Gunther

Darkseekers

Joe Beaulieu

Name: Joseph Beaulieu
Age: 33
Appearance: Joseph stands 5’ 9” tall and weighs 170 Lbs. He has long greasy unkempt blonde hair and blue eyes. His beard is light wispy, never having been able to grow a beard. He wears an old faded Army Combat Uniform (ACU) and the Assault Vest he used when he served in the US Army. He wears the tan combat boot all soldiers wore in the early 21st century. Upon his head is a navy-blue Boston Red Sox baseball cap.

History:
Joe grew up in Mattapan, a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, not far from the Neponset River. Joe’s father worked for the city of Boston and was a self-proclaimed alcoholic. For years, the old wouldn’t quit even when he knew he had a problem. He would pronounce, “why the fuck should I quit? I love beer!” Eventually, he had done the 12-step process but always seemed to fall off the wagon. He had a difficult time remaining sober. The old man was arrested for Operating Under the Influence of Alcohol (OUI) when Joe was 12. Things started to get better for Joe after that. Before the arrest, Joe’s dad, Bill used to beat him if he stepped out of line.

Joe’s mother Kathleen worked as a Paraprofessional for the Boston School District and loved her son immeasurably. She considered divorcing his father until he enrolled himself into a detoxification facility and then joined Alcoholics Anonymous. His mother enrolled young Joseph into a Martial Arts program in Milton, MA specializing in Kung Fu for children. Joe achieved a black belt by age 16 and then trained in the adult Krav Maga program. At the age of 18, he graduated from High School and left Boston behind, but not Krav Maga.

Joe Beaulieu enlisted in the US Army after High School into Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 11B infantry in July 2012. Upon graduation from Infantry Basic in October, he transferred to the Airborne School where he spent four weeks earning the coveted silver Airborne Wings. By mid-November he found himself at Camp Darby on Ft. Benning working to earn a Ranger Tab. By Mid-January, Private Beaulieu earned the black and yellow Tab and was on his way to his first duty assignment which happened to be the 1st Ranger Battalion at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia. Effective 1 February 2013 Joe Beaulieu was promoted to Private First Class (E3). While with the 1st Ranger Battalion, Joe was able to continue his Krav Maga training with his unit. The Unit trained in the Israeli Self Defense form as part of their Physical Fitness Regimen. Although, they did not award belts like the Martial Arts School in Boston, Joe increased his skill with the self-defense training.

In March 2015, PFC Joe Beaulieu was shipped off to Vicenza, Italy. PFC Beaulieu was assigned to A Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment (AIR), 173rd Airborne Brigade. When Joe arrived, he learned his battalion was deployed to the Ukraine in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. After spending a week getting settled into the barracks in Vicenza, he was shipped off to Ukraine to join his unit. The battalion rotated back to Italy in September 201. Effective 1 April 2015, Joe was promoted to Specialist (E4).

On 16 December 2015, Joe Beaulieu completed the Basic Leader Course at Flint Kaserne, Bad Tölz, Germany. He then transferred to C Company, First Battalion, 503rd PIR, 173rd Airborne Brigade and assigned as a team leader. He was given the rank of Corporal (E4) and effective 1 April 2016, Joe Beaulieu was promoted to Sergeant (E5). When his first End of Time in Service (ETS) approached in July 2016 he re-enlisted for another four years. This meant his second ETS date would be in July 2020.

In July 2016, Sergeant Beaulieu was assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry (Iron Rangers), 1st Infantry Division, Ft. Riley, KS as an Infantry team leader. Sergeant Beaulieu would remain with the 1st ID for the next three years, due to PCS in July 2019.

Joe Beaulieu eventually found the entrenchments and remnants of Fort Riley as well as the civilian enclave at Grand Junction to be untenable. Since 98% of the soldiers in the 1st Infantry Division turned into Darkseekers, they took to living in the underground tunnels and entrenchments dug by the soldiers before the asteroids struck.

Joe and his companions left Fort Riley in search of other survivors and a place they could live and survive unmolested by the dark seekers. They believed the mountains of Colorado would be a good place to start. They ended up at Fort Carson, Colorado, just south of Colorado Springs.

