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Druid's Trail
View attachment 105569
Hey there folks! I'm dispatch. I've had this idea kicking in my head for a while, and I am looking for someone to play a woman character for the story below. Let me know if you are interested!
The year is 2058, and humankind is on the path to extinction: nature herself seems to have risen up against it.
Beginning decades earlier, Earth's biosphere seems to have begun to spiral out of control. Nobody really knows why this was: some people blame climate change, others blame mutations that came from radiation or pollution, some blame both a secretive and irresponsible use of bioengineering, some further blame an act of God or of some other spiritual force.
The end results are not in dispute, however. A combination of extremely virulent plagues crippled, killed, and/or sterilized many billions, all while hyperaggressive insect and mammal pests and toxic blooms of plants and fungi both destroyed crops worldwide—leading to intense global famine—and killed many millions in their own rights. The combined disasters, referred to holistically as the Overgrowth, killed over 99.9% of humankind, reducing the population of Earth from 8 billion to less than ten million. And, thanks to the sterility effect of many of these plagues, that number is still falling. Current projections have a human extinction date estimated to be somewhere within the 2090s.
In the midst of this grim, green Armageddon, a pair of men are trying to survive and live. A misanthropic thirty-nine year old biologist named Jacob Veldt, and his cheerful-but-odd eleven year old son Noah Veldt, have made a nomadic, hunter-gatherer life for themselves in the Atlantic northeast regions of the U.S. and Canada, among the ruins of the old East coast cities. The pair are "Druids"—a derisive nickname for a diverse group of radical ecologists (or terrorists, depending on your point of view) who broadly share a common belief: that as humanity is on the way out, they have a responsibility to "close the door behind them": which is to say, to flood and bury mines, seal shut oil and chemical pipelines, blow up dams and factories, and broadly draw the destructive effects of human civilization to an end state that is friendly to the growth of future life. If they believe humans even should stick around (and not all of them do), they believe they should only do so as hunter-gatherers, as sustainably and with as little harm to the biosphere as possible—even if that means future generations going without conveniences like coffee or necessities like mass-produced medicine or refrigeration.
The pair lived like nomadic hunter-gatherers, wearing recycled plastic ponchos, using scavenged guns to protect themselves and scrap metal spears and traps to hunt, all while occasionally stopping to shut down or destroy some environmentally damaging ruin… that is, that's how they lived until three weeks ago.
When doing their usual nightly scan of the airwaves to get the latest news and weather updates from the few surviving broadcasters, they received a transmission on their solar-powered radio: to their great shock, on came the strained, ill voice of Dr. Evelyn Veldt—Jacob's estranged wife and Noah's distant but beloved mother—with an urgent, desperate message. Their lab, she explained, had samples of a virus which if properly activated and dispersed would reverse the effects of the sterility epidemic and might, just might, save the human species from total extinction.
There was a huge problem, though: the samples in their current form are complex and delicate, and require special equipment to activate and release—special equipment that only an associated laboratory established out on the Channel Islands off the coast of Los Angeles possessed and knew how to use. Considering Dr. Evelyn's lab was in Portland, Maine, this meant that the only people who could use the samples are on the other side of North America. The Portland lab had been in the process of putting together a westward expedition to get the samples over there when, tragically, their own "secure" laboratory had been breached by carriers of a deadly and debilitating plague. Quarantine was reestablished by sharp and violent force, but not before the viruses the carriers were infected with were unleashed. Most of the researchers were killed in the subsequent outbreak, and the rest were crippled and are now dying off one by one, including Dr. Evelyn herself: nobody (or almost nobody—see the character suggestions) escaped unscathed. A subsequent heroic attempt by their sister laboratory out west to relay the samples themselves by helicopter failed when the aircraft crashed in the Rockies on their way out east, apparently going down with all hands: after that, no further vehicles or transport could be forthcoming.
Completely out of options, Dr. Evelyn put out a general call for help, one last desperate plea to save humanity. Jacob and Noah, by sheer coincidence, were the first two that answered.
