[OOC] Island in a Sea of Death

[Polyphemus]

You are exhausted.

It's been a long two weeks since it happened. Most of the people you've known and loved are dead. Civilization has more or less crumbled. Your life is irreversibly changed.

Somehow, in some way, your steps have been guided to the tiny town of Nathanson, Kansas. Almost exactly halfway between Wichita (now covered in a choking cloud of chlorine and insecticide, thanks to the derailing of the worst possible trains) and Kansas City (now a warzone between countless well-armed factions). Compared to the place you left, Nathanson is pretty much a paradise.

The town proper may be full of the dead, but the little liberal arts college right on the edge of town was virtually empty- no students or faculty were around in the middle of summer, and the city park separating the town and campus provided a nice buffer. Taking the campus from the dead was a short and relatively painless affair.

Now, on June 24, 2016, Nathanson College is home to fifty-four people.

Time to make something of the place.

The Cataclysm

Pretty much everyone you've met calls it by a different name. The Reaping. The Devouring. The Annihilation. The Event. The Disaster. That Really Bad Thing that Happened Two Weeks Ago.

Whatever you might choose to call it, the facts are the same. At 9:12 AM Central Time on Friday, June 10, 2016, 80% of the world's population suddenly died.

There was no buildup, no warning, nothing. It was as though someone flipped a titanic “off” switch. Four out of every five people abruptly collapsed, deceased before they even hit the ground. There didn't seem to be any common ground among those affected. Black, white, yellow, young, old, male, female, healthy, infirm, indoors, outdoors, deserving, undeserving- didn't matter. There seemed to be no protection from it except pure blind luck.

Chaos instantly reigned. The roads immediately clogged with wrecks, countless more dying as suddenly driverless vehicles slammed into them. Planes fell from the skies, their pilots dead at the controls. Emergency switchboards failed in minutes as the survivors swamped the lines with distress calls. Fires and looting broke out and were not contained- civil services were overwhelmed by their own massive casualties.

As bad as all of that was, it got even worse at 9:18 AM. Any corpse that had not suffered massive brain damage stood back up and began to kill the living. The first victims were inevitably the Good Samaritans that had tried to aid or revive the fallen. The zombies were not unlike the creatures of fiction- lacking intelligence, desiring the flesh of the living, capable of crudely working together, immune to tissue damage that did not affect the brain. However, any resistance was doomed from the start. The survivors were immediately outnumbered four to one, and infrastructure was already failing as the few survivors capable of maintaining it abandoned their posts.

Needless to say, it was a pretty rough day, and the last couple weeks have only gotten worse. Many have elected to flee the larger cities for the more sparsely populated countryside- yourself among them.

Nathanson, KS/ Nathanson College

Somewhere along the way, you joined up with a small convoy of refugees heading into the Kansas interior along the less clogged back roads. You came into the little town of Nathanson at more or less the same time as another group coming from the other direction, and joined forces when you realized the valuable opportunity presented by the college.

The town itself only had a population of around 2000 before the Event, so a very rough estimate would put around 1600 corpses lurching around in the streets. Not much of a town, really- houses, a couple churches, a small school, a few student bars, and of course a Wal-Mart.

The campus, though, is a little more interesting. Rutland Park, a good 200 acres or so, separates the campus from the town of Nathanson- a natural buffer from the walking corpses, the numerous trees in the park blocking sound and sight of the campus. Most of the college buildings were erected in the late Sixties, a time when student unrest and campus riots were weighing heavily on the minds of planners. Accordingly, most of the structures were built with a riot in mind. Solid brick construction, sturdy doors, reinforced first-floor windows, all good things to have when walking corpses are on the doorstep. Not to mention the available facilities- laboratories, kitchens, workshops, furnished rooms, a library, a stock of easily weaponized sporting equipment and .22 rifles for ROTC.

However, that's not to say it's perfect. Phones, power, gas, and water are all out, like most of the rest of the country. With no students around, the dining hall kitchens are not stocked with any food. There's no real perimeter, no walls or fences to mark the boundary.

But with some work it could be a great place.

Notes

This RP is predominantly focused on leadership and decision-making. In this RP you will figure out the best way to handle the issues or crises facing the community. There will be a lot of discussion and a lot of difficult decisions to make. What's a bigger priority for the group, getting the power back on or the water running? Can we feed everyone? Do we accept that group who's asking for shelter? Do we reach out to other communities? And how about that very charismatic preacher who claims this is God's judgment?