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Darkseekers

The virus only affected humans; not animals. But without mankind to curtail the animal population, they are going to take over on the scale of when Native Americans were the only humans who lived in what is now the US.

Darkseekers

Darkseekers

A Story of Survival

In the spring of 2018, NASA announced to the world a series of several hundred asteroids varying in size from a small automobile to a large building were heading towards planet earth. The NASA scientists predicted this would be a global killer and that people would need to seek shelter underground if they wished to survive. Several folks; mostly the wealthy, built elaborate concrete underground shelters in order to survive the asteroid impacts. It is estimated that 2500 such structures were built in the six weeks before the first asteroid struck earth on May 9, 2018. Others without the resources to build concrete bunkers relied on cellars or hastily dug trenches and bunkers.

The survival centers were not well constructed. Some people did not dig deep enough which were compromised by direct impacts. Others were built of concrete with elaborate fortifications extending a few hundred feet down. Most of the asteroids that struck the earth were the size of a house. While enroute, these large chunks of rock traveled at over 30,000 mph. Their impacts were equivalent to the energy of the bomb that fell on Hiroshima, Japan—about 20 Kilotons. These smaller asteroids flattened reinforced concrete buildings up to a half a mile from ground zero and flattened wooden structures over a mile and a half from ground zero. They did extensive damage to any city.

A few of the asteroids were as large as a 20 or 30 story building; up to 100 meters in diameter. These larger asteroids had the energy equal to the largest nuclear bombs ever made—on the order of 25 to 50 megatons. These asteroids flattened reinforced concrete buildings five miles from ground zero. More than a few major US cities were destroyed by these large asteroids including New York City, Boston, Miami, Atlanta, Denver, San Francisco, Houston, and Oklahoma City. Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington DC and a several other cities survived the impacts.

The problem with the impacts was not just the initial damage they inflicted. They also tossed a huge cloud of dust and debris into the atmosphere causing the once white and fluffy clouds to turn a brownish gray color and in many cases blotting out the sun for several days. Also contained in the asteroids and released into the atmosphere was a virus that infected 98% of the survivors. Of the original 7.5 Billion human inhabitants of planet earth, 6 billion were killed during the initial 36 hours of impacts. Over the course of the next two weeks, another 500 million were killed from the fall out.

The virus, released by the asteroids began to take effect on the surviving population, roughly one billion people, about four months after the celestial event ended. The world was then a desolate place, with cities in ruin and dead bodies piled everywhere. By September, 2018, people began to show signs of mutation.

The mutated humans developed primal behavior upon succumbing to the virus. They retain enough of their higher intelligence to build and copy complex traps they may have previously seen. The mutants’ adrenal glands give them increased mobility. The increased metabolism sped up their heart rate, breathing speed and body temperature, and made them constantly hyperventilate.

Other symptoms of infected humans include dilated pupils, enflamed gums, hair loss, albinism, and a primal state of madness. Another major symptom is a severe intolerance of UV radiation, causing sunlight and other sources of ultraviolet to burn their flesh. Because of this intolerance of UV, the mutants, now called Darkseekers, are forced into a nocturnal life cycle; lurking in dark, derelict structures during the day, and only leaving at night. The intolerance of UV is also so extreme, direct exposure to sunlight for more than a matter of seconds can be fatal to them.

As their adrenal glands are constantly open, the Darkseekers possess adrenaline-enhanced speed and endurance. Darkseekers apparently gained a heightened sense of smell.

A small group of survivors, fled the Fort Riley, Kansas area and have made their way to the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies in search of other survivors and a place they could live unmolested from the darkseekers. They believed the mountains would be a good place to start. They ended up at Fort Carson, Colorado, just south of Colorado Springs.

@POOHEAD189

The Band of Fools

@Mattchstick When I bump into something I don't know, I usually google it. So I just googled horse stables. The first immages I saw were of children's toys. LOL The next group of images which filled up the first page were of immaculate beautiful horse stables owned by elite billionaires. Neither of these examples would be accurate.