Wanting to see Evelyn one last time before she died, and being at the moment ideologically among the sect of Druids who believe human species should continue if at all possible (albeit in a different ecological niche), Jacob and Noah made a beeline for the laboratory to offer their assistance and to say goodbye to their wife and mom. They practically sprinted across the northeast, traveling two weeks with little rest or food and stopping for absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, despite the effort, they did not arrive at the lab in time to see Evelyn: she expired and was buried by the research staff five days before they arrived. However, they did get there in time for the remaining dwindling survivors in the laboratory—who knew of Dr. Evelyn's call for help as well as her complicated relationship with Jacob—to give them their critical mission: to do what the dying researchers are now unable to do, and transport the samples all the way to Catalina Island, where their associated laboratory there will be able to activate and disperse them among survivors out west, giving humankind hope for survival.
Immediately and emphatically, Jacob insisted on taking on the responsibility, with Noah eagerly concurring. It will be anything but an easy trip, however: from Portland in Maine to Los Angeles in California is a hazardous trek of over 3,000 miles of plains and forests, mountains and deserts, rivers and swamps, and even stretches of ocean. Worse still, there's no help on the road: horses are rare and often feral, and vehicles are few and far between, meaning that almost this entire journey must be taken on foot—an odyssey that could take anywhere from five months to over a year. There are only two things going in the mission's favor:
1. The refrigerated case containing the samples is very well-engineered: waterproof and extremely durable, it has a battery that can last up to a week without being charged, and is also equipped with a multi-functional universal port that can draw power from any source such as a stray wind turbine or solar panel,
2. Both males are skilled and formidable survivalists, reasonably capable of making such a journey: Jacob of course has been doing long treks for research and his work as a "Druid" for over a decade, and Noah is no slouch at even fairly extreme and complicated tasks, despite being just a kid with only four years or so of serious travel experience.
So, to save the species and to honor the last request of Jacob's wife and Noah's mother, the two took on this immense task.
However, they won't be going it alone: not entirely trusting Jacob and Noah to do the job—they are Druids, after all, and may be liable to change their mind, destroying the viruses and dooming humanity instead of saving them—the survivors in the laboratory have also tasked Your Character (YC) with escorting the samples to their destination, and make sure the ideologically suspect duo will stay on track and keep true to their word. Agreeing and joining for your own reasons, getting to know the father-son duo as all three of you journey west, encountering and struggling against obstacles and issues both human and natural as they arise…
And there you have it: a dramatic, green-themed post-apocalyptic odyssey across North America. Aside from my request that YC be a woman for this story, she can be anyone:
-A mercenary or hired hand enticed by the permanent access to food, medicine, and security promised by a concurring radio transmission that one of the two labs put out—a promise only to be paid out in exchange for making sure the samples are delivered safely,
-The sole healthy survivor of the plague incident that destroyed the eastern medical lab, determined not to let down her colleagues and/or caretakers,
-A curious survivor who simply stumbled across the lab or radio message, and wants to help save humankind,
-An idea of your own!
Additional story details:
-This RP will be very much R-rated: gun violence and physical violence, swearing, emotional distress, discussions of extinction and suicide and mass death, frequent instances of bloodshed and occasional instances of gore, all will likely feature in the story.
-This RP is meant to be entirely smut-free. Romance can of course happen, but any intimate moments will fade to black or just be implied.
-This RP will have a lot in the way of discourse about philosophy, ideology, extinction, family dynamics, science and religion, and obviously environmentalism and related subjects: if these topics bother you, or if you have extremely strong beliefs about some of these things and might be really distressed to encounter opinionated, radical, and alternative views expressed and acted upon by player characters even in a purely fictional context (as well as having most stated opinions shown in both positive and negative lights), then you might want to steer clear of this one or at least discuss your concerns with me ahead of time,
-I'm expecting for this RP to be a pure 1x1, with NPCs largely handled by me. If you want to bring in your own NPCs or double up I'm not inherently opposed to the idea, but just make sure we discuss it first.
Let me know what you think! Reply here or send me a DM if you are interested.
