Game Resident Evil: Lazarus

[Darth Kain]

RESIDENT EVIL: LAZARUS
You only live twice:
Once when you are born
And once when you look death in the face
Ian Fleming​

Rules & Guidelines

1. Keep all OOC chatter to a minimum. Only use OOC notes if accompanied by an IC post, and only if it is on-topic to the game. If OOC chatter becomes necessary, we may create a chat on Messenger.

2. No godmoding. Godmoding encompasses a wide range of unacceptable role-playing behaviours, including creating an invincible or overpowered character, taking control of and writing the overall plot or environment oneself (which is the GM's job), taking control of another player's character without their permission (referred to as godmodding), or otherwise playing the RPG as if one has activated "Cheat mode" or "Godmode'' in a video game, exerting excessive power or influence beyond one's own character.
While most forms of godmoding are explicit, there can be more implicit but no less offensive forms, such as describing another player character as weak and cringing when they are actually standing tall and proud, or hurrying through the game at an excessive pace, such as navigating an entire tomb to successfully retrieve an objective in a single post, entirely bypassing the GM's ability to gradually unveil the environment you will be exploring, and its associated puzzles, traps and enemies.

3. No autohitting. Autohitting is a form of godmoding wherein a player hits an enemy, whether it be a GM-controlled NPC or another player character, without permission from either the GM or the player. Instead, all attacks against an enemy must be described as attempted attacks, rather than successful attacks. The stats system, associated dice system, GM verdicts and the interplay of writing combat (such as attempting to trap an enemy into being unable to plausibly escape an attack without godmoding) will determine success, not you.

4. No metagaming. Metagaming comprises a player character possessing knowledge he or she realistically should not. This includes 'meta' knowledge (out-of-universe knowledge) that the player would know but the character would not, such as knowledge of the role-playing mechanics and its implications for combat, knowledge of obscure Resident Evil lore, or game-related secrets that the character would not plausibly know (for example, that the Mold originated beneath Mother Miranda’s village), or knowledge of what another character is thinking, feeling or planning simply because another role-player described it in their post. While most examples are explicit, there can be more implicit forms; a player character who seems to conveniently know things, guess things, deduce things, or escape things using what is clearly out-of-universe knowledge will not be long tolerated.

5. The GM is the ultimate and sole authority in this RPG. The GM is yours truly, the game creator; there may, or may not, be sub-GMs created at a later point. The GM has the final say in everything. That means there is absolutely no arguing with the GM, whether it be over a verdict in combat or other GM call, creative control of the overall story and environment, an element of the game mechanics not to your preference, the level assigned to you at game start, or friendly reminders to post in a timely manner.
It also means you enter this game, and potentially depart this game, at the sole discretion of the GM. If I, and I alone, deem you to be a negative influence on the game, it will be my decision to remove you, and there will be no arguing with or appealing that decision. If I deem you to have been a negative influence in the past, or otherwise likely to cause problems in the game, it will be solely my decision as to whether or not you join this game, and I will brook no arguments or complaints over my decisions in these areas.

6. PM me on Messenger which character you wish to play as if you are interested in playing.

Setting

Lazarus is set in to begin on the date of January 9, 2021 of the Resident Evil universe (approximately a month before the events of Resident Evil Village, and three years after the events of Resident Evil 7).

From the 1970s to the 1990s, the Umbrella Corporation aided the United States government in providing bioweapons research, contrary to the 1972 Bioweapons Convention. In September 1998, a viral weapon, a modified ε strain known as the T-virus, leaked into Raccoon City's drinking supply and mutated tens of thousands into creatures dubbed "Zombies". To both halt the spread and cover up the research, the President ordered an experimental thermobaric weapon to be fired into the heart of the city on the morning of October 1st. With the existence of bio-weaponry kept a secret, the US government formed a policy of shifting all blame for the 100,000 deaths onto Umbrella. Umbrella was banned from conducting business within the United States, and a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the victims' families went underway. This case, dubbed the "Raccoon Trials", finally ended in 2003 with Umbrella being found criminally-liable, and international orders for the arrest of executives were made. Umbrella Pharmaceuticals declared bankruptcy, with its subsidiaries following suit over the year. While some may have been acquired by other companies, the controversial nature meant that in the case of Umbrella Japan, no buyer could be found and it was instead liquidated in March 2004.

Following the 2004 Terragrigia Panic, knowledge of Bio Organic Weapons became public knowledge, and the threat of bioterrorist groups acquiring such weaponry intensified. To ready itself for a new stage in the ongoing War on Terror, Chapter 11 Reorganization was invoked on Umbrella U.S.A.'s assets in 2007, and the company began doing business once more under a new executive consisting of former employees trusted by the US government.

In its revived form, Umbrella changed their logo to blue to indicate its separation from its predecessor, but the company kept its original name to make it clear that they intended to clean up the mess it had created. Tasked with assisting in the War on Terror using the Umbrella Archives obtained by the government in 2003, Blue Umbrella began studying effective means of tackling B.O.W.s. Forbidden by the UN to re-activate the Umbrella Security Service, combat duties were to be handed to internationally-recognized anti-B.O.W. organisations such as the BSAA (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance). In operations where Blue Umbrella was involved, BSAA operators were to be armed with Blue Umbrella's anti-B.O.W. weapons, and had access to combat data on the "Umbrella Arsenal System''.

Despite the positive track records, a lot of people, especially Chris Redfield still distrust them. But that has not stopped the company from spreading across the globe, expanding their markets beyond combatting the bioweapon threat. One such expansion was a push for higher education across the planet, beginning with three privately owned universities: Spencer University in London (England), Ashford Academy in Seoul (South Korea), and Marcus University in San Diego (USA). To promote unity among the schools, fifteen students - five from each college and randomly picked - are being given the opportunity of a lifetime to visit a Blue Umbrella laboratory in Scotland. Most everyone knows that it is little more than a PR stunt, but any positive news was welcome news for the mid-redemption Umbrella Corporation.

By the end of this field trip, however, Umbrella would have wished these students stayed at home. . .

