Realistic or Modern The Dead Hills - General Information

[Peacemaker .45]

The Dead Hills - IC

The Dead Hills - Out of Character Chat

The Dead Hills - Character Sign Up

Here will be an information hub. Contained in this thread will be all information needed to be known in the RP. Included in each thread will the following (and potentially more as they’re thought up):

• Maps - Google Maps satellite images of the places relevant. Groups, locations of interest, landmarks, etc. will be continually added to be up to date
• The story thus far - a short synopsis of the story will be available, alongside a timeline of events the will be useful for people who are interested in joining to understand the story they’re jumping into
• Short character bios - characters are important for newcomers to know. A brief description of each character will be provided
• An FAQ for newcomers or general questions
• A trivia post... because why not?
• And more as they are thought up. Each post in this thread will contain one of the mentioned points

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Maps
Large Map - Northern West Virginia


Large Map - Blast zones


Area Maps

Spoiler: Area Map - Weston Manor

Group Map Locations

Spoiler: Mountaineers’ Mountaintop Location Map

More landmarks, groups, places of interest, towns and more will be added as they are discovered.​

 

[Peacemaker .45]

The Story Thus Far

Characters
​

• Jennifer Barnett
• Archie Murdoch McKeegan
• Milly McDonald
• Jake Everneil
• Simon Petrikov
• Mack Barnett

• 
  
  Writer - Peacemaker .45
  
  Status: ALIVE
  
  
  Jennifer, as a person, as a survivor, has changed dramatically over the course of her life, specifically as a survivor of the epidemic that rose the dead from their graves. Jennifer's rough life started when her brother died when she was nine from brain eating a amoeba. From there, her father, Mack, went off the deep end and became an alcoholic, abusing Jennifer and her mother, losing his job. Their life turned around, however, when he sobered up, and they moved to Indiana because of a new job. In this time, her father and her grew extremely close, doing things like hunting, and her getting into firearms and politics. Unfortunately, while there, she contracted an enterovirus, causing myocarditis, meaning she had to get a heart transplant. Her life didn't get easier from there, as the apocalypse happened, and the dead rose from their graves. Initially, her family, and the community she lived in, built a wall and held their own, until a larger group came in and absorbed them. The leader of the group used her as a drive for his cause, a perversion of Christianity he used to fool others into hope and a purpose for everlasting life, and he tried to do terrible things to her, and fortunately unsuccessful. But her group rebelled, and this caused the large group, The Disciples, to attack Jennifer's small group. What Jennifer last saw was, what she thought, her father getting shot as she ran out the door with her mother, who was caught by an undead and bitten, her blood flowing down the hill into Sugar Creek, turning it blood red.
  
  After this, she was alone for awhile, on the run from The Disciples, until she met up with another group, one that she traveled with for awhile. During that time, she was kidnapped after a raid on her group when she was out in the woods trying to hunt deer for her group. She was spotted by the people who attacked her group, and was brutally beaten and dragged into a hospital. There, she was again, they tried to do the same things that the leader of The Disciples did to her, and she had to watch innocent people die brutally in front of her, kill in the most brutal of ways to survive that night. When her group came, they killed everyone. She found even more of the disgusting things that group did. Those events changed Jennifer for a long time. After the hospital, her group and her moved East, into Pennsylvania, in a house in the woods. One day, however, the woods, and the house they lived in caught on fire. Not all of them made it out. Due to this, they got out of Pennsylvania, and headed down South, where they ended up in West Virginia.
  
  Jennifer changed a lot as a person after those events in the hospital. Prior to that, she was too kind, the light in her soul still shining bright, even after watching her parents and community die. She didn't lose hope. She tried to find it in something else. While she nearly killed herself over it, she decided not to, knowing her parents would want her to survivor longer. But after those events at the hospital, she had become a true survivor. But that light inside of her burnt out. Darkness encompassed her soul. She grew a taste for killing. The rush gave her adrenaline boosts and highs that she lived off of. She killed innocent people, and upon realizing the monster she had become, nearly killed herself if it wasn't for a member of her group, Austin, stopping her. She saw what she was; a cold, angry, empty, dark monster, something she never was. But this darkness would begin to fade, as she was again changing. She hit her rock bottom, and now, she is turning around by the time they entered West Virginia.
  
• 
  
  Writer - idalie
  
  Status: ALIVE
  
  (Placeholder I made for lolz until a description is written.)
  "Don't touch mae girly beard!" *Beard is shaven off and Archie dies.”
  
