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A Pub Roleplay
Credit to alexandreev for Chapter Heading Art
"There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception."
Aldous Huxley
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A lot of folks remember when it first started, when everything began to break down. July 18th, 2013. The day reality died. It was simple at first; your keys might go missing and appear somewhere else, your phone might ring off the hook, but when you answer it, nobody's there, that kind of thing. Few really paid much attention, and why would they? These were the usual oddities of life, the things we'd become accustomed to. It was when the lampposts started coming to life, when black holes opened in your driveway, that people actually clued into what was happening. The panic, the mad scramble to escape, I'm sure more people died from being trampled than from the anomalies themselves.
The military, the government, they did the only thing they could.
The locked the entire area up and shot anyone that tried to get out.
It wasn't enough.
The Zone, as people started calling it, began expanding, rapidly. First it was just a few meters, then a few more, then before anyone could even react, Las Vegas was under siege by interdimensional hellbeasts. People were going insane in the streets, gibbering and clawing at their own eyes. Entire buildings were displaced or just outright disintegrated. I remember seeing an entire bus, full of people, just turn into a pile of sand. A mound of fucking sand. The Zone kept expanding, kept reaching it's terrible hands out to consume more of the Southwest. Towns would merely cease to exist, people would disappear without warning. The death toll, if one could even hazard a guess, was in the hundreds of thousands. You could have nuked the entire southern half of Nevada and it would have been less disastrous.
They built a wall around the area and quarantined it. All of it. Troops marched around the Zone's borders, day and night, gunning down anyone trying to get in or out. It wasn't unremarkable, however, for things to get through. There were stories in the surrounding towns about "monsters" or "demons" roaming the woods, snatching away children and pets. It's bullshit, most of it. Or, rather, I'd prefer to believe it is.
Scavengers, or Scavvers, started breaking into the Zone almost immediately. There were untold amounts of loot to be found; military equipment, jewelry, and, most importantly, artifacts. Artifacts from other realities, crafted in that interdimensional estuary. Buyers would pay upwards of eight figures for these artifacts and the Feds would pretend like they tried to stop them, but as long as they got their cut, nobody cared. That's not to say it's a good gig or anything. Most of the Scavvers that head into the Zone never come back. God only knows what happens to them.
Weird shit happens beyond those walls, man. I've seen things that most people couldn't even imagine. Mutated Mushroom people, armies from whole other realities, even the odd giant monster. Just watch out for the singularities, kid, that's how I lost my finger. Oh̸̢́,̀́ ͏ą҉n̵ḑ͠ i̸͏f̡ y͞o҉͘҉ư ̡͜͝ȩv̕͢e̡r̢,̵ ̢́e̸v̷̡e҉̛͢r͝,̨͡ ҉̴ru͠n̢̡ ͠i҉̸̀n͢͝t͝o̶ ̛Ch̡u̧r̶̢̕c̶h̸͠i̸e̶s͠,́ ru҉ņ.
Don't ask why, man. I had to learn the hard way. Unless you're into being skinned alive; whatever floats your boat, I suppose.
What's my story?
Doesn't matter. Now, buy something or get out
The Zone is a survival horror Roleplay. Set three years after an unknown event destabilized reality, it focuses on a group of scavengers entering the government quarantine zone to search for expensive, and dangerous, artifacts. The Zone itself is enormous, surrounded and constantly patrolled by the United States military to prevent anyone from getting in, and to prevent anything from getting out. Reality has no sway over the zone. Mutants and abominations wander about, sometimes amiable, sometimes relentlessly hostile. In the simplest sense, the entire Zone is a dimensional rift where anything can happen. Timelines can change, inanimate objects can gain life, the dead can rise and entire buildings can become hostile predators. Yet, even with these threats, the Zone's many interdimensional artifacts prove a tantalizing prize to scavengers. Some believe it's aliens, others believe it's a government project gone awry.