Orientation for New Players

Gameplay takes the form of text-based role-playing, specifically called T1 role-playing, with each player advancing the story by posting updates within this thread, describing the thoughts, actions, and feelings of their characters as if writing a chapter of a collaborative novel from their character's perspective. Other players contribute their own characters' actions and perspectives with their own posts, and the Gamemaster, or GM, provides the overall environment, direction, and moderation of the game, including non-player characters, like the level design and artificial intelligence of a video game.

Updates are expected to be at least two paragraphs in length, with a preference for detail and quality; many players write posts of considerable length, totalling thousands of words. Role-playing, accordingly, tends to be at a slower pace; an update is required every week by the customary deadline of Sunday night, responding to both your fellow players and the GM's weekly updates, which are typically posted at the start of the week.

This story may be separated into multiple strands of storyline called “tagsets.” Each tagset is a group of different players, tagged separately from another grouping by the GM (although GM updates tend to include posts, and according tags, for multiple tagsets, each separated by a clear divider), usually correlating with a specific, separate location, adventure or quest. Each tagset is rather like a campaign in Dungeons & Dragons, or a chapter with a radically different point-of-view, location and characters within the same novel or film (such as The Lord of the Rings). However, tagsets are understood to be part of the same overall game, to be largely happening at the same time, and are flexible and fluid; most tagsets evolve and diverge from an initial, larger tagset, and many tagsets meet, combine, exchange players or collapse upon the completion of a quest or plotline.

Separating in-character (IC) gameplay from out-of-character (OOC) interaction is absolutely necessary to play this game. From a logistical standpoint, we do so by using different notations. At the top of every post, before the main body of your writing, you should write the following:

IC: Your character's name
Your character's location

All of your writing beneath this header should be entirely in-character; no OOC commentary or explanations, even in parentheses, should be embedded within the text.

You should finish your post by tagging the other players in your tagset (not all players within the entire game; look to the tags within the GM's own update to see which players are in your tagset), as well as the GM, beneath the main body of your post. You do this by typing the @ sign, and the username of the player you wish to tag; their username will appear in a drop-down menu, allowing you to click on the player. This will mean they will receive a notification when you tag them (and vice versa). Use the following format when writing your tags:

TAG: @Another Player, @Another Player, etc

You may write OOC commentary outside the main body of your post, either after the TAGs, or before the IC header. OOC commentary may include a list of abilities used during combat, a note of clarification, or simply a relevant comment. If you do write OOC commentary, use the format of the following example:

OOC: (Items used: 3 Handgun Rounds, 1 Green Herb.) I’m not diving behind Mason, by thee way. Just taking cover by the wall!

More importantly, however, in-character and out-of-character interactions must be wholly separated in terms of mindset. Aside from the aforementioned rule barring metagaming, it is important to remember this is just a game, and that all in-character interactions are purely and strictly for storytelling purposes. In-character immersion is absolute; players should play their characters entirely realistically and true-to-character, no matter where that takes them.

In-game death has no out-of-character meaning. A character might die because they got unlucky with a trap, took the risk of fighting a boss without proper help or weaponry, and so on.

Permanent death is one of the many realistic consequences within this game; the stakes are real, and if your character dies, they are lost forever (barring certain storytelling devices). That said, death is uncommon overall; particularly foolish or risky gameplay tends to be required to incur a lethal outcome, although any kind of combat, whether it be with a player character or a non-player character, does carry the risk of injury and death.

Tonally and stylistically, this game is meant to reflect a realistic take on the Resident Evil universe (as realistic as you can get, anyhow). The plot will not be tweaked to save you from death. Story is not prioritized above realism. Every action you take has a consequence; the GM will not metagame to spare you from the most utterly realistic consequences to your actions, no matter how much he likes you out-of-character. Again, the separation between in-character and out-of-character is absolute.

At the same time, the GM will not metagame in favour of being excessively sadistic, either; gameplay is not intrinsically set against you. Rather, the game strives to be as realistic as possible, as if this world of biological terror was a real place.

The rating of the game is equivalent to a film rating of R (Restricted), or a video game rating of M (Mature). Mature, dark and/or heavy themes and content, including but not limited to graphic violence, narcotic usage, profanity, sex, and disturbing encounters are permitted within the writing, without use of content warnings or the like. That said, use of mature themes should be tasteful and literary in nature; X-rated smut is not the goal, nor is pointlessly offensive writing with the sole goal of being "edgy."

​

Game Mechanics

Certain actions that a player takes within this game will be determined via dice roll. Factors, such as your character’s physical attributes, weapon conditions, environmental conditions, and so on, will influence these rolls. For instance, if the GM rolls a d20 for your attempt at headshotting a zombie and rolls a 15, the -5 debuff of your rusty handgun and your below-average Dexterity will result in a miss.

Attributes play a large part in differentiating characters at the start of the game. Leveling up an attribute only occurs with repeated usage of an attribute (i.e. successfully climbing a wall slightly increases Dexterity, successfully lifting an obstacle slightly increases Strength, etc.). Injuries sustained can negatively affect attributes, with minor injuries (non-lethal gunshot, bite, etc.) being healable by herbs or first aid kits, while major injuries (severed limbs, paralysis, etc.) are permanent and will severely impact your attributes. Basic needs will also need to be met over in-game time (which passes at GM discretion, and is indicated with every GM post). Going too long without food, water, or sleep will provide major penalties to your attributes.

Each character has an innate Active Ability and Passive Ability. Active Abilities are “powers” that you can actively use, whereas Passive Abilities are “powers” that you unconsciously use. For instance, a Burst of Strength ability (Active) would enable a temporary +5 Strength Attribute, while a Deadlifter ability (Passive) would naturally have +2 Strength anytime they lift something so long as they do not lift it above their head. Abilities can be gained if your character becomes infected, but without a serum or natural immunity, those abilities can come at the cost of your character’s well-being.

Attributes

Each attribute has a minimum of 1 up to a maximum of 10 points. Level 5 in any attribute is meant to represent the average human. Anything exceeding 10 points (due to abilities, etc.) would be considered superhuman.