View attachment 105569
Hey there folks! I'm dispatch. I've had this idea kicking in my head for a while, and I am looking for someone to play a woman character for the story below. Let me know if you are interested!
The year is 2058, and humankind is on the path to extinction: nature herself seems to have risen up against it.
Beginning decades earlier, Earth's biosphere seems to have begun to spiral out of control. Nobody really knows why this was: some people blame climate change, others blame mutations that came from radiation or pollution, some blame both a secretive and irresponsible use of bioengineering, some further blame an act of God or of some other spiritual force.
The end results are not in dispute, however. A combination of extremely virulent plagues crippled, killed, and/or sterilized many billions, all while hyperaggressive insect and mammal pests and toxic blooms of plants and fungi both destroyed crops worldwide—leading to intense global famine—and killed many millions in their own rights. The combined disasters, referred to holistically as the Overgrowth, killed over 99.9% of humankind, reducing the population of Earth from 8 billion to less than ten million. And, thanks to the sterility effect of many of these plagues, that number is still falling. Current projections have a human extinction date estimated to be somewhere within the 2090s.
In the midst of this grim, green Armageddon, a pair of men are trying to survive and live. A misanthropic thirty-nine year old biologist named Jacob Veldt, and his cheerful-but-odd eleven year old son Noah Veldt, have made a nomadic, hunter-gatherer life for themselves in the Atlantic northeast regions of the U.S. and Canada, among the ruins of the old East coast cities. The pair are "Druids"—a derisive nickname for a diverse group of radical ecologists (or terrorists, depending on your point of view) who broadly share a common belief: that as humanity is on the way out, they have a responsibility to "close the door behind them": which is to say, to flood and bury mines, seal shut oil and chemical pipelines, blow up dams and factories, and broadly draw the destructive effects of human civilization to an end state that is friendly to the growth of future life. If they believe humans even should stick around (and not all of them do), they believe they should only do so as hunter-gatherers, as sustainably and with as little harm to the biosphere as possible—even if that means future generations going without conveniences like coffee or necessities like mass-produced medicine or refrigeration.
The pair lived like nomadic hunter-gatherers, wearing recycled plastic ponchos, using scavenged guns to protect themselves and scrap metal spears and traps to hunt, all while occasionally stopping to shut down or destroy some environmentally damaging ruin… that is, that's how they lived until three weeks ago.
When doing their usual nightly scan of the airwaves to get the latest news and weather updates from the few surviving broadcasters, they received a transmission on their solar-powered radio: to their great shock, on came the strained, ill voice of Dr. Evelyn Veldt—Jacob's estranged wife and Noah's distant but beloved mother—with an urgent, desperate message. Their lab, she explained, had samples of a virus which if properly activated and dispersed would reverse the effects of the sterility epidemic and might, just might, save the human species from total extinction.
There was a huge problem, though: the samples in their current form are complex and delicate, and require special equipment to activate and release—special equipment that only an associated laboratory established out on the Channel Islands off the coast of Los Angeles possessed and knew how to use. Considering Dr. Evelyn's lab was in Portland, Maine, this meant that the only people who could use the samples are on the other side of North America. The Portland lab had been in the process of putting together a westward expedition to get the samples over there when, tragically, their own "secure" laboratory had been breached by carriers of a deadly and debilitating plague. Quarantine was reestablished by sharp and violent force, but not before the viruses the carriers were infected with were unleashed. Most of the researchers were killed in the subsequent outbreak, and the rest were crippled and are now dying off one by one, including Dr. Evelyn herself: nobody (or almost nobody—see the character suggestions) escaped unscathed. A subsequent heroic attempt by their sister laboratory out west to relay the samples themselves by helicopter failed when the aircraft crashed in the Rockies on their way out east, apparently going down with all hands: after that, no further vehicles or transport could be forthcoming.
Completely out of options, Dr. Evelyn put out a general call for help, one last desperate plea to save humanity. Jacob and Noah, by sheer coincidence, were the first two that answered.
