hi there.

i guess i've been writing this long enough to warrant giving character descriptions. i suppose. i managed to put it off pretty well, though, doncha think?

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Brian:

brian is about 5'10" tall and fairly solidly built. he is caucasian, has dark hair, a dark beard (both not quite black). he generally wears a black camelhair robe, and, when he is expecting a fight, his weapon of choice is a mace (he has two kinds: a big stick with a blunt metal head, and a small black plastic container that squirts a noxious fluid). his main defense, however, is magic.

brian is based on an old d&d character. the idea, there, is that priestly magic is a result of devotion to a god/dess. the deity rewards the priest by giving them spells. the spells are requested by the priest in prayer, and are directly given by the deity. brian worships cheom.

the problem is that cheom does not exist, or at least, so we hope. you see, brian also has some mental problems, and he hears the voice of cheom. nobody really knows where his spells actually come from; he is apperantly tapping into some other source of power. however, he thinks that they are being granted by cheom.

brian has been writing a book called Cheometics, in which all the mysteries of the universe are explained.

um, what else?

he used to be psych-person. not an analyst, but he had a degree and was working in an institution. the whole "brians run" story takes place after his being a d&d character (the character he's based on is about 13th level, or so), and before showing up on the starbucket. the whole thing with 'kata and arden takes place before the purge, i think (unless alis has other plans).

about cheom: it doesn't exist. but it manifests itself in brian's thoughts and actions in one or the other of 2 ways: it is either a reflection of the values of society, or a reaction against those same values, or sometimes both simultaneously. for example, brian is revolted by racism, sexism, etcism of all sorts (in contrast with the society in which he was raised --y'all got 3 guesses to figger out which one this is), but is also revolted by sexuality, while simultaneously being very attracted to it (much like "middle america"). he tends not to be very consistent, except that he will give every person a number of chances to show that they are less unworthy of cheom than others.

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Old Sooty:

The name on her birth certificate is Carolyn Elise Pike. but that document has long been less than ash, along with the rest of nyc. she is just a little over 60 years old, has white hair, a black leather jacket and a harley (which she rides when she can justify the expense in fuel). she is "well respected" in the community, sort of a "wise woman," as it were, but hasn't taken advantage of the power that would give her, because she doesn't really give a damn about all that. she has been celibate since her lover (pat) was killed in the war 25 years earlier.

i haven't decided what race or sexual orientation she is. i have decided that i will never decide. she decided long ago that these things would never influence her judgement or actions, and i feel that i owe her enough to respect that choice.

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Dr. Kerry Kay:

Kerry is not really a doctor. everyone has called her that for so long that she just sorta started using it. she was actually working on her ph.d. in biology (her primary interests are bats and snakes) when the bombs started falling. she lived because she was doing some final field work with some endangered bats in central west virginia at the time her campus was annihilated. when she found her way to this town, they put her in charge of the medical center, since she knew more about the way that bodies worked than anyone else.

um. i guess she's about 50ish. she looks a lot younger than that. (the person she's based on doesn't look 35 either, so i suppose that's fair). she has slightly longer than shoulder length curly dirty blond hair (or is it called light brown?) and stands about 5'7". she has a daughter who is, um, in her 20's now and her domestic partner, stuart, is the librarian, and has the largest remaining collection of heavy metal cd's in the world.

i have a great deal of respect for kerry as an intellectual and as a person. i hope you are all lucky enough to meet her someday.