I might be spreading myself a bit thin here, but thought I'd try and start a second RP. Much more free-form than the first, though. So stats, dice-rolls, etc. I'm trusting you all not to be super-powered!
THE STORY
It has been two years since the Red Marker incident on Aegis 7 and the Ishimura. The new decomissioned Planet Cracker has been towed back to Jupiter, and the whereabouts of Issac Clark are not known. As far as anyone knows, there was a catastophic systems failiure abord the Ishimura, and the crew abandoned ship, shortly before unidentified stress lines on Aegis 7 saw the planet physically break up, taking the colony there with it. It was a black day, but most people have forgotten about it.
Most people, that is, except select EarthGov administrators who are attempting to rebuild the Red Marker in the hopes that it will solve Earth's energy crisis, and the Unitologists, who continue to whisper in the shadows that the time of convergence is at hand, and all they need to do is uncover the other lost Red Marker relics.
Both sides do not trust each other, and yet both search for the lost Red Markers made many years before in an attempt to duplicate the original Black Marker.
Now, on the barren world of Solstice, the colonists there have made a discovery. A recent earthquake had caused a section of land to split open, revealing a great sphere of glass and, at the centre of it, a new Marker. Instantly the call went out back to EarthGov that they have found an alien artefact, and a ship has been dispatched to take it away. However, since its discovery, strange events have started to crop up among the colonists...
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THE COLONY
The single colony on Solstice, imaginatively named Solstice City, has been in existence for several years. Centred around an administrative complex that used to be the hull of the original colony ship. A large sprawling city has grown up around it, mostly sectioned off into habitation, imeral processing, and recreation. A two-tier tram system runs through the city in a pair of circles, allowing two-way movement from one sector to the next and, bisecting those tracks, is a singletram line running from the outskirts of the city into its very heart.
Extending up drom the administrative centre is a wide space elevator, capable for transporting large numbers of goods to and from the tethered orbital station. The space elevator itsself is securely attacked at its base, thins as it goes up, before flaring out with extra struts and supports as it reached the orbital station.
The orbital station itsself is mostly given over to storage bays, given its primary function as a transport hub for moving in and out of the system. It has its own dedicated medical facility and reactor, along with five long docking arms which allow smaller ships to connect up and either pick up or offload cargo, before returning to their parent ships. While the docking ports can connect to the largest ships owned by EarthGov, they are not reinforced to such a degree that they would be able to counter the pull of Solstice's gravity on such a large bulk and, as such, larger ship that move to dock have to expend far more fuel than normal in maintaining their low orbit. In addittion, the orbital station holds a small crew compliment of 40 men and women to maintain its systems, operate the communications arreys, take inventory, and man the station's single asteroid defence cannon. When particularly lerge cargos are needing to be moved, extra staff can be delivered via the space elevator
The colony maintains a small number of shuttles on the surface, designed for surface travel only. Each has a crew compliment of four people and a large cargo bay, but no shockpoint drive system, and only barely enough thrust to break the gravitational pull without burning out. The hangar in which they are housed is in the innar industrial district.
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THE MARKER
The Marker uncovered on Solstice is smaller by about a third than the Red Marker on Ageis, and far smaller than those being constructed in secret by EarthGov. As such, its range of influence is quite alot smaller, too. Whereas the Red Marker was able to influence the entire USG Ishimura at once, this one has only about half that range. However, its influence is just as strong, continuing to affect a person's mind for weeks even after only the breifest contact with it.
The marker itsself exhudes a yellow colour, and the twin spirals and in smooth domes more than sharp points. It is still able to cause hallucinations, although the image is more likley to be that of a distant sexual partner than that of a family member or spouse.
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THE NECROMORPH
(Please be aware, at the time of the start of the story, there has yet to be a Necromorph outbreak - but it won't be far off!) Like all other Markers uncovered or created, the energies it gives off is capable of breaking down and recreating necrotic DNA. This has the effect of causing bodies to undergo swift biological changes and reanimate into a slow, shambling monster. They retain the general body structure of a human - head, body, and four limbs - but often restructuring the body into one designed for a specific purpose. Most commonly they will have distended jaws, extra claw-like bone growths, and prehensile tails. These are generally classified as the "adult warrior" forms, and the most common kind found in all Marker outbreaks.
The secondary form of the Infector form, usually created when just a torso is available, resembles a fleshy giant bat. Unlike the more traditional form which contains a single multi-jointed limb tipped with a sharp bone spear to deliver Necromorph-infected DNA straight into a host's brain, these have not only that, but also a smaller pair of tendrils towards the base of the spine. While the spear is still used on the recently deceased, it ises the tendrils on the still living in order to infect them much more slowly.
Three other "support" forms are also special modifications of existing combat forms - the suicider, the swarmer, and the skirmisher.
The suicider resembles a tall and gauntly-thing human, both legs fused into a tail and one arm repurposed into a second leg, while the other arm ends in a large, bulbous sack containing a variety of chemical compounds. More complex than the simple warrior forms, it is designed to move through narrow openings and get close it a target, detonating its sack once close enough. The mix of chemicals within are designed to entrap the target more than cause harm, keeping them locked in place for other infector forms to get close.
The swarmer form, often times called the "shota form" is created using smaller amounts of DNA than the larger forms, covering everything from small animals to young children. Always encountered in packs, they try to mob the target in order to infect them. The downside of the small body is that it is easier to get destroyed and, thus, requires more Marker energy to constantly rebuild them.
The skirmisher form is half-way between the Swarmer-form and the warrior-form, and resembles more of a multi-legged dome of flesh than anything else. Within that dome is a mass of tendrils, three of which are capable of launching toxic spines designed to incapacitate, while three others are used for direct Necromorph DNA injections.
Other forms of Necromorph may also be created as and when required, but those are the most common.
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THE MADNESS
As with all Markers, being close enough to it can cause an individual to get caught in its psychic pulse. This can have a variety of effects on the person's mind, but most commonly are hallucinations, the onset of insanity, and paranoia. For the Yellow Marker, these take on a differnt aspect.
Those not considered resistant enough to it will feel the effects of a greatly increased libido, along with a reduction in inhibitions. While some are still able to operate almost normally, others will be reduced to gibbering wrecks, attacking anyone they see and forcing themselves on them, regardless of gender. Those who are more resistant to the signal will have the plans on how to produce another Yellow Marker slwoly imprinted on their mind, displacing any and all other memories or skills until it is complete, and they can create a new Marker in its entirety. Accompanying both these states are hallucingations ranging from simple symbols and images to fully-interactive in the form of spirits or ghosts, promising great rewards if they will join with the marker, and "Make us whole". Inevitably, this will push towards sexual activity with Necromorphs, other influenced people, or direct physical coupling with the Marker itsself.
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THE CHARACTER SHEET
Name
Age
Gender
Profession
Background
Description/Image
I'll give you stuff dependant on your job.
Probably looking at 2-4 people for this. Don't know if I can handly writing for 20 people every week XD