AfterLifeRP was a Role Play Gaming Community created in November 2019 that provided a unique and role play rich environment until November 25th 2020. During that time we built up a community of over 500 players on the website and over 200 people in the Discord Community.
The Lore of our world had a unique take. Replacing a virus with a parasite that produced a zombie apocalypse. All survivours 'washed up' on shore of The Black Isles and began a story intertwined with everyone else.
All assets listed here are of my own design. The website, the Discord Community, graphics, videos; all created by me in my spare time.
The AfterLife Community was a great experience where we met a lot of interesting people. It met it's end before it's time but the ride was awesome.
The original trailer released in December 2019. This took a few days of constant work to create. The audio is actually two separate tracks layered on top of each other to create the harmony you can hear. All footage taken from the AfterLifeRP server.
The second trailer created released in June 2020. This video worked at showcasing everything our community offered to the player right down to the mods. Every scene is showcasing a different mod whether it be a vehicle or a weapon. The process again took several days work. All footage was captured on the DayZ AfterLifeRP DayZ Role Play Server.
Staff Team Members
Staff Roster Not Including VIPs: GoodGuyKFC, Heinrich, Horacio, MrFata, Dilinaer, TheMrGasMask, Dragan, Renzo, Loscham, Dood, RogueSolace, RidTheKid, MrButterToast, Xehara.
Example Character Bio
- Included are emoji badges I created for each member of my group, The Sheriff's Ranger Department.
Community Gallery
Clubs
Community Leader Boards and Content Counters
Emojis
The Lore.
We took real world facts, changed a few details and added pseudoscience into the mix. The outcome was a very interesting lore.
2015
In a secret government run laboratory (under military supervision), underneath the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility scientists were tasked with finding new ways to weaponise biological agents such as viruses, bacteria and parasites.
During these experiments one scientist stumbled upon a parasite known to attack rats called; Toxoplasma Gondii. This particular parasite attacks the brains of rats, and forces them to find another host through suicide. An example of which could be a rat willingly putting itself in the way of a hungry cat and being eaten for the sole purpose for the parasite to change host to reproduce.
As experiments on this parasite grew and developed, human DNA and genomes were added to the genetic make-up of these parasites to try to create a new parasite that could affect all living creatures, specifically humans.
They succeeded.
But like many untested experiments, this came with disastrous consequences. The leading senior scientist working on the experiments with this newly mutated specimen, Michelle Choo-Kheng, sadly became patient zero and effectively the reason why this new parasite changed the world. Whilst doing routine tests on animal subjects, she was violently bitten with a newly injected rat carrying the new parasite, Toxoplasmosa Corpus.
Through her panic she caused an accident that released the test subjects. Rats being rats, found their way out of the research facility and into the populated outside world. From there it was no time at all before the parasite had been spread to all walks of life. Cats, dogs, birds and even humans. By the time anyone realised what was going on, it was way too late.
With Toxoplasmosa Corpus, infection can occur through the exchangement of bodily fluids, such as saliva, blood and mucus. The incubation period for this new form of parasite is between 3-8 hours. The parasite burrows its way into the brain of the host, there it reproduces itself into the bloodstream and the nervous system. Due to the early symptoms mimicking common illnesses such as the flu, many don’t realise they are infected until they pass the 8 hour mark. At which point, death is certain.
First symptoms to be shown are respiratory issues such as sneezing and coughing, fever, confusion, rapid mood swings, sudden confidence or willingness to put themselves in harms way (schizophrenia and suicidal tendencies), and lack of logic or reason. As the parasite takes hold (usually the 8 hour mark), chemical changes in the brain begin to cause seizures, slowed heart rate and breathing which commonly results in a coma-like state developing, with eventual cardiac arrest. But due to the human genome now being part of the parasite’s genetic make-up, instead of the parasite dying due to host death, the parasite effectively reanimates the body to suit its own survival needs, thus creating a new species altogether.
This new breed of parasite has a constant need to infect other hosts bodies, causing the host they are currently inhabiting to exhibit extremely violent tendencies, towards other non infected creatures, and in some record instances, each other. One thing was certain, once the host died, all trace of who they once were are lost. Nothing but a soulless gaze stagnates in their eyes. The person they were is gone and is replaced by a blood thirsty killing machine with only one agenda, spread.
