#raau notes: setting

[hybbart]

Modern avian/Wing accommodating shirt styles in raau at the time of the apocalypse. Boiled down to their basics, at least. There are other styles of course, and there are styles which are no longer popular due to the difficulty of mass manufacturing them or difficulty with slapping them onto popular fashions. Older styles tend to be tailored and thus are easier to make ornamental and more elaborate and a fashionable part of the garment.

(Not a problem in minecraft world as clothing simply doesn't have collision with wings)

[hybbart]

For the RAAU prompts, is it possible to forage where they've currently set up? Is it safe, and would there be anything to find? And would they even know exactly what they need, or where to find it? I can't remember if either of them have foraging skills, could they be trying to learn?

Foraging and scavenging are necessary skills for their lifestyle. They knew a bit mostly from Jimmy's childhood but they've been working on them and Gem helped a lot. It's more difficult in the city for multiple reasons but it has been 7 years, any parks with blackberries and gardens are pretty overrun. It's mostly hardy and wild plants that survived, like berries and full grown fruit trees, potatoes, etc.

The ranchers specifically are currently helping the avians plant more nutritionally valuable plants around where they can so that hopefully starting next year the city is more self-sustaining rather than just being picked clean of supplies and forcing the avians to fly further and further out. They likely won't be here long to see the summer or fall harvests though.

[hybbart]

How's the radio crew doing?

They're doing good, doing their job. They're so high up there's no zombies for them to worry about, thankfully for Zloy's sake. After getting contacted by Wels and delivering the news that the ranchers are okay to everyone, they're looking to get some relay stations back up to extent their reach to the coast. Without manufacturing it's going to take a lot of time and scavenging, though.

[hybbart]

hows the crew at the hospital holding up ?

They're doing ok. Scar thinks Grian and Zed haven't noticed he's been spending a lot more time sitting down lately and Grian pretends like his sculk patches haven't grown with the cold weather this year. Zed's been having to actually interact with not just Scar and Grian but the patients more because of everything. The good news is they've been able to make small batches of a few medicines recently, so when they have the supplies for it they can do a lot more than they have been for the last few years.

[hybbart]

hi i just spent several hours binge-reading your raau (i have a soft spot for the silly little ranchers) and i was curious if you have a map of the area it takes place in? just to visualize roughly where everyone is

Hee's something I threw together in a few minutes. Mind you this is not totally accurate, no map would be since I just sorta go by the vague map in my head and i have comically bad spacial awareness. It's just sorta vaguely something similar to the BC coast. But I think it gives a good enough idea.

[hybbart]

Oooh I have a question. You've talked recently about how the ranchers are aging in raau and I was wondering... how do blazeborn and avians show aging if it is different from humans? Will Jimmy's feathers go grey? Obviously tango doesn't have hair to lose or turn white, but will his flame be effected?

Honestly I haven't thought much about it, besides the usually pains of growing old for a human, but here are some thoughts.

I always imagined blazeborns with very thick, stiff skin, which is why I usually only give human Tango wrinkles and perma-eye bags that he would most certainly have. So, Jimmy would probably start to show wrinkles before him even though he's younger. His hair certainly wouldn't go grey but it probably does retreat. I don't think it would get thin, it just covers less space. (I do try to give Tango a farther back hairline on the sides but I know I often fail, cause I'll draw a line I really like even though it's further forward than the design calls for...)

Probably maintaining a higher temperature becomes more difficult and winters are a lot more stressful on his body. I think by the time they reach senior years they hibernate through winter if they're in a place that has colder weather. The ranchers already avoid moving and going out too much during winter, though, especially with Tango's chronic pain being exacerbated by the weather.

the one thing I definitely imagine is the black marks on their extremities reaches further as they age and they cool down, eventually even his nose and ears will begin to turn black, like a lot that's burnt away. Also probably his sclera continues to lighten until its the same colour as his iris.

Maybe their tail also gets longer or shorter. Blazeborn tails are basically a wick or fuse, it changes length constantly.

For birds Their plumage does get duller and thinner, so Jimmy's feathers probably age as you would expect from a person. Though maybe it's less a retreating hairline and more about patchiness, since they don't have much hair to begin with (I made the very self indulgent decision that avians only grow what's essentially vestigial hair on the very top of their head, the only thing that grows ont he rest of their skin is sometimes scales.) Probably their skin becomes greyer and scalier. Maybe their ears begin to droop. Weakening lungs and lung damage are also common issues for avians so Jimmy would have to be careful. Avian's lungs are incredibly sensitive and delicate because of how large an important they are.

I think for the most part, though, Jimmy ages like a person. Senses going, joints weakening, metabolism slowing down, etc.

[hybbart]

Sorry if this has been explained, but in RAAU, why do they panic when they find new sculk on somebody (like when Tango had to remove some of Jimmy’s feathers) but nobody is panicking over half of Grian’s face (and some of his wing?) being covered in sculk?

confuzzed

-Juniper

P.S: it does look really cool tho he’s such a cutie <3

Bold to assume Scar is not constantly in a state of mild panic over it.