• 
  
  Writer - Rumble Fish
  
  Status: ALIVE
  
  Even before the dead rose, life had been difficult for Milly. Born blind in one eye and barely able to see out the other, things were never easy. Her father, Jake is only a vague memory and only knew from her mother, Eleanor that it was better for them to be apart. While Milly does not remember why, she assumes it's something that had caused the damage to both her knees which were caused by some kind of blunt force trauma.
  
  Milly’s life until the apocalypse was a very sheltered and lonely one. Eleanor’s stories of bad people and the hostility in the world caused her to be afraid of the outside world and never leaving the safety of the bungalow. Aside from her mum, the only company Milly had was her white teddy bear, which she still has with her and losing it causes her to have a panic attack. Despite her sheltered upbringing and anxiety Milly is a gentle and kind soul who hates conflict and is easily upset by hostility of any sort.
  
  Shockingly, Milly did not know anything about the dead rising for several days after it began as Eleanor had tried in vain to hide the horrors from her daughter. It was only when a week had passed that Milly’s quiet and tranquil life was thrown into chaos. Zombies broke into the bungalow, forcing Milly and Eleanor to flee. Milly, terrified of the outside and not understanding what was happening, refused to leave her room despite the incoming danger. It was only when Eleanor slapped Milly that she finally complied, mostly out of shock.
  
  After escaping from the bungalow, Milly and Elanor found their way into the nearby gas station. Milly’s emotional state was shaken horribly and it only deteriorated over time with stress and the fear of losing her mother, who she was becoming more and more dependant on as time went by. Her only comfort aside from her teddy bear was Eleanor, but as time went on, she seemed to be losing her too.
  
  One day, after she had been scavenging, Eleanor suddenly changed. She was quiet and aloof, not even cuddling up with her at night anymore much to Milly’s distress and every time Milly asked was met with snaps. Milly was greatly disturbed by her mother’s sudden change in personality but did not feel able to do anything about it. It all came to a head when Eleanor seemed angrier than normal and upon asking her what was wrong with her, she was met with cruel words and being pushed to the ground before Milly heard the door slamming and being barricaded. All Milly could do was try and open it, crying “I’m sorry!” over and over but to no avail.
  
  Milly did not know how long she had been alone for, but it was a long time. But Milly still held onto the hope that Eleanor is still alive and will come back. She refused to eat any more than a nibble of their rations every day because of this. This seemed to help as after some time, she met a young woman named Jane, who had found her way inside and seemed starved and weak. Despite Milly’s intense fear of being with someone other than her mother for the first time since she was two, she gave Jane a large share of her food. After some time, the two eventually became friends.
  
  The pair left the gas station and found the hospital where they were looking for supplies. But shortly into their search, the girls were ambushed by a group led by a woman named Jennifer who ordered for the pair to be killed unless they could assist the injured man Archie, who had been near-fatally shot. It seemed that everything Eleanor had told her about the world being a horrible andfrightening place was true. Even when they had performed “surgery” and saved Archie, Milly was still very much afraid of these people, but she felt sympathy for Jennifer as it was clear that the woman had been through hell. But even now, after all of that conflict was gone, Milly is still extremely afraid of the world and now, being in a group, fears that her ailments will render her useless to them. And now with the sounds of gunshots and more conflict to come all Milly wants now is a hug and to go home...
  
• 
  
  Writer - Cosmosis
  
  Status: ALIVE, MIA
  
  (Placeholder I made for lolz until a description is written.)
  He's scared of everything. A gnat landing on his shoulder scared him shitless. Literally. He's a wimp. True story.
  
• 
  
  Writer - Cosmosis
  
  Status: ALIVE, MIA
  
  (Placeholder I made for lolz until a description is written.)
  "Simon, smash!"
  
• 
  
  Writer - Peacemaker .45
  
  Status: DECEASED
  
  Not much is known about Mack at this point. What is known is revealed through Jennifer, or her conversations with him, following their reunion. When the epidemic started, back in Indiana, where they lived, the community built a small wall around the houses. Mack was the one who lead them all. Jennifer, his daughter, and his wife, Nancy, lived with him in the community. Their community was shaken when a large group who called themselves "The Disciples" came and absorbed the community, demanding certain numbers of supplies to be given to them and to live under their rule. At some point, the small group rebelled against The Disciple's tyranny, whether own their own or with other groups. According to Jennifer, the last thing she saw was her father getting shot up.
  
  Both Jennifer and her father reunited several years later. The two thought the other was dead, and this unexpected reunion brought forth many questions. Some of the questions, however, have yet to be answered. What’s known is that he leads a group called “The Mountaineers,” and that they have a large group hidden in the hills somewhere.
  