RARE CASES
In extremely rare cases, the Toxoplasmosa Corpus parasite doesn’t always take complete control of the host body. No one knows for sure how or why this happens, as human testing never began but instead of the parasite taking full control, the host retains some resemblance of free will. These individuals still have full cognitive control, however, due to the parasite, certain, life altering effects take place. The parasite still replicates itself inside the host but for some reason, Toxoplasmosa and the host merge their consciousness and combine rather than assimilation.
As with the fully infected host, most of these rare cases still have the hunger for raw flesh, mostly of the humanoid variety. However, they will also consume raw animal meat. Although these individuals still have most of their own free will and control, they can still fly into fits of murderous rage, like their fully infected kin, attacking any non infected in their range.
Another interesting trait that developed was personality changes. Again, because no testing was ever conducted on human beings, no one knows for sure why these individuals have this drastic personality and behavioural change. Many but not most develop strange, almost schizophrenic tendencies, almost like they are talking to a being that the non infected cannot see.
As with most cases that have never been studied, side effects vary greatly to the individual and their previous constitution. Sadly, all the information conducted on the virus is still in the underground facility in China. A place hardly anyone knew about. No one we know to still be among the living.
2020
The dawn of 2020 saw a new threat for the battle drained population of Chernarus. After years of what seemed like constant fighting, they were met with a deadly new terror. No one knew where they had come from, but mutated, monstrous abominations came down from the north and decimated everything in their path.
These abominations possess heightened senses and increased strength and speed. They are the perfect killing machines and they portrayed that in their wake. These new creatures arrived without warning from the North, coming down from Tisy and flooded Novaya. The people there launched a counterattack to try and keep them at bay but they were overrun with great ease. As was anyone else who were brave enough to try.
In a matter of days most of the country was lost. The last remnant of human survivors gathered in the ruins of Cherno, at the last bastion of life, the town of Albion, the home of the SRD. It was there the survivors devised an escape plan through salvaging a couple cargo freighters and a host of smaller vessels. With only limited fuel for their escape and the ever-growing horde closing in on the city, they were left with only one option. Run.
While civilians and anyone able to use a welding torch worked on the two battered freighters in docks of Chernogorsk, the remnants of the South Zagorian Alliance built up defences and awaited the terrifying horde that had wiped out everything else they knew. For whatever problems the people have between them, to meet an end such as this is no way for the human race to cease.
As work on the freighters neared completion, the hordes of the undead reached the city limits. The SZA manned the walls along with anyone who was brave enough to pick up a gun and fight these monsters back. It was their duty to give the civilians time to board the boats. Just before the horde entered the city, the night set in on the last day these people would see in Chernarus.
The evacuations had begun. The people had done some effective work, very quickly. These old, rusty freighters were once again sea-worthy. With limited resources loaded on board and whatever food and fuel they could find, they would at least survive a few more days at sea than on land. While survivors scrambled onto the freighters, the city erupted in gunfire and explosions. The fighters rapidly throwing absolutely everything they could at the amassing horror but they were advancing too quickly. Within minutes the outer walls were down. What was left of the front line fell back to the inner defences.
The time had come for the last line in their defence. The entire outer perimeter was rigged to explode. The fighters drew in the horde and just as the defending forces fell back to the ships, they detonated. The blast lit up the night sky as the people already on the ships gazed in horror. A symphony of explosions echoed through the air as a blanket of fire swept over their once thriving settlement. In the midst of witnessing this utter chaos, there was a breath of hope in the air. They had bought themselves several precious minutes in which to load up the last ship with the remaining SZA forces.
The host of smaller vessels set off first and just like that, the first ship was away. They used spotlights to try and distract the undead to buy time for the second ship, but to no avail. Most of the fighters made it onto the ship as the horde reached them. They managed to set off from port but they had sustained some losses. As the ships drifted out of the harbour, the amassing hordes threw themselves into the ocean. Disappearing into the darkness, the survivors had escaped just in time.
