RE: Masks 2
05-18-2019, 06:02 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-23-2019, 03:41 AM by WesternSage.
Edit Reason: Typo fix, added Jim's last name, more Lonestar details, added birthday, more megafauna
)
Name: Sam Houston Russell
Aliases: Blackstar, Armory, Quickdraw, Spur, "Lonestar2" (REALLY DISLIKES BEING CALLED THAT ONE)
Date of Birth: May 16th, 2024.
Place of Birth: Eagle Pass, TX.
Place of Residence: Humble Hope Trailer Park, just south outside the walls of Megacity Houston.
Appearance: Sam is slightly taller than average, with black hair and naturally tan skin, and often dresses in trendy Textro fashion, which includes long-sleeved plaid shirts, bolo ties, faux-leather belts (with a fancy buckle), jeans (colors other than blue are more popular among the youth), and cowboy boots. His bolo tie clasp and belt buckle are silver with stars of polished jet set into them. He sports a black cowboy hat and is clean shaven, having just stopped sporting a poorly-considered mustache.
Biography:
Abilities:
Advanced Proficiency Gun - Sam can instantly master the use of any fire arm or projectile weapon he lays his hands on. He knows how to aim, reload, and fire it almost by instinct.
Super Accuracy - Sam is uncannily accurate. This extends to thrown objects. Many a dart-throwing contest ended in heated arguments between him and his brother.
Dudetime- When attacked, time seems to slow down for Sam, allowing him to think through his reactions or get out of the way.
Enhanced Reflexes - Honestly, mostly an extension of the above.
Dad Money - Gene is well, well off. He and Sam are on good terms, so Sam sometimes gets him to help a little with rent, or groceries. He won't buy weapons or 'business' related supplies for Sam, wanting to stay off the Megacorps' radar for now. Sam tries to remain self-sufficient.
Possessions:
Guns Guns Guns - Sam has built up a personal armory of kinetic, laser, and various other fire arms and explosives, which he keeps in a secure locker in his trailer. The locker is so well armored that it would probably be the only possession of his to survive if the park ever deconstructs his trailer.
Trailer Central: Sam's trailer, which is located in Humble Hope. Humble Hope is, like most modern trailer parks, a large skeletal steel structure with spaces that loading elevators can install 3D-Printed trailers that are rented out to tenants. If anyone misses a payment or disappears, the trailer is uninstalled and lowered into a deconstruction machine, which is actually capable of deconstructing any non-living, non-human matter. As such, your possessions are destroyed as well, so the company doesn't have to worry about selling them. They normally loot the trailers before hand, anyways, might as well get something out of your tenants.
Friends, Family, Acquiantances, Rivals, Enemies, and anybody else:
Aliases: Blackstar, Armory, Quickdraw, Spur, "Lonestar2" (REALLY DISLIKES BEING CALLED THAT ONE)
Date of Birth: May 16th, 2024.
Place of Birth: Eagle Pass, TX.
Place of Residence: Humble Hope Trailer Park, just south outside the walls of Megacity Houston.
Show Content
Spoiler
MEGACITY HOUSTON -
A dense and massive urban sprawl, Megacity Houston towers into the sky, through a massive cloud of smog. Above the smog, circular metal plates support gleaming towers and high-income neighborhoods, featuring wonderful botanical gardens, some of which home species both new and the last of their kind. Various large Pyramid glass greenhouses house other gardens of plants, some designed to support tropical plants while others support plants of other biomes, the gardens produced by a non-profit foundation that various megacorps invest in for tax write-offs but none really control. At the edges of the plates (and installed into the peaks of the highest towers, various air filters and Atmospheric Regulation Devices keep the smog from choking out the upper city, pushing it onto neighboring areas and the lower city below.
Middle Houston is a series of older, less habitable plates. These plates are partially in smog but middle-class community-funded initiatives have started producing ways to push off or mitigate the smog themselves. Some have done this by constructing domes above their plates, other have implimented a (slightly imperfect) air filtering system to push the smog below, while other plates are in the process of simply being abandoned. The latter is surprisingly rare - these plates were expensive to build and some megacorps still believe their investments haven't been paid back in full quite yet. Also classed into Middle Houston are the massive support beams of the columns themselves- these are also capable of supporting communities, though you (mostly) lack amenities such as parks and spend most of your life indoors. Amazon notably operates a vertical shipping business out of the largest support column.
Lower Houston is the base of the columns and the ruins of the old city around and beneath them. Lower Houston is riddled with smog, pollution, and, in some areas, flood waters from failing floodwalls and rain leaking in from below. There ARE some sections of the Lower City that aren't constantly enshadowed by the plates above - but even then, they don't see much sun through the smog. If anything, these sections are the worst flooded due to torrential acid rain. Sparse communities manage to dot the Lower City but for the most part it's uninhabitable. The only officially recognized communities here tend to be in the bases of the pillars (heavily policed, they're also surrounded by factories and less-livable slums), at the Walls of the city (criminal populations in the lower city, ironically, tend to gather here, to help run smuggling operations), and near the Docks.
The Houston Seaport is basically an extension of Lower Houston, however, there's an extensive (and fairly new) complex that extends under the ocean, housing business offices and high-end houses for those who either operate shipping businesses or just "like the aesthetic of the sea." On the edge between the port and the rest of the lower city is a thriving Red-Light District, and the various criminal elements of the city have been employing their own experimental, sometimes dangerous ways of making the smog-filled, toxic hell of the Lower City habitable.
Neo Galveston is an artifical island on the approximate spot of Galveston island. The island was largely flooded and washed out (being a sandbar) before the Megacity was properly completed, but the efforts of the super-rich and whimsical saved part of the city, and, when the Megacity started producing Megaprofits, that remnant was expanded to an aproximation of it's "former glory." Most of the island is actually historically accurate to what Galveston looked like at its peak. A portion of the city is even designed to represent what it looked like prior to the the Great Storm of 1900. While the large majority of the city is historically educational and of cultural importance for the state, it's main draw is as a resort city for the super rich. The skies are sunny and clear but only due to forcefields and an artifical atmosphere, all created with state-of-the-art technology. The rich enjoy the various beach resorts, the clear (filtered) sea waters, and the ability to boat on seas that aren't polluted and miserable. The skies above and the oceans around the city-resort are heavily patrolled by contracted security services. Tampering with either the dome or the sea-filtering-border is a shoot on sight offense. On the north outside part of the coast, however, is a small community of researchers working for the city and various science companies, who both help maintain the dome and research the seas around it. It includes a naval gate into the dome, in case ships ever need access inside.