  Mack had a rough life, and the person he has been has changed dramatically over the course of his time on this Earth. And once again, Mack has changed, however not as significant as he once changed. Mack has become more ruthless. He doesn’t take any shits from anyone.
  
  Before Jennifer met him again, he was brought in the original founders of The Mountaineers after he was shot and practically dead on the side of the road, after infiltrating a group, gaining their trust, and killing all 11 members for the supplies they had. Mack had killed men, women and children, and the firefight resulted in the injuries he had when he was picked up. How exactly Mack rose to power over the Mountaineers is still unknown. All that is known is that they disappeared.
  

The Story Thus Far
​

* PLEASE NOTE: Act I synopsis is incomplete and not up to date. An updated synopsis with the conclusion of Act I will appear upon the conclusion of it.

Act I
Just Surviving
​

​

Just trying to survive a little longer were Holliday, Austin, Tammy, Jake and Jennifer. Going through a small town in West Virginia, the group had to stop and refuel, Holliday, Tammy and Austin in one truck, Jennifer and Jake in Jennifer's Ram 2500. Pulling to a gas station, a noise spooked Jennifer, only to turn around and find a large Russian man by the name of Simon. In the area, another man named Archie, a Scotsman, came to into the mix, seeing some commotion between Jennifer and Simon. Jennifer held the two at gunpoint, as she wanted to get the others involved. Jennifer had Jake, an unproven farm boy, watch the two as she went to go get Holliday, Austin and Tammy. Austin came over, and Holliday and Tammy would be a little longer. With Austin over, Jake, Jennifer and him debated what to do with them, to which Jennifer noticed the movement of men with rifles pointed their way. Because of this, Jennifer went to shoot the men, getting grazed by a bullet herself. Once she came back, she blamed Simon and Archie for those men, saying that this seemed like a setup and they were behind it.

However they were not.

Archie tried to reason with Jennifer, who was holding him at gunpoint and threatening to shoot him, her emotions slightly influenced by the pain and blood loss associated with the gunshot wound she had. Simon, having enough of the situation, rushed Jennifer as she was about to lower her gun. The sudden hit of Simon caused her to accidentally pull the trigger on her handgun, striking Archie and critically wounding him. Meanwhile, Simon also had hit Austin when he rushed Jennifer, injuring him. Jennifer, a tortured and twisted soul due to the things she had seen and done to survive, normally wouldn't have cared if she killed them. But she was changing, and she didn't want to kill him. She felt as if she needed to save him. However, the gunshots drew undead to the area, 30 or more, causing them to have to to fight. In this process, Holliday and Tammy left without a word to any of their partners in the group. It was just Jennifer, Austin, Jake, and Archie to fight for their survival, with a severely injured Archie on the group. Austin brought him to the truck, and with that, Jennifer, Simon, Jake and Austin killed as many as they could. But one of the undead snuck to Austin, and bit him twice, one on the neck, another on the leg. The crew hurried to finish off any of the undead left. When done so, they hopped in Jennifer's truck and drove to a house out of town. There, they spent the night. And there, Austin died, someone whom Jennifer was close to, someone she considered a brother to her. She made sure he didn't turn.

The next morning came, and Archie wasn't doing too well. They needed to get to a hospital, where Jennifer could try to perform a surgery on her. Though, what she knew was from theory, for the most part, not practice. Though they had to clear a hole from undead left in the town that headed towards the house they were at, they were able to get out and head to a hospital in a town called Weston Manor. Here, they made their way into the hospital, and into a room. In this room, two young girls were there. Milly, who has eye and knee issues, and Jane, a vet intern. Jennifer knew they had no time to watch those two, as Archie needed surgery right away. Jennifer tried to get Simon to kill them, but he refused. Jane, meanwhile, said she could help do the surgery as she was a vet intern and had dealt with some surgeries, albeit none on humans. Giving them a chance to prove whether or not they were useful, Jennifer let Jane help.

With a successful surgery over, hours later, Jennifer tried to reconcile with both Milly and Jane, as she regret almost killing them. The sedatives wore off for Archie, and he woke up, getting his bearing relatively fast. This left the question of what they should do next. Jennifer argued that they should go in town, stay a few nights, gather some more supplies and then head out of the town. Simon, however, thought that they should go with him to his group. But he felt that Jane and Milly didn't prove themselves to be useful enough for them to join. This started a debate, which Jennifer tried to defuse as it became heated, on what to do. As tensions boiled, Jennifer shot Archie in what she thought was self defense, as he moved in hand to her head. This caused Simon to run and leave them. Jennifer was not fond of him to begin with, and she never trusted him from the moment he ran at her, causing Archie to get shot. But due to their situation, they put grievances aside and worked together for the common goal and getting Archie better. But the tension had to come to a head at some point, and it did. With him gone, they packed up whatever they had and left the hospital, going on town to find a house to stay in for the night.