The attributes are as follows:

STRENGTH - This attribute governs your character’s physical strength, influencing their ability to interact with obstacles, their melee weapon damage, and their ability to use heavy weaponry.

PERCEPTION - This attribute governs your character’s ability to sense their surroundings, hearing approaching enemies, seeing traps, and reading the fine print on an Umbrella contract.

STAMINA - This attribute governs how quickly your character fatigues, allowing them to run further, fight longer, and… yeah, you get the idea.

DEXTERITY - This attribute governs your character’s agility as well as their accuracy when using any weapon - from trying to nail a headshot with a rifle to try to slice an artery with a knife.

INTELLIGENCE - This attribute governs your character’s mental prowess, from their ability to hack a terminal, crack a code, or disable traps that await them.

LUCK - This attribute governs your character’s overall ability, and can be quite the tide turner should everything else go wrong.

THE CAST OF RESIDENT EVIL: LAZARUS
A “[ ]” above a character’s name means they are available to be selected. A “[✓]” means they have already been selected. A “[X]” means they are dead.

MARCUS UNIVERSITY​

1. [X]

Name: Alexandria “Alex” Rodriguez
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Major: Psychology
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Height: 5’3”
Weight: 126 lb.
Friend(s): Jon, Tamia
Backstory: Life was sweet for little Alexandria until her mother and father divorced, prompting her devotion to studying human psychology. After all, if she learns what makes people tick, she can prevent them from leaving her again, right? Right?
Active Ability: Mind Reader - once per in-game hour, she can read a person well enough to discern their deepest thoughts
Passive Ability: Insightful - +1 boost to Perception when reading someone’s expressions
Attributes

• Strength: 3
• Perception: 7
• Stamina: 5
• Dexterity: 4
• Intelligence: 6
• Luck: 5

2. [X]

Name: Jonathan “Jon” Jackson
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Major: Athletic Training
Hometown: Reno, Nevada
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 215 lb.
Friend(s): Alex
Backstory: Jon was inspired by the all-time greatest football players in history, and had always wanted a shot at becoming like his heroes. Was there any brighter future than getting paid millions to do what you love? But he never has gotten lucky enough to get spotted yet…
Active Ability: Offense, Baby! - once per fight, he can tackle any bipedal enemy off their feet
Passive Ability: Star Quarterback - +1 boost to both Strength and Dexterity when throwing an object
Attributes

• Strength: 9
• Perception: 4
• Stamina: 6
• Dexterity: 5
• Intelligence: 4
• Luck: 2

3. [X]

Name: Tamia Hargrove
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 141 lb.
Friend(s): Alex, Matt
Backstory: Always the gifted child, Tamia always knew that she wanted to study biology and the ways it could be enhanced with technology. Stories about the outbreaks caused by bioterrorists weren’t scary to her, no. They were inspirational!
Active Ability: Simple Biology - once per fight, she is able to locate an enemy’s weakpoint
Passive Ability: Do Not Create What You Cannot Destroy - ×2 DMG to non-bipedal B.O.Ws
Attributes

• Strength: 2
• Perception: 5
• Stamina: 3
• Dexterity: 4
• Intelligence: 10
• Luck: 6

4. [✓]

Name: Matthew “Matt” Heyward
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Major: Automotive Engineering
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 190 lb.
Friend(s): Tamia
Backstory: His family never was too happy that he moved out to California for college, but he’d never forget the good times he had back home. Fixing up the old Corvette with mama, shooting targets at the range with pa. That was the good life.
Active Ability: Don’t Tread On Me! - once per fight, enemies within ten feet of him instinctively move back rather than move closer
Passive Ability: Rifleman - +2 Dexterity when using a non-automatic rifle
Attributes

• Strength: 5
• Perception: 5
• Stamina: 5
• Dexterity: 8
• Intelligence: 2
• Luck: 5

5. [X]

Name: Noah Stratford
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Major: Theater Arts
Hometown: Sacramento, California
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 159 lb.
Friend(s): N/A
Backstory: Noah is a man dedicated to his craft. He was raised on the stage, hell, he believes he was born to be on the stage. Maybe the publicity of this trip will be his first big break?
Active Ability: Play Dead - he can act as if he’s been killed, though this does not work on the same enemy twice
Passive Ability: Break A Leg! - can walk on (minor) injured legs without an attribute penalty
Attributes

• Strength: 4
• Perception: 7
• Stamina: 5
• Dexterity: 6
• Intelligence: 4
• Luck: 4

ASHFORD ACADEMY

1. [ ]

Name: Bon-Hwa Bu
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Major: Mass Communications
Hometown: Busan, South Korea
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 145 lb.
Friend(s): N/A
Backstory: Born to a wealthy family in South Korea, Bon-Hwa wants nothing more than to fit into his father’s vision of normalcy. But there always seems to be something dark inside him. On the verge of frenzy, he’s barely able to contain his violent urges.
Active Ability: That’s Bone - once per fight, he can score a bone-snapping critical hit with a melee weapon
Passive Ability: Korean Psycho - +2 Strength when wielding a melee weapon
Attributes

• Strength: 8
• Perception: 3
• Stamina: 3
• Dexterity: 6
• Intelligence: 5
• Luck: 5

2. [ ]

Name: Hae Pung
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Major: Child Development
Hometown: Suwon-si, South Korea
Height: 5’1”
Weight: 125 lb.
Friend(s): Dong-Mei, Mark, Elizabeth
Backstory: There is no more gentle of a soul on the planet Earth than Hae Pung. Perhaps it’s because of the abusive childhood, but she does not want anyone around her to suffer in the slightest. Real lamb in the wolve’s den, this one.
Active Ability: Beast Whisperer - once per fight, a non-bipedal enemy will lose interest with the party and flee (does not work on the same enemy twice)
Passive Ability: Good Karma - +2 Luck for three turns after committing a selfless act (does not stack)
Attributes

• Strength: 4
• Perception: 4
• Stamina: 5
• Dexterity: 4
• Intelligence: 5
• Luck: 8