This is, first and foremost, a survival horror roleplay with heavy-science fiction elements. Characters can and will die, so if your character is killed, you can create a new application and start fresh. The main plot will begin in Mesquite, just on the border between Nevada and Arizona. As part of an expedition into the center of the Zone, you will be tasked with attempting to survive while being pursued by the Zone's inhabitants and, of course, government forces intending to prevent you from reaching the center. Reality becomes increasingly unstable as one approaches the epicenter, and strange and terrifying events will threaten to break your characters, physically and mentally.
Welcome to the Exclusion Zone, We hope you enjoy your stay.
The Zone is shown with concentric rings, each indicating an increase in the number of reality destabilizing events. The Outer Rings tend to be the most benign, with instances of object animation and poltergeist activity being the most frequent occurrences. Reports of "ghosts" in the Outer Rings are also common.
The Inner Rings tend to involve the most abstract phenomena. Anachronisms, Animate buildings, enlarged living organisms, sudden inexplicable weather changes and ion storms are common the closer one gets to the Epicenter. More bizarre entities tend to frequent these areas, particularly gargantuan creatures lovingly referred to as "Torsos".
The Epicenter is, for all intents and purposes, the immediate area around the Groom Lake facility. It is almost entirely unexplored, as most tend to die, disappear or evacuate before reaching the center. It is unknown the extent of this area's phenomena.[/
KNOWN AND CONFIRMED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA
Classified | Do not share with unauthorized personnel | Failure to comply with standard security measures is grounds for termination
Research Personnel are advised to NOT, under any circumstances, attempt to enter quarantine area without armed escort.
Any personnel entering quarantine area without escort are considered lost and NO attempt is to be made to retrieve them.
This is NOT a comprehensive list of all quarantine area phenomena. For a more complete list, please contact Dr. Hatfield.
- [NOTE - 04/16/16] Hey, Greg. Jones from Internal Security. We looked into it, and the edits aren't coming from our system. Hank has his theories, but we're looking into the issue. Just try and keep them under control until we can lock down the system.
- [NOTE - 04/18/16] Greg, it's Jones. We detected multiple intrusions in the system last night. We're not sure who it was, but there's a ton of classified shit missing. The brass is having a fit right now. It could just be tensions over Mesquite, but Thomas went missing last night and nobody's seen him. Please get back to me as soon as you can.
- [NOTE - 04/20/16] Jones here. We've patched most of the leaks in the security network. Looks like the intrusions are under control, but I'd change your passwords just in case. Can never be too careful with these kinds of things. It's Kate's birthday tomorrow, so everyone's getting cake in Sector-H. You should come. Get your mind off ████████████████████████████████.
- [NOTE - 04/27/16] Yes. We know about the edits. Security thinks someone's installed a backdoor to the system. I don't think it's the same one as before, though. There's something off about the style, you know? A few guys think it might be Thomas, but I doubt it. He always preferred radios to computers anyway.
- [NOTE - 05/05/16] Jones again. System's back under control. Research teams are having an absolute fit over what happened. Said the edits were coming from a Zeta Class something or other. I dunno, dude. All I know is that security confiscated a lot of the equipment. Reggie said they started shredding the hard drives out back. They're still looking for Thomas, too. Between you and me, I hope they don't find him.
- [NOTE - 05/18/2016] Hey, it's Maureen. Jones is in the infirm right now. Nobody's really sure what happened. Heard some of the techs talking about Mesquite. It's bad out there. Heard them talking about some stuff in Laughlin too. A bunch of ALU dudes were running around too, full MOPP gear and everything. Stay safe out there. Something big's going on.
- [NOTE - 05/21/2016] >COGNITOHAZARDOUS DATA SEIZED BY ADMINISTRATIVE REQUEST<
- [NOTE - 05/23/2016] Jones here. Maureen is dead. They said she escaped after she uploaded the >DATA REMOVED< virus or something. I don't know. Heard that she might have been a Church plant. I don't know what to think anymore. I got a text from Thomas yesterday. He's out there. Out there in the Zone. I know you're reading this, you fat bastard. I'm going to find you, and you're going to tell me what's really >DATA REMOVED<
- [NOTE - 05/23/2016] Hey Todd! It's Helen. Jones is taking some paid time off, so he left me in charge of the system logs for now. Isn't that GREAT? This is so COOL. Anyway, the system's scrubbed of whatever that stuff was. I dunno. I heard Max has donuts in his office, so....Imma just go check that out. Toodles.