Early the next morning, with the sun still having yet to come up, Jennifer couldn't sleep. The pain of so much in her life was antagonizing her, she wept, to which she grabbed her rifle, and nearly shot herself. Archie had awoken and came over to her. The two talked about it, and tried to move on from that, getting breakfast ready as Milly woke up, and the sun finally starting to shine. Jennifer, however, noted supplies were low for food, and she wanted to go out and hunt or scavenge for more food. As this was being debated, gunshots farther down in town rang out, to which Archie tried to get her from not going out to get food. She agreed, but she needed to close the cover on her truck to hide the supplies, and she ordered everyone to go to the second floor to hide, as they had no idea who fired those shot. As she went to go close the cover on her truck, she heard footsteps and peered around the corner of her truck, noting a man as walking towards the house. Since going back inside would expose herself to him, she ran to the woods behind the house, and watched as the man, dressed in ballistic armor, went over to the truck and lifted the cover, grabbing a rifle. He then started pointing it at the house, walking towards it. Jennifer shot at him, and moved towards the house as he fell. His ballistic helmet stopped her bullet, and he got up. A small fight between the two broke out, and he knocked her down. Upon looking at her face, he recognized her, as she did with him. He was a man from her old group when the epidemic spread, someone she thought was killed. He called in on a radio to another man to go to where he was. As the man came around the truck, Jennifer and him locked eyes, staring in disbelief for who they saw in front of each other. It was Jennifer's father, someone she thought she saw get shot up and die, someone she missed dearly, all these years later.

The reunion wasn’t as sweet as Jennifer had hoped, however. Mack, her father, was rather distant and cold after first seeing her. Her father, her and Dave went into the house, where Mack began questioning Jennifer about her and the people she had been with in her groups. It was here that Jennifer learned of the dark secrets hidden in the hills. After a small discussion on it, Mack brought up how they needed to get out of the town, but their vehicle’s fuel tank was hit, and it leaked the fuel. They began to search for something to plug the hole, though it would be tough to find something that could work for the patch job.

With the search for a patch job going, Jennifer and Mack finally had a chance to speak. Albeit cold and distant at first, as had most of their reunion, the two seemingly shared a moment while searching Jennifer’s supplies in her truck for something to patch the M35A2. The two expressed how much they missed each other, her father saying how he thought he lost everything. Mack revealed that he is the leader of a large group called “The Mountaineers,” and that he wanted her to come with him, and the people Jennifer was with. As the M35 was patched, Jennifer went inside to ask the others for them to join her. She was weary about this, since earlier Archie had expressed his disbelief for everything going on in the hills of West Virginia. Not only this, but he told her he thought they should stay away and live on their own. Anticipating a no and protest from him, Jennifer reluctantly waited for a response from him and the rest of the people with them.

To her surprise, Archie agreed to go along with them. But with this done, they needed to get more fuel for both Jennifer’s truck and the M35. Jennifer and her father went down to the gas station off of the highway in Weston and were able to siphon diesel from the fuel tanks with a hand crank pump. While there, Jennifer came across a note from Simon. The note seemed to imply he had known her before they met, as if he watched her, whether pre or post apocalypse. And furthermore, it hinted at feelings for her. This freaked Jennifer out. Once arriving back at the house, Jennifer pulled Archie aside, and asked her if she knew anything about this or Simon prior. Her anxiety rose, but both Archie and Milly calmed her down. Archie explained he didn’t know Simon that well, and had nothing to offer on deciphering the note and what it meant.

Mack was ready to leave, and he summoned the group over to hear their decision to stay or go. Since they decided to go, they loaded up and departed for the Mountaintop. The road there brought them deep into a mountain in a descolate area. The trees leading up to the Mountaintop had undead tied to them, which repelled undead hordes and people, according to Mack.

Upon arriving, they were shown around and explained how the Mountaintop worked. There were ranks and jobs, everyone but Jennifer getting the lowest rank, Private, Jennifer being a Major. Mack explained the system, only to be cut short by someone needing him, saying it was a private matter and that it seemed secretive to Jennifer. Once he left, Jennifer found herself at a loss for words about everything they just learned. She asked the others how they felt. As they were speaking, one of the doctors there, a women in her mid 30s named Zelda, who had a liking towards alcohol, came in to introduce herself. It didn’t go well, as the group found her to be worthless, thanks to her drinking habits.