They sailed into the night but what was at first calm waters, soon turned into the wrath of the depths. A huge storm set in out of nowhere. The sea turned deadly. The smaller vessels attempted to abandon ship and board the two larger freighters, but not all made it in time. Amidst the roaring thunder masking the hiss of the waves crashing over the sides of the freighters, lightning lit up the sky for moments at a time. The storm was so bad radio communication between the ships was impossible. The host of smaller vessels already lost to the deviant waves crashing against the steel.
The storm was merciless and raged on for days.
After three long dark days, the storm had passed and the oceans were calm once again but all was not well. Both ships had run dry of fuel and were now just drifting miles apart but, through a miraculous stroke of luck, still in view of one another. The smaller vessels nowhere to be seen and as they drifted in the ocean for the next few hours, they caught sight of land.
An island located somewhere in the Black Sea had several shipwrecks just off shore. Wrecked on the sharp, dangerous rocks that surrounded it. There was no way those freighters were going to make it to shore so the survivors loaded into the lifeboats on board and in smaller groups, made their way to shore. The tides were unforgiving and some boats never made it past the rocks, but one by one the lucky survivors made it to shore wherever the tide took them.
Making it to shore, this first wave of survivors were the first people on this island in a long time. Everywhere they searched, all they found was un-life. Unmarked towns and cities all laid uninhabited by anything living. The survivors now struggle to survive this mysterious new island and find some way of escaping. The ever growing number of shipwrecks continue to bring new waves of friend and foe.
And, to their utter dismay, those monstrous creatures they fled Chernarus to escape from, were already there.
Mavros Island
“Black Island”, later known to locals as “Bleak Island” is an island located in the Black Sea.
The island has been populated on and off for centuries, however the island wasn’t fully settled until the early 1900s. It became a prosperous fishing and mining community, supplying Ukraine, Russia, South Zagoria and Romania with coal and ore, until the time of the worldwide outbreak.
The island itself is predominantly made up of dark igneous rock, leading to the Ancient Greeks naming it, Mávros (Greek: Μαύρος, “Black Island”). In ancient texts the island was also often referred to as the island of Aegaeon, who was a mythological being, said to be the god of violent sea storms.
Black Island eventually became a sacred place and a temple dedicated to the gods and goddesses of the sea was erected at the highest point of the island. Over the years, this temple was lost, until it was rediscovered and excavated in 1912. Other strange ruins were also found around the island, most notably the stone circles of the upper swamps, though no one for sure knows the purpose of these creations.
The island itself is a strange place. Filled with odd structures and underground environments that have lost most of their original use. Due to Black Islands’ natural construction, there are many strange natural tunnels that have been used for various other means over the years. Most of which have now been forgotten.
As time passed and more and more people inhabited the island, the locals began to call it Bleak Island (Ukrainian: Острів Блейк/Ostriv Bleyk) instead, due to the rough and rugged nature of the island, the hardy fauna and flora and the almost constant storms that ravaged the island.
The natives themselves were tough, hardy folk too but were kind to visitors and welcomed guests. Many of the locals worked in the Black Island factories and mines and although the island itself was prosperous (or more the companies), the inhabitants themselves were fairly poor but for the most part, content.
Until the outbreak.
Lore Groups:
"It Is The Blood."
It began with the Mother.
During her infected fever dreams, Kalma (aka Mother), was visited by what she thought was a divine being. This being had no name, no face. Just a voice in the dark. It told her that this was her awakening and rebirth. That when she awoke, she would finally find her life’s purpose and forget the worries of her “unworthy” previous life. Through these dreams, this Being declared that it is her blood that will save humanity, that she must “give birth” to more, and grow her new family.
Damian Doomsbury was her first “child”. She found him wandering her swamps, thin, sick and cold. At first he looked like any other of the unworthy undead. However, as she watched, she realised he was still a man, stumbling around, waiting to be reborn. The Being in her mind spoke quickly and quietly to her:
“You can feel it can’t you? This one is worthy, you must have this one, he will be your first child. He is worthy, he has the Blood. Take him. It is the Blood.”
Now to you, Outsider, this must all look crazy. But what you don’t realise is, Mother has lucid moments through the thick fog of the Blood. The ache within her, for her first real child, is still a rock. Heavy in her gut. It is this feeling, almost instinct, that drives her to reach out her hand to save. But it is also this feeling that the Being in her mind uses to it’s own advantage.