3. [ ]

Name: Mark Weber
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Major: Computer Science & Programming
Hometown: Kapolei, Hawaii
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 181 lb.
Friend(s): Hae, Elizabeth
Backstory: Mark has always lived life by his pace, deciding to try streaming video games rather than go to college like his parents wanted. After failing at that, Mark decided it was time for a drastic change. Moving countries and taking a major you hate is certainly a change, alright.
Active Ability: Bite of ‘87 - biting his own arm (without being seen) can convince intelligent B.O.Ws that he is already infected
Passive Ability: Edge of Sleep - +5 Perception if he stays awake for 24 hours without sleep/being knocked unconscious, -4 Perception if he stays awake 26+ hours
Attributes

• Strength: 6
• Perception: 5
• Stamina: 3
• Dexterity: 6
• Intelligence: 7
• Luck: 3

4. [ ]

Name: Elizabeth Jones
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Major: Sport & Fitness Administration
Hometown: Lethbridge, Alberta (Canada)
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 148 lb.
Friend(s): Mark, Hae
Backstory: Elizabeth was born to run. A track prodigy since she was a child, her parents pushed her all across Canada to show off her talents. But now she wants to settle down at one college, to escape her overbearing parents across the Pacific Ocean.
Active Ability: Run, Girl, Run - temporarily increases movement speed by 50%
Passive Ability: Pain Train - ×2 DMG with melee weapons while running
Attributes

• Strength: 5
• Perception: 3
• Stamina: 9
• Dexterity: 5
• Intelligence: 4
• Luck: 4

5. [ ]

Name: Dong-Mei
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Major: Fashion Merchandising
Hometown: Hong Kong, China
Height: 5’5”
Weight: 132 lb.
Friend(s): Hae
Backstory: Ever since she was a kid, Dong-Mei was thinking up and sketching new dresses, new looks that only the bold could wear. Since then her tastes have mellowed, but that creative spark has never left her. There’s nothing she can’t do with a needle and thread.
Active Ability: Stitch the Wound - when not in combat, she can sew other people’s (minor) wounds
Passive Ability: Fashionable Meets Practical - her clothes are able to resist knives and other sharp tools (does not protect from blunt-force trauma or bullets)
Attributes

• Strength: 3
• Perception: 6
• Stamina: 2
• Dexterity: 9
• Intelligence: 5
• Luck: 5

SPENCER UNIVERSITY

1. [✓]

Name: Edwin “Ed” Thomas
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Major: Law
Hometown: Blackpool, England
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 175 lb.
Friend(s): Brienne
Backstory: Cults have always been a mainstay in modern society. Edwin’s parents found purpose in old gods that didn’t exist, so thankfully for him, he got the hell out of that life. But he’s always felt someone was watching over him regardless, someone he doesn’t want around…
Active Ability: What Is Dead May Eternal Lie - upon activation, ×3 DMG against undead for three turns
Passive Ability: Cult of Personality - +2 Intelligence when speaking to strangers
Attributes

• Strength: 2
• Perception: 7
• Stamina: 6
• Dexterity: 2
• Intelligence: 6
• Luck: 7

2. [X]

Name: Brienne Samson
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Major: Music Education
Hometown: Aberdeen, Scotland
Height: 5’8”
Weight: 152 lb.
Friend(s): Edwin, Cara
Backstory: Born to a nice family, Brienne has never really known hardship. She was always the “mom friend” among her circle, taking leadership head-on. Her love of playing the clarinet was influenced by a childhood cartoon, but she’d never tell you.
Active Ability: Second Wind - upon activation, +3 Stamina for three turns
Passive Ability: Local Girl - will receive messages from the GM, gaining insight on the environment,, and culture of the locals
Attributes

• Strength: 5
• Perception: 4
• Stamina: 7
• Dexterity: 5
• Intelligence: 5
• Luck: 4

3. [X]

Name: Cara McMillan
Age: 27
Gender: Female
Major: History
Hometown: Belfast, Ireland
Height: 5’0”
Weight: 120 lb.
Friend(s): Brienne
Backstory: Cara was raised in the quintessential Irish Catholic family. She takes her faith seriously, and she finds the history of Western Europe to be immensely interesting. If only she knew she’d become part of it.
Active Ability: God’s Guidance - once activated, +1 to both Intelligence and Luck for three turns
Passive Ability: History Buff - will receive messages from the GM, gaining insight on historical events and locations
Attributes

• Strength: 1
• Perception: 8
• Stamina: 3
• Dexterity: 2
• Intelligence: 8
• Luck: 8

4. [✓]

Name: Johannes “Joe” Nkosi
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Major: Medicine
Hometown: Soweto, South Africa
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 190 lb.
Friend(s): Nikolai
Backstory: Who would have thought that a kid from rags would one day be on his way to being one of the best doctors in his entire country? Joe takes pride in his accomplishments, perhaps too much pride. But he has the skills to pay the bills.
Active Ability: Clear! - once per game, he is able to revive a dead player
Passive Ability: Expert Medic - +1 to both Dexterity and Intelligence when healing himself or another character
Attributes

• Strength: 2
• Perception: 6
• Stamina: 2
• Dexterity: 6
• Intelligence: 9
• Luck: 5

5. [✓]

Name: Nikolai Petrov
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Major: Military Technologies
Hometown: Chelyabinsk, Russia
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 232 lb.
Friend(s): Joe
Backstory: Raised on the hard streets of Russia, Nikolai turned away from a life of petty crime to join the military. He did well, earning the respect of his officers and fellow enlisted. Studying at university now, he hopes to return home a new man, one that will make his father proud.
Active Ability: Bullets Like Rain - able to craft handgun ammo with gunpowder and scrap
Passive Ability: The Russian Way - when inebriated, +2 Dexterity
Attributes

• Strength: 8
• Perception: 4
• Stamina: 5
• Dexterity: 8
• Intelligence: 2
• Luck: 3

 

[Darth Kain]

GM Update

IC: Jack O’Sullivan
Voluminous Wilderness, Scotland

The steady rumble of the engine was all that kept him sane.