Later that night, Jennifer went to check her truck bed before bringing it to Mack’s house. As she closed up, something grabbed her from behind. A struggle ensued as Jennifer fought against a freak-the first she ever fought. The freak had two heads, and large tumors around the head that acted as thick armor against the rounds fired. However, when the first head was finally killed, the second head kept it up and running. On the brink of losing a hand to hand fight with the freak, Mack showed up and finally killed it. Jennifer got up and hugged her father. Her father then went to check on the corpse. It was revealed to be a member of the group who went missing. During this time, Mack left momentarily and came out with a naked name named Smith, pulling him out by the hair. He yelled for the others to gather around. As people emerged from the houses, Mack received word from Dave that all guards in the guard towers were shot and killed. Dave brought out a naked woman. Mack began to say that Smith, one of the town police and peace officers, abandoned his shift to have sex with the woman. Mack began to explain how Jennifer nearly died because their officer abandoned his shift, as the guards were killed. Mack made an example out of this, by killing the pair of begging individuals. When it was over, Jennifer and her father looked at the piece of paper stuck on the freaks’s shirt. It carried a symbol neither had ever seen before. The symbol that must have been part of the boogeyman of the region. It frightened them both.

The next morning, Jennifer and her father left on an evaluation/scavenging run. Mack wanted to test her to see where her skill was at. On the ride there, the two shared what happened to them in their lost time, explaining how dark they became. But in the end, the love of a father and his daughter was what healed time. They were family, and together again. And that was all that mattered. Jennifer also used this time to bury the body of Austin, by a gas station, just like when they met.

Meanwhile, back at the Mountaintop, Archie and Milly went into the doctor’s office to get evaluated by Zelda. Though, while Milly was timid as usual, Archie was acting rather peculiar. The suspicion of Zelda was raised even more when a cluck was heard under Archie’s. This prompted Zelda to demand Archie reveal what was under his shirt, or she would get Mack involved, likely putting him in jail.

As Jennifer and Mack reached the town of Sutton, their original target due to scavengers and scouts marking valuable supplies there. The town was overrun by undead, and forced the scouts to retreat. Mack found this an opportunity to test Jennifer. Parking a ways off, through the optic of her Desert Tech SRS .338 Lapua Magnum, she saw a group of individuals dressed in all black, in some sort of robe. Taking the rifle and getting a clear picture of them, Mack explained they were members of a group called “Haeredes Helios,” a cult that is based on Ancient Greek mythology, typing the nukes and “boogeyman” of the region into play. Getting closer, Jennifer was instructed by Mack to shoot them, as they viewed Mack’s group as heretics, and killing any member of the group propels them to a semi-deity status in their heaven. As she were about to pull the trigger, a woman around Jennifer’s age appeared. Both Mack and Jennifer held her at gunpoint, forcing her to complie with them and answer their questions.

Spoiler: Old Stuff Not Relevant Now

GROUPS

The Mountaineers

Map

Spoiler: Map of the Mountaintop

[/FONT]​

The Mountaineers are a large group located on a mountaintop, overlooking steep, high cliffs, south of the city of Weston, WV. The group is led by Mack Barnett, father of Jennifer Barnett. The founding of the group dates back several years. In the months following the undead's resurrection from the graves, individuals from West Virginia University, both alumni and students at the time, started a group named after WVU's sports teams, the Mountaineers. At some point, they left Morgantown, where WVU is located, and moved south, finding a house and an abandoned mineshaft on a mountain overlooking a river and mountains, with a steep cliff

As the group became larger, all is known is that tall walls were constructed, and so were numerous buildings built to house various things, such as food, medication, an armory, etc. Not much is really known about this time, as are the whereabouts of the original founders of the group, as well as how Mack went from Indiana to West Virginia, and gained the role of leader, or General, of the group.

The Mountaineers have a rank based society, based on the United States Marine Corp rank system, albeit skipping around with ranks. The ranking system goes as follows...