By the time Kalma reached Damian, he had collapsed. So much easier to get back to her dilapidated house in the Swamps. Over a few days, she nursed him back to health with what little food she could find. As he grew stronger, so too did the Being’s voice inside her head.
“It is time. His strength returns, he will be ready soon. You must make him yours. It is the Blood. The Blood will save him, it will save all. Give it to him. Hurry. Hurry!”
Over the days spent with Kalma she had whispered lovingly to him that his pain would soon be gone, that he would be reborn, stronger than ever. Even though Damian’s strength was returning, his delirium still held a tight grip on his mind. The sweet whispers that he heard, felt motherly and calming, making him compliant to Kalma and the Being’s will.
One night a fierce storm blew through the Swamp, trapping Kalma and Damian inside the run-down house. It was time. She calmly gathered her knife and took Damian in her arms. She ran the sharp knife over her skin, tilted Damian’s head back and lowered her wrist, dripping her blood into his open and waiting mouth.
As she did this, strange words seemed to form in her mind. The Being was taking hold. They grew louder and louder until she couldn’t take it anymore. The words took shape in her mouth and spewed forth, fast and jumbled at first, but as she repeated them over and over, she slowed until it was like a chant:
“Mother is here,
Mother will save you.
Mother will save you.
Mother can see you,
Mother can feel you,
Mother is with you always.
Mother can feel you,
Mother is with you always.
It is the Blood.
It is the Blood.
The Blood will set you free.”
It is the Blood.
The Blood will set you free.”
And thus, became the Mother with her first “child”.
The Mother:
Kalma was born on the edge of a small hamlet located in the moorlands of South England, to very reclusive parents.
Both her father and mother had come from rural areas of Finland but had emigrated to England to escape persecution.
You see, Kalma’s parents were deeply religious but not for the reasons you think. They had both grown up on the tales of the old gods, the ones that now, many no longer know. They were taught the old rituals of appeasing the gods and nature from old lore and legends. Ancient traditions that had been practised for centuries, were as normal to them as breathing is to you and I.
Kalma’s father was a popular man. A brave, handsome fellow who was desired by many a man, woman & widow. None more than a reclusive witch who lived on the outskirts of the town. But this was no mere hag, this witch possessed beauty unlike most, and with this unique allure, came the confidence and arrogance to accompany.
It was this witch who desired Kalma’s father.. But his heart belonged to another. It was this love that drove the witch to madness and in her wounded pride cursed their union. She manipulated the townsfolk in a vicious plot to rid herself of her wounds. The townsfolk turned against their once loved friends and chased them out of town where they fled the country and finally met the end of their journey in England.
They happily lived in England for 10 years until Kalma was born. Kalma’s entry into the world was filled with blood and fear. Unknown to her parents but it wasn’t them who were cursed, it was their child. Cursed to consume her bearer in every way. Her birth was violent and brutal for mother, father and infant and Kalma’s mother did not survive the birthing.
It was a terrible curse. Designed to not only part the father from his love, but to shatter his connection to the product of that love. The birth of their child, the ultimate proof of their love, just became a fountain of despair and grief. In his grief, her father named her Kalma, a Finnish goddess of death he onced paid homage to and cursed her before taking his own life.
She was put into the local orphanage who did their best to try and find Kalma a loving home at first. For years Kalma was moved around from one home to another but wherever she went, bad things soon followed. The longer she stayed with a family, the worse things became. Even though it was not her fault, and to the outside world Kalma looked like a happy child, it didn’t stop the people around her considering her a curse on them and a silent wish to be rid of her existence. A silent wish that turned into visual hatred as the years progressed.
Once Kalma was old enough, she fled the orphanage and the staff that hated her, to make a life for herself in the world she had been thrown into alone. The years she spent on her own, living on the streets, were hard and and at some points, extremely dangerous.. But she still preferred this life over the childhood has resented.
By the time of the infection, Kalma had moved around Europe for many years hoping to find a true home. She had eventually made a home for herself in Romania, and had a family of her own. Though it was as short lived as with every moment of happiness in her life.