Outer Houston - Not even a recognized part of the megacity, there are several sprawling, miserable suburbs outside the city gates. There is a total of ONE that isn't a horrible shithole (near the main gate, to provide a home for security services and their family), the others are miserable Trailer Parks, Tenement Blocks, Junk Miles (junkyards consisting of a cubic mile of junk, extending into subterranean floors down as far as possible, with the junk divided into lots for intrepid scavengers to peruse), the occasional (derelict and active) space ports, and, to be detailed below, "Death Swamps." Most people residing in the communities outside the city either help maintain the wall or work what factories couldn't even afford to operate inside of the Houston.
Death Swamps - The various science corporations are working hard at making new species of plants and animals that can both survive the planet's new atmosphere AND be wildly profitable! The success rate of those projects are- slim, actually. Sometimes, rather than killing these creatures and plants, they sell them on the black market instead. And when people are scammed into buying something awful or useless, they usually just dump it either into Lower Houston or into the swamps around it. As such, parts of the swamps surrounding Houston are teeming with Megaflora, dangerous fauna, and mutated variants of both.
MEGACITY HOUSTON -
A dense and massive urban sprawl, Megacity Houston towers into the sky, through a massive cloud of smog. Above the smog, circular metal plates support gleaming towers and high-income neighborhoods, featuring wonderful botanical gardens, some of which home species both new and the last of their kind. Various large Pyramid glass greenhouses house other gardens of plants, some designed to support tropical plants while others support plants of other biomes, the gardens produced by a non-profit foundation that various megacorps invest in for tax write-offs but none really control. At the edges of the plates (and installed into the peaks of the highest towers, various air filters and Atmospheric Regulation Devices keep the smog from choking out the upper city, pushing it onto neighboring areas and the lower city below.
Middle Houston is a series of older, less habitable plates. These plates are partially in smog but middle-class community-funded initiatives have started producing ways to push off or mitigate the smog themselves. Some have done this by constructing domes above their plates, other have implimented a (slightly imperfect) air filtering system to push the smog below, while other plates are in the process of simply being abandoned. The latter is surprisingly rare - these plates were expensive to build and some megacorps still believe their investments haven't been paid back in full quite yet. Also classed into Middle Houston are the massive support beams of the columns themselves- these are also capable of supporting communities, though you (mostly) lack amenities such as parks and spend most of your life indoors. Amazon notably operates a vertical shipping business out of the largest support column.
Lower Houston is the base of the columns and the ruins of the old city around and beneath them. Lower Houston is riddled with smog, pollution, and, in some areas, flood waters from failing floodwalls and rain leaking in from below. There ARE some sections of the Lower City that aren't constantly enshadowed by the plates above - but even then, they don't see much sun through the smog. If anything, these sections are the worst flooded due to torrential acid rain. Sparse communities manage to dot the Lower City but for the most part it's uninhabitable. The only officially recognized communities here tend to be in the bases of the pillars (heavily policed, they're also surrounded by factories and less-livable slums), at the Walls of the city (criminal populations in the lower city, ironically, tend to gather here, to help run smuggling operations), and near the Docks.
The Houston Seaport is basically an extension of Lower Houston, however, there's an extensive (and fairly new) complex that extends under the ocean, housing business offices and high-end houses for those who either operate shipping businesses or just "like the aesthetic of the sea." On the edge between the port and the rest of the lower city is a thriving Red-Light District, and the various criminal elements of the city have been employing their own experimental, sometimes dangerous ways of making the smog-filled, toxic hell of the Lower City habitable.
Neo Galveston is an artifical island on the approximate spot of Galveston island. The island was largely flooded and washed out (being a sandbar) before the Megacity was properly completed, but the efforts of the super-rich and whimsical saved part of the city, and, when the Megacity started producing Megaprofits, that remnant was expanded to an aproximation of it's "former glory." Most of the island is actually historically accurate to what Galveston looked like at its peak. A portion of the city is even designed to represent what it looked like prior to the the Great Storm of 1900. While the large majority of the city is historically educational and of cultural importance for the state, it's main draw is as a resort city for the super rich. The skies are sunny and clear but only due to forcefields and an artifical atmosphere, all created with state-of-the-art technology. The rich enjoy the various beach resorts, the clear (filtered) sea waters, and the ability to boat on seas that aren't polluted and miserable. The skies above and the oceans around the city-resort are heavily patrolled by contracted security services. Tampering with either the dome or the sea-filtering-border is a shoot on sight offense. On the north outside part of the coast, however, is a small community of researchers working for the city and various science companies, who both help maintain the dome and research the seas around it. It includes a naval gate into the dome, in case ships ever need access inside.
Outer Houston - Not even a recognized part of the megacity, there are several sprawling, miserable suburbs outside the city gates. There is a total of ONE that isn't a horrible shithole (near the main gate, to provide a home for security services and their family), the others are miserable Trailer Parks, Tenement Blocks, Junk Miles (junkyards consisting of a cubic mile of junk, extending into subterranean floors down as far as possible, with the junk divided into lots for intrepid scavengers to peruse), the occasional (derelict and active) space ports, and, to be detailed below, "Death Swamps." Most people residing in the communities outside the city either help maintain the wall or work what factories couldn't even afford to operate inside of the Houston.
Death Swamps - The various science corporations are working hard at making new species of plants and animals that can both survive the planet's new atmosphere AND be wildly profitable! The success rate of those projects are- slim, actually. Sometimes, rather than killing these creatures and plants, they sell them on the black market instead. And when people are scammed into buying something awful or useless, they usually just dump it either into Lower Houston or into the swamps around it. As such, parts of the swamps surrounding Houston are teeming with Megaflora, dangerous fauna, and mutated variants of both.
Show Content
Spoiler Species examples -
Megajuana - a species of hemp plant that grows huge. Now the weed is legal, the government doesn't really care about keeping this species in check. Which is a problem, because it grows notoriously wildly everywhere it is allowed to do so. If left unchecked long enough, it will even form tree-trunk thick stalks.
