Kolerin: UNDERGROUND

KOLERIN STORY ARC FOUR: UNDERGROUND



- Main Concept -
- Kolerin is reconstructed for the most part, with cities being constructed enough for people to begin living normal lives. Rubble still lays here and there, a constant reminder of what had happened, and the severely decreased population of the country is just another ghost hanging over their heads... Kolerin's population has been cut in half, with the percentage of supernaturals dropping to an all-time low after the massacres led by the Sect. However, a new era is dawning, one that begins with a hopeful return to civilized life as the residents of Kolerin are given comfortable homes, opportunities for employment, and a new government system that honors the Devashrouds for their bravery in constructing the Safekeep, which still stands as a monument in memory of this war, for later generations to tour. Programs are opened up to help Kolerin residents find work, finish their education, or even acquire college-level education so occupations that require more knowledge can be filled (doctors, engineers, teachers, etc). Of course, there is never complete peace in Kolerin... a new shadow is forming in the background, one based in the anger of what remains of the supernatural people, who had to suffer imprisonment, torture, and the deaths of their loved ones at the hands of the Sect...


- Important Places -
- New Redwillow - The reconstructed version of Redwillow, which is more of a large town than it is a city. Towards the center of the city, there are apartment buildings and businesses, ranging from grocery stores to corporate buildings to movie theaters, and near the edges it thins out to provide larger, suburban homes with backyards, trees, and room to raise a family. This is the city where our characters now live.
- The Safekeep - Now a historical landmark, the Safekeep is left untouched, and still rests only miles outside New Redwillow. It has been closed off with fencing to keep people off the property.
- Old Sect Labs - The laboratories rest in rubble and shambles after being destroyed, but the grounds where they stood are left untouched, as though haunted by the hundreds of thousands of people who died within their walls.
- The Redwillow Graveyard - The place where the original Redwillow City stood has been converted into a massive graveyard. Building rubble is still scattered here and there, but the flat land has been coated in fresh earth and lined with graves. Not every grave has a body, considering how many bodies had been incinerated by the Sect, but the place was still constructed to provide a resting place for those lost. It is fenced off but does have several entrances for people to enter and pay their respects. It is tended to by a large squad of grave-keepers.
- The Kolerin Forest - The forest, or what is left of it, still encircles this entire area on one side, but it is now a quiet place. The old Devashroud camp no longer stands, since the Sect destroyed that part of the woods.


- Important Institutions -
- The Government - Of course, Kolerin is still allowed to govern itself, once it gets back on its feet... Though, the only form of authoritative figures still living are the Devas. Thus, while there is no President or single ruler as of yet, there is a Council, similar to what existed within Safekeep. Some Devas (along with NPCs to handle what we don't feel like RPing) make up the Council that now looks after Kolerin. Outside influence is still very strong at this point, since Kolerin is unable to function on its own.
- The Council - Characters who may be in the Council (if you want) include; Lance, Roy, Ruth, Flare, and Shiloh. That's all I have right now, but feel free to suggest others of yours. They MUST have some sort of reason for being on the Council, and need to be at least 18 years old. The characters above have already had leadership roles, and/or represent a unique group of people living in Kolerin. These people aren't expected to run the country, but are honorary members of the government who do have some say in things when they want to.
- The Underground - This will be the new "Sect" of sorts, pretty much just a ragtag group of supernaturals, often existing in separate groups and penetrating scientific institutions. They retaliate against the suffering they endured for years at the hands of the Sect, introducing the ideas of "supernatural pride" and "mundane hate." The reason they are commonly called "The Underground" by government officials is the rebirth of the underground Mod black-market. Fearful, angry supernaturals begin to want to make themselves stronger, while their non-supernatural family members find themselves wanting to be Modified to be stronger as well. They want to ensure something like the Sect can never happen again. The insecurities of the severe lack of supernaturals only makes things worse. 