While Kalma lived in Romania she eventually met the man who would give her her most precious gift; her daughter, Rosia (pronounced rose-iah). Although their union was brief, Kalma never regretted it, for he had helped to give Kalma a meaning to her life she never knew she missed. The pain of her previous years all striped away, due to the birth of her child.
However, unknown to Kalma, the curse placed upon her resulted in the death of her love. When he died, Kalma was once again left alone, but this time she was not alone. Now she had the one thing she had left of her husband, her daughter. But in the same breath, realised the responsibility that now rested on her shoulders. She had heard rumors of a beautiful island called Bleak Island that was located in the Black Sea, filled with the possibilities of work and a beautiful home.
The pair settled in a beautiful area filled with willow trees, quaint homes and friendly residents. Even though the surrounding areas were mostly swamp and bog, everyone was happy in their lot and prospered. Unfortunately it was not long before the virus hit.
Kalma and her daughter (who was now 10) were content and for the first time in her life, until word spread of a strange illness that leaked out from China. Brief snippets were mentioned on local radio stations and in local newspapers but for the most part, the residents of the Island were sure they would be safe, protected by the sea.
How wrong they were.
It took 6 months for the new illness to reach the island. Many theories exist as to how the infection reached the island but the first news of this new mystery disease came from a fisherman and his family.
No one knew what this new illness was. The island’s doctors and hospital had no idea how to treat their patients, which only created further panic. Within a few weeks, the island was overrun with these new creatures. Kalma’s first and only priority was the safety of her daughter. She decided to retreat further into the swamps, in a vain hope to protect them both.
For the first week, they seemed to be safe from the rest of the island. Most of the inhabitants stayed clear from the dense swampy forest, due to the local stories and fear. They saw no one for days but during the long nights they could hear the faint echoes of screaming in the distance.
The second week into their hiding, while Kalma was out foraging in the deep swamp, a strange woman stumbled into her path. Her first instinct was to run but her weak pleas and outreached hand swayed her.
Against her better judgement, she took this woman back to their hidden shack. “I’ll just patch her up, give her some food and water and send her on her way, I can’t just leave her out here,'' she thought.
But instincts warn us for a reason.
By the time Kalma managed to get the stranger back to their secret home, she realised that things were far worse than she originally thought. The tell tale signs of imminent turning were starting to show. This woman wasn’t going to survive and both her and her daughter were in grave danger.
Without thinking, she dropped the stranger she was carrying, ran into the shack, grabbing her knife. But she was already too late. The woman had already turned and lunged at Kalma as soon as she came out of the shack.
A violent but short struggle ensued, ending suddenly when Kalma managed to lodge her knife in the woman’s skull up to the hilt. She pushed the woman’s body off of her, took a deep breath and laid still for a moment. The sigh of relief left her when a sharp pain started emanating from her arm. She looked at her arm and found that the old woman had bitten her. She quickly wrapped up her arm and went back to her daughter.
For the next few days Kalma was bedridden. Her daughter cared for her as best she could, with the small amount of herbal remedies that she knew but Kalma only kept getting worse. After the second day she was having hallucinations, visions. She had visions of this being creeping into her body, taking over everything that she was, but somehow, for some reason, she welcomed it. Embraced it. She saw this invading force as a celestial presence. Something about it laid her fears to rest and gave her an essence of euphoria she hoped she’d never lose.
Outside of her mind, however, was a different story. When Kalma wasn’t muttering utter nonsense in her unconscious state, she was having violent outbursts attacking her daughter and herself. Rosia did all she could to restrain her mother and help her but there’s only so much a 10 year old girl can struggle to do. It was a terrifying experience that drove her daughter to experience fear like she had never before… but the fear she felt then was nothing compared to what fate had in store for her the following day.
By the third day Kalma had become vicious in her unconscious state. Just as the days past Rosia attended her mother, but Kalma’s mind was elsewhere. Rosia’s presence to her mother had gone all but unnoticed until Rosia tried to wipe blood from her mother’s brow. All of a sudden, Kalma’s eyes open wide to reveal nothing but white. Her eyes looked dead and Rosia let out the sharpest scream of terror that echoed through the swamps. Kalma’s conscious body, now in full motion, was desperately reaching for Rosia. Scared and backed into a corner, Rosia screamed for her mother to stop, but Kalma kept dragging herself ever closer.