Weedfrogs - A wide variety of Death Swamp flora and fauna were made to mimic or incorporate popular drugs, and Weedfrogs are genetic modification of the Cane Toad, a species of amphibian which were horribly invasive to Australia a few centuries back. The company, however, was a startup, went bankrupt, and just dumped their frogs into the swamp. These frogs exploded in population and are NOTORIOUS for being susceptible to accelerated mutation. Some varieties are more intense, some are toxic, some grow large enough to eat human beings. They are both a menace and a commodity, as licking favorable strains has become the black market drug of choice for the lower classes. Meth, by comparison, is less popular now, and even Meth Two failed to become more popular than the Weedfrog.
"They're like pets I can get high from!" - Blind Pete.
Plastic Slime - Large, slime-like colonies of bacteria that operate as one larger creature. Plastic Slimes live mostly dormant in bodies of water, but go out of their way to consume whatever plastics come their way. However, they CAN consume living and organic matter, and will do so if they are attached to plastics. They are generally called "Blobs" by the explorers of Death Swamps, and are rightfully feared. If they don't kill you, whatever you encounter after stripping yourself of all your plastic-related gear likely will.
Tunaconda - A successful genetic cross of anacondas and tuna, made by Sunkist to replace failing tuna farming efforts. While the creation of the species was successful, the scientists failed to account for how big they'd become. Tunacondas get massively large. Not only that, but they have both gills and lungs, meaning they can stay underwater as long as possible, and they move with impossible speed. Many an unfortunate explorer's last sight is their silver scales. The Tunaconda was abandoned by Sunkist in favor of the Tunatoad, but the species has thrived in the wild.
MegaNutria - Nutria, the largest North American rodent, was considered at one point to be a potential source of food for families too poor to afford even synthetic meats. However, it turns out nobody likes having to subsist off of rodent. While some factory-farms for them still exist, far more exist in the wild, where they've grown to be the size of boars. While they're non-hostile for the most part, they can gnaw through concrete and panic easily.
SUPERBOARS - No one knows who created the SUPERBOAR. No one can figure out what company copyrighted the name SUPERBOAR. All anyone knows is that there's wild boar the size of horses out there, and while they can eat anything they have a preference for eating people. Some have even been spotted with cybernetic enhancements, rumored to be the result of failed attempts by PMCs to turn them into weapons of war.
Steelsilk Spiders - These spiders, genetically made to make a hardier silk with more industrial applications, somehow got out into the wild. While they themselves are harmless, their webs are deadly, and are the reason why you can't ride hovercraft through a Death Swamp.
Chromatic Sunflowers - Also called "neon" sunflowers, these sunflowers were, at first, just genetically altered to have flashy chromatic petals. This variant can still be bought to be grown in gardens. However, companies bought the rights to the plant and altered it more. First, they made prefer polluted air. Then, they made it prefer polluted water. Then, they made it produce more blooms. Then, they made it form clusters of stalks for even MORE flowers. Finally, some company outdid them all - The Monsanto Chromaflower was a variety of sunflower with chromatic, multicolored petals, thick clusters of stalks, pest-repellant leaves, self-pollenating blooms, pollen that smells like AXE body spray, and the capability to thrive in polluted environments. This made the perfect invasive species, and the fields and clearings in and around the Death Swamps are choked in them. Their only predator is humans, though some other mutation-prone species are adapting to eat them, no prevelant creatures have filled that gap in the food chain just yet. Spring in the Death Swamps aren't just horribly humid, they're choked in shitty-cologne scented clouds of pollen.
Crawfathers - Crawdads that were genetically altered to be bigger. That's it, so one would think they're not dangerous, but 'bigger' in this case means 'the size of a hippo.' They can be picked out thanks to large muddy mounds that result of them digging dens on the banks of water or in muddy fields. They're omnivorous, so they'll try to catch anything that wanders near their holes. They also have the fortunate side effect of eating hazardous waste, and they filter pollutants out of any water they drink. Unfortunately, that means these materials build up in their bodies, making their corpses and blood highly toxic and dangerous.
Megajuana - a species of hemp plant that grows huge. Now the weed is legal, the government doesn't really care about keeping this species in check. Which is a problem, because it grows notoriously wildly everywhere it is allowed to do so. If left unchecked long enough, it will even form tree-trunk thick stalks.
Weedfrogs - A wide variety of Death Swamp flora and fauna were made to mimic or incorporate popular drugs, and Weedfrogs are genetic modification of the Cane Toad, a species of amphibian which were horribly invasive to Australia a few centuries back. The company, however, was a startup, went bankrupt, and just dumped their frogs into the swamp. These frogs exploded in population and are NOTORIOUS for being susceptible to accelerated mutation. Some varieties are more intense, some are toxic, some grow large enough to eat human beings. They are both a menace and a commodity, as licking favorable strains has become the black market drug of choice for the lower classes. Meth, by comparison, is less popular now, and even Meth Two failed to become more popular than the Weedfrog.
"They're like pets I can get high from!" - Blind Pete.
Plastic Slime - Large, slime-like colonies of bacteria that operate as one larger creature. Plastic Slimes live mostly dormant in bodies of water, but go out of their way to consume whatever plastics come their way. However, they CAN consume living and organic matter, and will do so if they are attached to plastics. They are generally called "Blobs" by the explorers of Death Swamps, and are rightfully feared. If they don't kill you, whatever you encounter after stripping yourself of all your plastic-related gear likely will.
Tunaconda - A successful genetic cross of anacondas and tuna, made by Sunkist to replace failing tuna farming efforts. While the creation of the species was successful, the scientists failed to account for how big they'd become. Tunacondas get massively large. Not only that, but they have both gills and lungs, meaning they can stay underwater as long as possible, and they move with impossible speed. Many an unfortunate explorer's last sight is their silver scales. The Tunaconda was abandoned by Sunkist in favor of the Tunatoad, but the species has thrived in the wild.
MegaNutria - Nutria, the largest North American rodent, was considered at one point to be a potential source of food for families too poor to afford even synthetic meats. However, it turns out nobody likes having to subsist off of rodent. While some factory-farms for them still exist, far more exist in the wild, where they've grown to be the size of boars. While they're non-hostile for the most part, they can gnaw through concrete and panic easily.