- About the Time Skip -
- It would maybe be a 3-month time skip. Characters who are injured recover, and those who just met are now better friends. (Like Flare and Felicity, etc.) 
- KEEP IN MIND THAT NOTHING IS PERFECT. Reconstruction has made things livable, and they have electricity and stuff, but no business is fully developed, namely big ones like Lance's! It will take time, and it could be fun to experiment with RPing during this stage. It'll take years for things to be fully rebuilt (from a logical standpoint, and we aren't skipping years), but people can at least live relatively normal lives, even though workers from outside countries are still around to help run things. There are now schools, too, so kiddos can get back to school.
- A sort of "baby boom" will be occurring, as people finally feel safe enough to start families and are no longer afraid of what could happen to supernatural babies. Adult couples and characters can of course have children, just make sure that BOTH RPers of the parents are okay with it. And no 9-month time skips... if you get a character pregnant, expect to wait a while. Sue was pregnant for at least 2-3 real-life months during each of her pregnancies. Short time-skips, like only a few weeks at a time, are okay, but let's not get carried away.
- Supernaturals are now a severe minority, but instead of being discriminated, they are being protected. Special health clinics have opened to see to supernaturals, particularly young ones, or people who were tormented or mutated by the Sect. Laws have been put in place against supernatural hate crimes and discrimination. Those who break these laws are persecuted without hesitation. Still, supernaturals are expected to behave themselves. No using your powers to destroy towns. If you break a building, you'll get in trouble for it. Also avoid maiming people. This isn't an anime, if you send someone flying into a building they will be severely hurt or die. Try not to get carried away with your characters.
- It Will Be Mid-to-Late Spring After the Time-Skip. We never made it completely clear what season it was, but I remember we were mentioning it was starting to warm up, I believe. So the month is probably late in April or early May, to give you an idea. It's warm, but not hot, and still rains quite often, and nights can still be chilly. But flowers are beginning to bloom, and leaves are returning to the trees.


DA RULES --


(We will now be using a basic rules list. While we do not have any disciplinary actions for broken rules, we do expect they be followed. It just makes everyone's experience more fun.)

1) Of course, be polite and courteous to all members here. We do things as a group and respect one another. Disagreements will crop up, but they should be handled civilly.

2) Swearing is okay, but try not to be dropping f-bombs in every post.

3) No graphic scenes involving sexual activity or excessive gore/violence.

4) There is no tolerance for anything having to do with sexual assault. Do not include it in RP, writing, and please avoid it in backstories. It's okay to have a "creepy" character who can get too up close and personal (like Sven was), but no actual sexual assault please. We have some young members here, and it's just overstepping a boundary. We're trying to keep things PG-13, here.

5) Avoid "anime physics." Throwing people into walls and having them be okay, demolishing buildings in one fell swoop, sending people flying, etc. Try to keep physics somewhat realistic, even though this is a fantasy/sci-fi RP.

6) Powers are limited to 2-3 per person, and should not be "OP." No being able to control other people's minds/bodies, etc. Your character can have up to 2 powers if they are unrelated (like having an elemental ability and healing), or up to 3 if they are closely-related powers (telepathy, telekinesis, and going "ethereal," all psychic-type powers).

7) When designing characters, try to avoid going overboard with the colors and such. No lime green cats with pink stripes, orange hair, blue wings, and purple eyes. Tone down the colors and try to only use 1 or 2 unrealistic colors per character. (Slightly unrealistic colors, like an ice blue, are sort of middle-ground. Characters who are birds or part-bird may of course be more colorful, considering how colorful many bird species are. Try to make their species recognizable with their coloring.)

8. Mammalian species are advised, but some birds and reptiles are accepted. Characters who are birds/reptiles should have traits of their species. Birds should have beaks, flimsy bones, etc. Snakes should not have legs, though they may have arms. Aquatic characters are not advised, since they have to stay in water. Only use species that actually exist! (I know we say "griffin" when talking about Alpha, but he's just a cat/bird hybrid, not an actual griffin from mythology.)

9) When creating hybrids, try to keep it with only two species mixed together, or three at the most. Balance natural strengths and weaknesses.

10) There is not a character limit, but avoid creating swarms of ignored characters! Each character should have a "purpose," whether it's a main RPing character you use often (like Roy, Lance, Laura, EJ, Flare, etc), or a "secondary" or "background" character that isn't used as a main character, but is useful and relevant. For example, Ruth is a frequently-used secondary character who is there for convenience; she's a doctor, and like family to some of the characters. Very young children are considered to be secondary characters since they don't add much to the plot, but can spice up your character's life.