This wasn’t her mother. There was no resemblance of her mother anywhere in her eyes and the last thing Rosia saw was her mother’s teeth bearing down on her. Kalma’s hands pierced her body under the sheer pressure of her mother’s grip.
But inside Kalma’s mind, she had become a willing servant to the god now inhabiting her body. During this transformation, her mind did not perish, her body endured, and a rare reaction to the parasite caused her to retain an altered version of her personality. She saw the gods plan and was now the envoy of a divine mission.
Some days later Kalma awoke on the floor. Sticky and wet laying in a pool of blood. The events of the past several days unknown to her. For the first few minutes, all she experienced in her hallucinations were nothing but a dream. She pulled herself up from the pool of blood she lay in to reveal the remains of… something. She screamed for her daughter but was met with utter silence. She looked back down to the remains and found a locket that used to be around the neck of her daughter. In her disbelief she screamed once again for Rosia, being met with only silence. And then, just like that, it all came back. The message from the gods, her mission, her purpose, her daughter. And then the voices.
“She was not worthy. She was not worthy.”
These words repeated over and over in her head. She screamed at the top of her voice as the presence that invaded her body, forced her into submission.
The KDL
Motherland Research Institute
The KDL is the third largest medical science research facility in Russia. Specialising in genetic diseases research and cures.
At least that is what they appear to be on the surface.
In actual fact, the KDL, originally named, Uroboros/Уроборос (Ouroboros in English) is a government funded shadow organisation, specialising in “improving” human genetics.
Uroboros was originally founded in 1942, after the Soviet Union invaded Germany during the Second World War. During their invasion, Russian troops were able to capture members of a Nazi group called the Ahnenerbe (which translates to: “Inheritance of the Forefathers”), most of whom were scientists working on occult lore and research, in the hopes of creating super-soldiers and even conquer death.
The Ahnenerbe was founded by Heinrich Himmler in 1935, who along with Adolf Hitler was keenly interested in the occult and using “magics” and the supernatural to their advantage to win the war and establish the Aryan race. So much so, that psychics and astrologers were employed to attack the enemy and plan tactics based on the alignment of the stars.
Alongside their search for supernatural artifacts to aid them in war, certain scientists were also tasked to work on researching and creating super-soldiers with the right cocktails of drugs and steroids. There were even rumors that Nazi scientists working in concentration camps were conducting strange experiments on live human subjects, leading to the theory that the Nazis were looking for ways to reanimate the dead.
The captured scientists of the Ahnenerbe were given two choices; be taken willingly to help the Soviets achieve their goals, or die. Some chose death but those who didn’t were taken back to Russia, in secret and tasked to continue their original research into super-soldiers (which later became known as the bogatyr) and defying the laws of nature.
For many years, Uroboros worked in the shadows, secretly conducting their experiments on both live and dead subjects. They were unsuccessful.
Government Takeover
That is until the Government of Russia, upon learning of this organisation bought out the company in 2003 and rebanded them, the KDL. Under the protection of the government, the human experiments became more and more elaborate, pushing the boundaries of ethics and nature and thus the Chimera Project was formed.
In a bid to create the perfect super-soldier or indeed superhuman, the scientists of the KDL came to the conclusion that humanity had hidden and locked potential, that could in theory, be unlocked through the splicing of animal DNA into the human genome.
In 2004 the KDL, under supervision from the government, built a laboratory in the swamps of an isolated island in the Black Sea called Bleak Isle (Pokhmuryy Ostriv / Похмурий Oстрів). This was to be used as a secret research location for the Chimera Project, in a bid to hide their research from the rest of the world.
Through their research they found that the Chimera theory was indeed correct but there was a missing piece of the puzzle that eluded them and would for a few years.
Until a Russian scientist working in the KDL received a coded email from a Chinese colleague, outlining research into a new type of parasite that would become the parasite that wiped out humanity.
Within hours of the information being received, the scientists of the KDL were given the green light to begin their own experiments on this new parasite. Luck was on their side. This new parasite, Toxoplasmosa Corpus, was the missing and final link that was needed in the Chimera Projects experiments.
This final piece of the puzzle would turn the tide of the infection.
