NationStates Jolt Archive

Alright, I've been gone for a while (roughly 6 months now), and I'd like to ease my way back into RP. So, after a time watching Firefly and playing Red Dead Revolver, an idea popped into my head. Bear with me here, and by all means, post if you're interested. So, here's my concept.

There's one planet, a relatively small one, about the size of our moon. Half the planet is a collection of Badlands, rocky, dry, and generally inhospitable, with a few oases peppered around. The other side, however, is a huge city, lit up with neon lights, strip clubs, and filled with a back-alley trade of a variety of psychoactive drugs.

Many years ago, there was a great war between the Badlands and the City. The City, being far more advanced, decimated the rough militia of the Badlands. Now, there is a great wall around the City, and nobody's allowed to leave...or enter. But, Count Rezza, leader of the City's neo-socialist government, plans to wipe out the Badlands and their inhabitants once and for all. The gears of war churn in the city, as well as the gears of revolution. The war machines are about to pour into the Badlands.

Thanks to a series of events, right before the boiling point of war, 6 Badlanders are able to sneak into the City, setting off a chain reaction of civil disobedience and anarchy. This is the tale of the events surrounding these 6 people.

If you are interested, please post your character. Keep in mind that while only 6 people maximum can be from the Badlands, you can also be someone from the City. This is a very loose plotline at the moment, so tell me what you think.

Age:
Alliance:
General Appearance:
Side Notes
Backstory

Gah. Bump

Cool idea.

Little more info, like Tech? Is the planet tidally-locked? What limits are there on characters?

Thank you.

Technologically, the Badlands are almost like the old west, albeit more spread out, and with a lot of salvaged clothes that you'd see today (Jeans, Leather Jackets, etc). The City is kind of hard to describe. The technology is advanced, but not to the point of, for example, lasers as weapons, so I suppose I'd say PMT, but thoroughly so.

Yeah, it is tidally locked, the City is placed on the dark side of orbit, so all light has to come from the dome around the city.

Hmm...as far as limits on characters, could you be a little more specific?

Alright then.

By limits, I mean like what weapons are we allowed to have? Are we allowed to have mutations (AKA superpowers)? Do we have to be human?

I have to say that this sounds pretty good. I think I would be interested as playing as a young man inside the City that's dissatisfied with the system and wants to help the Badland guys.

Weapons would have to be limited to

Badlands: Projectile weapons, small arms of other sorts, your occasional heavy weapon, and homemade weapons that can be pretty imaginative. (Rifles, Revolvers, Minigun, Flamethrower etc.)

City: Projectile weapons as well, but more advanced in many ways. Riot weapons (Rapid-Fire pistols, High-Calibre weapons of all sorts, Bullpup Rifles, etc.)

As to mutations, in those terms, no. But, realistic bionic enhancements are acceptable.

And yes, it's a strictly human planet

Kenavt, nice to see you again. If you're interested, then by all means, post a character, and ask any questions you have.

Hey. And I suppose I don't really have any questions, as I just tend to go along with the flow. And let's keep descriptions simple.

Name: Aiken Brooks
Gender: Male
Physical Description: A thin ranging on muscular build with medium height, Aiken's blue eyes rather stand out as they practically shine with intensity, intelligence, and most of all, curiousity. He has a somewhat long crop of dirty blonde hair, and usually wears a polo shirt with jeans (or the equivalent on this planet).
Biography: Aiken was born to parents that pretty much let him do whatever he liked, which quickly involved in pyschoactive drugs. After almost killing himself with an overdose, he was determined to get his life back together. After five long years, he entered the twenty-third year of his life without any addictions and a growing resentment of the City, and its lawlessness reguarding the drugs as well as the massive red-light district. He increasingly wants to leave, and explore the Badlands, which almost sounds like a myth - but a dangerous one at that.

That would be very interesting. I think he could kind of serve as the guide for whoever else comes in from the Badlands. But do you intend for him to leave the City or not?

=[ So many views, and yet so few replies!

I honestly do not know. I supose we'll just see the way the story goes. However, he'd probably want to act in self-preservation. A guide would be an interesting role, to be sure.

Being in the City, which is thoroughly different from the Badlands, he probably wouldn't last long, but being intelligent, he might.

Possibly my character encounters him about to meet his death out in the ass-end of nowhere?

I think he'll just stay in the city, fervently wishing to try and find a way out. Of course, that could work too, although I wonder how he would get out. A secret passageway found in an old library book, maybe? If there are libraries among all the red-lights.

There are libraries, but actual books would be a rarity. I'd imagine more along the lines of micro-tapes. But there would be books, just not many. So perhaps he opens an old book, and a map falls out, intended for someone long dead? That would provide for a little more dynamic of a starting point for the two.

I was reminded of the awesome-looking upcoming game Fuel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkc7UVOUfuo) when I read this. What about vehicles?

