance to survive the bonding process, not great odds. On top of that, some people get the short end of the stick. The bonding can cause horrible mutations in some, and blind madness in others. Many who undergo the bonding and survive also have a host of mental and physical issues. It’s not just a few who turn to what drugs, alcohol, or other forms of debauchery they can find in order to survive. But still, we wouldn’t have survived without them. 

Over the past 150 years, we’ve managed to claw out way back towards some semblance of humanity. There are a few major settlements that house that vast majority of what’s left of us. The big one in North America is called Respite City, names not only for the enormous piece of respite that powers the city and wards of a bunch of the smaller abominations, but also because it’s close to the place where the first piece of respite was found. 

Home to about 600,000 survivors, Respite City is one of the last bastions of hope for humanity. Large walls and a sizable standing army of guard’s help keep the city safe, but what has really helped the city survive are its force of bonded known as ‘Guardians’. Whenever a real threat pops up, it’s the Guardians that push it back. When a new nest of abominations pop up a little to close to home, it’s the Guardians that go crush it. 

Led by the…um… beloved(?) Captain Alias, the Guardians are what stand between Respite City and the hordes of man-eating cosmic horrors that stand on the other side of the walls. 

This is where you come in, new recruit. You have recently undergone ‘the bonding’ and managed to survive. Congrats! For the past year and a half, you have undergone intense combat and survival training, to make sure you fit the bill for the Guardians. Your class actually had a higher-than-normal survival rate, at about 30%! Now that you have successfully managed to bond to a piece of respite you have to figure out how to use your new abilities in the line of duty. Don’t worry, you’ll probably get a few weeks to figure it out before you’re shoved out into the apocalyptic wasteland that waits outside the walls of Respite. As long as nothing goes horribly wrong…
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[hr]

Our story takes place on a strange little ball of dirt and water called Earth. Yes that's right, since I'm too lazy to make any sort of custom map this time around we will be playing on good old earth. More specifically we will be playing in an area that used to be considered Detroit, Michigan; but is now referred to as Respite 

[Hider=Respite City]
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Respite is one of the few bastions of mankind that remain. Built in the ruins of old world Detroit, large walls aid in protecting the city from abomination attack. Though the main defense of the city lies in the enormous piece of respite that sits in the near dead center if the settlement. The enormous piece of respite also acts like a power source for most of the city, ensuring that basic old world electronics can still function. 

The streets of Respite contain no vehicles, as most gave up on finding usable fuel long ago. 95% of the population of Respite is forced to walk everywhere, while the lucky few have managed to get their hands on bicycles or other manpowered or electric forms of transportation. Respite boasts a population of nearly 600,000, making it likely the largest remaining human city. However, this has also led to over crowding in recent years, as desperate people seek safety in numbers. Some desperate people have began to settle the areas directly outside of Respite's wall. While still dangerous, the close proximity to Respite seems to keep most abominations away, and being close to the city means they can run to safety in case of an attack. 

The city has a large force of well armed guards that act as another layer of defense for the city. Though they are not Guardians they can still ward off some of the smaller or weaker abominations. They also attempt to keep a handle on crime in the city, though they have been known to turn a blind eye for the right price.

Most currency within city is done in trade, food being the mostly commonly traded for commodity, although old world electronics, ammo or the rare piece of respite are also quite popular. 

The city is largely governed by a small council of influential individuals who try to make sure that the power stays on and that people have food and...relatively, clean water. Though the council is able to dictate what the city guard does on a day to day basis, they have little control over what the Guardians do, thanks mostly to Captain Alias' refusal to listen to any demands that he finds 'annoying or stupid'.[/hider]

[hider=Guardians] 
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Guardians are the main and only true defense against the abominations, and as such are generally respected and feared by the populace. Though the largest known force of Guardians reside within Respite City, they can usually be found in most large settlements. A few Guardians are known to roam the wasteland of the world, looking for survivors in need, valuable loot, pieces of respite, or abominations to kill. 

Guardians come in every shape and size imaginable, mostly due to how the bonding process effects every person differently. While some may remain physically unchanged, others may become nearly as horrifying as the abominations that the Guardians are sworn to fight. Few manage to escape the Bonding unharmed in one way or another. 

The Bonding is a process in which a piece of radiant is physically placed into a persons body, either through incision or digestion. The process is almost always painful and can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks to complete. The Survival rate is only about 25% on average. What causes a person to survive or die from the bonding process is almost entirely unknown. Genetics, age, gender, even psychological profile have all been studied as possible causes for a successful bonding, but as best as most researchers are able to tell, the process is entirely random. 