SUPERBOARS - No one knows who created the SUPERBOAR. No one can figure out what company copyrighted the name SUPERBOAR. All anyone knows is that there's wild boar the size of horses out there, and while they can eat anything they have a preference for eating people. Some have even been spotted with cybernetic enhancements, rumored to be the result of failed attempts by PMCs to turn them into weapons of war.
Steelsilk Spiders - These spiders, genetically made to make a hardier silk with more industrial applications, somehow got out into the wild. While they themselves are harmless, their webs are deadly, and are the reason why you can't ride hovercraft through a Death Swamp.
Chromatic Sunflowers - Also called "neon" sunflowers, these sunflowers were, at first, just genetically altered to have flashy chromatic petals. This variant can still be bought to be grown in gardens. However, companies bought the rights to the plant and altered it more. First, they made prefer polluted air. Then, they made it prefer polluted water. Then, they made it produce more blooms. Then, they made it form clusters of stalks for even MORE flowers. Finally, some company outdid them all - The Monsanto Chromaflower was a variety of sunflower with chromatic, multicolored petals, thick clusters of stalks, pest-repellant leaves, self-pollenating blooms, pollen that smells like AXE body spray, and the capability to thrive in polluted environments. This made the perfect invasive species, and the fields and clearings in and around the Death Swamps are choked in them. Their only predator is humans, though some other mutation-prone species are adapting to eat them, no prevelant creatures have filled that gap in the food chain just yet. Spring in the Death Swamps aren't just horribly humid, they're choked in shitty-cologne scented clouds of pollen.
Crawfathers - Crawdads that were genetically altered to be bigger. That's it, so one would think they're not dangerous, but 'bigger' in this case means 'the size of a hippo.' They can be picked out thanks to large muddy mounds that result of them digging dens on the banks of water or in muddy fields. They're omnivorous, so they'll try to catch anything that wanders near their holes. They also have the fortunate side effect of eating hazardous waste, and they filter pollutants out of any water they drink. Unfortunately, that means these materials build up in their bodies, making their corpses and blood highly toxic and dangerous.
Appearance: Sam is slightly taller than average, with black hair and naturally tan skin, and often dresses in trendy Textro fashion, which includes long-sleeved plaid shirts, bolo ties, faux-leather belts (with a fancy buckle), jeans (colors other than blue are more popular among the youth), and cowboy boots. His bolo tie clasp and belt buckle are silver with stars of polished jet set into them. He sports a black cowboy hat and is clean shaven, having just stopped sporting a poorly-considered mustache.
Biography:
Show Content
SpoilerSam is one of two children of the former Texas (anti)hero Lonestar, conceived right before Lonestar was pressured by megacorps to effectively retire from the hero business, thanks to his vocal support of oppressed and native peoples of Texas, after a protest of a pipeline through the Kickapoo reservation near Eagle Pass, TX. His mother, Jaqueline "Jaqui" Ochoa, was another activist, one with older ties to the scene than Lonestar (who had been "awakened to Justice" about five years prior and was a little misguided in his support of native peoples). His childhood was comfortable and rather uneventful, even when his parents split when he was ten, mostly because the split was extremely amicable. He and his brother would spend summers with their father 'adventuring' around Texas, and the rest of the year attending a private school under watch of their mother. Eventually, however, Jaqui pissed off the megacorps again, helping reveal a story of how Megacorps were involved with the rampant disappearances of native people in a plot to claim imminent domain on their land. As sources and journalists involved in the plot began to disappear, a worried Lonestar offered to take up guns again for his ex, but she declined, telling him 'not to go back to being an idiot.' Using contacts from UT's Paradimensional Research Division, she cobbled together a personal transport device to another dimension habitable for human life. Eventually, when a Megacorp hitman blew up the car she was in, she used that as cover to fake her death. Using equipment she had researchers smuggle over there for her, she contacted her family, letting them know that she was not only ok, but had made a fascinating discovery- finding evidence of early human civilizations in ruins about the dimension. So she's been over there since, researching the ruins and waiting for the heat from the Megacorps to blow over. She calls her family once a year.
In his late teens, Sam decided to, against his father's advice, join a mercenary team with his brother James Bowie. As the Sons of Houston, they took on (mostly) anti-Corp jobs. However, his brother developed a bit of a secessionist mindset (thinking that if Texas could be made to secede, Megacorp influence could be tossed out more easily.) As such, a rift between the two formed, and they parted ways. Now, Sam operates with two of his former team mates and a couple new friends, taking occasional odd-jobs to build up funds as they need them, picking their jobs carefully. They might not do work for the megacorps, but sometimes they still need to track down lucrative species of Weedfrog from the Death-Swamps for Mega Houston's criminal elements, when times get tough.
In his late teens, Sam decided to, against his father's advice, join a mercenary team with his brother James Bowie. As the Sons of Houston, they took on (mostly) anti-Corp jobs. However, his brother developed a bit of a secessionist mindset (thinking that if Texas could be made to secede, Megacorp influence could be tossed out more easily.) As such, a rift between the two formed, and they parted ways. Now, Sam operates with two of his former team mates and a couple new friends, taking occasional odd-jobs to build up funds as they need them, picking their jobs carefully. They might not do work for the megacorps, but sometimes they still need to track down lucrative species of Weedfrog from the Death-Swamps for Mega Houston's criminal elements, when times get tough.
Abilities:
Advanced Proficiency Gun - Sam can instantly master the use of any fire arm or projectile weapon he lays his hands on. He knows how to aim, reload, and fire it almost by instinct.
Super Accuracy - Sam is uncannily accurate. This extends to thrown objects. Many a dart-throwing contest ended in heated arguments between him and his brother.
Dudetime- When attacked, time seems to slow down for Sam, allowing him to think through his reactions or get out of the way.
Enhanced Reflexes - Honestly, mostly an extension of the above.
Dad Money - Gene is well, well off. He and Sam are on good terms, so Sam sometimes gets him to help a little with rent, or groceries. He won't buy weapons or 'business' related supplies for Sam, wanting to stay off the Megacorps' radar for now. Sam tries to remain self-sufficient.