Wanting to see Evelyn one last time before she died, and being at the moment ideologically among the sect of Druids who believe human species should continue if at all possible (albeit in a different ecological niche), Jacob and Noah made a beeline for the laboratory to offer their assistance and to say goodbye to their wife and mom. They practically sprinted across the northeast, traveling two weeks with little rest or food and stopping for absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, despite the effort, they did not arrive at the lab in time to see Evelyn: she expired and was buried by the research staff five days before they arrived. However, they did get there in time for the remaining dwindling survivors in the laboratory—who knew of Dr. Evelyn's call for help as well as her complicated relationship with Jacob—to give them their critical mission: to do what the dying researchers are now unable to do, and transport the samples all the way to Catalina Island, where their associated laboratory there will be able to activate and disperse them among survivors out west, giving humankind hope for survival.
Immediately and emphatically, Jacob insisted on taking on the responsibility, with Noah eagerly concurring. It will be anything but an easy trip, however: from Portland in Maine to Los Angeles in California is a hazardous trek of over 3,000 miles of plains and forests, mountains and deserts, rivers and swamps, and even stretches of ocean. Worse still, there's no help on the road: horses are rare and often feral, and vehicles are few and far between, meaning that almost this entire journey must be taken on foot—an odyssey that could take anywhere from five months to over a year. There are only two things going in the mission's favor:
1. The refrigerated case containing the samples is very well-engineered: waterproof and extremely durable, it has a battery that can last up to a week without being charged, and is also equipped with a multi-functional universal port that can draw power from any source such as a stray wind turbine or solar panel,
2. Both males are skilled and formidable survivalists, reasonably capable of making such a journey: Jacob of course has been doing long treks for research and his work as a "Druid" for over a decade, and Noah is no slouch at even fairly extreme and complicated tasks, despite being just a kid with only four years or so of serious travel experience.
So, to save the species and to honor the last request of Jacob's wife and Noah's mother, the two took on this immense task.
However, they won't be going it alone: not entirely trusting Jacob and Noah to do the job—they are Druids, after all, and may be liable to change their mind, destroying the viruses and dooming humanity instead of saving them—the survivors in the laboratory have also tasked Your Character (YC) with escorting the samples to their destination, and make sure the ideologically suspect duo will stay on track and keep true to their word. Agreeing and joining for your own reasons, getting to know the father-son duo as all three of you journey west, encountering and struggling against obstacles and issues both human and natural as they arise…
And there you have it: a dramatic, green-themed post-apocalyptic odyssey across North America. Aside from my request that YC be a woman for this story, she can be anyone:
-A mercenary or hired hand enticed by the permanent access to food, medicine, and security promised by a concurring radio transmission that one of the two labs put out—a promise only to be paid out in exchange for making sure the samples are delivered safely,
-The sole healthy survivor of the plague incident that destroyed the eastern medical lab, determined not to let down her colleagues and/or caretakers,
-A curious survivor who simply stumbled across the lab or radio message, and wants to help save humankind,
-An idea of your own!
Additional story details:
-This RP will be very much R-rated: gun violence and physical violence, swearing, emotional distress, discussions of extinction and suicide and mass death, frequent instances of bloodshed and occasional instances of gore, all will likely feature in the story.
-This RP is meant to be entirely smut-free. Romance can of course happen, but any intimate moments will fade to black or just be implied.
-This RP will have a lot in the way of discourse about philosophy, ideology, extinction, family dynamics, science and religion, and obviously environmentalism and related subjects: if these topics bother you, or if you have extremely strong beliefs about some of these things and might be really distressed to encounter opinionated, radical, and alternative views expressed and acted upon by player characters even in a purely fictional context (as well as having most stated opinions shown in both positive and negative lights), then you might want to steer clear of this one or at least discuss your concerns with me ahead of time,
-I'm expecting for this RP to be a pure 1x1, with NPCs largely handled by me. If you want to bring in your own NPCs or double up I'm not inherently opposed to the idea, but just make sure we discuss it first.
Let me know what you think! Reply here or send me a DM if you are interested.