To many, this part of Scotland would be considered quite beautiful. The hills rolled upon the land like waves of vibrant green. Mountains loomed in the distance, singing a silent siren’s song that drove any who heard to ascend to the heavens. Even the trees, spread thick across the landscape, appeared as green puffs of beautiful leaves from this distance. Blackbirds and tits chirped happily in those trees, having fulfilled their lives’ purposes in these wilds.

If only life was so easily fulfilled for Jack O’Sullivan.

He was born in Ireland, but moved to Scotland as a child when his nan passed. Most would blame their shite childhood on their parents, but not Jack. No, his parents did alright, considering the circumstances. He, however, had not done so well. Poor grades, poor social skills. It was as if he was destined to be stuck at a dead-end job for the rest of his days. First it was fast food, then it was a grocery store. Now? He was a fucking bus driver.

Buses were the worst vehicles ever invented, he swore it. Especially for driving out here in bumfuck nowhere, where the roads were barely wide enough to hold a golf cart, let alone a forty-ton tube of metal and depression.

At least this trip paid more than usual. He didn’t know much, just that he was driving some know-it-all university kids to a corporate facility out in the wilderness for a tour, along with some other bus that was supposed to carry the South Korean kids. Whichever corporation it was, they had to be stacked for this shite publicity stunt. And besides, who builds a facility this far into the mountains? Usually it’s people that don’t want to be disturbed. But this field trip, well, it was certainly going to be the disturbing type.

There were ten students on this bus, and some corporate lackey in a fancy suit to keep tabs on everything. Jack barely kept track of their faces, and their names flew in one ear and out the other, but that other guy, Mr. West… he was an odd one. Maybe it was just a gut feeling; after all, the man was impeccably dressed. He wore a perfectly-fitted gray three-piece suit, with a blue tie and small pin on his chest. It was in the shape of an umbrella, alternating in shades of sapphire and quartz. A thin pair of eyeglasses rested on his sharp nose, the lenses enlarging his silver eyes. His hair was swept back tightly, light blonde without a single strand unkempt. But Jack couldn’t help but feel uneasy around him. Maybe it was that look in his eye, like the look a scientist gives a lab rat.

According to the GPS, there wasn’t too much further to go. The road here wound around the side of the mountain in a narrow path, then the road would widen as they went downhill, where--

CRASH

Darkness.

Everything is spinning.

Darkness.

Everyone is screaming.

Darkness.

Everybody is dying.

Darkness.

* * *

A heartbeat. An opening of the eyes.

The smell of oil. The taste of smoke in the air.

The feeling of something in his forehead.

He felt it with shaking hands. Something protruding from the soft flesh. Something sharp. He pulled, and his skin pulled with it. He hissed as the glass was removed, blood pouring from the wound. The shard was the size of a nickel. He let it drop to the floor, shock beginning to take hold of him.

His breaths grew rapid. His eyes darted to and fro.

The doors to the bus had been torn off. The windscreen and most of the windows had shattered. A hole had been torn halfway through, bending the bus into a V shape.
Most of the students were twisted, contorted messes of blood and flesh. Some were stirring, groaning in agony and confusion. The man in the suit was gone. But someone else was here, in the center of the aisle, kneeling in front of one of the broken bodies. A student he didn’t remember, must have been.

They had landed right-side up, it seemed. It was all so difficult to process. Had he made too sharp a turn? Had they rolled down the side of the mountain?

A sound began to echo through the ravaged bus that drew Jack’s attention, one that he didn’t quite know how to describe. Something was ripping. There was dripping. Something snapped.

It was coming from the stranger in the aisle…

Groggy, Jack undid his seatbelt and grabbed hold of the chair, slowly getting to his feet. The stranger was thrashing about, suddenly, awkwardly.

“A-are you hurt?” was all Jack could manage to get out.

But then the stranger turned, methodically, towards the man that dared to speak to him. It was not a stranger. It was not even a man. It was more teeth than man. It was a monster, torn and frayed, dripping with the blood of the desecrated corpse that lay before it.



Its growl was the only warning it gave before it lunged at him.

TAGS: @Bril’Kairn, @Cardun Vrek, @Drakul_Xarxes, @Reatith Blodraald

OOC: The following characters are dead: Cara McMillan, Brienne Samson, Noah Stratford, Tamia Hargrove, Jon Jackson, Alex Rodriguez

The player characters of Matt Heyward, Ed Thomas, Joe Nkosi, and Nikolai Petrov are alive, and on the opposite side of the bus from Jack. I have rolled a d20 for each of you, to determine your injuries from the crash, with 1-5 resulting in a major injury, 6-10 resulting in a minor injury, and 11-20 resulting in some mostly harmless scrapes and bruises.

Matt rolls an 11, and therefore only has scrapes and bruises.
Ed rolls a 13, and also only has scrapes and bruises.
Joe rolls a 12, also avoiding any significant injuries.
Nikolai, however, rolls a 5. The resulting major injury shall be the loss of his ring finger and pinkie on his right hand.​

 

[Cardun Vrek]

IC: Edwin 'Ed' Thomas
Scottish Countryside


Ed sat huddled in his seat, pulling in his jacket closer towards him. Fucking hell, Scotland in the winter was cold. Way colder than England. Brienne had warned him, but he hadn’t taken her advice and bought a heavier jacket before they had left London. He didn’t want to admit to her she had been right, though. Brienne had an annoying habit of always being right, and Ed didn’t want to give her a chance to give the patented Brienne Samson ‘I told you so’ look. He glanced over towards her; she was sitting on the other side of the bus with Cara, an Irish girl who was from a very religious family. Ed’s parents had been religious too, but their ideas would’ve probably made Cara grab her crucifix and rosary beads and start praying for their souls.

He was glad to be away from them, even if it meant he had to live in the bloody South. He didn’t get Londoners. They always looked at him as if he’d just held up a severed head if he simply asked them for the time. That, and there were too many people always bustling about. He always felt like someone was watching him, waiting for him to go down a narrow side street alone.