Possessions:
Guns Guns Guns - Sam has built up a personal armory of kinetic, laser, and various other fire arms and explosives, which he keeps in a secure locker in his trailer. The locker is so well armored that it would probably be the only possession of his to survive if the park ever deconstructs his trailer.
Trailer Central: Sam's trailer, which is located in Humble Hope. Humble Hope is, like most modern trailer parks, a large skeletal steel structure with spaces that loading elevators can install 3D-Printed trailers that are rented out to tenants. If anyone misses a payment or disappears, the trailer is uninstalled and lowered into a deconstruction machine, which is actually capable of deconstructing any non-living, non-human matter. As such, your possessions are destroyed as well, so the company doesn't have to worry about selling them. They normally loot the trailers before hand, anyways, might as well get something out of your tenants.
Friends, Family, Acquiantances, Rivals, Enemies, and anybody else:
Show Content
Spoiler
NAME - Gene "Lonestar" Russell
DESCRIPTION - Doesn't need much introduction. Gene was the gun-toting antihero of the Alien War. He tends to play up his participation, mostly because he does remember doing more than he actual did. Gene is prone to hyperbole, something that proved surprisingly useful after he retired, when he started, out of mourning for the "Lost American West", writing series of Western and Sci-Fi Western books. These books often stress the beauty of the natural West and its people, before society "destroyed it." Sometimes, this comes across as a general appreciation for nature, othertimes, it comes across as fetishizing the indigineous peoples of the country. Gene has developed a healthy trend of being open to criticism of his work and promising to do better, but, as his ex-wife would agree, he still has a lot to learn. He secretly opposes the Megacorps but doesn't publicly act on it to keep himself and his family out of danger. He makes a fortune off of royalties for his books, which have been adapted to several hit streaming series and films. A virtual-reality adaption of his big sci-fi classic, THREE GUN MOON, is in the works. The story details a conflict on a lunar ranch, on which there are only three guns, between three opposing militias. The hero, in the end, takes the second gun from his rival (who died taking a bullet for him), and outguns the evil monopolistic ranch mogul with his power of HAVING TWO GUNS. His stories are super popular, but nobody said they were written well. Currently operates The Lonestar Museum and Public Library - which operates as a museum to not only his but various Texas heroes' careers, with a small library composing mostly of Westerns, books of Texas history, and books on the American West. Somehow has a couple actually-rare books, which he's had a special vault installed to store at proper temperatures and humidity. It's built on a plate in Middle Houston, and he refuses to relocate. The plate, the Margaret Lea, is just below the upper plates, and has had a glass dome with an - outdated- virtual sky depicted in the interior. Sometimes the clouds glitch out or celestial bodies get stuck in place. A solar lamp is mounted to a mechanical track to imitate the rise and setting of the sun.
NAME - Jaqueline "Jaqui" Ochoa
DESCRIPTION - Jaqui was an activist for Native American rights, as well for the rights of all oppressed people of color, for a good decade before she met Gene Russell, who had been an activist for all about half that time. Unlike Jaqui, Gene took the term "activist" literally, being active but not actually properly researching his points. Still, she found him charming, and when he managed to stop a police firing line from shooting a bunch of unarmed protestors (by leading them into a standoff against himself), she saw a good man beneath all the ignorance. At least, she thought she did. And for a while, things were good for them. They got a nice trailer, Gene found a 'talent' for writing fiction, and they raised a couple children together. Still, for all his good intentions, Gene had a habit of speaking/acting first and learning later. Eventually, Jaqui found this taking a toll on her patience and eating away at their relationship. She finally talked to him about it, and he... Was surprisingly receptive. Actually caring for her, he told her he'd support whatever she had to do for her own sake, which they decided was amicably seperating. He'd take the kids for the summers (which she would spend doing more demanding activist work), and she'd take them for the rest of the year, being a better influence for the boys' education. Eventually, as detailed in the bio, she had to jump into another dimension to avoid a Megacorp attempt at her life. Now, on the anniversary of her 'death', she calls her family to inform them on how she's doing. Most of her blood relatives have a communication device she can contact, as well as Gene. Gene desperately wants her to be able to come back to spend time with her kids again, but Jaqui refuses to until the Megacorps aren't such an active danger. Instead, she keeps herself occupied by researching ancient ruins of human civilization she found in the dimension she leapt to, which is remarkably habitable for human life, though rather small, the world being a series of large floating chunks of landmass in a pristine blue void, orbited by a bright white sun. The landmass supports plant and animal life, none of it being remarkably dangerous, and is jutted with craggy, rocky terrain between forested valleys, complete with streams of fresh water and at least one inland salt water ocean.
NAME: James "Jim" "Loneblade" Bowie Russell
DESCRIPTION: James has the same tan skin as his brother but blonde hair (dyed), shaved on one side and pulled back into a ponytail. He usually wears a white hat, also dresses in the Textro style as his brother, but with a tan faux-leather vest. His bolo clasp and belt buckle sport a shined white opal star, set in grey gunmetal steel. He normally has a stylish sheriff's badge on the vest, but he's not a sheriff, nor does he even like the police, it's just fashionable. He has similar abilities to his brother, but instead of a natural ability to wield any firearm, he has a natural ability to wield any bladed weapon. To this end, he carries both a Thermoblade katana (which can cut through almost anything except for most forcefield tech, which repels it for at least a little bit, depending on the strength of the tech), and a large, sharp, nano-steel Bowie Knife, as well as a variety of knives hidden on and in his person. He also has the sharp reflexes and 'Dudetime' abilities as his brother, which he uses to deflect lasers and bullets out of mid-air, like a show-boaty asshole. He and Sam used to get along really well but had a falling out some years back, now they don't really talk too much. James believes that the only way for Texas to destroy the Megacorp influence is to destroy every one in their borders and secede from the country. Even Gene isn't completely comfortable with this ideology, blaming some of his earlier literary works for turning James to this. He likes the color blue.
