The Fall

[zaneko]

It was called Baal; a massive meteor shower that shocked the planet in a series of powerful strikes. Several cities fell to the initial salvo, several more hit by the ecological side effects of tidal waves and earthquakes. But that was cake compared to what happened next. From the craters scattered around the world, greenish gray smoke spewed forth. For a week the smoke, with scientists dubbed the Baal virus in relation to the meteor shower, spread over the globe before mysteriously fading away. A day after that, billions of people worldwide, including many animals, fell sick. A period of suffering followed and the world screeched to a halt in the face of the sheer magnitude of the epidemic. Despite all efforts, those sick, save for a very small fraction, appeared to die. Or so they thought. While a large portion of the dead dissolved into a dust like substance, many of the stricken underwent drastic changes, becoming more beast-like; small ridges of bone jutting from the spine of some, teeth and nails growing into fangs and claws. They lost the powers of higher thinking and developed a craving for human flesh. The survivors called these the remnant drones.

Less than 30% of the world’s population remains. Of this, the largest portion are the Remnants; feral beasts with a craving for flesh, and enough cunning remaining to get the human variety, though cursed with lethal photo-sensitivity, most turning to dust after a few minutes of direct sunlight. There also exist the Remnants; those unaffected by the virus, being completely immune to the virus. Another group is the Touched. Touched possess abilities beyond those of a normal human, closer to that of the ghouls and drones. But having the Baal virus affect them still has its side effects, most notably the fact that the Touched gradually turn to dust on their death. The last group is the Untouched, humans who escaped contamination from the Baal virus altogether.

In short, the world we knew has fallen from it’s peak since the Baal incident two weeks ago. Power grids are falling all across the battered continent that is North America. Though it has only been a little more than two weeks since the Baal virus first started spreading. The few survivors have been heading to the cities, where food, shelter and relative safety from the nocturnal creatures can sometimes be found. With remnants abounding, their venom tainted with the Baal virus, the Touched fear the dose that will turn them into complete beasts and the Untouched fear contact at all. People have been roaming the countries, never staying in one place too long, others are banding together to live. How will you survive?

[spoiler=Strains]
Remnants- the mutated majority of the human race. Pale skinned, long nails and fangs; they are vicious omnivores, leaning to carnivores. They crave flesh, and find that of the untouched and the touch to their liking. Somewhat difficult to kill due to the Baal virus, decapitation works best. Several shots to the heart or head works as well. Gradually decay into component material (generally called dust) after death in less than an hour. Fatally photosensitive, they burn in direct and bright light. Sunlight works best for this. They generally avoid light. Curiously, distorted light, like that through murky cloud cover, does not harm them. They carry the Baal virus in their saliva and blood. The ones commonly encountered, called ghouls, are cunning, but animal like, but a few survivors have spread warnings of smarter and stronger remnants around...

Touched- those who survived the infection due to partial immunity. They always carry some mark (often spiderweb like) as evidence of their partial infection and sometimes have some minor mutation such as enhanced senses, fast healing or a biological quirk. They also have weaknesses similar to the Remnants. The greater the ability, the more weaknesses they have. Like the Remnants, they decay into dust, but at a much slower rate, about a day. They can become Remnants if their infection grows stronger than their resistance. The mark they carry can generally be used as a scale. Interestingly, if they are infected, it slowly fades, but it never fades past the original infection. Some Touched eventually degrade into remnants given time.

Untouched- the normal humans. They are completely immune to the Baal virus.

Animals- though they were not affected in the spread of the virus, more and more mutated animals have been spotted. No one knows what is causing this to happen. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Rules]
You are allowed Multiple characters, but only one touched per player (and don't be surprised if I have one killed)
No Godmodding
No Powerplaying
No Metagaming
No Posts Under 4 Lines
All Other YCM Rules
My Word is Final (I am your god)[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Applications]
[code]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]

[b]Appearance:[/b] what you look like. Pic or text, your pick.

[b]Personality:[/b]

[b]History/Bio:[/b] tell a bit of your past. And drop in how you survived so far (and how you got to the city)

[b]Strain:[/b] Touched, Untouched
[b]Career:[/b] Your job before the Baal incident. Student counts.
[b]Hobbies:[/b] Up to two

[b]Equipment:[/b] Remember that you will be often on the move. That limits what you can carry. But you can explain your way around it...

