Post by JPThunda on Jul 5, 2016 1:16:47 GMT
Alright, here's my first character of (at least) two, complete! I give you Benji Scott.
And for ease of reading, his backstory...because reading all of that in one excel cell is just a pain.
I do have three questions regarding Benji, though. Firstly, would it be acceptable to assume that a Cooking Set would contain something that can be used as a crude melee weapon, like a small kitchen knife? Secondly, while I did spend all of his starting funds now, if this character is chosen would it be ok to change-up which food he picked up, and how much, based on people's starters and preferences? And lastly, is the cost of any sets like the Cooking Set modified in this setting? Because 1000 is a lot of our starting cash. XD
Thanks, and I hope you like the character! Of course I appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism.
And for ease of reading, his backstory...because reading all of that in one excel cell is just a pain.
Benjamin Scott, or Benji for short, was born in the caravan a little over ten years ago. As this caravan was, by and large, the last remnants of human society, bringing new life into the world was an event worthy of celebration, even moreso than it had been in the past. Children represented the future of not just their society, but of all humanity, and with so few left remaining, each life was precious and cherished. Benji was born healthy and squealing, and without incident, and his parents Fred and Janice couldn't have been happier. They watched their son grow for eight years without any hint that anything was wrong. It was a hard life on the caravan, but Benji was perfectly normal. He played with the other children, he laughed and squealed, he cried when he skinned his knees. He was a happy, healthy kid in just about every way. He was nice, kind, outgoing, and helpful, particularly when it came to finding lost things. Then the seizures started.
A few months after Benji's eighth birthday, while he was out playing, he started to complain that his head hurt. Thinking it was just a headache, or possibly the onset of a small illness, his parents sat down with him to rest, but instead of getting better it got worse. Benji's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he began to convulse uncontrolably. The seizure lasted for less than a minute, but for his horrified parents it seemed like an eternity. When it was over Benji was unconscious and unresponsive, his eyes flitting about frantically beneath his closed lids and they took their son straight to the caravan's doctor. The doctor examined Benji thoroughly, but could not find anything wrong with the boy. Benji stayed with the doctor throughout the night, his parents standing vigil over him. Occosionlly he would twitch in his sleep, or make some frantic, distressed noise, but for the entire night he did not wake.
As horrifying as this was for his parents, it was perhaps worse for Benji. Although he did not understand it, something had stirred deep within the young boy, and manifested itself that day...and Benji was seeing a vision of the distant past. The steel towers and silvered-glass building of the old world, before Arceus came and smote humanity for its hubris. A peaceful world of green grass, blue skies, and plenty for all. The wonders of science and technology unfettered...and then, its total and complete destruction. The fires that raged throughout the cities, the collapsing skyscrapers, death on a cataclysmic scale. War, desperation, depredation, starvation...the total annihilation of a civilization. In that night, Benji was given a front row seat to the end of the world, and he couldn't look away or close his eyes.
When he awoke the next morning, Benji was terrified. All he could do was curl up in a corner, a look of wide-eyed horror on his face. He couldn't find the words to describe what he had seen, or what had happened to him...in fact, he couldn't find any words at all. He could hear, and understand, and write...but he couldn't bring himself to speak. He just sat, huddled in a corner, for three days.
His parents, and the doctor, were worried about his behaviour, but could find no way to console him or calm him down. It must have been, the doctor supposed, that a case of heat stroke had left Benji mute, as that was the only thing he could fathom, and perhaps some fever-dream had left him so terrified. Eventually, after the sharpness of the vision began to wane, Benji started to get back to normal. He was more skiddish, more easily frightened, and still mute, but he was acting like himself again. After a month or so of relative normalcy, his parents thought that it had been just a one-time event...and then, while helping his mother prepare a meal, Benji had his second seizure. This time, although Benji would not know it for a few days, it was a vision of the future. Simple enough, he saw his mother accidentally cut herself with a kitchen knife while chopping up vegetables, and though the seizure bothered Benji and his parents, it did not leave him terrified like the first had. Then, a few days later, when his vision came true, though...Benji was scared. He couldn't explain what was happening, he didn't understand it, and couldn't even easily communicate it. He didn't know what to do, or what was wrong with him. Had it happened because of his seizure, or was it going to happen anyway? He didn't know, and didn't know how to ask.
