Featuring a motley crew including:
- The ExPat An ex-patriot Floridian-turned-Serbian and his loyal canine companion addled with salivation control problem. He possesses dogged determination to a fault and generally shuns the company of other humans. The ex-pat himself can metabolize cheese at an astonishing level of efficiency, giving him a burst of both strength and stamina. What drives him is a genuine thirst for knowledge and the sharing of this wisdom to all who will listen.
- The Brainiac A super-coder that developed his own operating system used infamously by guerrilla forces opposing the remnants of the United States Federal Government, He wields a custom-made broadsword that says "TEMPLUM" along the blade. This virtuous tech-head seeks old technology including the fabled "Arr Tee Ex" processor, renowned for its' raw number-crunching capacity.
- The BossHog A former convict whom miraculously survived Mexican prison. With a substance abuse problem and two extricated children out in the world hanging around his neck like an albatross, he hopes the treasures in this pre-collapse tower will alleviate his financial woes (and let him party hardy at the same time). A stout hand-to-hand combatant, even if running long distances is not his strong suit.
- The Reporter A former podcast and online talk show co-host leaned on to give a "female perspective" of the various politicking taking place around the world, this attractive woman was once an ardent defender of her party line until a fateful encounter with a pre-collapse gossip forum turned her to--what her former constituents would call--the dark side. As a result of stepping away from party dogma, her career imploded. In having studied piles of "gossip", she believes there were grains of truth among the baying and howling of the forums' contributors. She may possess draconic knowledge, including the weakness, of the being which inhabits the Tower. Her goal: uncover her suspicions, prove to the world she was right, and springboard herself back to the top of the podcast charts.
Antagonists include:
- The Dark Lord of the Tower An enigmatic figure shrouded in mystery. Rumored to possess an other-worldly constitution and a preternatural connection to shadowy, less-tangible forces of the world.
- The Lawyer A former celebrity litigator of critical acclaim who, after being seduced by the money and influence that often accompanies fame, had a meteoric fall which is still reference material today as a lesson of "what not to do" with your infamy. Has an unclear past relationship to The Expat, who he blames wholesale for his downfall.
- The Beauty A rotund woman who, post-collapse. created a sort of commune for like-minded (and like-bodied) women. They, for reasons to be determined, worship the ground she walks on and pay tithes to her with regularity. She seeks the riches of the tower for herself and has enlisted the clandestine loyalty of one member of the adventuring party.
- The Witch A lover scorned, Hell itself spat her out in utter fear of her enduring wrath. Rumors swirl around this woman, claims of a steamy romance once kindled with The Dark Lord of the Tower. As a reward for her physical tryst, she was gifted with a small taste of the power shared by her purported Lord. She has, on occasion, been seen by onlookers constructing crude effigies and chanting alien rituals whilst out on her regular trips to the deep forests. Vengeance and roiling hatred flow through her veins, corroding her every thought and driving her to exact revenge upon her once-soulmate.
- The Goddess An individual whose connection to Akashic Records has elevated their perception beyond the ken of most mortals and as a result they have cast aside such trifles as gender, politics and public perception. The Goddess seeks to bring balance to the world, an eternal tug-of-war between maligning forces and acts of empathy, in order to avert a cataclysmic event known as the Dimensional Merge. Once rumored to be one of the most documented people in the history of mankind, that information was lost in the fires of The Collapse. The Goddess is the principle charter of the excavation of the Tower.
The journey will begin in Charlottesville, Virginia, where the Goddess has gathered our 4 wayward souls and petitioned them to cross the now-dangerous stretches of post-Collapse North America and uncover the "Black Essence" inhabiting the Tower. The adventure will see our group cross the various Commonwealth territories which now make up the post-Collapse United States and the vast cultural differences between each Commonwealth until they finally reach the former Casper, Wyoming in the Pacific Northwest Commonwealth.