New recruits are forced to undergo a year and a half of intensive physical and psychological training BEFORE the bonding to ensure that they can survive as guardians. They are taught to shoot, fight in close combat, and survive off of the land. The theory is that the Guardians have to make sure someone has what it takes to live the difficult life of a guardian. No one is ever forced to partake in the bonding if they get to scared, as Captain Alias has put it, "Cowards are not needed, we have thousands of those." After a successful bonding, new guardians are required to fulfill a five year contract with the Radiant City Guardians, after which they can stay, or go find their own way in the world.  

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The Guardians of Radiant city are led by Captain Alias Grey, considered by many to be the most powerful, laziest, asshole on the planet. Why the Captains attitude may enrage some and annoy others, no one can deny that Captain has saved Radiant City on more then one occasion, and usually single handedly. The Guardians have somehow managed to thrive under the Captains command, though they never seem to have as many fighters as they need. [/hider]

[hider=Abominations] 

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Abominations are the bane of all life on earth. Little is understood about them, as they are incredibly difficult to study up close. Almost nothing is understood about where they come from and less is understood about why they came to earth in the first place, although most theorize that it was to devour all life they could find. 

Abominations range wildly in size, shape, and form. In fact there is rarely two abominations that look alike. Their intelligence also seems to range wildly. While some seem to act purely off of instinct, others have been shown to have near human or greater intelligence. 

Most abominations seem to work as solitary individuals, only caring for themselves. They do not attempt to protect each other and in general only seem interested in fulfilling their own needs. Luckily, Abominations will almost never work together, unless an Alpha is present...

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Alpha's are abominations with high intelligence and generally incredible strength or abilities. They do not seem to warded of by respite and seem to exude some control over other, lesser abominations. Whenever a major settlement is destroyed, it is almost always the work of an alpha abomination. Because of how dangerous they are, Guardians will almost always attempt to stamp them out as soon as they can. If an Alpha is allowed to accumulate to many lesser abominations they become known as a Horde, few settlements can survive a direct attack from a Horde.  

It is unknown how, or even if abominations are able to reproduce. Their numbers have seemed to swell and deplete randomly. There are currently no good theories as to why.[/hider]

[hr]

Okay, thats all of the IC information for now. The rules for the Rp are simple. 

1. Follow forum rules. (Duh)
2. I'm not the type to worry to much about post speed, just try to get a post up about once every two weeks.
3. If life happens and you can't post or cant continue to play, please just let me know. I am super understanding about these sorts of things and we will figure out what to do with your character until you can return if you want too. 
4. If, for some reason, you end up in conflict with another player, let me know so we can all try to work it out privately. It doesn't seem like something I should have to say but I've seen it happen before.
5. There is a chance of your character dying, this is a hard cruel world, but I'll let you make another one if you want too.  
6. There is a limit of 2 active characters per player. 
7. FUN! HAVE IT!! 

Generally speaking, everyone is going to be playing a new recruit who has just completed their bonding. The one exception will be a Sergeant who I'll be having [s]babysit[/s] accompany your characters for a while. Everyone is going to be in the same squad for now, so we all have a reason to interact with each other.

[hider=Character Sheet][u]Name:[/u] (What we call you)

[u]Age:[/u]  (How long you’ve been alive. Ages of guardians range from 14-60, although the average age of a new recruit is somewhere around 20) 

[u]Gender:[/u] (Whatever gender your character identifies with) 

[u]Appearance:[/u] (A picture and description is ideal, but if you can’t find a picture that you feel works then just a detailedish description. The world is pretty much all human; however, the bonding can cause a host of physical changes, from pointy ears to extra animal appendages to disfigurement.) 

[u]Personality:[/u] (How your character acts, thinks, and feels) 

[u]Abilities/Powers:[/u] (A good description of your characters abilities. These can range wildly. There is a max of three different powers, and the general rule is that the more abilities an individual has the less powerful each ability is. Although its still possible to have one main, more powerful ability, and one minor ability that is harder to control. If you’re unsure about something don’t hesitate to ask.)

[u]
Weaknesses/Vulnerabilities:[/u] (This does not necessarily mean a physical weakness to green space rocks. Maybe your character is in a constant state of depression, maybe they have a drug addiction. This might not even be something that is brought on by the bonding process. Or maybe they do have an extreme allergic reaction to the color yellow. This is an apocalyptic world where every day is a struggle so put here anything that might make it hard to survive.)

[u]Specialized Equipment:[/u] (This will include any specialized weapons, armor, or other gadgetry your character may use. For really special equipment that uses respite, think fallout type weapons. Energy weapons might be possible, but it would require a constant flow of respite as ammo, which would be incredibly rare.) 

[u]Biography:[/u] (Your character’s history, how they ended up in respite, and why they decided to try and join the guardians.) 

[u]Fun Facts:[/u] (Anything strange, interesting, or fun about your character that you want to establish early on)[/hider]

I'm sure that I'll add more information here later on as world building happens. If you have suggestions I'd love to hear them, I like building worlds as a group. Feel free to ask any questions you might have! I'll have a CS for my characters soon