When the third and fourth seizures happened, it became apparent that Benji was not getting any better, and that this was something he was going to have to live with. As he tried to adjust to his 'disorder', though, he faced other challenges. People started to talk, wondering aloud what was wrong with the boy...and was it contagious? Could someone catch it? What was worse, they did so right in front of Benji without thinking. Already a quiet boy, and now mute, people simply didn't notice him...at least, not until he ran past them, tears in his eyes. Parents started telling their children to stay away from Benji, for fear that that would 'catch it'. Losing his friends, Benji became very depressed...but at least the pokemon still liked to play with him, in particular a small, purple Nidoran his father caught for him that he simply named 'Nid'.
Benji was ostracized for about a year until, when nobody else 'caught' his seizures, parents started letting their children play with him again. In the last year, Benji has been happier...though he still doesn't speak, or laugh, things have been better...at least until the First Sons came. Benji had another seizure, just days before the attack, and he saw it all. The strange men attacking their caravan, killing everyone, killing his parents...killing his friends. He was scared, but by now Benji had realized that what he saw almost always came true. He tried to warn his parents...tried to warn people, but they dismissed it. "It was just a nightmare, sweetie. No one is going to attack us, and we're not going anywhere."
And then the attack came.
Having seen the attack, Benji knew what was going to happen. At first he tried to find his parents, but in all the chaos he couldn't. Eventually, hugging Nid tight and sobbing silently, Benji hid beneath one of the carts...a spot where he knew the First Sons wouldn't look. After the screaming stopped, Benji lay curled up beneath that cart for a long time. Had they come here because of him and what he saw, or was it going to happen anyway? Why couldn't he save anybody? Was he cursed? Was he just bad luck? Why did this happen?
Eventually, with so many unanswered questions, and no more tears left to shed, Benji crawled out from underneath the cart and started to walk around, looking for anyone that might have survived. There were so many dead people...his friends...their parents...people his parents knew...people he had known all his life. It made him feel terrible and awful...he didn't understand why it had happened...he didn't want to believe it had happened...he wanted to believe that it was going to wake up any minute now, but he knew he wouldn't...and he felt so lonely.
As he searched through the wreckage of the caravan, he made his way to the food cart, where he had spent so much of his time cooking with his mother. It was a mess, things strewn everywhere. Something inside Benji, maybe survival instincts, told him he would need to get what he could...he would need to eat...and almost without thinking, Benji grabbed a big food sack and started filling it with anything he could find. Small pots and pans, little knives, any food that wasn't dirty or spoiled, and as much water as he could. It was heavy, and hard to carry, but he put on the backpack and got out of the cart carefully. As he got out of the cart with Nid, he still couldn't believe his eyes...everyone was gone, and he didn't know where to go next or what to do. He just knew he needed to see if anyone was still alive...and to get safe. So he started walking through the wreckage of the caravan, looking for anyone else that was still alive...and his parents...
A few months after Benji's eighth birthday, while he was out playing, he started to complain that his head hurt. Thinking it was just a headache, or possibly the onset of a small illness, his parents sat down with him to rest, but instead of getting better it got worse. Benji's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he began to convulse uncontrolably. The seizure lasted for less than a minute, but for his horrified parents it seemed like an eternity. When it was over Benji was unconscious and unresponsive, his eyes flitting about frantically beneath his closed lids and they took their son straight to the caravan's doctor. The doctor examined Benji thoroughly, but could not find anything wrong with the boy. Benji stayed with the doctor throughout the night, his parents standing vigil over him. Occosionlly he would twitch in his sleep, or make some frantic, distressed noise, but for the entire night he did not wake.
As horrifying as this was for his parents, it was perhaps worse for Benji. Although he did not understand it, something had stirred deep within the young boy, and manifested itself that day...and Benji was seeing a vision of the distant past. The steel towers and silvered-glass building of the old world, before Arceus came and smote humanity for its hubris. A peaceful world of green grass, blue skies, and plenty for all. The wonders of science and technology unfettered...and then, its total and complete destruction. The fires that raged throughout the cities, the collapsing skyscrapers, death on a cataclysmic scale. War, desperation, depredation, starvation...the total annihilation of a civilization. In that night, Benji was given a front row seat to the end of the world, and he couldn't look away or close his eyes.
When he awoke the next morning, Benji was terrified. All he could do was curl up in a corner, a look of wide-eyed horror on his face. He couldn't find the words to describe what he had seen, or what had happened to him...in fact, he couldn't find any words at all. He could hear, and understand, and write...but he couldn't bring himself to speak. He just sat, huddled in a corner, for three days.