NAME: Pilona "Goldpony" Voidmane
DESCRIPTION: Pilona is not from Earth. Ten years ago, they were smuggled onto the planet for reasons unknown. The reasons are unknown, because they broke out of containment and trampled the people responsible. Pilona is, in their human form, a tall feminine humanoid with gold-tinged skin and bright purple eyes. They have medium-length platinum hair, tied back into, of course, a ponytail. Pilona's species, the name of which they haven't managed to make translatable to human tongue, can turn into large, metallic-skinned horses, with reversed-hooves. They are invulnerable to small arms fire and most weak energy weapons, can move at high speeds and modify their hooves to traverse any terrain, fire energy blasts from their eyes, and, finally, they are incredibly strong. Pilona retains these abilities in their humanoid form, including the one where they can change the shape of their hands and feet. You don't want to fight them in melee. They did independent mercenary oddjobs before joining Sam and Jim's team, even having a romantic tryst with Sam, who is the only person they trust enough to let ride their equine form. Sam is not completely comfortable with this, however, something that Pilona uses for their own amusement to endlessly tease him with. Pilona's name isn't their real name, instead one they made up themselves. They really like Earth horses and 'horse culture', which translates to them owning a lot of horse related art and literature. A portion of their income from any job comes from commissioning a furry artist to draw their equine fursona.
NAME: Earnestly-as-the-Garden-Grows Everett
DESCRIPTION: Everett had a unique life growing up. He was raised by a pair of parents who, as children, had survived brainwashing by Father Orwell. They believed that God had allowed them to be kidnapped for a reason, because they alone would have skills to survive the cleansing of sinners from the Earth. They adopted any children they could and had some of their own, and trained them all with the skills they had learned. This culminated in a bunker situation, until Earnest's sister, Patiently-Guides-the-Needle-Through, led a coup of their siblings and helped all the children escape. Earnest doesn't have the archery skills of an Orwell Child, but he's close, and in the years after his family were set free he spent time familiarizing himself with the increasingly-dangerous wilds. He had seven siblings. Confident-in-the-Word, who was deposed in the coup and left to join a PMC in a huff, Patience, who left to seek out archers world-wide in desire to better her skills to protect the week, Pure-as-Cotton, who became a musician, Calm-Was-The-Carver, who joined the Texas Rangers, Sweet-Was-The-Stream, who is attending college to be a doctor, and Just-Was-His-Will, who is still attending high school under care of a foster family. Earnest met the Russell brothers as an independent wilderness guide and ending up joining their team. Earnest is kind of short, scrawny, but has musculature in his arms fitting an archer. He has red hair, green eyes, and likes to dress in black sports gear. Kinda had a thing for Jim. Likes wilderness photography. His shitbag parents were Joseph and Olivia Everett-Hyde, or, as the names they claim God himself gave them, Struggle-in-the-Name-of-God's-Will and Make-Peace-on-his-Earth.
NAME: Boz THE BRONZE BOZ Rafi
DESCRIPTION: Boz was a former underground boxer, sporting two cybernetic arms, plated with gold-painted nanosteel. Boz was kicked out of his league for refusing to throw a fight, then also refusing to throw the fight against the five goons sent to kill him for it. He joined Sam and Jim's team after, meeting them in a bar by chance. He is tall, muscular in his abs and legs, with dark brown skin and bright green dreadlocks, and often dresses in sleeveless clothing to show off his arms. He's bold but not dumb, a mistake most of his opponents make. His arms can punch through steel, and have extendable energy shields, letting him either operate as a melee powerhouse or a mobile shield to protect allies. He really likes sunglasses, and is a bit of a collector of rare classic models. The last person he fought who damaged a pair went out a window. And off a city-plate. When the brothers split he went with Jim. They're really close.
NAME: Nightshade "Darkmagic" Jane
DESCRIPTION: Nightshade is a rarity, a surviving mage. She survived through her rare application of magic- crafting magic bullets that she fires through her kinetic rifle. These bullets can do anything from explode, curse, allow her to spy, to healing. Jim and Sam both have scars from "healing bullets" that saved their lives. She's slender, of average height, and constantly wears a black duster with a tattered bottom edge. It has silver pins of various designs she claims are magic pinned all over it. She also wears a wide-brimmed, tri-corned hat, a gaudy silver necklace in the shape of an eye, ripped black jeans, and one of a various set of tank tops for her favorite Vocaloid-Death-Punk bands, the most common one being THE BLOODY MIKUS. Her rifle, "SWEET DEATH", is a custom-made job of high quality and a high caliber, and the stock is decorated with a silver spider-web set into it. She is both grim and extremely dramatic. She seems to despise both of the brothers for their spat and refuses to work with one over the other, and goes between spending time with both. Vitriocly anti-corporate. Total mystery otherwise. Is constantly dating a new girlfriend everytime Sam meets her again.
NAME: Mr. Smiley, Your Business Friend
DESCRIPTION: Mr. Smiley is a human man of average height, of average build, with blondish-tan hair cut short and grey eyes. Mr. Smiley claims to be the product of an illegal corporate cloning project made by the Kroger Company in preparation for the passing of a bill legalizing corporate cloning projects. The bill failed due to efforts of their corporate rivals, and thus, Mr. Smiley was to be permanently killed. Mr. Smiley was fortunately warned by an intern, and, under cover of darkness, somehow snuck his cloning pod out the facility and escaped. He met Sam in the outskirts of Mega Houston and Sam took him in. Mr. Smiley is unique in that, despite being a complete average yet slightly charming human man, whenever he dies he is re-built in his cloning pod, which is an nine by four foot steel "coffin," armor plated to be ultra durable. What little tracking tech the prototype had in it (they REALLY didn't think anyone would take the huge thing) has been disabled, and it's powered by a combination of fusion engine and exterior solar panels. It requires an intake of organic matter to form a clone, meaning that Mr. Smiley can usually be seen stuffing it full of rotten garbage. His bodies can vary depending on the fuel he used, and they somehow possess his memories up until he died. Mr. Smiley was, as a concept, utterly terrifying to Sam, until Sam saw him die for like the fifth time due to some mishap. Mr. Smiley's biggest strength to the team is being utterly expendable, and Mr. Smiley is completely okay with that. He likes to dress in simple clothing in upbeat colors, and he really likes smiley faces. He thinks by owning his namesake he can become his own person, instead of denying where he came from. His bodies start rapidly decaying five hours after death and his organs are all jumbled up in a way a standard human's shouldn't be, yet this doesn't effect his day-to-day functions.