Grian's sculk, much like Revy's was, is mostly dormant. Unlike Revy's, Grian's was much farther spread and consumed his eye and part of his wing. They don't have a surgeon who could remove his infection- if it's even possible to safely remove it. Almost certainly if they tried he would lose his wing at least, and Grian would rather die than not be able to fly. In fact it probably wouldn't have gotten as bad as it has if he'd been willing to lose the wing earlier on, but that's basically unthinkable to him.

It's not an uncommon sentiment among avians, sadly. Even just someone like Jimmy is pitied and treated with "it must be awful to be you" type ableism. You would be shocked at how much understanding and sympathy Hels would get for his actions from other avians. False E. only turned on him when he went to remove wings from another living avian who would also have to live with being wingless.

Jimmy's better about it than most, but it's not a coincidence that he finally fought back once it was clear what Hels wanted from him, or that despite not being able to fly much he still had a breakdown at having his wings clipped when they got sculk in them.

But yeah, removing the sculk from Grain would involve removing his wings and a huge chunk of his skull at this point, and in their environment with the tools and skills they have, with the sculk being dormant, they've decided it's a safer bet to just keep an eye on him.

[hybbart]

How's cub doing? I mean, I know it's not well, but anything new with him? He find a nice new cave or something?

He made some new friends! :)

The children's hospital is basically completely consumed by sculk at this point, the largest known colony that comes out to the surface. It's pretty much currently only limited by the lack of place to spread that isn't exposed to the sunlight, but they're trying their best. For a warden Cub's doing pretty good. There's about eight other wardens in the colony at this point, so he's not so lonely anymore. The hospital is a very good lure.

[hybbart]

What's pearl up to lately in the au?

She made it back to Gem and Impulse's safely and they've been doing a lot of work with chickens. Pearl's also started building a mushroom farm in an alcove in the woods just behind the cottage. Cause of its location in the mountains it's super safe from zombies so despite how densely wooded and isolated it is, they're really important to the survivors network. They'll be taking a trip to deliver goods to Keralis's market soon, before winter starts to hit.

She still hasn't talked much to Scott or Cleo, but they've made peace.

[hybbart]

Do the sculk zombies ever die out? Like, I'm assuming eventually they would either all turn into warden nests if they found a dark enough area, or they'd shamble about until they collapse or fall apart.

Do you think they'd ever see a massive decrease in zombies in their lifetime or is that something that's already happening but we haven't seen since we've been focused of the ranchers who are careful?

The sculk doesn't make zombies the sculk makes wardens. They're like irl zombies-alive but controlled- while zombies are like fictional zombies- puppeted undead corpses.

Part of the sculk's control is that it affects the brain and the host slowly begins hiding away in the dark, where it can spread. Wardens are intelligent enough for this they wouldn't shamble around like zombies, they're utilizing their host's brain. They will fight back if dragged out of the dark and make their host fearful of light and hot places. If it can't find an existing sculk colony it will create one in a dark place. The sculk doesn't consume its host or let them rot, it fuses with and restructures their living body into a warden. It can't produce the bones and nerves and muscles needed to create an autonomous, moving organism so it overtakes a host to do so and replaces their flesh and senses with their own. That's why it's hard to remove because you have to remove the parts its overtaken.

Zombies have been dying out, they keep going until they physically cannot, the disease relies on the corpse for survival though. The more they fall apart the more aggressive they get in order to spread to survive (it doesn't realize it's severely outpaced its prey and killed most people already, of course.) Rural areas and places in the north are likely already mostly clear at this point, it is just that we follow the ranchers that it's hard to tell. Even one zombie can be dangerous, though.

[hybbart]

What's befallen of the ranchers ranch after all this time?

The animals are mostly at Lizzie's, while salvageable materials are at both Lizzie's and the hospital, depending on what it is (a lot of personal items wound up at Lizzie's) though most of the rancher's things were burned in the fire for safety. Some things like fencing and such have gotten spread out to other settlements. They regularly check in on the area just to make sure the sculk isn't spreading anywhere and do burns now and then. The field's untouched for the most part. They did some soil tests and most of it is untouched by the sculk but they're reluctant to grow anything important there. For now it's wild plants and wood.

Even if the ranchers come back they would be setting up shop in a different location, though a lot of the places have suffered neglect over the past 7-8 years and been picked apart so they'd probably end up building an all new ranch.

[hybbart]

Been thinking about Jimmy helping with the large amount of livestock, and I wonder if there's any kind of animals (chickens maybe?) that reeeally like hanging around him? The ranch didn't have much livestock as it only really provided for a couple people, but Dogwarts is much bigger which means a LOT more animals.

Same question goes for tango, though he helped more on the machinery side of things rather than the with the livestock like Jimmy.

Actually! The chickens hate Jimmy. Big Chicky especially likes to attack him. Tango was the one who cared for the chicken, and they adore him like Jimmy does (he has that effect on birbs).

Also the rancher's cattle herd was probably about the same size as the kingdom's sheep herd. They started off with a lot of cattle and they were providing meat and dairy for the entire network, including False and Etho's band. Dogwarts has more people within it all living together but the population is about the same overall, so its more of a mass thing since a sheep provides less meat but they also breed and grow faster so they can be slaughtered more often.