Name: Adam Jones
Age: 28
Alliance: The Badlands (Himself)
General Appearance: Link (http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/resistancefallofman/images/f/fa/06.jpg)
Side Notes: Weapons: Scoped 44. Magnum (http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Scoped_.44_Magnum), Repeating Rifle (Classic Style) (http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Lincoln%27s_Repeater), Vehicle (If allowed): Modified Muscle Car (http://uk.ps3.ign.com/dor/objects/748488/motorstorm/images/motorstorm-20071107062612617.html?page=mediaFull)
Backstory: A 28 year old with a taste for the open road, Adam left the city as soon as he could, not taking anyone's advice that it was a dangerous area. He sees himself as a drifter, wandering the open plains. He prefers his Classic Repeating Rifle, with which he is a crack shot, even on the move. He also sees himself as the only important thing in his life, but has been known to help others if it takes his fancy.

Yes, exactly. Thanks!

As a matter of fact, the video for Fuel pegged the Badlands' vehicles quite well. So...3 more people at least, and I'll get the thread started.

I'll have a badlander up shortly

There's only one problem I see- with the planet being tidally locked the sun sude - the badlands is not going to have any cooling machanism. The sun side is going to be unliviablly hot - not just badlands but true desert with temps in 100+ range most of the year.

The night side, eternally dark has no heating cycle- it not only has no lights it has nothing but frigid cold.

A tidally locked planet would also have a hard time maintaining an atmosphere.

The only realy place one could have unassisted - IE out in the open life ( something resembling what we consider 'normal' ) would be the twilight zones, the shadowed area where light and dark mingles

In other words, if you took earth, moved it in closer to the sun and tidally locked it, the habitable zone would be a ring that follows the boundary between day and night. The hottest part of the planet would be the side facing the sun, and it might be thousands of degrees. The coldest part would be in the middle of the night side, and would be well below zero.

Link (http://martianchronicles.wordpress.com/2008/03/18/fire-and-ice-tidally-locked-exoplanets/)

This presents some severe problems...

For some reason I knew you'd be here!

And I guess I should've assumed you'd prove me wrong somewhere. But, for now, can we just leave my lack of logic/research unquestioned? After all, the universal position/rotation of the planet itself isn't very, if at all, important to the plot.

Nice to see you, Tanara

Good to see you back Res.

Wasn't trying to prove you wrong, just bringing up some information that might need to be taken into account.

I've spent all my life in the Twilight, that narrow band of ever gloaming where the sun never sets, but never rises either. Out in the deeps of Day it is deadly, the temperatures never falling below that which make rock itself molten. But then again in the ever chill of Night's heart temperatures never rise above what is needed to keep nitrogen frozen.

No, there are only two places to live; in the City where life is easy and every thing paradise is supposed to be- or in the Badlands of the twilight zone where life mostly resembles purgatory. Though I'm only going off 'a what chipped books there are and I've been able to get my hands on.

My name is Mizery (http://www.atddm.com/karri.jpg), cause that's what I'm good at bringing to people

Age: 30

Alliance: Myself mostly, the Badlands if pressed ( and yeah I lie as easy as speaking)

General Appearance: 5'7", 130 - stronger than she looks, in excellent physcial shape- asiatic features, long straight black hair, chocolate brown eyes brown eyes.

Side Notes: Mizery has a bionic right eye, courtesy of her father - can't tell it from her real one, save for a slight differnce in the shade of the iris

Backstory: My dad ws one of the special forces soldiers - a medic sniper specialist - the City sent out to wipe the badlands Militai off the map. They did a damn fine job of it too. But he got injured bad, and left for dead. My mom found him, nursed him back to health and later on, a lot later on, I was born. Mom died when I was seven and dad finished raising me on his on his own. He died five years ago and I still miss him. But he taught me everything he knew and made sure I learned to love to read, so I could keep on learning after he was gone. I got injured when I was ten, and lost my right eye. Dad gave me his. It took five years for the neuro links to grow completely, and some functions don't work - but it gives me an edge.

And our here you need every edge you can get, especially when you are a female, and a female in my profession. I'm a finder.

I find all sorts of things, trouble mostly.

I've got two other advantages the Dragonwagon (http://www.steelwheels4x4.com/index.html) and Magnet (http://www.atddm.com/Saluki.gif)

The Dragon wagon may not be the fastest vehicle out there but it can go places many cant ( but yeah there are others that can go where it can't. Compromise, compromise ) but it's home and armed and armored, though the weapons load out is very discrete.

I carry a pair of plane jane, easy as heck to find ammo for- or like I do - reload your own - Colt 1911 A1's (http://www.atddm.com/1911a1.jpg) and a specially modified
Winchester (http://www.atddm.com/remmingtoncarb.jpg) in 44-40. I've got other weapons, some bows and pistol cross bows for silent work and hunting. And my dads sniper rifle.

Very nice, and told in the typical Tanara fashion. Nice to see you again. Well...not see but...type with...yeah! I suppose I should put up mine, so as not to be hypocritical

Name: David Mikael Harl

Age: Roughly 30...Not much ways of telling time in the Badlands

Alliance: The Badlands. Old habits die hard, eh?