1. Private
2. Private First Class
3. Lance Corporal
4. Corporal
5. Sergeant
6. Gunnery Sergeant
7. Master Gunnery Sergeant
8. Sergeant Major
9. Warrant Officer 1
10. Warrant Officer 2
11. Warrant Officer 3
12. Second Lieutenant
13. First Lieutenant
14. Captain
15. Major
16. Lieutenant Colonel
17. Colonel
18. Brigadier General
19. Lieutenant General
20. General

The rank structure determines what individuals can do within the group. A low ranking member cannot take something like a .50 caliber anti-material rifle from the armory. Rank reflects the actions of an individual in the group. In order for an individual in the group to progress in ranks, they have to contribute to the group. Through their actions on their jobs within the group, they gain more points. There are things that one can do to rank up, but actions can deduct points as well. Since certain things can require a rank to take within the group, the incentive to do more for the group is there to rank up to be able to get better stuff, stored in warehouses. Some individuals can rank up only very little due to what their job entails. The less work they put in for the group, the less "points" they get to progress through the ranks. Certain ranks, like General, can only be held by one person - the leader of the group. Both Lieutenant General and Brigadier General can only be held by one person as well, with the Lieutenant General being the second in command (and second successor to the General in case the General dies), and the Brigadier General being third on command (and successor to the Lieutenant General, in the case the General and Lieutenant General die). Ranking up is meant to be a long and grueling process. But the more an individual does for the group, the more points they get to rank up. Actions, such as heroic ones within a battle, can gain the most points.

An integral part of the Mountaintop are warehouses. Warehouses have inventory keepers, who monitor what an individual takes, and whether they can take it with their rank. They also make sure that people can only take what is within the limit, and keep track of inventory daily. Other jobs, such as law enforcement and peace keeping, enforces the rules of law within the group, and keep law, order and peace. Militia members consist of individuals who can fight, go out on scavenging missions, guard and defend the Mountaineers and Mountaintop. Various other jobs, such as but not limited to, record keeping and accounting, electrical, architecture, engineering, butchers, cooks, agriculture, mechanic and doctors/surgeons exist within the group. All new members must be assigned to a job, which they are first tested at. If the one who oversees the particular job feels they are sufficient for the job they chose, they are officially an employee of that particular part of the job, and get an immediate rank boost to the next rank, UNLESS they are a Warrant Officer 1. Once an individual has made it to Warrant Officer 1, getting accepted into a new job, immediate rank boosting is no longer available, to prevent individuals from getting high up in ranks through getting accepted into different jobs. Rank is also seen as a title of respect and power in the group. The higher ranking the person is, the more they are respected. Group members are allowed to be doing multiple jobs and roles within the group.

The militia of the Mountaineers are highly trained and highly skilled. They have numerous amounts of military equipment that was taken on scavenging missions to a military fort that was built one year prior to the undead's arrival in West Virginia, called Fort Omaha. They have vast amounts of weapons and ammunition. They also were able to scavenge some military vehicles as well. They have 2 M35A2's, 2 HMMWV's (one with a M240B and one with an M2), two LAV-25A1's, and one M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank. The Mountaineers are a force to be reckoned with. It is highly advised in the various groups in the region to not get in a fight with them, or get on their bad side.


Haeredes Helios

Location: Unknown

Haeredes Helios is a group of individuals who are seen as a cult by members of the Mountaintop. A religious based group, they believe in a modified version of Greek Mythology to fit the events of the region with the nuclear bombs and the mysterious boogeyman.

The members of Haeredes Helios believe in a sort of “heaven” and “hell,” though they’re never directly called that. Their heaven is called Elysium, and all in the group seek to be brought forth into Elysium. However, for those deemed “unworthy,” they are cast into Tartarus. Members of the group believe that the nukes are the God Helios gifting those worthy to be propelled forth on the “path of salvation” to Elysium, while cleansing the world of the “unholy ones”. They welcome the nukes. In fact, they all pray to their gods, namely Helios, to set them on a “righteous path of salvation.”

When it comes to the so called “boogeyman” of the region, Haeredes Helios believe that the boogeyman are the “holy judges” Minos, Rhadamanthys and Aeacus, who choose those worthy for a path of divine salvation. Those who don’t appear as freaks are believed to have been brought forth to Elysium. Those who appear as freaks are believed to have been deemed unworthy, and are sent back to Earth, where they try to kill other members of the group. Killing them means that you are worthy. Getting killed by a freak means that they were unworthy. They believe all undead were unworthy, and that they were brought up to test those worthy.

Furthermore, those the group believes that groups like Mack’s group, the Mountaineers, to be heretics. They formally title his group “The Infernal Ones.” Because of this, killing any member of the Mountaineers is believed to rise them to a semi-deity status, and assure them a spot in Elysium.

Not much else is known about Haeredes Helios. Much of their group is secretive, and no one knows where they are exactly, as do no one known where their version of Mount Olympus is. They are considered a hostile group. It is advised to use extreme caution when they are around, and to avoid them if possible.






The “Dark Secret” Hidden in the Hills of West Virginia
Here, you will find the relevant known information about the mystery of the hills in the RP. More information will be listed as it is uncovered.