11) It is okay to have your character get pregnant, but there are rules to doing this! Both RPers of the parents must be okay with it, and agree on who designs/RPs as the kid. The kid should resemble its parents in appearance and powers, preferably. The genetics behind powers are explained fully for the novel, I can provide this explanation if we want to use it here, too. No "hyper-aging" with child characters. They can't go from being newborns to being toddlers immediately. Tiny infants don't walk and talk. Pregnancies should last at least one real-life month. Not everyone can have twins/triplets/etc, so please don't overdo it on the multiples.

12) Try not to overdo the tragedy. Avoid overusing "meaningless death" and giving your characters a million disabilities that make them miserable people.

13) You may not include anything that has to do with the Sonic universe.

14) Ask if you want a new character to have some importance relevance to the plot. (Be a leader figure in a bad guy group, or related to Julianne, etc.)

15) No random mass destruction! Huge events should only have to do with the main plot. You can have smaller plots among characters without blowing shit up. XD

16) I know character pairings are a big thing in this group (ALL THE SHIPS), but keep in mind that if your character is nasty/antisocial, it might be hard for them to get in a ship. It's nothing against you, it's your character. Not every pairing will work out, and relationships naturally take time to develop. Enjoy the RPing! Don't push it to go by fast! 

17) Posts should be relevant. Pay attention to what other people post, and avoid one-line posts unless you really can't think of anything. Please try to use proper grammar/spelling/punctuation/capitalization.

18) If you have any problems regarding the group, contact me via PM. I've sort of accidentally taken on a leadership role in the group and don't mind helping resolve disputes or answering questions if you're not sure if something is okay. (I'm also kind of one of the oldest, haha. Big sister Chirpy is here.) This particularly goes to any newer members we get, now that we're open to accepting new people.

19) Don't steal/plagiarize anything! No taking art off of DeviantArt that you didn't draw and saying it's what your character might look like. It's okay to use line-art and such, but credit whoever made it just to be considerate. Please don't base any characters off of anime characters or anything like that; be creative and original!

20) New rules may be added if issues appear! Feel free to suggest anything, or, as mentioned above, ask if you may want to bend a rule or ask a question. Not every rule is very strict!


- Please Please Please -
- Always ask if you want a friend to join... It's awkward when a "new member" pops in, posts once or twice, and then disappears, especially since the others of the group might not be welcoming or okay with the new person or their RPing style (anime-physics are still a no). It's just polite to ask the rest of us before letting someone else join. The group is so well-developed that it's hard to accept a new RPer. I've been upset by this is in the past, and I know I'm not the only one who kind of awkwardly doesn't know what to do with one of the random people that are invited on here. 


- An Important Reminder -
- We are a group, and we do things and RP together. If you have an idea for a big plot device, even if it doesn't involve everyone, please let us all know before you do it, just so we can all agree on what's going on and when. If you would like to suggest a larger time skip (a month or more), ask the rest of us first! We want to be somewhat on the same timeline. If you're bored at any given point and nobody else is ready for a timeskip, develop some characters you haven't used in a while, think up some personal cuteness or drama, or even make a new character. It is advised you create an OOC post (all on its own, with no RPing in it) in bold lettering if you have something important that everyone needs to read. For example:
- (Hey guys, just wanted to know if we could skip maybe six weeks? Let me know if you're okay with this sometime soon.) -
OR
- (I'd like some bad guys to break into Lance's office building and steal something. Anyone want in on this? Maybe it can have something to do with the Underground?) -
- Notice how it's all on its own, not mixed-in with a roleplay post. It just makes it easier to notice for those not involved in the given roleplay. For example, tagging this onto a post with some Shalpha might make Pluto and Sil skim over it and not see it. Wait for some responses (they don't have to be in bold, too, now that the suggestion is already easily noticed), and go from there. I think this is just a simple way to do things to keep everyone on the same page! It also helps enforce some roleplays involving more than two people!