Sighing, and pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he pulled out his phone, deciding he might as well scroll through Facebook to pass the time. He didn’t exactly understand why Spencer Uni had picked him for this trip, especially as he was a Law student and not studying for a Science degree. It had all supposedly been random, and his name had just come up out of hundreds, if not thousands, of potential students. He wondered what exactly they would see on this trip. Everyone knew Umbrella had done some really dodgy things in the past; everyone knew about Raccoon City, and the outbreak.

Supposedly, they had cleaned up their act, and whenever a news report came up about some sort of BOW attack, their name was mentioned as being involved in trying to help contain it. He was fairly confident that this whole thing was a PR stunt- hell, he was fairly confident his whole University was a PR stunt- and the presence of the corporate suit, there to oversee everything, cemented the conclusion that this was all being staged to get a good PR piece in the The Times, or the Daily Mail, or another Tory paper. Maybe they'd even invite the BBC.

He put his phone back in his jacket pocket, and took a look out of the window. The Scottish countryside was nice, but he wouldn’t want to get stuck out here. No wonder Umbrella had built a lab here, there were probably more sheep than people this far north. He turned around to face Brienne and Cara.

“Hey Brienne, how far away do you thi-”

CRASH.

He felt something hard hit him, and then everything went black.


***

Ed sat up. His ears were ringing, his head spinning. Everything was a blur. There was a funny smell in the air, the kind of smell you’d normally find at a petrol station. And his seat felt strange- the soft leather had been replaced by something much harder.

Wait, no, he wasn’t on his seat anymore.

He wasn’t on the bus anymore.

He was lying on the cold, hard, ground. As he moved, he felt a series of aches and stings. Something hot was running down his arm, and as he raised his hand, he saw drips of blood pour out from his torn jacket sleeve. He took a series of rasping breaths, trying to gulp in as much of the cold air as he could.

They had crashed. He had been thrown from the bus.

Where was the bus?

He looked round.

“No...no no no...fuck…”

The bus was on its side, with a hole torn out of it. Within the mangled metal, he could see bodies, twisted into horrible shapes, looks of horror etched onto the faces. He felt something rushing up from within his stomach, and he tried to turn his head away as vomit erupted violently from within. He could see three other people around him, and they looked to be alive, though one was badly injured. He vaguely recognised two of their faces from around campus, but the third was a complete stranger. But, Brienne wasn’t there.

“Shit...no…”

He forced himself to look back at the remains of the bus, at...them. And he saw her, lying next to Cara. Brienne was dead, one of the few friends he’d actually managed to pick up whilst in London. He felt a pang within his stomach, but this one had nothing to do with vomit.

He felt numb. Everything around him seemed to stop.

With trembling hands, he picked up his phone out of his pocket, trying to steady his breaths.

The phone screen was cracked, the background picture flickering wildly underneath the glass.

“Fuck off...fuck this…”

He tried to bring up the emergency screen, hoping to dial 999 and get some help out here. He didn’t even notice the movements of the other survivors.


TAGS: @Darth Kain, @Drakul_Xarxes, @Bril'Kairn, @Reatith Blodraald

 

[Bril'Kairn]

IC: Matthew “Matt” Heyward
~Countryside-Scotland~


As the countryside rolled on Matt sat in his seat with a playlist going through his headphones. Scotland was the third place he had been in his life and as far as he was concerned it was the fucking worst. It was bitterly cold and most of the trip he spent trying not to shiver in his flannel lined denim jacket. Texas never got this cold and from what he experienced neither did California. He buttoned up his jacket as bagpipes began playing in his headphones signaling his favorite song.

Tamia had decided to take a nap since the trip would take a while. How anyone could sleep with this damn cold Matt didn’t know. While he had time to kill, he decided to try and send a text back home to mama. Just to let her know everything had gone well so far and that he would call her as soon as service was better. It took a bit to get it to go through but he was glad it did.

Mama would see the message when she saw it. Knowing her she was probably still in the shop round this time. She always was one for cars even if it meant staying up late to get the job done. Suppose that was what drove his own interest in college. Being a grease monkey was what he knew growing up so he might as well take it further.

As the song drew to an end, another favorite of his, this one from Merle came on. Matt lifted a bottle to his mouth and spit his chew into the empty bottle. The residual taste of mint remained in his mouth for a moment before it began to fade. He looked out the window at the rolling countryside. Pretty as it was, it all looked the same after a while and he was beginning to grow bored.

From what Tami told him, this whole trip was some big publicity stunt by Umbrella. To him it sounded like they drew names from a fucking hat. He was going to school for mechanics not to be some Dr. Farnsworth wannabe. The only reason he agreed to attend the trip was because of Tami. Yet here she was sleeping and here he was bored and out of his depth.

Matt turned to wake her but before he could something happened.

CRASH.

Everything started spinning as everyone started screaming. Before he knew it everything went black.

***

Matt groaned lightly as he opened his eyes slowly. His head was pounding as he tried to sit up. Slowly but surely he looked around as his vision came back. The bus looked like it rolled with a huge hole ripped out of it just in front of where he was sitting. Just what the hell had happened?

He stifled back his breakfast as he noticed the bodies of the other students. His eyes fell on Tami and his heart nearly stopped. Slowly he moved over to her.

“Tami, c’mon now wake up,” he said as he cradled her in his arms and tried to check her pulse. “Please wake up.”

It was no use. She was gone. Tears began to well up and run down his face. Slowly he set her down and closed her eyes. Her jacket landed near her so he took it and covered her.

It took some effort to stand, everything hurt like hell after all. Slowly he made his way to the hole ripped out of the side of the bus. To his surprise and relief he saw one of the other students outside the wreckage. When Matt hit the ground, he felt every injury he had sustained.

“That’s gonna fucking hurt later,” he grumbled to himself.

He pulled himself to his feet, feeling awkward in his Ariat boots trying to walk and stumbled towards the other student. Matt didn’t recognize him but that didn’t matter much now. The smell of vomit hit him and he gagged.