The KDL’s research was cut short for a time by the sudden escape of the Toxoplasmosa Corpus parasite and indeed the collapse of the world. But whether it was luck or fate, the laboratory built in the swamps of the Island remained fully operational, meaning the KDL could continue conducting their research, with the island’s inhabitants giving them the live subjects they needed to experiment on.
Bleak Island
During it’s time on the Bleak Island the KDL laboratory garnered itself a terrible and scary reputation. Many believed that the area surrounding the lab was haunted, for many locals of the island had heard strange sounds coming from the area and whispered rumours of inhabitants going missing and never being found.
Even those who lived in the Swamp gave the area a wide berth and would refuse to go anywhere near when the sun had set.
When the infection eventually hit the Island, the mortality rate was fairly high, only increased by the Chimera Project experiments that the KDL were conducting. Both live infected and undead infected were snatched throughout the island and whisked away to the strange laboratory in the Swamp, for experimentation.
Through the Chimera Project, several animals DNA strands were added to not only the human subjects but the Toxoplasmosa Corpus parasite itself. The most successful of these experiments came in the form of the Abominations, which the scientists nicknamed: Aeternae, a mythological Greek creature with bony protrusions and many teeth.
These Abominations or Aeternae were superior to their “normal '' infected kin in several ways. Increased speed and strength, heightened awareness and a higher intelligence, as well as a strange ability to communicate and function as a whole through a hive mind.
Also due to the use of animal DNA gene splicing, these new infected creatures had other abilities directly related to the animal of choice.
Some of the animal DNA used is as follows:
Squid
Octopus
Shark
Chameleon
Bat
Canine
Several similarities between the Abominations and the animals who’d DNA was used arose, leading to strange bony growths, the ability to change the colour or indeed transparency of the dermis at whim, echolocation abilities and constantly growing teeth.
To further study their new creations, the decision to release the Abominations onto the island was reached. This would give the KDL insights into hunting behaviours, their hive mind abilities and how they reacted to certain stimuli. One of which being the uninfected living.
Field Research and the Parasite
During one of the many field research excursions, a scientist named Dr Emma Penny wandering the Swamp, discovered a lone woman with strange behavioural patterns, that looked and acted like one of the infected. Upon this discovery, a search and capture of this individual was enacted and she was brought to the laboratory for further study.
During their studies, they discovered that this individual was indeed infected with the same parasite as the rest of the infected but she had a natural semi immunity to this parasite. She was still highly infectious, and indeed seemed to possess a strong need to infect others, but she still had some semblance of individuality and humanity within her. The parasite had also not killed it’s host, instead it seemed to have formed some sort of symbiotic relationship, which benefited both host and parasite.
This natural semi immunity seemed to come from a type of TRLs that she naturally possessed that didn’t necessarily attack the invading parasite, but seemed to recognise it as part of the host, thus combining host and parasite into one.
However, due to a lack of extensive prior knowledge on the subject, as well the ban on human testing of TRLs and how they work in regards to immunity, the KDL scientists couldn’t pinpoint exactly how these cells prevented full infection and death. They released this individual in the vain hope of gaining further knowledge and understanding
Through their experiments and studies, it was concluded however, that a cure from this individual or others like her could be achieved, but it could take at least 30-50 years to even begin to scratch the surface.
But there is glimmer of hope for our future.
Prison Island Survivors
Aaron Stevens, a pirate whose years spent terrorising ships and small coastal settlements in the Black Sea, made him a curse upon both. For countless years he ruled the seas of Europe until his evil reign came to a crushing end. When Aaron was attempting to raid a small town on island of Mávros, a combined effort of Ukrainian, South Zagorian and Turkish forces assisted in the capture of Stevens and he was tried, found guilty and sentenced to death. However the sentence didn’t stick. A week before his scheduled execution the infection hit the island and regular proceedings at the prison were halted.
For the people of Mávros island, the emergency services that were in place to help keep them safe, very quickly broke down. The first to be left to fend for itself was the island’s prison, nicknamed; The Locker. It was one of the first places on the island to see this deadly outbreak. The national guard blocked off the bridge leading to the prison and left the prisoners and the prison staff stranded on the other side, left to fend for themselves.