[complete only if Touched]
[b]Baal given abilities:[/b] something the virus caused (enhanced senses, battle sense, ‘spider senses’, hyper metabolism, heat resistance, etc, etc)
[b]Side Effects:[/b] some abilities require a down side
[/code][/spoiler]
[spoiler=My App]
[b]Name:[/b] Zachary Tames (Zach)
[b]Age:[/b] 23
[b]Gender:[/b] male

[spoiler=Appearance][img]http://i52.tinypic.com/nzf4mf.jpg[/img][/spoiler]

[b]Personality:[/b] Zach is determined and headstrong. Reckless and resolute are too good words to describe him. He has a tendency to trust others and likes being depended on. Since the Fall, he has hardened somewhat. He believes that the remnants are sad abominations against god. He has no qualms about killing them, seeing it as releasing them from their pain and sufferings. He is ot deeply religious, but he was raised in a religious family.

[b]History/Bio:[/b] Zachary is a brilliant and talented young man. He recently graduated from university with a broad knowledge in the fields of physics and engineering. For the past three years, he has been working as an intern in a research facility. He was primarily assigned to the Experimental Physics department, but has done work in most of the lab. He learned a good deal from his job and was rather skilled at technical projects.
The facility did some research on the Baal Virus, and discovered that it was susceptible to denaturing by heat and was also weak to acids. During this testing period, the majority of the staff fell victim to the virus. Of the seventy plus staff, half died, three were immune, two were Touched and the rest became ghouls. The survivors killed most of the ghouls, but experimented on many, adding to the pool of knowledge of the ghouls and their weaknesses. For three days they kept in contact with the rest of the world through the survivors at local broadcasting stations until that too fell to the ghouls.
Soon after, a large number of ghouls attacked the lab, and only Zach and another Touched co-worker escaped, though he degraded into a ghoul within a few hours. Killing him, Zach headed to the nearby Walmart, seeking shelter in its well lit interior. He knew that he could only survive so long there that the ghouls would gather, waiting until the lights faded, so he made his plans. He stocked up on supplies and took a crossbow from the warehouse as a weapon, then drove one of the workers car away until he ran out of gas. He has been travelling by bike since then; sleeping through the brightest parts of the day, travelling dawn and dusk and either camping out in secure places or fighting his way through the night.

[b]Career:[/b] Lab technician
[b]Species:[/b] Touched
[b]Hobbies:[/b] Parkour, Cooking

[b]Equipment:[/b] backpack w/(change of clothes, gloves, bandages, aspirin, lighter (4), solar battery charger, solar patio light [6], 8x8 tarpaulin, flashlight [2], blanket, compound crossbow, crossbow bolts [12], water bottle, dried food, nylon rope, fishing spool [4]), hunting knife, bicycle w/(axe, water bottle, crossbow bolts [9], kerosene), flashlight, canvas sack w/(a small mutant rabbit carcasses [food])

[b]Baal given abilities:[/b] somewhat enhanced sight (especially night-vision,) hearing, reaction and balance; partial hyper metabolism (enhanced strength when used)
[b]Side Effects:[/b] sensitive to bright lights and high pitched sounds. Headaches if enhanced strength is used continuously.[/spoiler]

[zaneko]

Bump

[CrystalCyae]

Sounds cool...

Name: Crystal Diamondan
Age: 15
Gender: Female
Appearence: Waist length brown hair, green eyes with a blue streak, wears a short sleeved purple t-shirt, and wears a pair of torn brown pants. Black sneakers.
Personality: Fast reacting, quick-thinking. Flamboyant.
Bio: Before the fall, Crystal lived in Northern California, with her mother and two sisters. She often would come home VERY late due to staying back at school to do after-school classes for the Smart. In her free time she was usually found near a computer. The Fall: When all the metorites fell from the sky, everyone in her family (and by everyone, I mean EVERYONE; brothers, cousins, ants, everyone) except herself and her youngest sister was killed, due to the fact the house was struck, and the two girls were hanging out at the mall looking at dresses. The mall where the two girls were was luckily not struck. When they got home they were devestated to find the house gone, with a GIGANTIC meteor in its place. When the greenish grey smoke came, Crystals sister was one of those that fell dreadfully sick. Crystal, luckily, was not affected by the virus at all. When her sister started to mutate and become a Remnant Drone, Crystal was her first target. Crystal was badly injured, but she punched her still mutating sister in the face and sprinted for her life.
Strain: Untouched.
Career: Student
Hobbies: Doing school work, reading books.
Equipment: a small backpack filled with a sleeping bag, three packets of pre-cooked noodles for her once-a-day meal, a pentknife, a compass and a pocket atlas. Also, on her belt, she has a proper knife, a meat knife to be presise. It is her weapon. Oh, and don't forget the first-aid Kit!

[zaneko]

Accepted