Premise: The world has long been destroyed by nuclear war and the few
remaining people struggle to survive in a barren and hopeless world, a ruin of
their old ways of life. There is no longer such a thing as the United States,
Britain, or anything else that once was. The world has become divided. There
are two groups left: the peaceful people of the Mellryn who are trying to get
the world back to the way it was, and the warlike people of the Kotya who
prefer to rule the land with an iron fist through war and bloodshed. It is
foretold, however, that out of the ashes of the ruined world a child will rise
and become the messiah, leading the true people to freedom and giving them
control of the world. Somehow, the translation of the ancient writings became
misconstrued and it has been said that whoever controls the child controls the
world. However, the child was never found, and the legend has all but faded
into the backs of the peoples’ minds. It is said that the child has an
extraordinary and terrible power, but no details were given.
Background: The leader of the warlike Kotya, she has made it her purpose to
find the legendary child so that her people can rule the known world as they
see fit. She doesn’t want a government like in the old days, but wants things
to stay the way they are. With complete anarchy in the world, Indigo will have
the opportunity to stay in power, ruling with an iron fist. Indigo has no
mercy, and spares no one that challenges her. She will be able to get rid of
her only opposition, the members of the Mellryn, and with their destruction,
she will have total power and nothing to stop her. The problem is, in order to
make everyone believe that she is all-powerful, she must find the missing child
foretold in the prophecies so that she can use its power for her own. She lives
in her dark palace in the lands to the West, in the barren ruins of what used
to be northern California, near the blood red coast where the first warhead hit
(supposedly). The weather is as unpredictable as she is, changing from ice and
snow to rain and wind in the matter of seconds. Her empire is called
Rhovanion.
Background: A historian of such, she roams from one ancient ruin of the old
world to the next, picking up transcriptions and information as she goes along.
Deidra is almost the only one that can read the ancient texts, including Latin,
and the language of the prophecies. She is also the only one with a good notion
of what the world used to be like before Zero (the nuclear holocaust), or knows
all the classical works of literature and what the old world used to know or
hold dear. Deidra knows Shakespeare, Archimedes, even Einstein. Unlike the
others, she has book knowledge far beyond the normal reading that some of the
Mellryn learn in school or what the Kotya learn from their parents. She also is
one of the very few people with a map of what the world looks like now, since
she has traversed it so many times. She travels on her own, keeping away from
the warring Kotya and the Mellryn, since she doesn’t really care what they do
with themselves, just so long as they leave her the hell alone.
Background: She lives in the city of Arda, the capitol of the Mellryn
Empire, Harenya, as a soldier of fortune, serving as general in the army
against the Kotya whenever it serves her purpose. Caprice is very militaristic,
matching the vicious nature of Indigo herself, and also doubles as a mercenary.
She doesn’t really care much for the legends of the “chosen one” like her
leader does, and generally ignores the prophecies. Caprice only looks forwards,
constantly trying to prepare for the future or survive in the present. She sees
nothing of value in the past, figuring if it was so great than why was it blown
to smithereens in the first place? Caprice has faith only in herself and death,
knowing that those are the only two certainties in life now. She is the
commanding officer for the entire military force of the Mellryn, and she
believes that they should attack the Kotya before they attack them. Unlike most
of the Mellryn, she is a firm believer in that war is the only solution, but no
one truly understands why.
Background: A Khiasa, or Desert Dweller, she lives in the vast desert now
encompassing most of the southern former USA, where Arizona and Mexico are. She
lives alone, staying away from the militaristic Kotya and Mellryn, staying in
the thousand miles of sand and wind where no one will ever bother her. She
speaks several languages; mostly foreign tongues such as French, Spanish, and
several of the Old Spanish and Native American languages, which she picked up
from cave dwellings that the dying people had hidden out in. Caden is a
scavenger, poking up out of the desert every once in a while to see how the
world is doing and to grab a few necessities before dodging back into No Man’s
Land, where she can be alone until the population sorts itself out again. She
doesn’t believe in the prophecies of the “chosen one” that is said to have the
power to sway the tide of the war, and hopes that the people just kill each
other off and be done with it. Somewhat of a restless spirit, she takes to
traversing the barren desert region, seeking nothing except perhaps some place
that is untainted by war and nuclear fallout, even though she knows it would be
impossible to find. It is her last hope to find something from the old world
and the only thing that keeps her sanity.
Background: Serves as the
doctor for the Mellryn, she is unsure of what should be done about the
continuous threat of the Kotya overrunning Harenya. While she worries about
life under the hard fist of the Kotya, she wonders if things are any better
living the life of a hunted person, constantly dodging raids on Harenya and fearing
for her life should there ever be a war. As the only doctor, Lore sees enough
pain and suffering and she just wants whatever solution will put an end to the
death and destruction that plagues the world. She has no connection to the past
and doesn’t have any notion as to what the world used to be like. She is a firm
believer in the prophecies and the idea that there is a child that has the
power to change the world. However, she is one of the few that believes that
the child has only the ability to help, not destroy, and that is how the child
will sway the war.
Background: Leader of the peaceful Mellryn, she looks for the child in the
hopes that whatever power he or she might possess will protect her people
against the Kotya who raid their peaceful people on a daily basis in order to
steal weapons or food for themselves. She wants to see the Kotya destroyed
because they are slowly destroying the Mellryn, which she thinks should be in
power because they don’t cause others harm or try and destroy the Kotya despite
what they do them. Devin believes that if she had the child, then she could
convince the Kotya to leave them alone, for fear of what powers the child would
have. Devin grew up within the Mellryn Empire, her family one of the elders in
the land and therefore making her more eligible as a leader. She doesn’t like
being told what to do, instead insisting that whatever she says is right. If
she is proven wrong, she acts like she knew it all along and was only kidding
when she didn’t know. Though she is a good friend of Caprice and Lore who act
as her advisors, she is still wary to listen to her advice.
Background: The Chosen One, the prophesized child that will sway the power
to whoever can control her and her gift, according to the translations.
However, unlike the prophecy Quinn is not a child physically like it suggests
but is instead a young adult of twenty years. She however possesses the
innocence and hope as that of a child, and the ability to heal all wounds. Her abilities
are only those of incredible healing, as she can cure anyone of any ailment or
affliction. She has grown up alone in the world, pursued by people for a reason
she cannot understand until she finds a place close to the south in the former
states of Louisiana and Alabama where the radiation didn’t affect the ocean or
the land to the extent that it decimated the rest of the world. She grew up in
what the people consider a paradise, where the trees still grow and radioactive
chemicals don’t poison the rain. Quinn also grew up in the absence of adults
until she ventured out of her home region, and thus retained a childlike
curiosity and wonderment of the world. She doesn’t see things as good and bad,
just “as is”. She doesn’t know of the prophecies surrounding her, nor does she
understand her incredible gift.