- [NOTE - 05/28/2016] Yo, Todd. Helen here. So, I dug into some of those files you mentioned. I sent them over. Just be careful, they're personnel files. Can't have that stuff getting out there, right? Right.
- [NOTE - 06/12/2016] Todd, it's Helen. Someone installed a backdoor into our system, and we've been locked out for almost two weeks now. I think someone fixed it by just rebooting the whole thing in safe mode or something. God, our IT sucks, doesn't it? I bet they still use AOL. Nobody's quite sure what's going on, but they think it might be someone with DARKNET. You know, the anonymous hacker wannabee guys? I heard some of the Tac guys talking about a raid on one of their safehouses in San Fran. Serves those edgy punks right, right? Right.
- [NOTE - 06/12/2016]: Oh, another thing. I saw the Chairman yesterday. Not on a computer screen. The actual guy. Wheelchair and everything. I guess that's why they call him the "chairman", eh? Eh? Please don't tell anyone I said that. I have kids.
- [NOTE - 06/12/2016]: Srsly, Todd. Don't tell them I said that.
- [NOTE - 07/09/2016]: Hey, it's Helen again. Ran into Dr. Hatfield today. Apparently we're re-routing some of the observation drones towards Moapa. Kinda weird, but I figured it'd be good to pass that on. Oh, and I heard from Brian that we started getting transmissions from Site 9 again. How weird is that? I thought they scuttled that place. Anyways, can you find out when Elaine is sending down those requisition reports? Someone keeps stealing my pens and I don't think it's the guys from Occult Research this time.
- [NOTE - 11/05/2016]: Helen again. Jones is dead. They found him yesterday. Suicide. Slit his wrists in a tub or something. Fucked up, right? I mean, I knew he was kind of a weird guy, but I never thought he'd, you know, kill himself. Some of the Disinformation techs were in his office yesterday. Hatfield said we're going to reroute the drones for Vegas to keep an eye on the troublemakers. Apparently he's got the standing liquidators ready for when they show up. Or, trying to, at least. I guess the freaks are fighting hard out that way. Anyways, you up for drinks tomorrow night? It's happy hour in the dining room and Derek's bringing rum-chata.
The Rules
We are no longer accepting Military Characters. Applications with characters that are part of the United States Military, or any other military organization, will be automatically DENIED.- Don't be a Dick.
- The Word of OP is law, the word of the Co-Ops is law unless otherwise stated.
- Characters with supernatural abilities are ONLY AVAILABLE to OP and Co-Op.
- Characters with supernatural powers OTHER THAN the OP and Co-Op will NOT be accepted.
- Poor Spelling, Grammar, and overall Poor writing ARE grounds for application denial.
- Not participating in the RP for any considerable period of time is grounds for character death.
- Inactive characters can be resurrected if the original writer returns; active characters killed during the story CANNOT be resurrected without GOOD reason.
- No, you cannot have a light machine gun, flamethrower, plasma rifle, etc.
- You can't have a missile launcher either, unless OP says so.
- [DATA REMOVED BY ADMINISTRATIVE REQUEST]
- Don't go overboard with gore, violence, etc. Do things in good taste, basically.
- I mean, I'm pretty sure at this point you're not really paying attention.
- Have fun!
- Code: Select all
[b]Name[/b]:
[b]Gender[/b]:
[b]Age[/b]:
[b]Occupation[/b]:
[b]Appearance[/b]:
[b]Equipment[/b]:
[b]Skills[/b]:
[b]Weaknesses[/b]:
[b]Personality[/b]:
[b]Biography[/b]: [i]This MUST be at least two paragraphs[/i]
[b]Roleplay Experience[/b]:
[b]ID CODE[/b]: 1997 (DO NOT REMOVE)
Name: Valerie Deckard
Gender: Female
Age: 28
Occupation: Scavenger
Appearance:
Equipment:Skills:
- Izhmash AKMSU
- Colt M1911
- Combat Knife
- Crowbar
- Canteen
- Dried Rations
- Gas Mask
Weaknesses:
- Scavenging
- Decent Marksmanship
- Poor Hand-to-Hand Combat
- Intuitive
Personality: While generally quiet and reserved, Val can be amiable when she chooses to be. Her time as a scavenger has made her misanthropic and angry, even nihilistic to a degree. Prone to depression.