I remember visiting my grandfather's farm as a child. He had cows. I know horses don't use stanchions like cows, but they do get their own space and there is a lot of hay on the floor. One more thing, it stinks to holy hell. Someone needs to shovel the poo out of the area where they do their business every day and usually more often than once a day. There are large wooden bins containing corn or whatever feed the horses eat besides hay. There are usually individual buckets available for water. There will also be a tackle barn nearby where the horse's bit, barding, tackle, saddles (all leather goods) as well as any other accoutrements would be available for steeds used in combat in this setting.

The Band of Fools

Gotta be honest, I don't know what Cedric's dialect or accent would sound like. Cedric is an old English name, so would a sharp English accent be in order?

@Mattchstick

You don't have to do that, buddy. I do it because I find it fun. I did a Peninsula War RP, focused on the Corunna Campaign (1809) on the old RPG forum years ago. My character was a Scotsman with the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot, The Black Watch. I have a friend who is both an American and a British citizen. His mother was born and raised in Scotland. He has lived in both countries and understands the dialect quite well. I asked him questions about the Scottish accent as a form of research, plus looking up Scottish colloquialisms on line.

For Baldric, I have been looking at Youtube videos about Yorkshire accents and sites that have Northern British phrases. Yorkshire dialect

The Band of Fools

It's not as bad as I was expecting, I'm a giant puss-puss when it comes to dentists, the worst is over once they numb you up.

@Dziady

Me too, but the Novocaine doesn't do much for me. I still feel it when they drill or in this case pull for a tooth extraction.

ASOIAF - Threw the eyes of House Lashton ((Still Open))

Radford

The forest had an eerie quietness leaving Radford on edge. His pet hawk, aloft looking for anything the Young Hawk may be interested in. Radford raised his right hand, elbow bent at a ninety-degree angle, halting the small group of lancers.

The trees in this area of the forest were sparse, more than twenty meters between trees. A thick undergrowth of bush was sparse and scattered, found more oft in the open areas. A brook, less than ten meters in width meandered from west to east. Radford had caught many trout in this brook during his youth. The smells of the forest filled the men’s nostrils and the sounds of wild birds chirping and whistling provided their invitation in their ears. But there was something not quite right about the forest today.

His eyes turned white as he entered another world, ‘the forest passed beneath him. He soared overhead looking down upon a dirt road; one formed years ago by his ancestors and those of Lord Ryger. As the hawk descended towards the road, he identified a column of soldiers on the march, heading in the direction of Ash Falls. Lord Rennault’s Host was marching on a collision course with this force. The Young Hawk could see the boar’s head banner in Ryger’s colors fluttering in the breeze as the force of more than a thousand trudged slowly along the road.

Two small groups of soldiers marched about two kilometers in front of the vanguard on either side of the road; both numbering about ten soldiers. They wore mail armor, steel spaulders, steel helms and armed with short swords and shields. They wore the colors of House Ryger. The Vanguard consisted of a small contingent of lancers; maybe fifty in number and over two hundred footmen. Another kilometer behind the vanguard were over a hundred archers and more than seven hundred footmen; most carrying swords, but a few carrying battle axes, but all dressed in Ryger colors. Another kilometer behind the main body was a force of 20 lancers and 20 heavy cavalry; knights dressed in plate armor covering the rear of the movement. The Young Hawk could see small vedettes of light cavalry posted on both flanks about a kilometer on either side. Their numbers were only about a half dozen.

Their presence and location were easily identifiable to the Young Hawk. He called for Pecker to return. He looked at the other riders, relieved from his warg with Pecker. “The host of our enemy is no more than five kilometers in front of us, heading this way. They will be at this spot in the forest in an about an hour and meet my lord father in about an hour and a half.” Lord Radford spoke to the lancers around him. “They number about a thousand soldiers, with archers and light cavalry similar to our formation. We must get back to the Lord Kayne with all due haste.”

Lord Radford wheeled his charger around and galloped back along the route of march of Lord Rennault and Lord Kayne. The bird raced ahead of them. At a full gallop, the seven horsemen would reach Lord Kayne in under under five minutes.

@LordLinguinie

ASOIAF - Threw the eyes of House Lashton ((Still Open))

I am preparing a post. Radford has spotted the enemy and races back to let the rest know.

The Band of Fools

This is a non-issue. Just write.