“Hey, buddy, you alright?” He asked.

TAGS: @Darth Kain, @Drakul_Xarxes, @Cardun Vrek, @Reatith Blodraald

 

[Reatith Blodraald]

IC: Doctor Joe Nkosi
Scotland

He wasn't paying attention when it happened. Joe's friend Nikolai was telling a story from his home, but so fast that no one could understand him with that thick accent. Joe nodded and smiled as he daydreamed about his latest procedure. It was one of the most complicated cases of conjoined twins in the country, no one else had the balls to even try and he, 'Doctor Nkosi,' did it in half the expected time frame and with perfect results, especiallyat his age while still going to college. He even threw in some preliminary plastic surgery from his younger days for flair, just to show off.

What were their names again? He thought to himself. Oh well, I will read about it in my magazine later..

And just like that the bus was airborne. glass breaking, metal squeeling and screams filled his ears. Without thinking the Doctor tucked his hands away to protect them and curled into his seat. He breathed slowly, keeping calm as he was thrown around. He felt metal impact his flesh and glass shards dig into him, but he suffered no catastrophic injuries. The instant the world stopped spinning he stood up to assess his surroundings only to find his friend clutching his hand and the two bloody stumps on it. The Doctor acted quickly, tearing a strip of his shirt off to wrap around his friends hand all while looking for his fingers in the mess around them.

"Not a bad welcome to Scotland don't you think?"
He said to Nikolai, trying to get a laugh out of him. "Any idea where your digits are my friend?"

~~~

TAGS: @Darth Kain, @Bril’Kairn, @Cardun Vrek, @Drakul_Xarxes,

 

[Xarxes]

IC: Nikolai Petrov
Scotland

This trip would have been so boring without alcohol.

Thankfully, Nikolai never left home without at least one flask. Today, he had two. One was already empty. Certainly not enough to inebriate him, but sufficient to make his day a bit more enjoyable. He'd turned to his friend Joe to explain how when he was younger, a "field trip" had meant skipping school to go to the outskirts of Chernobyl to watch the military scientists from afar and, if they were lucky, see a weird-looking animal or two. Of course, as he had grown he enjoyed the same activities, though then with alcohol and maybe even some food.

He could tell Joe didn't really care. He tended to get into his head a bit when Nikolai spoke with any alcohol with him, as his accent would start jumbling his rushed words in English, but the Russian had come to accept this and talked all the same. When Nikolai started anything, it would take him a while to stop once proper acceleration was reached.

The crash was definitely enough to stop him this time.

***

Any effects the alcohol had immediately wore off as Nikolai came to, sprawled across what remained of the seats. If he were a weaker man, he likely would have started hyperventilating. But this was a Russian, and his first thought was his vodka. He sat up and his right hand darted to his jacket pocket, feeling for the lump above his heart. Good, still there.

What wasn't still there were two of his fingers. In fact, blood was spurting from them. He let out an iconic "blyat" as Joe approached him, beginning to tend to his wound. He said something, but Nikolai didn't even notice, He was too busy looking at the ugly fucker that was dripping blood from its jagged maw and looking his way. Instinctively, his left crept to the closest object, a length of metal pipe, gripping it tightly while his right hand was bound.

"Joe," he said, his voice grating now, "I think we have a bigger cyka to worry about."

TAGS: @Darth Kain @Bril'Kairn @Cardun Vrek @Reatith Blodraald

 

[Darth Kain]

GM Update

IC: Jack O’Sullivan
Bus Wreckage, Scotland

His thumb brushed desperately against the cracks, the jagged spider’s web threatening to take hold of the ridged flesh and spill his blood. The screen behind the broken glass was a strange, almost alien assortment of color, a rainbow put into a blender and then trapped beneath a shattered ceiling. There was no signal. There was no hope for rescue. Not here.
Edwin would no doubt see the movement out of the corner of his eye, a fellow student come to see if he was alright. But Matt… Matt would see something that Ed would not, not with his back turned to it.

At the top of the hill, at the beginning of their descent from the road to the base of the mountain, something was standing. It was not a man, not anymore.
The brute had to have stood over two meters tall. It stood bare, its rippled, muscle-bound flesh plagued with a grotesque assortment of popped veins and bizarre scars. A mouth of razors took up nearly half of its comparatively small head. Its massive arms hung low like an ape's, ready to tear through man and bus alike, it appeared. Whatever this brute was, it was absolutely monstrous. Horrifying.

And it was heading this way.



Inside the bus was its own horror. The blood-soaked creature had lunged for the poor bus driver as two of the students struggled to mend their wounds. It swiped a clawed hand for the man’s throat, but Jack had narrowly avoided the blow, falling down the steps of the bus and slamming back-first against the shattered doors. The thing hissed like a dissatisfied cat, toying with its meal. He cried out in fear as the beast turned towards him, eyes wide with hungry rage, before it meant to pounce on him again.

TAGS: @Bril’Kairn, @Cardun Vrek, @Drakul_Xarxes, @Reatith Blodraald

OOC: The L-Viral Stage I rolls an 8 in its attempt to break Jack’s DC of 9. It fails, and there is no need to roll for damage.​

 

[Bril'Kairn]

IC: Matthew “Matt” Heyward
~Countryside-Scotland~

The guy on the ground seemed to be trying to get his phone to work. Probably trying to call some sort of emergency services. Matt never even thought of trying the same. A quick pat down of his pockets revealed his phone was gone. His wallet and can of Copenhagen were still there though.

Voices behind him caused him to look back for a moment. They were coming from the bus. A wave of relief washed over him. He and the other student weren’t the only survivors. Looking back to the other student, Matt noticed something else before he could say anything.

Off in the distance, at the head of the ascent up the mountain, it stood. He shook his head for a moment to make sure he wasn’t seeing things but there it was. Built like a goddamn silverback and running full speed ahead. The problem was the fact that it was headed their direction. Instinctively, Matt thought to run.

Looking down at the other student, Matt stuttered some as he spoke. “Hey, bud, y-y-you sho-should get up. Right f-fucking now.”

He stuck his hand out in case the guy needed a hand getting up. His eyes kept locked on the the beast charging for them. A single word managed to escape his lips.
“Fuck.”

TAGS: @Darth Kain, @Drakul_Xarxes, @Cardun Vrek, @Reatith Blodraald

 

[Cardun Vrek]

“Fuck!”

Ed threw the phone to the ground in frustration. Fucking Scotland. Of course there would be no signal. He became aware of a noise around him, and he looked up. A man was standing there, but not someone Ed recognised. Must’ve been one of the Americans.

“Hey buddy, you alright?”

Ed didn’t say anything. He just looked back at the bus, unable to think straight.

This had to be a nightmare. Surely, he’d wake up in his bedroom back in London, and his problem would go back to being affording the ridiculous rents in London.

But, no.

As much as he willed it to happen, it did not.

This was actually real.

Fuck.

He could hear other voices coming from the bus. It looked like other people had survived. Maybe they had a phone that didn’t have a shitty network.

“Hey, bud, y-y-you sho-should get up. Right f-fucking now.”

Ed looked up, the other student was looking at something in the other direction, seemingly with a look of disbelief. He offered his hand to Ed, who looked round to see what had freaked the other guy out.

Something was charging towards him. Something impossibly large.
Something out of a nightmare.

Jesus, let this be a nightmare.

“FUCKING HELL!”

He shouted the exclamation instinctively, trying to scramble to his feet so quickly that he fell back down. He got to his feet on the second attempt, and then turned to face the stranger.

“W-where do we go?” He asked, his voice breaking in-between panic stricken breaths. The pain was gone. A surge of fear induced adrenaline was pulsing through him.

Fuck it. No time to lose. They had to run. There had to be somewhere around here they could find help.

“Come on!”

He started running as fast he could in the opposite direction that the thing was coming from, desperate to get away.

TAGS: @Darth Kain, @Drakul_Xarxes, @Reatith Blodraald, @Bril'Kairn

 

[Xarxes]

IC: Nikolai

"Kurwa!" exclaimed the Russian, jumping up from his seat and grasping the pipe in his hand, seeing at once both the rushing creature and the thing attacking the bus driver. In a sober but adrenaline-fueled frenzy, he dashed towards the hole in the middle of the bus, leaping out to head off in the direction opposite of the beast charging them.

He hated the idea of leaving survivors, but even as dull as he occasionally was, there was no denying that this wasn't the time to play the hero. It was run or die now, and he highly doubted he could take on both creatures alone when everyone else was running too.

Besides, beneath the adrenaline, these things kinda scared him.

TAGS: @Darth Kain, @Cardun Vrek, @Reatith Blodraald, @Bril'Kairn

 

[Reatith Blodraald]

IC: Doctor Joe Nkosi

The look on his friends face said it all. Joe whipped around to see the lumbering creature headed there way, just in time to hear Nikolai curse and start running. Not wasting a beat, Joe shoved his medkit and supplies into his backpack and did his best to keep up with the muscle bound Russian ahead of him.

"NIKOLAI!" He shouted between breaths, "what's...... the plan!?"
~~~