NAME:The Bull
DESCRIPTION: A self chosen successor to Lonestar that considers Sam (and Jim) his enemy. He's backed by the oil corporations and thinks that corporate rule will make Texas "pure" and "strong." He constantly wears a hulking suit of power armor, that secretly doesn't enhance his strength at all. He's a super-human, and possesses a comical amount of super-strength. Well, comical until you're on the other end of it. Thankfully? Really, REAAAAALLY dumb. Rotten to the core. Likes underground death races. Thinks Meth Two was under-rated.
NAME - Gene "Lonestar" Russell
DESCRIPTION - Doesn't need much introduction. Gene was the gun-toting antihero of the Alien War. He tends to play up his participation, mostly because he does remember doing more than he actual did. Gene is prone to hyperbole, something that proved surprisingly useful after he retired, when he started, out of mourning for the "Lost American West", writing series of Western and Sci-Fi Western books. These books often stress the beauty of the natural West and its people, before society "destroyed it." Sometimes, this comes across as a general appreciation for nature, othertimes, it comes across as fetishizing the indigineous peoples of the country. Gene has developed a healthy trend of being open to criticism of his work and promising to do better, but, as his ex-wife would agree, he still has a lot to learn. He secretly opposes the Megacorps but doesn't publicly act on it to keep himself and his family out of danger. He makes a fortune off of royalties for his books, which have been adapted to several hit streaming series and films. A virtual-reality adaption of his big sci-fi classic, THREE GUN MOON, is in the works. The story details a conflict on a lunar ranch, on which there are only three guns, between three opposing militias. The hero, in the end, takes the second gun from his rival (who died taking a bullet for him), and outguns the evil monopolistic ranch mogul with his power of HAVING TWO GUNS. His stories are super popular, but nobody said they were written well. Currently operates The Lonestar Museum and Public Library - which operates as a museum to not only his but various Texas heroes' careers, with a small library composing mostly of Westerns, books of Texas history, and books on the American West. Somehow has a couple actually-rare books, which he's had a special vault installed to store at proper temperatures and humidity. It's built on a plate in Middle Houston, and he refuses to relocate. The plate, the Margaret Lea, is just below the upper plates, and has had a glass dome with an - outdated- virtual sky depicted in the interior. Sometimes the clouds glitch out or celestial bodies get stuck in place. A solar lamp is mounted to a mechanical track to imitate the rise and setting of the sun.
NAME - Jaqueline "Jaqui" Ochoa
DESCRIPTION - Jaqui was an activist for Native American rights, as well for the rights of all oppressed people of color, for a good decade before she met Gene Russell, who had been an activist for all about half that time. Unlike Jaqui, Gene took the term "activist" literally, being active but not actually properly researching his points. Still, she found him charming, and when he managed to stop a police firing line from shooting a bunch of unarmed protestors (by leading them into a standoff against himself), she saw a good man beneath all the ignorance. At least, she thought she did. And for a while, things were good for them. They got a nice trailer, Gene found a 'talent' for writing fiction, and they raised a couple children together. Still, for all his good intentions, Gene had a habit of speaking/acting first and learning later. Eventually, Jaqui found this taking a toll on her patience and eating away at their relationship. She finally talked to him about it, and he... Was surprisingly receptive. Actually caring for her, he told her he'd support whatever she had to do for her own sake, which they decided was amicably seperating. He'd take the kids for the summers (which she would spend doing more demanding activist work), and she'd take them for the rest of the year, being a better influence for the boys' education. Eventually, as detailed in the bio, she had to jump into another dimension to avoid a Megacorp attempt at her life. Now, on the anniversary of her 'death', she calls her family to inform them on how she's doing. Most of her blood relatives have a communication device she can contact, as well as Gene. Gene desperately wants her to be able to come back to spend time with her kids again, but Jaqui refuses to until the Megacorps aren't such an active danger. Instead, she keeps herself occupied by researching ancient ruins of human civilization she found in the dimension she leapt to, which is remarkably habitable for human life, though rather small, the world being a series of large floating chunks of landmass in a pristine blue void, orbited by a bright white sun. The landmass supports plant and animal life, none of it being remarkably dangerous, and is jutted with craggy, rocky terrain between forested valleys, complete with streams of fresh water and at least one inland salt water ocean.
NAME: James "Jim" "Loneblade" Bowie Russell
DESCRIPTION: James has the same tan skin as his brother but blonde hair (dyed), shaved on one side and pulled back into a ponytail. He usually wears a white hat, also dresses in the Textro style as his brother, but with a tan faux-leather vest. His bolo clasp and belt buckle sport a shined white opal star, set in grey gunmetal steel. He normally has a stylish sheriff's badge on the vest, but he's not a sheriff, nor does he even like the police, it's just fashionable. He has similar abilities to his brother, but instead of a natural ability to wield any firearm, he has a natural ability to wield any bladed weapon. To this end, he carries both a Thermoblade katana (which can cut through almost anything except for most forcefield tech, which repels it for at least a little bit, depending on the strength of the tech), and a large, sharp, nano-steel Bowie Knife, as well as a variety of knives hidden on and in his person. He also has the sharp reflexes and 'Dudetime' abilities as his brother, which he uses to deflect lasers and bullets out of mid-air, like a show-boaty asshole. He and Sam used to get along really well but had a falling out some years back, now they don't really talk too much. James believes that the only way for Texas to destroy the Megacorp influence is to destroy every one in their borders and secede from the country. Even Gene isn't completely comfortable with this ideology, blaming some of his earlier literary works for turning James to this. He likes the color blue.
NAME: Pilona "Goldpony" Voidmane
DESCRIPTION: Pilona is not from Earth. Ten years ago, they were smuggled onto the planet for reasons unknown. The reasons are unknown, because they broke out of containment and trampled the people responsible. Pilona is, in their human form, a tall feminine humanoid with gold-tinged skin and bright purple eyes. They have medium-length platinum hair, tied back into, of course, a ponytail. Pilona's species, the name of which they haven't managed to make translatable to human tongue, can turn into large, metallic-skinned horses, with reversed-hooves. They are invulnerable to small arms fire and most weak energy weapons, can move at high speeds and modify their hooves to traverse any terrain, fire energy blasts from their eyes, and, finally, they are incredibly strong. Pilona retains these abilities in their humanoid form, including the one where they can change the shape of their hands and feet. You don't want to fight them in melee. They did independent mercenary oddjobs before joining Sam and Jim's team, even having a romantic tryst with Sam, who is the only person they trust enough to let ride their equine form. Sam is not completely comfortable with this, however, something that Pilona uses for their own amusement to endlessly tease him with. Pilona's name isn't their real name, instead one they made up themselves. They really like Earth horses and 'horse culture', which translates to them owning a lot of horse related art and literature. A portion of their income from any job comes from commissioning a furry artist to draw their equine fursona.