General Appearance: DMH (http://uniquefrequency.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/darktower21.jpg) Rough, angular face. Handsome, in a I wonder where he's been? kind of way. Medium build, muscular, but only as much as work and diet in the Badlands would allow.

Side Notes: Monty (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b381/cntrtop/Marui_Colt_Python_357mag_6inch.jpg), his old salvaged revolver. Closest he's had to a significant other for years. And

R2D700 (http://www.snipercountry.com/photogallery/Remington700PSS_MirageFlage.jpg), A rifle that he borrowed from a City sniper during the old wars, who, ostensibly, had a knife in his back at the time.

And Wit (http://i.xanga.com/Dexargile/Dex%20Scimitar.jpg), his grandfather's sword, with which he is surprisingly proficient

Backstory: David was born a weak, fragile baby in the City long, long ago. This was partly caused by being the child of an addict, and partly bad luck. His oh, so admirable mother needed a quick fix, and hey, you can always make more children, sold him for the respectable sum of 400 dollars to a government agency. This agency was that for bionics, which had just recently been perfected. Well, sorta. They put the child through a series of brutal surgeries, planting small metal plates, even readjusting his bone density and skin makeup so that he couldn't be harmed. Turned out that David wasn't impervious to pain or bodily damage (a theory they tested thoroughly), so they regarded it as a failure, and put the now aged 9 David up for adoption.

The headline read:
Loving Mother Going Through Hard Times. Lovely 9-year-old Boy for Sale

This turned out to be a good thing for David, as he was picked up by a street-smart woman of about 36. He spent many happy years with her, up until about 15. Then he discovered, by way of a police battering ram through their front door, that his foster mother was running with a crowd of rebels to the establishment. David and her were promptly taken to the border of the City, and booted right out into the Badlands, with only their possessions at the time, like their clothes, a sword, and a gun.

A week with no food and no water got to his foster mother. As they neared a small oasis, she died in his arms, skinny, delirious, and not herself. It was not an honorable death. He took off the revolver she had in her belt, then broke down, and didn't move for 4 days.

Near that oasis, David, only 16, cut down all the trees in the near vicinity, using crude tools made from anything he could find, and constructed a light shelter from the unforgiving sun. Didn't even move her body for 2 months. As he got older, the hunting got better, and the shelter more sophisticated. Finally, at the rash, dick-on-legs age of 21, a cloud of dust came racing towards what was now his small cabin. In front of it was a small, junked-out dune buggy. The driver, a large black man, jumped out of the driver's seat, right in front of the barrel of David's revolver.

"Ay bredda! Put down ja heat, seen? Ya nah hear? It's war bredda! I'm here ta recruit ya mon!" said the inner-city South Market accent.

With very little convincing, David hopped into the passenger seat, whoopin' and hollerin'. He just rode into what any other person might've considered hell, but it was the time of his life.

Now, David's just retired, leading an ordinary life in his nice cabin, hunting for food, real quiet. Well, for now.

Bump?

Lol Give it though Sunday night - most every body is busy this weekend! My local mall is mobbed

Well, I actually got back because I got grounded.

My car sits lonely out in the snow =[

I might be interested. I'll think about getting a character up tomorrow.

Sorry to hear that Res, but better the car than you, yes? Cold no good, cold with snow? if it's dry cold that I can take, but wet cold ~shudder~

I'm here 'cause the change in barometric pressure has frelled my back...pain meds. Can't live with them, but can't live without them...Le Sigh!

Alright FE. By all means, we only need one more before I'll start it up.

That sounds overly complicated, and yet still suckish. Lo Siento. But I got my car all of 5 months ago. Which is, in turn, really lame.

Okay, here we go.

Name: Zaka Stark
Gender: male
Age: 37
Height: 5’11” / 180cm
Weight: 164lb / 74kg
General Appearance: fairly tall, average build, dark hair streaked with silver-grey, skin baked brown by the sun, ring and little fingers of left hand missing, numerous scars and burn marks on his face and forearms, usually wears long, loose-fitting desert robes and head wrap to protect him from the elements

Side Notes: Partially blind in one eye, he is nevertheless a skilled marksman. Carries a 7.92mm semi-automatic rifle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gewehr_43) and a .45 revolver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Anaconda). A self-proclaimed genius with (mostly homemade) explosives, though the two fingers missing from his left hand dispute that somewhat.

Allegiance: Badlands (when it comes to Badlands vs. the City anyway)

Back Story: Born to a blacksmith/gunsmith pair in one of the more remote Badland settlements, he spent the early years of his adult life learning to follow his parents’ trade, becoming a competent machinist and mechanic in the process. After being increasingly called upon to help defend the settlement against City assault groups and other raiders despite his sight deficiency, he made sure he was more than capable with a rifle. When his father was killed in an attack several years later, Zaka took over his job as a gunsmith, now harbouring an intense hatred of anyone who hails from the City, though his opinion of other Badlanders is not much better, thanks to numerous encounters with hostile raiding parties.

I might alter or add to the backstory if I think of something else.

So, Res, when does the IC thread go up?