- A Personal Note --

Seriously start RPing among you three more often. (More Pluto-And-Sil stuff, Blueh-and-Sil stuff, etc.) It's always quiet here when I'm not online! Revive some neglected couples, have some new ships, or just have characters build friendships, work together, babysit one another's kids, something! Thankees. It's tough being relied on so much for both plotline and just everyday RPing. (I like having stuff to do, but don't like being the ONE person everyone else needs to do stuff, too! It's a little stressful, and makes me feel bad if I think I'm neglecting someone. Let's avoid that, please. I will outright refuse to RP too many things at a time if I start getting stressed out.)

(Save)

During the passed three months, a lot has come to pass. For Zero he almost wished this hadn't come. He was pacing about in this somewhat small dressing room, back and forth, to and fro, sweat beading on his forehead and thoughts racing through his mind. Among him were familiar faces at least, faces and people he'd grown to really cherish and wouldn't want to being doing what they were about to do without them to witness. Something started to itch. Oh gods! The tie! The ermine rushed over, staring at his reflection in the mirror, he was right! His silver tie wasn't straight! Frantically, and somewhat afraid of accidentally tearing it off, he adjusted it so that the full Windsor Knot was centered on the button of his white collared shirt, which lay under a dark purple blazer. His trousers felt a tad loose so he adjusted the black belt just a smidgen so that the matching pants didn't slip. This was it! His nervous breakdown!

"I can't do it, guys!" Zero said tossing his hands in the air and continuing to pace around the room absolutely loosing it. He said he'd only ever get married one time! Swore it up and down, and now that it was happening the ermine was having a million second thoughts wash over his mind like a tidal wave.

Roy watched Zero pace back and forth, and pinched the bridge of his nose-- annoyed, Roy said somewhat irritably, "Zehro, I swear to fuckeeng God, we deed not do all zis shit for nozeeng. And eef you fix your tie one more fuckeeng time I'm ripeeng eet off your goddamn neck." The said bat sported a violet bowtie, with his light brown hair tied neatly in a braid that rested on the nape of his neck.

"Gah! Why is this so stressful!!!" he snapped almost headbutting the desk-mirror combo that he'd spent his time adjusting his tie in front of

"W-what if I trip? What if I'm not on my A-game...WHAT IF I FUCK UP THE VOWS?!?!" He was going into full on panic mode now.

"Okay Zero, you're going to be fine. You're going to be married to someone who you love very much. So chill out!" Calvin said. He had to fly around the room so that people could at least look him in the eye.

"I am litairally zis close to puncheeng you een ze face, and zen zere would be no weddeeng at all!" Roy growled, hazel eyes narrowing as he almost glared at Zero. "You're goeeng to be fuckeeng fine. Shut eet."

(ZERO YOU BASTARD. DO NOT BACK OUT OF THIS YOU HAVE A SON WITH THIS WOMAN.)

Meanwhile, Evey was nervous in a much calmer sort of way... she was sitting on a little stool in front of a vanity, while two or three of her bridesmaids fussed over her hair and makeup, trying to make her look as perfect as possible. She kept just wringing her hands, taking deep breaths and trying to keep her cool. Her baby, Libra, was the only male in the room at the moment, being carried around by Laura; as an important Shepherd, and with her boyfriend being a groomsman, Laura had been dubbed one of the bridesmaids. And she had fallen in love with little Libra, distracting herself by coddling the baby while some of the other girls fussed over Evey.

Zero slumped into a chair, head in hands and shaking really badly, "I-I want to do this right...and I'm sitting here with a billion things on my mind."-he huffed a sigh- "I really want this to go perfectly. But knowing my luck...some other extremist will wipe out the world again."-just as a precaution he rapped his knuckles three time on the hard wood top, so as to cancel what little superstitions he had.

"Don't worry you'll be fine." Flare said calmly. She was the one who was helping Evey with her hair since makeup wasn't really her thing. As usual Flare didn't seem to be nervous or even angry despite her bridesmaids dress not being in her favorite color. "Try and think about how happy you'll be." she suggested.

---

"Dude, chill. If you keep worrying about things that you shouldn't even be thinking about then you're really going to mess yourself up. Think about how beautiful Evey is going to look and that you're going to spend the rest of your life with her." the midget bat said. He knew that if Zero kept going on like this then he might pass out from being so worried.