Cows and cats seem to like Jimmy the most, along with any bovines. Horses, dogs, and sheep seem good around him, but he just causes a specific reaction in chickens and goats that make them hate him and vice versa.

[hybbart]

What's the recap crew up to? Still managing the radio/communications?

Yep! They don't have to worry about resources since everyone donates to them since their service is so important in keeping the groups in their range connected and thriving. They spend most od their time on fortifications to keep zloy alive. Despite living on top of a mountain there's always at least one zombie lurking around some tree waiting to chomp on him.

They're a well-oiled machine at this point. Zloy is the one that puts everything together btw, while Pixl runs the actual radio and communications, and Lyarrah records everything physically and digitally. Recently, she's been getting into paper making and been in contact with both Cleo and Pearl...

[hybbart]

whats lizzie up to in raau?

Lizzie's group are tending to their new farm. They've largely taken over the rancher's roll in the community. Not what they expected in their first year, especially when they still need to do so much construction and land clearing, but their family is big enough to get it done. The house is completed at least.

Lizzie isn't a big fan of not knowing when he brother is going to be back, if ever, though. She already lost him once so I imagine she gets antsy some days.

[hybbart]

Heya! I was wondering how medication and medical devices work in the ranchers au. Most devices need replacing quite often and after five years, many medications would be out of date and useless or even dangerous.

I definitely get if it's just a case of, they don't go off, since medicine is confusing but I was curious since it could lead to plot.

I should say that I specifically don't get into this stuff much just because I don't know much about it and I would rather keep things vague than accidentally impart incorrect information. As well as the fact that it is ultimately a biopunk setting with differences to our world. That said, have more rambles than I expected.

Right you are, there's in fact not a lot of medication left. People hoard anything they find but most is long expired. The hospital is lucky to have two doctors and Scar who know a bit more about medicine than the average person, but a lot of whats kept is just praying it still works.

Cleo thanks to being a gorgon is also in the drug development business, though she specialized in developing antivenom, but she not only knows but can help develop certain medicines. She and Scott have made quite a thing of their inn and I kinda wanna touch on it in the future.

Shubble, Katherine, Gem, Impulse, and Pearl know home remidies for a lot of things and have specifically been growing and creating them. These aren't going to replace complex modern drugs for specific conditions obviously, but they work and its easy to pass it around with the help of the radio station.

Overall, on bad days, Tango generally has to grin and bear it with homemade pain killers at most. It's rough and it contributed to the second wave of population decline after the first wave of zombie deaths. It's Scar's goal to specifically help survivors with this sort of thing, though.

As for medical equipment, it's a bit grim but since there's such a small population now and the hospitals were the first to go there was a lot of spare equipment from storage and patients left behind. In part because of Scar's own medical needs and in part for their desire to help others, Scar and Cub, and later Grian, collected what they could from abandoned hospitals and care homes.

It's obviously not going to cover everything, materials break down and as far as replacing them or things that need customization there isn't a factory just down the road that makes it all in house.

This is where I take the most artistic liberties, but Tango, with Doc and Zed, is the one to maintain Jimmy and Scar's equipment as well as his arm. Whether that's patching the existing, altering replacement, or crafting new parts. He knew a good bit from his job and hobbies but he's spent the past 5 years learning specifically how to diy for Jimmy and himself. It's not perfect but it's the best they have.

This is still a bit of a soft biopunk setting at the end of the day with mutliple species and genetic modification, I imagine it might be a little bit easier to get hold of certain things than it would be in real life. I also think they live in a very different economy, and its probably easier to find sturdier and custom made items due to the variety of their society making mass production more difficult. This leaves the problem of certain species not responding to certain medicines though and needing more specialized treatment.

The degredation of materials is something I do try to take into account, which is the reason gas power is nearly nonexistent, but it's hard to take everything into account and sometimes I would rather not, simply because it allows more stories to be told if something is available but difficult to get rather than impossible. I'm not great with drawing or knowing technology so it's easier to just say something is jerryrigged than it is to actively illustrate how they did it. If it seems it might be possible I allow it.

The important thing to me is to consider the types of people who would think about these things first and if anyone might be that person. You know, someone with asthma is going to think of medication and figure out how to get it, a truck driver might know where to go for storages of specific supplies instead of raiding malls, and a historical reenactor might think of how to get and create sustainable materials. Everyone leads a life that puts certain things at the forefront of their mind that other people probably wouldn't think of at all. Especially going from a modern specialist society collapsing into a society that requires generalized knowledge. And the saved knowledge of these things didn't turn to dust the second the apocalypse hit.

Life's not as rough as it might be in other apocalypse media, just because I guess I generally don't really care for the unrralistically cynical outlook a lot of american apocalypse stories are made in for drama's sake. This is a story about people caring about and helping one another, and developing a new life for themselves. If they don't have access to something, people work together to make due with what they have.

[hybbart]

What is the "day 1"?

The approximate day society completely collapsed, if you mean raau. When all main communications networks finally went down and the governments collapsed and everyone was left to themselves. By that point nearly 80% of humanity was gone.