- Physically Weak
- Lack of Firearms Experience
- Psychologically Vulnerable
Biography: Born to Claire and Erik Deckard in Redwood Falls, Oregon in 1988. Her family life was relatively calm, with her father working as a professor at the nearby university and her mother being a waitress in the town's diner. Quiet and shy, she had few friends throughout her childhood, and the ones that she did would often describe her as "cold" or "distant". Attending Seattle University, she dropped out after the death of her best friend in a drunk-driving accident. Val took on whatever work she could, while living with her parents. She would later go on to marry Craig Fargus, one of her few friends from High-School.
The two lived in the relatively obscure town for many years until Summer of 2013. A massive swathe of the American Southwest became destabilized from reality, killing millions and leaving millions more homeless. In the ensuing country-wide chaos, Craig committed suicide
believing that the Zone would eventually expand and destroy the world. In a way, he was correct, and the Zone would expand to encompass Las Vegas by the end of the year. With her life in shambles, Val spent the last of her money on military-grade equipment and began making her way to the zone, bumming rides from strangers and using what little money she had left for bus fare.
Along the way, she met up with Jacob Miller, a former Zone researcher who would become her scavenging partner when they arrived at the Zone. At the time, the military was still attempting to get the area under control, but their efforts were in vain as the Zone would expand once more within the next month. During this expansion, Val and Miller were caught up in a reality disruption. Forced to fight their way out of the Zone, Miller was near-mortally wounded, leading to his hand being amputated. Valerie, on the other hand, was given new purpose. She didn't just want to raid the Zone for supplies, she wanted to understand it. She was joined by Miller and the two began their efforts to understand the Zone's mysteries.
Roleplay Experience: OP PRIVILEGE
ID CODE: 1997 (DO NOT REMOVE)
Name: Dr. Jacob Miller
Gender: Male
Age: 36
Occupation: Ex-Scientist
Appearance:
Equipment:Skills:
- SIG-Sauer P226
- Machete
- Goggles
- Gas Mask
- Rations
- Medical Supplies
- Copious Amounts of Narcotics
Weaknesses:
- Analytical
- Intelligent
- Excellent Improvisational Skills
Personality: Neurotic, Temperamental and bordering on outright insanity. Tends to hallucinate frequently, while maintaining an obsession with understanding Zone phenomena, often with an outright disregard for the lives of others.
- Extremely Unstable
- Crippling Drug Addiction
- Poor Marksmanship & Close-Quarters Skills
Biography: Little is known about Miller's past, other than his claimed history as a researcher for the United States government. This goes along with his other claims that reptilians control the planet, the common cold is a hive mind, and that mountains don't actually exist. What can be substantiated is that he has some form of academic experience, particularly in the field of experimental physics.
He has no known family or friends, aside from Valerie, and even their friendship is unsteady at best. The two met while scavenging the Zone, and quickly began working together, though moreso out of desperation than anything else. Miller was, at the time, just as unstable, and his inability to properly use a gun ended up costing them an extremely rare artifact. The singularity storm caused by the destruction of said artifact would cost him his left hand.
After that, the two continued working together. Valerie was the only truly sane one in the pair, while Miller's experience and knowledge of the Zone were invaluable to their exploits. It was after a recent scavenging mission in Las Vegas that Miller proposed something insane;an expedition straight to the heart of the Zone, to find the linchpin of the entire phenomena. Valerie protested, but when Miller reminded her of the untouched artifacts in the epicenter, she agreed.
Miller, however, had other reasons than monetary gain.
Roleplay Experience: OP PRIVILEGE
ID CODE: 1997 (DO NOT REMOVE)