Convincing others and making a compelling case for your agenda is tantamount. How you deal with any given situation will have far-reaching consequences.

You're basically building a new civilization from scratch. What kind of place is this going to be? A tolerant democracy? A repressive dictatorship? A cult compound? Or something else entirely?

Accordingly, my job as GM will be pretty much reactive to your decisions. For this RP to keep moving, I need interested and engaged players. Nathanson College and the people living there are in your hands.

Character Sheet

Please post under the Characters tab to be reviewed.

Name: Your character's name- or at least what they've told the rest of the community.

Appearance: A photo or detailed description is acceptable. No drawings or animation.

Age: Your character's age.

Gender: Self-explanatory.

Occupation: What they did before all this unpleasantness went down. I'd like to see a lot of variety here.

Hobbies: Anything they did in their spare time. In an RP where skills are valuable, it's good to know what people are capable of.

Values: Things your character thinks are important- for instance, always telling the truth, or being feared.

Goal: Something your character wants to accomplish in the settlement. Maybe it's a policy they want enacted, or a building they think is needed, or a role they think they should fill. The more specific, the better. A goal should not be something easily fulfilled, ideally it takes a lot of time and effort.

Associated NPCs: (optional) If your character has other people with them in the community, for instance a child, spouse, friend, or other person, briefly describe them here.

History: Nothing crazy, just a few sentences about your life before the Cataclysm and how you ended up here in Nathanson.

Rules

I'd like to keep the rules relaxed and informal here. Just treat each other with respect and play fair (no Mary Sues, no godmodding, etc.) and we shouldn't have any trouble.

However, keep in mind as GM that my word is law. If I tell you to do something or to not do something, listen.

[Amelian Draco]

I look forward to this. I'll try to have a CS up by tomorrow.

[teapotshark]

CS up! I'm on my tablet so if I've missed anything (or spent too long on history, oops) just give me a shout.

[MafiaM16]

This looks inviting. I'll subscribe for now, but there's a decent chance of me joining. Great opening post, by the way. Well written!

[Darkraven]

I'm definitely in. You do look like you're dedicated to this RP, Polyphemus. Not like me, I suck as a GM.

I'll come up with a CS soon. Should be easy, considering that this character of mine has already existed in two other universe, including the Walking Dead XD.

One thing I'm worried though is that I might look like the guy with an advantageous character. I'll try my best not to be - but I believe in my character model.

Unless you want something crazy, like a 10-year-old kid who'd established herself as the leader of all youths and as a result represents their interests XD XD XD

[Amelian Draco]

CS is up, I mean it's technically tomorrow. I hope everything looks alright.

[FiroIV]

I will try and have something up by Thursday,.

[Darkraven]

So... Do we become one of them if we get bitten? Or are the zombies a one off thing?

[McHaggis]

.

[LokiLeo789]

...I'm in tears man...

[Amelian Draco]

So how is everyone doing?

[LokiLeo789]

So how is everyone doing?

@Amelian Draco

Good,good. How about you?

[Amelian Draco]

@LokiLeo789tired, a bit bored. Nice gif

[LokiLeo789]

@LokiLeo789tired, a bit bored. Nice gif

@Amelian Draco

Thanks, was actual just about to change.

[Darkraven]

So how is everyone doing?

@Amelian Draco

I'll probably put up my character sheet tomorrow. No energy today... :(

[Polyphemus]

So... Do we become one of them if we get bitten? Or are the zombies a one off thing?

@Darkraven

Anybody who dies becomes one of them. There's nothing particularly deadly about zombies bites, except for the tremendous amount of bacteria in a decaying corpses mouth means you're likely to get a very serious and probably lethal infection unless you thoroughly clean and treat the wound and get a strong course of antibiotics.

[LokiLeo789]

How about weapons? Will you list out weapon storages. And are citizens allowed to carry weapons? Or is that our descion?

[Amelian Draco]

@Darkraveni know that feeling

[Polyphemus]

How about weapons? Will you list out weapon storages. And are citizens allowed to carry weapons? Or is that our descion?

@LokiLeo789

My assumption is that everyone got here with just what they could carry, so it's up to you whether or not that included a weapon.

I'll list out weapon stores if anyone takes inventory. It'll be up to you guys if the citizens go armed. Like I said, the rules at Nathanson College are for you to develop.

[teapotshark]

And we're in! This'll be fun.