"Hell, even if you do fuck up, you're already married to Zero." Roxy didn't look up from Evey's face as she worked on Evey's make up-- the chinchilla was currently bare foot, as she kicked off her feels so her feet wouldn't die halfway through the ceremony, "Technically, at least."

---

Roy made a face at Zero, and spoke, "...Deed you really need to say zat?" Three months had passed since the fall of the Sect, but it still sent shivers up Roy's spine. He tried not to think about the bad memories that name brought upon him.

"Irrational thoughts, I'm sorry Roy." the stoat replied waving his hand dismissively. He smiled a little bit, "Tch, speaking of that, I love how our final fight was kinda the same deal. One shot to do it right or we're all dead. And here I am more stressed about this than I was back then."

It was hard enough to talk about their fighting the Sect for those years. Most of the living Devas had at least some form of PTSD, be it minor, like Zero's, or major like others. They lost friends, and family, but now that was over. It was at this point that Calvin's words clicked in his brain. He stood taking a breath.

"Calvin's right though, the more I stress the more likely I'll mess up. Today's supposed to be a happy day! It's gonna be great..." -he turned back to the mirror, "OH DAMN YOU TIE!!! STAY FREAKING STRAIGHT!!!"

(Would Zero know that Stone and Scotty are homosexual? I ask cause I was originally going to have him make a comment about it but 1 they aren't here and 2 I didn't exactly think it'd be a good idea.)

(Yeah, that would probably be a bad idea... I mean, Zero might, but to be honest, I feel like he would he a little dense about it. XD)

Roy continued to give Zero a somewhat distasteful look, but he ended up sighing and running a hand down his face when Zero started freaking out again. "Dear Gods, Zehro... Eef we could fuckeeng take down ze Sect, I zink you can do zis."

(Zero doesn't really know them personally, but it's not like they don't act like a couple... Anyone who saw them would know that they were together. I imagine Scotty has a thing with holding Stone's hand pretty much all the time when they're out. XD So he might know, or might not, or might just be dense about it. XD)

Evey was surprised by how calm Flare was being, but didn't comment on it, instead giving Roxy a little smile at her comment about them already being married. "We have a marriage contract, yes... but all we did was sign our names. It didn't have the same feel as a wedding, you know?"

----

EJ wandered over to the other men in that moment, able to hear the shouting from the main area where most of the guests were hanging around. "Is everyone okay in here...?" Despite many attempts that morning to comb his hair relatively smooth, his head was a fluffy mess again; Anna and Rachel had given up on it at last, leaving his head alone. There just was no taming the amount of floof all over the little cat.

(Aw, that's cute. >u<)

"Oh yeah, of course-- I'm just saying, there's literally no way for him to back out, not that I'm saying he would." Roxy replied, pushing some of her hair out of her face so she could work on Evey's face without it bothering her, "Hell, it's nice to see someone get married..."

---

"Besides ze fact Zehro can't keep 'is sheet, zhust peachy." Roy replied to EJ, his arms crosses over his chest as he gazed over to the cat.

(Do you want to have them be here, or do the thing with them at the hospital, recovering from their surgeries, like Sil suggested? Because feels. e3e)

Evey glanced up at Roxy's face, her smile growing a little bit. "What about you and Jonah? Have you talked much about your future?" It was honestly nice to see the white-furred wolf so happy, considering how miserable he had been ever since he became the cyborg he was now. He had thought himself a monster, but now had a chance at a real life.

Laura walked over in that moment to sit Libra on his mother's lap, since he had been calling for her. "Here you go... I think he's bored and tired."

The white-furred ermine smoothed her little boy's violet hair, matching hers, and let him lean against her stomach for a nap. Libra was only a year old, and still needed a nap or two throughout the day, or else he would be crabby.

(Baby Libra in a t-shirt with a tuxedo pattern on it. XD That's so what he's wearing, with some nice black pants. So it looks like a tux but isn't.)

-----

EJ gave a small smile and shook his head, walking over to stand beside Roy. "If it was you, you'd be acting the same way. There's going to be a lot of attention on them today, and they never did have an actual ceremony before."

(I don't know... The latter gives me emotions. I think I'll go with them recovering from surgery... ouo' And there's also their father, Dream, that I wanna bring back as a side character.)