• Three nuclear bombs were detonated in three spots. The first spot hit was the town of Buckhannon, WV. The largest spot hit was Morgantown, WV. And the last spot hit was a spot in the mountains near Fonzo.
• The reasons why these places were hit are still unknown. While theories and speculation are thrown around, there has been no definitive proof. Each place struck was known to harbor a large group of survivors.
• The nukes were delivered by ICBM’s, per survivor first hand witness accounts.
• Due to this, some believe that there’s an undocumented nuclear missile silo somewhere nearby, the next point explaining why.
• This underground facility is also blamed for the abduction of survivors, with many accounts of the missing survivors showing up again as “freaks.”
• “Freaks” are what surviving groups in the area call the undead that are abnormal. Freaks are common in the areas affected by the bomb detonations, and where nuclear fallout from the bombs is highly concentrated. “Freaks” have uncommon characteristics, theorized to either be from the radiation or from the group behind the bombs and abductions. The abilities or characteristics they have all require extreme caution when approaching and dealing with them. They are considered highly dangerous, due to the random nature of what they can be like and the abilities or characteristics they might possess. This highly dangerous status makes groups stay away from areas where they are in high density, and avoid them at all costs.
• The “freaks” do not wander far from their irradiated zones. Being that the survivors are abducted and then show up at the survivor camps makes them believe the people responsible are associated with the nukes.
• While the cause of the dead rising from the graves is mutually exclusive to humans, some believe that animals in the blast zones have mutated version of it that made animals susceptible to it. Some also believe that the shadowy group is behind the strange animals in these zones. Heavy radiation is a large factor behind the changes. The animals in these zones are also highly dangerous and must be dealt with extreme caution, as all are feral and dangerous.
• All groups in the area have different views on the nukes and the people behind them. Differing views on them have yet to be discovered.

 

[Peacemaker .45]

FAQ​

Q. Are there spots open? Can I join?
A. If the main IC thread doesn't say so in the thread title, check the top of the CS Thread to find out how many spots are open and if there are any characters being accepted at the time. We have limited spots depending on what's going on in the IC thread.

Q. If I get accepted, when can I join in and start posting IC?
A. This is a tricky question. In my observation with RP's on this site, the vast majority of them aren't managed well (to me at least), and I often see characters jumping in during the middle of a scene going down. With the way I manage the RP, I'm very strict about certain things. Character introductions have to work for everything, plot, characters, story pacing, etc. Admittedly, this probably forced those not truly interested away from the RP, due to the wait. While I understand why, it's all due to the plot, story pacing and characters, as I try to make it work for RP, the story and the writers.

Q. Sooooooooo we have to wait to post then?
A. Yup.

Q. Seriously?
A. Affirmative.

Q. Seriously, seriously?
A. Yes, geez Louise.

Q. Like, you're like serious about this? I have to wait?
A. I'm running out of ways to say yes.

Q. Can you maybe just change it one time so my chara-
A. No.

Q. [Anger intensifies]
A. This FAQ has gone to shit really fast. I'm impressed.

Q. So how long would I have to wait then upon being accepted and me being able to jump in and post?
A. While I answered this already, maybe this answer will make more sense than the first. This really all depends. It might be relatively quick, or you may have to wait awhile. If we're having downtime in the RP, we can make a little plot point to go out to a town and stumble across your character. Now if we're in the middle of a scene, that's when it takes long. We have to finish the scene, generally, before a new character comes in. This is a question better asked directly after being accepted, and not in an FAQ, since the answers are dependent on what's going on, at that time, In Character.

Q. Do I have to use a realistic picture for my character?
A. Yes, that's the standard, and there won't be any deviations from that. It has to be a real picture. I suggest doing a face claim of someone (model, actress, social media/internet personality, etc.), as it makes life easier with pictures. With this RP being realistic in the sense that we are using real places, with satellite overlays of the areas in the RP and realistic picture characters, it would be really immersion breaking to have someone who isn't. It's my general standard rule of thumb with RP's on here.

Q. Who is the coolest person in the RP, hands down.
A. Me. I'm the coolest. I'm the God-Emperor Leader Creator thingy person of this RP. I'm cool by default.

Q. I thought this was supposed to be serious. You know, the FAQ and all, should be serious.
A. Hey, we're serious In Character. Otherwise, we dick around and shitpost and joke when not in it. Don't be such a Debbie Downer killjoy.

