Game Log - Raphael

• PROLOUGE: FROM THE GM

The shaggy man sat himself on a park bench in the fresh cool air of morning. The long bushy white hair might have been blond in his youth, or brown, or red. A long walking stick sits behind him on the bench. A ragged looking large dog of some mongrel breed sleeps on his back below the bench, legs akimbo, showing that he is without doubt an uncut male.

Around him was the early bustle of a city in the desert filled with people of a familiar style; urban, technological, digital, and blissfully unaware at the dangers in the universe next door.

A passerby sneered at his unkept attire. Uncertain if it was rags of a once proud uniform he kept his tongue. A woman with a child in a stroller and one on foot pass the ancient man without a second glance. The walking child turned and stopped, looking at the man. He hands her a twist of cord that she slips over her wrist absentmindedly. Looking at the girl he sees down the paths of her life into tragedy and illness and crippling pain. He nudges the cord to pulse on her wrist. Looking down her life path he sees tragedy and a life of migraine headaches and drug abuse. He pulses the cord again. Her life path slips into frequent migraines, a series of cancers, and a fair career as a singer. The cord pulses. The life path includes occasional migraines, a bout of cancer that costs her a foot but also includes several happy children, a loving, if eccentric and occasionally unfaithful husband and a rich and famous singing career ending in a peaceful death surrounded by loving family, mourned by millions of fans.

"BETHANY!!! Leave the bum alone and get back here."

The girl looks quizzically at shaggy man. "Are you a bum?"

He smiles, "Trust not too much to appearances. You will do well if you read a lot."

She feels the cord pulse. He looks and her life includes migraines, family, fame, the eccentric unfaithful husband, and a lifelong obsession with reading she spreads to others through song and story. He nods as the girl runs off to her mother, hiding the cord from her lest she have it taken away.

He withdraws an apple and chews it as people pass him, ignoring the old man. As he gets up and walks on he spits the seeds casually, usually to the disgust of passersby and to the future annoyance of park gardeners who can't seem to dig the apple trees out, root or branch. The shaggy man laughs as he thinks of the fruit trees he leaves everywhere he goes. Knowing he can pass from plant to plant, world to world, through any plant he has spit out such ways.

Stepping to a nook of bushes, he stands, looking around the park. Some might think he urinates but they would be wrong. When he leaves a small bronze gold replica of his foot is left behind. Unnoticed by millions, and found by happenstance by one person who will soon tread paths they had never known before.

• BACK STORY:

Call me Raphael. This is not the name I was given by my birth mother. Nor is it the name I was given by my Adoptive Parents, my legal name; the name that shows on my Birth Certificate and is registered with the Government... but it is the name that I chose to be called... now. In the latter part of 2019 the media and politicians called it 'a problem overseas'. In the early part of 2020 when it 'arrived on our shores' they called it 'a Pandemic'; initially we were told by The Experts to 'self-quarantine and isolate', which many did... but 'The World has to keep moving', so not everyone could. Masks were mandated and social distancing was observed... mostly.

It was then that I was first a bit fearful. But I did my research and this 'new' virus was no more deadly than Influenza, though it did have some nasty lingering effects for a fair percentage of those infected that did not die from their initial exposure. My fear subsided, but still I was cautious and paid attention to the statistics and read reports... and trusted in my knowledge, my diligence with PPE and 'possible exposure'... and 'my luck'; so I avoided getting 'the vaccine' almost to the point of losing my job.

Over time new variants of the 'new virus' came and vaccines were invented and many got vaccinated, but it was still possible to contract and spread the new virus, even after receiving vaccinated. Booster shots were recommended so many more got vaccinated and boosted. But each time a new variant was found, the new virus got more virulent but also less deadly and less symptomatic, and more mild on those with symptoms. Most stopped wearing masks in public places, but I was still cautious, and many who had remained unvaccinated decided to remain so... as did I. But I get ahead of myself... as I often do. Perhaps I should start from the beginning.

I was adopted at birth by a husband and wife that were having difficulty having children of their own. They had already adopted another son a few years earlier from the same agency but different mother than I. Though I was adopted, in my early 30's I did discover who my biological mother was and I have met her, but not my biological father. I live on what I would call, from a 'Gamer's Perspective', a 'Modern Day Earth World' were I grew up well educated in sciences, mathematics, reading & writing, arts and literature, and I was also ill-educated and programmed by TV shows and news and such as well.

I spent a lot of time reading lots of books, especially fantasy and sci-fi; Roger Zelazny was my favorite author... I met him once at a Sci-Fi Con when I was in my early teens. I also played lots of games; board, dice, cards, etc. with my family and their friends. Then I got into RPG's, in my late pre-teens with my friends; started off as a Player, later became a DM/GM. Later on in life I got into playing and GMing Amber Diceless RPG, both in person and online... even downloaded the entire wiki for my current ADRPG online game. Hehe.

Before my fascination with RPG's & reading, TV & movies began, I developed a love for the outdoors and camping, as well as hunting and fishing. My adoptive parents were frequently getting me outdoors for weekend and summer vacation camping trips, since I was 6 months old in fact; they were avid campers and outdoors people. I learned much about the outdoors... and while on these wilderness excursions I also pickup the love of throwing knives and axes... which soon was no longer reserved to just the camping trips... or the backyard... and later grew to include other throwing weapons... I was rarely to be found without some sort of small knife or throwing weapon on my person.

I also got involved in LARP during my younger years, when my body could handle it. I discovered that I was naturally good at armed and unarmed combat, in a controlled and somewhat choreographed way. A bit later after that I hung out with some new friends at Fighter Practice with the local SCA groups; there I got involved in and learned a lot more about more realistic combat.

When I was a young teen I also took some martial arts classes for self defense, but was always advised to never use in unless absolutely necessary. I started with Judo, then learned some Karate, then some basics with weapons like the staff, sword and chain. As well as fight knives and more throwing weapons; spikes and stars.

I joined the Army National Guard at the age of 17, with the permission of my parents, for a four year contract in order to gain some basic military skills and some spending money while completing high school and starting my 'adult life'... I only barely avoided active wartime service by a very narrow margin of time.

Though I became a Legal Adult at age 18, it's said that our 'adolescence' doesn't end until our early to mid 20's... and that mental illness sets in during the early 20's... how interesting... anyway. I was a 'late bloomer' and most things didn't seem to settle in until my 30's. But by my mid 20's I had already served in the Military, learned some valuable lessons about life and learned much about my 'adult body'. And though I was raised by a Registered Nurse for a mother and received all my vaccinations on a regular and regulated schedule (like everyone else did during my childhood, or so it seemed), and during my time in the Military even more so, once I became 'an adult', I stopped getting 'regular vaccinations and boosters' and found I got less ill than I did before.

After that I paid more attention to my health (but still did little about it) and it seemed I was the opposite of what everyone expected, medically speaking; I was the kind of person that would fall asleep on the medication with 'hyperactivity' as the side effect, and be wide awake on the meds that 'might cause drowsiness', and other oddities. I also needed a lot more pain killer than most. And twice in my adult life I got a 'flu shot and each time I got the flu; go figure. Despite some other minor medical issues I have with my body, inside and out, I have always had a 'strong immune system' and rarely got sick, and when I did it was mild and short lived.

The next thirty years contained more Role Playing Games and more camping, but less LARP and SCA. And over time both camping and gaming sessions began to dwindle as well... as did the number of my friendships. That span of time also included two marriages, both ending in divorce; the first a short one, the only one with a child, a son; he was raised by his mother, I was absent from his childhood and early adult life... the second lasted much longer but also ended. None of which I wish to speak on much.

When the Pandemic came I was living with my Best Friend (with benefits) and had been for over a decade. At that time we lived in a one bedroom apartment with a good-sized fenced backyard that our trio of 5 yr. old miniature poodles loved. We had been somewhat isolated even before the Pandemic began as we kept to ourselves and we had very few friends that we visited or that visited us. And most of my friends at that time were online; a few RPG related friendships, a few family members and some old friends from my school years.

The latest news reports said the latest variant of the virus was the easiest to get, especially for the unvaccinated, the easiest to spread but the most mild on symptoms and lasting side effects. The estimates were that over eighty percent of the population would be or had already been, infected by this current variant... I forget the name; it was something Greek, like all the names of the Variants of the Virus, all of them had names from the Greek alphabet... I think... and in order I believe... I'm not exactly sure, I never studied Greek, soooooo “It's all Greek to me.”

I use a lot of old sayings and slang and I find myself amusing. I like 'old man humor' and 'dad jokes' and puns; even as a small child I liked those types of humor and they have stayed with me for life... so far. And so has whistling, humming and singing to myself... though often out loud. Get me drunk enough and I will sing during karaoke night.

When the newest variant of the virus hit, it hit so hard and so fast that the results were seen even before scientists and medical professionals were able to identify it as a new variant. And it was named by the public and the media, perhaps incorrectly and out of order, the Omega Variant; though technically it was three different, though nearly identical, variants that were all called 'The Omega Variant' that wiped out all of the Human Race and all Primates, near as I can tell... except for me, that is.

The initial death toll was catastrophic. First the elderly and the immuno-compromised of all ages were hit hard... and those that were vaccinated and boosted were the ones hit first... and thankfully hardest and fastest. Many barely knew their elderly friends and family were ill, let alone dead, until the numbers being reported were at staggering levels and everyone started checking on their elders. This is when the fear set in for most people and some early looting began, mostly the homes of the deceased elderly... but mostly in the larger cities.

The second variant of the 'Omega Variant' affected vaccinated children first; this variant came barely a week after “The Omega Variant” had been officially discovered and blamed for the sudden and catastrophic (and still growing) death toll of the elderly. Unvaccinated elderly and children were also affect by this variant, but not as quickly, but still with just as deadly finality; that is when a greater fear in most people in general set in; general panic, public rioting, looting of homes and businesses on a massive scale all became common in all cities and even most smaller towns... but it didn't last long.

The third (and final?) variant had already mutated, infant to mother, and was on its way to infect others within a single day of the second variant's arrival... and it would (and did) infect and affect every human on the planet, and all the primates as well, near as I can tell. And thus the end of all Human and Primate life on the planet. Again, near as I can tell.

During the first wave of deaths, while I was dealing with my parents' deaths and the pending sale or transfer of their 'estate', everyone around the world began to realize, via the media, the massive extent of the initial death toll... soon enough all legal proceedings over my parents' estate came to a temporary halt, as did all services and businesses for that matter; when children died in mass over the course of a few days everyone began freaking out. Shortly there after, mass deaths of adults.

I was dealing with the illness, then quick death, of my Best Friend when it all began to truly crumble into chaos; for 72 hours the lawlessness and pure evil and randomness of Humans (and animals) started off with a great intensity, but spiraled into an eerie quiet punctuated by the barking of dogs, yipping and howling of coyotes... and the growling of cats; domestic, feral and wild.

I keep thinking that I can't be the only one left alive... not just in this city, but in the state, the country, the continent, the world... surely others were resistant like I was... and surely there were those hidden away in bunkers that were not infected by the deadly variants of the virus... but it IS awfully quiet and peaceful in the ghetto... only animals moving around and making noises... but it has only been a few of days, perhaps a week, of quiet and the power has only just gone out last night... I would guess it has been over a week since anything was aired on TV or Radio (that was not automated)... about the same for anything Posted or Streamed Online... it all seemed to stop during the height of the chaos, during the first day or so of the 72 hours of chaos before the eerie quiet began.

It has been two weeks or more since my Best Friend first exhibited symptoms, but I have had no symptoms... until today; a sudden dry cough with an odd feeling in my throat and chest, and an odd taste in my mouth from the cough... that feeling and taste that tells you that you're sick before you're willing to admit or accept it. But I was not foolish, I heeded the warning and I had already made some plans. During the days since the quiet began I had ventured out further and further, gathering supplies; sometimes just scrounging up whatever I could find while exploring the neighborhood and surrounding areas, and sometimes targeted shopping trips at known businesses for specific items(if they were still there); all on foot, as the streets were too packed with vehicles and wreckage to be passable in a car or truck... and I still have not found a suitable motorcycle with keys.

I gathered up the gear that I had been collecting and preparing for this day, the day I was to leave the apartment and not come back. I put everything into and onto my backpack or heavy belt, then harnessed up 'the puppies' (our three miniature poodles that had made it through it all and were never away from my side) and put them in the special outer pockets of the backpack, shouldered it, then left the apartment, headed north towards the (dry) river.

It didn't take long to reach the riverside park where I intended to let the poodle-boys run for a bit. I was near a wild apple tree, one of the few in the southwestern desert, about to let the dogs loose when a coughing fit hit; it was short, but felt like I had just coughed a bong hit and left me breathless for a moment or two... it was then that I noticed the golden metal medallion in the shape of a foot on the ground buried deep within the branches of an old creosote bush. I felt compelled to grab it up immediately, rather like I did with most shiny things I have seen on the ground my entire life... part raven I think... I barely had time to look it over and see it for the metallic foot medallion that it was before it disappeared... or faded away... or what ever the fuck that it did... I was a bit slack jawed and not sure if that had just happened or if I had just had a minor hallucination.