As the infection spread through the prison, it became utter chaos. What prisoners who managed to flee their cells began running riot. Nothing was safe. They unleashed their anger on anything they could find, human and undead alike. It became a bloodbath of pure insanity. The warden of the prison; a strict, hard-ass woman by the name of Erica Harley, did all she could to keep her guard team together and in one piece. Before the armoury was overrun by rioting prisoners, Erica and her prison guard captain, Sebastian Manolis secured a small team of loyal guards, armed themselves and managed to seal themselves in the guard house where they had running water and food for long enough to devise a plan.
Meanwhile in the prison, what prisoners that hadn’t been lost to this deadly infection were finally all free and all the gangs were now in a war for complete control. Each gang, equally as brutal as each other, cruelly tortured and murdered any unaffiliated prisoner, prison guard or staff member they could find. Cries of agony echoed through the halls. For weeks, trapped on the other side of the bridge, the prisoners fought for domination over each other. In the end, one gang reigned supreme. The lethal, psychotic occupants of Death Row, led by none other than Aaron Stevens, the Prison’s twisted celebrity.
Once the other gang leaders had all been slaughtered, Aaron took what living bodies were left and filled his own ranks with men too terrified to question their new leader. Once the prison was his, the armoury and most of its contents part of his collection, he moved towards the prison warden and her captain. By this time, the warden’s food supply was running dangerously low. They were approaching a time they would have to do something drastic. Aaron, a textbook sociopath played with the occupants of the guard house for a while. Playing mind games and attempting to turn them against each other. Erica Harley, known through the prison as the Executioner, wasn’t the most popular person among her staff. It didn’t take long for Stevens to bend the minds of the lower level guards in the room with her. They overpowered the Warden and Captain Manolis and delivered them to Lord Aaron, a self-proclaimed title.
Over the next few months the island broke down completely and Aaron was left to govern Prison island as he saw fit. There was no one to question him, no one brave enough to even speak a word against him. As the supplies in the prison began to disappear, the group descended into cannibalism and tribal-like rituals of violence and chaos all revolving around Aaron’s twisted ego. Believing the rest of the island to be completely dead, he was content in staying in his prison and letting the rest of the world eat itself.
A Slave Situation
A couple years into the outbreak, Stevens grew bored with his surroundings and ordered his men to push into the island. To break down the barricades on the bridge and find new things to keep his attention. While the island was in some sense, dead, the location of the island drew a lot of drifting vessels and shipwreck survivors to its shores… and Aaron wished to play with them all. Aaron’s orders were to scour the island and bring back anything of worth. Food, weapons, medical supplies, vehicles and most importantly, people.
The Death Row thugs would search the island for anything of worth and in a short time, Aaron had communication hardware setup and an armoury full of gruesome toys.. But his favourite toys were the men and woman brought to him by his thugs. Any feeble man or woman that survived the first few days of captivity within the prison were forced into a life of slavery. Forced servitude with no hope of a swift death. It was a fate worse than death for anyone who had the misfortune living through it. Over time, Aaron built up communications with pirates still operating in the Black Sea and thus began the dawn of his slaving empire.
No one was safe on the island. Entire families were captured by Death Row. Men, women and children alike were all targets. The weak, feeble men and women were either slaves to Death Row or sold to the pirates of the seas. The children were given to Aaron’s mistress, they were her favourite toys. Death Row had even traded their slaves with a group that still inhabited the island. A group known as the Children. The strong slaves, however, were thrown in Aaron’s Champion Pits. Brutal fighting pits that should you find yourself within, the only way out is to kill your opponent in the most entertaining way possible. If your victory was deemed entertaining, the victor moved on to fight the prison’s reigning Champion. None other than Captain Sebastian Manolis. The Captain has survived all these years by ripping his opponents apart, biding his time in vain hope of escape. He, no matter how far away it seemed at times, still had his mind. Somewhere deep down he was still the captain that supervised this prison for many years, the same could not be said for the warden.
Aaron played with Erica and completely destroyed her mind. He broke her down, beat her, raped her, tortured her to a point no living creature should suffer. When it was all said and done the woman that was carved into creation by Aaron resembled Erica in looks alone. She had become as twisted and bloodthirsty as Stevens himself and took her place by his side. Together they became a plague upon anyone who found themselves in their path.