TAGS: @Darth Kain, @Bril’Kairn, @Cardun Vrek, @Drakul_Xarxes,

 

[Darth Kain]

GM Update

IC: Jack O’Sullivan
Bus Wreckage, Scotland

There were no heroes here today. Only those that would survive, and those that would not. And thanks to that instinctual desire to live to fight another day, it would appear that Jack had been left to die today.

The creature snapped its mighty jaws for him, held back only by his rapidly-weakening grasp. And so it adapted. Rather than biting for his throat as it originally intended, the beast turned its head to the side, sinking its vicious mandibles into his flesh. Its teeth rent tissue asunder. The poor bus driver cried out in agony as a chunk of meat was ripped from his forearm, greedily swallowed by the monster.

What he did next was out of pure instinct, the adrenaline-fueled rush of a man trying to survive. He pulled it backward, towards him, towards the jagged glass of the broken bus door. The gambit worked, or so he had believed, as the thing found itself impaled through the eye on a protrusion of broken glass. The Irishman broke free, scrambling up the steps in a mad dash for the same exit that the others had taken before him. But the creature was not dead. It removed itself from the door only moments after the driver’s escape, drawn by the scent of fresh blood.

The others were far ahead of him now, having dashed into the forest lying just beyond the wreckage of their transportation. No doubt their minds were flooded by nothing but the sounds of their own heartbeats, the pounding of their footsteps, the roar of the brute as it charged from the mountainside. Was there any escaping these monsters, this nightmare? This had to be a nightmare, right? There was no way any of this could be real. Those stories of bioweapons and Umbrella, those had just been things that happened to other people. It could’ve never actually happened to them, right?

What had they gotten themselves into?



The four would find themselves regrouped at the edge of a clearing, having dashed through the brush without a fuss. Lying before them was a road, with more forestry lying beyond. They could follow the road to the left, which seemed to lead further north, into the mountains where the Umbrella facility was meant to have been. That was meant to be the only semblance of civilization for kilometers on end. But they could, of course, head right, to the south, which would eventually lead them to a town somewhere if they kept to it long enough. The forest beyond was another option, of course, and it was more likely they could lose their predatory pursuers if they went that route. But what would lie in those woods? How could they know?

Either way, they would need to make the decision quickly. Those monsters were not going to be far behind.

TAGS: @Bril’Kairn, @Cardun Vrek, @Drakul_Xarxes, @Reatith Blodraald

OOC: The L-Viral (Stage I) attempts to bite Jack, and rolls an 11, surpassing Jack’s DC of 9 and succeeding. A subsequent d10 is rolled to account for damage, which nets a 4. Jack’s health is reduced from 20 to 16. He is suffering from a Bleeding Effect, which will lower his HP by 1 for every round he does not treat his bleeding wound.

Jack attempts to smash the zombie’s head into the broken glass, rolls a 19, and succeeds. His damage roll is also 4, reducing the L-Viral (Stage I)’s health from 10 to 6.​