NAME: Earnestly-as-the-Garden-Grows Everett
DESCRIPTION: Everett had a unique life growing up. He was raised by a pair of parents who, as children, had survived brainwashing by Father Orwell. They believed that God had allowed them to be kidnapped for a reason, because they alone would have skills to survive the cleansing of sinners from the Earth. They adopted any children they could and had some of their own, and trained them all with the skills they had learned. This culminated in a bunker situation, until Earnest's sister, Patiently-Guides-the-Needle-Through, led a coup of their siblings and helped all the children escape. Earnest doesn't have the archery skills of an Orwell Child, but he's close, and in the years after his family were set free he spent time familiarizing himself with the increasingly-dangerous wilds. He had seven siblings. Confident-in-the-Word, who was deposed in the coup and left to join a PMC in a huff, Patience, who left to seek out archers world-wide in desire to better her skills to protect the week, Pure-as-Cotton, who became a musician, Calm-Was-The-Carver, who joined the Texas Rangers, Sweet-Was-The-Stream, who is attending college to be a doctor, and Just-Was-His-Will, who is still attending high school under care of a foster family. Earnest met the Russell brothers as an independent wilderness guide and ending up joining their team. Earnest is kind of short, scrawny, but has musculature in his arms fitting an archer. He has red hair, green eyes, and likes to dress in black sports gear. Kinda had a thing for Jim. Likes wilderness photography. His shitbag parents were Joseph and Olivia Everett-Hyde, or, as the names they claim God himself gave them, Struggle-in-the-Name-of-God's-Will and Make-Peace-on-his-Earth.
NAME: Boz THE BRONZE BOZ Rafi
DESCRIPTION: Boz was a former underground boxer, sporting two cybernetic arms, plated with gold-painted nanosteel. Boz was kicked out of his league for refusing to throw a fight, then also refusing to throw the fight against the five goons sent to kill him for it. He joined Sam and Jim's team after, meeting them in a bar by chance. He is tall, muscular in his abs and legs, with dark brown skin and bright green dreadlocks, and often dresses in sleeveless clothing to show off his arms. He's bold but not dumb, a mistake most of his opponents make. His arms can punch through steel, and have extendable energy shields, letting him either operate as a melee powerhouse or a mobile shield to protect allies. He really likes sunglasses, and is a bit of a collector of rare classic models. The last person he fought who damaged a pair went out a window. And off a city-plate. When the brothers split he went with Jim. They're really close.
NAME: Nightshade "Darkmagic" Jane
DESCRIPTION: Nightshade is a rarity, a surviving mage. She survived through her rare application of magic- crafting magic bullets that she fires through her kinetic rifle. These bullets can do anything from explode, curse, allow her to spy, to healing. Jim and Sam both have scars from "healing bullets" that saved their lives. She's slender, of average height, and constantly wears a black duster with a tattered bottom edge. It has silver pins of various designs she claims are magic pinned all over it. She also wears a wide-brimmed, tri-corned hat, a gaudy silver necklace in the shape of an eye, ripped black jeans, and one of a various set of tank tops for her favorite Vocaloid-Death-Punk bands, the most common one being THE BLOODY MIKUS. Her rifle, "SWEET DEATH", is a custom-made job of high quality and a high caliber, and the stock is decorated with a silver spider-web set into it. She is both grim and extremely dramatic. She seems to despise both of the brothers for their spat and refuses to work with one over the other, and goes between spending time with both. Vitriocly anti-corporate. Total mystery otherwise. Is constantly dating a new girlfriend everytime Sam meets her again.
NAME: Mr. Smiley, Your Business Friend
DESCRIPTION: Mr. Smiley is a human man of average height, of average build, with blondish-tan hair cut short and grey eyes. Mr. Smiley claims to be the product of an illegal corporate cloning project made by the Kroger Company in preparation for the passing of a bill legalizing corporate cloning projects. The bill failed due to efforts of their corporate rivals, and thus, Mr. Smiley was to be permanently killed. Mr. Smiley was fortunately warned by an intern, and, under cover of darkness, somehow snuck his cloning pod out the facility and escaped. He met Sam in the outskirts of Mega Houston and Sam took him in. Mr. Smiley is unique in that, despite being a complete average yet slightly charming human man, whenever he dies he is re-built in his cloning pod, which is an nine by four foot steel "coffin," armor plated to be ultra durable. What little tracking tech the prototype had in it (they REALLY didn't think anyone would take the huge thing) has been disabled, and it's powered by a combination of fusion engine and exterior solar panels. It requires an intake of organic matter to form a clone, meaning that Mr. Smiley can usually be seen stuffing it full of rotten garbage. His bodies can vary depending on the fuel he used, and they somehow possess his memories up until he died. Mr. Smiley was, as a concept, utterly terrifying to Sam, until Sam saw him die for like the fifth time due to some mishap. Mr. Smiley's biggest strength to the team is being utterly expendable, and Mr. Smiley is completely okay with that. He likes to dress in simple clothing in upbeat colors, and he really likes smiley faces. He thinks by owning his namesake he can become his own person, instead of denying where he came from. His bodies start rapidly decaying five hours after death and his organs are all jumbled up in a way a standard human's shouldn't be, yet this doesn't effect his day-to-day functions.
NAME:The Bull
DESCRIPTION: A self chosen successor to Lonestar that considers Sam (and Jim) his enemy. He's backed by the oil corporations and thinks that corporate rule will make Texas "pure" and "strong." He constantly wears a hulking suit of power armor, that secretly doesn't enhance his strength at all. He's a super-human, and possesses a comical amount of super-strength. Well, comical until you're on the other end of it. Thankfully? Really, REAAAAALLY dumb. Rotten to the core. Likes underground death races. Thinks Meth Two was under-rated.