His parents, and the doctor, were worried about his behaviour, but could find no way to console him or calm him down. It must have been, the doctor supposed, that a case of heat stroke had left Benji mute, as that was the only thing he could fathom, and perhaps some fever-dream had left him so terrified. Eventually, after the sharpness of the vision began to wane, Benji started to get back to normal. He was more skiddish, more easily frightened, and still mute, but he was acting like himself again. After a month or so of relative normalcy, his parents thought that it had been just a one-time event...and then, while helping his mother prepare a meal, Benji had his second seizure. This time, although Benji would not know it for a few days, it was a vision of the future. Simple enough, he saw his mother accidentally cut herself with a kitchen knife while chopping up vegetables, and though the seizure bothered Benji and his parents, it did not leave him terrified like the first had. Then, a few days later, when his vision came true, though...Benji was scared. He couldn't explain what was happening, he didn't understand it, and couldn't even easily communicate it. He didn't know what to do, or what was wrong with him. Had it happened because of his seizure, or was it going to happen anyway? He didn't know, and didn't know how to ask.
When the third and fourth seizures happened, it became apparent that Benji was not getting any better, and that this was something he was going to have to live with. As he tried to adjust to his 'disorder', though, he faced other challenges. People started to talk, wondering aloud what was wrong with the boy...and was it contagious? Could someone catch it? What was worse, they did so right in front of Benji without thinking. Already a quiet boy, and now mute, people simply didn't notice him...at least, not until he ran past them, tears in his eyes. Parents started telling their children to stay away from Benji, for fear that that would 'catch it'. Losing his friends, Benji became very depressed...but at least the pokemon still liked to play with him, in particular a small, purple Nidoran his father caught for him that he simply named 'Nid'.
Benji was ostracized for about a year until, when nobody else 'caught' his seizures, parents started letting their children play with him again. In the last year, Benji has been happier...though he still doesn't speak, or laugh, things have been better...at least until the First Sons came. Benji had another seizure, just days before the attack, and he saw it all. The strange men attacking their caravan, killing everyone, killing his parents...killing his friends. He was scared, but by now Benji had realized that what he saw almost always came true. He tried to warn his parents...tried to warn people, but they dismissed it. "It was just a nightmare, sweetie. No one is going to attack us, and we're not going anywhere."
And then the attack came.
Having seen the attack, Benji knew what was going to happen. At first he tried to find his parents, but in all the chaos he couldn't. Eventually, hugging Nid tight and sobbing silently, Benji hid beneath one of the carts...a spot where he knew the First Sons wouldn't look. After the screaming stopped, Benji lay curled up beneath that cart for a long time. Had they come here because of him and what he saw, or was it going to happen anyway? Why couldn't he save anybody? Was he cursed? Was he just bad luck? Why did this happen?
Eventually, with so many unanswered questions, and no more tears left to shed, Benji crawled out from underneath the cart and started to walk around, looking for anyone that might have survived. There were so many dead people...his friends...their parents...people his parents knew...people he had known all his life. It made him feel terrible and awful...he didn't understand why it had happened...he didn't want to believe it had happened...he wanted to believe that it was going to wake up any minute now, but he knew he wouldn't...and he felt so lonely.
As he searched through the wreckage of the caravan, he made his way to the food cart, where he had spent so much of his time cooking with his mother. It was a mess, things strewn everywhere. Something inside Benji, maybe survival instincts, told him he would need to get what he could...he would need to eat...and almost without thinking, Benji grabbed a big food sack and started filling it with anything he could find. Small pots and pans, little knives, any food that wasn't dirty or spoiled, and as much water as he could. It was heavy, and hard to carry, but he put on the backpack and got out of the cart carefully. As he got out of the cart with Nid, he still couldn't believe his eyes...everyone was gone, and he didn't know where to go next or what to do. He just knew he needed to see if anyone was still alive...and to get safe. So he started walking through the wreckage of the caravan, looking for anyone else that was still alive...and his parents...
I do have three questions regarding Benji, though. Firstly, would it be acceptable to assume that a Cooking Set would contain something that can be used as a crude melee weapon, like a small kitchen knife? Secondly, while I did spend all of his starting funds now, if this character is chosen would it be ok to change-up which food he picked up, and how much, based on people's starters and preferences? And lastly, is the cost of any sets like the Cooking Set modified in this setting? Because 1000 is a lot of our starting cash. XD
Thanks, and I hope you like the character! Of course I appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism.