Shepherd Sierra - Eco Revolutionary

[beefbrain]

 

Shepherd Sierra

Archetype: The Nobody   PC Anchor: Self (Lone Wolf talent)   Drive: Out with the old   NPC Anchor: Dinesh   Issues: Pessimist       Strength Agility Wits Empathy 4 4 3 2 Close Combat 0 Mobility 2 Scout 1 Medicine 0 Endure 2 Ranged Combat 0 Survival 2 Manipulation 0 Force 2 Stealth 3 Tech 0 Leadership 0 TALENTS HEALTH Lone Wolf 3. Unharmed   2. Bruised [ ]   1. Battered [ ]   0. Broken [ ]   Critical Injuries             Stress Experience Encumbrance     X/7 Weapons Bonus Damage Rounds Range Shotgun +3 2   Short                               Armour Protection Penalty             "Earth is teaching us a lesson." Shepherd can be a simultaneously intriguing yet wary presence, with wild hair, calm demeanor, yet a don't-give a-shit look on his face. His body has seen decades of hard labor as a deckhand and seasoned rock climber. His skin is weathered and his hands calloused from ropes. He's missing a couple teeth and his breath often carries the flavor of hard liquor. His voice is soft, but that doesn't mean his words can't be harsh. While usually the silent type, he'll occasionally keep others in check with a jaded wisecrack. Often wearing simple, all-weather clothing, he's equipped to go out in any conditions. Never without his backpack and tools, he's learned to be prepared for any situation.   QUALITY SLOTS AMOUNT BONUS                                                                                                                         Stored Items Location Toolbox Van Cooked beans (one ration) Van             OTHER ITEMS             Vehicle Maneuverability Damage Hull Armour 4x4 Van (Jeep)

DETAILED BACKGROUND

Background A child of broken homes, Shepherd gave up on civilization long ago. Never finding any support among the foster care system, his first true family was found among the seasonal salmon fishing industry along the Pacific coast. While docked in Seattle, Shepherd began to rub elbows with the alternative scene there: grunge music and earth defenders. He seemed to fit in easily among a group of other fuck-ups with their own fucked up childhoods. As an outcast, it didn't take much convincing to see how these folks displayed much more compassion than modern society ever could. They introduced him to literature like Ishmael and engaged him in critical thinking, philosophical discussion. This became the best education he'd ever received. The boyfriend helped too. The Earth Defenders Most of Shepherd's adult life has been consumed by animal liberation and environmental activism: aboard the sea vessels engaged in direct action against poaching operations and fossil fuel polluters, among the clandestine forest defenders infiltrating and sabotaging sites across North America, and less often within cities to deface corporate targets and resupply for the next operation. The boyfriend eventually turned out to be an FBI informant who betrayed Shepherd and so he's had to avoid the authorities ever since. The Wildfire Virus The first week of the outbreak Shepherd and his buddies were oblivious to the news coming from larger cities, as they lay low near the CSU Fort Collins campus, in the final stage of carrying out their infiltration of the primate testing lab. On the night they broke in, they discovered the lab abandoned and most of its captives already dead. Complicating things further, the campus health center across the street was being overrun, already over capacity and with a desperate crowd outside. As panic was setting in, they barely managed to make it out of the city as all hell was breaking loose. Only one of the rhesus macaques was with them in the back of his veggie oil converted 1986 Ford E 350 Turbo Diesel Econoline 4x4. He named her Eve. On the Farm His found-family of misfits and survivalists would end up handling the collapse better than most, retreating West to a known safe house in the foothills of Rocky Mountain National Park: an off the grid, back-to-the-land homestead. Since the homestead lacked a phone, it took a few tense days of finding the correct dirt roads among gun-toting property owners (who shot first and asked questions later). Upon arrival, they quickly set up shop with storing supplies and establishing protocol among the half dozen survivors. He and his friends were used to this, from a lifestyle of non-hierarchical political organizing. Shepherd carefully rationed his veggie fuel, occasionally starting the van to recharge the battery. This was his only time to check the radio and after hearing 10 minutes of bewildering news, with just a brief mention of Denver, through corporate outlets he never trusted to begin with, he had to turn it off. Since then it has been dead silence. It began to feel like a kind of Eden until new folks began showing up. On the fifth week a new arrival showed signs of the virus and it the situation deteriorated rapidly. Shepherd was one of only a few - including Fleur and Jamie - to make it out of there alive. On the Run Fleeing yet another broken home, Shepherd was set on returning to the sea as his last resort. His first attempt to cross the continental divide failed, as he was shot at when driving up Highway 34. While turning around, he encountered a boy, Dinesh, in a nearby cabin and reluctantlytook him in. Driving further back toward Estes Park, he pulled over near an old ranch to assess repairs needed for the van and encountered a group of survivors there. He's still hoping he'll find a part of the world that has avoided the infection... or at least somewhere ready to finally start a new society. But now thrust among this group he faces his biggest dilemma: leave them all to die like the rest of the sheeple or see if they can finally come to their senses and wake up to the way mother nature operates...

 

Edited Tuesday at 08:23 PM by beefbrain (see edit history)

[Essence]

Shepherd certainly appears like a pretty distinctive and noteworthy character to keep tabs on even if he were alive, though I imagine he's maintained a lot of efforts to conceal himself from those who'd certainly like to silence or apprehend him to prevent further intrusion. So both as a doomsday prepper and activist, Shepherd definitely was better off than most during the fall. Mechanically he looks good, though I do have some questions on his background.

Despite seeing the opportunity for his ideals, what were his opinions on how the end of the world started - did it fall in line with how he believed the apocalypse would come about, as I imagine that almost everyone in this universe would laugh at your face if you told them that the dead would rise back and eat the living? Did he keep up to date on what was happening in Denver from word of mouth or radio?

How did Shepherd's upbringing and early experiences shape his perspective on environmental issues and activism? Were there specific events or influences in his childhood that sparked his interest in environmentalism? What finally catalyzed him to act with environmental activism and, perhaps, terrorism? You mentioned in the physical description that he was a deckhand, was it for a commercial fishing line or something more organized like oil hauling for companies partaking in offshore fracking? How did his ideals and vision of an ideal society evolve or adapt in response to the harsh realities of post-apocalyptic life? Did he face any internal conflicts or moral dilemmas along the way?

[beefbrain]

Quote

Despite seeing the opportunity for his ideals, what were his opinions on how the end of the world started - did it fall in line with how he believed the apocalypse would come about, as I imagine that almost everyone in this universe would laugh at your face if you told them that the dead would rise back and eat the living?

For Shepherd, it was just as surreal as it was for everyone else. He never hoped for an apocalypse, just revolution. So when he began seeing societal breakdown, he used his dream of dismantling society for a better world as a coping mechanism to handle something that did not fall within his imagination. His jaded, fuck-it approach to moving about in life was the most accessible skill at a time where millions were resorting to denial.

Quote

Did he keep up to date on what was happening in Denver from word of mouth or radio?

The first week of the outbreak Shepherd and his buddies were oblivious to the news coming from larger cities, as they lay low near the CSU Fort Collins campus, in the final stage of carrying out their infiltration of the animal testing lab. Their plan to free primates within went horribly awry just as the first cases started showing up in town. They managed to make it out of the city as all hell was breaking loose, but with only one rhesus macaques in the back of his veggie oil converted 1986 Ford E 350 Turbo Diesel Econoline 4x4. He named her Eve.

The second week of the outbreak, they were tracking down a buddy's contact: an off the grid, back-to-the-land homestead in the foothills. Since the homestead lacked a phone, it took a few frantic days in the woods of searching among gun-toting property owners who shot first and asked questions later. Upon arrival, they quickly set up shop with storing supplies and establishing protocol among the half dozen survivors. Shepherd decided to ration his veggie fuel, occasionally starting the van to recharge the battery. This was his only time to check the radio and after hearing 10 minutes of bewildering news, with just a brief mention of Denver, through corporate outlets he never trusted to begin with, he had to turn it off.
Since then it has been dead silence.

Quote

How did Shepherd's upbringing and early experiences shape his perspective on environmental issues and activism? Were there specific events or influences in his childhood that sparked his interest in environmentalism? What finally catalyzed him to act with environmental activism and, perhaps, terrorism?

While docked in Seattle, still in his fishing days, Shepherd began to rub elbows with the alternative scene there: grunge music and earth defenders. He seemed to fit in easily among a group of other fuck-ups with their own fucked up childhoods. As an outcast, it didn't take much convincing to see how these folks, who quickly became friends, displayed much more compassion than modern society ever could. They introduced him to literature like Ishmael and engaged him in critical thinking, philosophical discussion. This became the best education he'd ever received. Plus the girlfriend.

Quote

You mentioned in the physical description that he was a deckhand, was it for a commercial fishing line or something more organized like oil hauling for companies partaking in offshore fracking?

He worked for nearly two decades as a deckhand aboard environmental sea vessels - ones engaged in direct action against poaching operations and fossil fuel polluters. But yes, before this, in his teens, his first found family was among the seasonal salmon fishing industry along the Pacific coast.

Quote

How did his ideals and vision of an ideal society evolve or adapt in response to the harsh realities of post-apocalyptic life? Did he face any internal conflicts or moral dilemmas along the way?

If anything, it radicalized him more. If he had dreams of an eco-utopia before, that dream became even more narrow and concentrated - like a magnified beam of light among a sea of destruction. There were plenty of dilemmas at the homestead, decisions about security, power structures, etc. But he and his group were used to that from a lifestyle of non-hierarchical political organizing.

But when he was ripped apart from his like-minded community and thrust among the "normies" he faced his biggest dilemma: leave them all to die like the rest of the sheeple or step up and see if they can finally come to their senses and wake up to the way mother nature operates...

Update: New moral dilemma presented itself when he more recently took in Dinesh, reluctantly. Now with both a human being and animal under his care, he must reconsider his outlook on life.

This has been reintegrated into the main Detailed Background above.

Edited Tuesday at 06:58 PM by beefbrain (see edit history)