Q. How often is posting in the IC?
A. Okay, so this really depends. We have some people who aren't on as often as others, so posting can generally wait on them. But we go by a posting order (which is ever evolving, depending on what's going on in the RP). If you don't post in two days, which is the very max, your turn is skipped. Now ideally, we would be posting numerous times a day when we can. Now weekends can be different (as can midterm/final time of the year). Weekends are kind of busy for a lot of us, so we generally don't post a lot IC then. During the week it is far more frequent. If you can't be on and post frequently (At the very most once a day), then this is not the RP for you. Noooow the OOC on the other hand is very active. We're a small little community, and post a lot in there. All I'll say is RIP your notifications.

Q. How long do you intend to keep this RP going?
A. Long running successful RP's are rare, per my observations, and there are countless reasons why I think most fail. With that said, to answer the question, I'm willing to keep this going, so long as one other person is willing to with me. I want this to be long running, as I love doing this and missed it dearly when I wasn't. So I'll be doing whatever I can to keep this going. So yeah, long.

Q. If we want to leave the RP, how do we go about it?
A. PM me and let me know. Just grant us time for you to stick around long enough to die. Don't PM me and go, "k I wan 2 lev noaw so keel mai charcter off noaw pls kthxbai." Let me know you want to, then alert the others in the OOC and we'll work on getting your character killed.

Q. If I can't post for awhile, what do I do? If I don't want to leave the RP, but can't post for an extended period of time, what are my options as well?
A. So if you can't post for awhile, please, I am begging you to alert me in a PM or us all in the OOC. Let us know so we can work around your absence. Now if you know you will be gone for awhile (say a week or more) and you want to stay in the RP, there are a couple of options. We can have your character leave the group (the circumstances only relevant when this is a discussion), leaving room for them to return. You can also just put them in the background, not doing anything. I mean, the sky's the limit. You just need to let us know about being gone for some time.

Q. Do I need more than one picture for my character?
A. No. But hey, the more the merrier.

Q. Can I have more than one character?
A. Yes, check out the CS Thread for more info on multiple characters.

Q. Are you from West Virginia?
A. Nope. But the power of Google Maps helps make this RP more realistic, providing me pictures of roads and towns for 100% authenticity and realism!

Q. Is there a paragraph minimum on IC posts?
A. Good question. While we never made this official anywhere, you're expected to make at least three paragraphs. I would say this is a more detailed RP, though I feel like that's a bit too strong of a word for this, so I say casual/detailed, though more on the detailed side.

Q. Why do you like guns so much?
A. Because A.) 'Merica! Fuck yeah! B.) Because I do.

Q. But you'll shoot your eye out!
A. You'll shoot more than just your eye out, nam sayin'?
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Q. Are there any general rules I should know about in the IC and OOC?
A. Other than standard stuff, no. GModding requires approval from the character writer prior to posting. Other than that, pretty normal stuff. Don't make me write a list of them. Please, my fangers r beggin' u.

Q. What's 9+10?
A. 21.

Q. In terms of weapons, any rules or anything with them?
A. Keep them realistic. While I don't expect people to know the in's and out's of guns/gun laws in the US like I do, don't be walking around with freaking railguns and crap. Be realistic, man! REALISTIC!

Q. Pepe did nothing wrong?
A. Pepe did nothing wrong.

Q. What's this "dark secret hidden in the hills of West Virginia and how much of that revolves around the plot of the RP In Character?
A. So as of right now, that's all being figured out by me still. I tend to not tell people until posts, just as a surprise and all, or unless absolutely necessary. So as of now, no one knows but me, and I'm still figuring it out. Thought there will be a nuclear bomb detonation zone that the characters will come across from long ago. How that happened and why it did are all mysteries for now. That's the only clue I'll give. Speculate from there! (JK I know no one will but it'll be revealed in the RP). That part is a prime focus of the story, along with character arcs and different story arcs.

Q. Did you just make up all of these questions?
A. ...I mean, no maybe?

Q. So yes?
A. Hah, no, I didn’t. .....okay fine. I did.

Q. Wow you’re like the biggest loser?
A. Are you fat shaming me even though I’m skinny?

Q. Yes.
A. REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Q. How long do we have to post when it is our turn?
A. We have a two day wait for someone to post. I think it’s too generous, but that’s what it’s is for now. If you don’t reply IC within that time for whatever reason, your turn will be skipped. We have a posting order that changes

Q. Is this RP just exclusively with zombies in the post apocalyptic world, or will other creatures and such appear?
A. While it is a post apocalyptic zombie RP, it isn’t limited to just zombie variants. It will have other mysterious creatures and such appear, perhaps with some odd, technologically superior things appearing. No SciFi technology. But, perhaps some peculiar, powerful technology.

More will be added to the FAQ when they are thought of.