The Second Cycle (Fantasy, Post-apocalyptic)

[Galactic Druid]

Hi everyone, and thanks for taking a look at my thread! This thread is going to be something I put together and update once in a while with new ideas, images, story links, and so on for a single genre I'm really interested in, a fantasy world set in post-apocalyptic Earth. If you want to know more about me, or see my other ideas, you can find my main requests page here.

Backstory

"Too late, my ass." Victoria grumbled as she stepped over her unconscious assistant's body, nearly tripping as she did so. It was actually impressive, in a way, even after being sedated, he still managed to find a method to be in her way simply by passing out in the middle of the silo catwalk. As she heaved to pull the side panel of the rocket housed in the silo open, she glared one last time at the unconscious body of Sam. "Let's just enjoy our last moments together instead?!" she barked at his body as though he could still hear her while drugged into unconsciousness. "Even if I agreed, how the hell are we supposed to enjoy...." she grumbled as she finally threw the panel open, spinning around to motion about the silo "this?!" Thought she meant the entire complex in general, she was gesturing at the thick glass walls and door that served as the only barrier between the rest of the complex and the silo that also served as her lab. The mutated bodies of those who had succumbed to the disease, barely eve recognizable anymore, and even then only thanks to scraps of decorated uniforms and pieces of lab coats that hung off their bodies, continued to slam against the glass with enough force they were shattering their own limbs in an attempt to reach Victoria and Sam. "I swear," she growled to herself as she  pulled a canister out of the detonation apparatus, "men can horny during anything."

She tried not to let her thoughts dwell on what the mutants had once been too long, she still had a job to finish and they were desperate to get through to her. From what little she knew of them, it appeared whatever they had become still had some level of base intelligence, enough to see her as a threat, at least, and work tirelessly to stop her. If she didn't succeed first, they eventually would. Slowly, cracks were beginning to form in the plate glass wall. While it was sturdy, it wouldn't last forever, especially with fresh bodies crawling over and trampling the weaker ones to take their place in the assault. She was lucky that one of the first things the engineers and soldiers had done when she was granted the silo was gut the rocket's payload and prepare it for her own. An airborne vaccine for an airborne virus... it was the perfect solution. If only she had more time. Entire cities had already fallen, America was all but gone, and with no infrastructure left, no way to know what the rest of the world was like. Still, it wasn't too late. There had to be other pockets of survivors out there, people holding out for some kind of miracle, some kind of chance. She would deliver humanity that chance. It was the least she could do for all the soldiers, all the technicians, and all the volunteers that had sacrificed themselves to build or protect the silo. Too late indeed...

"Vicky..." Sam groaned, fluttering in and out of consciousness as she sprinted over him once more, clacking down the catwalk stairs to her lab lab, canister in hand. "We can still..." he groaned, reaching out for after she was already long gone, checking her vaccine one last time in the microscope.

"No, we can't." she said to herself, too low for him to even hear her reply. "No sign of any virus cells, no new mutated tissue, existing tissue remains..." Victoria sighed as she placed the canister into a chamber at the end of the table, taking once last look at the glass wall. "I'm afraid there's not much I can do for you now..." she whispered to them, wondering if they even understood her, or were already too feral to remember their own language. "But at least if there's anyone else out there, they'll have a fighting chance." With that, she pulled the filled canister from her table, heading back up the catwalk stairs.

The catwalk stretched nearly the entire span of the entire silo, with five levels, each one giving access to a critical piece of the former weapon. Victoria quickly made her way over Sam once more, whispering a silent apology as she did so. If only he had managed to keep his head on straight, instead of ridiculous 'last requests'. She had no intention of moving him once she finished her preparations. While she felt terrible for it, there simply wasn't time, and in all fairness to herself, was probably the faster, more peaceful way to go than what was in store for her. It took her only a few moments to get the canister in place and slam the panel shut, she had already done it eleven times on various parts of the rocket across multiple levels. "This is it." she told herself as she made her way down to the bottom of the catwalk one last time.

Making her way to the far wall from the glass, Victoria turned the key for the Silo door controls the Colonel had left in the lock. He had also set up a module for an emergency launch nearby, in case of such an emergency, before going out with the others to hold the mutants at bay as long as possible. Even as the ancient sirens buzzed and wailed, Victoria was already priming the controls on the launch box, which had been hastily connected to the rocket via a practical jungle of wires. As the engines growled to life over the sirens, the ceiling above Victoria slowly opened, letting in the first blinding rays of sunlight Victoria had seen in months. Victoria didn't need to see to know that wasn't all she had just let in. She could hear the glutteral war shrieks, the slamming of bodies against the upper levels of the catwalk, and the sickening thuds of bodies against the pavement of the silo as the hordes made their way inside.

"This is it..." Victoria whispered to herself as her vision returned, flipping each priming switch and hitting the button just as the descending wave of mutants reached Sam. She could feel the heat of the engine wash over her as the force of it pressed her against the Silo wall, the thunderous roar of the rockets firing drowning out the wail of the sirens, the screeches of the horde, even her own thoughts as the Silo filled with smoke. She could feel a sharp pain at her leg, an impact at her side as something had closed in on her, but it no longer mattered. They here too late. Her cure had already been delivered, and nothing could stop it. As the rocket soared upward to it's destination before detonating in the atmosphere, spreading it's airborne immunity to the far corners of the world, she was finally able to rest. If there was anyone left out there, they'd have a chance to survive, to rebuild. Humanity would thrive once more.

The Setting

I've honestly got a lot of ideas for this setting, but do want to be sure to note, I'm very willing to negotiate on a lot of the ideas I put forth here. If there's something you'd rather do that any element I have here, feel free to let me know and I'd be more than happy to make changes where needed for a story. Like I mentioned, what I'll put down here isn't the only idea I've had myself for this setting, just the one I think sounds about right.

The setting I had in mind for this takes place several centuries to a millennia after a major outbreak on Earth. While unknown to most of the survivors, a team of scientists managed to create and distribute a cure to the outbreak before all was lost, allowing small pockets of humanity to survive and rebuild. Over the decades, the number of mutants slowly began to dwindle, the ones that remain have adapted to the new environment, and are now regarded as a feral race of creatures by the humans that remain. Depending on how far after the apocalypse a game we run is, I see humanity having rebuilt to somewhere around the dark ages to the Renaissance, or even possibly a steampunk setting, depending on me and my partner.

Regardless of the world's age, I see it largely reclaimed by nature. Once great cities have become great forests, as dense in trees and lakes as they are in buildings and streets, with wildlife roaming freely. Technology-wise, I'm very open to negotiation, with mostly a fantasy or medieval level of technology, with the occasional exception from the old cycle. Magic is always welcome in my games, whether it's some result of the mutation or something this second cycle discovered is completely open to negotiation.

Story and Character Ideas

I've got a couple bouncing around in my head, but at the moment, I just realized how late it's getting. I think I may need to wrap things up here for now, and come back with more tomorrow afternoon. If you have any of your own ideas in the meantime, please, don't hesitate to fire off a message, I'd love to hear them!