Roxy blushed a little, the redness standing out against her grey fur. She admitted, "Well... Not in a marriage way, but we've been planning on opening his restaurant again soon... Together. That's all we've really been planning lately. I'm honestly excited."

---

Roy blushed slightly, his ears twitching, "Okay, okay, I know... Zhust, someone needs to put some bloody sense eento 'im."

"Of course I'm right. Your tie is fine, you shouldn't worry too much." Calvin said. Zero just wasn't calming down enough, so he didn't notice EJ was there until the young cat spoke. "Don't worry EJ, we'll make sure to calm him down. Sorry about the screaming." he apologized.

---

"You should be, it's great that you two are going to be opening a new business." the orange cat told Roxy. It was very rare for Flare of all people to be acting calm and nice, but if anyone said a word about it her nice attitude would change in a snap. "I'm almost done with your hair, soon everything will be ready." Flare said.

"Thank you, Flare... That's kind of you." Roxy replied, smiling a little to the orange cat. "Jonah's really done most of it, to be honest."

(Just because there's nothing planned for marriage between you and Jonah doesn't mean he hasn't thought of it. e3e

Roxy: o////o?????)

Jonah: I have no idea what she's talking about Roxy. >////>" 

Yes you do! XD)

Zero stood and started pacing around the room again. He gave himself one last look in the mirror.

Okay, Marshall, this is it: the big time. All your friends say you can do this. The Sect was way more difficult than this! 


He huffed a breath.

"Alright, let's do this before I descend back into panic mode." Zero said turning to face the groomsmen here.

(He's acting a lot like I was when I went on my first roller coaster. XD

Zero: :p )

(e3e Yes you do.

Roxy: o//~//o?????)

"About time." Roy replied, somewhat relieved that Zero stopped freaking out for the time being, "Now, eef you don't walk down zat altair, I'll litairally carry you eef I must. Let's go."

"Don't worry...hopefully my knees won't give out." he pointed out now smiling ever so slightly.

He proceeded to the door to their dressing room, and headed out of it. The stoat hadn't seen his wife all day, which was exactly how things were supposed to be.

~

Meanwhile, Lance was helping oversee the final touches for the ceremony. There was an arch with a grand marble alter sitting behind it. Atop it sat two vials of sand. One was full of beach sand while the other had obsidian dust in it. Between them was a third vial, this one was larger but at the moment empty. It was symbolic, or at least it would be when the ceremony started. Lance looked at his watch.

"Man...where the heck is the pastor?" he muttered. Lance was dressed a bit differently from the groom to be and his groomsmen. His jacket and trousers were a dark navy blue instead of purple and his tie was a deep red color. His hair had just been but recently so it was much neater than usual. He's also shaved the fuzz that had been building up on his face for the passed few years...boy was that a chore.

The ceremony would be starting soon, and from what he could see most of the guests had already arrived.

Ali was among them, dressed in a conservative grey dress, sporting a matching pair of somewhat short heels. It an already semi tall dragon appear just a bit taller (in other words she's currently about Sasha's height). Weddings were never her forte, she always felt weird, being here alone. The only reason she was even present was because that wolf guy, Umbra, invited her. Where he was now was beyond her. She kinda just sat around, patiently waiting for things to get rolling.

(The sand thing, my aunt and uncle actually did at their wedding. All will become clear once we start. >w< )

(I have no idea what it is, but whatever it is, I hope it's cute. XD)

"'Opefully eesn't exactly reassureeng." Roy replied, watching Zero leave the dressing room, before turning to the rest of the groomsmen-- they weren't exactly his best friends, but he knew them all by name. He checked his watch, "We steell 'ave a few minutes before eet starts. Let's go. We shouldn't keep zem waiteeng."

Alright Zee! This is it! The big day has finally come!


As he thought this his knees started to shake. A mix of nerve racking panic and the excitement of a child on Christmas morning was coursing through his body.

"Don't worry everything will be fine." Viola said. Since she wasn't a bridesmaid, she had been invited by Lance. Of course she was wearing a red dress, but this time it had some floral patters on it that were a darker red color. She wasn't wearing heels since that would make it harder for her to walk around so she was wearing flats. She was happy that two people were getting married, even though she had never met them.